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Discussion Groups / English Usage / November 2006what does "back whole" mean?
In his song "The line" Bruce Springsteen sings: my wife had died a year ago I was still tryin' to find my way back whole went to work for the INS on the line With the California Border Patrol Can anybody explain what "back whole" means?Or could it be a misprint meaning "back home"? Thanks for any help Bernhard Katzer (or somebody else of the same name) wrote thusly in message <ekd2c5$9fv$1@online.de>: > In his song "The line" Bruce Springsteen sings: > [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > > Thanks for any help I would vote for "back home".  SignatureTerms and conditions apply. Batteries not included. Subject to status. Financial commitment required. Always read the label. Keep out of children. Interchange the alphabetic letter groups to reply > Bernhard Katzer wrote: >> In his song "The line" Bruce Springsteen sings: >> [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] > > I would vote for "back home". No, it's "whole". He's just trying to get himself back together. The complete first verse of the song is: I got my discharge from Fort Irwin took a place on the San Diego county line felt funny bein' a civilian again it'd been some time my wife had died a year ago I was still tryin' to find my way back whole went to work for the INS on the line With the California Border Patrol http://www.brucespringsteen.net/songs/TheLine.html SignatureSkitt (in Hayward, California) http://www.geocities.com/opus731/ >> Bernhard Katzer wrote: > [quoted text clipped - 26 lines] > > http://www.brucespringsteen.net/songs/TheLine.html Springsteen gets more respect than he deserves: what do you think of a literary guy who thinks it's the "California" Border Patrol that works the Line? I think he was looking for a little romance from some uniforms ( one too many Ws in line six ). SignatureFrank ess The Skitt entity posted thusly: >> Bernhard Katzer wrote: > [quoted text clipped - 13 lines] > >No, it's "whole". He's just trying to get himself back together. I agree. The tip-off is the rhyme with "Patrol". > The Skitt entity posted thusly: > [quoted text clipped - 17 lines] > > I agree. The tip-off is the rhyme with "Patrol". Wait a minute. This all assumes that Springsteen intended to have a perfect rhyme there. However, if you analyze many of his song lyrics, you'll see that he often uses incomplete rhymes (that is, where the vowels match but the consonants following the vowel don't -- I don't recall the proper poetic for this). This is extremely common in Post-Suez pop music. I vote for "back home". SignatureSalvatore Volatile >> The Skitt entity posted thusly: >> [quoted text clipped - 23 lines] >match but the consonants following the vowel don't -- I don't recall the >proper poetic [term] for this). "Sloppy" works for me -- cf. "dream/machines", "young/run" ("Born to Run"); "waves/plays" ("Thunder Road"); and the especially gruesome "heartland/ guts, man" ("Badlands"). SignatureBrad Germolene >>Wait a minute. This all assumes that Springsteen intended to have a >>perfect rhyme there. However, if you analyze many of his song lyrics, [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > Run"); "waves/plays" ("Thunder Road"); and the especially gruesome > "heartland/ guts, man" ("Badlands"). Yup. Could be, though, that these are all true rhymes in JersE. SignatureSalvatore Volatile >> The Skitt entity posted thusly: >> [quoted text clipped - 25 lines] > >I vote for "back home". The person has lost his wife, not his way. He's trying to find a way to be whole again, but certainly knows how to find his way home again. SignatureTony Cooper Orlando, FL >> The Skitt entity posted thusly: >>>> Bernhard Katzer wrote: >>>>> In his song "The line" Bruce Springsteen sings: >>>>> [quoted text clipped - 22 lines] > > I vote for "back home". If you read the whole verse (I quoted it in an earlier post), you will see that "back home" does not make much sense, as he is already "back home" from serving in the Armed Forces. Working with the Border Patrol would not make him any more "back home". I did not consider any rhyme factors when trying to make sense of the lyrics. SignatureSkitt (in Hayward, California) http://www.geocities.com/opus731/ >In his song "The line" Bruce Springsteen sings: > [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > >Thanks for any help Whole, as in complete. The singer wants to find his way to being whole again after the loss of his wife. Without his wife, he feels incomplete. SignatureTony Cooper Orlando, FL > In his song "The line" Bruce Springsteen sings: > [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > > Thanks for any help To get back to normal. Whole as in completely okay. > In his song "The line" Bruce Springsteen sings: > [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > Can anybody explain what "back whole" means?Or could it be a misprint > meaning "back home"? Yes, it could be a misprint: and this seems likely because these songs are in colloquial American and "back home" is a familiar phrase. But "find my way back whole" is good literary English, meaning "find my way back in good condition, unwounded etc." Whole and wounded/ injured are antitheses in some contexts. People say they escaped (say) a riot with a whole skin, meaning they were uninjured. SignatureDon Phillipson Carlsbad Springs (Ottawa, Canada) Bruce Springsteen: > > my wife had died a year ago > > I was still tryin' to find my way back whole ... Don Phillipson: > But "find my way back whole" is good literary > English, meaning "find my way back in good > condition, unwounded etc." ... A typical use of this would be to say that someone had been to war and was lucky enough to "come back whole". The use in the song is not typical. As others have said, here it seems to refer to coming back *to* a state of feeling whole. Either the writer just thought it sounded good to write it that way, or else perhasp the idea is that the state of grieving is a dangerous period, like a war, that you have to "find your way back" from. See also the song "Whole Again" by Atomic Kitten. SignatureMark Brader | "I wish to inform you now that the square peg is now Toronto | in square whole and can be voguish for that your msb@vex.net | payment is being processed..." --seen in spam My text in this article is in the public domain. > In his song "The line" Bruce Springsteen sings: > [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > Can anybody explain what "back whole" means?Or could it be a misprint > meaning "back home"? I don't think so. He was shattered (psychologically) by his wife's death. He is trying to "pick up the pieces", "put himself back together" - in other words get back to a normal state of mind. SignatureLes > In his song "The line" Bruce Springsteen sings: > [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > > Thanks for any help At first glance I read in the title "black whole" and I thought it was definitely an extra "w". > In his song "The line" Bruce Springsteen sings: > [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > Can anybody explain what "back whole" means?Or could it be a misprint > meaning "back home"? From what you've given, it looks to be a rhyme for "Patrol." SignatureBest -- Donna Richoux > > In his song "The line" Bruce Springsteen sings: > > [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > > > From what you've given, it looks to be a rhyme for "Patrol." Exactly. "Back whole" fits the rhyme. It's no misprint. As for the suggestion I saw upthread that there's no California Border Patrol, that may be literally true -- the Feds have a Border Patrol, and I'm too lazy to check on whether California also has one -- but I took that as a bit of elision for the (or "a") California office of the Border Patrol. It's a song lyric, for heaven's sake. SignatureBob Lieblich Who has no recollection of hearing the song > In his song "The line" Bruce Springsteen sings: > my wife had died a year ago > I was still tryin' to find my way back whole > went to work for the INS on the line > With the California Border Patrol > Can anybody explain what "back whole" means?Or could it be a misprint > meaning "back home"? It seems clear to me the writer is thinking of himself as so devastated by his wife's death that he's not whole; that is, he's broken up. For "back whole", read "back to being whole" or "back to a state of being whole". If he were drunk, he might wish to get back sober. If he were ill, he might want to get back healthy. > On Sun, 26 Nov 2006 22:53:10 +0100, "Bernhard Katzer" > [quoted text clipped - 12 lines] > If he were drunk, he might wish to get back sober. If he > were ill, he might want to get back healthy. I agree, Bob. Busted up--broken up with loss and grief, and trying to get whole, to heal or (horrors!) find closure. |
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