pass back

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Magnus - 23 Oct 2003 16:37 GMT

Hi,

I'm trying to determine the exact meaning of part of the lyrics
to a song ("Who Painted The Moon Black" by Hayley Westenra).

As printed in the CD booklet:

Who painted the moon black?
Just when you passed your love back
Who painted the moon black?
Oh won't you, won't you come back?

Although the broad meaning of this is clear, I'm a little confused
by "when you passed your love back". What exactly does "pass back"
mean when used in this context?

Thanks

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CyberCypher - 23 Oct 2003 16:59 GMT

> Hi,
>
[quoted text clipped - 11 lines]
> by "when you passed your love back". What exactly does "pass back"
> mean when used in this context?

It looks to me as if the song writer was stretching for a rhyme. Song
lyrics don't have to mean much of anything. Look at all the skat
singing of Ella Fitzgerald, to name just one great singer of non-
sense sounds.

It seems to me that the line would make sense if it were

"Just when you *took* your love back"

It might be a misprint or a mistranscription, something that often
happens.

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Magnus - 23 Oct 2003 17:49 GMT

> It looks to me as if the song writer was stretching for a rhyme. Song
> lyrics don't have to mean much of anything. Look at all the skat
[quoted text clipped - 7 lines]
> It might be a misprint or a mistranscription, something that often
> happens.

Thanks CyberCypher. I agree that song lyrics sometimes don't make
too much sense.

Not being a native speaker of English, I used to have a hard time
trying to make out the words of song lyrics, but I think I've gotten
quite good at it by now. In this particular case, I'm certain that she
really sings "Just when you passed your love back", which also is what
the print says. I did find it transcribed as "Just when you *asked* your
love back" somewhere on the web, but the person who wrote that
probably listened to some low quality RealAudio clip and not the CD.

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Django Cat - 23 Oct 2003 22:30 GMT

> Hi,
>
[quoted text clipped - 13 lines]
>
> Thanks

Magnus
As you'll have worked out, the singer is just saying that her lover
has returned their love to them (whatever that means) probably with
the CDs and maybe a quick argument about who gets the video and the
toaster...

Its basically just a lazy bit of lyric writing and doesn't
particularly reflect any common English idiom...

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Magnus - 24 Oct 2003 00:02 GMT

> > Hi,
> >
[quoted text clipped - 22 lines]
> Its basically just a lazy bit of lyric writing and doesn't
> particularly reflect any common English idiom...

Thanks, Django Cat. This makes sense.
I wouldn't call it lazy though. On the contrary, I think this song is
absolutely beautiful. I just love it, and that's why I wanted to fully
understand its lyrics.

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Bill Bonde ( the oblique allusion in lieu of the frontal attack ) - 24 Oct 2003 05:22 GMT

> "Django Cat" <vivjunkmail@lineone.net> wrote in message
> > and doesn't
[quoted text clipped - 4 lines]
> absolutely beautiful. I just love it, and that's why I wanted to fully
> understand its lyrics.

I don't know about 'passing back love' but the 'pass back' part is
certainly English. We have 'pass around' too:

--"When you are done with the ketchup, could you pass it back to me?"

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Django Cat - 24 Oct 2003 13:50 GMT

> > "Django Cat" <vivjunkmail@lineone.net> wrote in message
> > > and doesn't
[quoted text clipped - 9 lines]
>
> --"When you are done with the ketchup, could you pass it back to me?"

Bill - As you say, 'pass' modified by 'back' is no problem at all -
"pass the ketchup back please" - "Ferdinand passes forward to Beckham,
Beckham passes back to the keeper". But what I think is being asked
about here is if 'pass back' is a phrasal-verb type form - in the same
way that eg there's nothing inherent in the structure "get over" to
tell you that it can mean "recover from" (there are a zillion other
examples with any common verb), it's possible "pass back" might have
had a similar extended meaning - which it hasn't that I've ever come
across. Phrasal verbs cause students of English massive headaches.

Magnus, sorry about my remark about lazy songwriting - I'll have to
listen to the song sometime!

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Discussion Groups / ESL Teaching / October 2003

pass back