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They are now a Grammar-award winning group, who have had three albums in the Top Ten, with four songs in the Top Twenty Hits! The band worked hard to get where they are, and it all started getting better in 2001. This is when Drops of Jupiter, the album, was released. In March, the song was a hit. By June, the song was now a ARIA- certified platinum. Then continued for 53 weeks in the Top 1 00! It won a Best Rock Song Grammar for Train, as well as a Best Arrangement Grammar for Paul Bushmaster (Train (band) autobiography). Bushmaster is a cello artist who has done arrangements for
Elton John, David Bowie, and The Rolling Stones (Drops Of Jupiter (Tell Me) by Train). Justifying Your Selection This song may have been in the early sass’s, but to this day Drops of Jupiter is still on the radio and recognized by most ages. This was again seen on the UK Top singles chart in April 2012 after a performance on The Voice by Phil Poole (Drops Of Jupiter (Tell Me) by Train). As mentioned before, it earned the band some Grammas along with a major portion of their popularity. There are multiple meanings to the metaphors in this song.
Some define the lyrics as a way to describe a happy friendship that gets blown off for a love legislation with someone else. Others define it as a girl who keeps looking for love in the wrong places. Another way this song is interpreted is that this song IS written about the death of a loved one. Although it seems like this song is about a relationship based friendship between an assumed heterosexual male and female friend, the lead singer was interviewed and stated that he wrote the song for his mother that passed away.
When Pat Nonhuman was first asked about the song, for the longest time he would not tell his story about how this song was intended to be about the passing of his mother. His responses usually hinted towards his story, but with the already assumed belief it was about lovers, his answers did not lead people in the direction he intended, but he did this on purpose to keep them wondering about his objectives. “This is a woman who’s strong and has to find out who she is and a man willing to let her do that. (Drops Of Jupiter (Tell Me) by Train). Due to the metaphoric nature of this song, I am going to interpret it using metaphor criticism. Stanton states “Metaphor criticism is a method of rhetorical criticism that aims to discover how reoccurring uses of metaphor function persuasively”‘ (Stanton). In order for it to be considered a metaphor, there must be two different topics discussed that are relatable. This is called the tenor and the vehicle of the metaphor. The tenor in a metaphor is the original subject (Parts of a metaphor).
The vehicle in a metaphor is both the words and concepts that are invoked by the words (Parts of a metaphor). Who is/are The Intended Audience(s) Depending on which interpretation you follow, there are different audiences. The first interpretation being the friendship interpretation would be aimed at dating-aged men, who have been “Friend zoned” by their female best friend. It could also be aimed at just general friendships, relating to those who have been blown off by their best friend for someone else.
According to the interpretation that the band suggests, this would relate to those who have lost a loved one, not necessarily those that have lost their mother. Describe the Artifact Drops of Jupiter is pop-rock song that uses metaphors Of the universe to relate his emotions to the changes of the atmosphere. Now that she’s back in the atmosphere With drops of Jupiter in her hair, hey, hey She acts like summer and walks like rain Reminds me that there’s time to change, hey, hey
Since the return from her stay on the moon She listens like spring and she talks like June, hey, hey Tell me did you sail across the sun Did you make it to the Milky Way to see the lights all faded And that heaven is overrated Tell me, did you fall from a shooting star One without a permanent scar And did you miss me while you were looking for yourself out there Now that she’s back from that soul vacation Tracing her way through the constellation, hey, hey She checks out Mozart while she does ate-boo Reminds me that there’s room to grow, hey, hey Now that she’s back in the atmosphere I’m afraid that she might think of me as plain 01′ Jane
Told a story about a man who is too afraid to fly so he never did land Tell me did the wind sweep you off your feet Did you finally get the chance to dance along the light of day And head back to the milky way And tell me, did Venus blow your mind Was it everything you wanted to find And did you miss me while you were looking for yourself out there Can you imagine no love, pride, deep-fried chicken Your best friend always sticking up for you even when I know you’re wrong Can you imagine no first dance, freeze dried romance five-hour phone Conversation The best soy latte that you ever had, and me Tell me did the wind sweep you Off your feet award the Milky Way And are you lonely looking for yourself out there? Did you make it to the milky way to see the lights all faded And that heaven is And did you miss me while you were looking for yourself out there (Train Drops of Jupiter Lyrics). Research Questions How can this artifact be misinterpreted? In what ways are the lyrics misleading?
Examining & Interpreting the Artifact This song is full of metaphors, the idea is to relate feelings and emotions to the atmosphere and universe. The phrase “Now that she’s back in the atmosphere” (Train – Drops of Jupiter Lyrics) uses atmosphere as the vehicle o state that she is now back around and the tenor is the idea of leaving the atmosphere. She never technically left the atmosphere, but the metaphor is used to show how he feels about her not being with him for some time. The next line is “With drops of Jupiter in her hair, hey, hey” (Train – Drops of Jupiter Lyrics). The vehicle in this would be the drops of Jupiter in her hair, the tenor, however, would be that he notices changes in her.
Furthermore with the lyrics he proceeds to say “She acts like summer and walks like rain Reminds me that there’s time to change, hey, hex/’ (Train Drops of Jupiter Lyrics). The vehicle is summer and rain, the tenor is that she’s a new person. He doesn’t straightforwardly state whether he feels this is good or bad, he just says that there is time to change, which she did. Sticking with the seasons, and references to the year the lyrics continue “Since the return from her stay on the moon. She listens like spring and she talks like June, hey, he)/’ (Train – Drops of Jupiter Lyrics). Her stay on the moon is the vehicle for the tenor, or time that they were not physically together.