Closing Time: Listen Up
It’s no secret that here at The Correctness, we are a very literate bunch. We’re interested in things literary, words of all kinds. Normally, this isn’t a problem, apart from the always being right and constantly having to correct language choices.
Occasionally though, it leads to focusing on these things when the goal might be otherwise. Take music, for example. Like comic books, they are a joining of the written word with another artistic element. I find I have to remind myself to take in both sides of the equation, rather than just focus on the words. My favorite comic book writers are those who have a gift for words, and can write a great plot. With music, it’s pretty much the same. I like a good lyric. I like a well crafted line, a well turned phrase.
The song that’s been in my mind lately, is “Closing Time” by Semisonic. It’s always been a favorite of mine, not because it’s very catchy, but because it has some very interesting phrasings. The one that always stick out is
“Time for you to go out to the places you will be from”.
Recently, I was reading an article in which a member of the band insinuated that the song was written for the birth of (lead singer) Dan Wilson’s first child. And that’s when everything changed.
Suddenly, what was a straightforward song about kicking people out of a bar turned into a well crafted song about birth and change. Now maybe you’re not convinced, or you don’t give a crap. Fair enough. Let me convince you.
“Closing Time, open all the doors and let you out in to the world”.
Bar meaning: Check
Baby meaning: Check. Time to be born.
“Closing time – turn all of the lights on over every boy and every girl.”
Bar meaning: Check, though odd way to phrase this if it’s just about people in a bar.
Baby meaning: Check. Big bright light in the delivery room.
“Closing time – one last call for alcohol, so finish your whiskey or beer.”
Bar meaning: Check
Baby meaning: Nothing directly baby, other than Mom having to stop drinking while pregnant? (The hardest line to defend in this theory)
“Closing time – you don’t have to go home but you can’t stay here.”
Bar meaning: Check
Baby meaning: Check. Can’t stay in the womb forever.
The chorus rolls in with “I know who I want to take me home” which again works with either theory, though we should note that the in the “bar” reading, it’s a strange sentence construction, from someone who’s quite capable of writing this more eloquently. Why not, “I know who I want to take home”, or something than scans better, along that line. Why? Cuz it’s a baby, who needs to be taken home.
“Closing time – time for you to go back to the places you will be from.”
Bar meaning: Check, though again, weird way to say this.
Baby meaning: Once I’m born, I’ll be from the city I’m born in. Until then, it’s the place I “will be from”. This line is repeated later in the song, increasing its importance.
“Closing time – this room won’t be open ’til your brothers or you sisters come.”
Bar meaning: Again, VERY weird way to say this, and doesn’t make much sense.
Baby meaning: Clearly the womb, which stays empty until another child, your brother or sister, is born. This is the line that seals the deal for me.
“So gather up your jackets, and move it to the exits – I hope you have found a friend.”
Bar meaning: Check
Baby meaning: This one doesn’t work as well, unless we look at it as Mom leaving behind a phase in her life.
“Closing time – every new beginning comes from some other beginning’s end”
Bar meaning: Check, though a bit strange again
Baby meaning: Abso-freaking-lutely.
And to be clear, even defining this as having only two meanings is selling it short, as it speaks to the changes in the parent’s lives as well, not having time to spend in bars anymore, the old way of things ending, new beginnings.
So, I’m pretty convinced that “Closing Time” is deserving of a second look. Listening to other Semisonic songs will convince you that Dan Wilson is a pretty intelligent guy, someone very capable of adding a number of levels to a song. Hell, the picture above is even a perspective shot from the womb…
Next up in the “Hidden Meaning” series: Bootylicious. A butt shaker, or a call to arms for the working class?
