#innocent man

Song Joong Ki for MEN Noblesse and  Ralph Lauren (2025).

This was the heart of an innocent man.

The song is very direct and to the point although it isn’t very concise, Joel is basically giving a guide to the audience on how to not fuck up their relationship. He structures the song with lots of repetition to get it through young men’s skulls that they in fact need to communicate their feelings. Which in the 80s wasn’t necessarily common sense as Joel is fighting against the stereotype/expectation of men not sharing their feelings. He seems to have an in-depth understanding that what men are taught in the system that does not teach them what to do is flawed. Going back to the structure of the song, he sandwiches his call to authority and a sympathetic tone, saying, ‘Boys, I understand we’re not emotionally intelligent off the bat’ he diverts blame from women saying ‘its your responsibility to communicate she can’t interrogate your feelings out of you.’ The second verse is where he tries to convince young men that ‘hey you might think it’s fine with the status quo,’ but you still need to put ~effort~ into the relationship. Looking at the personal context of ‘the way to stay in someone’s soul,’ it might be that Joel fell back to the status quo and has stopped putting effort into the marriage; he stopped taking her on dates or giving expressions of affection/love, which led to their divorce. Leading into the 1st chorus, there are multiple variations, he says with conviction, shouting the rooftops even - TELL HER ABOUT IT - which could be confessing feelings, confiding worries/dreams/etc. or saying three simple words “I love you” Further into the chorus he goes “tell her all your crazy dreams” which is great advice, tell your partner the hopes of the future think, think about the future of your realationship, and plan out your futures together or see if you need to go separate ways.

Verse three follows the established format, saying, “Listen boy, it is not automatically a certain guarantee,” which reiterates the chorus ‘communicate god damn it.’ A glimmer of how Joel understands relationships in the prechorus: “When you love someone, you’re always insecure.” Relationships are fragile; they make you think differently, they change you, and they make you irrational. Subsequently, he hammers that down again: “There’s only one way to reassure” (He’s going to be exasperated by the end of the song), leading into the 2nd chorus. He alters the chorus to focus on affirming your relationship ‘Tell her you wish you were there/ tell her before the day you leave.’ Rhetorically, he answers the why he should do that- give her something to believe. I see this song as an apology, a recognition of fault to his 1st ex-wife, like ‘Yeah I did something wrong, sorry, babe’ but he’s not looking to get her back; he’s just saying ‘I’ve learned’ ( But then again I said 1st ex-wife so maybe he hasn’t learned). Bring the section to a close with bridge two; he gives examples of why communication is important. He establishes relationships, makes people insecure, and now shows that “She’ll get to worrying / Because you haven’t spoken for so long.” He also keeps the theme of its your responsibility to assure your partner because he gives a common excuse: “though may not have done anything/ will that be a consolation when shes gone”- He uses the rhetorical question to motivate action on part of young men, it’s not a threat it’s a consquence and he’s asking “is that what you want?”

In the final verse, he gives a golden nugget of advice: “Just a word or two.. Could be the difference that it makes” - if that isn’t powerful, I don’t know what is. He sums up the whole of why his marriage failed: I didn’t speak with her enough. He repeats the 1st bridge in the 3rd prechours ‘she trusts you /she won’t tell you what to do’, pinpointing that relationships are built on trust, and if you can’t keep it for whatever reason, it will fall apart. To close out the whole thing he repeats the 1st chorus followed by the outro. Joel is exasperated- it’s a plea to young men TELL her about it! “Don’t wait too long / tell her now it won’t go wrong/ before it gets too late”.

This concludes my free write analysis which has more soul that the final draft :)