Obstacle 2 – A look at the formal & phonetic structure of the lyrics Part I
A look at the formal and phonetic structure of Paul Banks' lyrics in Interpol song Obstacle 2 reveals that Banks uses many systematic, although not particularly consistent, ways, which are similar in lyric poetry and rapping, to enhance the memorability of lyrics and to make them more cohesive.
Banks' poetic lyrics are often in the form of confessional, not always conscious, stream of thought, and they express a constant urge towards the Other involved in the personal relationship. He deals with angst, love, sex and fear, even vulnerability, but mostly it is set in this monology of thought, which is revelatory about a relationship between two people. Banks uses everyday contemporary urban American English and is often playful with how he uses the language. I think that the way he uses metre and rhyme schemes do not only make the lyrics memorable and cohesive, but these techniques connect the text to the music, to the melody and rhythm as well as being expressive of the atmosphere of the song and the text itself
Obstacle 2 is from Interpol's first album called Turn on the Bright Lights released in 2001. The lyrics from the first verse of the song read:
I'm gonna pull you in close
gonna wrap you up tight
gonna play with the braids
that you came here with tonight
I'm gonna hold your face
and toast the snow that fell
because friends don't waste
wine when there's words to sell
– First verse from Obstacle 2, Lyrics by Paul Banks
Now we can look more closely what are the formal qualities of this text. The lines are cut differently than they are printed in the Japan album insert. I took the liberty because Banks has himself said that he works from the music and then it is only natural to cut the lines according to the vocal melody. This actually reveals much better how the text works formally as well as phonetically. Every other line has at its ending either a consonance/assonance or a strict rhyme. Strict rhyme has the most powerful effect phonetically and here it strongly binds every other line together. We can call these lines with strict rhyme 'A'. Lets look it by deleting every other line which do not have strict rhyme at the end, the underlining marks the strict rhyme:
gonna wrap you up tight =phonetic representation [a I t]
that you came here with tonight = [a I t]
and toast the snow that fell = phonetic representation [e l]
wine when there's words to sell = [e l]
The rhyming also puts weight on these specific words. The consonance appears in the first line and then on the third line. Consonance, which can be called 'C' in this case, is a way of sound patterning where the end of the word, called coda, is repeated in the parallel word's coda:
I'm gonna pull you in close = phonetic repr. [s], the 'e' being silent
gonna play with the braids = [s]
Lastly we have the case 'B', which is on the last words of the lines five and seven, called assonance, which involves only the middle of the word, called nucleus. Assonance has actually stronger impact than consonance, but weaker than strict rhyme:
I'm gonna hold your face = phonetic repr. [e I]
because friends don't waste = [e I]
Now we can find the rhyme scheme Banks has used in this verse of the song, employing different types of rhyme. The scheme is 'CACABABA':
C I'm gonna pull you in close
A gonna wrap you up tight
C gonna play with the braids
A that you came here with tonight
B I'm gonna hold your face
A and toast the snow that fell
B because friends don't waste
A wine when there's words to sell
Although this is not a traditional rhyme scheme it is very architectural in a way, very strict. There is certain commanding pathos to it. It is merciless in its urge which the rhyming expresses. This mercilessness becomes even more apparent when the metre is taken into account. Metre creates the rhythm of the stanza. This systematic rhyme scheme does not certainly mean that Banks used it consciously. People who are gifted with words, especially writers and poets, do not have to work methodically, because intuition and creativeness is enough, and even rhyme schemes and metre can appear in a creatively produced text almost without any conscious effort. This does not mean that it is easy, or that anyone can do it. You have to be completely accustomed with the world of words and language in order to be successful.
Part two about syllabic structure and vocal delivery in these lyrics to follow shortly.
Analysis by:
Interpol Documents ©️
