The Cage

Posted Mon, 01/17/2011 - 1:42pm by Anonymous

Showdown Week:

Week 2

Story:

The origin of this tune is pretty simple really. I think we've all been in a relationship before where so much of it felt perfect. You don't want to leave, but you can feel yourself changing into someone you're not. I guess you could call it a "fear of commitment" song, but that's not really accurate. I see it more as a "desire for commitment based on honesty" type of song. So often, we fall in love with someone and immediately begin to try and shape them into our ideal partner, which is both funny and sad because the more someone changes for you, the less they resemble what you fell in love with in the first place. This song comes from the perspective of a man who has reached a hopeless place and is begging to be loved for exactly what he is, not what he could never really be. On the surface, it seems like a sad brooding song, but if you dig into it, you'll find a very sweet song about love and the strongest kind of commitment: a commitment that was never demanded of you. To me, that is the only real kind of love there is.

THE CAGE- Music and Lyrics by John Allison

Don’t ask me that question.
I’ve got nothing to say.
I’m not the first bird to stop singing
When put in a cage.
I remember the beginning
Before we had grown
Back when I had a lover
Not someone to own.

She takes my hand and she tells me
There’s nowhere she would rather be.
But she thinks being lovers
Means not being free. Being free.

I used to sing about heart-ache.
Love, sadness and rage.
but my songs about freedom
put me in this cage.
I wanted to love her
But couldn’t clip my wings
And I guess that marks the difference
Between beloved Jesters and lonesome Kings

And there’s a white bird in her heart
She calls to return.
She says my heart’s too young to understand.
And hers, too broken to learn. Broken.

Now you can ask me that question.
Now I know what to say.
The world is so much colder now
And I’m missing that cage.
Like love, I still need to fly.
And a place to call home.
It’s not cause I’m hopeless.
Not because I’m alone.

I take your hand and I tell you
There’s nowhere I would rather be
Just leave my cage door open
If you want me to sing.

I take your hand and I tell you
There’s nowhere I would rather be
Just leave my cage door open
And I will never break free.

Songwriter(s):

John Allison

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John Allison