Random question...

[usernamenumber]

"I want to run like the blood from a wound"

--From "Furious Angels", by Rob Dougan


Question re the above: Evocative imagery, or badly-mixed metaphor (or simile, in this case)? I can't quite figure out which my reaction is...

Comments

[witticaster.livejournal.com]

My initial reactions are "What kind of wound? A paper cut? A slit throat? Any injury ever in any Quentin Tarantino movie?" and "So...you kinda want to ooze or seep or slither at whatever speed was implied by the previous answer?"

I'm gonna go with bad. Or at least problematic, since instead of providing a clear image, it makes me go "Huh wuh?"

[londo.livejournal.com]

Full line is "I want to run like the blood from a wound to a place you can't see me," which implies internal bleeding.

[witticaster.livejournal.com]

And yet if the blood is running "to a place you can't see me" it must initially be visible. And "wound" usually refers to a visible, external injury. Now I'm picturing blood flowing out of a cut and back in.

Now I've stopped picturing that because it's creepy.

Adding ambiguous syntax to a quote that already confuses me makes me like it even less. Then again, Google confirms it's a lyric, and I don't normally ask for those to make sense.

[turtletoturtle]

Hm. I liked the original short quote (in the context of lyrics -- it would be a bit overwrought for prose), but that kind of goes all to hell.

[mirrored-echo.livejournal.com]

Blood from a wound doesn't run particularly *quickly*; it mostly just oozes. Or spurts. But it doesn't run.

I'd need more context to give a definite answer, though.

[aries-walker.livejournal.com]

Bad metaphor. 'Run', I remember reading, has the most different definitions of any word in the English language. The author is confusing two of them here.

Survey says! X.

[rhosyn-du.livejournal.com]

Absolutely atrocious description, but great dialogue for a sufficiently pretentious and melodramatic character.

[ladysprite.livejournal.com]

It'd depend at least in part on the context, but my first instinct is a little of both, leaning more towards evocative imagery.

Yes, when taken literally it's both incomplete and potentially inaccurate, but... most metaphors are, and many break down when subjected to in-depth analysis. It's a strong image that draws a strong first reaction, and that can be a good thing.

[sprrwhwk.livejournal.com]

Knowing the song, I've always found it evocative, but I can see why you would consider it a badly-mixed metaphor. Honestly I don't listen to lyrics that closely.

[andmydog.livejournal.com]

Given that blood frequently runs from a wound thick and slow, it's hilarious.