Literature; Song Analysis of “Memory” (Lloyd Webber)

By: Rizal Saryadi 

Memory (Lloyd Weber)

Midnight, not a sound from the pavement
Has the moon lost her memory
She is smiling alone.
In the lamplight the whithered leaves collect at my feet
And the wind begins to moan.

Memory All alone in the moonlight
I can smile like the old days
I was beautiful then

 I remember the time I knew what happiness was
Let the memory live again

Every street lamp seems to beat
A fatalistic warning
Someone mutters and the street lamp gutters
And soon it will be morning

Daylight I must wait for the sunrise
I must think for the new life
And I mustn't give in

When the dawn comes
Tonight will be a memory too
And the new day will begin

Burnt out ends of smoky days
The stale cold smell of morning
The street lamp dies another night is over
Another day is dawning

Touch me !
It's so easy to leave me
All alone with my memory
Of my days in the sun
If you touch me you'll understand what happiness is
Look, a new day has began

Memory has several meaning in this life. It could mean like the past experience that is represented in the mind, the past event that is recalled by mind, or past influences that meddle in the mind. In this case, Lloyd Webber tells us by his song about the happy life between the husband and wife in the past time that is over by the broken heart and then the happiness comes back again. I also think that this experience is probably referring to Lloyd Webber personally, because I look at the pronoun ”I” is like referring to himself. But, I don’t know probably he describes about someone else. Yet, there is no mistake if I try to indicate his life for the aim meaning explanation of his song, because it is suitable according to me.

You could look at the song of line 9 “I remember the time I knew what happiness was”, the happiness of Lloyd Webber is described obviously. He attempts to tell us about his feeling in the past when he still lives together with his wife. But after that, the happiness is over such as described on the second line of his poetry song, “Has the moon lost her memory?”. It represent Lloyd’s problem with his wife that probably his wife leaves him alone. We could elucidate the word “moon” is refering to his wife because generally many people indicate this word for woman. Whereas about the sentence of “lost her memory”, we could interpret it that his wife has gone leaving him. For word “memory”, I think it is referring to the happiness of the past event that describes the expectation of Webber to get it again, “Let the memory live again” of the line 10.

Since then, Lloyd Webber gets the heartbreak, regret, and annoyance, very much. Now one of the descriptions of his broken feeling is on the sentences at the line 4 “In the lamp light the withered leaves collect at my feet”. According to the context, these sentences are exactly could refer to the depression of heart. So, we could take the word of “withered leaves” as the deputy of word to represent about his broken heart feeling. We could interpret “Withered” is referring to the characteristic of the case that is indicated as describing depression, whereas “leaves” is referring to the noun that is indicated as the problem in his heart.

When you are thinking about “And the wind begins to moan” (line 5), you could also interpret it as the broken heart feeling of Lloyd Webber. You could clarify that “wind” is describing of Lloyd’s mind, because wind is like the way of someone’s mind. It spreads like the thought in the mind that distributes emotion into brain nerve. For the word “moan”, you could interpret it as the scream of his mind that means that the broken feeling influences his heart and then it is responded by his brain as negative effect. In other word, his mind is feeling like pressed by something hard so that his mind gets stress very hard. Thus, “And the wind begins to moan” is means that the way of his mind is confused and getting stress very hard.

When Lloyd Webber is on the way, I think he uses vehicle, he feels the street lamp is like beating him. He describes it on the line 11 “Ev'ry street lamp seems to beat”, that he probably describes how bad his feeling at that time. I guess that when he drives the vehicle, he almost gets an accident because he doesn’t focus in driving, he just thinks about his problem. More accurately, when he is driving, he doesn’t look at the stop sign of the street lamp or doesn’t look at the red lamp is flaming up, so that he passes by the red lamp and almost gets an accident, “A fatalistic warning” of line 12. That incident is caused by his sight that is dull, because his broken heart feeling is influencing into his mind to be like the blank mind which is thinking about anything not clear or flying on his mind.

The sadness is too hard disturbing his happiness, so that his soul must feel it may for a long time. Fortunately, the sadness begins to be over turning into the happiness in his feeling. He describes it on the line 14 “And soon it will be morning”, which means all of his problem that strike his feeling will turn to be clear and then the happiness will comes to his life like there is no ever problem inside. Actually it is just a conviction of his expectation for the future life that he just believes that this broken heart feeling will be gone. You can look at the word “will be morning”, by the meaning “will” is an auxiliary verb that means something or event would be occurred in the future time, whereas “morning” has the meaning like new life, new beginning, or new condition, that refer to the happiness.

Now in the process toward the happiness is doesn’t just by little struggle. Yet it is required big power and great desire. As Lloyd Webber is thinking about new life or new happiness, he must through big challenge in his feeling. He feels confused because it is not easy to leave out an abomination in his heart. But, his desire is bigger to change his bad feeling. It is bigger than his hate to the past event that hurt his heart. You could look at his great desire on the line 16-17 “I must think of a new life” and “And I musn't give in”. The first one he is thinking about new life that refers to the happiness, and then he thinks about the process to reach it is very hard. Nevertheless, he gets a motivation to defend his desire like described on the line 17, that he doesn’t want to surrender until he gets it.

On the line 18 “When the dawn comes tonight will be a memory too”, Lloyd Webber tells us about certainty of the happiness would come at close future time. As such, word “tonight” is could be indicated as close future time because in our daily activities, night is so close or quick that we don’t realize suddenly or apparently it has come. For example, while I was playing the game Play Station at home about two years ago, I didn’t realize that it was night, whereas I felt that I just played the game. Thus, I could conclude that night feels so quick for several situations. Yet the most important, night feels so close or so quick for everybody in general. Now the word “dawn”, it has the meaning like “morning” (line 14) that it is referring to the happiness of Lloyd Webber. Then, the word “memory too” (line 18) is indicated to Lloyd’s mind which means that the happiness would be new memory.

In the line 19-20 “And a new day will begin” and “Burnt out ends of smoky days”, actually it has the relation to the line 18 and line 16. It tells us about new day or new happiness and the end of painful days that means the depression days such as on “smoky days”. Although “new day” has similar aim meaning with “new life” (line 16), but they have a little difference. “New day” is telling about something more specifically, whereas “new life” is telling about something more extensively. However, they both constantly have same aim meaning. At “new day will begin” (line 19), actually “will” has same meaning such as on line 14 that as auxiliary verb which refers to the event would be occurred in the future time, whereas “new day” has same aim meaning with “morning” (line 14) that tells about new life or new happiness. Yet, it also has a little difference. “Morning” is telling about new event that is recently happened and just for the beginning, whereas “new day” is more extensively then morning, that is for a long time and also as period continuity of morning.

            After through the process to reach the happiness, eventually he succeeds getting it.  We could look at the result of his happiness on the line 21-23 “The tale cold smell of morning”, “The street lamp dies another”, “night is over Another day is dawning”. That all are describing the broken heart feeling is over and has already turned into the happiness. Look at each of important words on line 21-23 which emphasize that the broken heart feeling has already disappeared. Now the words are “The tale...” of line 21, “...dies…” of line 22, and “…over….dawning” of line 23.

            On the line 24-27, Lloyd Webber represents the happiness of his feeling. The first is on the line 24 “Touch me”, that means he challenges the broken heart feeling to come again, and then continuing to the line 25 “It's so easy to leave me” which means that he underestimates the broken heart feeling which leaves him easily. Besides, on the line 26-27 he describes the broken heart feeling in the past event just remains the memory which is defeated by his new life or his happiness. Look at this part, “All alone with the memory” (line 26), “Of my days in the sun” (line27). The first, “All alone” is referring to the broken heart feeling that has already become over. Secondly, “with the memory” is referring to his mind that remembers the broken heart feeling in the past event. The third, the word “Of” here has the meaning that something is defeated by another thing. So that, the meaning of line 26-27 are that Lloyd’s broken heart feeling is defeated by his happiness.

            On the line 28 and the last line of 29, Lloyd Webber tells us about the conclusion of his happiness. You could look at these parts, “If you touch me you'll understand what happiness is” and “Look a new day has begun”. On the line 28, it means that if someone associates with him, so he/she would look the happiness upon Lloyd Webber. “…touch…” here has the meaning associate. Whereas on the line 29, it is the reason about Lloyd’s happiness, which is new life or the happiness has already come.