Irony and Paradox

Pardon Me By: Incubus

Pardon me while I burst...
A decade ago, I never thought I would be,at twenty-three,
on the verge of spontaneous combustion. -Woe-is-me.-
But I guess that it comes with the territory,
An ominous landscape of
never-ending calamity.I need you to hear, I need you to see
that I have had all I can take and
exploding seems like an imminent possibility
to me.So pardon me while I burst
into flames.I've had enough of the world
and its people's mindless games.
So pardon me while I burn
and rise above the flame.Pardon me, pardon me...
I'll never be the same!
Not two days ago,I was having a lookin a book
and I saw a picture of a guy
fried up above his knee.
I said, "I can relate,"cause lately
I've been thinking of combustication
as a welcome vacation fromthe burdens of
the planet Earth.like gravity, hypocrisy,and the perils of being in 3-D...
but thinking so much differently. Pardon me while I burst
into flames.I've had enough of the world
and its people's mindless games.So pardon me while I burn and rise above the flame.
Pardon me, pardon me...I'll never be the same!
Never be the same, yeah...Pardon me, while I burst into flames...
Pardon me, pardon me, pardon me.
So pardon me while I burstinto flames.
I've had enough of the worldand its people's mindless games.
So pardon me while I burnand rise above the flame.
Pardon me, pardon me...I'll never be the same!
Never be the same, yeahh!!

The whole chorus to this song is ironic because he says, "Pardon me while I burst." This is because the term, "pardon me," is usually used to be polite or to excuse yourself from something miniscule. In this song, Incubus is explaining how he wants to burst away from society, and this song's message is not polite by any means. Also the phrase, "I've been thinking of cumbustication as a welcomed vacation," is ironic because combustication is defined as a means of burning, and a vacation is known as a relaxing break from the normal daily life.



Fool in the Rain by: Led Zeppelin

Well there's a light in your eye that keeps shining

Like a star that can't wait for the night

I hate to think I've been blinded baby

Why can't I see you tonight?

And the warmth of your smile starts a-burnin'

And the thrill of your touch gives me fright

And I'm shaking so much, really yearning

Why don't you show up, make it all right?

Yeah, it's all right. And if you promised you'd love

so completely and you said you would always be true

You swore that you would never leave me, baby:

What ever happened to you?

And you thought it was only in movies

As you wish all your dreams would come true

It ain't the first time believe me, baby I'm standin here feeling blue

Yeah I'm blue Now I will stand in the rain on the corner

I'll watch the people go shuffling downtown

Another ten minutes no longer And then I'm turning around

The clock on the wall's moving slower

My heart it sinks to the ground And the storm that I thought would blow over

Clouds the light of the love that I found

Now my body is starting to quiver And the palms of my hands

getting wet I've got no reason to doubt you baby, It's all a terrible mess

I'll run in the rain till I'm breathless When I'm breathless

I'll run till I drop, hey The thoughts of a fool's kind of careless

I'm just a fool waiting on the wrong block, oh yeah Light of the love that I found...


This song contains irony because at the beginning a man is standing in the rain on the corner waiting to meet his love. She doesn't show up and he fears that she doesn't love him anymore and he is a fool just waiting there, standing in the rain. Then, he realizes that he was just waiting on the wrong corner. This is ironic because his love really does love him, and he was a fool for standing at the wrong corner, not because his love doesn't want him.



Bruised By: Jack's Mannequin

(Paradox)

I've got my things, I'm good to go

You met me at the terminal

Just one more plane ride and it's done

We stood like statues at the gate

Vacation's come and gone too late

There's so much sun where I'm from

I had to give it away, had to give you away

And we spent four days on anIsland at your family's old hotel

Sometimes perfection can be It can be perfect hell,

perfect...Hours pass, and she still counts the minutes

That I am not there, I swear I didn't mean

For it to feel like thisLike every inch of me is bruised, bruised

And don't fly fast. Oh, pilot can you help me?

Can you make this last? This plane is all I got

So keep it steady, nowCause every inch you see is bruised

I lace my Chucks, I walk the aisleI take my pills, the babies cry

All I hear is what's playing throughThe in-flight radio

Now every word of every songI ever heard that made me wanna stay

Is what's playing throughThe in-flight radio, and I

And I am, finally waking up

Hours pass, and she still counts the minutes

That I am not there, I swear I didn't mean

For it to feel like this

Like every inch of me is bruised, bruised

Don't fly fast. Oh, pilot can you help me?

Can you make this last? This plane is all I got

So keep it steady, nowCause every inch you see is bruised, yeah

So read your books, but stay out late

Some nights, some nights, and don't think

That you can't stop by the bar

You haven't shown your face here since the bad news

Well I'm here till close, with fingers crossed

Each night cause your place isn't far

And hours pass, and hours pass, yeah, yeah...

Yeah, yeah, she still counts the minutes

That I am not there, I swear I didn't mean

For it to feel like thisLike every inch of me is bruised, bruised

And don't fly fast. Oh, pilot can you help me?

Can you make this last? This plane is all I got

So keep it steady, now

Cause every inch you see is bruised, bruised, bruised.

In this song, the bolded line is a paradox because perfection is never considered hell. This song is comparing perfection to hell, and they are complete different things. The phrase is considered a paradox for this reason.