Death Row Poem

Wow. I had no idea there were so many interpretations of this song. For me it's always been clear: the song is about an execution. Please bear with me as I construct a detailed argument for this interpretation. Here's the set-up (all of this is proven later): The narrator has committed murder. He might have done this out of malice, or self-defense, or anything in between; we don't know. The fact is that he killed someone, was caught and sentenced, and is now on Death Row. The man is not an important person, so to speak. He is not famous, nor rich, nor anything of the kind. He has no high-priced lawyers and no "connections" to help him in his plight. The narrator implies that, if he had higher social status, if he had money or fame or whatever, …show more content…
Here's the line-by-line analysis: *We start with the narrator's thoughts: "Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy?" *The narrator is overwhelmed by the idea that he's going to die. He almost wonders whether this is all a nightmare or something. "Caught in a landslide, No escape from reality" Again, he feels overwhelmed, but he can't really deny that he's about to be …show more content…
The "lighting" part might indicate that he's to be killed with the electric chair, or it might just be symbolic. "(Galileo.) Galileo. (Galileo.) Galileo, Galileo figaro" Galileo was unfairly persecuted by the authorities of his time. Granted, Galileo didn't commit murder, but the narrator's advocates still draw a parallel, insisting that he doesn't deserve the punishment he's receiving. "Magnifico. I'm just a poor boy and nobody loves me" The narrator repeats the common belief. "He's just a poor boy from a poor family Spare him his life from this monstrosity" His friends and family argue that, because he's a poor boy, he deserves sympathy and compassion, not death. "Easy come, easy go, will you let me go" Here the narrator pleads for his life. He basically says "You don't seem to care about me; I'm 'easy come, easy go'. You don't really care if I live or die. So, if you don't really care whether I live or die, can't you just let me live? Can't you grant me a pardon or