Quote:
Originally Posted by Sugar Mouse
He and you aren't different tenses. He is third person and you is second person. They can both be used in a song if the songwriter is describing different people or viewing the same individual from different vantage points which is acceptable writing technique in some situations. I can see Lindsey's point but I side with Stevie on this one.
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Lindsey didn't call them tenses, and he was referring to the fact that Stevie was changing from third to first/second person throughout the song even though she was talking about the same individuals; the shift of person was abrupt and there was no logic behind it. As an English prof, I side with Lindsey.
It's this line that's really confusing:
"You can sit outside his door and wait; you can dedicate your pain to him" - until that point, "you" had referred to the guy in lines like "you've shaken my faith." Now all of the sudden, "you" is presumably Stevie, unless she's referring to a third party! Then the next verse it's "him/her" and the yous have disappeared entirely.... etc. etc.
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