Rock Poetry Line by Line

"Down on Me"

In the spirit of February, the month of love,

Of hearts and flowers, of kisses and vows,

My soul moves now to the ghost of February,

The doldrums of the winter, when the air

Freezes our ears, and spring seems so far.

There was no Valentine, though there was

Love, a love that hurts, that etches pain in

The wake of the day of hearts and flowers.

.

I remember a rock- poet favorite of mine,

“Dreamboat Annie,” Ann Wilson.

She wrote lyrics that wail love in all its angst.

With her sister, Nancy, and Susan Ennis, Ann

Gives us a piece of unforgettable blues rock,

The dark and wintery “Down on Me.” 

“Down on Me” by Heart from Bebe le Stange, 1980.

Please don't fight me baby
This silence has got to stop
You used to want to know my mind
But now I even hate to bring that up
You get so down
Down on me

All these nights I rocked you
Didn't I lay it on you enough
I always give you something wild
and sweet
But it's hard to keep it up
When you get so down
Down on me

Gently I want to dance you darlin
Breathin, breathe it in slowly groovin
Wrapped around in sweet, sweet chains
Feel the romance when we move

You know I can't resist
I got a need for you
Please baby reach into your kindest mind
Tell me what I am going to do
If it all comes down
Down on me

In the first verse, the speaker begs her love to

stop fighting her and shutting her out.  He used

to want to know her mind- now "[she hates} to

bring that up. You get so down on me.”

 Poignantly, she reasons in the second verse: “All

these nights I rocked  you/ didn’t I lay it on you

enough. “ Though “rocked you’ could surely mean

in the sexual sense, I tend to read it as soothing

him.  She listens to his hard-luck, sob stories and

comforts him.  Then, she makes him forget all

about it with sex, giving him something “wild and

sweet,” but it’s getting “hard to keep it up,”

because he “gets so down” on her.

“Gently, I want to dance you darlin/ Breathe

it in slowly, groovin/ Wrapped around in sweet,

 sweet chains/ Feel the romance when we move.” 

In this chorus, she reminds him of how it once

was between them, totally in tune with each other.

In the last verse, she tells him how she needs him;

she is unable to resist him. She asks him to “reach

into your kindest mind,” “tell me what am I going

to do if it all comes down, down on me.” She wants

him, can’t bear to lose him, wants him to love her

like he used to.

Ah, what a poem/song!  It has all the drama and

hyperbole, the driving, sultry, hypnotic sound,

the wailing vocals and instruments loved by poets,

music lovers, and romantics. We know who we are.