Okay, we’ve been both outside and inside the world of the song in the last two issues, now let’s take a step outside the world of the song, and then turn around and press our nose up against the bubble. That’s 2nd Person Narrative; outside the world of the song, yet retaining a sense of intimacy.
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In 2nd Person Narrative, there are NO 1st Person pronouns, no singular I, me, my, mine, no plural we, us, our, ours, unless used inside a quote.The narrator is outside the world of the song.
Look at this wonderful lyric from John Mayer:
“Never On The Day You Leave”
No it’s never on the day you leave
That you wonder what you still believe in
And you can’t remember why you said goodbye
You’ll hear an old familiar sound
And hope it’s her when you turn around
But never, never on the day you leave
Love grows in the time it’s been
Since you last heard her sing
She’ll cut her hair and move somewhere
She don’t owe you anything
No it’s never on the day you leave
You can tell how it’s gonna be
To watch a girl become a ghost before your eyes
You wish you’d given her one more kiss
To put away for a night like this
But never, never on the day you leave
Love grows in the time it’s been
Since you last held her hand
She’ll fight for you like hell
Then force herself to like some other man
No it’s never on the day you leave
That you remember Christmas Eve
And all the things you miss about her crazy family
You’ll know how lonely it is to see
A little drug store Christmas tree
But never, never on the day you leave
No never, never on the day you leave
So maybe it’d be better off to write her
And leave a little note right there beside her
That says “Maybe we’re not perfect
But I’ll be damned if I ever leave
Damned if I ever leave
Damned if I ever leave”
Though the narrator stands outside the song’s world, it still feels pretty intimate, doesn’t it? The narrator seems to be talking to you, but it’s from the narrator’s perch on the other side of the bubble. Still, we feel like at any moment the narrator could step into the world and say I. This sense of intimacy comes from the use of the pronoun you, which we’re used to hearing in the more intimate setting of I, you. But because there will be no I in the song, the narrator will remain just out of view.
This narrator knows the future:
You’ll hear an old familiar sound
And hope it’s her when you turn around
But never, never on the day you leave
You’ll know how lonely it is to see
A little drug store Christmas tree
But never, never on the day you leave
And knows the minds of all the characters:
She’ll cut her hair and move somewhere
She don’t owe you anything
2nd Person Narrative is as interesting and versatile as our use of the 2nd Person pronoun in English:
“Come on, Chester, you need to get a job.”
“Put down your pencils, class. Your time is up.”
“All you need is love.” (All one needs is love.)
It can even be used speaking to oneself:
Look at your body now,
There’s nothing much to save
And a bitter voice in the mirror says,
‘Hey, Prince, you need a shave.’ (L. Cohen, “Dressed Rehearsal Rag”)
It’s easy to see Never On The Day You Leave as the singer/narrator, on Christmas Eve, talking to himself, ruing his decision to leave her. Herealizes his lack of foresight, but realizes that he couldn’t have known it in advance:
You’ll know how lonely it is to see
A little drug store Christmas tree
But never, never on the day you leave
It’s also possible to see the narrator viewing some specific individual about to say goodbye and speaking, in the voice of a guardian angel, warning about the consequences of his/her actions.
With all these facets of you, we can keep turning the prism to see different lights, different angles. No wonder it feels so intimate!
There are great grammatical advantages in 2nd Person Narrative too. First, since the grammatical subject of all commands is you, commands are in play:
Picture yourself in a boat on a river
With tangerine trees and marmalade skies…
(Lucy in the sky with diamonds)
Commands really increase a sense of intimacy. We, the audience, feel some intimacy with a narrator using you, since it feels like an I must be present. We also feel some intimacy with you, since it could be us. That’s why, on the spectrum of intimacy (above), 2nd Person Narrative is so close to Direct Address.
When you write in 2nd Person Narrative, take advantage of these opportunities:
- Narrator and audience stand just outside the world of the song
- Narrator possesses a universal view, so,
- Narrator always tell the truth
- Narrator speaks to the you in the world of the song
- Narrator knows the past, present and future
- Narrator knows the minds and hearts of every character
- Audience has limited intimacy with narrator
- Audience has limited intimacy with you, none with othercharacters
- Narrator has an overview of time
- 10.The singer’s characteristics are usually irrelevant
In the next issue, we’ll take a look at Direct Address. Stay tuned.
