Down so long by Jewel

single cover taken from Mattcdsingles

A cute, young voice is singing poems to simple guitar rhythms. That is exactly how Jewel sounds like. Her name puts it into context: Very simple - but brilliant. When you hear the first guitar motif of "down so long" with a "budubiduda"-fill in, you just know that it is a Jewel-song.

In the song Jewel describes her depressive state of mind and how bad she is feeling. She has literally been down too long and is fed up with it. In the chorus she thinks much more positive, hoping that her misery will soon be over, when she sings: "I have been down so long, that the end must be drawing near."

The lyrics of the song are very straight forward, but poetic at the same time. Jewel uses many comparisons such as "my pocketbook and my heart both just got stolen, and the sun acts like she don't even care," or "it feels like someone's face is stuck to the bottom of my shoe".

The cheery guitar rhythm that makes you whistle to the song and wiggle your hips seem to be a contradiction to the content of the song. In the music video you can even see Jewel dancing to the lines "I have been down so long".

But rhythm and melody play a central part in the interpretation of the song. "Down so long" is not another depressing song that we listen to when we are lovesick and cry our eyes out. The song should give hope and send out the message that there is always light at the end of the tunnel.

In the second verse Jewel sings: "I looked to everybody but me to answer my prayers, 'til I saw an angel in a bathroom who said she saw no one worth saving anywhere." These lines, together with the mood of the song, tells the listener to take destiny in his own hands.

We can either lay down in bed and feel miserable, or do something about it, get up and be happy about the amazing time that is coming, because: There is always light at the end of the tunnel.

The music video is quite dull as it just shows her sitting, lying or playing with the band. Like other Jewel-music videos it just about her singing in front of the camera. But that doesn't matter that much, because the music as well as the lyrics are great.