Metaphors in songs

The song I have selected is called “The Trees,” by the artist Rush. The lyrics are posted below. Essentially, the entire song is one large elaborate analogy, comparing the class struggle between trees to the class struggle between people. The beginning of the song directly states an innate struggle in society: “There is unrest in the forest, There is trouble with the trees.” Then it goes on to state the actual problem itself, a desire for more limited resources, whether money, land, rights, etc: “For the maples want more sunlight, and the oaks ignore their please.”

The rest of the song simply states how the tall oaks are stealing all the light from the low maples. The low maples of course want more light, and the oaks, satisfied with their plentiful situation do not understand why the maples simply cannot be satisfied with theirs. At the end of the song there is a resolution, with the maple trees forming a union and passing laws the make everyone equal. The laws are enforced by “hatchet, axes, and saws.”

It is apparent that the author of the song took a very Marxist perspective, advocating the rights of the large working class, the proletariat, against the small elite class, the bourgeois. As trees are photosynthetic creatures, whoever owns the means of production, light, is in control of the labor. So, quite literally, the trees form a union, just as people would, to help fight the powers that be. Though not all philosophies of Marxist theory necessarily advocate a violent approach, clearly the author of this song does as the laws are enforced by the “axes and hatchets.” All in all, the author is advocating that people should do whatever it takes, most likely by means of an uprising, in order to obtain an equal society. Overall, “The Trees” song, as a whole is a metaphor that reflects the fight for power between social and economic classes, which can be applied to today’s world.

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"The Trees" by: Rush

There is unrest in the forest,
There is trouble with the trees,
For the maples want more sunlight
And the oaks ignore their please.

The trouble with the maples,
(And they're quite convinced they're right)
They say the oaks are just too lofty
And they grab up all the light.
But the oaks can't help their feelings
If they like the way they're made.
And they wonder why the maples
Can't be happy in their shade.

There is trouble in the forest,
And the creatures all have fled,
As the maples scream "Oppression!"
And the oaks just shake their heads

So the maples formed a union
And demanded equal rights.
"The oaks are just too greedy;
We will make them give us light."
Now there's no more oak oppression,
For they passed a noble law,
And the trees are all kept equal
By hatchet, axe, and saw.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UWHEcIbhDiw