Quote:
Originally Posted by bonjovi90
We all know Jon introduced this song as being about the Soul Kitchen, but I've really failed to find a connection to it that way. Come On Up To Our House seems much more fitting to that topic for me.
Now as we know from the past - Jon has changed the themes of some songs just as it fitted the occasion. I vaguely remember him talking about These Days (the song) in one interview about him making fun of one of their record managers (with reference to the 2nd verse):
"...At one moment I sing 'Jimmy Shoes busted both his legs'. Jimmy Shoes is the nick-name of Jimmy Iovine, the big-boss of Interscope Records, but in my song he's just a little boy. A little boy that breaks both of his little legs. Ha ha!"
Later on during concerts he gave speeches about it referring to "Generation X" and trying to make ends meet and so on.
Or more recently: Superman Tonight. When TC was released it was "the only boy-girl song on the album". Later on it had an "immense social aspect and conscious undertone", so that they could promote the video of it that way.
Getting back to All Hail The King. I actually think it's about Richie and deals with his departure in quite a harsh way, which at the same time makes it seem reasonable that Jon has brought up a different background story for the song.
Let's dig into the lyrics:
Heavy is the head that wears the crown
--> a "heavy head" is (at least in the German language) a reference to having a hangover
All the people came to hear him
Speak from miles around
They hug on every word
A song in every sound
Heavy is the head that wears the crown
He touched the sky to light up
All the stars
He could snap his fingers
And catch lightning in a jar
--> this refers to Richie's prime era where he could do magic with his guitar playing and stun everybody - let's say it's the mid-90's
I am you and you are me
--> still the band's prime and the time where they really were at their peak as colloborators
And we are who we are
--> "who we are" might lead to the Jersey-underdog attitude "us against the world"
Touch the sky and light up all the stars
CHORUS
All hail the king whose castle’s falling down
--> Richie's descent as a guitar player and maybe as a friend and human being. The King might be a reference to the old nickname (King of Swing)
The paper prince who wears a cardboard crown
Poor man has his money
Rich man has his gold
All hail the king whose fortune
Is his soul
--> I think that these three lines are just a comparison. What's money for the poor man is the gold for the rich and was the soul to Richie's guitar playing
He climbed the clouds
To heaven’s highest hill
--> the band's rise to fame and stardom
When you get that high
The earth below looks just like a blue pill
--> Richie lost some of his down-to-earthness as the band continued to be successful
Gave wind to all his horses
And to all his men good will
When he climbed down from heaven’s
Highest hill
--> he abandoned the band and I guess this passage refers to his decline with his constant boozing issues during the last 2 tours he was on board with the band
All hail the king whose castle’s falling down
The paper prince who wears a cardboard crown
Poor man has his money
Rich man has his gold
All hail the king whose fortune is his soul
He breathed his last
They laid him in the ground
False prophets spoke of riches
And said all hail to us now
--> the harshest part of the song and it may hint to Richie's circle of friends (Nikki Lund etc.) leading him onto the wrong path
The faithful wouldn’t listen
And they never would bow down
He breathed his last
They laid him in the ground
--> "the faithful" are the band who didn't stop touring because of him and have moved on since. Especially since it seems that Jon really doesn't see a future for Richie with BJ anymore.
All hail the king whose castle’s falling down
The paper prince who wears a cardboard crown
Poor man has his money
Rich man has his gold
All hail the king whose fortune is his soul
Of course that's nothing but my personal interpretation and pure speculation. But I see the song in a whole different light since then and it became much meaningful to me.
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I think this is a great thread, because people seem have such different interpretations of this song in particular, and nobody seems to see the SK connection Jon talked about.
I posted on the album thread, right after I heard it, that I thought it was about Richie. It's a slightly different interpretation from yours in places, because like Symbeline, it feels more like a lament to me...
For example, when I hear "heavy is the head that wears the crown" I think of someone who is weary, like a king who worries because of his responsibilities or the difficult decisions he has to make.
Anyway, I copied my post here to include it in the discussion:
When I first heard it, a lot of the lyrics made me think he was referring to Richie (even if one ignores the King of Swing nickname).
Heavy is the head that wears the crown.
All the people came to hear him speak (play) from miles around.
They hung on every word (note), a song in every sound
Heavy is the head that wears the crown.
He touched the sky to light up all the stars.
He could snap his fingers and catch lightning in a jar.
I am you and you are me; and we are who we are.
We’ll touch the sky and light up all the stars.
(This reminded me of the early shows with Richie's long solos and lightning-fast riffs - like 'In and Out of Love'.)
All hail the king whose castle’s falling down,
The paper prince who wears a cardboard crown.
Poor man has his money; rich man has his gold.
All hail the king whose fortune is his soul.
(A lot of people seem to think Richie expected that he would set the world on fire when he did his solo albums and compete on the same level as Bon Jovi; or was somehow trying to prove he was better than the band. I don't agree; but if that’s the case, then things don't seem to be going so well for him right now. At best, it's up and down. So it would appear that “his castle’s falling down”; certainly in comparison to “this house” that’s not for sale.
The “paper prince/cardboard crown” makes me think of the “vagabond king/Styrofoam crown” in TD, which in turn reminds me of the “old man on the corner” in Harlem Rain. I always wondered if Richie didn’t fear that would he would one day end up that way... The “whose fortune is his soul” recalls how, in the later interviews during 2014, Richie would say that being a part of Ava's life right now was better currency than money, or something like that - can't recall exactly - plus, I think he just wants the freedom to do his own thing, regardless of whether it meets anyone’s expectations or whether he makes millions doing it or not.)
He climbed the clouds to heaven’s highest hill.
When you get that high, the earth below looks just like a blue pill.
Gave wind to all his horses, and to all his men good will,
When he climbed down from heaven’s highest hill.
(With the band, he certainly climbed to the “highest hill”; and “gave wind to all his horses” made me think of his love of horse racing. Besides being involved in a lot of charities, he has repeatedly said that he loves the band and wishes them nothing but the best, so he gave “to all his men good will, when he climbed down from heaven’s highest hill” and left the band to pursue other goals.)
I’ll stop right there, because I refuse to even think about the last verse. Not touching that with a 10’ pole…
Those are just my thoughts. Maybe Jon is saying something much different, something that relates more closely to the SK, and I'm just missing the point.