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Song Analysis of Hands Down by Dashboard Confessional Essay

Decent Essays

“Hands Down”
By: Dashboard Confessional
Song Analysis

Everyone has that one song they can listen to over and over again. There are various reasons people press the repeat button, whether it be the sound of the singer’s voice, the quality of their musicianship, or their heartfelt lyrics and the story they tell. The song “Hands Down”, by Dashboard Confessional tells the story of a day-in-the-life of lead singer, Chris Carrabba, in high school. Carrabba has said that this song is about the best day he has ever had, and introduces it as such at concerts. Dashboard Confessional effectively uses paradox, irony, imagery, and repetition, to enable the listener to create a visual and experience emotions felt by the writer. “Hands …show more content…

The boy is hoping for something as simple as a kiss, and this simple action would please him so much that it would “kill” him. The boy is willing to give up everything in order to experience this kiss and end his life on a happy note.

Another literary device used in “Hands Down” is irony. During the middle of the song, this line sets the mood for the story and the presumed expectations of a teenage relationship.

“The words are hushed, let’s not get busted.
Just lay entwined here, undiscovered,
Safe in here from all the stupid questions:
“Hey did you get some?”
Man, that is so dumb.
Stay quiet, stay near, stay close, they can’t hear, so we can get some.”

In most relationships sex is an essential and expected part, even for teenagers. Many teen relationships are subjected to the scrutiny of their peers on whether or not they are “getting some”. This stanza is ironic because in the beginning it says how dumb the questions about “getting some” are, yet at the end it talks about doing just that. At the very end of the song, Dashboard uses imagery to describe the little things that you will always remember, and the one special night that was meant to be ordinary, yet turned out to be so incredibly wonderful.

“Hands down, this is the best day I will ever remember.
I’ll always remember the sound of the stereo,

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