Sunday, September 28, 2008

I believe that "Lyin' Eyes" by the Eagles characterizes Blanche perfectly. The song is so calm and relaxing, exactly as Blanche attempts to be in front of the others -- but the lyrics are quite the opposite, depicting the frustration she must feel growing throughout the story, though she keeps struggling to hide it with her lies.

The song opens with the lyrics "City girls just seem to find out early / How to open doors with just a smile." Blanche might not be a city girl, but instead, a "southern belle." All the same, she gets by on her looks alone -- which is why it's such a problem that she's aging, and is losing those looks. The next lines are "A rich old man, and she won't have to worry / She'll dress up autumn lace, and go in style." Blanche's entire goal throughout the story is to find a man -- preferrably a well-off man. Love isn't what matters ("It breaks her heart to think her love is only / Given to a man with hands as cold as ice"), as long as she has money and a reputation. It's obvious it bothers her that this is how it is, but she's accepted it as simply the way the world works.

The next verse is "So she tells him she must go out for the evening / To comfort an old friend who's feeling down / But he knows where she's going as she's leaving / She's headed for the cheatin' side of town." Blanche isn't married any longer, so her lustful behavior isn't necessarily considered "cheating," but it is still not acceptable. Also, just like in the song, Blanche lies about the things she does -- such as telling them that the boy is the one at fault.

"My, oh my, you sure know how to arrange things / You set it up so well, so carefully." Blanche spends the entire story trying to create an alibi for herself, so that the others see her as someone that she is not. The arranges lies carefully to make herself look better.

"Ain't it funny how your new life didn't change things / You're still the same old girl you used to be." Despite all of her lies and stories, she's still the same person -- a shallow, manipulative girl who hopes to rely on her looks to find a man, so that she can make sure she remains not only well-off, but socially accepted by the others around her.

Finally, the chorus ties it all together:

"You can't hide your lyin' eyes.
And your smile is a thin disguise.
I thought by now, you'd realize
There ain't no way to hide your lyin' eyes."

The chorus describes her character perfectly. The entire story, she tells lies and stories, trying to disguise her true self. In the end, though, she can't hide behind her lies anymore, because, as it turns out, no one actually believed her lies in the first place. Still, even when Stanley exposed her for who she truly was, she continued to try and salvage her reputation, as if she didn't realize that it was the end.

Funny enough, it looks like someone actually made a video about the song:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A08F86ohIBU

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