a linguistic question

[Monica]

i'm writing an interpretation of u2's song and there is a phrase 'I was down the hold' (Haven't seen you in quite a while, I was down the hold, just passing time)

What does that mean? I have no idea and that's pretty important so HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEELP please :)

[Basil]

I have no idea if this is what he's talking about, but a "hold" is a area on a boat:

HOLD : A compartment below deck in a large vessel, used solely for carrying cargo. (from a glossary of nautical terms)

The fact that he says "down the hold" and a hold is below the deck might suggest that's what he's talking about; plus, he's just been "passing time"-- that might be analogous to the state of being cargo (inanimate, just carried along).

Maybe?

[baddad]

I have no idea if this is what he's talking about, but a "hold" is a area on a boat:

HOLD : A compartment below deck in a large vessel, used solely for carrying cargo. (from a glossary of nautical terms)

The fact that he says "down the hold" and a hold is below the deck might suggest that's what he's talking about; plus, he's just been "passing time"-- that might be analogous to the state of being cargo (inanimate, just carried along).

Maybe?

Si' Senior! *nod to basil's avatar*

Someone "down the hold" might also be buried (busy) in his work, focused on other aspects of her/his life and not paying attention to what is going on above decks (or around their specific environment). And the hold could be your apartment, or a metaphysical location, or you could be stuck in your head, in your car......etc.

Gotta be honest though, I'm unfamiliar with the passage quoted (re: U2)

[subterranean]

Monica, maybe you can relate it to the previous lyrics or the ones after the sentence "down the hold". Better understading may come if you relate it with other sentences and see it as a union.

[Monica]

thanks for your help. i think i'll make something of it :) i'm getting to work :nod:

[Jay]

SubT, here ya go ;)

Until The End Of The World - U2

Haven't seen you in quite a while
I was down the hold just passing time
Last time we met was a low-lit room
We were as close together as a bride and groom
We ate the food, we drank the wine
Everybody having a good time
Except you
You were talking about the end of the world

I took the money
I spiked your drink
You miss too much these days if you stop to think
You lead me on with those innocent eyes
You know I love the element of surprise
In the garden I was playing the tart
I kissed your lips and broke your heart
You...you were acting like it was
The end of the world

(Love...love...)

In my dream I was drowning my sorrows
But my sorrows, they learned to swim
Surrounding me, going down on me
Spilling over the brim
Waves of regret and waves of joy
I reached out for the one I tried to destroy
You...you said you'd wait
'til the end of the world

[subterranean]

Well it sure is refers to a certain place..

[Jessika]

Hi Monica!

Hey, i think i'll put this in a new thread later, but, personally, i strongly recommend you this link for any linguistics doubt you have :)

http://forum.wordreference.com

It's really worthy.

As i have said in the wordreference forum, i consider these two forums as brothers ^_^ because this one is related to literature and everyday things, and the other one is related to people, culture and languages/linguistics (any language).

So, if there are people here learning a second language.. hey, you'd better visit the link above ^_^