☝️ Key Points
- The song is about loneliness and heartbreak
- The protagonist drinks coffee to stay awake and suppress her sadness
- The question of gender roles is raised
- The protagonist is trapped in her grief and cannot let go
- The song expresses feelings of loneliness and hope for the partner's return
Interpretation
The lyrics of the song "Black Coffee" by
Peggy Lee are about loneliness and heartbreak. The protagonist of the song feels very lonely and can't sleep. She spends the nights walking around the floor and drinking coffee.
"Black coffee, love's a hand-me-down brew" means that love for her is like a worn-out drink that she inherited from others. She feels unhappy and misses the beautiful moments she used to spend with her partner on Sundays. But now she is trapped in a dull and lonely life.
The protagonist talks to her shadow and the hours seem endless. She drinks more and more coffee to stay awake and distract her thoughts from her sadness.
In the second verse of the song, the question is raised if men were born to love and women to cry and worry. Society expects women to stay at home and regret their past, while men can explore the world.
The protagonist spends the morning and the night in mourning and smokes cigarettes. She feels depressed and doesn't have much strength to fight against her feelings. Heartbreak is driving her insane and she can only think if her partner will maybe come back to her someday.
The lyrics of the song "Black Coffee" by Peggy Lee express the feelings of loneliness, sadness, and heartbreak. It shows how a person is trapped in their grief and can't let go of their thoughts from the past.