When I'm Gone

The song When I'm Gone by 3 Doors Down would fit really well right on page 81, at the very beginning of chapter 12 when Holden is looking out the taxi window and continues further into depression. I could see it as a movie shot (ironically) - Holden stares out the window at all the stuff that's happening, and sometimes you see a close up of his face, and the song is just playing softly in the backround. Here are the lyrics:



There's another world inside of me that you may never see

There's secrets in this life that I can't hide

Somewhere in this darkness there's a light that I can't find

Maybe it's too far away, maybe I'm just blind

Maybe I'm just blind



So hold me when I'm here, right me when I'm wrong

Hold me when I'm scared, and love me when I'm gone

Everything I am, and everything in me

Wants to be the one you wanted me to be



I'll never let you down, even if I could

I'd give up everything, if only for your good

So hold me when I'm here, right me when i'm wrong

Hold me when I'm scared, you wont always be there

So love me when I'm gone

When I'm gone



When your education xray cannot see under my skin

I won't tell you a damn thing that I could not tell my friends

And roaming through this darkness I'm alive but I'm alone

Part of me is fighting this, but part of me is gone



So hold me when I'm here, right me when I'm wrong

Hold me when I'm scared, and love me when I'm gone

Everything I am, and everything in me

Wants to be the one you wanted me to be



I'll never let you down, even if I could

I'd give up everything, if only for your good

So hold me when I'm here, right me when I'm wrong

Hold me when I'm scared, you won't always be there

So love me when I'm gone.



Maybe I'm just blind.



(repeat chorus part again)



Love me when I'm gone

whoa

love me when I'm gone, when I'm gone

when I'm gone, when I'm gone.

The song "When I'm gone" by 3 doors down accurately conveys Holden through the sense that both of them are struggling with the need to have a companion. Throughout the entire novel, Holden is constantly feeling "so damn depressed and lonesome" (153) - all by himself in New York City. He really wants somebody to be his friend, and he seeks companionship in the form of women, since all the guys he knows are "phonies." We know he's lonely because, aside from him planly stating it, he always "[gets] Jane Gallagher on the brain again. [He gets] her on, and [he can't] get her off" (76). This lonesomeness translates clearly into the lyrics of the song - in fact, the chorus is all about the singer longing for someone to hold him, love him, and help him do things right. Holden also feels this way - he knows that something is wrong, and can't help feeling that if he had somebody to lean on, then they could help him on the road to recovery. Further, the singer says "I'd give up everything, if only for your good". I think all of us believe that in Holden's desperation, he'd give almost anything in order to have a companion, so he doesnt have to keep "roaming through this darkness," "alive but alone". On a final note, the whole minor tone and soft, slow, rhythm of this piece gives listeners that lagging, depressed feeling. A feeling of empathy - you feel like you can relate to the singer, and it makes you feel slightly meloncholy.

Clarissa

When I'm gone