Laura
Julie London Lyrics
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Of something that never happened, yet you recall it well
You know the feeling of recognizing someone
That you've never met as far as you could tell, well
Laura is the face in the misty light
Footsteps that you hear down the hall
The laugh that floats on a summer night
That you can never quite recall
And you see Laura on the train that is passing through
Those eyes, how familiar they seem
She gave your very first kiss to you
That was Laura but she's only a dream
The lyrics of Julie London’s song, Laura is filled with the theme of reminiscence and memory. The song portrays the feeling of half-remembered remembrances, the sense of familiarity with people that we have never met in reality. Laura is depicted as a face in the misty light, footsteps heard down the hall, and the laughter that floats on a summer night that one can never quite recall. The song describes how the singer sees Laura on a train that passes by, with eyes familiarly attributable to Laura. The singer realizes that Laura was an entity in a dream, and she had given them their first kiss.
The first stanza of the song paints a vivid picture of mistaken memory or a remembrance that never happened. It creates a sense of nostalgia, which is a recurring theme throughout the tune. The second stanza conveys Laura as an entity that is ubiquitous in the mind but not anyone visible in reality. Through a description of Laura, the song creates a sense of nostalgia, sentimentality, and memory that exist in various forms.
In conclusion, Julie London’s song Laura is a complex and beautifully crafted piece that displays a tremendous amount of emotions and creates vivid imagery through its lyrics.
Line by Line Meaning
You know the feeling of something half remembered
The sensation of recollecting an experience in only a vague and incomplete manner
Of something that never happened, yet you recall it well
That strange sense of knowing an occurrence that is entirely imagined or unreal
You know the feeling of recognizing someone
That sense of familiarity with another person
That you've never met as far as you could tell, well
Despite not having met the person before at any point in time, still feeling acquainted with them
Laura is the face in the misty light
Laura is the image of someone who is physically distant or ethereal, yet still vivid and recognizable
Footsteps that you hear down the hall
The faint sound of audio cues that lend to vividness of the memory
The laugh that floats on a summer night
Recollecting the distant and vague auditory details that lend a surreal quality to the memory
That you can never quite recall
That although this made-up experience exists, it's not remembered in any tangible way
And you see Laura on the train that is passing through
The momentary glimpse of things that are imaginative but not entirely impossible
Those eyes, how familiar they seem
Even though they are not real, they still carry a sense of recognition with them
She gave your very first kiss to you
Laura personifies events that were never real, such as one's initial romantic experiences
That was Laura but she's only a dream
Even though it feels real, it's not more than a hazy fantasy.
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: David Raksin
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind