Famed academic Dr. O.R. Chard has kindly agreed to analyze the following poem:

Remembrance of Who I Am, by Britney Spears

No more chains
That you gave me.
Enough of pain
Now I’m craving
Something sweet, so delight
How do you stand sleeping at night?

(Dr. Chard: Criticism so far published has concentrated upon two areas in interpreting this poem. First, the conclusion that the poem is an experience shown from the point of view of a new mother who is frustrated with her choice of provider. Second, that the spacing and odd syntax are suggestive of Spears’ harried life in the media spotlight. The effect here is to communicate hustle, bustle, and speed, but also the child-like noise of children playing, perhaps imitating a whistle.)

Silly patterns that we follow
You pull me in
I’m being swallowed.
By the ones you think you love
They pull you down
You can’t see up above.

(Dr. Chard: A scatological semantic field begins to emerge from the poem. The poem contains a breathless quality, and the language is structured like a nursery rhyme. Unfortunately, it reflects a limited linguistic knowledge of children’s songs and chants. The slang reference to “silly patterns,” as I would interpret, means to defecate in one’s pants.)

Manipulation is the key
They screw it in
Because you’re naive.

You come to me now
Why do you bother?
Remember the Bible
The sins of the Father.
What you do
You pass down
No wonder why
I lost my crown.

(Dr. Chard: This passage serves merely to illustrate the propensity of the poem to contain multiple, and equally important, readings within itself. How can one define “evil” without recourse to “good”? The struggle to determine “truth” in this poem remains undecidable since neither one nor the other can assume the supremacy.)

You don’t see me now
You ask yourself why
My crown is back
And it’s way too high
For you to be in my presence
Especially my son
You should bow down
I’ve only just begun.

(Dr. Chard: Sexual orgies, intoxication, deviant sexual practices, nature, and clear hints of pedophilia abound in every line of this poem.)

You’re awakening
The phone is ringing.
Resurrection of my soul
The fear I’m bringing.

What will you say
And what will you do?
She’s not the same person that you’re used to.

(Dr. Chard: To return to the inside / outside dichotomy: the reader is first pulled inside the poem since the visual elements of the poem fail to convey direct, unimpeded access to the thing itself. The reader goes inside the poem — the verbal / semantic — to find meaning. However, because of the decomposition of the words in the poem, the multiple puns, allusions, and meanings, the reader is forced into other systems of signification outside the poem. Thus, the reader looks outward toward fields of French and numerical representation. This oscillation between inside / outside is one of the many undecided issues within the poem.)

You trick me one, twice, now it’s three.
Look who’s smiling now
Damn, it’s good to be me!

*This is for everyone who thinks they know me…

(Dr. Chard: You got me. I have no idea what the hell this chick is talking about. The last line, in particular, is likely to remain a mysterious mystery for those who would attempt to interpret its mysterious mysteriousness.)

Thank you, Dr. Chard.

(And thanks to Iain Landles as well.)

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