Framing: Elegy

Power Over Me, by Dermot Kennedy, is a love song that talks about being overtaken by your feelings for someone. In an interview with Complex, Dermot explained the meaning of the song. “The whole song started with just that one idea, that sole lyric of ‘you’ve got that power over me’. The idea of being totally bewitched by somebody, to be totally under their spell, in a really good way. Just totally enamored.” (Espinoza, 2020)

I will be using the elegy frame to analyze the lyrics of this song. The elegy frame means that the person telling the story feels passive, or unable to control the situation. The first lyric I want to look at is, “I’m outrunning the dark, that’s all that love ever taught me” (Kennedy, 2019). With this lyric he reflected on past relationships. When he states that he feels like he is trying to outrun the dark, the darkness symbolizes an ending of a relationship. This is him stating that all his previous relationships have taught him that there is an ending or a breaking point. The lyric, “outrunning the dark”, also makes you as the listener feel that he is in a hopeless place. This is an example of elegy because he does not have total control over the relationship. 

Next we will look at the chorus:

“You’ve got that power over me, my my

Everything I hold dear resides in those eyes

You’ve got that power over me, my my

The only one I know, the only one on my mind

You’ve got that power over me (My my)

You’ve got that power over me (My my)

You’ve got that power over me” (Kennedy, 2019)

The chorus is showing how this person makes him feel. He is clearly infatuated with this person, and feels powerless when it comes to them. The lyric “everything I hold dear resides in those eyes”, perfectly states how this person is the most important thing to him. That statement conveys to the  listener that he would do anything for this person. The line that repeats in the chorus is “You’ve got this power over me”. This is a great example of the elegy frame. It shows that he is not in control of the situation and that the power lies within the other person. Ultimately, whatever happens is up to them.

Using the elegy frame to analyze the lyrics puts an interesting twist on this love song. Rather than focusing on the bliss of a new relationship, he looks back at past loves that didn’t work. The chorus reveals him realizing that he is in trouble because he feels powerless when it comes to them. 

This frame is a great choice and encapsulates the feeling of being taken by someone. The advantage of using this frame is that it effectively shows how Kennedy feels about this person. The disadvantage is that it is a one-sided frame, you are only seeing the relationship from his perspective. Also, using this frame does not give you a sense of this being a healthy relationship. He feels powerless and not able to control the relationship. However, it is normal feeling to have a phase in the beginning of a relationship when you are just completely taken by the other person. As the relationship grows, hopefully, boundaries and mutual respect do too. If his goal was to capture the feeling of falling for someone, using the elegy frame is a great choice. 

Espinoza, J. (2020, January 30). Premiere: Dermot Kennedy Shares “Power Over Me”. Retrieved

 February 26, 2020, from https://www.complex.com/music/2018/10/dermot-kennedy-power-over-me

Kennedy, Dermot. Without Fear. (2019)