Hi, does the phrase “to the left” have any special meaning or is just that the great Beyonce can afford to use this line in her song withou giving any linguistic explanation? Not her job, I suppose. I mean, when I first heard the song on the radio I didn’t know why she would order her ex-boyfriend to put his things in a box to the left? Why not to the right or in the corner? Anyway, here are the lyrics I’m talking about:
[i][b]To the left
To the left
To the left
To the left[/b]
Mmmm to the left, to the left
Everything you own in the box to the left
In the closet, thats my stuff
Yes, if I bought it, baby please don’t touch (don’t touch)[/i][YSaerTTEW443543]
I don’t think I know the song, but the “to the left” bit reminds me of a military marching chant. I believe there’s one that goes like this: To the left, to the left, to the left, right, left.
I don’t know the song at all so I can’t guess what the writer meant.
I think that Yankee has perhaps mis-heard the military chant… A common order in military drill is ‘By the left… Quick March’ and marching cadence is often called, in a somewhat chanting tone, “Left,Right,Left,Right,Left,Right,Leeeeeft.”
The term “By the Left” means that each person in the rank is to align him (or herself) with the person to the immediate left. I somehow doubt, of course, that this has anything to do with the song.
Left can also refer to the liberal/conservative communist/fascist political spectrum of course… but is it possible the song-writer was simply saying “that’s your’s… this is mine” and arbitrarily chose left instead of right?