Pronounal metamorphoses in “The Man Who Would Be King” by R.J. Dio

The article examines the conflict structure in the song lyrics of “The Man Who Would Be King” (2004) by the American rock musician R.J. Dio. The article emphasizes the cross-interference of literary framework and grammar. The high compression of the song lyrics intensifies the polysemantic potential of words, pronouns in particular. The choice of pronouns, in turn, allows spaciously depicting the status and progress of the lyrical character, conveyed by Dio in singular and plural simultaneously. The pronouns help to designate different aspects of the conflict within the lyrics: “we and the infidels”, “me and (Holy) Father/God”, “me and my allies in faith”, and to escalate the conflict of the lyrical character with himself. In the absence of response, Dio’s narration becomes an unrequited dialogue, a one-sided reasoning of the lyrical character with himself. The article draws parallels with the story “The Man Who Would Be King” (1888) by R. Kipling, which for Dio serves an intertextual reference, taking us back to earlier events in British history, revealing a common motif of the White Man’s Burden, a colonial mission, and the archetype of the crusader and liberator for both stories. The article concludes that it was “them”, the defeated infidels, who were the dragging force that made the lyrical character grow as “I” and “we”. “Them” also served a basis for the uneasy changing authority of “him”, the super-ego – (Holy) Father/God, King, the Devil, the Man – testifying to the important role of pronouns in the progress of the song’s plot.