The Proclaimers v Katy Perry

A line from The Proclaimers song, 'Sunshine on Leith' has skewered me since I saw Jane Horrocks delivering it in the film that takes its name from the song. This is the line.

While I'm worth my room on this earth
I will be with you

My eyes prick with tears every time I hear it (and I've played it over and over). I think the rhetorical power of the line, other than in that simple rhyme, is the use of the word 'room' instead of 'place'.  It is both more concrete an image and a more modest one, suggesting not a natural right but an earned reward.  It suggests both humility and a proper pride. Pretty darned rare in modern pop. It certainly fails to match Katy Perry's "I went from zero to hero", as an example of unashamed narcissism.

http://psycnet.apa.org/psycinfo/2011-05681-001/