figuratively and metaphorically

[Vladv1]

"Thorpe, now fronting his own rock’n’roll outfit, The Aztecs, Bon got to let his hair down – figuratively and metaphorically – with a band that seemed closer to the heart of what he was really all about. Or at least that part of him that still wanted to play rough with the big boys. Describing the Bon he knew in those days as ‘a f**king madman’, Thorpe recalled for Clinton Walker a young tearaway high on speed and dope and anything else he could get into his system, swigging from bottles of whisky and ready to ‘have a blue’ with whoever stood in his road. There was ‘Bon the cabaret singer . . . making a living in a tuxedo with a bow tie’ and there was the Bon who sat backstage with Billy and his boys, ‘smoking dope and drinking booze [and] jumping up onstage and having a wail whenever he could get a look in’. Thorpe recalled Bon telling him one night when he was high: ‘You know I’m going to make it, I’m going to f**king make it.".

Mick Wall, "Hell Ain't A Bad Place To Be".

Don't both the bolded words mean the same? Why use the indentical words? Please comment.

 

[emsr2d2]

@Vladv1 This book you're reading seems to be chock-full of swearing (curse words). You've posted several excerpts that contain such words. Please note that they must be disguised in some way. The best way is to use asterisks. I've made the changes for you in three or four threads, including this one, but you must start doing it yourself.

 

[teechar]

Don't both the bolded words mean the same?

I agree.

Why use the indentical identical words?

No "the", and note the correct spelling of "identical".

Please comment.

It seems like lax phrasing.

 

[SoothingDave]

I imagine the author meant "literally and metaphorically."

 

[Vladv1]

I imagine the author meant "literally and metaphorically."

What does "letting your hair down" mean metaphorically?

 

[SoothingDave]

Relaxing. Being yourself. Not having to conform to the expectations of others.

Think of a professional woman. Hair done up in a way that pulls the hair back, like a bun or braids.

She gets home, and the first thing she does is kick off her tight professional shoes and removes the tie or clip holding her hair up. She lets her hair down.

 

[Vladv1]

Relaxing. Being yourself. Not having to conform to the expectations of others.

Think of a professional woman. Hair done up in a way that pulls the hair back, like a bun or braids.

She gets home, and the first thing she does is kick off her tight professional shoes and removes the tie or clip holding her hair up. She lets her hair down.

Thanks, and what might "letting your hair down" mean literally in Bon's context?

 

[SoothingDave]

Have you seen any photos of him? He had long hair. I'm sure he had to have it tamed for his cabaret act in a tuxedo and bow tie.