submissions
| British Sea Power – Carrion Lyrics
| 17 years ago
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I mostly agree with Breakfast - though I hadn't thought about it in that way so much until now! This weekend I was visiting london with some American relatives, and we went aboard the HMS Belfast (a world war 2 cruiser converted into a museum on the Thames) and it really made me think of the "from Scapa Flow to Rotherhithe I've felt the lapping of an ebbing tide" line - like how the naval power has gone from the battles in Scapa Flow and the North Sea to a reminder of what used to be on a sand bar on the Thames. |
submissions
| British Sea Power – Remember Me Lyrics
| 17 years ago
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I'd initially thought of this song as being just about growing old - worrying about health, "did you notice when you began to disappear" could be like Alzheimers or senility or something, or "did half of you pass away" could be like an old person's wife or husband dying. But then with the video, and the "from the here and now to eternity" (From here to eternity being a film and novel about the second world war) made me think of it in another way - it could be about the veterans of the world wars growing old and dying. The lines about "when you listen to yourself does it feel like somebody else" could refer to them thinking how much they've changed, from being young soldiers in a different world, to old people in the modern day. |
submissions
| X Japan – Forever Love Lyrics
| 18 years ago
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I quite like this song... not really for the lyrics (though they're good), but for the sound, I remember it at the end of X, it's got the right sort of sound for a sci fi soundtrack or something. Especially the solo in the middle, sounds like it belongs in a space opera or something. |
submissions
| Neil Young – Thrasher Lyrics
| 18 years ago
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One of my favourite Neil Youg songs... I heard this a couple of years ago, in the first week of my first term of university. A lot of my friends from back home stayed there, and are still there (I'm from very rural, mainly agricultural county in England)... Some I was glad to leave behind, others less so. This just reminds me of that feeling... and the lyrics seem to apply a great deal to that situation... the people you leave behind seeming to stay the same, while you move on. Not at all what it was originally about probably but that's just what it means to me. |
submissions
| The Clash – This Is England Lyrics
| 18 years ago
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How do you change the lyrics? these are completely wrong - it should be "Big British boots go kick Bengali in the head, police sit watching, the newspapers being read". It's a reference to the anti-Asian racism that was prevalent in Britain in the late 1970s, and the rise of the National Front. The Police were often seen as being racist and not doing enough about fascist/racist groups. |
submissions
| The Clash – The Prisoner Lyrics
| 18 years ago
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To me this song seems to be expressing a desire to escape from being a "prisoner" of boring everyday life... about a year ago when I first heard it it instantly became one of my favourite songs |
submissions
| The Clash – The Prisoner Lyrics
| 18 years ago
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To me this song seems to be expressing a desire to escape from being a "prisoner" of boring everyday life... about a year ago when I first heard it it instantly became one of my first songs |
submissions
| The Clash – English Civil War (Johnny Comes Marching Home) Lyrics
| 18 years ago
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Joe Strummer said the song was about his fears of the rise of the far right in England, as at the time the Clash were popular, the National Front were becoming worryingly strong... I always interpreted the "nobody understands it could happen again" bit as referring to the rise of a right-wing dictatorship in European countries (eg Nazi Germany) - and the refrence to hiding radios under the stairs and the "new party army" seem to back this up. Great song though, the tune is perfect and creates an air of an ominous militant build-up. |
submissions
| Mike Oldfield – Moonlight Shadow Lyrics
| 18 years ago
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I haven't heard this song for a while and don't know a great deal about it - I remember my mum always used to think it was about someone killed by the IRA or another terrorist group in Northern Ireland - maybe cos of the celtic undertone... I don't know though, just an idea. |
submissions
| Elvis Costello – Oliver's Army Lyrics
| 18 years ago
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opivy7898 had generally the right idea - needs a bit of Britain's military involvements post WW2 - "we could be in Palestine" - Britain was involved in a conflict in Palestine in 1947/1948, between Israelis and Arabs. "Overrun by the Chinese line" refers to the Korean war, when China intervened on behalf of North Korea - the Gloster regiment was "overrun" at the battle of Imjin River. The Mersey and the Thames and the Tyne... well, Liverpool is on the Mersey, London on the Thames, Newcastle on the Tyne. These cities were all big industrial cities, so with the decline of British industry post warits easy to see how these would be fertile grounds for army recruitment. "Checkpoint Charlie" was on the Berlin wall - It was of key importance during the Berlin Airlift (late 40s/early 50s? not sure of specific date). Though the "Johannesburg" reference could apply to the Boer war, I thought it could just as easily apply to places such as Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) that border on South Africa, and which had their independence struggles in the 1960s and 1970s, in which a great many mercenaries from European countries were involved (hence the out of work... so having to become a mercenary or something). Then again, Churchill was involved in British military history in both the Boer and First World wars, as well as the Second World War, so it could be a reference to the Boer War. Just my interpretation... hope that helps. Oh - and "White Nigger" refers to the Irish... they used to be treated in Britain almost as badly as black people were treated in the U.S. |
submissions
| Dropkick Murphys – Fields of Athenry Lyrics
| 19 years ago
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Great song about a tragic historical event. I have Irish blood on both sides of my family. Although there's a couple of points that need correction in whats been said. The IRA that fought for freedom in the 1920s isn't the same as the IRA that exists today. The IRA that exists today is actually called the Provisional IRA, and is a sectarian terrorist organisation, , who continue to participate in activities such as "punishment beatings", kneecappings and executions on the basis of religion or political viewpoint, and who also have a history of bombing civilian targets and killing both catholics and protests, irish and english. There are similar groups that carry out similar activities that are protestant, however they want Northern Ireland to remain a part of Great Britain. The famine was a great tragedy, as was most of Ireland's experience at the hands of England, but although the fight today has its roots in that fight, it lacks moral justification and has resorted to an "eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth" game of revenges. |
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