| Sufjan Stevens – Sister Lyrics | 17 years ago |
|
What the water wants is sailboats in the middle of hurricanes. Humans absolutely do not want this. But what the water wants is sun-kissed land to run into and back. Humans do want this. What Sufjan wants is reconciliation with his sister "somewhere" in Detroit, but maybe reconciliation (or even communication) is like a hurricane to his sister. Or hopefully like children at the beach. Sufjan has a fishstone to remind him he's glad. Reading an earlier comment on this page, I'd say that glad people do not need reminding. Christians (and people of other religions) do sometimes because although we believe we should be constantly joyful, the reality is that often we are not (and Sufjan is all about writing songs inspecting the reality of religious life). This line runs right into Sufjan's bottle of his relics (baby teeth) to remind him of childhood and innocence. [By the way, Iron & Wine sings about saving baby teeth as a way to preserve childhood.] Yet, to say "like a tear in the bag" feels dehumanizing; visually stimulating yes, but still dehumanizing. I've never thought of my head as a bag nor my mouth as a tear, but then again I'm not a poet. To me, I think Sufjan feels bad about something he did to his sister in their childhood or adolescence. Thus, his childhood (and his religion) have mixed emotions. He wants reconciliation, but is not sure whether it will be seen as a hurricane or not. |
|
| Low – Missouri Lyrics | 18 years ago |
|
The most apparent meaning is in Mormon beliefs and history. Mormons believe the garden of eden was in what is now Missouri. The Mormons went to Missouri, hoping to regain paradise, but mobs forced them out of the state. Also, Mormon followers sacrificed one day in ten to build a temple. People supposedly donated their best dishes to be ground up and added to the plaster on the exterior of the temple, thus making the temple sparkle in the sun. But given all that... I think "misery" well replaces "missouri" in the song to give a double meaning. Though Mormons believe Adam and Eve did the right thing to leave the Garden of Eden, it is full of mixed emotions because of the bitter and sweet world they entered. Also, Missouri for the Mormons has the same feeling because there are such grand prophecies about the place, but so many murders too. |
|
| Low – Two-Step Lyrics | 18 years ago |
| This is about prayer. | |
| Low – Silver Rider Lyrics | 18 years ago |
|
I don't know what Low means, but this song speaks to me of God. There are times in life when I need more than just His voice, when I long to go with Him because even prayer won't let me fully commune the way I want to with Him. I only own two of their albums, this one and The Things We Lost in the Fire, so I don't know if Low does this a lot, but this song quotes its melody from Closer on the other album (...hold me closer than that). They both share a common motif of unfulfillment. I think they use the same melody to encode those same feelings into the current song. |
|
| Low – Silver Rider Lyrics | 18 years ago |
|
I don't know what Low means, but this song speaks to me of God. There are times in life when I need more than just His voice, when I long to go with Him because even prayer won't let me fully commune the way I want to with Him. I only own two of their albums, this one and The Things We Lost in the Fire, so I don't know if Low does this a lot, but this song quotes its melody from Closer on the other album (...hold me closer than that). They both share a common motif of unfulfillment. I think they use the same melody to encode those same feelings into the current song. |
|
| Iron & Wine – Sodom, South Georgia Lyrics | 18 years ago |
|
I love this song. My own father died a few years back. It is now my tradition to visit his grave every Christmas morning. It provides a nice alternative to the business that would be Christmas morning otherwise. I didn't ever think about white tongues being tombstones. That makes perfect sense. Thanks for that. One help I can offer is regarding the first metaphor. Perhaps it is too obvious for some to think it worth posting, but in case someone hadn't thought of it, "wide as the ring of a bell" has a mixed feel to it, just as "died smiling" does. A church bell is usually a very happy sound in a small town, but here, of course it is a death knell, which has confused feelings. Unlike other posts might lead me to think, I believe that his father's death was a solemn, peaceful time throughout the town, with a wide ringing knell. Anyway, someone help me with the title. It was mentioned earlier that Sodom is a biblical city famous for it's evil. Specifically, it was known for perverse sexuality, including forced sexual intercourse with children, including incest. Is that history at play here at all, or was Sam not trying to be that specific, just wanted a mixed feeling (as mentioned in an earlier post) and chose Sodom perhaps for the aliteration? Any thoughts? |
|
* This information can be up to 15 minutes delayed.