submissions

Butthole Surfers – Pepper Lyrics

11 years ago

I think this song, like all great art has multiple interpretations that all reinforce the same basic conclusion. I think that heroin use is a theme in the song, but it is used to demonstrate a broader point. I believe that the lines "they were all in love with dying, they were drinking from a fountain, that was pouring like an avalanche coming down the mountain" is a metaphor for all activities that people engage in to excess. Heroin, casual sex, fighting, drinking, and driving when done in a reckless manner are all enjoyable but inevitably lead to tragedy. One cannot really "drink" something like an avalanche, and here the point is made that while these people choose their actions, they cannot control the outcome or what will ultimately happen.

submissions

Rage Against the Machine – Ashes in the Fall Lyrics

12 years ago

Zack seems pretty well versed in history and politics. I think there was widespread corruption in the church, sexual as well, throughout the years. I remember reading about a Catholic Bishop who had sex with little boys and tortured them. Pretty screwed up. So I agree with your interpretation, but Zack probably wrote the line with history in mind, but also with a metaphorical bent regarding power/faith in general.

submissions

System of a Down – B.Y.O.B. Lyrics	12 years ago
They don't use a draft because the draft is politically unpopular. Now we can just ship off the poor instead of hounding everyone and forcing people to enroll in college or flee to Canada. Now that mommy and daddy know that someone else's child will die, it's easy to vote for war.

submissions

Rage Against the Machine – Killing In The Name Lyrics

12 years ago

This song can have multiple meanings. I believe the lyrics that Zack write often hold multiple interpretations that lead to a similar conlusion. Those that work forces can refer to (1) Police Officers (Killing in the Name of the Law ie: Stop in the name of the law.) (2) Armed Forces-Those who are in the military/heavily linked to military (killing in the name of the law; ie: international war law). My personal favorite interpretation is that "those that work forces" can also be likened to the idea of a person who can "work forces" or work wonders in order to get things done. This can be a reference to respected people in the community; ie politicians, lobbyist, consultants, can still belong to a horribly racist part of this country. Remember that the Governor of Alabama one said "Segregation now, segregation forever." I'm sure he probably did a lot of things people thought were "good", making him a part of "those that work forces" but he still put on a white hood at night and slipped into the rabble racist crowd.

submissions

Rage Against the Machine – Bulls on Parade Lyrics

12 years ago

When the stock market is going well, they call it a Bull Market. The companies that do well are "bulls". This song is about corporate welfare, where all the money comes from government war contracts subsidized by the taxpayer. Thus wartime leads to "bulls on parade" because the stock-market is doing so well. Think about Exxon Mobile Profits. It costs the U.S.A (taxpayers like you and me) $306,000,000 a day to run the ships, planes and vehicles of the army due to oil. The army uses as much oil in a year as the Philippines. This also drives up the price of gas here in the U.S due to scarcity for you and me (and every other oil using country on the globe. Yet they paid no income tax and get subsidies. Why? "Bulls on Parade". Bulls on parade can also be a metaphor for the America's propensity for violence and tendency to idolize men of violent response.

submissions

Wilco – Pick Up The Change Lyrics

12 years ago

Sometime the lyrics themselves have to be read in the context of the actual music. This whole track is a bit somber, and certainly not just a straightforward love song. These lyrics are sung with a bit of lamentation as well. The line: "but you know now we're just the same" expresses a wish to go back to a time where they were different people, still exploring each other and yet to discover all their "common" elements. I think it's a song about a relationship that has grown stale, and they keep trying to inject energy into it by "picking up the change".

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