submissions
| The Rocky Horror Picture Show – Don't Dream It Lyrics
| 10 years ago
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I think this song explains how Frank became side-tracked with whatever his 'mission' was in coming to earth. He became infatuated with 'sins of the flesh' and gave himself over to 'absolute pleasure,' and now his purpose is to make others do the same. Clearly this didn't sit particularly well with Riff Raff and Magenta, hence their rebellion and the line, 'you're lifestyle's too extreme. |
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| Anna Calvi – The Bridge Lyrics
| 10 years ago
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This song is really quite beautiful. I always imagine that it is about a person dreaming about a loved one that they have lost. The dreamworld is like a bridge, high up in the mountains. It is fragile and could fall at any moment, but the person really wants to remain in this world, where they can be with their loved one.
Yet the dream world is fragile and eventually they fall from it. The moment in the song when Anna's overdubbed vocals cry out 'falling' repeatedly, suggest the desperation of the person falling away from their lost one, back into reality, and the subdued outro is perhaps them waking, alone in the world, longing to go back to the bridge. |
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| Anna Calvi – Suddenly Lyrics
| 10 years ago
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Anna said of this album that it is about the moment when you have to make a decision that could change everything, and how exciting, but also dangerous that is.
Suddenly seems to really hit this message home. This idea of standing on the edge of sadness and leaving something behind suggests a change that could lead to something terrible. On the other hand, the chants of the chorus and melody is quite upbeat, almost joyous, like the narrator has broken out of some kind of oppression. This suggests that whatever the change is, it eventually did more good than harm to the narrator. |
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| Anna Calvi – Piece by Piece Lyrics
| 10 years ago
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This song is about memory and how it begins so vividly in ones mind, but from then on it slowly decays until it is forgotten altogether. The lyrics are pretty good and portraying the sadness of the narrator, who doesn't want to forget, but at the same time, knows that they will eventually.
The music also gets this across, because as it progresses, it is interrupted constantly by buzzes of electronic fuzz that obscures the melody of the song, thus showing a deconstruction of the melody. Anna's sudden guitar solo is another good example of memory corruption. |
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| Anna Calvi – Moulinette Lyrics
| 10 years ago
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This song has such a timeless, almost nostalgic feel to it that I can't help but feel it is a lover's ballad to a loved one, who they have been separated from for many years. They are reflecting on the past through an imagined conversation, yet there is hope that they shall be reunited, hence the 'at last, there will be sound above... gold far and wide, for the things of the past.'
It is a wonderful celebration of memories and youth and quite possibly one of Anna's best songs in terms of lyrics. The imagery is just sublime. |
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| Anna Calvi – Love of My Life Lyrics
| 10 years ago
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This song is interesting, because despite the declaration of the narrator that this girl is the love of their life, the imagery is violent and bloody. In fact, the lyrics also suggest that this is an unrequited love ''your heart won't sing to me' as well as the fact that these people haven't met, 'let's be strangers in the night.'
I think these instances suggest that the narrator has raped this person, who they think, in their delusion, is the love of their life. The aggressive nature of the song reflects the violence of the lyrics, as well as the frustration the narrator feels as the person is probably trying to resist them.
As the song quietens down near the end, it is perhaps after the event, and the narrator is possibly trying to win their lover over with tenderness, but the violent passion dominates at the end and takes over, although I feel that this time perhaps, the lover has changed her mind, given 'the rest was silence there was no reply' line.
A very disturbing song indeed, and I was really surprised to hear this coming from Anna. Nevertheless it works really well and perfectly captures primal, sexual desire at its most visceral. |
submissions
| Anna Calvi – Carry Me Over Lyrics
| 10 years ago
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I think this song is the conflict between the passing of time, propelling us forwards and the human desire to remain in the past. In the first verse, this idea of the body constantly changing and moving forwards in time is symbolised by the train tracks, yet the narrator laments that there's no way back to the start, hence their worry about being 'carried over.'
At the same time though, there is a sense in which the narrator wants to be carried over. 'The dead lie, but you carry me over,' shows how the narrator is able to get through time while everything around them decays and withers.
I think the musical interlude resembles the passing of time, or time catching up with the narrator. It is repetitive and full of hypnotic and energetic beats which give it a monotonous feel, but the sudden sweeps of strings and growling guitars add an ominous affect, reminding the narrator that they too, are being propelled closer and closer to death.
At the end of the song all of this tension builds up and is released, perhaps signifying that time has finally caught up with the narrator, and she no longer runs away from time, but allows it to take over her and perhaps carry her over, into the next life. |
submissions
| Anna Calvi – Bleed Into Me Lyrics
| 10 years ago
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This song is about falling in love with a river, and I think musically it perfectly captures the feel of being swept away under the river.
The tense build up that occurs as Anna intones 'go deeper, deeper' really creates the insatiable passion of the narrator for the river. It;s tense and sensual, until the tension is released as the vocals begin to chant.
Then at the end the song mellows out; the narrator has perhaps left the river and looking back at it, longing to be swept away once again. Once again, the music of this Anna Calvi song is the key to really understanding its meaning. |
submissions
| PJ Harvey – The Devil Lyrics
| 10 years ago
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I think 'The Devil' is a metaphor for a forbidden desire. When the narrator is alone, she cannot fight this desire and it comes for her, consuming her.
In the second verse, I think the narrator has succumbed to this desire and has gone to the place where she thinks her lover will be. The fact that she 'insanely expects' for the lover to know where she is, suggests that the place isn't really of any special significance to the lover, although the narrator feels that the lover should come for them.
The narrator then howls for her lover to come, is pining desperately for him, but they never come. I think the ending of the song suggests that the lover never comes, and the narrator know feels that life is insignificant without them. They have let 'the Devil' in and have been consumed by it. |
submissions
| Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds – Your Funeral, My Trial Lyrics
| 10 years ago
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I feel that this is a song about a man trapped in a relationship with a woman he dislikes, or perhaps a man in love with a woman who merely strings him along. He is 'crooked' because this woman has broken him, and now he is obviously bitter and somewhat deranged. The title of the song naturally suggests a death, and I assume that the death is that of the woman, murdered by the narrator.
I imagine that this is the narrators defence perhaps, at his trial. The first first describes what a broken wreck the relationship has left him in, while the second verses 'a thousand Mary's lured me' suggests the reason for this man's broken state. There is clearly anger and bitterness in Nick's biting delivery of 'Crooked bitches' in the last verse, which depicts the narrators hatred of the woman who once 'lured him.'
A great song about desire, being used and driven insane. It's also quite clear from the carnivalesque organ and piano and the soft coda, that the narrator feels very little guilt in killing this woman for the way she treated him, which makes it all the more chilling. |
submissions
| Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds – West Country Girl Lyrics
| 10 years ago
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I'm not really going to mention PJ Harvey much, since it's pretty much common knowledge that the song is about her.
I think the way this song is written, as a list of descriptions about PJ in terms of her looks and attributes, is done so vividly, that it really captures how one views a person when they are in love with them. That person becomes so vivid in your mind, and you notice all the small minute details, which run through your head, almost to the point of obsession.
Even musically, the song is tainted by Nick's desire for PJ, taking on a folky, 'West Country' vibe that aligns with PJ's home in rural Dorset. This further proves the fact that when somebody is in love, their lover becomes so much a part of them, that it affects and alters everything. |
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| Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds – Watching Alice Lyrics
| 10 years ago
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While I do appreciate the theories about this being about Lewis Carol and Alice Liddell, I think perhaps Nick is just using their names to draw on the ideas of a forbidden kind of love.
The song itself is ambiguous as to who the stalker or Alice is, though the fact that they are separated suggests some kind of forbidden love. The last lines of the song imply that the stalker knows he cannot have this woman, hence why watching her dress is so depressing.
This song really captures desire for the unattainable, and by putting us in the perspective of the stalker, we not only sympathise, but can relate to him, since everyone has craved something that they can't have at one time or another. |
submissions
| Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds – The Kindness of Strangers Lyrics
| 10 years ago
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This is such a tragic song, and it's meaning is pretty self-explanatory. I do feel though that there is a sense of mocking in this song, although I'm not sure if this is to do with the context of the Murder Ballads album being all about humour.
Still, I think if we take it as being mocking, it becomes a lot more interesting. The character of Mary Bellows insists that she is 'a good girl,' but then, for no reason, decides to undo the latch on her door, allowing her killer to enter. It just seems so out of character and stupid, that perhaps Nick is mocking the final message of the song, which is for mothers to keep their girls at home.
Aside from the randomness of Mary's decision to open the door, I can't find anything lyrically in the song to suggest this idea, but I do think Nick's delivery sounds deliberately gloomy, like he is parodying this, very traditional form of song writing, rather than embracing it and its ideals. |
submissions
| Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds – Sorrow's Child Lyrics
| 10 years ago
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I've always thought the lyrics are almost at odds with the music in this one, simply because the lyrics are rather dark, while the music, particularly those piano flourishes, are so beautiful and uplifting.
I think this juxtaposition works though, because the nice piano melody is uplifting, offering a kind of release, while the lyrics remind us that even in moments of euphoria, 'Sorrows Child' is never far away from us, and in fact, we almost can't live without it.
I see Sorrows Child, not just as a metaphor for sadness, but also a sadness that all humans embrace, albeit begrudgingly 'Your loathe, to Befriend her.' In other words, we accept that sorrow is a part of life and even when we are at our most content, it is always waiting for us off in the distance. |
submissions
| Anna Calvi – Sing To Me Lyrics
| 10 years ago
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This song to me is about losing somebody who you deeply care about. The first verse is how the person was remembered in life, and it's with such reverence that it's almost childlike in its depiction, since in life everybody seemed to just be in awe of this person.
Then in the second verse it seems to be describing the body, as well as the narrators yearning to hear their dead loved one sing to them one last time. Again, the musical backing, as well as Calvi's vocal howling and roaring really brings across the emotion of this piece, and bring those already vivid lyrics to life. |
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| Anna Calvi – One Breath Lyrics
| 10 years ago
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The major part of the song is just the tension building as the narrator builds up the courage to say what it is they have to say, taking in a deep breath. The instrumental climax is a wonderful exhalation in which the words are spoken, but we don't hear what is said. I think the focus is more in the feeling of the release, so the words don't particularly matter. The beautiful orchestral arrangements of the strings kind of make it feel as though this release is positive, but those humming guitar lines in the background hint at a bit of darkness, perhaps suggesting that the narrator still fears that whatever they have said might not be taken well. |
submissions
| Anna Calvi – Eliza Lyrics
| 10 years ago
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This song is quite clearly about the desire to be somebody else; somebody who is stronger and more powerful than yourself.
In terms of Anna, I think it's her desire to achieve the strength and power that she feels when she is performing, as she describes that performance allows her to access a part of herself that she cannot do on a daily basis.
The relentless galloping of the drums and build up to that guitar solo and dramatic coda really elevate the yearning of the narrator to be this other person. |
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| Anna Calvi – Cry Lyrics
| 10 years ago
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I think this song is pretty self-explanatory really, and one of the best features is how the music really reflects the lyrics. The narrator is pleading for their lover to show some emotion that they care, wanting them to cry over them. The lover is clearly detached, hence the narrators plea for them to 'show where it hurts.'
The music also reflects this. The verses are delivered tenderly and sweetly, but as the narrator becomes more frustrated, the guitar roars in quite violently, showing the narrators rage and possibly even a desire to hurt their lover to get some form of reaction from them. |
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| Anna Calvi – I'll Be Your Man Lyrics
| 10 years ago
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Some people use this song to question Anna's sexuality, but I think that is taking the interpretation a little too literally. I believe that when Anna says, 'I'll Be Your Man' she is talking about taking on the role of a male in the relationship, ie, supporting her lover, being strong and protecting them. Rather than a sexuality thing, it seems to be a reversal of gender stereotypes. |
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| Anna Calvi – Love Won't Be Leaving Lyrics
| 10 years ago
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In this song the narrator is separated from her lover and longs to somehow reach them. It is a celebration of love, the narrator vowing to never give up her love until she reaches her lover. This song is also sensational to hear live. |
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| Anna Calvi – Morning Light Lyrics
| 10 years ago
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I think this is a celebration of hope. There is a nagging voice in the narrators head telling her that 'she's never been in love' and that nobody lies in wait for them. Yet the narrator maintains hope, using the morning light as a metaphor. |
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| Anna Calvi – Blackout Lyrics
| 10 years ago
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I think this is a song of unrequited love. The narrator is captivated by this person, but with the references to being 'here in the dark' it implies perhaps that the object of their desire hasn't really noticed them. The plea of 'Don't Leave Me' further exemplifies the idea that the object of desire doesn't really care for the narrator. |
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| Anna Calvi – The Devil Lyrics
| 10 years ago
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This entire song and performance acts as a metaphor for complete loss of control; although unlike Desire, where the loss was welcomed, this time there is fear of that loss of control. We don't want to succumb to 'The Devil' but the narrator warns us that it is futile to try to fight against it. |
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| Anna Calvi – First We Kiss Lyrics
| 10 years ago
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I think this song is about being in love and feeling trapped and confined because of it. The last verse also suggests perhaps that the narrator has reached a somewhat elevated state; perhaps by death or being the end of the relationship. It seems that this gives her a sense of perspective, and that the love between them isn't lost. |
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| Anna Calvi – Suzanne & I Lyrics
| 10 years ago
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Anna has said that this song is about falling asleep, meeting somebody in your dream and never waking up. It paints a wonderful picture of a rather lost character who finds solace in the perfect world of dreams and wants to remain there rather than face the real world. |
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| Anna Calvi – Desire Lyrics
| 10 years ago
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Anna has mentioned in many interviews that 'the devil' is a metaphor for hidden desires and a loss of control. In this song it is clear that the narrator has succumbed to her desires but rather than try to fight against it, she has embraced it. |
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| Anna Calvi – No More Words Lyrics
| 10 years ago
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The song is pretty self explanatory; the narrator is burning with desire and praying for her lover to be with her; I suppose you could interpret the 'my prayer' section as a religious thing, meaning that rather than a lover, the narrator longs for god to be with her always as oppose to the lover, which is valid if you consider that several songs on the album deal with a loss of control.
Still, I like to think the narrator is addressing a lover as opposed to a god. |
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| Anna Calvi – Rider To The Sea Lyrics
| 10 years ago
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This is a beautiful instrumental and an excellent introduction to the album; which conjures up images of the waves caressing the tides of the world Anna has created with her album. |
submissions
| The Smiths – Jeane Lyrics
| 11 years ago
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I do think this song lends itself more to Linder Sterling, as appose to Morrissey's aunt. Linder and Morrissey lived together for a while in Manchester and I don't believe they were particularly well off, which reflects in the lyrics.
I think this song is about their time together and perhaps Morrissey explaining why things did not work out. |
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| The Smiths – Girlfriend in a Coma Lyrics
| 11 years ago
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I am fairly certain I watched an interview in which Morrissey stated that this song is about drugs, which actually makes quite a lot of sense.
Many people have noticed that he seems to be kind of sarcastic in this song, particularly with lines like 'I would hate anything to happen to her,' and "I know, I know, it's serious.'
People use this to go on the predictable homosexuality tangent, but I think drugs are perhaps more probable here. Morrissey is clearly mocking the stupidity of drug users.
In this case we have the boyfriend who claims to love his girlfriend, yet he gets her hooked on drugs which eventually leads to disaster, but of course the boyfriend didn't do anything wrong (in his mind) because he'd hate anything bad to happen to her after all.
Also, the line " I know, I know, it's serious" reflects a drug users cavalier attitude towards drugs. They think they'll be fine, that they know what they're doing until it all goes horribly wrong, as is the case in this story. |
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| Patti Smith – This Is The Girl Lyrics
| 11 years ago
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Why are there never any comments on beautiful songs like this? Anyway, this song is about the late, Amy Winehouse. As always Patti delivers a heartfelt song to a fellow artist and it is also nice to see someone of Patti's generation still being inspired by the slowly dimming sparks of talent of the past decades. |
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| The Creatures – Say Lyrics
| 11 years ago
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This song is about Billy Mackenzie, lead singer of The Associates. Billy killed himself in 1997 and Siouxsie was supposed to meet with him a few days before it happened. Hence the line, "We'd meet Saturday; It happened on Wednesday."
Very touching song and one of my favourites from Anima Animus. |
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| Siouxsie and the Banshees – Are You Still Dying, Darling? Lyrics
| 11 years ago
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I think it is definately about Siouxsie's beliefs on euthanaisa, as she said of this song that if she were ever in a comatose state she would want them to turn of the machine instead of leaving her undignified and hooked up to machinery. It isn't about one of the guitarists as far as I know.
I can't see it being about Mcgeoch as he died unexpectedly in his sleep I believe and wasn't in a situation described in this song. |
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| Roxy Music – Chance Meeting Lyrics
| 11 years ago
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A nice simple and direct song that needs no real explaining really. Eno's synth working through the instrumental interludes is mind blowing. |
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| Morrissey – Dear God, Please Help Me Lyrics
| 11 years ago
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I also think that the song is about his love for Rome. He addresses God, who is meant to be the creator of the world and all that, and when he asks "did this kind of thing happen to you" I think he's asking God if he felt the same way when he saw the beautiful world he had created.
Having said that, Morrissey did say that he wasn't celibate around this time, so it could be a mixture of both love for Rome and a person. An interesting note for anyone calling this a 'coming out' song, is that Morrissey has been known to change the line, "then he motions to me, with his hand on my knee," changing the "he" and "his" to "She" and "Her." It makes me wonder if he had more than one relationship in this period and perhaps changed the lyric accordingly. |
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| Siouxsie and the Banshees – Softly Lyrics
| 11 years ago
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SEVERIN: I had a dream that I met Elvis and all he said to me was "Softly". I also had this tape which I got in America. It was shrinkwrapped to a paperback called 'Is Elvis Alive?' and was supposed to be him ringing from a payphone explaining how he'd survived and what he'd been doing. There was nobody on the other end of the line. At the beginning and end of 'Softly' you can just about make out a short wave radio with bits of this tape in it. It's not important for people to know that, but it gives that atmosphere of something a bit more clairvoyant going on. The lyrics are nothing to do with Elvis. Source: Deadline 08/91.
SIOUXSIE: "Softly" was written in the rehearsal studio with just Martin (McCarrick) and Steve (Severin) playing something and me sort of part ad-libbing off of an idea that I had, and then us working it out together after we'd taped it and decided it was something worth doing. Source: Island ear 20/01/92. |
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| Siouxsie and the Banshees – Drifter Lyrics
| 11 years ago
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How the wolves and Native Indians of America were both cast out by the arrival of the white man. "Drifter has a special mood that we wanted to create like the ambience of Ennio Morricone's 'The Big Sleep'." |
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| Siouxsie and the Banshees – Kiss Them For Me Lyrics
| 11 years ago
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SIOUXSIE: Jayne Mansfield was the inspiration behind the song 'Kiss Them For Me'. "This song was sparked off by Jayne Mansfield's story. She typified the dream that Hollywood holds for young women - a fairytale thing." Source: Record Hunter 12/92. |
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| Siouxsie and the Banshees – Rhapsody Lyrics
| 11 years ago
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SIOUXSIE: "The song is deliberately rich. It's about Shostakovitch, a really sad man, who was victimised, ridiculed and then broken by the Stalin regime. I love his music, really powerful. The song's about wishing you could be a consolation to him" Source: NME 1988 |
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| Siouxsie and the Banshees – Turn To Stone Lyrics
| 11 years ago
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No idea what the song is about, but it deserves to have a comment because it is great. I really like the imagary and a lot of Peepshow; I don't know why people write off the latter half of the Banshees career. Peepshow was their last great album, and the others were patchy but had some strong classics of their own. |
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| Siouxsie and the Banshees – Ornaments Of Gold Lyrics
| 11 years ago
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SIOUXSIE: "Eureka's a big part of it, I love that film. That song's about imagining adornment, intoxication. I wish people were more exotic with one another. I was flicking through The Koran, a book there called Ornaments Of Gold, saying "Don't look for riches on earth, you'll get them in Heaven", which is just keeping people who've got nothing content. The song is saying why not have both!" Source: NME 1988. |
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| Siouxsie and the Banshees – Burn-Up Lyrics
| 11 years ago
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Jack be nimble, Jack be quick, Jack Jump Over the Candle Stick is part of a nursery rhyme. I love how Siouxsie and the Banshees merge the childlike world with heavily adult and serious themes. |
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| Siouxsie and the Banshees – Scarecrow Lyrics
| 11 years ago
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I think it's about the way children feel when they are forced to grow up and told that the world of make believe is false and the internal upset that it causes for them. |
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| Siouxsie and the Banshees – Carousel Lyrics
| 11 years ago
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"SIOUXSIE: It is trying to remember what its like when you are a child - its a bit cinematic and it reminds me of films like 'Funhouse' or Hitchcock's Strangers On A Train, with the carousel at the end." Source: BSIDE 02/89. |
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