submissions
| The Waterboys – The Whole Of The Moon Lyrics
| 1 year ago
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In the aftermath of an abusive relationship, I saw this song as the other person knowing everything better than I did. Then I went through therapy, and this song takes on a very different meaning. The person who "sees the whole of the moon" doesn't, and they are posturing to keep the other person feeling down about themselves. |
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| Apoptygma Berzerk – Mourn Lyrics
| 4 years ago
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I'm fairly certain Stephan has said this song was a tribute to Kurt Cobain [hence the sampled/fx-treated Bowie riff from The Man Who Sold The World that Nirvana famously covered not so long before Kurt's death]. Knowing that, it seems to me that the lyrics are about Kurt just wanting to be the person in the audience at that point, them idolizing him, him taking his life, therefore showing he's as vulnerable as anyone, not some rock god, and also asking "do you really still want this?" |
submissions
| Sonic Youth – The Diamond Sea Lyrics
| 9 years ago
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I think this song is about someone losing themselves in a full blown cocaine addiction. They are railing off the mirror, they are becoming narcisistic from the coke's added confidence. "The mirror is going to crack when he breaks into it and you'll never be the same" seems to indicate this person made it a habit from the first line, and it changed their personality.
"Time takes its crazy toll
Mirror fallin' off the wall
You better look out for the looking glass girl
Cause she's gonna take you for a fall"
For a while the coke made this person feel awesome and confident, but after time it's not cutting it any more, they are getting moody and starting to lose the plot. "The looking glass girl" reinforces my drug theory, as it is a reference to Alice from Alice in Wonderland and Alice Through the Looking Glass, which was sooo druggy. It also might refer to the comedown effects, where one goes from feeling on top of the world to feeling like utter shit. The tone of the song also changes here, more melancholy sounding. Then in the last part it mentions that "nothing's free", perhaps meaning that the person has come down, and now they need more, and are realizing they are broke as they pissed their money away on a very overpriced drug. |
submissions
| Foetus – (Not Adam) Lyrics
| 10 years ago
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Possibly about crib death, but there is an element of shaken baby in there too [neck snapping]. Then there is only horrible remorse and the inability to deal with it, so the person continues lying with the dead and decaying baby. |
submissions
| Beborn Beton – Deeper Than The Usual Feeling Lyrics
| 10 years ago
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I've never thought of it this way until now, but I think MusikNote nailed it. It *sounds* like she left him unexpectedly, as in broke up. But between the sadness and the impossibility of any further communication with her, I think maybe this song is in the same vein as Emma [by Hot Chocolate, but known to me from the Sisters of Mercy version] |
submissions
| Filter – Gerbil Lyrics
| 10 years ago
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Given that he'd left NIN shortly before recording this album, and the piss-take on the Downward Spiral riff at the end, I'd always assumed this was a jab at Trent Reznor. Given that TDS was about Trent getting carried away with whatever addiction he was dealing with, it seems plausible that there were tensions with his live band, no? |
submissions
| Leonard Cohen – First We Take Manhattan Lyrics
| 10 years ago
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Perhaps comparing the ugliness of consumerism to past atrocities? What happened to his sister... was it the Holocaust? Or Anorexia? The drugs that keep you thin... Auschwitz? or pressure to fit in as a thin model? I think he saw things that were wrong on every side, and is drawing the lines together. Some may not seem so catastrophic, but still destructive nonetheless. Also nazi germany refrences but also "manhattan" as in "project" refrences... there is no good guy here. The "heroes" killed many like the villains, just in a different way. And now the culture is subtly killing with shallowness and a pressure to be a certain way. The nazis would want you to be aryan or dead. The Americans want you to be skinny and attractive, to the point where people will starve to death to reach that ideal. [this is a 1980's narative. these days it seems Americans are pushed to be obese to the point of death :P ]
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submissions
| The Creatures – Exterminating Angel Lyrics
| 11 years ago
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Annihilation in a war for oil.
War shoved down our throats by the media, so fuck it, laugh at it, we are doomed to human stupidity from the ruling classes.
Poor little rich thing... oh you have problems? paying too much for gas? fuck you! people are dying for your car's gas, you cunt! |
submissions
| Swans – Failure Lyrics
| 11 years ago
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I can relate so much to this. Working all the time, never getting paid what you should, because the bastards keep the wealth while you fail at life. And it's a horrible spiral. The money slips through your hands, as you struggle to make rent and pay bills, spend it on the vices you need to cope with the stress of it all.
The part about his parents I believe is due to the fact that if you come from that class you are likely to be stuck there, while those who came from money can be the bastards who keep themselves comfortable on the backs of their workforce.
It really sucks working 5 or 6 days a week, while struggling to pay rent and bills, have little, live in a shithole, and have no idea where to go from there. I see people on the street, and I fear, I can see how they got there, because despite being employed and having the same job for years, my cost of living keeps going up while my wage stays put, year after year. Then you have to take out loans to make rent, and at 20% you just dig yourself deeper. But you don't know how to make it out of that spiral...
I relate all too well to this song. |
submissions
| And One – Sometimes Lyrics
| 11 years ago
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I've always thought this song was about someone growing up in a repressive household and coming to terms with their gender or sexuality. |
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| Ween – Pandy Fackler Lyrics
| 11 years ago
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The title comes from a bootleg tape. Ween have made tapes for their friends over the years, and would label them with the friend's name. They made one for a Randy Fackler, which got bootlegged and ended up online with the typo "Pandy Fackler". They came across this and found it hilarious, so they used the name in a song. |
submissions
| Skold – Here Comes the Thunder Lyrics
| 11 years ago
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Anyone else think this is a jab at Marilyn Manson? Tim Skold left MM shortly before this album, and some of the lyrics seem to point to MM being an unreliable coke addict.
"Put it all in a line then knock it over
Wrapped up in adulation, you better take a bow
Do the math, seems the lines keep getting shorter
Smothered in agitation, playing the villain now"
Lines are often references to lines of cocaine in songs. The lines getting shorter would refer to building tollerance to the drug and needing more to feed the addiction. Playing the villain seems like a reference to the new MM album, Born Villain. |
submissions
| New Model Army – Vagabonds Lyrics
| 12 years ago
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I think perhaps this song is about the travellers in the UK. A culture of people who live in RV's and explore the country they live in, only to have the authorities oppress them. I saw a documentary on an incident in the mid 80's where mobs of police swarmed a gathering they had at Stonehenge and beat them, beat their children, and forced them to watch their homes burn. So they attempt a life of true freedom, but are still prisoners to the system that oppresses them.
Alas, I could be wrong...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Beanfield |
submissions
| New Model Army – Green And Grey Lyrics
| 12 years ago
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Sometimes a band's name is used mockingly. jeglikerkuken is right about this band, they are very anti-war and anti-nationalist. A similar example is the band Die Krupps. They are named after the Krupps family/corporation who supplied munitions to the nazi's in the 30's and 40's. Their name is not in tribute, it is to remind people of the horrors that occurred and how these willing participants in such atrocities still linger today. |
submissions
| Bondage Fairies – Indie Girl Lyrics
| 12 years ago
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Taking the piss out of "indie" types [hipsters]. Those who like "independent" [sometimes marketed that way by major labels] music and act like they are so underground and unique, yet they are acting in a fashion conforming to all the other "indie" hipster types. [see: Pitchfork, any issue of NOW magazine] |
submissions
| Bondage Fairies – Gay Wedding Lyrics
| 12 years ago
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I think it's just a song about going to a gay wedding, getting too drunk and making an ass of themselves by saying stupid shit without realizing the embarrassment of what they've said until it's too late. |
submissions
| Mesh – I Don't Think They Know Lyrics
| 13 years ago
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I always thought it was from the view of someone trying to help someone escape abuse, but having to be careful for fear she will be killed if the person finds out what's going on. Mainly due to the seperate first and 3rd person views. |
submissions
| Front 242 – Masterhit Lyrics
| 13 years ago
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Perhaps it's about a pet snake that escapes its terrarium and attacks the person who has forgotten to feed it. |
submissions
| Mindless Self Indulgence – 3 S' Lyrics
| 14 years ago
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I'm pretty sure the title and "stupid, sadistic and suicidal" are references to the movie Hardware where Jill refers to having children as "stupid, sadistic and suicidal" and her boyfriend, Moses, says "Stupid, Sadistic and Suicidal, what is that, the 3 S's? |
submissions
| Mindless Self Indulgence – 3 S' Lyrics
| 14 years ago
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I'm pretty sure the title and "stupid, sadistic and suicidal" are references to the movie Hardware where Jill refers to having children as "stupid, sadistic and suicidal" and her boyfriend, Moses, says "Stupid, Sadistic and Suicidal, what is that, the 3 S's? |
submissions
| Mindless Self Indulgence – 3 S' Lyrics
| 14 years ago
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I'm pretty sure the title and "stupid, sadistic and suicidal" are references to the movie Hardware where Jill refers to having children as "stupid, sadistic and suicidal" and her boyfriend, Moses, says "Stupid, Sadistic and Suicidal, what is that, the 3 S's? |
submissions
| Beborn Beton – Poison Lyrics
| 14 years ago
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I think this song is about realizing the American dream is a dangerous myth made up of destructive tendencies, poor health choices and wasteful consumerism. |
submissions
| Beborn Beton – Another World Lyrics
| 14 years ago
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It seems this song is about suicide, however something doesn't add up. His ashes are buried in a location where people won't find them. Either he killed, cremated and buried himself, or the person who is worried about them finding him had a hand in it, which makes a lot more sense. |
submissions
| Wolfsheim – The Sparrows and the Nightingales Lyrics
| 14 years ago
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I think this song is about how organized religion divides people in the world and is used to justify violent conflicts. Many wars have resulted from religious ideological conflicts and in times of war every side tries to justify their actions by telling themselves "God is on our side!". I think the like "God is on your side" in this song is very sarcastic.
This song also reminds me greatly of The Great Commandment by Camouflage in it's nature. |
submissions
| Voltaire – The Man Upstairs Lyrics
| 14 years ago
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I saw Voltaire live last night. Before playing this song he stated that is has nothing to do with religion and is simply about the guy who lived above him. |
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| Propagandhi – I Want You To Want Me Lyrics
| 15 years ago
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How did this thread turn into a punk-points contest? I guess the 'punk masters' thing would be a matter of opinion [obviously the Pistols did bring attention to the music to a wide audience, and Crass took the ideals and lived them instead of just singing about them, etc], however, isn't one point of punk that anyone can start a band, that a scene can thrive with many bands who are equals, not rockstar demi-gods? |
submissions
| Fad Gadget – Collapsing New People Lyrics
| 15 years ago
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I think this is a tongue in cheek critique of the goth scene. First of all, Collapsing New People is a pisstake on "collapsing new buildings" which is what Einsturzende Neubauten translates to. It makes reference to the lengths goths go to achieve their look "hours of preparation to get that wasted look". However, I believe this critique is just meant as either good humour [Fad Gad being quite popular in early goth circles] or perhaps trying to break away from the pigeonhole of being associated with the 'goth scene'. [many prominent goth bands have attempted this, see: Andrew Eldrich]
Also, the term goth itself was rather amusing during that time as it was apparently originally referencing a few UK Batcave regulars who lived in a building called Visigoth Towers. |
submissions
| The Legendary Pink Dots – Spike Lyrics
| 15 years ago
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I figured this song was about heroin, but it's an interesting theory that it's about Dwayne. Dwayne was involved in Tear Garden after all. |
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| The Legendary Pink Dots – Stoned Obituary Lyrics
| 15 years ago
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I've always thought this song was about someone dying of an overdose, as told in a crucifixion metaphor. Perhaps a rock star or celebrity? I see the references to spikes having a double meaning, crucifixion spikes and also heroin needles. |
submissions
| The Legendary Pink Dots – Waiting for the Cloud Lyrics
| 15 years ago
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I think this song is about poisoning via pollution, and waiting for the inevitable nuclear bomb to just finish it all off. The cloud being a mushroom cloud. Also the last verse denotes the class division which would occur in such a scenario. |
submissions
| Pulp – Common People Lyrics
| 15 years ago
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I just realized how similar the music in this is to certain elements of Soldier Soldier by Spizz. |
submissions
| Ministry – WTV Lyrics
| 17 years ago
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"It draws me like an infernal magnet!"
"Give a bad product a new name"
The House by the Cemetary! |
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