| Xiu Xiu – Bishop, CA Lyrics | 6 years ago |
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A few things to note: The "mine" is the Pine Canyon Mine, once the world's largest producer of tungsten, just outside the town of Bishop. "Walla walla hey" is sort of a kids' call out; like something you sing in a song, or yell instead of just "hey". Hard to explain. It doesn't really mean anything and it may be unique to Americans. But it is interesting that it means something in Arabic, as the video has a scene showing Al Jazeera on the TV. You can see the scrolling Arabic text at the bottom of the screen. I think "lapse into a real boy" is a reference to "Pinocchio." Not the story, but the Disney movie, where his manifestation into a real boy occurs early in the plot, only to be cursed by his own humanity, and gives into vice. In terms of the song, it's likely a reference to the mine worker now being an alcoholic. The "real boy" mode is worse, hence the "lapse." Overall, I think the song is literal: about someone very angry and troubled who the author visited. The last lines are a realization by the author that the subject is a product of his environment, and it's not his fault that he's so awful. |
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| Field Report – Pale Rider Lyrics | 9 years ago |
| When you have to tell the friend you love that you can't help them. | |
| The National – Humiliation Lyrics | 10 years ago |
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Someone who's led a very interesting life of everything, but has gotten older, given up, and passed into the gates of maturity. I love the "I was in guns and noses". "roses" in the previous line means this is obviously a play on "I was in Guns n' Roses." I take this as a reference to those random people occasionally popping up who talk about being an unknown and brief member of a famous band, just as a routine part of their sort of past life. This is also in the stanza 5, with the mention of losing the previous, interesting job, but not providing any details on why the job was lost. It's as if the narrator is relaying a piecemeal story and considers those details inconsequential. But then there are the obvious references to the child in stanzas 3 & 6. "baby to pound me" could be a reference to how babies will often just randomly hit you for no reason before they learn that they shouldn't. At the shows, Berninger actually makes a fist and brings it down in singing this line. The child would be where the narrator has gone into maturity and settled down. |
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| The National – Ada Lyrics | 11 years ago |
| Drove by this street today and had the exact same thought. I think this song is more representative of college-aged women in general than a specific woman. Simple observations about human behavior in social situations are what make up the crux of The National's lyrics. | |
| Maps And Atlases – You and Me and the Mountain Lyrics | 11 years ago |
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All about "lie in the ground and rot" interpretation of death. Love the "no reason to hold your breath when you cross the cemetery." This is a Catholic thing: you hold your breath and make the sign of the cross when you drive by a cemetery so that you don't "inhale the soul." The absurdity of the practice is made more profound here. |
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| The Breeders – Drivin' On 9 Lyrics | 11 years ago |
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The "Nine" could directly refer to a couple of different roads. Since The Breeders are from Dayton, you can assume it's either Ohio or Indiana (since that state is very close to Dayton). There's an Indiana State Route 9 and an Ohio State Route 9, and both intersect US 30 along their route. The Indiana version is closer and hits a few major towns, but it parallels I-69 for much of its route. Then again, it also provides a decent way of avoiding Indianapolis by heading north on it from I-70. Hard to tell. Maybe it's not a direct reference, but just generally about somewhat aimless driving. Definitely one of the songs on this album that makes it so damn good. I mean, the fiddle just sort of comes out of nowhere. |
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| Maps And Atlases – Artichokes Lyrics | 12 years ago |
| Thought I'd give this one a crack. Please post comments if you have corrections. | |
| Beirut – The Rip Tide Lyrics | 12 years ago |
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Both lyrically and musically, the best song on the album. I identify with it and maybe interpret it as such, but I get the feeling of revisiting "home" after many years. It's the feeling you get when, after leaving the place where you grew up for several years, you come "home" to find the place only vaguely familiar, and find the loneliness that comes with being somewhere where you only know a few people, as most of your old friends have either drifted away or moved on with their lives. I would get a minor sense of it when I lived overseas and would return over the summer, and then would return again after moving away after college (now there's virtually no connection), but someone recently related it well to me, telling the story of going into a bar in their relatively small hometown and finding that they knew no one there, and that was the sign that this was no longer their "home" but, instead, just a place that they knew, as if it were a place where they had never lived but only knew it from visits. There's a peaceful loneliness at these vaguely nostalgic and vaguely comforting places, and that's what I think this song is talking about. The "house" is a somewhat literal "home" reference, while the "rolling tide" is the general flow of life and moving on. |
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| M83 – Soon, My Friend Lyrics | 12 years ago |
| "someday" not "Sunday." Hence the title. | |
| Grandaddy – Miner At The Dial-A-View Lyrics | 12 years ago |
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Another comment mentioned a prediction of Google Earth/StreetView technology back when this album was produced, and I think that's the most apt way to look at this song. If you listen to the "recorded" voice talking about entering coordinate values and then using the zoom to gain a more accurate picture, it's almost as if Google listened to this album and said "We could do that." When StreetView first came out, I can distinctly recall looking up my current and past places of residence, to sort of check up on them. It was never the same, of course; almost like looking through a filter. And things are hard to make out, which easily ties in to the "crash-landed cows" line in this song. As the project has expanded, I spend a lot of time looking at StreetView in far-flung countries, just imagining being there and traveling around. I don't think this was a terribly unique idea in 2000. With the emergence of the various technologies at that period, I think many people saw that it was only a matter of time before we had some sort of street-level satellite type view of the world, where we could sit in our house and visit the homes we dreamt about through our computers. |
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| Aloha – Perry Como Gold Lyrics | 12 years ago |
| Probably the best song ever written about Cleveland. | |
| Ladyhawk – New Joker Lyrics | 12 years ago |
| Word | |
| Joan of Arc – How Wheeling Feels Lyrics | 12 years ago |
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I've always assumed "Wheeling" referred to Wheeling, Illinois. I knew they were from Chicago, but I didn't know Kinsella actually went to high school there. Wheeling's a very generic suburb. It's not as wealthy as Northbrook and stuff, but it's also not relatively rough like Aurora or Joliet. It's just sort of in between and not really noteworthy. And I kind of think that's what's in this song. It depends on how you interpret "delicate sin," but it's likely referring to the evils of vanity and superficiality. At the same time, it's made one of those ironic statements by "everybody knows," in that no one would randomly say that off the top of their head, nor would it be the subject of any general knowledge. It's sort of like in the ad on TV when the farmers are working on a tractor and start talking like financial planners about their investment portfolios: it's ironic because the language does not meet our expectations of the scenario or setting. *aesthetics |
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| Damien Jurado – Abilene Lyrics | 13 years ago |
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The last line always makes me think of a high school girl (she was almost 18, and I was barely 22!) I dated when I first moved to where I live now. I was very poor at that point but I would always tell her how I was going to just swoop her up and get her out of there, take her to some coastal paradise where we could get away from everything. Never happened, of course: I didn't have the money and the fling didn't last long. It's the romanticism and excitement of the unknown, not just in the travel and destination, but also in the relationship and the future understanding of the person who you've decided to trust. |
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| El Guincho – Ghetto Fácil Lyrics | 13 years ago |
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One more bad translation, then I'll stop: "Black horse in your face Black horse in your face Black horse in your face Black horse Don't think more in a good-bye I want a savage end I am going where there is loud music I turn up the knob on your face I turn up the knob on your face I turn up the knob on your face I turn up the knob You are my golden girl With your lips of gold that illuminate all And today is my day I am going to leave it all Leave it all We are going to be, you and I One more time in our easy ghetto To be, you and I, one more time One more time Venus in your face Venus in your face Venus in your face Oh Venus Don't think more in a good-bye I want a savage end I am going where there is loud music Only you and I Play the loud music Loud music Only you and I And the loud music Loud music Loud music Loud music" I don't understand the "adios" line, but it is a pretty bad translation, why get it right? |
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| El Guincho – Bombay Lyrics | 13 years ago |
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Someone feel free to jump in on this and correct it, but I wanted to give this a shot. Here it goes: "I watch you from above as it quickly ends I want you to remember me like at the beginning There is something I can't pretend to know What it is I can't see... What I have ahead Now that we are not small, we learn from things That we were never different in the past Don't go to China where there are no curtains Like those that hid us from all the others You move without walking across the shore of the shore of the island that got angry at me when I didn't return It's not all my fault now, it's very different Can you not see what you don't want to see or is that you can't see me? Something that was there that day, can also repeat itself I try to believe it, but I think it's a story 200 days ago, I didn't know a line And it seems you don't know that that's going to change Now that you listen to me I only ask that you stay where you can reach What you will get and instead you ask me to stay where you can guard Until you get tired of Searching" |
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| The Heligoats – Fish Sticks Lyrics | 13 years ago |
| I always thought it was "royal isle", as in island. Goes more toward the water theme of the song. Plus, there's Isle Royale in Michigan. May be a connection there? | |
| Titus Andronicus – A More Perfect Union Lyrics | 13 years ago |
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I can't believe there's not more comments on this. It's a really interesting song. If you do a YouTube search for this song's title, you'll encounter an Obama speech from '08 that really sort of spells out a significant part of what this song is about. "A More Perfect Union" refers to the flexibility of the US constitution, in that its interpretation and, therefore, the union itself, can, and is expected to, evolve as times change. The "new New Jersey" line alludes to this, where he's expecting for things to evolve and get better from where they are now. Where these iconic, somewhat negative images of New Jersey are going to be gone soon, as the state's culture will evolve just as the country itself will. The second half likens the Obama speech, with its regard to slavery and how America overcame that, to the more contemporary issues, where we have a black president for the first time, and that's an enormous step in our history, but many people still can't and will never accept that change. But that change is moving the country forward, just as the changes away from slavery, which were, of course, so decisive, moved America forward in the 19th century. Here, he's taking the side of the opposition and likening them to those who supported slavery, with the references to weeping under a lynched Jefferson Davis and how, even in the more liberal and somewhat tolerant New Jersey, you're faced with this element of racism and intolerance and cannot escape it. Moving past the racism to confront the real issues. Just my interpretation, at least. |
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| M83 – Kim & Jessie Lyrics | 13 years ago |
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It's about a couple of teenage girls going into the woods to get drunk. The only relatively deep part is the chorus, which personifies ("somebody") the problems that wait for them when they come back out into reality. Like, they can go into this secret world, but the real world always lurks in the shadows. The video really has nothing to do with the meaning of the song, so you can't really look at it that way. |
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| Fang Island – Life Coach Lyrics | 13 years ago |
| Not absolutely sure on that last line. Post here and I'll correct it if it's right. | |
| Sun Kil Moon – Half Moon Bay Lyrics | 13 years ago |
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"down the Devil's sleighted run" refers to "Devil's Slide," a relatively infamous section of Highway 1 near Half Moon Bay that is currently being bypassed by a new tunnel. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Devil%27s_Slide_(California) Lots of other Half Moon Bay imagery in the lyrics. |
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| Aloha – Big Morning Lyrics | 13 years ago |
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Never done acid personally (just mushrooms), but a friend heard this for the first time when I was driving around with him and said, even before the song was over, "This song is about being on acid." I can see it. |
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| Battles – Atlas Lyrics | 13 years ago |
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"People will be people when they eat a sandwich" Most prolific line of 2007? |
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| LCD Soundsystem – I Can Change Lyrics | 13 years ago |
| Best song on the new album. | |
| LCD Soundsystem – One Touch Lyrics | 13 years ago |
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I imagine as this as being a song about educated 20-something urban (i.e. - hipster) lifestyle, focusing on the passive aggressive nature of dealing with problems. There's the "I don't see how we could be pleased with this," which is a sort of passive aggressive of saying "this is unacceptable." I imagine it likely involves waiting to be seated, or waiting for food at, a restaurant. The "people need to move to the back of the bus" is on the same vein. If you've ridden the bus in a large city enough, that always seems to happen where, when it gets really crowded, the people at the back won't move back anymore when those at the front are trying to get on, so someone always ends up yelling something like this, at no one in particular, so as not to cause a direct confrontation, but rather act as a defacto authority figure. In that way, this song is an interesting sociological analysis, looking at how our society has evolved to one that has a majority of individuals who expend energy to avoid conflict with the minority who would cause it. If that makes sense. |
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| Modest Mouse – Bukowski Lyrics | 13 years ago |
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The song isn't really about Bukowski as such but, rather, more a relation of Bukowski's writings to convey something about atheism. I'm not claiming to know exactly what the connection is there, but I'm certain it's not about Bukowski himself but, rather, his recurring fictional character, Henry Chinaski, who was more or less Bukowski, so I guess it could be said that this is directly in reference to Bukowski. Bukowski's novels mostly centered on the depressing holes that many of us find ourselves in in life that we will never escape from. Maybe Brock is attempting to relate that to say, "If God is really dictating my day to day life, and it sucks this much, then why is God such an asshole to put me in this place?" That's my theory, at this point, at least. I didn't realize that Modest Mouse was such a pariah group to Christians until I met one who had good music tastes but absolutely refused to listen to them because of what someone in their church had said about the band (says something right there, right?). Geez, there's nothing wrong with hearing out people questioning your beliefs. Get over yourself, ya know? If you like the music, then why let the lyrics spoil it for you? And, at the least, you have to admit that this (as well as his other religion-oriented songs) is, at the least, a humorous look at monotheism. |
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| The National – Vanderlyle Crybaby Geeks Lyrics | 13 years ago |
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Well done on the lyric interpretation. I think this song is so similar in meaning to "Racing Like a Pro" that it's likely in reference to the same person: someone who was once wild but who has drastically settled down and wholly grasped the more responsible, adult life. Berninger makes many subtle references to this particular aspect of growing older in many of his songs. |
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| The National – England Lyrics | 13 years ago |
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I think it's "Someone send a runner for the feeling that I lost today". I like the "Summer sent her running" but that doesn't make as much sense and the former sounds more like what he's saying. And I also think it is "Abbey Lane" and the "corrections" refers to not changing it to be "Abbey Road" in the letter he's writing. Also, Abbey Road would be a partial reference to the recording studio which is a destination for many recording artists when visiting London, just to see it. This goes back to the recording studio reference (with the "runner") in the verse. At least, that's how I see it. And it's "Put an ocean and a river". I've always thought it was a reference to Manhattan, in that Manhattan is across the Atlantic + the East River from England. The East River after the ocean is, of course, not necessary to mention, but that's just what's so genius about that line. And "Afraid of the heights, spend the night with the sinners". It's what makes sense. I think it's important to remember that Matt Berninger has a very slight Southern Ohio accent and this often comes out in some of his singing, so you have to adjust your ears a bit. |
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| Damien Jurado – Ohio Lyrics | 13 years ago |
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In interviews, Jurado's said that most of his lyrical content is not about personal experiences but is generally based on experiences, actual or imagined, involving people in his life. I mean, if he had been involved in half of the stuff he's detailed in his songs, he would have lived several lifetimes already. I've only seen him live twice, but both within the past two years, and I've never seen him play this one live, so I don't think he does anymore. His live shows are just him and a guitar but they're still emotional, engaging and fantastic to watch. Really one of the best relatively unknown singer-songwriters out there today. |
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| Pretty Girls Make Graves – All Medicated Geniuses Lyrics | 13 years ago |
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"Better to stew in discontent *THAN to admit we're wrong" Makes more sense. I think it's generally about the social ills in Seattle, particularly those facing teens, and how that could spawn an arsonist. There have been a variety of arsons by teens in the past couple of decades, so it's hard to figure out exactly which incident it's in reference to. Seattle is just a guess because that's where Zollo and the others are from (although I don't think she's originally from there). "Golden arm" can also refer to an athlete, especially a pitcher (baseball) or a quarterback (football), so this may be a reference to the arsonist teen being the high school quarterback or some other athentic star. Adds an extra "how could this happen" element since it's normally the misfits who are expected to commit crimes like arson. |
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| Maps And Atlases – Israeli Caves Lyrics | 13 years ago |
| Dave's hard to make out, so I'm definitely not sure about the first verse and some of the other lines, so feel free to comment corrections and I'll make them if they fit. | |
| Arcade Fire – Sprawl I (Flatland) Lyrics | 13 years ago |
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When I first heard this album, this is the song that really stuck with me, personally. I lived in The Woodlands (essentially the place that this album is based on) from 1992 to 1996, and this album dictates life as an adolescent and teen there very well. Still, by far, the worst time in my life was there, one of the things that I really enjoyed about that period were the bike rides into the wilderness. The western part of The Woodlands, past what is now Kuykendahl Road, used to be miles of open forest, old logging roads, abandoned deer stands and hunting cabins, an isolated reservoir and dam and it was fantastic to explore. This is what we would do in the summer: bike out there, past the "No Trespassing" signs and into this quiet, much more wild landscape. It was so interesting coming from the staleness of the sprawling subdivisions. When I came back in 2000 for college, it was kind of a blow to my nostalgia to find all of that gone. Every bit of it has now been developed. I imagine that this is what a lot of the song is about. The Butlers lived there about the same time as I did, and I can definitely relate to returning to the place after several years and finding it vastly different, very much for the worse. Another little personal thing: it was common with the cops in The Woodlands, at that time at least, to take kids' names and info on where they lived. I don't know what they did with it, but I was asked a couple of times, even though we were doing nothing wrong at the time. |
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| The National – Bloodbuzz Ohio Lyrics | 13 years ago |
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There's a behind-the-scenes sort of video ("director's cut") on YouTube documenting this video's filming where Berninger talks briefly about the title's meaning. He says it derives from "buzzed" as in drunk, but off of your ancestry and heritage. I can only imagine that it was written after a return trip to Cincinnati (where he's from). "You know when you have a wine buzz: you're drunk. I think it's something about your history, your family or what's in your blood: Ohio's in your blood." http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDwgoseV3NY |
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| Maps And Atlases – Solid Ground Lyrics | 14 years ago |
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"A barbell wrapped in a shirt" That is kind of how sleeping on the ground feels. Also: "You could peel back the corner and step right in" "You have found a way to make me seem like almost warm" Makes sense with the winter line. |
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| Maps And Atlases – Pigeon Lyrics | 14 years ago |
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"When a pigeon comes to _greet_ you" "_Whose_ side are you on?" "There's no one here _but_ me" "And it felt so struck out to free the crow black marks" (that's what I hear, at least) |
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| Calexico – House of Valparaiso Lyrics | 14 years ago |
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Very surprised this wasn't already submitted. One of Calexico's prettier songs. There are lots of Neruda references, including La Chascona (I had to look that up) and the various allusions to the sea. But I think, overall, there's a lot about immigration in here, particularly with the "illegal ports" reference. |
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| Sun Kil Moon – Heron Blue Lyrics | 15 years ago |
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Maybe not my favorite SKM song, but definitely Top 3. So haunting... The meaning is obvious, I think: it's a story about watching a heroin addict slowly die. The title, "soot into her lungs" (I guess she was smoking it, or maybe "lungs" is just a metaphor), "like poison, it succumbs her", and all of the obvious death references. The arrangement is just so beautiful: the way the distant bass drum comes in toward the end, then the light backing vocals. |
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| Calexico – Contention City Lyrics | 15 years ago |
| Contention City is a ghost town just west of Tombstone, Arizona along the San Pedro River. | |
| Andrew Bird – Effigy Lyrics | 15 years ago |
| He mentioned in a show that this song is about a "guy that sits at the end of the bar and makes unsolicited comments." I didn't really get this song until he said that. | |
| Vampire Weekend – A-Punk Lyrics | 15 years ago |
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The song's about a gold-digger: a girl who marries a much older man for his money and collects when he dies. The silver ring is a literal metaphor for his wealth (in that it tangibly exists but is more representative of something broader). The "cut his teeth on turquoise harmonicas" is a really brilliant line. New Mexico is famous for these "pueblo huts" (although, technically, puebloan people have historically lived in larger structures as opposed to huts) but also turquoise, mostly with the Zuni tribe. Cutting his teeth on a turquoise harmonica, to me, is a bit of absurdity, and may be poking fun at the sort of ridiculous items that you can find in New Mexico tourist shops with the context that it's a "Native American craft." You see mostly older, white tourists from outside the Southwest buying this garbage. But the line, as a whole, refers to the old man's desire to visit a warmer clime, either to retire or just to travel to. Wonderful song. It's a new twist on the storytelling of music. |
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| Throw Me The Statue – Lolita Lyrics | 15 years ago |
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Lolita is a general term coined by the book and the later, more popular film. There are, of course, going to be connections in any instance of a "lolita," but it's not necessarily a direct reference to that story. I think he's speaking more from personal experience, where a young girl, likely underage (hence the "she was nineteen"/"rearrange" line), is clearly interested in him but he must maintain a platonic relationship due to societal norms although, underneath it all, he really does feel a strong sexual attraction to her. BTW, does the girl in the video not look exactly like a younger Denise Richards?? |
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| Wolf Parade – Kissing The Beehive Lyrics | 15 years ago |
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Even though Wolf Parade insists that they didn't know that "Kissing the Beehive" was already a novel title, that said novel was ironically authored by a Jonathan. The subject matter of it is somewhat irrelevant to the song though. Personally, I've always imagined this being religious in nature, specifically to Mormons, only because of the "Beehive" reference, which is the motto of the state of Utah, but also a common metaphor used for and by Mormons in relation to their work ethic. By that rationale, I've always assumed that "Kissing the Beehive" had something to do with achievements and being successful in a manner related to Mormon culture. |
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| The Breeders – Lime House Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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It was actually ballsy of her to write this because she so clearly says "tar baby" in a couple of lines. But, yeah, clearly a play on words and the song is about heroin use. No idea what a "lime house" is supposed to mean. |
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| Shiner – The Truth About Cows Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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Can't believe no one has commented on this song. A lot of the lyrics on here are pretty intelligent and make this into an anti-conformist concept album. Fairly obvious though. Lots of anti-corporate, -mass-production and -post-war imagery, equating the masses to mindless herds of cows (not far off, if you think about it) and how we've allowed our environment to be effectively plasticized at the cost of losing what's really real. |
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| The National – Daughters of the SoHo Riots Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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I believe the "SoHo Riots" refers to the Stonewall Riots in 1969. I've heard it used before. There's a level of irony to the idea of "sons and daughters" of it that I think is used in the song. |
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| The National – Santa Clara Lyrics | 16 years ago |
| Based on the name, I feel like this song is about Sarah Lockwood Winchester, famous for her crazy house in San Jose (and very close to the adjacent city of Santa Clara), reverence for the spirit world, and general eccentricity. She always believed that there was a curse on her family from the spirits of those killed by Winchester rifles. | |
| Aloha – Saint Lorraine Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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I've come to think that this is somewhat of an ode to Cleveland. - "Lorraine" is the French version of "Lorain" - "Lorain" is a major street in Cleveland as well as a city just outside Plus, there are lots of implicit Cleveland references. |
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| Cake – Commissioning A Symphony In C Lyrics | 16 years ago |
| I think it's ironic that this song is not in the key of C. E, I think. | |
| Andrew Bird – A Nervous Tic Motion of the Head to the Left Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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Anti-drug song, which also incorporates the idea that we ourselves are chemicals and, in spite of our miracles of living, feel the need to alter our consciousness with more chemicals. First verse: A drug smuggler ("16 tons of haz-mat", "it goes undelivered") using a plane ("tarmac") realizes the wrong in what he's doing and can't face himself ("he can't stand to look back"). Second verse: An addict and dealer ("paper knapsack") is sick of his addiction and realizes that it's no longer fun ("he just wants his life back"). This goes into not only illegal, socially-unacceptable drugs, but also prescription drugs and our society's obsession with over-medication to attempt to improve our quality of life while ignoring the side effects which typically hamper our quality of life. I don't think the North/South Platte references really mean anything except to provide Heartland imagery, pointing out that the drug problem exists outside the urban environs just as much as within them. |
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| Mates of State – So Many Ways Lyrics | 16 years ago |
| The whole song is about them living in, but mostly getting tired of, San Francisco. I think a lot of the lyrics are shots at the culture and atmosphere of the city itself. | |
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