| The Mountain Goats – Birth of Serpents Lyrics | 13 years ago |
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http://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2011/02/watch-the-mountain-goats-perform-on-letterman.html If anyone thinks I mis-transcribed it, please let me know and I'll fix it. There were a few words I wasn't sure on. |
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| Rites of Spring – For Want Of Lyrics | 17 years ago |
| why is it a rule that every thread about rites of spring must degrade into an argument about what classifies as emo? why? | |
| Embrace (US) – Dance Of Days Lyrics | 17 years ago |
| About Ian MacKaye's annoyance of the hardcore fans who became too rowdy because of Minor Threat, his band. | |
| Hüsker Dü – Green Eyes Lyrics | 17 years ago |
| i've always read that this song is obviously a positive, non-twisted love song. but something about the aesthetics of the color green repeated so much has always made me doubt that. why only the eyes? why does this person have no other features? maybe i've looked too far into the song.... | |
| Game Theory – Rolling with the Moody Girls Lyrics | 17 years ago |
| most amazingly spectacular song ever placed fifth on this album. i love this album. scott miller is brilliant. | |
| Game Theory – Rolling with the Moody Girls Lyrics | 17 years ago |
| most amazingly spectacular song ever placed fifth on this album. i love this album. scott miller is brilliant. | |
| The Mountain Goats – This Year Lyrics | 17 years ago |
| not really sure if the stepfather is abusive like therealdannym said. it's just teenage rebellion. i mean, you would be mad if someone just drove your car into your house while drunk. | |
| Hüsker Dü – Diane Lyrics | 17 years ago |
| about the murder of diane edwards, a waitress. about 15-20 years after the killer was convicted and out of jail, he was convicted in two separate cases of murder, including one in which he went into a house and killer everyone except an 11-year-old who he shot at twice and somehow missed. | |
| R.E.M. – Hope Lyrics | 17 years ago |
| There is no reference to Matthew Shephard. The album was recorded 3 months before the incident. Not just is the reference not clear but it is impossible based on facts. | |
| Suede – The Wild Ones Lyrics | 17 years ago |
| first line stolen from roxy music. | |
| Hüsker Dü – Up In The Air Lyrics | 17 years ago |
| i think it's fairly obvious bob mould's breakup song with husker du. the last song he penned on the last album they released. it's about how he and grant hart have grown musically apart from each other and he's thinking back over whether or not the band should exist. | |
| Hüsker Dü – Too Far Down Lyrics | 17 years ago |
| song is fairly self-explanatory, but Bob Mould's voice is so fucking powerful behind acoustic guitar.... | |
| Hüsker Dü – Too Far Down Lyrics | 17 years ago |
| song is fairly self-explanatory, but Bob Mould's voice is so fucking powerful behind acoustic guitar.... | |
| Weird Al Yankovic – Syndicated Inc. Lyrics | 17 years ago |
| an example of weird al making a song better | |
| Garth Brooks – In Lonesome Dove Lyrics | 18 years ago |
| How has this song not been commented? The one time Garth stays true and writes a traditional country ghost song, people ignore it? This is such an amazing song though.... | |
| R.E.M. – Finest Worksong Lyrics | 18 years ago |
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Well, I always laugh at the innacuracy of the title. There are so many better songs to work to, like, say, half of the rest of the R.E.M. catalogue? The version with horns on Eponymous was better.... Yeah, the previous posters are right, it's just a call to rise up to the stupidity of many jobs, but particularly in reference to government. The entire Document album was a political statement, a document per se, and it's telling the people to rise up against the government. Reagan's approval ratings were sinking at this time and an election was merely a year away. It was a protest against the government. |
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| The Goo Goo Dolls – Name Lyrics | 18 years ago |
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This song shows that this band is a commercialized version of The Replacements. Is this a great song? Yes. Is it a rip-off of one of the best bands of all time? Yes. This song is an ode to underground culture of the 1980s in my opinion. He's talking about the world he grew up in and how everything is lost and forgotten. But he doesn't forget these lost icons and he stands by them. Structurally, this is very similar to Here Comes a Regular. Verse, chorus, verse, chorus, break, verse. It's slow-paced, equal length, and thematically similar, albeit definitely not the same. Calling them orphans is stealing thematically from Bastards of Young, how they are all just children of a lost generation. But now they are grown up. I don't get the people who claim that this band grew out of its Replacements stage by the time it hit the mainstream- it was still a rip-off. However, I will say that is not a bad thing, as this is a great song and one of my all-time favorites. |
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| Dire Straits – Romeo And Juliet Lyrics | 18 years ago |
| Great song, I love the version by Amy Ray of Indigo Girls- much more powerful, not that Mark Knopfler's version isn't good. Song is self-explanitory, but great. | |
| Dire Straits – Romeo And Juliet Lyrics | 18 years ago |
| Great song, I love the version by Amy Ray of Indigo Girls- much more powerful, not that Mark Knopfler's version isn't good. Song is self-explanitory, but great. | |
| The Replacements – I'll Be You Lyrics | 18 years ago |
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What's really sad is that this is their only song to break into the mainstream. This song sucks, as did that entire album. Bastards of Young was blacklisted b/c of the video (which after the band broke up was rated as one of the best videos of all time), Here Comes a Replacement wasn't a single I believe, Let it Be wasn't on a major record label, etc. This song itself is stupid and boring, yet it became the band's only hit. Sad, but true. That said, yay for the greatest hits album. The two new songs are great, especially Message to the Boys. |
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| Soul Asylum – All The King's Friends Lyrics | 18 years ago |
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Amazing song. Best or maybe second best on the album and top 10 of all Soul Asylum songs, maybe higher. I find this to be a social statement against the 1980s pop culture and technology. While the rest of this album attempted to break into the mainstream, this song was far from him, although it did have some pop hooks. I think the ending versus tell everything: "Remarkably incredible, incredibly forgettable I know this might sound strange, don't ever change Amazingly unfaceable, entirely replaceable There's nothing I would rearrange, don't ever change" It was a statement that so many things from the 1980s, whether liberal politics, underground rock, etc., was so good, yet it was faceless and meaningless to everyone else, but Pirner was asking it to never change, don't "try to save face." "There was a time and there was a place For your face and for your race but it's been swept away" Basically, you missed it.... Unfortunately, Soul Asylum did change and their next album broke through, although it still was great.... |
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| Soul Asylum – Stranger Lyrics | 18 years ago |
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Great song. One of the few early Soul Asylum songs that sounds as good from the studio as live. Heck, it might be the only one.... I love how Pirner sings "Selling trinkets from your far off homeland, did the Promise land let you down?" I love this song.... |
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| Soul Asylum – Black Gold Lyrics | 18 years ago |
| Best Soul Asylum song. This band is sooooo underrated. Pirner is a genius. | |
| Brian Vander Ark – 1229 Sheffield Lyrics | 18 years ago |
| Originally a TVP song. This is a great song. It's straight-forward, but brilliant nonetheless. | |
| For Squirrels – Mighty Kc Lyrics | 18 years ago |
| I finally found this album after searching for a couple of months (I got it for $.99!!!). This song is "fanfuckingtastic" indeed. Wow.... | |
| For Squirrels – Mighty Kc Lyrics | 18 years ago |
| I finally found this album after searching for a couple of months (I got it for $.99!!!). This song is "fanfuckingtastic" indeed. Wow.... | |
| Joseph Arthur – In The Sun Lyrics | 18 years ago |
| This song is great. It is also the first good song Stipe has sung in nine years. Too bad he can no longer write anything this good.... | |
| R.E.M. – Everybody Hurts Lyrics | 18 years ago |
| I deplore this song with a passion. It is an insult to the word song. | |
| R.E.M. – Man On The Moon Lyrics | 18 years ago |
| Yes, he added the "yeahs" in to out-do Cobain, but that doesn't make it a tribute to Cobain. It was R.E.M. being influenced by Nirvana. | |
| R.E.M. – Find The River Lyrics | 18 years ago |
| this thread set a record for the longest thread about this song that does not say it is on the death of River Phoenix, since we all know that Michael Stipe has the ability to predict two years into the future. Who started this rumor in the first place anyway? | |
| Don Henley – The End of the Innocence Lyrics | 18 years ago |
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THERE IS SIMPLE PROOF THAT THIS IS ABOUT REAGAN: Bruce Hornsby changed the lyrics when he sang the song after Janauary 20, 1989 to "to the tired old man that is no longer king". That said, I've never seen the video so it being about Iran Contra is different than my interpretation. I've always seen it and figured it out to be about the plight of the farmer under the policies of Reaganomics. Remember when the days were long And rolled beneath a deep blue sky ---farmers working their long days out in the fields Didn't have a care in the world With mommy and daddy standin' by ---family farms But "happily ever after" fails And we've been poisoned by these fairy tales ---failure of the American dream The lawyers dwell on small details ---eviction, etc. Since daddy had to fly ---leave the farm for work But I know a place where we can go That's still untouched by men We'll sit and watch the clouds roll by And the tall grass wave in the wind ---wanting to go back to the way things were before Reagan You can lay your head back on the ground And let your hair fall all around me ---this is really not sexual; it is just lying down on the farm thinking about how things used to be Offer up your best defense ---talking to Reagan about what happened on the farms But this is the end This is the end of the innocence ---loss of American innocence, especially on the farms O' beautiful, for spacious skies ---Well, this one is hard. Just kidding. The U.S. But now those skies are threatening ---Threatening the American dream. They're beating plowshares into swords ---No funding to farms but high defense spending For this tired old man that we elected king ---Um, Reagan Armchair warriors often fail ---Reagan and Reaganomics And we've been poisoned by these fairy tales ---The American Dream The lawyers clean up all details ---Coverups like Iran-Contra (FYI, I’m taking this from an email I sent, so I guess I lied when I said that I never thought about Iran-Contra in this song) Since daddy had to lie ---Um, Reagan But I know a place where we can go And wash away this sin ---Reagan's policy We'll sit and watch the clouds roll by And the tall grass wave in the wind ---Back to how it was Just lay your head back on the ground And let your hair spill all around me ---Remembering about what had happened; I think spill has to do with Exxon-Valdez, but I don't remember whether this was released before or after the accident (both were in 1989). Offer up your best defense ---Talking to Reagan But this is the end This is the end of the innocence ---Farmer's innocence Who knows how long this will last ---depression/recession for farmers, etc. Now we've come so far, so fast ---moving away and starting life elsewhere But, somewhere back there in the dust That same small town in each of us ---where they had their farm I need to remember this So baby give me just one kiss ---he is not talking about his wife; he is talking about his past; nothing is as memorable as a kiss (except a funeral, maybe). And let me take a long last look Before we say goodbye ---wanting to be back farming, wanting to look back and see his life again Just lay your head back on the ground And let your hair fall all around me Offer up your best defense But this is the end This is the end of the innocence ---need I explain this again |
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| Creedence Clearwater Revival – Have You Ever Seen the Rain? Lyrics | 18 years ago |
| Well, that may be what it means to Fogerty, but the band still recorded another studio album after this album was released. So it cannot have been written about the break-up/demise of the band, although it could be posthumuously rededicated to symbolize the breakup up the band.... | |
| Live – Lightning Crashes Lyrics | 18 years ago |
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No point in telling you my view since 400 people have said the same thing. It is about the circle of life. That's as simple as needed. That said, this is a great song and one of my all time favorites. It's also one of the few songs that I'll even watch the music video for, since I think 99.9% of music videos suck and don't add anything to the song.... |
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| Gin Blossoms – Allison Road Lyrics | 18 years ago |
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The only great/very good song on this album not written at least in part by the late Doug Hopkins, who wrote the other five great/very good songs. Unfortunately, his dismissal from the band and later suicide kept this to being his last album with the group. But I digress.... This is the best song on New Miserable Experience and one of my favorite '90s songs. I think, like a couple of people have already said, that this song is about a guy who broke up with a girl to be with a different girl, but now he's not sure. But look at the name "Allison Road." He is driving on her. So he broke up with one girl and now he is driving on the other. He doesn't know what to do, but it also really doesn't matter. He probably couldn't get either now. |
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| R.E.M. – Perfect Circle Lyrics | 18 years ago |
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"Pull your dress on and stay real close Who might leave you where I left off? A perfect circle of acquaintances and friends Drink another, coin a phrase" That could be about football: Pull your dress on and stay real close (get your helmet and gloves back on and huddle up) Who might leave you where I left off? (narrator's gonna block, but what are you gonna do?) A perfect circle of acquaintances and friends (huddle, duh) Drink another, coin a phrase (get some water to rehydrate before we run our play) This song could be about either football or an ex-girlfriend. My opinion is that Buck saw the football playing going on, told Stipe, and it reminded Stipe of an ex-girlfriend and he had both images in his head. That said, this is my second favorite R.E.M. song, although I believe it to be better than my favorite. The best R.E.M. song is E-Bow the Letter, which is my fourth favorite. But I digress.... I'm surprised none of the Christian fanatics have posted yet saying that this song cannot be about an ex-girlfriend since Stipe is gay and this song is about him coming out, since obviously every song sung by a gay man is about him coming out. |
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| They Might Be Giants – James K. Polk Lyrics | 18 years ago |
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"And made the English sell the Oregon territory" This is the only major error. England, or rather at this Great Britain, did not sell the Oregon Territory. Now for an error in the lyrics posted here: The song is "James K. Polk", not "James K Polk".... |
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| They Might Be Giants – Birdhouse in Your Soul Lyrics | 18 years ago |
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OK. I'm not picking on anyone in particular (actually, I'm picking on a couple people in particular), but do people read any of the previous posts before stating their opinions? Two of the Jesus interpreters posted saying that there interpretation was new to this forum, even though it was the exact same interpretation as the same Jesus one. I have no problem with people writing their opinion, even if it is the same, but don't say "OK -- here's a possible interpretation," as if you are the first to say it. Read and say whether or not you concur with previous opinions and state your reasoning. If you want posterity to take the time to read your interpretation, then take the time to read previous comments on the song your commenting on. That said, the religious metaphor does work and that is what it means to some people. To me, the song is about a nite lite asking to be recognized/remembered for doing its job well, even though it is daytime. If you look at the circle of life, night is the end and day the beginning, but the nite lite does its job obviously at night. Thus it must not have yet done its job, meaning it is preparing to do its job and is nervous that it won't be remembered, won't have that place high up in the owner's soul. I know the Johns did not put this much thought into it, but this is my personal interpretation as a poet. So in my personal interpretation, the song is a metaphor basically for growing up and more exactly coming of age. The narrator is getting ready to become an adult and is nervous that he/she won't do a good enough job to be remembered in that "little birdhouse in your soul." I know that this isn't the true interpretation, but it is what it means to me. This is the second best TMBG song that I know, albeit I don't own most of the albums. My favorite is She's an Angel. |
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| Eagles – The Last Resort Lyrics | 18 years ago |
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This is the greatest song of all time and means so much to me. It is about basically everything said already. It is about the blinding force and power of religion and about "how the west was lost". It is about what happened to the native peoples (I say peoples because to call them Native Americans would be innacurate since many of those killed/displaced were not under the jurisdiction of the U.S. at the time, especially Hawaii). I don't think this song is too hard to figure out. The literal meaning is obvious: while the U.S. was fullfiling its Manifest Destiny, the western lands and peoples were getting exploited all for the benefit of the Christianized Easterners. And then when there was nothing left, they turned to the oceans and went after Hawaii. And the other part is that this is just a symbol of what people have done in the name of religion. Very few times have empires been formed in which the conquered were not of a different religion (Hitler's Germany and Napoleon's France are examples, but both were short lived). However, by holding religion over heads and making people "buy" Jesus or whoever the conqueror's god(s) is(/are ), they get weakened. But in the end, everything is worse off under the conqueror and its god(s). Finally, I see a negative prediction. By sailing to Lahaina, Hawai'i, like was done in the song and in real life, it shows that the process keeps going. Europe may have given up religion last century, but it'll sail back. It shows the circle of dominance. Remember, once the U.S. was the west of the song and before that it was the Lahaina. Empires will keep pushing around the world in the name of god.... |
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| R.E.M. – Cuyahoga Lyrics | 18 years ago |
| I thought it was in 1969. Maybe I'm wrong. I'm too lazy to verify.... | |
| R.E.M. – Swan Swan H Lyrics | 18 years ago |
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hahahahahahaha! R.E.M. songs have exact meanings? hahahahahahahaha! I've tried bitterly to figure out every line, but I couldn't do it. Hell, I never even came close.... |
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| R.E.M. – The Flowers Of Guatemala Lyrics | 18 years ago |
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One of the saddest (and best) R.E.M. songs. "The flowers often bloom at night" I've always taken that line to mean that we are doing that again. Remember, this was written in 1986. Guatemala was 1954, but under Reagan, numerous covert operations were undertaken all over the world to counter communism and destroy it. The flowers of death are blooming; more death is coming. |
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| R.E.M. – Zither Lyrics | 18 years ago |
| only weak point on New Adventures in Hi-Fi.... | |
| R.E.M. – E-Bow The Letter Lyrics | 18 years ago |
| This is by far the best R.E.M. song of all time, although it isn't my favorite. But it is the perfect song.... The meaning has already been stated.... | |
| R.E.M. – (Don't Go Back To) Rockville Lyrics | 18 years ago |
| Mills version is better than the Stipe version. And for the idiot(s) who brought up that this song was about homosexuality, do a little research and you'd find out that Stipe didn't even write the song, as also mentioned. Nice try.... | |
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