| Sublime – April 29, 1992 Lyrics | 2 years ago |
| 30 years and I still remember the verdict coming out like it was yesterday. Great song. | |
| Paul Simon – Papa Hobo Lyrics | 4 years ago |
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I love how Paul Simon paints these pictures with just the right amount of detail that you feel like you've lived through something real. In this song, a hobo (a homeless traveler) is making small talk, mostly about the city he finds himself in (Detroit). He's on the street, embarrassed about how he's underdressed ("feel like a clown"), with vague plans to "get away". In the end he asks for a ride because the weather has gotten bad. |
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| Belle & Sebastian – To Be Myself Completely Lyrics | 4 years ago |
| It's got a bit of that "Northern Soul" sound that sneaks into B&S songs every once in a while! Not my favorite song, but plenty danceable. | |
| Belle & Sebastian – I Don't Love Anyone Lyrics | 5 years ago |
| As an American, I've listened to this song a thousand times without knowing what "take a hiding" meant. Just now I was thinking about that lyric, wondering if it meant "take a beating". Thank you all for confirming. It makes the song much more sad than before. | |
| The Clientele – 6AM Morningside Lyrics | 5 years ago |
| @[MichaelJohnston:27957] This is my favorite Clientele song too. Reminds me of one of Velvet Underground's slower songs, or some old Fairport Convention song. I love the two contrasting snapshots: the first part in the morning, and the second part in the evening, heading home with a smile. (Nitpick: the singer says "where i ride the evening turns to blue", which suggests he's taking either a bike or public transport, like a bus or tram.) | |
| The Doors – Astrology Rap Lyrics | 5 years ago |
| I love how quickly the girl in the audience changes her opinion on astrology! | |
| Bert Jansch – The Bright New Year Lyrics | 5 years ago |
| Sounds like he is tied to his mother's apron strings. He seems to really, really want his mother to be happy. As in, he can't hope to be happy unless his mother is happy. The plodding guitar accompaniment helps create an overall impression of melancholy. | |
| Sublime – Wrong Way Lyrics | 5 years ago |
| Surprised nobody mentioned Taxi Driver. In that movie, psychotic Travis Bickle makes it his mission to save 12-year-old prostitute Iris and kill her pimp. Not the same story, but there are definitely some parallels. | |
| Sublime – Wrong Way Lyrics | 5 years ago |
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@[lemikam:27295] I'm sorry but I really think you misread the song. The first verse is showing how the girl became "a whore". In that verse, she is 12-years old, and in two years she will become a whore. During the rest of the song, she is already a whore. Therefore, she is now at least 14 years old. Also, he definitely says "tears", not "gizz". (He clearly pronounces the "ee" sound.) Nowhere in the song does it suggest he is "basically raping her repeatedly". The narrator is definitely trying to help the girl. But he regrets doing it "the wrong way", by killing her father. He encourages to come away with him and see America. But ultimately she leaves him ("she took a hike it don't matter if I like it or not"), and she still she hasn't been able to escape her sadness. |
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| Alvvays – Next of Kin Lyrics | 8 years ago |
| Straightforward, if you listen to the lyrics: she went into the water with her boyfriend, and he died. He didn't know how to swim, and was also drug-impaired. Pretty song though. | |
| Billy Joel – Piano Man Lyrics | 8 years ago |
| @[BrycePaas:12498] I do love this song, and yes on the surface it is simple. But clearly this is more than simply a snapshot of a scene at a bar, or simply a portrait of a really great pianist. People love this song because the bar represents bittersweet hope in the face of life struggles. The stories are of people who are stuck in their lives. Many of us feel the same way, in one way or another. But despite their individual traps, the people in the song have found a place where they can share a moment of happiness (or delusion, depending on your perspective). | |
| Buzzcocks – Whatever Happened To? Lyrics | 9 years ago |
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@[piersy:2517] (Yes I'm replying 5.5 years later!) Cows are revered in India (hence the phrase, "sacred cow"). Mao was revered by many communists, God revered by monotheists. It may also have a second *wink* meaning, but considering the entire song is about the sacred vs. crass commercialism, I would guess "the cow" is another example in the list of revered beings. |
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| Belle & Sebastian – Seymour Stein Lyrics | 10 years ago |
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Yeah, ignore my comment about the girl...I obviously got that wrong (six years ago). This is one of my favorite B&S songs. Leaves me with a feeling of wistful longing, thinking about the choices we have to make in life (e.g., the possibility of fame vs. being true to who you are). Also, Bob Dylan has a song "Girl from the North Country", which itself references the traditional northern-England ballad "Scarborough Fair". |
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| The Smiths – Stretch Out and Wait Lyrics | 10 years ago |
| Ever since I first heard this song (mid-80s), I understood this to be a quiet conversation between Death and some young person, with Death telling him/her to accept the inevitability of dying. Not in a scary way, but in a way to say, "Don't worry about life because none of it matters anyway in the end." | |
| Hair – Three-Five-Zero-Zero Lyrics | 10 years ago |
| This song, man. The individual words, in juxtaposition and in the context with the expanding music, paint such a horrific picture of war. The second part then provides a contrasting image with the celebratory, parade-like music. Whoo, this song gets me every time. | |
| ZZ Top – Manic Mechanic Lyrics | 11 years ago |
| I dig this album quite a bit, but LOL this song is really lame. Just my opinion. | |
| Belle & Sebastian – Mornington Crescent Lyrics | 11 years ago |
| I love this melancholy song. The album is "The Life Pursuit" (whose name suggests "Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness", from America's Declaration of Independence). This song is about the mechanical meaningless of modern life, centered on the pursuit of instant happiness. My favorite line is the last one: "The possibilities suggest themselves to me we’re a little too free." | |
| The Kinks – Mr. Churchill Says Lyrics | 11 years ago |
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One of my favorite Kinks songs. It is divided into two distinct parts, representing the clean abstraction before the war, vs the more stark reality during the war. The first half is filled with morale-boosting speeches from the pantheon of British lords, about small shared sacrifices, rah-rah, etc. The politicians sound distant, and their words are abstract and lofty. The words make you feel good, because that's what they're designed to do. You can imagine the words coming through the radio from distant politicians, getting you prepared mentally for war. In the second half, the perspective shifts to the ground during the bombing. We are now in the stark reality of bombs and dead bodies, the politicians are gone and the people are alone with that reality. The talk is direct and between real people. In the end, someone remembers what "Mr. Churchill says", which is basically to keep on carrying on. Almost like children remembering advice from their parents. I feel this really is the theme of the song: how the paternal leadership "prepared" its people for war. An interesting question to ask is: how much sacrifice did Churchill, Beaverbrook, etc. suffer, compared to the average person living through the bombing? |
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| Donovan – Turquoise Lyrics | 11 years ago |
| Such a beautiful and peaceful song, if it weren't for the screeching harmonica. Would've been perfect without that. Otherwise, it reminds me of something from Beck's more folky catalog. | |
| Belle & Sebastian – Shoot the Sexual Athlete Lyrics | 11 years ago |
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I love this song, like so many other B&S songs from the earlier days. (The new ones are ok too, but a bit too polished for my taste.) In this case, I can't quite figure out the overall story of the song. Maybe lots of "in-jokes". Mainly it's the poetry and imagery of the words and stanzas that I enjoy so much. And of course the musical setting. |
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| Carole King – Beautiful Lyrics | 11 years ago |
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I'm amazed to see only two comments on this fantastic song. To me, this song is about remembering your humanity in the face of all the crap the modern world dumps on you. |
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| The Kinks – Some Mother's Son Lyrics | 11 years ago |
| Heartbreaking song. The background vocals sound like wailing/crying to me. The song's sound is so very English, balancing proud military sound with traditional home music. | |
| Françoise Hardy – Le Temps De L'Amour Lyrics | 11 years ago |
| First heard this recently in the Wes Anderson film "Moonrise Kingdom". And now I'm obsessed with it! Love the understated sound, the echoey atmospherics, and the lyrics describing the fleeting nature of being young. | |
| Dave Brubeck Quartet – Blue Rondo à la Turk Lyrics | 12 years ago |
| Ha ha, there are no lyrics, this is an instrumental jazz classic! One of the best though. Excellent transitions of meter between 9/8 to 12/8 to swing 4/4, and back again. | |
| The Smiths – This Night Has Opened My Eyes Lyrics | 12 years ago |
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"This night has opened my eyes, and I will never sleep again." The line can also be heard from the baby's perspective. He/she has been born, its eyes are now open (literally), its innocence is lost forever. |
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| Belle & Sebastian – Seeing Other People Lyrics | 12 years ago |
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Sorry I didn't mean to "report" your post, I hit the wrong link. The "kissing elbows" reminds me of the song "Some Kinda Love" by VU, with the very sexual lines: "Put jelly on your shoulder let us do what you fear most that from which you recoil but which still makes your eyes moist" |
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| Belle & Sebastian – Seeing Other People Lyrics | 12 years ago |
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My bad ears/dirty mind heard: You're going to have to change Or you're going to have to go with girls You'd be better off At least they know where to put it. |
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| Belle & Sebastian – The Model Lyrics | 12 years ago |
| I just took this to be the thoughts of a model, thinking about images and artists and people he knows. | |
| Belle & Sebastian – Nice Day for a Sulk Lyrics | 12 years ago |
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I won't be quite so cutting as cadaverousmob, but I do agree with her/him that your interpretation of the song (as nonsensical) is incorrect. The lyrics make perfect sense. This song is about a moody-sulky person hanging out with friends and gaining some comfort from that. If you are going to sulk, it is often less unpleasant to sulk with like-minded spirits. |
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| The Police – Synchronicity II Lyrics | 12 years ago |
| No such artist as Dada. Interesting thoughts though. | |
| The Police – Synchronicity II Lyrics | 12 years ago |
| As someone already pointed out, the creature is from a Loch, but not necessarily Loch Ness. Most important is that it's a creature living in a lake -- a powerful, primal creature lurking just under the surface/subconscious, who could rise up at any time. | |
| The Police – Synchronicity II Lyrics | 12 years ago |
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I think the song is spot on, in it's characterization of life for working husbands and fathers in modern U.S. (or in any modern industrial country really). I don't believe this song is about violence per se. Rather, it's about the enormous pressures and frustrations put upon the modern family father, and the effect it has on him. To me, the Loch Ness monster symbolizes the growing and dangerous frustration and rage lurking just below the surface (and sometimes above the surface) in the father's mental state, due to his job, commute, family, society, etc. Some here have said the song is about a father about to kill his family. Well, if 100 fathers go insane and do such a horrible thing, there are millions more feeling the humiliations and indignities of daily modern life. To me this song is really about the more general condition. |
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| The Kinks – Lazy Old Sun Lyrics | 12 years ago |
| I love this song, as I've felt this way myself. The depressed narrator feels futile and that his existence is meaningless in the scheme of the universe. He seems to be regressing to the state of a child, or at least just into his mind, leaving reality behind. The bendy drooping music captures the confusion of depression very well. | |
| Belle & Sebastian – Lord Anthony Lyrics | 12 years ago |
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For the most part, I take the song at face value - that the song is about a boy (not a girl) who is picked on. For most of the song, nothing suggests it's because he is effeminate necessarily, just that he's not a "tough" in a school full of them. Not until the "Toblerone" verse, do we find Tony dressed like a girl. The outfit and make up apparently is very convincing, if the boys would be fooled enough to "pass you right by". (Bullies would likely hassle him more, not less, if they knew he was a cross-dressing boy.) In the same line, we see he is dressed as a girl in private (note the "if" in "if the boys could see you"). This tells me he is doing this out of his own impulse, and not as a way to escape the bullies. BTW, I figured this "Lord Anthony" was the same "Anthony" in "If You're Feeling Sinister" who offs himself. I have no evidence of this, other than the characters have the same name. Thoughts? |
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| Belle & Sebastian – Seymour Stein Lyrics | 12 years ago |
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You're right, the "North Country girl" (cf. Bob Dylan's Girl From The North Country) is the one who stayed behind, who he will miss if he goes away. I love how the music swells, and the singer's placid voice rises in intensity, as the song moves toward the bridge. The song is about the internal struggle of anybody tempted by money to leave what they love. The song structure reinforces this theme - conflict followed by defiant rejection of fame and fortune. Interesting to consider this song in the context of Belle & Sebastian's relative success and world tours which frequently take them away from their home in Scotland. |
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| The Kinks – Two Sisters Lyrics | 12 years ago |
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Beautiful melancholy song. The music is just so moody. Lyrically, the song works as a straightforward tale of two sisters. I hadn't considered the possibility that the sisters were proxies for Ray and Dave, but that puts a whole new twist on the song. |
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| Paul Simon – Everything Put Together Falls Apart Lyrics | 12 years ago |
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Two years later, I came here to comment, only to realize I already did. Again, great song. The rhythm of the words, the beautiful guitar work and backing tracks, and the honest and straightforward content give me chills. I guess not enough people know about this song. |
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| Belle & Sebastian – Ease Your Feet in the Sea Lyrics | 12 years ago |
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A little more, to add to my last comment. * Especially at the beginning of the song, it just sounds like the singer is talking about having a carefree day (except for the little words and phrases that hint at something bad that's coming). * By the end of verse 2, you see that something is very wrong ("emergency ... no more 'wait and see'"). * In verse 3, you see the singer himself tumble into into regret, sadness, and emotional turmoil. * In verse 4, the singer is seemingly detached again, outwardly peaceful walking under the infinite stars. But now he realizes the extent to which everybody in the friend's life took him for granted. Depending on your POV, the subject of the song is (a) suicide in general, (b) the dysfunctional relationships surrounding the suicide victim, (c) survivor's guilt. |
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| Belle & Sebastian – Ease Your Feet in the Sea Lyrics | 12 years ago |
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The song is clearly about suicide. The first 100 times I heard the song, I didn't listen to the lyrics, and thought it was just a pleasant song. But just one listen reveals a very clear story and theme. The singer is addressing a friend who, over the course of the song, kills himself. * Verse 1: The singer is telling his friend to relax and let his troubles go. Singer alludes to death in the last lines of this verse. * Verse 2: The singer is contrasting his contented (self-absorbed?) life activities with the friend's sudden jarring suicide attempt. * Verse 3: The singer realizes the urgency of things, and addresses the dying friend, bargaining to try and keep him around, and apologizing for not seeing the signs. * Verse 4: The singer is walking past dead friend's house, thinking about how everybody (including himself) ignored his friend and his emotional needs. |
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| Van Halen – Ain't Talkin' 'bout Love Lyrics | 14 years ago |
| It's about being on top in a skewed power relationship: he has something she wants (sex or drugs). His love is rotten to the core...his intentions are most definitely not pure. | |
| Elliott Smith – Figure 8 Lyrics | 14 years ago |
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As for meaning: it is a song to familiarize children with multiplication, with a bit of haunting existential melancholy stirred in for good measure. The original ends with "Place it on its side and it's a symbol meaning infinity..." Currently my seven-year-old daughter's favorite song. |
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| Elliott Smith – Figure 8 Lyrics | 14 years ago |
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For all those giving huge props to the genius of Elliot Smith on this song, you obviously haven't heard IMHO, the original (sung by Blossom Dearie) is far better. Yes, it has the cheesy upbeat part in the middle, but then it returns to the original theme at the end, which makes it all the more haunting. The arrangement of the strings in the original is so beautiful. |
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| Paul Simon – Everything Put Together Falls Apart Lyrics | 14 years ago |
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This song is saying that life can be bad and full of pain, but drugs are only going to make matters worse, and in the end they might kill you. It takes the form of advice from someone who sees it 'happening every day'. This album is full of cynical melancholy songs like this: 'Mother and Child Reunion' (death), 'Run That Body Down' (aging), 'Paranoia Blues' (difficulties of life). A very dark album all around. |
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| Bob Dylan – It's Alright, Ma (I'm Only Bleeding) Lyrics | 15 years ago |
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All of the above: the song is beyond great, it gives my soul chills, it is filled with unexpected rhymes and powerful truths, like the ideal rap or protest screed. Most people hear BD's voice and turn off. Too bad they don't give the song a chance. The concepts, the structure, and the lyrical finesse are simply phenomenal. The original recording is nothing more than a voice, a guitar, and a powerful song. And yet those 7-1/2 minutes are enough to give me faith in the power of human intellect, creativity and soul. |
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| Steely Dan – Josie Lyrics | 15 years ago |
| I think panzer4963 is right. The 'battle apple' is in the singer's pants, I think. And to me, 'dance on the bones' sounds more like the 'horizontal mambo', given the context, than any act of violence. | |
| Eric Bogle – The Band Played Waltzing Matilda Lyrics | 15 years ago |
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From Reuters (http://www.reuters.com/article/lifestyleMolt/idUSTRE5521KZ20090603) Australia's Last World War One Soldier Dies, Aged 110 Wed Jun 3, 2009 4:00am EDT CANBERRA (Reuters Life!) - The last remaining Australian to serve in World War One has died at the age of 110, Veterans' Affairs Minister Alan Griffin said on Wednesday. John "Jack" Ross, who was also Australia's oldest man having turned 110 in March, died in his sleep early Wednesday morning at a nursing home in Bendigo in the state of Victoria. |
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| The Pogues – And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda Lyrics | 15 years ago |
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From Reuters (http://www.reuters.com/article/lifestyleMolt/idUSTRE5521KZ20090603) Australia's Last World War One Soldier Dies, Aged 110 Wed Jun 3, 2009 4:00am EDT CANBERRA (Reuters Life!) - The last remaining Australian to serve in World War One has died at the age of 110, Veterans' Affairs Minister Alan Griffin said on Wednesday. John "Jack" Ross, who was also Australia's oldest man having turned 110 in March, died in his sleep early Wednesday morning at a nursing home in Bendigo in the state of Victoria. |
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| The Kinks – Lazy Old Sun Lyrics | 15 years ago |
| This is a weird song. The lyrics and the music just sound like someone who is completely depressed. | |
| Emerson, Lake & Palmer – Jerusalem Lyrics | 15 years ago |
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This is a hymn based on a poem by William Blake. The poem wonders if heaven once existed in this place now polluted by the Industrial Age, and asks whether heaven may one day return to England. In England the song is considered very patriotic. |
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| Bob Dylan – Lay Lady Lay Lyrics | 15 years ago |
| I think the first 'lay' in 'lay lady lay' is an adjective describing the woman as common. Discuss. :) | |
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