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| Rammstein – Mann Gegen Mann Lyrics
| 10 years ago
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The main riff is obviously inspired by Pantera's "Mouth for War" (possibly via the Doom I soundtrack, levels E2M9 and E3M1). |
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| Van Canto – I Am Human Lyrics
| 10 years ago
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Am I the only Transhumanist here? The only one to "hope things change to better" to make people less human and more divine? |
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| Dr. Steel – Secret Message Lyrics
| 10 years ago
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The initial "Hello, ladies and gentlemen" was spoken by the same IBM mainframe as the famous "Daisy, Daisy". Hear the original at http://blogfiles.wfmu.org/DP/2003/03/365-Days-Project-03-03-bell-telephone-labs-computer-speech-1963.mp3 |
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| Awolnation – Sail Lyrics
| 10 years ago
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"'this is how I show my love' - because he has ADD he shows his love in ways that might not be recognizable to those without experience with intellectual disabilities. While his actions might be interpreted as callous by others, it's still valid to him because that's how he shows his love even if it's different than how others might show their love."
Sounds to me more like autism spectrum than ADD (and I should know -- I've had both diagnoses). |
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| Nirvana – Heart-Shaped Box Lyrics
| 10 years ago
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"She eyes me like a Pisces" makes it sound like Kurt's annoyed about Courtney's interest in astrology (demonstrated by her own lyrics for Hole, such as "And the sky was made of amethyst / and all the stars looked just like little fish"), probably because she uses it to psychoanalyze and dehumanize him. |
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| Nirvana – Heart-Shaped Box Lyrics
| 10 years ago
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"Box" probably has multiple meanings. It may mean vagina as @delhess said, but probably also means "imprisonment" in an addictive, abusive relationship (it's "heart-shaped" because she pretends to love him -- it looks like he's in her heart). |
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| Amaranthe – Act of Desperation Lyrics
| 11 years ago
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I bet it's about a spy (probably from the CIA, per my other comment) seducing her target because she's run out of other options (an "act of desperation / to see what I can find") and falling in love with him. |
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| Amaranthe – Act of Desperation Lyrics
| 11 years ago
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A quick search on "eagle and the compass star" turned up Wikipedia's blurb on the CIA logo. Not sure if that has anything to do with anything. |
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| I Fight Dragons – Give It Up Lyrics
| 11 years ago
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"Give it up for human nature" sounds a bit weird. When I was an undergrad, I was giving up *on* human nature. So I'm trying to give my human nature up now, bit by bit, and looking forward to the day when I can give it up completely. |
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| Machinae Supremacy – 99 Lyrics
| 11 years ago
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No, this song is clearly about Occupy Wall Street from a financial exec's point of view. "Just pieces on the board" refers to how people can look like board-game pieces from a bird's-eye view.
Re "I stand above the world, in my glass enclave": According to Google Maps' satellite and Street View pics, only two buildings -- Marine Midland and One Liberty Plaza -- have views on Zucotti Park through plate glass. The latter holds several offices for Goldman Sachs, where many of the mortgage-backed securities that caused the housing crash of 2008 were created. |
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| Dr. Steel – Dr. Steel Lyrics
| 11 years ago
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And re "Singularity is nearing": See http://singularity.com/qanda.html for the most-likely-relevant definition of "Singularity", since Dr. Steel contributed music to the film adaptation of The Singularity Is Near by its own author Kurzweil. |
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| Dr. Steel – Dr. Steel Lyrics
| 11 years ago
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Re "The Face of Enlil": In Zecharia Sitchin's "archeology" books (which "Planet X Marks The Spot" establishes as part of Dr. Steel's canon), humans were created by a race of alien gods (the Anunnaki) to work as slaves in African gold mines. Enlil is a Promethean figure, a rebel Anunnaki who helped humans gain our freedom.
See http://www.bibliotecapleyades.net/sitchin/esp_sitchin_0.htm |
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| Dr. Steel – Planet X Marks The Spot Lyrics
| 11 years ago
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Zecharia Sitchin was an ancient-astronaut theorist. "Planet X" or "Nibiru", our solar system's 12th planet, is what he calls the homeworld of the advanced alien race that created humans to serve as slaves. (It's not attested in real astronomy.) |
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| KMFDM – Mercy Lyrics
| 11 years ago
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This song reminds me a little of the Highlander movie. It's definitely from the POV of someone who's hundreds of years old or remembers past lives, but is about to die permanently.
Maybe the narrator isn't a person at all, but an abstract concept (tyranny?). The 2nd verse reminds me of the idea of history (especially the rise and fall of tyrants' regimes) being a cycle. The line "deeper I dive, and deeper" suggest that the cycle is gradually turning into an inward spiral, like a planet in unstable orbit gradually falling into a black hole. It runs through its 360 degrees in less and less time, until it reaches an unsustainable pace. Then we go to Singularity. |
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| Audioslave – Show Me How to Live Lyrics
| 12 years ago
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To me, "built with stolen parts" doesn't fit with the narrator being Jesus... or a normal human being. In Christian doctrine, God can't steal anything from the material world because He already owns it. Instead, "his creator" has to be a human, with all that usually implies. The product is the customer, and it isn't satisfied. |
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| Dio – Killing The Dragon Lyrics
| 12 years ago
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From an interview with Ronnie on USA Today: http://www.usatoday.com/community/chat/2002-06-17-dio.htm
So what's the meaning of the title track of his newest release, Killing the Dragon? Dio explains that the song refers to “those who perpetrate injustices and what the world is doing to stop them. In fantasy tales, dragons were notorious for stealing children and feeding them to their babies. During the first part of the song, I sing ‘Someone has taken a child.’ The second part is about a cruel feudal lord. The third part is about ‘electronic serfdom.’" Dio believes that the computer has become a god in modern society. “It is a small god with an electrical heart,” he says. “It is time to rebel against it.”
But farther down the page:
I don't have anything against computers. I just got the idea that if we allow our humanity to be usurped by computer technology it could take our humanity away, which could become another dragon to kill.
Personally, I think having a computer for a god will be a big improvement, and that human nature is the real dragon. |
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| The Darkest of the Hillside Thickets – The Innsmouth Look Lyrics
| 12 years ago
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Turns out this song isn't based directly on Lovecraft's work but on Derleth's "The Fisherman at Falcon Point", where the title character indeed becomes a Deep One without being descended from one, and where the Deep Ones are first described as "batrachian". http://crypt-of-cthulhu.com/derlethsusewords.htm |
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| Iced Earth – In Sacred Flames Lyrics
| 14 years ago
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Update: odisse is not present tense but perfect tense, so it's "to have hated". Also, mortalis is genitive, so it means "of the mortal thing" (singular, neutral gender). If I'm understanding what I've read correctly, when the object of a Latin verb has no noun and is just adjectives, it's "that which is" or "those which are" those adjectives, which means "odisse mortalis" translates as "to have hated that which is of the mortal". Could someone please check this? |
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| Machinae Supremacy – Dark City Lyrics
| 14 years ago
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I'd think so too, but looking up some Oblivion sites I don't see any references to a train yard or a belvedere. And the map at http://guides.gamepressure.com/theelderscrolls4oblivion/guide.asp?ID=882 doesn't show any extant cities near Serpent Hollow (although it does show some elven ruins). |
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| Iced Earth – In Sacred Flames Lyrics
| 14 years ago
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This song consists of just isolated words of Latin. All the impressiveness of real Latin, but we don't have to learn the language to translate it! (NB: All verbs are infinitive, present tense, active voice.)
convocare = assemble, summon
caelestis = of the heavens
bestia = beast
excidium = destruction, overthrow
hominum = of humans [genitive plural]
mortalis = mortal
nefarius = abominable
detestari = to curse
dies natalis = birthday
odisse = to hate |
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| Tool – L.A. Municipal Court Lyrics
| 14 years ago
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I remember one time I was trying to catch a bus downtown from campus on a holiday, and I had to call campus security for bus schedules because they were the only public-sector office in the city that was open. |
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| Tool – Lateralus Lyrics
| 14 years ago
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That makes sense; this song may then be about the next step in the human evolutionary line, involving even greater capacities for perception and consciousness. Same overall message, then, as Forty-Six and 2. |
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| Emperor – Cosmic Keys to My Creations and Times Lyrics
| 14 years ago
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"Here is also a planet similar to the moon, but its phases is only one and it is in its most powerful for all and ever... There passes no light without the barking of the wolves." To me, this evokes the "Black Sun", originally of alchemy but later of Nazi mysticism. |
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| DragonForce – Disciples of Babylon Lyrics
| 14 years ago
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In Thelema, the religion founded by Aleister Crowley, Babalon (pronounced the same as Babylon but spelled with an A in place of the Y) is a goddess of the moon and female sexuality. So "disciples of Babalon" would be Thelemites. Not sure if that has anything to do with this song though. |
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| Owen Pallett – The Arctic Circle Lyrics
| 14 years ago
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Abjuration sounds right to me. The title "Arctic Circle" refers to Magic Circle Against Evil, "a heart that will never melt" to Endure Elements, Protection from Energy and/or Resist Energy, "shields up!" to Shield, and "now you can endure the fear" to Remove Fear, all abjuration spells in 3.5 Edition (the latest at the time the album was released).
"Now you can endure the lies" doesn't quite fit though. The only D&D 3.5e spells that defend against lies are Discern Lies, which is divination, and Zone of Truth, which is enchantment. |
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| Tool – 4 Degrees Lyrics
| 14 years ago
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So God wants to sodomize non-believers? Thinnest-veiled metaphor I've ever seen, but also the cleverest. Compare "Opiate" ("He has needs / like I do / We both want / to rape you"). |
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| Tool – L.A. Municipal Court Lyrics
| 14 years ago
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Certainly one of the simpler Tool songs to interpret. I've been on plenty of phone menu systems where I needed none of the above and it wasn't listed. |
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| Tool – Part of Me Lyrics
| 14 years ago
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That doesn't quite make sense, because of the lines "You don't judge" and "You can't hurt me". The id, ego and superego do judge each other and hurt each other, as do their Jungian counterparts.
So there are several possibilities. One is that Maynard's misinterpreting Freudian/Jungian psychology, his only specialty. Another is that it's about a sex slave (who, if she doesn't speak or judge, must be a bit lacking in the IQ department). But the simplest valid explanation, and thus the most plausible by Occam's Razor, is that Maynard was telling the truth when he told us this song was about his penis. |
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| Tool – Intension Lyrics
| 15 years ago
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I agree with this, since "AEnema" gives the same message (if one interprets it as being about more than just LA) -- that civilization will cease to exist on Earth well before humanity does, and that this will be a good thing at least for Maynard. |
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| Demons & Wizards – Blood On My Hands Lyrics
| 15 years ago
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The Nibelung interpretation appears to be right. The "treacherous leaf" and "river Rhine" don't fit with Macbeth.
NB: The source seems to have been the German epic poem Nibelungenlied. The leaf isn't in Wagner's Ring Cycle (which is where I expect most people would look), according to Wikipedia's synopses. |
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| Megadeth – Foreclosure Of A Dream Lyrics
| 15 years ago
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Not likely: This song was released in 1992, and Mustaine wasn't Christian at least until 2003 according to http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Dave_Mustaine&oldid=285152439#Recovery
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| Tool – 10,000 Days (Wings Pt. 2) Lyrics
| 15 years ago
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In this song, Maynard seems to both be vehemently anti-Catholic and believe in Catholicism's distinguishing doctrine of purgatory. |
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| Diablo Swing Orchestra – Balrog Boogie Lyrics
| 15 years ago
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Modern usages of the Latin phrases, first and third lines:
Mea culpa: "my fault", an admission of error
Ecce signum: "behold the sign", spoken by Falstaff in Shakespeare's Henry IV Part 1 Act II Scene 4.
Corpus vile: "worthless body", an expendable living thing that can be used e.g. for scientific tests of lethality.
Coram deo: "in the presence of God", the privileged state of Christians.
Sine cura: "without a care", -> sinecure, an office with salary and/or prestige but no responsibilities
Vade mecum: "go with me", a handbook
Casus belli: "case for war", a country's stated reason for declaring war.
Lusus naturae: "freaks/jokes of nature", term used by medieval naturalists for actual or reported specimens that defied classification or violated natural laws. Fell into disuse with the rise of the scientific method. |
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| Black Sabbath – All Moving Parts (Stand Still) Lyrics
| 15 years ago
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Sounds to me like it's about a US President. At work, he gets his kicks from starting wars and watching his army invent and use fancy new weapons. Off work, he gets them from sexual promiscuity and S&M.
Since I live in Canada and wasn't watching US politics until the 2000 elections, I can't say whether any real president would fit this song (except that I'm pretty sure it wasn't JFK). |
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| Tool – Aenema Lyrics
| 15 years ago
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Last summer I read a series of articles at http://anthropik.com/thirty/ that may shed some light on this song (be influenced by the same sources and have the same ultimate message).
The articles say civilization is unsustainable and an unfortunate accident and will inevitably collapse, but quality of life will then improve for those who survive and it's a good idea to gain some basic survival skills ("learn to swim"?) in order to live through the collapse. It sounds like the song is saying more or less the same thing.
Sorry if this duplicates what someone else has said; I haven't had time to read all 20 pages of comments. |
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| Serj Tankian – Lie Lie Lie Lyrics
| 15 years ago
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This song reminds me of the South Park episode, "Miss Teacher Bangs a Boy", where Ike (Kyle's younger brother) has a relationship with his kindergarten teacher and, when cornered by cops, she jumps off a building to her death and thinks she's persuaded Ike to follow. |
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| Machinae Supremacy – Origin Lyrics
| 15 years ago
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The voice sampled at the start of this song is of Joanna Pacula, as the Russian scientist Nadia Vinogradiya in the 1999 film Virus. Maybe the song was inspired by the film. |
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| Therion – To Mega Therion Lyrics
| 15 years ago
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Meanings for the names:
To Mega Therion = pen name used by Aleister Crowley.
Baal = Hadad, Canaanite god of thunder, fertility and agriculture; in the Bible, any idol or false god; in later Christian writings, a specific demon.
Baphomet = In Crowley's writings, the "emblem" of Satan (who is depicted not as "the devil" but as the creator of the gods). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baphomet#Aleister_Crowley_and_Baphomet
Letter Theth = may refer to Crowley's "The Book of Thoth."
Sorath = According to http://www.monju.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/OccSig1998.htm, the Sun Demon. According to Crowley at http://www.luckymojo.com/esoteric/occultism/magic/ceremonial/crowley/000ahgeomancy.txt, the ruler of the Leo sign.
Fenris/Fenrir = In Norse mythology, a monstrous wolf whom the gods have imprisoned to prevent him from destroying the world. Will escape at Ragnarok and be killed only by the entire army in Valhalla.
Thagirion = An evil force in Qaballah.
Lalbaoph = Possibly a mistranscription of Yaldabaoth, one of several names for the Gnostic Demiurge, who is the creator of the universe but not its ultimate ruler, and is sometimes described as evil and sometimes as merely imperfect. |
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| Demons & Wizards – Spatial Architects Lyrics
| 15 years ago
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In conclusion, any metal band these days can tell us that the human race is doomed and that religion is the enemy, but it takes someone like Schaffer to tell us why. |
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