| Sparklehorse – Eyepennies Lyrics | 7 years ago |
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Also, I forgot to mention (and wish this site had an edit function for comments) that the "At sunrise the monkeys will fly" also hits close to home for me, and could be interpreted as coming out of this state of sleep paralysis and seeing these so-called "flying monkeys" or whatever other form that these shadowy entities tend to manifest, dissapate when you finally wake up and snap out of the experience. Anyone who has had these experiences or is familiar with the phenomenon should know what I'm talking about... and if you are not familiar, check out the documentary "The Nightmare" which is currently on Netflix, at least in my country. It's very insightful on this age-old phenomenon and how it relates to this old folklore of cats and "bloodsuckers"/demons sitting on people's chests, taking their breath, etc. |
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| Sparklehorse – Eyepennies Lyrics | 7 years ago |
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@[Keeton:16322] Going off of your take of the song, which I definitely agree with the most,I just want to offer a more simplistic interpretation of the lines you mentioned: "Blood suckers hide beneath my bed And black fumes of skin so gently bled I slept with a cat on my breast Slowing my heart stealing my breath At sunrise the monkeys will fly" While I agree with other people that say the general gist of the song has to do with dying in some sense and then returning, I also can't help but connect this imagery, as well as the folklore you mentioned -- to sleep paralysis -- which a lot of people these days seem to think the myth of cats stealing the breath of babies might have come from (it's very common for new mothers to have sleep paralysis, and within these experiences to hallucinate cats that are either stealing their breath, or the breath of their newborn children, or both). The "bloodsuckers hide beneath my bed" also seems to echo this sleep paralysis imagery, and I think that Mark Linkous would absolutely have been familiar with this phenomenon, since we know that he almost died from taking a combination of drugs that are known to exaccerbate the symptoms of sleep paralysis, and even bring it out in people that otherwise would not experience it (I personally have experienced this phenomenon when taking sedatives like Linkous did, up to and including these shadowy cats sitting on my chest and stealing my breath). Just something I thought was worth mentioning, and which my sister and I, long suffers of sleep paralysis, always associated these lyrics with (especially when my sister gave birth to my nephew a couple years ago, and had some of the worst episodes of this terrifying sleep disorder to date during that time period). Perhaps others who have experienced this spooky phenomenon will be able to make some sense of what I'm trying to get at here, or so I hope, anyway. |
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| Ween – I'll Be Your Jonny on the Spot Lyrics | 16 years ago |
| the correct spelling for the song title is "jonny," and "jonny on the spot" is a port-a-potty company. ween song titles often refer to obscure expressions or things, i find. | |
| Nine Inch Nails – Mr. Self Destruct Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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I read through almost every post on here thinking "man, I can't wait to get my interpretation out there" only to find it got put finely only a week or so ago. The fact that the song has a different meaning to anyone proves it: it's about self-destruction in general, or more specifically, the self-destructive "drive" within the "character" of the album. That becomes apparant in the very first lyric of the song, "I am the voice inside your head." I always viewed the first and last track on the album as kind of an intro/outro to the album, with the self-titled song being the sort of creative climax where the overall sound and everything perfectly gets the tone of the album, the idea of being "dragged down and used up." From Piggy to Reptile I always saw those songs as the real "meat" of the album, following the evolution of "the" self destructive person from love, to religion, to sex, to society, and to bringing out the overall dark side of a person. then with "big man with a gun" I always saw it as a run-in with the law, and A Warm Place is the contemplative and introspective state that one enters after those situations. after that state people often try to "erase" their old selves (sometimes even programs like AA/NA), only to relapse, as shown in Reptile. In conclusion, I basically agree with those who said that this song is like an introduction that shows what is to come. It's probably my favorite off of the album along with Hurt, which I always saw as kind of the epilogue, with the end being most important. "If I could start again, a million miles away, I would keep myself, I would find a way..." and that horrible chord that's played over it expresses much more than any words could have. ...man, I ramble. |
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