| Soundgarden – Rowing Lyrics | 2 years ago |
| I\'m pretty sure it\'s not "gotta row" but "that rope"\nAnd it\'s not "imagine the real" but "imagined or real" \n\nThese posted lyrics don\'t seem right at all.\n\nAnyway, if you listen to it closely, you\'ll realize that Ben is playing a military running march on his bass. Chris is just singing along. \n\nThis is a song about not knowing what you want apart from staying alive and making it to the end, because it\'s the only life you get and you don\'t want it to end. | |
| Lostprophets – A Town Called Hypocrisy Lyrics | 10 years ago |
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After seeing the music video, I can safely say that I know what this song is about: It's about Ian Watkins' molesting children and raping babies while loving every minute of it. |
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| Soundgarden – Black Hole Sun Lyrics | 10 years ago |
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I think the song's meaning is pretty straightforward. The narrator is so tired of humanity that they're longing and hoping for the world to end. Pretty similar to "Aenema" by Tool. "Times are gone for honest men And sometimes far too long for snakes" The 70s, 80s, and 90s are the age when, at least in the United States, capitalism and corporations began to have an influence on every aspect of our daily lives. The good came with the bad, as people stepped all over each other just to get their piece of the pie. Things like honesty and integrity went out the window and the opportunists took over. "Nice guys finish last" became a mantra for many people. "In my shoes, a walking sleep And my youth I pray to keep Heaven sent hell away No one sings like you anymore" The narrator would rather die young than see society and humanity head in the direction that it's going. "Heaven sent hell away" refers to nature ending society on Earth. "No one sings like you anymore" seems to refer to how all of the old moral tenets – such a honesty, substance, and compassion – aren't really celebrated anymore. "Hang my head, drown my fear Till you all just disappear" The narrator will wait in despair until the annihilation of the human race. Seems pretty screwed up, but misanthropy is common in a lot of Cornell's writing. He writes a lot of songs about the apocalypse ("New Damage," "4th of July") but also how he's looking forward to it. "Limo Wreck" is pretty much about the same thing. Also, "The Day I Tried To Live" seems to continue the whole theme of being an outsider and not feeling like a part of society. The real question is whether or not there ever was a "Time for honest men," unfortunately. History doesn't seem to indicate that there ever was. You always get the good with the bad. |
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| Faith No More – Everything's Ruined Lyrics | 12 years ago |
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In hindsight, I retract my statement about the song being about the band's situation with fame/Jim Martin. Now that the economy is screwed up, and after listening to this song numerous times, this number is clearly about capitalism/money transfer. "Our boy" is an allegory for the US dollar. Once it hit "puberty," it became a million. It made us proud, made us rich. etc. Money/greed has tained/ruined literally everything, from the water we drink, the food we eat, the beds we sleep in, the sports we play, the books we read, the cars we drive, and I think most importantly, the music we make/listen to. Nothing is ever done for fun, for its own sake or for the betterment of society anymore; everything has to do with the bottom line. In the band's opinion, everything's ruined. Anytime something new comes along, greed rears its ugly head again. |
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| Guns N' Roses – Sweet Child O' Mine Lyrics | 13 years ago |
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I think the whole song is about a woman he is with that makes him feel as happy as he did when he was a child. Throughout the song he makes allusions to sacred childhood hiding places. "Where do we go now?" is a rhetorical question, asking "Where do I hide now?" It's impossible to get away like he could as a child because of the responsibilities and hardships that come with being an adult, not to mention his heightened awareness of all the world's problems. In addition, you could say that this is his way of admitting that, for all of the joy and innocence he finds in the relationship, he knows it could never last. |
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| Alice in Chains – Down In A Hole Lyrics | 13 years ago |
| No. Jerry wrote the lyrics. It's Jerry's song. | |
| Faith No More – Everything's Ruined Lyrics | 13 years ago |
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Gould and Patton wrote these lyrics. I think it's their subtle commentary on the band's situation with guitarist Jim Martin. In the early years Jim was a major contributor to the band, but as the years progressed he participated less and less with each album until eventually, by Angel Dust, he had only written two songs: Kindergarten and Jizzlobber (the former of which he co-wrote with Gould). "Things worked out better than we had planned Capital from boy, woman and man. We were like ink and paper Numbers on a calculator Knew arithmetic so well Working overtime Completed what was assigned We had to multiply ourselves" These lyrics refer to the band's success, how they handled it at first and also their incredible work ethic. The first five lines break down their initial reaction to FNM's success and how it was a positive thing. The next three lines document their fulfillment of the grueling touring schedule for "The Real Thing." It's well-documented that by 1991, the band was extremely exhausted and frustrated with the industry due to touring. They had toured for The Real Thing for a year, were just about to wrap-up the tour, then suddenly "Epic" was a break-out hit and they had to repeat the process all over again. They handled this as a unit. "A bouncing little baby A shiny copper penny And he spent himself Would not listen to us But when he lost his appetite He lost his weight in friends" Each member of the band had their own level of success, but the last two lines here specifically call out Jim, I believe. Success got to his head, and by the time "Angel Dust" was being made he got lazy. His "appetite" for making music was diminishing and he was losing friends in the band. "Baby became a fat nickel so fast Then came puberty Exponentially Soon our boy became a million" This points out some problems the band began to notice with Jim during The Real Thing touring schedule. Read The Real Story by Stefen Chirazi, which tells about how the rest of the band began to get annoyed with Jim's "party animal" tendencies on the road. While the rest of the band was working hard and trying to create new songs, Jim was partying and sleeping with groupies ("Then came puberty". The band felt this was a bad rock and roll cliché that they couldn't relate to in any way whatsoever ("Soon our boy became a million") "People loved him so And helped him to grow Everyone knew the thing that was best Of course, we must invest" Just calls attention to the fact that Jim became the face for the band in many ways...making appearances in Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey for instance. Jim had solidified the band's metal fanbase, despite their reluctance to be considered a "metal" band. "But he made us proud He made us rich But how were we to know He's counterfeit" At first the band rationalized it by accepting their status, but then later realized that Jim's "appetite" for making music had been replaced with an appetite for fame and success. "He's counterfeit" implies that he isn't really who they thought he was in the beginning. Jim wasn't ever really in it for the music. "Now everything's ruined" The band's success came at a price: the unity they had during The Real Thing era was gone forever. It was now a four piece band with a complementary guitarist (essentially a state the band remained in until they broke up in 1998). Jim may have still been a part of FNM in name, but in spirit he was already out. In many ways this is something they never recovered from. Even they admitted that Jim was a big part of their image and "brand," and after they fired him they never came close to the success they had when he was a part of the group. After I read The Real Thing biography, it gave me a deeper insight into the state of the band when this album was being made. After all the touring they did for The Real Thing, they had a very jaded view of the industry and "Angel Dust" was their statement of that. In my view, there are two eras of the band: the 80s and the 90s. The band of the 80s (We Care a Lot, Introduce Yourself, The Real Thing) was trying to gain success with relatively easy to swallow songs. With Angel Dust their philosophy had completely changed, and instead they were more interested in making an artistic statement. I believe they succeeded with that, as well as with KFAD. The FNM of the mid-to-late 80s and the FNM of the 90s really were two completely different bands, and it shows in the music. I believe that this song is a statement on where the band was at the time, and it is probably their most personal song. Jim really was an important member of the band during the 80s, and if you see his live presence from then you realize that he was one of the hardest working guys in the band. If you see any of his performances from after The Real Thing broke it big, he mostly just stands there and plays without a whole lot of movement. You can tell his heart just isn't in it anymore. |
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| Jerry Cantrell – S.O.S Lyrics | 14 years ago |
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S.O.S. is military lingo for a type of food they eat called "shit on a shingle" hence the lyric. It's like mutten on a cracker or something like that. |
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| Alice in Chains – Down In A Hole Lyrics | 14 years ago |
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While I know that Cantrell has gone on the record saying that this song is about his girlfriend, I believe he's fibbing for personal reasons. I believe that, just like "Rooster" is Jerry's song for his father, "Down in a Hole" is Jerry's song to his departed mother, who died of cancer just before Facelift came out. "Bury me softly in this womb I give this part of me for you" Jerry's mother speaking. This is a reference to childbirth. The mother carries the child in her womb, and goes through the intense pain and suffering associated with childbirth. The mother gives herself away so that the child can be born. "Sand rains down and here I sit Holding rare flowers In a tomb...in bloom" Jerry's mom continues by saying that now she lays in a grave, lifeless. "Down in a hole and I don't know if I can be saved See my heart I decorate it like a grave" This is Jerry speaking to his mother (although Layne is singing, Jerry wrote the lyrics). He feels lost without the guidance of his departed mother. He is saddened by her loss and is deeply depressed by her death, hence his heart is "decorated like a grave." Her grave. It has been documented that during the recording of this album Jerry was suffering deep depression from his mother's loss. "You don't understand who they Thought I was supposed to be Look at me now I'm a man Who won't let himself be" Jerry's explaining to his mother that he regrets not being able to spend more time with her growing up. He's torturing himself over her loss, constantly second-guessing. "Down in a hole, feeling so small Down in a hole, losing my soul I'd like to fly, But my wings have been so denied" His cry to his mother. An infant bird must at some point learn to fly by watching its mother/father. But that bird must also be nurtured by its family before it can reach that point. Because his mother isn't there he feels like he is "malnourished," unable to reach his fullest potential. Basically, there's a deep void in his life. "Down in a hole and they've put all The stones in their place" Again referring to the fact that she has died. "I've eaten the sun so my tongue Has been burned of the taste" This is his bitterness with success. Despite reaching "rock star" status, he is somewhat "burned" by the problems fame can bring. "I have been guilty Of kicking myself in the teeth I will speak no more of my feelings beneath" He regrets his current stature, and would rather his mother be alive then him be famous. More than likely, he received a large sum of money after his mother died, and that money probably went towards equipment/promotion in the pre-Facelift era. For what he has now, the problems that come with fame, he would trade all of that in to be with her but he can't, so he'll speak no more of it. Lastly, the refrain... "Bury me softly in this womb Oh I want to be inside of you I give this part of me for you Oh I want to be inside of you Sand rains down and here I sit Holding rare flowers (Oh I want to be inside of you) In a tomb...in bloom Oh I want to be inside..." Pretty obvious. Again his mother is speaking to him, but Jerry interjects with "I want to be inside of you." He wants to be with his mother again. He wants to retreat from reality and go back inside of his departed mother's womb so that he can again be with her. It's worth noting that while the entire band was going through major drug and alcohol issues during the recording of this album, Jerry was taking Xanax to treat clinical depression which he had been suffering since his mother died. Since many of these wrongs were written while the band was touring for Facelift, it's likely that when this song was written, the death of Jerry's mother was still fresh on his mind. I honestly believe that a lot of these songs that Jerry claims to be about "break-ups" and "girlfriends" aren't really about what he says they are. He's clearly a sensitive and intuitive guy, and I doubt he would want to publicize the true meaning of a song with subject matter as deep as this. Discuss. |
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