| The Moody Blues – Are You Sitting Comfortably Lyrics | 19 days ago |
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At first listen, I thought it was just a song with medieval fantasy themes. But after watching their live TV performance of it, I think it could be a little deeper. The Merlin actor poses like he's casting a spell and there is a fake web around his hands. Perhaps it's just how the costumers were able to represent magic emanating from his hands. But there is the expression "cast a web of lies". I am also tying this interpretation to the themes in The Beginning, with Merlin representing the establishment. The idea that we have become too comfortable while Merlin casts his spells. I am perhaps leaning on the Twain representation of Merlin as a farce or manipulator. Likely this song is just going with the album theme of dreaming. But The Beginning doesn't seem to fit that idea so neatly--likely a social sub narrative is in play, was popular at the time, like what Jethro Tull used to do. |
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| Pink Floyd – Eclipse Lyrics | 26 days ago |
| I want to point out that "...and everything under the sun is in tune" is enjambment, a technique poets use to combine two statements. "all that you... and everything under the sun" and "the sun is in tune...". From a poetic standpoint, perhaps we are to read it as "everything under the sun is in tune" but I personally don't think so given the nature of the album. | |
| They Might Be Giants – Birdhouse in Your Soul Lyrics | 4 months ago |
| @[chlimouj:49184] I'm not saying this song is about religion. But one does not need to be a music major to recognize what TMBG is doing musically with the synthesizers and organs--referencing cathedral organ music of the 1700s. | |
| They Might Be Giants – Birdhouse in Your Soul Lyrics | 4 months ago |
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I think the people replying to other peoples' posts with "no, you're wrong" are jerks. Although, I don't think this song has a Christian subtext, it doesn't mean that someone of a certain belief might extract correlations to such. It's because this song *is definitely not just about a night light or a bird*. It is using metaphor for some fundamental concepts and as a result is easy for interpretation. I think this song is talking about knowledge or the communication of such. The same metaphor of why we coined the term "the Dark Ages". I think it also touches upon the reverse, about the lack of such, leading to fear, simply, the fear of the dark but more appropriately fear of the unknown. The song's voice is saying that it has provided you with light and it asks that you should take that light and be a beacon & purveyor of light as well. So, I can see how people draw religious parallels. I also want to mention that meaning-wise, this song is adjacent to Sound of Silence. |
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| Faith No More – Everything's Ruined Lyrics | 8 months ago |
| The solo to this song feels very referential to Steely Dan's Reelin in the Years solo. And after I gave it more thought, I think it's possible some of the song's progression is based on the song as well. I think it is apparent in the intro portion that repeats in the song (not the piano solo). | |
| Don McLean – American Pie Lyrics | 3 years ago |
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Don McLean does a good job at singing slightly like the music he references in this song. One reference I believe I've not heard one mention is "And in the streets the children screamed. The lovers cried, and the poets dreamed But not a word was spoken." I think think this is a Simon & Garfunkel Sound of Silence reference. Stylistically and rhythmically, it makes sense. I think this style is used "on the doorstep. I couldn't take one more step." part too, but the "not a sound was spoken" us obvious to me. |
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| R.E.M. – The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonight Lyrics | 4 years ago |
| Musically and lyrically a nod to the song The Lion Sleeps Tonight. | |
| ABBA – Take A Chance On Me Lyrics | 4 years ago |
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I'm very confident that this song is derivative of The Troggs' With a Girl Like You. The verse melody and beat is very similar. I don't think ABBA was trying to be secretive about it; I'm not certain I would have noticed if it wasn't for the obvious "Ba-ba-ba, ba, ba" part, which is an obvious nod. |
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| The B-52's – Party Out Of Bounds Lyrics | 4 years ago |
| I think almost every B52s' song with seemingly esoteric meaning has some sort of subtext. Party out of Bounds I think is referring to the government, making an analogy of running a party to running a country. | |
| The B-52's – Party Out Of Bounds Lyrics | 4 years ago |
| @[thatsnomoon:32783] That's definitely true of Love Shack. | |
| Milli Vanilli – Baby, Don't Forget My Number Lyrics | 5 years ago |
| Chorus is heavily inspired by The Trogg's With a Girl Like You. | |
| Thompson Twins – Lay Your Hands On Me Lyrics | 5 years ago |
| The intro and outro parts sound like a theme from Metroid. My searches yield no one else making this comparison. This song predates it by merely a year. | |
| The Human League – Empire State Human Lyrics | 5 years ago |
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I believe this song is a commentary on the inflated egos of those that desire to be powerful and great. It directly references the Egyptian pyramids. I think the fetch more water & fetch more sand parts are a command for the people building these pyramids. It makes a parallel between the pyramids and Empire State Building. These structures were used as a sign of godliness then as much as they are today. |
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| Paul McCartney – Waterfalls Lyrics | 5 years ago |
| I think this song is about Paul's dog Martha. I read somewhere that this song's album, McCartney II, was made after Paul moved out to the country. My guess is that home gave Martha plenty of countryside to roam in. Paul must have been worried about Martha's well being. | |
| David Byrne – Strange Overtones Lyrics | 8 years ago |
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I always took this song as a sweet romance, sung by a lonely heart. It's about that person you see regularly in your life, whether it be a neighbor, somehow that attends your school, or rides your train; you're attracted to this person but there is never any practical reason for you to meet. And so, after a time, this person leaves your life. Maybe this person was your "soul mate". You'll never know. |
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| David Byrne & Brian Eno – Strange Overtones Lyrics | 8 years ago |
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I always took this song as a sweet romance, sung by a lonely heart. It's about that person you see regularly in your life, whether it be a neighbor, somehow that attends your school, or rides your train; you're attracted to this person but there is never any practical reason for you to meet. And so, after a time, this person leaves your life. Maybe this person was your "soul mate". You'll never know. |
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| The Pogues – House Of The Gods Lyrics | 9 years ago |
| The melody in this tune, as heard as the intro was essentially pulled from the Beach Boys' "You Still Believe In Me". | |
| Paul & Linda McCartney – Dear Boy Lyrics | 9 years ago |
| McCartney has cited "God Only Knows" by the Beach Boy as one of his favorite songs of all time. If you listen to it and "Dear Boy", you'll hear a lot of similarities--most notably the backing vocals ("bah bah bah") and the tapping-like percussion in the background. | |
| Led Zeppelin – I'm Gonna Crawl Lyrics | 11 years ago |
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I read in an interview with Robert Plant (or perhaps it was Jimmy Page) stating how Led Zeppelin never repeated themselves musically except for this once, in which the comparison of Since I've Been Loving You and I'm Gonna Crawl. The songs are very similar musically and contextually. |
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| INXS – Mediate Lyrics | 11 years ago |
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I remember listening on the radio when it was announced that Michael Hutchence committed suicide. Just a few moments ago, I listened to this song and heard the lyric: "At 98, we all rotate". I wondered if the year 1998 was at least poetically referenced. I recalled that it would have been around this year that Hutchence died. So, I looked on Wikipedia and learned he Hutchence was found dead on November 22 1997--pretty close to the start of 1998. What, perhaps, was Hutchence's fascination with the significance of the year 1998? |
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| The Kinks – Black Messiah Lyrics | 11 years ago |
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Ray is not asking if you pray to a black or white god. Davies is implying that many people put up the appearance of upholding the idea of racial equality but internally do not believe it. 1) Taking offense if someone would claim that something as personal as god is black. 2) Whites avoiding living in black neighborhoods. Ray continues with the claim that humans can be different without a quantitative comparison of which race is better (white's white, black's black, and that's that). The idea of a Black Messiah, as described in the song, is a sort of mythological belief that someone (not necessarily black) will rise up and set things straight and remove so many millions of black people out of social oppression. How this reckoning is performed is not detailed, but Davies implies that it is not an ideal situation. Ray would rather just have the simpler solution of people being more open and less judgmental. Then there would be no need for an atomic social war. |
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| The Who – Amazing Journey Lyrics | 11 years ago |
| I believe they are the sound of claves in reverse: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SCIjsVfF5PI | |
| U2 – In God's Country Lyrics | 11 years ago |
| I always noticed that the guitar work in this song is incredibly like the guitar work in The Who's Pinball Wizard, particularly the intro riffs of both songs. Give them both a listen. | |
| Grateful Dead – Dupree's Diamond Blues Lyrics | 11 years ago |
| Lyrically and story-wise this song reminds me of alot of Leadbelly songs, in general. The twelve string acoustic guitar in the right channel seems to confirm this idea. | |
| Talking Heads – The Facts Of Life Lyrics | 12 years ago |
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This song is about how society has conceptually elevated itself above nature; yet, our animalistic tendencies are present in everything we do. This contradiction is our undoing and is the cause of our modern suffering. For example, human-kind has devised the abstract idea of love, fear, gods, souls, and currency. These abstract ideas have led to human devaluing systems like capitalism. Machines of love: humans are apparently special/precious, yet we subject others to terrible situations for individual gain. Even Christianity involves a god as a boss who has a business to run, so people better perform well when evaluations comes around. It's a common David Byrne theme to point out that humans are really stupid and so we better not fool ourselves (and each other) thinking we are special. |
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| Faith No More – Anne's Song Lyrics | 12 years ago |
| No one has mentioned yet how this song is clearly a play off of Styx's Lady? It becomes evidently clear near the end of the song but once you realize you can hear the progression throughout the whole song. This song likely originated from a jam while playing Lady at a gig or something. | |
| The Pogues – Rain Street Lyrics | 13 years ago |
| "Down the alley the icewagon flew" is a Bo Diddley "Who Do You Love" line reference. | |
| The Velvet Underground – Heroin Lyrics | 13 years ago |
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I really don't care anymore About all the Jim-Jim's in this town And all the politicians makin' crazy sounds And everybody puttin' everybody else down And all the dead bodies piled up in mounds This song is about escape. Kind of like, "look what you guys made me do." The world is in turmoil and is crazy, but he finds his own craze and peace within himself and his drug. |
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| The Velvet Underground – Head Held High Lyrics | 13 years ago |
| I think the song is about people, as he grew up, telling him what he should do and what to become when he gets older. He never states that he became a dancer. But he certainly shouts on the mountain top not the advice to become a dancer but rather to hold your head up high, which he obviously has. | |
| The Velvet Underground – Beginning to See the Light Lyrics | 13 years ago |
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Of course this is about the person in the song suddenly coming to a conclusion or realization of a state of enlightenment or truth. I think I've lived this song during a short brief and perhaps regrettable time in my life, so let me explain some things that people have not noticed or overlooked so far: Beginning to see the light works in two ways. One as explained before and another that is more apparent by observing the next section of the song. It is quite a literal interpretation: he is beginning to see the light, as in sun up. As any night owl knows, when the sun comes up, it's definitely time for bed. You might first initially think the person wakes up in the morning and drinks wine and then later at night eats breakfast... no, he sleeps all day, wakes up at night, eats breakfast, is up until sunrise, enjoys the peace and solitude of the wee morning with some wine. It's a backwards life, acting the fool, playing but not acting hard, not working hard... I think Lou Reed enjoys double meanings but tries about 80% of the time to execute with literal meanings. Such is the "one is black and one is blue" line. We all first think of pairing "black and blue" as a bruise. And the idea of getting beat is probably not too far from his intent. However, one is black and one is blue. One side is dark and dismal and the other is sad and blue... not very good alternatives. He refers to "two of you" but I think this is the person in the song's self in his dream asking which of the two to be. The two options aren't the best, so the person is confused. |
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| The Velvet Underground – Oh! Sweet Nuthin Lyrics | 13 years ago |
| I'm not going to go into interpreting this song. But I like to listen to this song right before going into "Rock and Roll". They have the same chord progression, just the latter is more upbeat. They both repeat variations of the phrase "nothing at all." It is an interesting duality of the usage of the phrases, where the people described in "Oh! Sweet Nuthin'" are sad and poor and really have nothing, whereas the other song describes a lifestyle where having "nothin' happenin' at all" is equivalent to having no problems and no worries... "Two TV sets and two Cadillac cars"--you get the point. | |
| Jethro Tull – One Brown Mouse Lyrics | 14 years ago |
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Twitch your whiskers. Feel that you're really real: the gesture a wise man makes while pondering the universe, stroking his beard or mustache. I love the dual meanings Jethro Tull employs. I think their stuff is great when you try to interpret a line and you can't decide whether they are for the idea in the line or against it. "Think as a Brick" is chock full of them. But this song has a good one two: Which one of us exercises on the old treadmill- Who hides his head, pretending to sleep? Makes me wonder, am I the one on the old treadmill or am I the one who hides his head? Also like a wise man, he views the constructs of this world as a cage. |
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| Jethro Tull – Warchild Lyrics | 14 years ago |
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There is a great interpretation of this song on the Cup of Wonder website. I agree with it mostly. However, in the lyrics, I mostly hear the voice of war talking to the people who are about to be conquered or killed. I think the language the voice is using is basically talking about rape: -show all of the pleasures and none of the pain. -join my explosion and play with my games. -dance in your tea-cup and you shall swim in mine. -Open your windows and I'll walk through your doors. -Let me live in your country --- let me sleep by your shores. I think it's all very sexually connotated. Lastly, no one, not even Cup of Wonder make the obvious connection of the water to wine Jesus connection. I think this has something to say about crusades and such, forcing Christianity on to conquered nations. |
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| Jethro Tull – For Michael Collins, Jeffrey, And Me Lyrics | 14 years ago |
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Watery eyes... blue reflections: Both dealing with water-one of Michael's tears and one of the earth so far away. beckon tearful child... repentance of the sin: He's extremely happy with his achievement, but is afraid and tries to be ready for death. And the blind and lusty lovers... something has to die: People on Earth, believing that their short lives (generations upon generations of them) are significant and important, are really very small. This is kind of the same vibe from The Beatles - Within You Without You: "When it's far too late, when they pass away." And the ape's curiosity... mountains move under him: Again, simple minded man in reference to "large" and "significant" piles of gold or money. Moving, referring to currency exchange: sales, stock, etc. I think everyone else here definitely nailed the last section of the song. However, I think there is more to be said about the "trip made for two... should of be there" lines. It could be interpreted as missed opportunity, especially romantically. Two people walk together while another person is sad and alone, wishing that he/she was with him/her instead. |
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| Jethro Tull – Skating Away (On the Thin Ice of a New Day) Lyrics | 14 years ago |
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I think this song is, as many Tull songs are, about casting away conventional thought and forced beliefs and then dealing with the pressures of being an individual with different views. As in the case of religion, when you start believing in what so many others around you do not (and they believe it very important), it feels like you are leaving them, mentally and spiritually. Who else views things the same way you do? If there aren't big buildings to collect in, signs, and evangelists telling you what to believe in, how do you know? Typically, independent thinkers feel alone for this reason. However, I think there is a much deeper meaning to the "only person sitting in the audience" line. |
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