| The Gaslight Anthem – The Blues, Mary Lyrics | 12 years ago |
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the blues mary the blues: i believe is a sequel to Bruce Springsteens thunder road, i think its about an unnamed male character who is infatuated with mary. in thunder road mary and the male character decide to take a chance and search for the promised land, to leave everything behind in the hope of a better future, a fairytale future perhaps but i see the blues mary as a second chapter in that story. the couple are still searching for the promised land but have hit hard times, he's constantly having to reassure her that its just a bad time and that they will come through it better off, he however is doubting if they ever will find what there looking for, he's starting to see it as a fantasy, "swirling around his head like the dreams in Dorothy's shoes". Is a dream a lie if it don't come true or is it something worse? In verse one, he's working hard, trying his best to make the life he had promised her, he's learnt many things from this adventure he's undertaken but most of all he's learnt "how to run". Mary on the other hand may not have been the person he had hoped she would have been, she's not happy, she's not trying to make it work and the only thing she has learnt is "just how to run". I think that at this stage there both running in separate directions, he's trying to move forward and carry on running towards his dreams whereas she wants to run away and give up on everything. Were these ever her dreams? The second verse, mary is lonely, she's crying herself to sleep at night with him working away, working nights and every hour he can to make money, he's still in love with her and expresses' it in a brilliant line "i fell asleep most nights with your pictures right behind my eyes" Verse three, starts off so optimistic, he's still smiling so much so its compared to the fireworks on the 4th of july, mary on the other hand has changed, there fighting, she's taking her anger out on him and he still has the patience and love for her to take sympathy on her when she's upset afterwards when she "cries like a baby". He feels like he means so little to her now that he is just like an accessory for he, "she wears me just like a ring". I find the final verse the most interesting, to me it speaks of marriage vows, "i learned to hold you while your body burned" to care for her when she's ill. "i learned how to compromise while the whirlwind hurricane turned" to stand by her even at there worst times. For sickness and in health, for better and for worse. The underlying tune of amazing grace which plays from the final chorus onwards, repeatings the lines of appreciation for someone "saving a wretch like me", things may not be the best for them but he must have been really unhappy or unfortunate before he met her and regardless of how she acts and how difficult things get he has that motivation to keep running forward for the hope of a better life and never to go back to the life that made him so unhappy. |
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| The Gaslight Anthem – The Navesink Banks Lyrics | 13 years ago |
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the navesink banks, i think its a really simple song, but its one of my favourite. the first 2 verses are in the past and the final is in the present. verse 1, i think is about him losing his virginity, hes 'barely 17', i think he maybe used this girl, theres no reference to romance, lust or passion so i think he just used her and maybe broke her heart. verse 2- i think he got into the wrong crowd when he was younger, was a bit of a rebel, acting hard and tough but it was only an act "We were scared and tired and barely seventeen". i think by doing this to this girl and losing his virginity made him feel old and grown up. "My first sin was the fear that made me old." verse 3- i love this verse by the way! were now in the present, he's come back to his hometown with his wife/girlfriend and he's trying to tell her that he used to be different, that he was once a different person and she wouldn't have liked who he used to be. "But she only smiles" and says "Listen, baby, I know you now." saying that whats in the past is in the past and its who we are now and what we do now is what matters. he's still haunted by the memories of what he did to this "young American girl", and his girlfriend is saying to him that he's beating himself up over something thats not as bigger deal as he thinks. and that he needs to move on and stop living in regret. |
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| The Gaslight Anthem – I Coulda Been a Contender Lyrics | 13 years ago |
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im probably reading far too much into this but this is my interpretation... the title...i coulda been a contender...we coulda been a couple, together, happy. verse 1, he feels sorry for himself, i think he's saying that he's spent a lifetime looking for the woman for him, "iv been dancing on this killing floor for years" and he's lonely because of a life he's chosen but understands that its his choice n he has to deal with it "i'm the captain of my burden" verse 2, a very sad verse with words like " ONCE u said i was ur hero" and "gonna" all past tense. he clearly met an amazing woman, a woman who turned his world upside down and meant everything to him. "you would dance with me on a dime" i think is saying how they would dance to the sound of a jukebox. i think in the last 3 lines he is saying that he was "gonna" support her in her dreams and her career as a singer and she would be his own "judy garland". we were going to share ur empty heart, together. she will still have a career and become a star, but he wont be there with her to see it. verse 3, i find this really interesting, when i hear a "dirty wind blowing" i picture a sand storm, a dusty dirty sand storm in the desert. "a storm front coming in" a storm as everyone knows is scary, with load bangs of thunder and bright flashes of lightning, not unlike war, when u see fighting from a distance u often see a big flash of an explosion followed by a thunderous bang. the last 3 lines i think he's talking to himself, "steady now, soldier hold fast now" he's making himself focus, he's going away to war now concentrate on what u have to do, he needs all is focus if he wants to live through this. "It's heads or tails on heart attacks and broken dreams" heads and tails....50/50 on dying and destroying his and her dreams. verse 4, "waltzing matilda" i dont no what he means by that but i think he's still reminiscing the time they had together, note that this reminiscing verse compared to the others is very short, he really is trying to put her to the back of his head and focus on whats coming. he now repeats the chorus 3 times which tells me he's now fully focused on what he has to do, understands theres a big chance of death and "broken dreams" but he's now got his head clear of any distractions. the last line is brilliant," Atlantis is my only dream tonight" when he goes to sleep he allows himself to relax and take his mind off the stress of what he's going through, "atlantis" he could be talking about what he sees as paradise and hope, something to live for... maybe i have too much of an imagination |
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