| Nirvana – School Lyrics | 10 years ago |
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This song is pretty clear to me. It's a tune about when Kurt was an alien, he met another alien named E.T. and it's about this fellow's dilemma: Wouldn't you believe it, it's just my luck... NO REESE'S! NO REESE'S! NO REESE'S! You're hurt, I see the cut... NO REESE'S! NO REESE'S! NO REESE'S! If you don't get the part about "you're hurt, I see the cut"-- there's a part in the movie where Elliot cuts his finger and E.T. heals it with his magic glowing finger. Or did he cut Elliot because he wouldn't let E.T. finger him...? Hmm. Either way, the interpretation stands. I mean, it's a pretty transparent song to me... :) |
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| Nirvana – Drain You Lyrics | 10 years ago |
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As a foreword, Kurt said that the most important line to the interpretation of the song was the first line. Starting there (where else?)... I think the "babies" he's referring to are not babies at all, they're, in fact, two immature people. They're mentally "babies" in their maturity and thought process, narcissistic. "One baby to another says, I'm lucky to have met you" The start of a relationship, seems good and in this case it seems like it's a positive thing. "I don't care what you think unless it is about me" Each person is narcissistic and selfish. They don't care about the other person's opinions or thoughts, they just want them to be the center of attention and focus in their mind. And in the metaphor as a baby, a baby is unconcerned with greater thought and is naive and unaware of any other needs besides its survival-- the need to be fed, nurtured, loved, etc. "It is now my duty to completely drain you" Such a person will take, take, take from others until they have nothing left to give. And they don't care as long as they were the recipient. They'll leave you drained because they're so selfish or self-concerned. Like a nursing baby, literally draining the mother, haha; such will an adult baby if you nurture and allow that behavior. "Chew your meat for you, pass it back and forth in a passionate kiss, from my mouth to yours, I like you" Like a baby bird, unable (or a person that is unwilling) to do things for their own, in human context, a co-dependent person needs the other one or so they feel and they need to feel nurtured and taken care of... it's co-dependency in the intended context (as I see it). Two people so co-dependent on each other that down to something as basic as chewing their own food they need that level of "babying" from their partner. The rest kind of is self-explanatory, passing it back and forth in a passionate kiss, I like you-- just indicative of this back and forth feeding of two people in a co-dependent relationship clinging to each other desperately. Passionate kiss and I like you shows it's a romantic relationship, I think is pretty clear. "With eyes so dilated I've become your pupil" As others have said, to debunk a heroin reference-- opiates cause pupil constriction, NOT dilation-- BUT it could mean the opposite, a person in withdrawal-- but in this case, not heroin, but a different drug-- a co-dependent relationship. When you separate two such people, they go into "withdrawal" and crave being back with that person, even if it's not good for them at all. May be metaphorical for that kind of withdrawal in parallel to heroin withdrawal... or it could also reference the fact that when we think about or look at someone we're enamored with, our pupils dilate. Dilated pupils could be indicative of love and infatuation, alternatively. "You taught me everything without a poison apple" Always see this line misquoted as "about a poison apple". Poison apple referring to the Garden of Eden and the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil (though, technically it wasn't "poison", it was just forbidden to taste of)... I'm not quite sure to make of the pupil/knowledge/teaching part, to be honest. "The water is so yellow, I'm a healthy student" To me, what comes to mind is when you're taking vitamins, it turns your piss yellow. And if the water is so yellow, it means you've been taking your vitamins, and therefore you're assumably "healthy". This also ties in with the next to last line about "you're my vitamins". You can finish that correlation for yourself. "I travel through a tube and end up in your infection" This is the one line that leads me to possible other interpretations, such as the one suggested about a baby traveling through a fallopian tube and ending up "your infection", metaphorical for being born into/as "the virus of life" (as Slipknot would put it). But if I'm to try and fit that into all of the above which I've said (which to me, makes a lot of sense) I kind of imagine traveling through a tube as one getting that sort of tunnel vision of love where you are blind to any bad things about the person or situation because you're so infatuated with them, only later to have your eyes opened to who they really are and the reality of things (the infection)... to end up in a relationship that you're both so completely overcome by and engulfed in, yet you're addicted and dependent on a person and relationship that is totally infectious. And that's my take. If not the later lines, I think my interpretation of the overall meaning or portrayal that this song was meant to paint seems pretty accurate... but as always, who knows. Interpretation is interpretation and there's my 2 cents...which, at this point, combined with the others would make this thread worth $3.84-- not that great, haha. |
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| Nirvana – Come As You Are Lyrics | 10 years ago |
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I think at the core this song is about a person having unrealistic and impossible expectations of another or others, or even themselves (Kurt). If you notice, there is constant clashing and self-contradicting things, shaped in the format of requests or commands or whatever. "Come as you are, as you were, as I want you to be" Comparing a person as they are today to a person they were in the past, as others have pointed out, maybe as an example the context of a relationship that was once good, but turned bad... you idealize the person they once were when things were good, but hate the person that they have become today-- either way, it's on my terms... as I want you to be. And I take this as "I want you to be an idealized version of yourself, all of the good without the bad", which is impossible and unrealistic. Possibly saying that "in neither the past or present, you were who I wanted or expected you to be", but this is what I wanted you to be, so be this imaginary person as so I imagined you would or could be, but weren't. "As a friend, as a friend, as an old enemy" Again, the person was once a friend who probably became an enemy who is now a friend again; it's how borderline (personality disorder) people constant idealize and then devaluate people, they're great today, they're horrible tomorrow; and how they are unstable in their perceptions of just exactly who people are or how things truly are at their core. They evaluate things superficially, in the moment, not over the long term. If you've ever had one of these people in your life (especially dated one), you will learn that you can never really win with them. You're the best mate one could ask for right now, but if you say something in the wrong tone you're a condescending, controlling or disapproving a-hole. Even when your intentions are good, they can be taken completely wrong (you need any help with dinner? -- what are you saying, that I can't do it by myself, that I'm a bad cook, etc?) "Take your time, hurry up, choice is yours, don't be late..." As hit on before by Sandwich-Masta, this is pretty clearly passive-aggressive control or demand. Take your time, hurry up... you can choose which you want to do (yeah right) but as long as it's by my terms (don't be late)... yet another borderline trait, attempt at passive-aggressive manipulation or control. "Come doused in mud, soaked in bleach" Sort of a way of saying the recurring point... I'll accept you how you are, no matter if you're filthy and full of germs or you're completely clean and sterile... "as I want you to be"-- again, I'll accept you however you are, as long as it's how/what I want. "And I swear that I don't have a gun..." This final repeated phrase, in my interpretation, in context to the above is the person's assurance and promise that they never intend to hurt things or destroy/kill a person (to devalue them and destroy a relationship, or whatever the case may be)-- point being they swear that they didn't intend to destroy or harm or f--k things up, it's just in their nature and they can't help it. To me, this all aligns with Kurt's instability as a person, and as a codependent (as a clear demonstration of this, both he and Courtney, in my opinion, had borderline personality disorder) and they may have meant well, but their mental issues and instability made for a very tumultuous relationship. But, having pointed that out, I seriously doubt he's referring to Courtney in particular here... it's just one link in a chain of similar past relationships that all sort of mirrored each other (plus, didn't they meet long after this was written/recorded anyways? that would throw that idea off right away). It's well known that codependent people attract other codependent people and tend to form toxic, chaotic-type relationships such as the hypothetical one I've outlined through my interpretation. I think it's not so much about "a person" as it is written about himself. He notices that in his pattern of life relationships, he can never find satisfaction in others or just be able to accept them for who they are and not nitpick and use every human shortcoming or flaw as leverage to justify why they're not what he wants and needs; it's frustration at himself for subconsciously sabotaging relationships because of the mental confusion and instability in his perceptions and expectations of others. I think Kurt was very intelligent and introspective, obviously, and was able to notice that he was the source of (if not a major contributor to) these failed inter-personal relationships. So, all in all, it's a facade put out that "I'm non-judgemental, I'll accept you how you are, imperfections and all" and then turning right back around and contradicting your own words and intentions by doing just the opposite (subconsciously). Or I could be completely wrong, just like the rest of you, haha... maybe it's a song about a tree he saw out the window, for all I know. :) |
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| Nirvana – Heart-Shaped Box Lyrics | 10 years ago |
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I know this has undoubtedly been pointed out before, but with a a listing of 500+ comments, it's obviously not even feasible to read through them all-- but rather than point out my interpretation, I'll point out some facts and you can take them to help shape your own opinion/interpretation of this song as well as all of their others... "Pisces" is a recurring theme/idea with Kurt Cobain, from interviews, to examples like this, in-song... even in his suicide note, he refers to himself as the "sad Pisces, Jesus man" (paraphrased). I suppose not everyone knows the correlation or importance of this astrology sign, especially in regards to how fitting it is of Kurt. Pisces, as an astrological sign, looks like this )-( roughly. It is said to be symbolic of duality or dichotomy; struggle between opposite forces, not unlike a yin-yang... especially in man and nature. It is two opposite facing half circles with a line binding them together. Also, in astrology, is a personality that stereotypically has trouble separating the good from the bad (and vice versa) in people/life/the world. Those two facts, alone are very profound in considering Kurt as known bipolar (mania/depression), his views on humanity (he was both intensely loving and overly caring and sensitive, while at the same time, he freely admits to others and even in his suicide note, that he had developed a "hatred for people in general"). Without being redundant about this fact, I am constantly referring to his suicide note, known personality and what he and others have said of his views-- He blames this hatred and misanthropy on the fact that people who are kind and trusting, empathetic are so quickly and easily taken advantage of by "bad people", really... his opposite. He expresses that he was terrified in having to witness his infant daughter (at the time) so innocent and naive and trusting in a world that was so ugly and self-interested. People "mistook his kindness for weakness" so to speak and maybe his kindness *was* his weakness... and to me makes his death all the more tragic-- it's tough to see good people go out of this world in such an untimely and unfortunate way... because of the metaphorical demons that they faced, both internal and external. Point I'm getting at is everything about Kurt's life from his mental illness to his views on humanity and everything in between was so polarized. I would say he was a classic borderline personality case as well, in all that I know... one signature trait of which was inability to see "middle ground"; they see things as "black or white" with no grey in between. Things are fully good or fully bad, etc. This is fundamentally different from "bipolar disorder", as one is physiological based, organic dysfunction, while the other is a disorder of the personality, developed usually through life experiences, etc... to say, bipolar disorder would be more "nature" and borderline personality disorder would be more "nurture" for you psychology types. And what better subject to study for someone interested in psychology than Kurt, huh? We all love him but we can all also agree he had a great deal of mental illness and psychological abnormality. A fascinating person. There's a second major point that I have... and Kurt mentions this in one of his most famous interviews, for one-- that he has always had a fascination, bordering on obsession with anatomy and especially with reproduction (and reproductive organs) and babies-- the whole concept of male vs. female and them combining to form something that was "50% of each of the individual persons". This can be seen all across the scope of his work. Just to skim the surface of their most well-known works: The cover of Nevermind = a naked baby Nevermind's, constant references with lyrics like "spring is here again, reproductive glands", "nature is a whore"; "one baby to another says"; "breed"... and that's just very cursory in pointing out a few on that album. Then a release named "Hormoaning"... Incesticide (sexual connotation)... which also brings up a third interesting observation of Kurt-- his support of feminism and even his own struggles with gender identity... "she should have been a son" and how he talked about how he considered at one point if he might be gay (though he decided he wasn't)... that's a whole new can of worms you can open. The cover of (and title) of In Utero... an anatomical model of a pregnant female and again, the references scattered throughout this song, alone-- babies, hymen, umbilical noose... None of those things I pointed out are expressly regarding this song, itself, but their works in general. And I don't mean to say that these sexual/baby/reproduction references are literal in meaning in the songs, obviously-- I'm merely pointing out the clear pattern and obsessive quality of Kurt around gender/sex/reproduction, as well as how everything seemingly had a dichotomy and bipolar type element to it-- to me it's totally fascinating and I just have come across these same parallels that probably any solid Nirvana fan already has, I'm sure. But maybe some of you haven't, and that's why I posted this. Hopefully some readers learned something new that they can go out and explore further. I could go on and on all day about aspects of him and the band's legacy, but I'll spare you all. Kurt, to me, was just a completely and endlessly fascinating person that we all can relate to-- which is one of the few things that made him such a legend and icon to so many! |
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| The Smashing Pumpkins – Bullet with Butterfly Wings Lyrics | 11 years ago |
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Incorrect correction. As explained already in the comments, Job is a classic character in the Bible who is a figure that, above all, represents patience and perseverance through tribulation and the struggle of inner convictions vs questioning those convictions; to question your own beliefs or have them be questioned... to basically be put in that mindset of being MADE to question and come to conclusions, some that are possibly tumultuous, causing tension and turmoil inside. BTW, I trust the line is "all my cool and calm", not "cold"-- but whatever. The word doesn't change the fact of the bigger meaning behind the reference-- which is to say he'll mimic the character and be patient but persistent in his beliefs and his stance. So, sorry, gotta vote your correction down. Overruled. ;) |
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| Bring Me the Horizon – Anthem Lyrics | 12 years ago |
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Here's the page from the book that the film was based on: http://books.google.com/books?id=PBB7kLkQSKQC&pg=PA241 There is a little bit more said in the book, plus it gives you a bit of a different angle on the scene. |
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| Bring Me the Horizon – Anthem Lyrics | 12 years ago |
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I know a lot of people are wondering about this still, so I'll go ahead and post it… the source of the sample that everyone loves (including me… a great outro/intro): "I feel— like my heart is being touched by Christ…" It was taken from an old movie called "Altered States", which was released in 1980. That was the year I was born, haha… so I imagine most of you reading this hadn't even been born yet. Here is the good stuff though… the sampled dialogue is about 17 minutes into the movie: 00:17:14 Do you feel different now? 00:17:16 Yes. 00:17:18 Less anxious? 00:17:20 Much less. 00:17:22 Do you have any special feelings? 00:17:24 I feel… 00:17:26 …like my heart is being touched by Christ. To me, what makes this part so appealing to everyone is the effect that it creates in the mind/body. Picking it apart, first is the tempo drop to a half-time feel at the tail end of "Anthem" from 3:25-3:53 that begins "winding things down"… fading into that peaceful/serene feeling sample, which quickly calms you down… the dialogue, then the line (the way she pauses halfway through it creates a brief feeling of subconscious tension)… then instantly the track clicks over… "It Never Ends" intro starts up and kicks your ass in. It essentially takes you from tension (Anthem), into a calm, then right back into tension. It almost seems like there is a freeze or pause between her last word and the intro, but it's only created by your mind (in reality, it's no more than a fraction of a second). There was no accident in all of that, I'm sure. Also, many of you probably didn't notice this: The exact same open low-string strumming/droning is played in both "Anthem" and "It Never Ends". Didn't realize? Listen to 2:42-2:51 in "Anthem"… then listen to the first two seconds of "It Never Ends". Identical— which further binds the two songs together with a common element (again… probably subconsciously, if you hadn't noticed this until now). Anyway, for the rest of the movie transcription, follow the link: http://www.subzin.com/search.php?title=Altered+States&search_sort=Popularity&type=All&genre=-1&pag=7 Oh, and one other bit of shinfo— the exact same line was also sampled in the Ministry song "Psalm 69". |
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