This song seemingly tackles the methods of deception those who manipulate others use to get victims to follow their demands, as well as diverting attention away from important issues. They'll also use it as a means to convince people to hate or kill others by pretending acts of terrorism were committed by the enemy when the acts themselves were done by the masters of control to promote discrimination and hate. It also reinforces the idea that these manipulative forces operate in various locations, infiltrating everyday life without detection, and propagate any and everywhere.
In general, it highlights the danger of hidden agendas, manipulation, and distraction, serving as a critique of those who exploit chaos and confusion to control and gain power, depicting a cautionary tale against falling into their traps. It encourages us to question the narratives presented to us and remain vigilant against manipulation in various parts of society.
Once again I'm in trouble with my only friend
She is papering the window panes
She is putting on a smile
Living in a glass house
Once again packed like frozen food and battery hens
Think of all the starving millions
Don't talk politics and don't throw stones
Your royal highness's
Well of course I'd like to sit around and chat
Well of course I'd like to stay and chew the fat
Well of course I'd like to sit around and chat
But someone's listening in
Once again we are hungry for a lynching
That's a strange mistake to make
You should turn the other cheek
Living in a glass house
Well of course I'd like to sit around and chat
Well of course I'd like to stay and chew the fat
Well of course I'd like to sit around and chat
Only only only only only only only only only only
There's someone listening in
She is papering the window panes
She is putting on a smile
Living in a glass house
Once again packed like frozen food and battery hens
Think of all the starving millions
Don't talk politics and don't throw stones
Your royal highness's
Well of course I'd like to sit around and chat
Well of course I'd like to stay and chew the fat
Well of course I'd like to sit around and chat
But someone's listening in
Once again we are hungry for a lynching
That's a strange mistake to make
You should turn the other cheek
Living in a glass house
Well of course I'd like to sit around and chat
Well of course I'd like to stay and chew the fat
Well of course I'd like to sit around and chat
Only only only only only only only only only only
There's someone listening in
Lyrics submitted by thewhitepony33, edited by Mellow_Harsher
Life in a Glasshouse Lyrics as written by Edward John O'brien Colin Charles Greenwood
Lyrics © TuneCore Inc., Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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Hayalperest
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Holiday
Bee Gees
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@[Diderik:33655] "Your a holiday!" Was a popular term used in the 50s/60s to compliment someone on their all around. For example, not only are they beautiful, but they are fun and kind too ... just an all around "holiday".
I think your first comment is closer to being accurate. The singer/song writers state "Millions of eyes can see, yet why am i so blind!? When the someone else is me, its unkind its unkind". I believe hes referring to the girl toying with him and using him. He wants something deeper with her, thats why he allows himself to be as a puppet (even though for her fun and games) as long as it makes her happy. But he knows deep down that she doesnt really want to be serious with him and thats what makes him.
Mountain Song
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction vocalist Perry Farrell gives Adam Reader some heartfelt insight into Jane’s Addiction's hard rock manifesto "Mountain Song", which was the second single from their revolutionary album Nothing's Shocking. Mountain song was first recorded in 1986 and appeared on the soundtrack to the film Dudes starring Jon Cryer. The version on Nothing's Shocking was re-recorded in 1988.
"'Mountain Song' was actually about... I hate to say it but... drugs. Climbing this mountain and getting as high as you can, and then coming down that mountain," reveals Farrell. "What it feels to descend from the mountain top... not easy at all. The ascension is tough but exhilarating. Getting down is... it's a real bummer. Drugs is not for everybody obviously. For me, I wanted to experience the heights, and the lows come along with it."
"There's a part - 'Cash in now honey, cash in Miss Smith.' Miss Smith is my Mother; our last name was Smith. Cashing in when she cashed in her life. So... she decided that, to her... at that time, she was desperate. Life wasn't worth it for her, that was her opinion. Some people think, never take your life, and some people find that their life isn't worth living. She was in love with my Dad, and my Dad was not faithful to her, and it broke her heart. She was very desperate and she did something that I know she regrets."
I Can't Go To Sleep
Wu-Tang Clan
Wu-Tang Clan
This song is written as the perspective of the boys in the street, as a whole, and what path they are going to choose as they get older and grow into men. (This is why the music video takes place in an orphanage.) The seen, and unseen collective suffering is imbedded in the boys’ mind, consciously or subconsciously, and is haunting them. Which path will the boys choose? Issac Hayes is the voice of reason, maybe God, the angel on his shoulder, or the voice of his forefathers from beyond the grave who can see the big picture and are pleading with the boys not to continue the violence and pattern of killing their brothers, but to rise above. The most beautiful song and has so many levels. Racism towards African Americans in America would not exist if everyone sat down and listened to this song and understood the history behind the words. The power, fear, pleading in RZA and Ghostface voices are genuine and powerful. Issac Hayes’ strong voice makes the perfect strong father figure, who is possibly from beyond the grave.
Magical
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
How would you describe the feeling of being in love? For Ed Sheeran, the word is “Magical.” in HIS three-minute album opener, he makes an attempt to capture the beauty and delicacy of true love with words. He describes the magic of it all over a bright Pop song produced by Aaron Dessner.
A commonality with Radiohead fans is their diehard allegiance, and their inability to process any new product by the band as anything less than brilliant. They are, consistently, but the undying devotion is an unhealthy mentality, and to my own ears this song is addressing just that.
The band's own musical and lyrical content has continued to experiment with, and heavily emphasize, the paranoia of everyday life. Papering the window panes is getting away from the eyes of society--originally about a woman Thom Yorke read about in the newspaper, but easily filtered through the eyes of an increasingly reluctant celebrity.
When they speak of being packed like frozen fish and battery hens, I think of any show I've ever been to, with kids clamoring for the front row, desperate to catch a glimpse of their favorite band. But in the case of Radiohead, the fandom takes an unfortunate turn as their conversation shifts away from life in general into some higher plane, like, for example, the starving millions. The fans are constantly trying to read political or social meanings into a song that this band, most likely, wrote about a relationship and/or perhaps a smaller, more general social issue. Specific, hyper-literate lyrics rarely stand the test of time, and Radiohead realizes this. Their fans, by and large, unfortunately don't. (Don't talk politics, and don't throw stones, your Royal Highnesses.)
It makes it very difficult to just enjoy a body of work when you insist on it making you feel guilty about some problem you have, really, no control over.
If anybody posits an opinion that isn't just trolling the fans, the fans still interpret it as trolling. Once again, they are hungry for a lynching, and meanwhile the band is saying just turn the other cheek. What they make is art, capable of broad and widely divergent interpretation, and it's uncalled for to get so worked up over an opinion different than yours. Like all bands, Radiohead hits and misses over time, and even they acknowledge this.
So the chorus, "Well of course I'd like to sit around and chat, well of course I'd like to stay and chew the fat, only someone's listening in"? By now it should be clear: Radiohead is saying it's perfectly acceptable to just enjoy a song, and that a song about a girl can still be a great song, even an "important" one, but there's always going to be that one buzzkill at the party who insists on making more out of whatever he just saw or heard than what it really was all about. How can you talk about how great the beat is in a song when you're obsessed with finding the specific literary touchstone it's referencing, and then mostly with the intention of regurgitating that knowledge to sound intelligent yourself?
Radiohead is calling out their fans, and their fans don't even realize it, and that's what makes them the best at what they do.
Great interpretation.