This is a hauntingly beautiful song about introspection, specifically about looking back at a relationship that started bad and ended so poorly, that the narrator wants to go back to the very beginning and tell himself to not even travel down that road. I believe that the relationship started poorly because of the lines:
"Take me back to the night we met:When the night was full of terrors: And your eyes were filled with tears: When you had not touched me yet"
So, the first night was not a great start, but the narrator pursued the relationship and eventually both overcame the rough start to fall in love with each other:
"I had all and then most of you"
Like many relationships that turn sour, it was not a quick decline, but a gradual one where the narrator and their partner fall out of love and gradually grow apart
"Some and now none of you"
Losing someone who was once everything in your world, who you could confide in, tell your secrets to, share all the most intimate parts of your life, to being strangers with that person is probably one of the most painful experiences a person can go through. So Painful, the narrator wants to go back in time and tell himself to not even pursue the relationship.
This was the perfect song for "13 Reasons Why"
i was having visions of sugar pastry
cooked up in clarified butter
i tried to turn my visions into prayers
but i built my castle way high up in the air
yeah i came to the gates of the fabled pink city
hungry, and tired, and cold
swing low sweet chariot
chrome tail pipe shining bright as spun gold
my brothers picked me up out of the rushes
handed me into the company of evil men
but I've inched my way down the eastern seaboard
i am coming to Atlanta again
yeah i came to the gates of the fabled pink city
hungry, and tired, and mad as all hell
swing low sweet jewel-encrusted chariot
make me young again
make me well
i am the killer dressed in pilgrim's clothing.
i'm the hard to find stations on the AM band.
i am the white sky high over tripoli
i am the land mine hidden in the sand.
yeah i came to the gates of the fabled pink city
hungry, and tired, and alone
swing low sweet sweet sweet chariot
coming forth to carry me home
cooked up in clarified butter
i tried to turn my visions into prayers
but i built my castle way high up in the air
yeah i came to the gates of the fabled pink city
hungry, and tired, and cold
swing low sweet chariot
chrome tail pipe shining bright as spun gold
my brothers picked me up out of the rushes
handed me into the company of evil men
but I've inched my way down the eastern seaboard
i am coming to Atlanta again
yeah i came to the gates of the fabled pink city
hungry, and tired, and mad as all hell
swing low sweet jewel-encrusted chariot
make me young again
make me well
i am the killer dressed in pilgrim's clothing.
i'm the hard to find stations on the AM band.
i am the white sky high over tripoli
i am the land mine hidden in the sand.
yeah i came to the gates of the fabled pink city
hungry, and tired, and alone
swing low sweet sweet sweet chariot
coming forth to carry me home
Lyrics submitted by shewouldnt, edited by herodotus11
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The Night We Met
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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
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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."
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This song was originally written by a guy called Peter Gutteridge. He was one of the founders of the "Dunedin Sound" a musical scene in the south of New Zealand in the early 80s. From there it was covered by "The Clean" one of the early bands of that scene (he had originally been a member of in it's early days, writing a couple of their best early songs). The Dunedin sound, and the Clean became popular on american college radio in the mid to late 80s. I guess Yo La Tengo heard that version.
Great version of a great song,
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There aren’t many things that’ll hurt more than giving love a chance against your better judgement only to have your heart crushed yet again. Ed Sheeran tells such a story on “Page.” On this track, he is devastated to have lost his lover and even more saddened by the feeling that he may never move on from this.
Jaipur, popularly known as the Pink City, was founded in 1727 AD by one of the greatest rulers of the Kachhawaha clan, the astronomer king Sawai Jai Singh. The pink color was used at the time of making to create an impression of red sandstone buildings of Mughal cities - and repainted in 1876, during the visit of the Prince of Wales. The city is best explored on foot and the adventurous visitor willing to go into the inner lanes can discover a whole new world not visible to the tourist-in-a-hurry.
"my brothers picked me up out of the rushes handed me into the company of evil men"
yeah definately an allusion to Joseph being sold into slavery by his brothers
In Indian cooking, clarified butter is called "ghee." Most sweets are cooked in ghee, so I don't know specifically what kind of sugar pastry the song is referring to, but I'm sure it's delicious.
The song playing at the start is Haunted House Blues by Bessie Smith
Another thing to mention here is the refrain "Swing low, sweet chariot/ Coming fer to carry me home" is from the Negro spiritual 'Swing Low, Sweet Chariot" by Wallis Willis.
I think that's a pretty well-known fact. Most people know that song.
I think this might be related to slavery.
Does anyone know what song is playing in the first few seconds of this track?
Compare and contrast this song with the later "All Up the Seething Coast" from We Shall All Be Healed. I don't think the sugared pastries are sugared pastries.
I don't think these 2 songs are related. "We Shall All Be Healed" is true stories of JD's life and JD is singing as himself. Prior to that album, he pretty much always sang from the perspective of a fictional character. In this song he is singing as Joseph from the Bible
I love this song. I'm glad I can be the first person to post here.