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"
Birds
Birds
This is not a cornhusk doll
dipped in blood in the moonlight
Like what happen in America
This is us our eyelids snagged
dipped in mob in the daylight
Like what happen in America
The breasts are still heavy
The legs long and straight
The upper lip remains short
The teeth are too small
The eyeside is green
The hair long and black
Still coming through
Still coming through
She knows this room
She can navigate it in the dark
She entered the Palazzo at night by a side door
to ascend in a lift to the upper floor
She lies on the bed
Looking up not yet seeing
the signs of the zodiac painted in gold on the blue vaulted ceiling
His enormous eyes as he arrives
Coming nearer in the surrounding darkness
His strange beliefs about the moon
Its influence upon men of affairs
The danger of its cold light on your face while you were sleeping
She'll eclipse it with her head
Stroke him until he sleeps
Until he has nothing to do among men of affairs
Sometime before dawn
Her bare feet cross the floor
She gazes from the window
At the fountain in the courtyard
"Sometimes I feel like a swallow
a swallow which by some mistake
has gotten into an attic
and knocks its head against the walls in terror"
This is not a rabbit skinned
with a body of silver
Like what happen in America
This is not a terrapin
with its shell torn away
Like what happen in America
The breasts are still heavy
The legs long and straight
The upper lip remains short
The teeth still too small
The eyeside is green
The hair long and black
Still coming through
Still coming through
The mood soon changed
in the clear morning air
A man came up towards the body
and poked it with a stick
It rocked stiffly
and twisted around at the end of the rope
Finer than a hair from every side
Finer than a hair
Birds
Birds
This is just a cornhusk doll
dipped in blood
in the moonlight
This is just a cornhusk doll
This morning in my room a little swallow was trapped
It flew around desperately until it fell exhausted on my bed
I picked it up
so as not to frighten it
I opened the window
Then I opened
my hand
Birds
This is not a cornhusk doll
dipped in blood in the moonlight
Like what happen in America
This is us our eyelids snagged
dipped in mob in the daylight
Like what happen in America
The breasts are still heavy
The legs long and straight
The upper lip remains short
The teeth are too small
The eyeside is green
The hair long and black
Still coming through
Still coming through
She knows this room
She can navigate it in the dark
She entered the Palazzo at night by a side door
to ascend in a lift to the upper floor
She lies on the bed
Looking up not yet seeing
the signs of the zodiac painted in gold on the blue vaulted ceiling
His enormous eyes as he arrives
Coming nearer in the surrounding darkness
His strange beliefs about the moon
Its influence upon men of affairs
The danger of its cold light on your face while you were sleeping
She'll eclipse it with her head
Stroke him until he sleeps
Until he has nothing to do among men of affairs
Sometime before dawn
Her bare feet cross the floor
She gazes from the window
At the fountain in the courtyard
"Sometimes I feel like a swallow
a swallow which by some mistake
has gotten into an attic
and knocks its head against the walls in terror"
This is not a rabbit skinned
with a body of silver
Like what happen in America
This is not a terrapin
with its shell torn away
Like what happen in America
The breasts are still heavy
The legs long and straight
The upper lip remains short
The teeth still too small
The eyeside is green
The hair long and black
Still coming through
Still coming through
The mood soon changed
in the clear morning air
A man came up towards the body
and poked it with a stick
It rocked stiffly
and twisted around at the end of the rope
Finer than a hair from every side
Finer than a hair
Birds
Birds
This is just a cornhusk doll
dipped in blood
in the moonlight
This is just a cornhusk doll
This morning in my room a little swallow was trapped
It flew around desperately until it fell exhausted on my bed
I picked it up
so as not to frighten it
I opened the window
Then I opened
my hand
Lyrics submitted by oswaldtherabbit
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The Night We Met
Lord Huron
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I think much like another song “Anti-Matter” (that's also on the same album as this song), this one is also is inspired by a horrifying van crash the band experienced on Nov 3, 2022. This, much like the other track, sounds like it's an extension what they shared while huddled in the wreckage, as they helped frontman Garrett Russell stem the bleeding from his head wound while he was under the temporary effects of a concussion. The track speaks of where the mind goes at the most desperate & desolate of times, when it just about slips away to all but disconnect itself, and the aftermath.
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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.
No Surprises
Radiohead
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Same ideas expressed in Fitter, Happier are expressed in this song. We're told to strive for some sort of ideal life, which includes getting a good job, being kind to everyone, finding a partner, getting married, having a couple kids, living in a quiet neighborhood in a nice big house, etc. But in Fitter, Happier the narrator(?) realizes that it's incredibly robotic to live this life. People are being used by those in power "like a pig in a cage on antibiotics"--being pacified with things like new phones and cool gadgets and houses while being sucked dry. On No Surprises, the narrator is realizing how this life is killing him slowly. In the video, his helmet is slowly filling up with water, drowning him. But he's so complacent with it. This is a good summary of the song. This boring, "perfect" life foisted upon us by some higher powers (not spiritual, but political, economic, etc. politicians and businessmen, perhaps) is not the way to live. But there is seemingly no way out but death. He'd rather die peacefully right now than live in this cage. While our lives are often shielded, we're in our own protective bubbles, or protective helmets like the one Thom wears, if we look a little harder we can see all the corruption, lies, manipulation, etc. that is going on in the world, often run by huge yet nearly invisible organizations, corporations, and 'leaders'. It's a very hopeless song because it reflects real life.
Just A Little Lovin'
Dusty Springfield
Dusty Springfield
I don't think it's necessarily about sex. It's about wanting to start the day with some love and affection. Maybe a warm cuddle. I'm not alone in interpreting it that way! For example:
"'Just a Little Lovin’ is a timeless country song originally recorded by Eddy Arnold in 1954. The song, written by Eddie Miller and Jimmy Campbell, explores the delicate nuances of love and showcases Arnold’s emotive vocals. It delves into the universal theme of love and how even the smallest gesture of affection can have a profound impact on our lives." https://oldtimemusic.com/the-meaning-behind-the-song-just-a-little-lovin-by-eddy-arnold/
This is such an incredible track. The lyrics are so cryptic, with adds to the whole thing, for me. Even though Walker tells us exactly what the song is about, it's still wide open to interpretation. "Finer than a hair from every side, finer than a hair" - what the hell is this about? I'm trying to keep in mind that the images of Clara and Benito's bodies were a traumatic memory from Walker's childhood, so some of this could be what he thought or felt at that time. Of course, it's impossible to know for sure. Unless… someone knows? Does anyone know??
Side note: Last Halloween, shortly after I first heard this song, the kids and I made cornhusk dolls. ;)