submissions
| Morrissey – I Have Forgiven Jesus Lyrics
| 19 years ago
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It's about giving yourself to Christ and later becoming disillusioned -- about feeling nothing in return. Jesus is never actually there; he is an all-consuming intangible entity. Prayers don't always come true, and yet people always pray. Religion's banishment of otherwise harmless vices can also be a contributing factor. It sooner or later becomes a question of forgiving Jesus, rather than vice versa. |
submissions
| Belle & Sebastian – Get Me Away from Here, I'm Dying Lyrics
| 19 years ago
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I think it's about knowing that you're going to fail but continuing to live anyway, if not only for the story. The character in this song gains respite from his mundane existence through this romanticization - the only way he knows how to digest life. |
submissions
| Elliott Smith – Say Yes Lyrics
| 20 years ago
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I've always considered this to be sort of an under the radar Miss Misery. The 'girl' serves as a metaphor for a recurrent mental state that manipulates his life, very similar to the Miss Misery conveyed later on in Good Will Hunting.
Towards the end, he realizes that he has little control over how he's received. Your personality is essentially in the hands of other people; you are what those who you surround yourself with make of you. All you can do is 'wait and see.' |
submissions
| Elliott Smith – Ballad of Big Nothing Lyrics
| 20 years ago
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I always looked at this song as being about a cynical character whose life has revolved around the cruel manipulation of others. I think it may be autobiographical in nature -- perhaps Elliott criticizing a side himself in the third person -- but it really isn't my place to say.
It seems as if things are coming to a head as this song begins. Our character seems to be reclusive, misleading, and riddled with uncertainty about where he's going. Regardless, rvery action he makes is a 'big nothing' because there's no one there for him to share it with. Life seems to go on as if he never existed. |
submissions
| Elliott Smith – No Name #5 Lyrics
| 20 years ago
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I actually consider this the opposite of a proper existential situation because it allows anguish to prevent action. Typically, an existentialist views anxiety as a condition of action: what motivates a decision. I feel the person in this song has no desire to continue making decisions and is content living in his current situation -- one of isolation and minimal responsiblity. The recluse has bitten fingernails and is thinking of times in the past when he was somehow let down; he takes solace in the fact that loneliness prevents further tragedy; he refuses to go anywhere and dwells in his stagnant lifestyle. These characteristics basically help him epitomize the existential anti-hero in this song. |
submissions
| Elliott Smith – Miss Misery Lyrics
| 20 years ago
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It has recently come to my understanding that Elliott was heavily inspired by Danish existentialist Soren Kierkegaard. Upon hearing this, I was reminded of this excerpt from the aesthetic 'Either' portion of Kierkegaard's famous Either/Or:
"Besides my other numerous circle of aquaintances I have one more intimate confidant -- my melancholy. In the midst of my joy, in the midst of my work, he waves to me, calls me to one side, even though I physically stay put. My melancholy is the most faithful mistress I have known; what wonder, then, that I love her in return."
When coupled with that aphorism I view Elliott's Miss Misery as an attempt to find some form of consistency in one's life, even if it's rooted in depression. The end result sparks both regret and gratitude, and all attempts to break the relationship apart end in complete failure due to the reliance one has built for oneself on the paradoxical mode of living. |
submissions
| A Perfect Circle – Pet Lyrics
| 21 years ago
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I've always thought of this song as depicting the relationship between a persuasive abductor and his victim (from the abductor's perspective, of course). Perhaps the kidnapper is closely related to his victim and wishes to bring them in even closer, with trapping and brainwashing being the only apparent means to do so. He presents his bleak outlook of the world to fool the seized victim into believing he is his/her only true friend for his own benefit (although he may not be consciously aware of this and actually thinks he's helping the seized). That's just what I personally get out of it and I doubt Maynard had this in mind. |
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