| Iron Maiden – Brighter Than a Thousand Suns Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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Ironed Maidens: There is no Robert in the Bible. The name originated in proto-Germanic. "Robert" is most likely Julius Robert Oppenheimer, who headed the team who designed the first nuclear test and was greatly troubled by what he was doing. The title of the song comes from a line from the Bhagavad Gita that Oppenheimer said he recalled as he watched the Trinity explosion: "If the radiance of a thousand suns were to burst at once into the sky, that would be like the splendour of the mighty one". He also quoted "Now I have become Death, the destroyer of worlds". Seems the concept of "playing god" with nuclear weapons is based on Oppenheimer's ideas. The "iron fingers" are not missiles, they are the steel pylons they built in the desert, both to hold the warhead (simulating an above-ground explosion), and to support the cameras and other instruments used. I think it's "raze [destroy] a city" not "raise a city", but if it is "raise" then I think it refers to the large-scaled mockups of cities that were built for later tests to see what the Bomb did to buildings. Some of these even had human-shaped dummies inside - really creepy. Also, might "We will feel the pain of his beginning" be about the vengeful old-testament God? |
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| Nine Inch Nails – Zero-Sum Lyrics | 18 years ago |
| Nirvana23, I agree that this is a little like Hurt: a sad song that's really after "the end" of the album ("In This Twilight" and "The Downward Spiral" are both sort of violent endings to their stories). | |
| Nine Inch Nails – In This Twilight Lyrics | 18 years ago |
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"watch the sun, as it crawls across a final time" Does "the final time" suggest that the character is presumably not expecting to survive the fallout for another day? |
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| Nine Inch Nails – The Great Destroyer Lyrics | 18 years ago |
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maybelline, i hear that effect you mentioned. I wonder if it only works with headphones? Anyway I think what changes is the stereo separation. Suddenly each side has much more of the other side in it, if that makes sense, making the 2 sides sound closer together. For me, it does indeed gives the illusion of the sound moving from my headphones to the inside of my head. Brilliant effect. (Also, it can't easily be heard by listening to only one side, so I think it must be a trick with stereo separation.) |
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| Nine Inch Nails – God Given Lyrics | 18 years ago |
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Dawrr, interesting... I'm sure he has at least once intended connections between songs by sound. The really obvious one is The Downward Spiral and Hurt. It's quite noticeable because they're next to each other on The Downward Spiral and already very obviously more connected than the rest of the album. 2 mins into The Downward Spiral and 1:10 into Hurt a somewhat similar melody start to be audible (sounds like an acoustic guitar). |
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| Nine Inch Nails – Capital G Lyrics | 18 years ago |
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The one who signs with a capital G is very very clearly Bush. I don't think this one has much to do with the world imagined in the ARG websites. I agree that some of this is sort of the views of an American who believes the propaganda. "You're only angry 'cause you wish you were in my position" Lots of Americans actually believe that the reason for 9/11, etc., is simply envy of the American lifestyle... |
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| Nine Inch Nails – The Day the World Went Away Lyrics | 19 years ago |
| Because three people have said that they agree with Shocka's interpretation, I feel I have to point out that it was probably not intended seriously. How do you think you listen to a song "in reverse and diagonally" anyway? | |
| John Lennon – Working Class Hero Lyrics | 19 years ago |
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I don't think I can say anything that hasn't already been said about this song (the meaning is fairly clear in this one I think), but I have to object to the summery of A Clockwork Orange in the fourth post. That doesn't sound anything like anything the film, or indeed the book it was based on. You might be thinking of some other film? The book is certainly about rebelling violently against a system which messes you up, but it's set in a dystopian future society rather unlike ours (or representing the consequences of the collapse or ours), whereas this song is about the ways our current system fails us. |
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| Leonard Cohen – Famous Blue Raincoat Lyrics | 19 years ago |
| Does anyone understand the reference to "Lili Marleen"? It was the name of a WWII song that was well known in various languages in most of Europe. | |
| System of a Down – Nuguns Lyrics | 20 years ago |
| karatekid2007: The dots over the U mean that the U is basically pronounced separately from the rest, as a plain "u" sound, and isn't affected by the rest of the word. So, the dots just make it sound like "new guns" instead of starting like the word "nuggets". | |
| Depeche Mode – Stripped Lyrics | 20 years ago |
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Saturnine, thanks for mentioning 1984. Now I'm ashamed I didn't notice it myself. I'm not sure if you're right, but it all fits pretty well, especially "just for a day" and "for a few hours", and of course the reference to "television". Also "speaking just for me". In the country, they don't have to act for the screens. |
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| Iron Maiden – Aces High Lyrics | 20 years ago |
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Explanation for Americans: The Supermarine Spitfire was the RAF's (British Royal Air Force) best fighter in WWII (for attacking other fighters at least) and is now legendary and known to almost everyone in Britain. The Messerschmitt was the Luftwaffe's (germen air force) main fighter, and was regularly used for escorting bombers. This song is can't possibly be about Pearl Harbour, because neither the Japanese or the USAAF used either aircraft. After France was occupied by German forces, large areas of England were within bomber range for the Luftwaffe. The song is obviously set during the Battle of Britain, as Axis bombers flew over London escorted by ME-109s, trying to destroy Britain's capacity to resist a land invasion. The Spitfires would have gone after the escorting fighters while Hawker Hurricanes took out the bombers. "Flak" = Anti-aircraft fire "Scramble" = Getting out to the planes and into the air as fast as possible when incoming bombers are detected. RAF pilots would wait inside at their airbase, and a siren would sound when Fighter Command ordered them to take off. Ace = A highly skilled fighter pilot. It's interesting to compare this with The Trooper, which take a very different view of war. They seems to actually celebrate the heroism of the pilots in Aces High. I suppose Iron Maiden recognise that it was not just pointless conflict and that Britain was actually saved from a Nazi invasion. |
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| Rage Against the Machine – Testify Lyrics | 20 years ago |
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OT, but the Google Ad I got for this page was amazingly ironic: Say thanks to Tony Blair Send a thank you note to the British for helping the USA in Iraq. |
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| Queen – Bohemian Rhapsody Lyrics | 21 years ago |
| Although "Bismillah" is literally something like "in the name of Allah", in arabic it is often used as if asking for luck, a bit like "god willing". It is often said before starting a journey. Maybe a similar meaning to someone crossing themselves for luck. | |
| Rammstein – Amerika Lyrics | 21 years ago |
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Sexyjedi, this site may interest you. It is a list of countries bombed by the USA since WWII. Since then, Germany has attacked no one. http://expage.com/notowar4 WWII is history, Iraq/Afganistan is now. And anyway, this song is not primeraly about war, or even anti-American. It is about the spread of US culture in Europe. You would feel the same if German culture was forced on US society. |
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