| Elvis Costello – Pump It Up Lyrics | 21 years ago |
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Well, Elvis doesn't write songs about "having fun." "Pump it Up" refers, of course, to "self gratification." After he gets turned down, he goes "down to the pleasure center" and proceeds to "pump it up until you can feel it." (Side note -- this is one of two masturbation songs on "This Year's Model," the other one being "The Beat.") |
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| Elvis Costello – Less Than Zero Lyrics | 21 years ago |
| Interesting side-light to this song. As HazMatador notes, the "Oswald" refers to "Oswald Mosley," yet when the lyrics were heard in the US, many assumed it meant Lee Harvey Oswald, and that inspired Elvis to rewrite the lyrics in concert and perform what is commonly referred to as the "Dallas Version" of "Less Than Zero," which is written from the viewpoint of the wife of one of JFK's secret service agents. It contains some of Elvis's cleverest lyrics (possibly better than the original), with references to the Zapruder film, Jack Rubie, and the Warren Report. | |
| Elvis Costello – Alison Lyrics | 21 years ago |
| Elvis has said that the song was inspired by seeing a girl in a local store who seemed so sad, and it got to thinking about how she ended up in this place. If you look at the song that way -- as an old lover running into an ex-girlfriend whose life has turned out so badly -- it makes a lot of sense. | |
| Nine Inch Nails – Piggy Lyrics | 21 years ago |
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Trent has said that none of the "pig" references in "The Downward Spiral" have any relation to Charles Manson. "Piggy," which is the second song on the album, right after the introductory "Mr Self Destruct", always seemed to me about abuse as a child, and is directed at parents. The lines seem clear to me: "All of my fears came true", "Nothing's turned out the way I planned," "I hoped you could help me understand," all of which seem directed at someone who could have -- but didn't -- point him in the right direction. This led to the beginning of his "downward spiral," because he "just doesn't care anymore." |
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