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Jack Johnson – Cookie Jar Lyrics 18 years ago
Note the striking resemblance with "Who Killed Davey Moore?" by Bob Dylan.
I think this song is based on these lyrics.
http://www.songmeanings.net/lyric.php?lid=3530822107858562268

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Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds – Black Betty (Lead Belly cover) Lyrics 18 years ago
This song is actually a medley of three songs:
- the first part is a song I don' t know, maybe it is written by Cave himself.
- the second part obviously is the chorus of Black Betty by Ram Jam
- the thrid part, rather interestingly is a song by Leadbelly, an important, yet underestimated Blues player from the 1920's & 30's: Leadbelly. His song "on a monday" ( http://www.songmeanings.net/lyric.php?lid=3530822107858657853 )was also the inspiration for a Johnny Cash song "I got stripes" : http://www.songmeanings.net/lyric.php?lid=3530822107858589954 although Cash omitted the strange part "Yes I'm almost done"

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Bob Dylan – Tombstone Blues Lyrics 19 years ago
I'm probably wrong about this, but seeing the surrealistic character of the song, what about this line:
"And the National Bank at a profit sells road maps for the soul. To the old folks home and the college"?
The roadmaps for the soul seems to me a reference to LSD.

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Blur – Country House Lyrics 20 years ago
About the "morning glory". It is also a hallucinogene plant, which has effects simmilar to LSD. I think this might also have something to do with it. There are other hints that the character in the song may be a drug (ab)user. (prozak, herbal bath, takes a manner of pills)
more info on morning glory:
http://www.erowid.org/plants/morning_glory/morning_glory.shtml

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Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds – Where the Wild Roses Grow (feat. Kylie Minogue) Lyrics 20 years ago
Call me stupid, but I don't really see what he meens with "the wind light as a thief"
Could someone explain this to me?

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Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds – O'Malley's Bar Lyrics 20 years ago
The character in this song seems to think that it is not him who decides his actions.

"my hand decided that the time had come"
"If I have no free will then how can I
Be morally culpable, I wonder "

I suspect his filosofy is this whole world is an absurd, meaningless game. Therefore there is no wrong or right. But what makes him weak is that he still loves himself, which doesn't fit in his filosofy. ("I had a long hard think about dieing, and did exactly what they said")
Or maybe he uses the excuse of not having free will to get his kicks without feeling responsible.

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Tom Waits – Swordfishtrombone Lyrics 21 years ago
Boxcar could stand for "bockscar" which is the plain that dropped the second atomb bomb on Nagasaki, Japan in 1945.

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Tom Waits – Step Right Up Lyrics 21 years ago
I think the song is about more than a man trying to sell some products to another man. Obviosly this represents the consumption-community, and how money and possesion determens our whole life.
For example:
"That's right, it filets, it chops, it dices, slices,
Never stops, lasts a lifetime, mows your lawn
And it mows your lawn and it picks up the kids from school "
this passage is about how people sell their responsabilities to other people.
"Tired of being the life of the party?
Change your shorts, change your life, change your life "
is about the way businessman, and commercial developers use our complexes to make us buy their products(beautyproducts...)

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Pixies – Here Comes Your Man Lyrics 21 years ago
I'm not sure what Frank means with the verse
"There is a wait so long,
you 'll never wait so long"
Does anybody have an idea on this?

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