| Fall Out Boy – Fame < Infamy Lyrics | 18 years ago |
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All right, as an old-school FOB fan who jumped off the bandwagon before this album came out, I just have to give my own take. So here's a history lesson. Pete's initial success came off of Take This to Your Grave, which featured a lot of songs ripping into his ex-girlfriend who cheated on him. He became a lyrical master, finding poetically morbid ways to dissect her on stage (just check out the first track from My Heart Will Always Be the B-Side to My Tongue for a very apt description). Anyway, the point is it's been so many years that he doesn't even really feel anger or bitterness towards her. BUT she's his muse, his inspiration - he writes scathing lyrics that tear into the girl. He's found his "god-given gift," he found the ideology he has to sell (mainly fans who want more and more of the same thing - a song that poetically slices the opposite sex to pieces, or self-deprecates). So even though he's over the girl, he still can't stop writing about her, achieving success through wishing her such hell. So we have a duality in that he's famous, but she, the subject, is infamous. Or maybe he won't settle for fame - he needs to take every last ounce of success and he's infamous for caring so little about her public image. He has no conscience, no regrets about repeatedly placing her on stage and ripping her apart. His success is based on his hatred of her, so he's addichited to the "anger" and "sadness" her memories cause him. BUT, again, he's so far removed from her, he doesn't really feel depressed anymore. There's too much green (cash flow) to feel blue (sad). Sure, he's okay in bed, he might be a famous lover, but he's so much better with a pen (writing songs). The pen makes him infamous. And his ego's too big to stop. The kid WAS all right, but it went to his head. See the history of every musician ever really (or maybe just check out Bowie's Ziggy Stardust...the line really resembles "He took it all too far, but boy, could he play guitar."). Sorry for making it so long. Peace. |
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| Cuff the Duke – The Ballad Of Poor John Henry Lyrics | 20 years ago |
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Well, of course, due to the popularity of the many ballads about tall tale figure John Henry, one would expect this song to be about the infamous steel-driver. However, the song's first line describes that he could never prove his worth - quite unlike the legend. And the John Henry of Legend's wife was named Polly Ann. So taking the couple in this ballad to be different, we see that John Henry and Mary Ellen are down on their luck ("She works for nothing and nothing works for her", struggling to make it in life as they have nothing ("He wakes up each day empty handed"). The chorus is interesting, open to interpretation as being addressed towards the couple or perhaps from John to Mary or vice versa. In general, it seems to be about those people you remember and think about, even if you're not helping them in their hard times. How often have we all thought of a friend and wondered if they ever think of us in return? What starts as a question turns into an accusation, as the "you" in the song thinks only of "yourself". Maybe these are the people who've moved on past John. Maybe John Henry's so caught up in his struggles that he never thinks of others. I'm not sure, but I hope other people start to comment on this amazing group. |
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| Death Cab for Cutie – A Lack of Color Lyrics | 20 years ago |
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See, for me, this entire song is after the relationship. After she's left him. Even when they're through, he can still see her, his brain can still flip her upside down (again, because we do actually see images upside down until our brain corrects it). And I do agree with everyone on here that this probably has something to do with the way the brain has to catch up to instincts and heart, to really look at things. But this time to turn things over and over also comes from her leaving. If she's gone and she's just on his mind constantly, in the process of healing he's going to see things in different lights. Realize what he had as it were. So, to me, when he sings about the lack of color, he's talking about the love he showed for her, expressed to her. A lack of color would imply a lack of passion. If someone's grey, they're very inatimate, not much energy there. Imagine being in a relationship with this person, someone who just can't express what they feel. They seem constantly the same, even though inside they're bursting at the seams with love. That's what Ben's singing about, I think. She can't tell by looking at him, but he honestly and truly loves her, is crazy about her, has so much passion for her, filling an entire spectrum of colors (not just the "red" of passion. Also note that the eyes would take in this same color spectrum before the brain flips this information, too, upside down). Now, it also seems that though he loves her, he's unaware of it. Until she leaves him. That's why this is "fact not fiction for the first time in years." He's said he loves her so many times, but he never really had weight behind those words (kind of like in Tiny Vessels). Now that she's left him, he realizes how much he really does love her. He realizes how nobody, not even those girlie magazines, can get rid of his loneliness. Only she can. So what do people do when they're bummed out about a relationship? They drink. And then they drunkenly call their ex to "slur a plea" for the ex to come home. But he realizes that it's too late. She won't come back and he should have shown all that passionate love to her before. He should have given her that reason to stay from the beginning. |
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| The Postal Service – Clark Gable Lyrics | 20 years ago |
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I really think prilla1206 had one of the best explanations of the song. Even if it's not what TPS intended when they made the song...everything fits and it puts a very realistic explanation on it. The key line, for me, comes from this "i've been waiting since birth to find a love that would look and sound like a movie so i changed my plans i rented a camera and a van and then i called you" It's really that "I changed my plans" that gets me thinking he actually filmed a movie. There's change in his mind, he decides to go the road less traveled as it were, to do something unexpected and new. So he films a movie of a real love he had, to finally give himself what he wanted since birth. Now he can kind of say to himself, "there, are you happy? There's your perfect movie love." |
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| Count The Stars – All Good Things Lyrics | 21 years ago |
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I don't even know why, but this song is speaking to me like no other right now. You know the usual drill...girl troubles and all that jazz. As for what the song means though? It's that complete disbelief that a relationship has ended. Spending time with that one special person meant so much to you that it became an addiction, one that you don't want to give up. And nobody can save you because you're just falling apart. You feel helpless and you go through with these actions even though you know it will lead you into more misery and you'll remain alone. So sometimes it's just better to not even try any of it. It's easier to live in the past with sweet memories of how good things are. Ultimately though...as the song says, all good things change and come to an end. Self-explanatory, yea. But when you can apply the lyrics to your own life...they're always so much more. |
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| Straylight Run – Existentialism on Prom Night Lyrics | 21 years ago |
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Maybe this isn't the best place to ask this question, but what the hell. I'm pretty unfamiliar with the musical history shared between Taking Back Sunday, Brand New, and, now apparently, Straylight Run. Could anyone explain the relation or lead me to a website that does so? Helping this clueless guy out would be cool... Otherwise, as everyone has said, this song is just beautiful. It definitely fits in with the ideas of existentialism, as each person is responsible for their own actions and so, in a way, everyone becomes the center of their own world. So every single person should enjoy their life, accept that it's theirs to direct, and then sing something "sad and delicate, or loud and out of key." |
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| The Servant – Cells Lyrics | 21 years ago |
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Yea, I definitely agree with zenzella. The song's about a monotonous life, working in a boring job, always telling yourself that things will be done soon ("It'll all click when the mortgage clears"). Yet it seems like despite how boring, uneventful, or undesirable his life is, the singer doesn't mind so much so long as that special person is with him (whether it's a lover or just someone close). And by the way, from what I understand, an all-instrumental version will be available on the Sin City soundtrack. I know I can't wait - the song sounds so amazing in the trailer, I can't get it out of my head. |
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