| Cream – Crossroads Lyrics | 19 years ago |
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There certainly was a legend about selling your soul at the Crossroads of Highway 49 and 61 in Clarksdale, but I don't think this is necessarily a story about Robert Johnson doing that (he, unlike Tommy, never actually claimed to do so), but probably rather how his blues (re: his passion) sometimes makes him feel like he has sold his soul, like he is now abandoned by God. Maybe it's a stretch, but I think it gives the song a much more powerful meaning and does true justice to what the blues are. |
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| Robert Johnson – Cross Road Blues Lyrics | 19 years ago |
| It really sucks not having an edit button. What I was trying to say about the legend is that once the transaction is complete, you've sold your soul to the devil in exchange for amazing guitar abilities. | |
| Robert Johnson – Cross Road Blues Lyrics | 19 years ago |
| The legend goes that if you play your guitar at midnight at the intersection of highway 49 and Highway 61 in Clarksdale Mississippi an old black woman takes your guitar and gives it back. Tommy Johnson explicity claimed to have done this. Robert Johnson was rumored to have done this. I don't think Robert is trying to say he sold his soul, but rather he uses these mythical crossroads as a way of describing the blues he feels like being without a soul, in the absence of God. | |
| Elliott Smith – The White Lady Loves You More Lyrics | 19 years ago |
| Unless, however, he was just enamored with the drug and wrote a long drawn out metaphor about being strung out with his own every day life, only later to become a junky, which is very possible, but the way in which he describes heroin is almost too dead on for him not to have used. | |
| Elliott Smith – The White Lady Loves You More Lyrics | 19 years ago |
| There isn't Heroin in Scotland? That's a really good one. Ever seen the movie Trainspotting? White heroin is the purest form of Heroin. It generally originates from the Orient. White - Asia, Tan - Middle East, Black Tar - Mexico, generally. I've not read much about Elliott's past, but his self titled album - released in 1995 has this and the song Needle in the Hay which are both clear references to Heroin abuse, so I really would be surprised if he wasn't using before he moved to LA... | |
| Elliott Smith – Between the Bars Lyrics | 19 years ago |
| There was too much boring, pretentious and frankly wrong crap to read to know if this has been said before, but another way to interpret bars which has not been mentioned, is as a measure of a song. Elliott's alcoholism is what he has to escape from his pain in between making music, which as a creative outlet, was probably his only other catharsis. | |
| Guster – I Spy Lyrics | 19 years ago |
| I gotta say Bravura, I really like that interpretation. It certainly makes me look at Guster in a different light. | |
| Wolfmother – Joker & The Thief Lyrics | 19 years ago |
| Can't help but feel a strong influence by All Along the Watchtower. Sort of like the prequel to it... | |
| John Hiatt – Master of Disaster Lyrics | 20 years ago |
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You're right to say it's about drug abuse althought I disagree with the stubstance and your thoughts about his love being a woman. First of all, it's pertinent to consider that this song is somewhat a reflection of Hiatt's own experiences, as he's a recovered alcoholic and drug user. It seems highly unlikely to me that John was a PCP abuser. This becomes especially obvious in the verse: China town Chasing that old dragon down Madam Wong's We play the blues with the curtains drawn Sidewalks of white Chasing the dragon is a slang term for smoking heroin. This would fit with the earlier reference to an 8-ball. Furthermore the mention of China Town and White Sidewalks most likely refers to "China White" being regularly available on the streets of LA, especially in Asian areas as it comes from south asia, i.e. Vietnam. China white is a specific type of heroin which is said to be more pure than black tar heroin from Mexico. Furthemore the lines Hand me down my walking shoes You're in my heart Though we may be miles apart There's my point I'll see you in another joint Suggest a recovered drug abuser. Many former abusers say that they quite often think about their former drug of choice. John may be trying to say that heroin will always be a piece of him even though they're going to stay apart. This seems to simply be a personfication of the drug. The mention of walking shoes is most likely him realizing that he has a problem that he needs to get away from. I'll see you in another joint slightly escapes me, but it might be a reference to the afterlife. Because of the "debt he owes" that'll he'll "never pay before he goes", He will have to pay for his debt in another place. |
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