| Blur – Trouble in the Message Centre Lyrics | 12 years ago |
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I agree with smokyruins. Parklife is such a great album but this song always stood out for me. I always thought he was saying 'I am a man in charge' but 'manager' works just as well! It's definitely seductive & assertive without icky machismo. It's hard to believe he's the same man behind the emotionally vulnerable & higher pitched 'Beetlebum'. Damon really does sound like such a sexy beast here ;-) |
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| Gorillaz – Stylo Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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Phase Three begins!! Demon Days was tinged with political themes, so I'm expecting Plastic Beach to touch upon issues that are important to the creators of gorillaz, particularly Damon Albarn. Very interesting-- Stylo is a manufacturer of shoes, & Damon already has one song named for a shoe (Trimm Trabb). |
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| Radiohead – Talk Show Host Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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like vadge on the first page of the comments, I saw Romeo+Juliet in English class. I wasn't acquainted with Radiohead then, but I was sitting next to my dear friend who was a tremendous fan. She must have known the song. I loved her very much & her opinion meant a great deal to me. 'Talk Show Host' is quite bittersweet for me; I think of how happy my friend made me & of how I miss her. Personal recollections aside, it is a stunning song-- one of the most beautiful of Radiohead's (But I like the actual soundtrack version better than the one on the Bends B-sides). The only bad thing I can say about it is that it can't be listened to just once & needs at least a quarter of an hour devoted to it. |
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| Blur – Battle Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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'Battle' always struck me as part lullaby & part alien abduction. It also makes me think of things rattling & rolling about in an attic overhead. teapot: I think it's Damon singing. |
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| Radiohead – Faithless, the Wonderboy Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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xcats & songmeanings135 both made striking, thoughtful interpretations. They made me appreciate this song more-- even though I still don't know what it is I think it 'means'. But why I really love the song is the chorus. How can some thing be so desperately unhappy & so catchy at once? I appreciate Radiohead more for HOW the songs are sung than WHAT is being sung. Heretical, I know! This song is quite understated, but the style of singing has such a brilliance to it. The title is excellent, too: one of the most sardonic I've come across. I love the names of Radiohead songs :-) |
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| Belle & Sebastian – I Don't Love Anyone Lyrics | 16 years ago |
| tunemeister, I love you! <3 | |
| Belle & Sebastian – String Bean Jean Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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Amenorrhoea is part of the diagnostic criteria for anorexia nervosa. Some one who has many symptoms of the disorder but don't meet every criterion are considered to have EDNOS (eating disorder not otherwise specified). EDNOS often isn't considered as seriously as the better-known types of eating disorders. (The name certainly doesn't help...) & that is HORRIBLE-- people who are eating disordered in a 'not otherwise specified' manner are every bit as debilitated by their condition as textbook anorectics & bulimics. Eating disorders are as psychological in nature as they are physical, but the way they're categorised is pretty rigid. Sorry, I know I'm being nit-pick-y; it's just that I'm a hopeless DSM-IV geek! The lyrics don't mention any of Jo's eating habits, so I didn't have enough information to form an opinion as to the specific type of ED she had. Did Stuart intentionally make the song vague? |
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| Belle & Sebastian – I Fought in a War Lyrics | 16 years ago |
| It's terrific how the 'steady boy' becomes a 'steady man', subtly showing that time is passing. I love small touches like that in B&S songs. | |
| Björk – Charlene Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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There are heterosexual & same-sex relationships; a 'bisexual relationship' isn't an accurate term (unless there are more than two people in the relationship-- then I'm not sure!). Bjork is bisexual, yes, but this song is specifically about a woman sung by a woman. I'd always thought Possibly Maybe was about a girl because Bjork says she wears lipstick & sucks her tongue to remind herself of her lover, but in some live versions she adds in 'boy'. But I think all love songs sung in the second person have some flexibility to them. marbee: I looked up Kadamba Simmons, as I'd never heard of her, & found an old article on BBC News that listed Bjork as one of Simmons' friends. How did you know that this song was about her? 'Naked' can mean vulnerability, so I like uselessopinion's point. However, I think the word has a double meaning if this is true. Charlene literally doesn't have any clothes on because Bjork says that she has to dress her. That part of the song is affectionate & loving-- it's like she's trying to pretend it's a chore when it's really a pleasure to care for her. & more than any thing else, the overall mood of the song is soft & sensual. |
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| Blur – It Could Be You Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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pumkinhed: ME TOO! ntwjones: you've summed it up perfectly. the best part is the beginning-- 'Cha-cha-cha Churchill' ;) |
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| Regina Spektor – Ink Stains (All the Holocaust Deniers) Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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She played it again at Radio City & I began to cry. Such a powerful song. I think '& God and his almighty wisdom/ may somehow grant an open season' may be a sardonic way of asking why her god would allow these atrocities to happen. I love Regina's phrasing. |
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| Gorillaz – Left Hand Suzuki Method Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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This is my favourite Gorillaz song & second favourite song of all time. I think of'Left Hand Suzuki Method' as Gorillaz' magnum opus. You can hear influences from each 'member' of the band: some J-pop from Noodle, tinges of Rockabilly & hip-hop from 2-D & Russel respectively (or so I fancy), & the drug-addled, irreverent bravura of Murdoc-- or, Damon Albarn-- to put it together. It's so wacky, but it just works perfectly. & I love the title because I'm left-handed :-D This is what I want to know: is the female voice Miho Hatori, who does Noodle's vocals, or Haruka Kuroda, who perfoms Noodle's speaking voice? |
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| God Help the Girl – Act Of The Apostle Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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This is Catherine Ireton singing a truncated version of 'Act of the Apostle Part II', & she does a marvellous job. It starts off spare but then gets lavish, like a big musical number. I very much admire Ireton's diction; she has her own brand of intelligence & humour. I was nervous when I heard Stuart Murdoch was hiring a bunch of girls to sing his songs, some of which were on previously released Belle&Sebastian albums. But I ended up being delighted! |
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| Blur – Cowboy Song Lyrics | 16 years ago |
| thanks a lot :-) | |
| Joanna Newsom – En Gallop Lyrics | 16 years ago |
| here here! | |
| Regina Spektor – Ink Stains (All the Holocaust Deniers) Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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I was electrified when I heard this at the Beacon Theatre, too, evebs34. Through the whole thing I was freaked out, near tears, & also very appreciative of the beauty of its sound. This is one of the most unsettling things I've heard in quite some time. The most disturbing element of this song is the theme of retribution; that those who deny that agony & cruelty exist have that same agony & cruelty directed at them. Can't they be made to understand by any other means? on the other listing for these lyrics (why are there two?) sheela_l mentioned the possibility that this song was written in reaction to the shooting at the Holocaust Memorial Museum. I don't think that it was, only because not enough time has passed since then: it's improbable Regina could have completed the song so quickly. It sounds (at least, to me) polished & not like an initial draft. Whether it was or wasn't, it's sadly a pertinent song. We need to recognise hatred before we can work on eliminating it. It's so important that we are all educated about the genocides that have taken place (not only the Holocaust) & CONTINUE TO TAKE PLACE TO-DAY. evebs34, I wish you a safe trip to Poland. You'll be seeing upsetting things, but we should all follow your example, even by doing some thing as simple as reading some articles on-line. Pretending it didn't happen only makes it worse. Peace <3 |
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| Regina Spektor – Prisoners Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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The first stanza reminds me very much of Vladimir Nabokov's 'Invitation to a Beheading'. The main character is sentenced to death, but when he's led up to the platform on which he's to be executed the whole world begins to disintegrate. It was originally written in Russian & was translated into English by Nabokov's son. |
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| Blur – Country Sad Ballad Man Lyrics | 16 years ago |
| '223'-- the number 23 pops up often in Jamie Hewlett's artwork for Gorillaz, Damon Albarn's future project. | |
| Blur – Cowboy Song Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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Damon Albarn's falsetto is simply unbeatable. As in Country Sad Ballad Man, Damon uses his voice at different pitches for call-&-response. It's unusual that the phrase 'cowboy song' is in the lyrics; that sort of title doesn't usually appear in the song (examples of Blur's: Good Song, Sweet Song, Song 2). I'll contradict my self, however, & note that it does in TQTB&TQ's History Song. maybe this has some significance. Does any one know when this song was recorded? |
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| Felt – Penelope Tree Lyrics | 16 years ago |
| Penelope Tree is a retired model who was well-known in the 1960s for her beautiful, distinctive facial features. She's partially responsible for why I began to listen to Felt! | |
| Regina Spektor – Summer in the City Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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hmstaab06, that's marvellous. Yes, it's the same great song regardless of the narrator's gender. I hadn't considered it till seeing this discussion. Regina's lyrics deserve to be given all this careful consideration! |
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| Belle & Sebastian – String Bean Jean Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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anorectics can't menstruate, but Jo obviously does have a problem with body- image-- because she IS 'pretty small' but needs affirmation that she's skinny. Furthermore, I don't think an anorectic would consent to take a bath with others. I like this song because it's so easy to listen to, but also is serious. It reminds me very much of some one I once knew, also called Jo. I also love the rare treat of hearing Stuart Murdoch's Scottish accent peek out on 'leccy bill' ! |
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| Delerium – Fallen Icons Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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I think of this song at a very literal level. With the hounds, the arrows, the fortress, & the sunrise, there's a lot of images presented. I've always thought of it as a story about a solitary girl-warrior in the woods without metaphorical meaning. |
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| Delerium – Fallen Icons Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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I think of this song at a very literal level. With the hounds, the arrows, the fortress, & the sunrise, there's a lot of images presented. I've always thought of it as a story about a solitary girl-warrior in the woods without metaphorical meaning. |
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| Björk – Show Me Forgiveness Lyrics | 17 years ago |
| on the iTunes Originals album version her voice sounds at its best & totally, miraculously unsupported. | |
| Björk – Earth Intruders Lyrics | 18 years ago |
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This song is fantastically and wholly Bjork. She's gone full- circle. It's message is built on Debut's Human Behaviour. It's got the color and exuberance of Post. It has the epic sweep of Homogenic, particularly the part where she's screaming 'morbid trenches.' It's as complex and layered and puzzlingly endearing as Medulla. The only album whose influence is absent on this song is, of course, Vespertine. In the short interview Bjork gave on a recent podcast, she mentioned wanting to create some thing very different from Vespertine, more 'dirty' and 'pagan.' Now for what I think it means: Bjork seems to be flitting from perspective to perspective, which really isn't too unusual for her (Think Pagan Poetry ['i love him/ she loves him] and Isobel [my name Isobel married to my self/ my love Isobel living by herself]. She starts the song off by declaring she is one of the Earth Intruders by using 'we' and then describes the group as some thing she is not a part of by saying 'THE Earth Intruders. They are 'marching' like an army. They made a successful attempt to conquer nature. 'Grinding the skeptics into the soil' has to do with people imposing their beliefs on others. This lyric shows how harsh, callous, and ruthless these intruders really are. Bjork is not all too keen on organized religion. She once stated she was an atheist until she discovered nature, and nature certainly is a very important theme in her music. Knowing this, plus the fact that she has explicitly called this album 'pagan', it seems very clear to me that this song is about how people and their belief systems came to dominate the earth. They are 'intruders' because they are not part of the world's natural order and are unwelcome. She uses words like 'carnage' and 'turmoil' to illustrate the damage they have done and to show that she is opposed to them. But, as I said before, her perspective jumps. 'forgive this tribe' is a very interesting line. She is once again associating herself with the Earth Intruders. Perhaps she is admitting that she is human and therefore part of the group that seized the planet. She’s saying that maybe they’re not completely evil. Should nature give them a second chance? Can they live in harmony one day? If any one has any thoughts on 'I have guided my bones through some voltage /And love them still/And love them too,' I'd love to hear them. On a final note, I think that it's amazing that she has managed to make a song dealing with such a big concept so fun and compulsively listenable. But that's Bjork for you ;-) |
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| Conjure One – Manic Star Lyrics | 19 years ago |
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This song is basically about a person who is chafing against her mundane life. She's looking for escape through a relationship: "one day is one day less to live/ I want you to be my sedative" and "let's love like there is no tomorrow/ Shelter each other from the pain and sorrow" She her existence feels a bit useless because the world is so big and evil: "One tiny person in one shiny car/ Spinning on our manic star" (the 'shiny car' could be a statement against materialism) One part I find interesting is: "Are you afraid of dying, too?" There's a bit of condescension in the singer's voice. It's as if she's saying, every one places too much stock in life. She thinks she's above them because she's not scared. |
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| Delerium – Duende Lyrics | 19 years ago |
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This is, in my opinion, the funniest song, ever. It's got this boppity, peppy music with excessively pessimistic lyrics. If I hadn't looked up the lyrics, I would have thought, oh, what a sweet, fun song. But then I see it's about hell and blood and demons and death, and it's breathtakingly hilarious. How could you not love: "Bleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeak desolation In a beeeeam of sun boppa da ba a one two boppa da ba." Duende is the juxtaposition of the macabre and the saccharine, and the effect is scathingly clever. I'll never tire of it. |
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| OceanLab – Satellite Lyrics | 19 years ago |
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This song means so much to me, and I think it's absolutely beautiful. When I listen to it, I see ice white, butter yellow, and gossamer blue. It seems arctic to me. I see someone sleeping in an igloo. I know that sounds crazy, but that's what it's like for me. It's about a girl who has assumed responsibility for the physical/ emotional welfare of a human being. That person is extremely vulnerable and weak and needs her very much. "And before you sleep at night You pray to me, your lucky star, your singing satellite." She's that person's caretaker and own personal god. She's the person's satellite because her life revolves around theirs. She figuratively orbits them. I don't know if that's what OceanLab meant at all, but it seems like a pretty metaphor to me. :) DaeliS, I don’t think this song is “cheaply shrouding” any messages. I like the points you brought up, and it is possible that the satellite is the personification of drugs and addiction. However, I don’t think that if that were the case it would detract from the beauty and depth of the song. |
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| Everything but the Girl – Five Fathoms Lyrics | 19 years ago |
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To me, this song is about a girl who's grown up very sheltered and protected, and now she's gone off on her own. She is both frightened of and intoxicated by her new alien surroundings and freedom. "I want to be the things I see, give every face and place my name." -- She wants to belong here. She's trying to find comfort. " I'm not immune---I love this tune."-- She's no different than anyone else; she craves normalcy. The tune is life-- city life, specifically. "the people fill the city because the city fills the people"-- my favorite line :) "the days roll by like thunder like a storm that's never breaking, all my time and space compressed in the low pressure proceedings" -- She's waiting for something extraordinary to happen, but nothing comes. She's got so much freedom, and she hasn't a clue what to do with it, so it ironically ends up constricting her. " I'll take you home and make it easy." -- She's broken. *** I especially love the "There's a river in my head" parts. The music is really pretty there. I also think that's where the title of the song came from: the river is five fathoms deep. |
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| Björk – Show Me Forgiveness Lyrics | 19 years ago |
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She's angry at herself for telling other people about her problems. "And let my own interior up To inferior forces" The inferior forces are either the people she confided in, or the urge she had to speak about how she was feeling. She feels weak and vulnerable because she couldn't deal with her issues by herself and now other people know about her problems. |
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| Anna Nalick – Citadel Lyrics | 20 years ago |
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I also think this song is about suicide. My favorite part, "What if I fall? What if I don't?" makes me think this. She's thinking, 'what would happen if I were to take my life (to fall, in a sense)? What would happen if I kept on living?' "And holding up this fortress With imaginary forces" -- She's trying to find reason to live, continue to live, keep up her citadel. The imaginary forces are the reasons she invents to keep living, but they're only imaginary. She knows they're nothing. |
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| Paul Oakenfold – Hold Your Hand Lyrics | 20 years ago |
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**"Maybe I find it hard/ Watching you live"- A girl can't stand watching the person she loves not knowing how deeply she feels for him. She can't stand how he's so carefree while she's agonizing over him. **“Maybe I find the truth/ Questions I can’t bare” The girl asks herself if he could love her back. She is positive he doesn’t **“I’m wondering where/ Selfish love inspires” Her love is selfish because it wouldn’t be good for either of them. She’s saying, ‘how could a love like this inspire anybody?’ **“Maybe you are the rain/ Who makes my eyes closed/ Ocean’s grey and grey” Rain is life- giving, but too much causes destruction. Everywhere she looks, she sees a sea of grey **“Feeling my despair/Your happy smile is broken/ I’m wondering there/ Selfish love has spoken” He notices she loves him and they both feel badly about it **I think “Saving me who I spy” means that she is constantly “spying” on him, looking at him, thinking of him, and he is the one that keeps her sane, she loves him so much **“Are you here to hold/ Are you there to hold my hand?” The previous reviewer made an excellent point, that the question is a sarcastic one. He knows how she feels, but he does not feel the same and is not “there to hold” her hand, or be there for her. |
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