| Josh Ritter – Harrisburg Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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I don't think that this song references any particular period of history; it has a timeless quality. It's about a man who abandons his family, and uses the railroad to run away from them. He is restless and constantly on the move, and thus can never find happiness (heaven), and instead dies tragically, alone in the middle of nowhere. When he had his family, he was happy and innocent (the Garden of Eden), but then he left on the train. The train represents evil, because it takes him away from his family. I like the fact that the writer of this song wrote the lyric "*IF* evil exists", because this leaves open the possibility that Romero is not evil. This makes Romero a much more sympathetic, nuanced, and multi-dimensional character. |
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| Eisley – Plenty of Paper Lyrics | 20 years ago |
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I love this song! It really makes me want to dance. I've never considered putting on a boa, but Americanmusic's suggestion sounds pretty neat. It's all about creativity and fun, with books or drawing with a friend. |
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| Gorillaz – Feel Good Inc. Lyrics | 20 years ago |
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I went to urbandictionary.com in at attempt to translate the rapping. This is what I got: Laughing gas these hazmats, fast cats, ("hazmats" is "hazardous material", so you might say "the hazmat team cleaned up the chemical spill") Lining them up like ass cracks, Ladies, homies, at the track It's my chocolate attack ("chocolate attack" is a really disgusting practical joke involving diarrhea) Shit, I'm stepping in the heart of this here Care bear bumping in the heart of this here ("bumping" is jamming/rocking out to blaring music, like "we were bumping hard core rap", and "care bear" is someone who just doesn't care and is thus willing to do whatever on a whim.) Watch me as I gravitate, (according to urban diction this means to calm down, find your center of gravity (think yoga), but I think he's using it in the "gravitating towards..." sense) Hahahahahahaa Yo, we gonna go ghost town, ("1. (n.) Derogatory term for area inhabited by African Americans.") This motown, With yo sound You're in the place You gonna bite the dust Can't fight with us With yo sound You kill the INC. So don't stop, get it, get it Until you're cheddar header (That lyric is wrong, it's "until your Cheddar's heavy" (of course, there is a lot of arguing over the lyrics, but cheddar's heavy is the only one that makes sense) and "Cheddar" means a large amount of money (although it also means cocaine and some other things) Yo, watch the way I navigate, ("navigate" I'm guessing is to navigate someone towards something, influence them.) Hahahahahhaa (Man, is that a diabolical laugh or what? It's awesome.) -- So anyway, I think I've got the rapping figured out. The rapper is saying that the singers shouldn't be so melancholy ("laughing gas these hazmats"="make these hazardous materials (dangerous or depressing people) cheer up"). He's not being gentle about it ("laughing gas" is a rather violent way to make someone laugh, and "chocolate attack" is just gross). He's saying that they have to be hedonistic and party, not caring about anything ("care bear bumping"). "Can't fight with us//with yo sound you kill the INC"=you can't fight the "tower" they've built, and the sound is the windmill chorus (all happy and cheerful), which fights the tower (or maybe the hedonistic sound builds the tower?) "So don't stop, get it get it"=don't stop the hedonism "until your cheddar's heavy"=unless you're filthy rich, or possibly until you've overdosed on coke The windmill chorus is all about 2D wanting love and simple happiness, and the rap verses are all about the rapper trying to get him to stop singing the windmill chorus and get back to singing "feel good". "In the video, when the rap portion starts, and the rapper suddenly comes up on the screen, I immediately thought of Big Brother. The way it was just this face on the screen telling you what to think and how to live. Anyone else notice this?"--DruidJJR Yes! I knew he reminded me of something, but I couldn't place what. That's it exactly. -- But I don't agree with everyone about how the windmill symbolizes them good ol' days, when everything was simply and people were content, and the tower symbolizes the modern world or The Man or whatever. A technology-less world was damn hard to live in. No matter how little or much technology, people will still be miserable. You just trade in the complicatedness of modern-day life in for simple but back-breaking labor instead, and a lot less free time. Also, the windmill has a lot of modern-day connotations. It generates electricity. No, the windmill symbolizes a place (the countryside), not a time. The windwill is peace and purity and freedom, it has nothing to do with how hectic modern-day life is (if it was so hectic, would you have time to talk about song lyrics on the internet?) It's a contrast to the hedonistic and evil tower: the windmill is constantly moving, while the tower is still, trapping everyone inside. I do admit that the "Inc." is a clear allusion to the corporate world, but I think it's meant to be ironic. Corporations are torganized, efficient, and above all tightly managed, while the tower is full of hedonism and anarchy and "care bears" who would probably sooner work at a McJob than a corporation. "Feel good" verses = hedonism, TRAPPED in the tower. "Windmill, windmill" verses = happiness and purity, FREE in the sun. -- All in all, a really great song, I love it. |
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