| My Morning Jacket – Mahgeetah Lyrics | 14 years ago |
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"Mahgeetah" is a mondegreen for "my guitar." (If you're uncertain what a "mondegreen" is, just Google it.) The song seems to basically be about a guy in a romantic setting with his lady, but all he can think about is his guitar. The chorus goes: "Can he see me? Does he feel me? Does he know me at all?" "Does it shiver? Always deliver? Does it know me at all?" The first three lines are spoken from the perspective of the girlfriend, wondering if the guy loves her. The last three lines are spoken from the perspective of the guy, wondering about his guitar. Their minds are on two totally separate things. It's such a guy song, I love it. Anyway, after these six lines, Jim James (the lead singer) sings "aaaaaaaaaaaaah, mahgeetah, mahgeetah" "Mahgeeta" is a mondegreen for "my guitar." He has said that he did it for no other reason than rock singers just sort of slur their words sometimes in service of the rock. |
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| Midlake – Head Home Lyrics | 19 years ago |
| The urgency and need for Home is so apparent in the pacing of the music itself. There's something so manic and exciting in how the song is layered with this wonderfully hurried beat below that disonant guitar solo. Love it! | |
| Sufjan Stevens – John Wayne Gacy, Jr. Lyrics | 20 years ago |
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To "dontletthemscareyou" and others - I for one can think independently of the media - it's called logic and truth. Logically, killinging someone carries with it more severe consequences than lying to your father. I don't need the media to tell me that. God even makes it very clear he doesn't think they are the same. Take the Old Testament with the whole "eye for an eye" law of Moses thing - if you kill, then you die, but if you lie, you don't die - the punishment/consequence is a reflection of the gravity of the sin. Or how about the seven year old who kills his brother with their father's gun because he was mad, and the 37 year old who kills his wife for life insurance money. Both the same sin, but I don't think God will treat the two situations the same - there's a degree of cognizance of propriety to consider. Geez, I could go on and on because the logic behind the argument is so plentiful, but I don't want to give a headache to those of you nodding in agreement. Oh yeah, and it's ridiculous to say Sufjan isn't a "Christian" artist - that he's a "spiritual" one. He obviously sings of Christ in many of his songs. The reason we relate to them, whether or not we believe in Christ, is because Christ represents so many values and ideas that we as humans hold in our hearts, independent of religion. Don't strip Sufjan of his religion and the inspiration of many of his songs just because you can't stand the idea of supporting someone who vocally supports Christianity and religion. And sorry to break it to "ilikestuffandyou," but Sufjan does go out there and praise Jesus' name in several of his songs. |
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| Sufjan Stevens – The Upper Peninsula Lyrics | 20 years ago |
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"And I've seen my wife At the K-Mart In strange ideas We live apart" What an eerie and incredible way of describing how distant a husband and wife have grown. Imagine shopping at K-mart and suddenly seeing your wife there. How odd it would be to have no idea you're shopping at the same store as your own wife. Your wife/husband isn't someone you casually bump into at the store - usually you know where he/she is or is going to be, not in a controlling way, just because that's traditionally how the spousal relationship is. |
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| Sufjan Stevens – John Wayne Gacy, Jr. Lyrics | 20 years ago |
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I absolutely agree with you, billyfitzsimmons. I guess I was responding more to what Sufjan had said about the song (e.g. in Spin, Under the Radar, etc.) and not the song itself. We are all guilty of a darkened soul, whether it's black like Gacy's (which is a claim I cannot make, seeing as I'm not God. I simply make the claim for the sake of argument) or slightly grayed like your normal church-goer. I just take issue with what I take to be Sufjan's stance - that all of our souls are the same color black; that they are all equally filthy. But as far as understanding the song, I don't think my argument above really addresses the message of the song, only what Sufjan has said in response to inquiries about the song. |
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| Sufjan Stevens – Decatur, or Round of Applause for Your Stepmother! Lyrics | 20 years ago |
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No one has yet to address the "great I Am" reference and how it fits into the history of Decatur. "I Am" is a biblical term used by the god of the Old Testament and by Jesus Christ to reference themselves (hisself). Without chewing on it too much, I guess it can mean how the move to Decatur was inspired by God, or the role that God has played in the molding of Decatur and its history. |
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| Sufjan Stevens – John Wayne Gacy, Jr. Lyrics | 20 years ago |
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WakeToLife, there is nothing in Christian theology to support that. I was sort of disappointed in Sufjan for comparing murderers and pederasts to himself. The sheer potency of evil necessary to kill someone far, FAR outshadows that of the relatively paltry evil cheating on a high school test does. While I agree that "sin is sin is sin" in the sense that all and any sin is bad, they are not all equal. Again, nothing in the Bible supports that. No Christian can honestly believe that God will punish an unrepentant, murdering pedophile as much as He would an unrepentant cheater. That would be like saying the honor, purity, chastity and life of an innocent little boy is worth as much as the answer to a question on a multiple choice exam. |
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| Sufjan Stevens – John Wayne Gacy, Jr. Lyrics | 20 years ago |
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As a Christian myself, I can say, first, that just because we are all inevitably prone to sin and all need (according to Christian beliefs) Christ's atonement for salvation, this does not, by any means, mean that all sins are equal. Yes, we all have sins and cannot save ourselves - NO, these sins are not equal. It's a slap in the face of a murder victim's family to compare that heinous act with drugstore theft or lying to your boss. I think the Christian and secular interpretations of the song are both compelling and valid. I think to take all traces of religiosity from the song is wrong, but to place deeply spiritual meaning upon every word is also wrong. Human nature knows no religion - truth is truth, no matter what religion or system of beliefs it's clothed in. |
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