| Tonic – Take Me As I Am Lyrics | 19 years ago |
| I think in this song he's talking to the woman he's either broken up with, or is just starting a new relationship with, and he is referring to a healing process he is going through, addressing his relationship with his father. It sounds like his girlfriend has been trying to fix him, which is why he says "take me as I am, I'm not broken". This situation is one that almost any guy who's dated a woman can relate to. When he says "pieces of my life are not tokens" , he means that the person he is cannot be taken apart and replaced piece by piece, like so many tokens. Each part is valuable and represents some part of his past, and as such, cannot be removed from who he is at present. "I wanna let you know I'm still learning how to love again, and stop hurting" - is his explanation to the girl for why he needs time and patience as he works through the pains of his past. | |
| U2 – Bullet The Blue Sky Lyrics | 20 years ago |
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There's a lot of stuff in this song that suggests the weapons trade, and the concomitant effects on the countries that get pulled into its tentacles: "from the firefly a red orange glow" - is the afterburner of a firefly missile. The rap delineates an actual weapons deal... this guy comes up to me, face red... the man is embarrassed or nervous about the transaction that's about to occur "he's peeling off those dollar bills, one hundred..." is the payment "and I can see those fighter planes" - the fruit of the deal. across the mud huts where the children sleep, through the valleys and the quiet city streets - here are the effects of the deal - terror and death "I take the staircase to the first floor, turn the key and slowly unlock the door, a man breathes into a saxophone, through the walls we hear the city groan, outside is America" - this is another scene where the buyer meets the seller, or vice-versa, and paints a picture of indifference to the misery produced by the weapons industry (the city groans). That a man can play a saxophone before making such a deal belies his coldbloodedness. This reminds me of stories about Nazi leaders that loved classical music and were sometimes brought to tears by it, while people were being tortured and murdered in their concentration camps. |
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| Yes – Big Generator Lyrics | 20 years ago |
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I can't remember where I heard it, but I have heard that this song is a criticism of the record company that YES was signed to, and the fact that YES was put in a position to record a contractual obligation album that would be commercially accessible, rather than to have the artistic freedom to record what they wanted. Over the decades that the music industry has been alive, this has been a problem, and was instrumental in the problems experienced by Prince, Mariah Carey, Michael Jackson, and George Michael. Interestingly, Sony Music was involved in the last three careers mentioned, and in each case they were signed to unheard-of amounts of money, only to result in mental problems and ultimately a breakdown in their careers. So YES characterizes the music industry as the Big Generator. |
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| Robbie Williams – Rock DJ Lyrics | 20 years ago |
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It's no wonder that Robbie claimed to have no idea what the lyrics were about - the standard response when asked about words that are almost pornographic in nature. Robbie is singing about a backstage orgy... Me with the floorshow - Robbie with all the dancers from his show kicking with your torso - basically a more cryptic way to say "humping" or "thrusting" with the hips. "wave your hands if you're not with a man" - he is looking for a girl who is still looking for a partner "I've got the gift" - his "manhood" - "gonna stick it in the goal" - which could have just as easily been "stick it in the girl", then "it's time to move your body" "Babylon back in business" - means he's back in the saddle, having sex again "Houston can you hear me, ground control can you feel me, need permission to land" - he's asking for a place to park his "piece" "I don't wanna rock dj, but you're making me feel so nice", is an apology to his partner, which could just as easily have been called "bj" (and you know what that means), for using too much motion. He can't help responding enthusiastically to the pleasure he is receiving. This interpretation is supported by "give no head, no backstage passes", which is pretty obviously about which groupies get backstage passes - (any questions?) "have a proper giggle, I'll be quite polite, but when I rock the mic, I rock the mic" - well, it should be clear what "mic" he's rocking (enthusiasticaly). During this whole process, he's wondering "when's it gonna stop, cause you're "keeping me up" all night" - can you guess how his partner's keeping him up? "I don't wanna be sleazy, baby just tease me got no family plan" - is about the one way nature of this partnering - with Robbie receiving all the pleasure, and no chance of getting anyone pregnant "pimping ain't easy, most of them fleece me every night" - is about the fact that Robbie is expected to provide a nightly party scene for his whole troupe, often without any thanks or return of the favour. He's the pimp, providing the band with girls, and he gets nothing in return for it. I know this interpretation is kind of disgusting, but hey, Robbie Williams can be a bit of a pig, can't he? I don't think his original intent is as innocent as he implies in his interviews. |
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| Maroon 5 – She Will Be Loved Lyrics | 20 years ago |
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This is a classic story of unrequieted love, of a boy who could only have the girl of his dreams in an illicit context, perhaps because of Romeo-Juliet type social constraints. She always belonged to someone else - she was never free to choose him outright because she was always led either by others (parents?) or by a personal need to be with richer, more handsome, or more socially well positioned men, none of whom truly satisfied her. Nevertheless, "he was always there to help her" - to fulfill for her, needs that her "legal" partners never could. "I drove for miles and miles and wound up at your door" - is perhaps one of the most haunting and eloquent declarations of obsession. The man didn't intend to go to her, but he is magnetically drawn. Whenever he gets in his car, he eventually winds up waiting outside her door "on the corner, in the pouring rain", a situation which he doesn't mind doing everyday, because he is, after all, obsessed with her, and although he's had her "so many times", he always wants more. When she comes out of her house to meet him, there she is, the girl with the broken,half smile, half grimace, an expression which betrays her frustration with her life. He asks her if she wants to "stay awhile", she accepts, and with him, she experiences the real love that only he (and not her more well heeled suitors) can give her. Once in a while, she comes to him, taps on his window, knocks on his door, or "hides alone in her car" at their secret rendezvous location... why? Because he makes her feel beautiful. Her inability to commit to him tends to make him insecure about his future with her, which is always in doubt, particularly when her guilt inspires her to "try so hard to say goodbye". However many times she says goodbye, calls off the ongoing affair, he knows it is meaningless, because she always comes back and "begs him to catch her everytime she falls", is overtaken by her unfulfilling situation. When she does, his "heart's always full and his door's always open", and she can "come anytime she wants". How does he deal with this unhappy conundrum? He realizes that life is "not always rainbows and butterflies", and that he has no choice but to compromise if he is to get anything at all. This is a very sad story of unrequieted love, and is partiularly moving to those who have had the experience. |
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| Tears for Fears – Break It Down Again Lyrics | 20 years ago |
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This song is about Roland Orzibal's frustration with steps backward in the fight for recoqnition and rights of gays - "hot tips for the boys, fresh news from the force" is about the "don't ask, don't tell" legislation in the US Army, in which gays could join, but would be forbidden to be open about it. Orzibal sees this as regressive. "it's in the way you're always hiding from the light" - is his frustration with gays like Elton John and George Michael, whom Orzibal often confronted about not admitting to their homosexuality - he adds "play to the crowd with your big hit sound", an ironic exhortation about them bowing to commercial sensibilities, including singing boy-girl type love songs. "no revolution maybe someone somewhere else" - is about their lack of interest in fighting for gay rights "big bouncing babies bread and butter can I have a slice" - is a stab at the conventional "straight life". |
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| Tears for Fears – Everybody Wants to Rule the World Lyrics | 20 years ago |
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whenever interpreting songs by openly gay performers, it's important to remember that it's very likely that their gayness informs their songwriting to some degree. I think that is the case here, and Roland Orzibal's songs are full of gay activism. "welcome to your life, there's no turning back" - is about facing the fact that sexuality is predetermined, and there's nothing you can do to change it, or it could be about the moment of coming out, where "your life" begins, and once you decide, you can't go back. "even while we sleep we will find you acting on your best behaviour" - speaks of deep seated behavioural conditioning that prevents closet gays from acting on their desires, even in their sleep. "turn your back on mother nature" - is an exhortation to go against "natural" heterosexuality, or it could be an admonishment for trying to be hetero, when homo is what was given by nature "everybody wants to rule the world" - there will always be somebody who tries to force everyone else to follow their view of the way things should be - in this case, conservatives who think being straight is the only right way to be. "it's my own (desire), it's my own remorse" I think there's a mistake in the text - even that typed in the official lyric sheet - which occurs quite often - and the word "design" should be "desire", in which case, he means exactly that - his desire (homo, not hetero), and his problem alone to deal with the consequences of following his desire. "help me to decide, help me make the most of freedom and of pleasure, nothing ever lasts forever" - of his wish for society to release/give him freedom to decide for himself what will make him happy and give him pleasure. Why? Because nothing lasts forever - life is short, so it should be happy. "there's a room where the light won't find you holding hands" - of a gay couple who hide in the closet, away from the light, hoping not to be discovered "while the walls come tumbling down - when they do I'll be right behind you" - of the slow removal of barriers to the integration and acceptance of gay people into mainstream society. When it happens, Roland will be there to support those who were hiding. "I can't stand this indecision, married with a lack of vision" - is a direct stab at people like Elton John and George Michael, who all through the 80's vascillated about coming out of the closet, lacking the vision to believe that the world could ever accept them. |
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| R.E.M. – Losing My Religion Lyrics | 20 years ago |
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A few people have touched on what I think Michael Stipe was inspired by, and that is the question of coming out about being gay. The song is shot through with references to it. The first line, "life is bigger than you and you are not me" - is a stab at conservatives who want to impose their hetero-sexual utopia on everyone else, and Michael insistst that they cannot decide for him. "the lengths that I will go to, "trying to keep up with you, and I don't know if I can do it" speak of Michael's desperate attempts, the crazy things he would try, just to fit in (keep up with) the straight world, and "the distance in your eyes" - is not about seeing a distant expression in someone's eyes, but about how in the view (eyes) of others, he has such a great distance to go to achieve acceptance for who he is. "Oh no I've said too much", speaks of his attempts to hide his sexuality, only to accidentally say something that might give him away. "I haven't said enough" - of his desire to tell the whole truth to the world "Every whisper of every waking hour, I'm choosing my confessions" - of his struggle to find the right way to reveal his condition to the world. "I thought that I heard you laughing" - of the fear of rejection and derision that haunts him, should he ever be discovered "trying to keep an eye on you" of his deep seated distrust and need to beware of those he thinks are watching him, already suspicious of his sexuality "the slip that brought me to my knees, failed" - of a misguided attempt to overcome his sexuality, only to fail, and bring him to a crisis point of HAVING to accept his condition (it brought him to his knees) "what if all these fantasies come flailing around" - of his fear of his own inability to manage his desires and fantasies, to keep them at bay for very long, frustrating his attempts to overcome them. "I'm losing my religion" - may be some southern expression, but I think he's co-opted it, and is using it quite literally, because the church often forces people out if they are gay...anyone who accepts homosexuality is "forsaking God" - losing their religion. "I think I thought I saw you try, but that was just a dream" - of what Michael from time to time thought were attempts to reach out to him, and accept him as he is, only to find that it was just a dream that would never come true. "that's me in the spotlight" is obviously about his position as a star, whose life is scrutinized relentlessly by the media, allowing him to keep his secret only for a limited time. Indeed, this whole song is "the hint of the century", concerning Michael's sexuality. |
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