| The Magnetic Fields – Born on a Train Lyrics | 19 years ago |
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vampires? that seems like kind of a shallow interpretation, although i'm not super familiar with their songwriting style. do you really take "walking dead" and "don't believe in dying/don't believe in life" literally? i see it more as somebody with a travelling spirit that can't be tethered down by life in the "real world". i do love this song, and if the Arcade Fire do a cover of it, i'd love to hear it. |
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| Lou Barlow – Holding Back the Year Lyrics | 20 years ago |
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I was really hoping to come here and see some opinions on this song, but I guess maybe I'll take a stab at kicking up a discussion. This is currently my favorite song on this album by far, maybe because I got an acoustic version out of KEXP-Seattle's in-studio archive before buying the studio recording and the more stripped down version is much more evocative than anything on the album. I see this sort of as a relationships (presumably marriage) has its nasty spots, but somehow we persevere kinda message. Maybe I'm way off base (why I wanted to see some other opinions). The poison in the second stanza can mean all kinds of things, some sort of incident (e.g. infidelity), the condition of being in a long-term monogomous relationship, or even possibly some sort of actual sickness or literal poison (although I prefer to interperet it metaphorically). I like the line, "I held you back, grabbed you by the arm; I played upon your fear". I see that see that as a stereotypical male reaction to adversity in a relationship, but rooted in a lot of reality. The bit I like is the innocence in it, how it's sort of a calculated act of desperation and not an indication of a truely violent nature. The next bit I see as sort of a grasp at normalcy, just a couple snippets of how you get through the day. I see somebody out driving, trying to escape a potentially volatile situation, stopping off at a fast food joint to get a sausage biscuit if they're still serving breakfast. I think there's a "roll me in your arms" line that's lost in the transcription above, as in let's forget the quibbling and have a comforting return to intimacy. In the end, life turns kind of monotonous (sorry to reuse the same term) and lame. Entertaining lame friends and turning in early. Raising a cat and being thoroughly domesticated. That's how it works out though, and you remain content in the relationship. Holding back the year is just persisting on and on. I don't know, I'm not 100% clear on it, but it stirs up some vivid emotions, which I really like. I tend to think that lots of songs aren't written with a real clear, this is what it's all about, purpose, but give the listener a little room to interpret and make it their own. Anybody else like this song? |
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| Sufjan Stevens – The Predatory Wasp of the Palisades Is Out to Get Us! Lyrics | 20 years ago |
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okay, so tree was a little blunt, but what's so blasphemous about the idea that this is about a guy reflecting about a close boyhood friend, back in the time that little boys are "figuring themselves out", he tries to kiss him, the friend flees in disgust, he loses him as a friend forever, and regardless of the spurning and the trivial wrestling and raging, they were close friends, and whether its fraternal love or romantic love, it lasts to this day, and he can wait for his friend to forgive him and for them to go back to being friends and nothing more. the sting of the wasps maybe is both literally related to the event that drove them apart (and ultimately reminds the narrator of it), but also figuratively reflective of the pain that it caused. sleeping in the backseat of a car is just another boyhood memory, maybe one in which he looked upon his friend sleeping in admiration, unsure of the nature of his feelings for his friend. or maybe not. that's the great things about song lyrics. they're wide open to interpretation and sometimes just meant to evoke whatever thoughts are personal to each listener and create a mood with the music. potentially gay or not, it's a great song. |
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