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The Raconteurs – These Stones Will Shout Lyrics 15 years ago
I actually hear this song not as a man talking to God, but as frustrated God crying out for Man to talk to him. I get this feeling that in this song, God feels a bit like a father wanting to talk to and help his child, but withholding the help because He knows the child must make his own decisions.
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Verse 1: God is saying how much he wants us to talk to him---that everything we say to Him is sweet to his ears. Of course, he has the power to make us pay attention to him, to talk to him and love him, and even though it probably drives him crazy that we don't, he won't take that choice away from us.

Verse 2: Seems to be saying that we are too scared to stand up for what we believe, to go against the flow, and we pray like it. God is like, "Well, if you won't even speak out against sinners even to me, there will come a day when I will."

Chorus: God doesn't want us to just pray quietly---he wants us to actually talk to him, engage with him and let him know what our problems are. (See: Psalm 150, Philippians 4:6)

3rd verse: Almost directly out of 1 Corinthians 14:6-9. This verse seems to talk about praying in tongues (incoherent sounds), and if there is no one to translate, it cheats those around you from hearing edifying words, so you might as well not pray at all.

Bridge:
{I feel compelled to just yell out for you
To say the words that you can't bring out}
God wants to stand up for us, like a parent stands up for a child. Again he seems to be fighting that omnipotent parental urge...

{But I cannot do everything for you
And if I don't then these stones will shout}
This is a very interesting line because God is saying that he doesn't want to make our choices for us, but when it all comes down to it, we are his and he is the reason why we do anything. (John 5:19, John 15:5) So if he doesn't first move in us, we won't worship and, as it says in Luke 19:40, "if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out."

Verse 5: God says, "But if I just let you do whatever you wanted and sat quietly and watched...well, I don't think I could do that either. The stones that I created would probably cry out to me to save your soul."

That's how I see it, anyway.

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Belle & Sebastian – Lord Anthony Lyrics 18 years ago
This song always reminds me of the movie Velvet Goldmine.

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The Mighty Boosh – The Soup Song Lyrics 18 years ago
Haha. The funny thing is, no matter how many times I listen to this song, I can't ever remember the spicy carrot and coriander part. They emphasize the coriander part so oddly that it simply slips my mind.

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Colin Meloy – Cherry Tree Carol Lyrics 19 years ago
I like to think of this as the only Christmas song I'll probably ever get from Colin Meloy and/or the Decemberists.

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The Decemberists – The Kingdom of Spain Lyrics 19 years ago
I am fairly positive he says "...for *her* unjustly arrested brother."
On that note, how politically correct of you, Colin.

I have found this song most peculiar because I still can't quite interpret it. I think I might have it but then I lose it again. Sigh.

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They Might Be Giants – Shoehorn With Teeth Lyrics 20 years ago
I always felt this song was fairly deep, as most TMBG songs tend to be, but I felt it stayed mainly to one particular theme rather than embracing the entire human psyche. I think many of these concepts have been brought up, but I thought I'd give it a go anyhow.

I've always interpreted this song as about the great lengths man goes to selfishly escape uncomfortable situations. After all, the shoehorn itself pries the foot out of a tight shoe or boot, which seems to represent how man is constantly trying to pry himself out of the harsh reality of life by the easiest ways possible - violence and ignorance.

I mean, beating people up when their beliefs are different from yours is the easiest way to get out of a wretched religious or political conversation. Why discuss why your way is more right than theirs when you could knock their block off and be done with it? I think the Johns are being mildly sarcastic (or ironic) with this song, this line in particular, because they know it's not the best way to go about it but it's how many people (governments, religions) go about it none-the-less.

And what better philosophy than this one! If someone makes you uncomfortable, just ignore them and they won't exist! (he doesn't get nervous/she's not really there) If you don't like the fact children are starving somewhere, ignore them and they'll disappear off the face of the planet. If you hate a man who has your seat, take it because you can ignore him into inexistance! It's all so very simple!

As for the plane, it's full of rock stars! The rich, the famous, the fabulous! They don't believe in death! So when their plane runs out of gas, they don't worry about crashing and dying---it just means that their plane will never land, because beautiful people don't die! Mortality is an uncomfortable thought! They must live forever!

Then, at the end, I think they're talking about midlife crises as the theoretical shoehorn. Man goes through those midlife crises, doing all that stuff to make himself feel younger (returning to the womb) because for the first time he realizes that he, too, is mortal (worrying about the tomb)and he must keep death at bay. But no matter how many times man tries to escape death, uncomfortable situations, unpleasant people, etc., he knows, just like the shoe horn with teeth, that there is no such thing, no true escaping. But he does it all the same because if the shoe doesn't fit, you gotta get it off no matter the cost, be it to you or to other people. And that's how I've always saw it. *shrugs*

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Ella Fitzgerald – My Funny Valentine Lyrics 20 years ago
I adore this song...probably my favourite romantic song ever. Rufus Wainwright sings this version as well and it's absolutely gorgeous.
I always assumed that the first bit was describing Cupid, thus "our fine feathered friend." But you never know about Rufus.

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