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| Drive-By Truckers – Heathens Lyrics
| 8 years ago
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For some reason I've always imagined this song was about an incestuous relationship between a father and daughter. Subtle cues like "When we first hooked up, you looked me in the eye/And said, "Paw, we just ain't no good" gave me that impression, I think. But after reading the lyrics again I think my interpretation might be a bit far fetched. |
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| Death Grips – Hacker Lyrics
| 8 years ago
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I find it difficult to find a common thematic thread throughout the entire song. However, there is a lot of conflicting imagery between modern, technologically-driven life and more natural/tribal-driven life ("going back to Tangier with some Jordans and a spear"). It's almost as if he's collaging these images to make the dichotomy even more apparent, but I think also to show the lack (or mupliticity, depending on how you view it) of collective and individual identity in the modern world. I also think of Wikileaks (they are mentioned, of course) and the hacker group Anonymous in the verse that starts "you'll catch a jpeg to the head" and also during the chorus. The ubiquity of the internet has also made it so a hacker can appear to be "in your area" stealing all of your personal information, but maybe they are on the other side of the world. Just some thoughts. |
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| Smog – Teenage Spaceship Lyrics
| 9 years ago
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That's a very well thought out interpretation, thelistener21, and I do mostly agree with it. I would like to add a couple things, though. I think that one of the most striking aspects of the song is how spacious it is. While Bill and his (relatively sparse) guitar are really up front in the mix, there is this guitar ambience in the background throughout the entire song. To me the two contrasting elements seem to suggest a great distance/space. This fact, coupled with lyrics like "flying alone" seem to suggest of the isolation and loneliness of being a teenager.
I also think the lyrics seem to suggest that his spaceship was actually the house that he grew up in, which would add to the idea of isolation and loneliness. Maybe that while he was isolated from peers, he was exploring his imagination and/or that people thought he was enigmatic? |
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| Guided by Voices – The Brides Have Hit Glass Lyrics
| 9 years ago
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I LOVE the self-referential line "I wrote a song once about her, called "The Brides Have Hit Glass". And, yes, I agree with the previous two comments about the meaning of the song. |
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| Frightened Rabbit – Fast Blood Lyrics
| 10 years ago
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Straight from the source, you wankers:
"The title has a couple of possible meanings, but the main one is a euphemism for sex, as it’s in the song Fast Blood, which is essentially about fucking... I didn't realise i was so drawn to physical and biological imagery until I put the whole record together. I feel like heartache is very physically painful, in lots of ways, so it seems natural to gravitate that way."
- God Is In The TV, Frightened Rabbit interview
http://www.godisinthetvzine.co.uk/content/content_detail.php?id=2620=Interview |
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| Wilco – Wishful Thinking Lyrics
| 10 years ago
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I've heard that a lot of Wilco's lyrics on A Ghost Is Born were written in kind of a Dadaist manner. One member of the band would write one line of lyrics and then a nother member would write another without looking at the previous written line. Can anyone confirm or deny this? I can't remember where I read that. |
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| Misfits – Hybrid Moments Lyrics
| 11 years ago
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Couldn't have said it better myself. I thought I commented on this song at one point, but I guess not. You delved a bit deeper into it than I did, but I've always thought that Danzig was comparing the brief euphoria one gets during a sexual climax with the moment of sheer terror in the stereotypical horror movie where the woman screams at the sight of the monster. "If you're going to scream, scream with me/Moments like this never last" and "Oh, baby, when you cry/Your face is momentary"
As far as the name of the song goes, hybrid moments being what burked said above (which relates to what someone said about werewolves earlier) and also when "two become one" during sex, for lack of a better phrase. |
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| The Replacements – Answering Machine Lyrics
| 11 years ago
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Ahh, I understand that line now. "Handful of friends, one needs a match, one needs some ice"...he's got his hands full with a cigarette in one and a drink in the other... |
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| Justice – DVNO Lyrics
| 12 years ago
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I think this song is definitely about the elitism and exclusivity of some clubs, but I think the fact that Gaspard said that "In every SUBURB of the world, in every city, there's always a nightclub called El Divino..." I think it may be perceived as a commentary on any sort of clique exclusivity...kind of like "Subdivisions" by Rush...haha |
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| Wilco – Should've Been In Love Lyrics
| 12 years ago
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I think there are people who are always looking for relationships for whatever reason (they always feel incomplete when they're not with someone, they have emotional problems and feel the need to latch onto someone else, etc.). But I think this song is about people on the other end of the spectrum. People who never think they need a significant other to make their life complete. I always picture this song being from the perspective of someone who had missed out on what he/she thought could've been true love because he/she didn't want to commit or didn't have the time for it. So in a way I agree with PrenticeGT's view. |
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| The End – Animals Lyrics
| 12 years ago
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Throughout the entire song, the speaker is comparing himself to a animal who is just one amongst the herd. I think this song is about how people simply go through the motions in their daily lives without questioning larger structures and systems that seem to define and control who we are. I also think that it is commentary on the issue of humans simply being conscious animals...the speaker seems to suggest there is something more than just being the "selfish beast" that he has been convinced that he is. Yet he feels "safe" and as though he is "home" because the position he is in is all he's ever known.
The part that may be the most confusing is the verse that begins "All hail the tangible..." I think this refers that we are indoctrinated to take things at face value, rather than to look deeper and deconstruct. |
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| Deathspell Omega – The Shrine of Mad Laughter Lyrics
| 12 years ago
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Amazing song and even more of an amazing album. Despite these guys getting top honors in several metal magazine for one, if not the best, album of the year; the reasons they don't have more fans is 1. They never play live, 2. Never grant interviews to the media (as far as I know), 3. No one knows anything about them
However these reasons serve to add a mystique to the band that makes them that much more intriguing. It seems so rare nowadays that black metal bands can have good production AND sound truly evil. This is definitely one of the most evil sounding records I have heard in a while.
Anyway, I think this song is an affront to God and all things that God stands for. The speaker seems to embracing the "left hand path" and taking pleasure in sin. |
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| Whiskeytown – Inn Town Lyrics
| 13 years ago
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Seems as though this song is about the speaker coming back to (presumably) his hometown after many years away. Everything feels different than what it used to be. He seems to have no more emotional attachments to the town. There also seems to be a former love (first that starts out "Fifty cents...) that he doesn't want anything to do with anymore. The town he once new only exists in his dreams. |
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| Drive-By Truckers – Women Without Whiskey Lyrics
| 13 years ago
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I've been listening to this song obsessively so I thought I'd comment on it. By far my favorite line is "If morning's a bitch with open arms and night's a girl who's gone to far, Whiskey is harder to keep than a woman and it's half as sweet..."
Obviously the song is about making a choice between his woman or his whiskey. In the line that I mentioned, he seems to be comparing his state of mind/sobriety to specific types of women, which I think is brilliant. Morning is a bitch with open arms meaning that he is probably hungover, but with the possibility of either changing his ways/not drinking anymore (or maybe the open arms are inviting him to drink more...?). Night is a girl that has gone too far is his drinking way too much at night and not knowing when to stop which he mentions as a problem elsewhere in the song. Brilliant! |
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| Akron/Family – Italy Lyrics
| 13 years ago
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This song reminds me of times when you take a minute to reflect or get caught in the moment and get the sensation that what your experiencing is just a dream. Time seems to stop for a second. |
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| Faith No More – Falling To Pieces Lyrics
| 13 years ago
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I agree with most all the posts on the meaning of this song. I love the Faith No More songs where Patton's lyrics deal with more introspection on themes that hadn't really been addressed in a lot of mainstream music, such as "Midlife Crisis", "A Small Victory"...actually most of the songs off of Angel Dust. |
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| Khanate – Skin Coat Lyrics
| 13 years ago
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If you don't look at it so literally I think it is about his hiding his emotions or true feelings vicariously through someone...if that makes any sense...
Or could be seen as a sick sort of tortured love where he is obsessed with someone to the point of figuratively (maybe literally!) wearing them as a human shield |
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| Eagles – Tequila Sunrise Lyrics
| 13 years ago
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I agree with most of the posts here, especially sapphireskies and Nick the Bastard. The only thing I would add is that I think the girl in the story is a prostitute. This is evident in that "she's out running around" and "when it comes down to dealing friends" as in, introducing her as a prostitute to his friends so they can their rocks off. |
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| Nirvana – In Bloom Lyrics
| 13 years ago
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I've read this song is about Dylan Carson, Kurt's best friend that sold him the shotgun he allegedly committed suicide with. Dylan Carson is the only constant member of a band called Earth. Highly influential band, especially in certain heavy metal circles...I suggest you check them out! |
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| The Replacements – Answering Machine Lyrics
| 13 years ago
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I just don't completely understand the line "One needs a match, one needs some ice"...I'm assuming that one needs a match for a cigarette and one needs some ice for (presumably) an alcoholic drink...
Perhaps he's missing something in his life (maybe the girl he's trying to get a hold of?) like he's missing the match for his smoke and the ice for his drink...he's just not complete or something along those lines
I also thought about match as in a match in a relationship (i.e. "they're a perfect match") but then the ice thing doesn't work with it or make sense |
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| Guided by Voices – A Salty Salute Lyrics
| 13 years ago
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I thought it was "dis on the sexless" as well. I don't have the CD booklet with me but I think this song is dedicated to two bars/clubs that the band frequented. |
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| Emperor – With Strength I Burn Lyrics
| 13 years ago
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Great song off of one of my favorite albums of all time...I pretty much agree with the previous posts, but I was wondering about one lyric in particular.
"Slaves are those of this world who are given freedom to lay chains upon The Master"
Anyone have any ideas? |
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| Mims – This Is Why I'm Hot Lyrics
| 14 years ago
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Truly poetry. Shakespeare could not have written more profoundly. The lyrics are just so heartfelt. His mastery of the language is unparalleled. |
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| Q And Not U – Y Plus White Girl Lyrics
| 14 years ago
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I think that this song is a sociological, post-modernist perspective on the current human condition. I think there is a certain last gasp desperation and paranoid anxiousness that pervades a lot of the song and it conveys the previously mentioned perspective well. Our senses are constantly getting assaulted, whether by communication (telephones) or the need to constantly be "on the go." We have little time for self-reflection now with all the technology we have (kind of the price we have to pay, I suppose). I think when he says "basement fires keep us so alive" he is saying that ironicallly because before there was electricity, etc. people kept warm by fires, but now basement fires are just there for more "intimate" moments. I especially like the image of confetti on the escalator sets...kind of a celebration of mundane technology...plus all the confetti would just get crumbled in the constant rotation of the escalator. "I'm not paid enough to understand that this position was always in demand"- I think this line means that he thinks the work he does is meaningful, but anyone could do his job. I'm not sure what the girls/boys lines mean in the end though...maybe that it's everyone's fault that this is how life is now...? |
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| The Replacements – Hold My Life Lyrics
| 14 years ago
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I agree with both the previous posts. Instead of the "young optimist", excited and anxiously awaiting what unfolds in his life, the lyrics present almost a young paranoia of doing everything you can to get the most out of your life and live minute by minute. However, it seems as though the narrator is almost too unnerved or confused to make any lasting decisions about his/her life so he/she asks someone to "hold it" or put it on hold. |
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| The Replacements – Bastards Of Young Lyrics
| 14 years ago
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I have always thought the line was "Got no war to name us"
It seems like generations are often defined, or at least strongly associated, by the wars they have fought, which is a pretty interesting concept if you ask me.
And yes, I do agree with the previous posts. This song seems to be about generational displacement and/or generational existentialism (what am I doing here? sort of thing). Being a college student myself, the lyrics are more than just a little ominous, especially the first stanza. |
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| Guided by Voices – Gold Star for Robot Boy Lyrics
| 14 years ago
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By far my favorite song off of Bee Thousand, I think that this song is pretty obviously describing the relationship that he has with someone else (presumably a significant other) in which he always feels that he has to impress or nothing he does is viewed by the significant other as being done right. Thus he wishes he could just be a robot and be programmed to do things right. And a gold star is something that a teacher would give his/her student for doing a good job on something (makes sense, seeing as how Pollard was a school teacher). |
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| Failure – The Nurse Who Loved Me Lyrics
| 14 years ago
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You're not reading deep enough into the metaphors. Do you think Stuck On You is about an "annoying pop song"? Look at the other, quite different, metaphors in the rest of the song:
"I thought I'd drop you easily
But that was not to be
You burrowed like a summer tic
So you invade my sleep and confuse my dreams
turn my nights to sleepless itch"
Considering the rest of the album in context I think that could definitely be interpreted as an addiction...just like an annoying song you can't get out of your head...He's making all these references to things he just can't get rid himself of...like an addiction (you burrowed like a summer tic...turn my nights to sleepless itch? I mean...c'mon...)
but you are certainly entitled to your opinion... |
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| XTC – Summer's Cauldron Lyrics
| 14 years ago
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I agree with dogARTit, this song is definitely about lazy, beautiful summer days and enjoying the simples pleasures they offer. I especially love all the clever, vivid imagery such as the "Insect bomber Buddhist droning" and "Fruit of sweating golden Inca." I just got into XTC this last summer and would listen to it while driving, walking, and riding my bike around while being conscious that the summer was fleeting, but enjoying every minute of it. |
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| NOFX – Dig Lyrics
| 14 years ago
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Clearly this song is about how we fucked over the Native Americans. For instance: "The arrowheads went straight to the Smithsonian, the rest was melted down and sold." Yes, this song is indeed commenting on our capitalist society, but also it is commenting on the way we have essentially genocidally wiped out the Native Americans but now we put their "artifacts" on display...oldironside...I understand completely...but really...where would we be without capitalism? And yes, NOFX wouldn't be anywhere without the capitalist system they claim to be against. Think about it. |
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| The Police – Synchronicity II Lyrics
| 14 years ago
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Like many Police songs of this era (check out When the World is Turning...") this is definitely a social commentary on post-modernism. For a good example of fictional post-modernism and to see what it's all about, check out "White Noise" by Don DeLilo (not sure about spelling) but it's an amazing book. I'm not sure about the Loch Ness Monster references though. Perhaps it is comparing the stark, bleak, reality of the American post-modern age, with the fantasy and mystery of ages past? Who knows. grouping may have a good point too. |
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| Quicksand – Too Official Lyrics
| 14 years ago
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First off I would like to say that "Slip" by Quicksand, the CD which "Too Official is from" is a great album and it helped me get through some shit in high school. Like most of the CD, "Too Official" deals with the loss and repression of individualism in an increasingly modernized, capitalized world. This specific song deals with someone who just does what one is told and never speaks for oneself. Clearly though, the person the speaker is addressing is frustrated with his/her current state and wants to break free from it which seems to happen in the very last stanzas. |
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| The Rolling Stones – Tumbling Dice Lyrics
| 14 years ago
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I think Jagger is just using gambling as a metaphor for his permiscuous life style. ..."And make me burn the candle right down" is pretty song sexual innuendo to say the very least. I almost want to say that he's saying he doesn't have the same sexual vitality anymore and thus girls are taking a chance on him by "rolling the dice." In any case, one of my favs by the Stones |
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| Johnny Cash – I Walk the Line Lyrics
| 15 years ago
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I never knew that it was about his first wife. When I think of the phrase "walking the line," I think of police officers drawing a line for people they suspect of driving drunk to see if they can even see straight to walk the line. Within the context of a love song, I always assumed it was about a woman he loved but couldn't have so to deal with it he drank (ie June Carter). But that doesn't really make much sense if it was his first wife...but I still like my interpretation. |
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| Failure – The Nurse Who Loved Me Lyrics
| 15 years ago
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I completely agree with mrpants. A while ago, I was talking to someone about Fantastic Planet and they said, "Do you realize that the entire album is based off of their addictions/experiences/etc. with heroin?" I thought about it and I agree completely. It is definitely more blatant with songs like Dirty Blue Balloons and a little more figuratively with songs like Stuck On You. And yes, I do think it's cool that they use the metaphor of a relationship to describe their love for heroin. |
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| Slayer – Hallowed Point Lyrics
| 15 years ago
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Although this is not the most popular Slayer song, it is probably in my top five favorite Slayer songs. Obviously it is about someone with sadistic behavior with the use of a gun. However, since the song is called Hallowed Point (hallow meaning holy, or honored reverently) I have taken it to be a subtle attack on religious violence and the fervor people kill because of their religious beliefs. I think Slayer might be exposing the hypocrisy in religious violence...all the major religions of the world condemn murder, but there religious factions fight one another all the time, usually not solely because of religious beliefs, but religious beliefs definitely play a part in the violence. This is also clear with the line "The power of a gun, Used with conviction" (one of the meanings of conviction is a firm belief) and also with the line "Imagine the innards of your soul, The infliction". Slayer is not usually one for subtlety so I'm not sure if that's what the song is about, but that's how I interpret it. |
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| Slayer – Guilty of Being White (Minor Threat cover) Lyrics
| 15 years ago
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Actually, from what I understand, Ian MacKaye wrote this from a very, very, sarcastic point of view. Ian MacKaye is MAKING FUN of caucasians who think that they "are guilty of being white". Look at this stanza, it makes it obvious:
I'm convicted
Of a racist crime
I've only served
19 years of my life
The caucasian is guilty of racist crime and ONLY SERVES 19 YEARS OF HIS LIFE. This is obviously a comment on how caucasians get treated much better in the judicial system than others.
Really, some of you people need to do your homework or just not make such ridiculuous claims that Slayer is racist without proper evidence. They may actually be racist, who knows, but this song was originally written to criticize caucasians who think they are treated unfairly when it's people of other ethnicities who are unfortunately treated worse most of the time.
Do you guys think that Slayer actually commits all the acts of violence and satanism that they seem to "condone" in their songs? Of course not, I believe Tom Araya even said himself once that they primarily comment on the stupidity of humanity through their lyrics. Seriously people... |
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| Faith No More – Everything's Ruined Lyrics
| 15 years ago
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This is my favorite song off of Angel Dust and I mostly agree with SacrificialNewt and Caralho Ricochet. To me, this song is about a rich couple who "multiply" themselves so that they can eventually be financially taken care of by their son and take an early retirement. The son is initially very successful and makes parents happy with all the money he is making (notice all the metaphors between raising their son and making money...smart on Patton's part). The son, like the parents becomes so obsessed with wealth, that the parents in the end see that their son is "counterfeit" meaning that he cares about nothing but his own financial success...the parents then see their own greedy, materialistic selves reflected in their son and they realize that their plan to have a son that supports them was selfish from the beginning. I also have interpreted this as all of the above, but instead of the son becoming wealthy legally, he is so pressured by his parents to become financially successful that he involves himself in something illegal to make money. |
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| American Football – Honestly? Lyrics
| 15 years ago
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The entire self-titled album is very nostalgic and bittersweet, and although I consider the album extremely cheesy, it strikes a chord with me; and this is one of my favorite songs off of the album. I would have to agree with Shutup Vanity. Looking back on my teenage years, confusion on finding my place in the world seems to be one of the feelings that was permeated throughout, and I think this song describes that perfectly with only a few words. "The whos are there, but the whys are unclear" meaning that you remember all the people who played a part in your life during those years (even if it was insignicant) but you're not sure why certain awkward situations happened or why these people played some lasting part in your life. The last stanza that starts out about re-writing history is I think, suggesting how we may misinterpret our memories of teenage life, or how we can't even comprehend about how certain events/people played parts in our lives during those years. On a sidenote, all of you should check out Cap'n Jazz (who Kinsella played with before American Football). On another sidenote, how about those weird guitar tunings for American Football? I know I was surprised. |
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| Pantera – Strength Beyond Strength Lyrics
| 15 years ago
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One of my favorite songs from one of my favorite metal bands. I'll agree with the others and say this is about drug dealing and the legalization of drugs. However, I think this is also a shrouded commentary on the breakdown of the American Dream: "There is nothing, no education, no family life to open my arms to, You'd say that my job is today, yet gone tomorrow, I'll be broke in a gutter...You're working for perfect bodies, perfect minds, and perfect neighbors, But I'm helping to legalize dope in your pristine streets and I'm making a fortune"...in these lyrics the ideals of America (family, education, etc.) are non-existant or are not possibilties to the speaker, so he resorts to drug dealing? I don't really understand the "stronger than all" aspect of it though. Maybe he means that so many people are dealing and/or using drugs that there is no other option besides legalization because if people are going to use drugs, they are going to do it, authority figures aren't going to be able to stop people who want to get high. I, like Phil, believe that drugs should be available to everyone (I'm talking everything) but I don't necessarily think they should be legalized, just decriminalized...there is a difference. |
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| Cap'n Jazz – Planet Shhh Lyrics
| 15 years ago
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Lyrically, I have the same interpretation of "Planet Shhh" like I do several other Cap'n Jazz songs, which is probably ignorant of me, but whatever. As far as I know they were all in their late teens and/or early twenties when they recorded this. I think a lot of their songs reflect a nostalgia for the innocence of youth and insecurities about growing up. To me, memory is an artform and with these somewhat abstract lyrics (of which, many reflect tonguetwisting nursery rhymes) comes interpretations of these memories. This song in particular with the line "I can't shake the shapeless memories every time I read sassy." Overall I think this song might be about a belittled teenager, maybe as a result of strict parenting? But maybe that strict parenting is justified because the teenager is misbehaving? Just some thoughts |
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