| Arcade Fire – Sprawl I (Flatland) Lyrics | 13 years ago |
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"I couldn't read the number in the dark" Even though he's returning to a place where he spent many years growing up, all of the houses look so similar that he can't find the place without seeing the number. If that isn't an indictment of the suburban real estate aesthetic, I don't know what is. |
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| OK Go – Hello, My Treacherous Friends Lyrics | 19 years ago |
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I would tend to agree with Florachick that this song is talking about a pushy Christian acquaintance attempting to convert him. I think the first hint is in the line "How when I spin from him(/Him?) I spin from myself". To me, it sounds like he's saying that his "friend" is telling him that when he turns from "God", that he is becoming equally lost. The line "Perhaps we should sit them down and explain how not to be saved" is a little more obviously geared towards that explanation. In this case, he's mocking them, implying that they could help him out in teaching them what he sees as the actual truths, rather than religious dogma. Finally, the last line "I brought you all here to discuss, as I must, how pleasant has been this demise" tells us that he's telling his so-called friends that if the life he's been living has been a sinful, destructive one because of his lack of belief in their particular religion, then he has enjoyed that sin and destruction thoroughly and is not ashamed of it. I rather enjoy this interpretation, and hope it is the correct one. |
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| OK Go – The House Wins Lyrics | 19 years ago |
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It's an interesting and unusual kind of song with which to conclude an album. A tune about hopelessness and despair rather than a more thematically upbeat or whistful number, as is more often the case. The message is pretty simple: No matter what you do, or how well you've succeeded so far, you're still going to fail in the end, so "you might as well give in." The verses, themselves, seem to suggest someone up late at night, frustrated and depressed, interpreting everything he perceives (trees branches - "fingers" - scratching at the window, screaming cats, and neighbours' telephones) in negative, futile tones. One bit of text that people have missed so far is the title of the song: "The House Wins" It's a clear gambling/casino reference, most recognizably present in Blackjack, suggesting that if you gamble in the "game of life", your losses will always outweigh your wins. |
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| Hawksley Workman – Smoke Baby Lyrics | 20 years ago |
| I've gotta go with defwack on the cutting out of the rap section. This bit feels kind of like Paul McCartney's little contribution to A Day In The Life. It feels out of place and spoils an otherwise brilliant piece of work. My apologies to Beatles purists, but it's what I think. | |
| Radiohead – Anyone Can Play Guitar Lyrics | 20 years ago |
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I think AirCav's reference to Marilyn Manson most closely represents what's going on in this song. I'm inclined to imagine an outsider-type kid in high school desperately looking for his ticket to get a little piece of glory so that he'll be accepted among his peers. He's so desperate he's putting his future in the hands of fate: "Destiny... destiny protect me from the world Destiny... hold my hand, protect me from the world". He's idolizing the superstars who've made it big (Jim Morrison) and tied himself to the notion of playing guitar to create a ridiculously romantic ideal of himself. That's what I figure, at least. |
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| Andrew Bird – Sovay Lyrics | 20 years ago |
| Don't have much else to contribute to this analysis, only this: I think Bird's mention of Ride of the Valkyries is more likely a reference to Apocalypse Now, where Kilgore's unit plays the piece as they fly their helicopters into battle in Vietnam. A much more apt (and applicable) reference than Hitler, considering the general theme. | |
| Andrew Bird – Opposite Day Lyrics | 20 years ago |
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Does anyone else get a sort of biblical end-o'-the-world feel from this song? "That I had not become a cephalopod I still had legs and arms" seems to suggest a kind of transformation like the one Milton describes coming over Lucifer and his underlings in Paradise Lost (although I don't think they were transformed into squids and mollusks). Also, with the less confident (read: meek) waking up to find themselves in charge (read: inheriting the earth), among a number of other references, it sounds to me like Bird is trying to describe someone's surprise at the apocalypse not happening... perhaps criticizing the notion of the apocalypse? It all sounds kind of grandiose, when I put it like that.... |
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