submissions

The Decemberists – Sleepless Lyrics	17 years ago
It sounds like a child who's been away from his or her father for too long and then he passes away, and this is the family's reaction to the child's homecoming -- sort of passive-aggressive, sorrowful, angry, and relieved.

submissions

Joanna Newsom – This Side of the Blue Lyrics

18 years ago

I've always seen this as a song about sea travel, and it conjures up an image (for me, at least) of a lone woman sailing the coasts of the world in a sailboat just big enough for herself. It kind of brings to mind a feeling of intellectual malaise and a bit of self-loathing; the narrator has all this education, but she's finding that the rest of the world doesn't require it, so she can't find anywhere to apply it. It feels like a lofty intellectual's search for common sense.

submissions

The Thermals – An Ear For Baby Lyrics	18 years ago
This whole record is amazing, because it's hard to tell if it's about living under an oppressive theocratic dictatorship or working in an office.

submissions

Andrew Bird – Why? Lyrics	18 years ago
JasonBunting is not kidding. I actually saw Andrew Bird live last night, and this song was completely out of control. He started arguing with himself, and his whole body took on the stance of someone desperate, reaching out his hands to the audience and asking them, "Can't you see what kind of seeds yo're sowing?"

submissions

Rufus Wainwright – 11:11 Lyrics	18 years ago
It's a beautiful song. But I was surprised when I first saw the title, since 11:11 is also one of my favorite Andrew Bird songs and it's about something completely different.

submissions

Tilly and the Wall – Nights of the Living Dead Lyrics

19 years ago

This is one of those songs like Cemetary Gates by the Smiths that sort of lovingly pokes fun at its subject. It's pretty obviously a satire, and it just reeks of teenage ennui and faux-rebellion. When I was in high school and I first heard that song, I'm Only Happy When It Rains, by Garbage, I thought, "Man, this song really speaks to my sooooul." But that's because I was fourteen and thought being gloomy would get me more friends. When I got a little older, I looked back on that song and laughed because it's so obviously sarcastic. Anyone who takes this Tilly and the Wall song seriously right now should wait a few years and listen to it again. You'll notice a difference.

submissions

Iron & Wine – Upward Over the Mountain Lyrics

19 years ago

This is one of my favorite songs of the past decade. It really resonates with me, having had a brother who ran away and got into all kinds of trouble before finally finding his place in the world. To me, it's a song about the queasy passage from youth to manhood, and also about rural life versus city life. I think the narrator is rueful of his decision to try to make a life for himself in the urban world -- now all he has is "a coat and some friend son the corner." He moves between memories of what seems to be a rather rural life (creekbeds, flea-ridden hounds, all taking place on the other side of a mountain) and reflections on his current life, which seems to be more than he knows how to handle.

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