| The Shins – Turn On Me Lyrics | 18 years ago |
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"those old pious sisters were right"??? Does everyone here have a completely different version of the song than I do??? How does anyone get "pious" with a hard "p" sound out of that last line? It is clearly either: "Cause oh how your sisters will write" OR "Cause oh how your sisters were right" (really hard to hear whether it is "will" or "were") I'm just amazed at the 5 or 6 posters who refer to hearing "Old pious sisters" ... listen closely, there is very clearly no "p" sound anywhere in that line. Otherwise, great song, immensely catchy. Along with Silversun Pickups "Carnavas" probably my two favourite albums of 2006. Exact meaning is difficult to pin down, but clearly about the end of a relationship ... sort of makes me think of a marriage that starts with the couple in love but time and familiarity breeds her contempt for the narrator though he strives to make it work but her venom starts to "leak out", until he finally "bows out from the fight" (divorce) possibly because he feels it is best for her. His final comment "Cause oh how your sisters were right, now get back on that (high) horse and ride (off into the sunset)" is sort of a sarcastic "yep, i'm the bad guy, see i'm divorcing you, you were right all along" comment on the fact that no matter what he does, she will always see the bad in him. Picture a mid-40's couple bickering in public or more accurately the woman is and he is quietly taking it. Anyway, great song. |
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| The Raconteurs – Broken Boy Soldier Lyrics | 19 years ago |
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Definitely agree that this song is amazing, very dark and cryptic ... as such difficult to interpret the meaning, but i'll offer a different take than the ones already offered, particularly since i feel the "reclaiming childhood innocence / refusing to grow up" theme strikes me as too simplistic / too overdone for the combined talents of this group. Taking the title a bit more literally, i wonder if this song is not more about the effects of war on the minds of the young soldiers (effectively still "boys") in conflicts (perhaps iraq / a'stan, but certainly does not have to be limited to modern conflicts). "Broken Boy Soldier" is literally that, a young soldier who is broken. Key lines: "You're rifling through a bunch of toys That were handed down to me Just take all the ones you want and then Give the rest to my family" Interpretation: Is institutionalized (mental or physical) and is abandoning his pre-war possessions. Clearly has no attachment any longer for something that he had / loved as a child. Handed down also implies a family tradition, perhaps army toys which also may imply a tradition of military service. "Well I'm child and man and child again The toy broken boy soldier" Interpretation: He was a child (ie. young man) who was forced to become a man (ie. go off to war) and is now a child again (either mentally has regressed to an earlier state through the trama of war or is physically incapable of caring for himself and therefore "childlike" again). The fact that the line "I'm child then man then child again, a toy broken boy soldier" is right in the song suggests the literal interpretation. "I'm going back to school today But I'm dropping myself off I'm throwing the childhood scenes away" Interpretation: Going back to school could be physical rehab (learning to walk again or just live with his new disability) but that he is dropping himself off is what separates this from the more nostalgic view of childhood memories of school. He is "relearning" everything, as a child would do. But at the same time he is throwing his childhood scenes away, implying that this second bout of being "a child" is not idyllic. Other lines that fit include "I'm done asking forgiveness" (for his acts in war), "the boy never gets older" (mentally or physically, he is "stuck" in his current state for the rest of his life), and "I'm done ripping myself off" (he's through living for other people, possibly alluding to a family tradition of military service which was not his desire). The video also shows a toy soldier in pieces who is reassembled only to be torn apart again by a child at the end. Really cryptic imagery, but again i think this points to the literal image of a broken boy soldier (and not just metaphors for childhood or a peter pan / michael jackson complex) Thoughts / comments / disagreement? |
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| Nelly Furtado – Try Lyrics | 19 years ago |
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Eh, whatever Eatcarpet. If that's all you get out of the song, then perhaps you should stick to interpretting Paris Hilton tracks. IMO its about a character (perhaps Nelly herself, perhaps not) who is losing the idealism of youth and settling into the cynicism / pragmatism of adulthood ("All I know Is everything is not as it's sold / but the more I grow the less I know"). Its something that happens to most people as they leave their teens and early 20's and realize that they can't necessarily change the world as they had once thought, and that they have beomce a part of the very things they once railed against. But suddenly someone enters her life (I'm guessing a child ie. her daughter Nevis) and she discovers that there is a reason to to better. The line "Then I see you standing there / I'm all I'll ever be / But all I can do is try" suggests that she is picturing this child (as a baby, as a teenager, as an adult) looking at her and it makes her want to be a better person (ie. to "try"). And she is not so naive as to state that she "will" be a better person, but that she will try, and that is all she (and in fact any of us) can do. And there is a sense of acceptance of this fact, with the closing verse "All of the things we want each other to be / We never will be / And that's wonderful, and that's life". In other words, there are many things we may try at and fail at, and that is fine; "that's life". Just my take anyway. |
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| Garth Brooks – The Dance Lyrics | 19 years ago |
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While I don't necessarily disagree with any of the previous interpretations, the meaning of this song changed drastically for me about 2 years ago when it was played at the funeral of an old friend of my parents'. Her husband had already passed away about 10 years before and meaning of the song suddenly became incredibly clear to me. Here's my take: "Looking back on the memory of The dance we shared 'neath the stars above For a moment all the world was right How could I have known that you'd ever say goodbye" This represents the first meeting of two people who fall in love, eventually marry, and spend the rest of their lives together. At this very first moment (be it at a dance, a first date, whatever), we are only thinking of the excitement of that moment. None of us actually realize that, even if our lives are wonderful together (ie. stay together, have children, remain deeply in love all those years) and we are together for 50, 60, 70 years, that one of us will actually have to "say goodbye" to the other. In other words, no matter how great or powerful our love is, we will eventually lose the other (death is an inevitability that even love cannot overcome). "And now I'm glad I didn't know The way it all would end the way it all would go Our lives are better left to chance I could have missed the pain But I'd of had to miss the dance" The song flashes forward to this distant future with one person at the funeral of their partner (doesn't actually have to be the funeral, could just be a moment after they have passed when you look back at your life with them). This person is looking back at their life together and is immensely sad. But it is a bittersweet sadness, as they say "I'm glad I didn't know" refering to this moment in time because if they had realized in that first moment together how much it hurt to lose them now, then they might have avoided that first moment and subsequent life (ie. "the dance") together. This is the part of the song that struck me most at the funeral, since we are all destined for this great sadness some day (unless of course we are the first to pass away), and yet to avoid this pain would be the greatest mistake we could ever have made. In fact, the songs narrator seems to be aware of this and is even terrified of the prospect ("But if I'd only known how the king would fall / Hey who's to say you know I might have changed it all") Knowing how much we will eventually hurt might cause us to sacrifice the greatest part of our life on earth (memories, children, grandchildren, etc). We are simply better off not knowing. Like I say, this is just my interpretation, but it seems to mean so much more than just breaking up with a temporary boyfriend / girlfriend. It is more about that one person that you dedicate your life to. Look forward to some comments on this. |
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