| Beyoncé – Countdown Lyrics | 13 years ago |
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Repetition is one of many lyrical stylings in music, and has been for quite some while. Outkast: "Shake it, shake, shake it, shake it like a polaroid picture." Dusty Springfield: "Come on, come on, come on, come on and take it, take another little piece of my heart now baby." Leona Lewis: "Keep bleedin', keep, keep bleedin' love." Britney Spears: "Gimme gimme more, gimme more, gimme gimme more." Alicia Keys: "No one, no one, no one can get in the way of what I'm feeling." Rihanna: "Under my umbrella, ella, ella, eh, eh, eh." She just used a more creative way of repeating things, is all: me and my boo and my boo boo ridin' (these are the official lyrics straight from Sony) It's catchy and memorable. The lyrics in this song aren't actually that difficult or "tricksy" - she used some pretty straight forward lyrics throughout this album, because she was focusing mostly on making the music itself be about as clever and intelligent as I've seen in an R&B album. |
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| Beyoncé – Countdown Lyrics | 13 years ago |
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Some people who speak a British dialect of English would say that the English that you use is crass and unsophisticated. Do you know why? Because English is a pluricentric language - a language with several different "correct" versions. Unlike French, which has a central authority to dictate what correct French is, the English language has many different dialects and pidgins, all of which are correct. The only time an English dialect is "incorrect" is when you're trying to speak to an audience for whom your chosen dialect is incorrect, and even then, your dialect is only incorrect if it gets in the way of what you're trying to communicate. Beyonce is using African-American Vernacular English (AAVE), and her target audience is - you guessed it - African-Americans (or anyone who understands AAVE). I don't speak AAVE on a day-to-day basis but I can, and I can understand it. Communication isn't just about speaking, it's about listening and comprehending as well. If you can't understand what she's saying, that's because you don't want to understand - the communication failure here is your smug attitude. Speaking as a black woman who was born and raised in the ghetto, you are no better than anyone I've met in the ghetto. You're no better than anyone I've met at all, in fact. I'd rather take someone who speaks a pidgin dialect of English but is tolerant to other people, than someone who speaks the Queen's English but is an arrogant snot. So you can take that superiority complex of yours and "stick it where the sun don't shine." Oh, and it's Beyoncé, or at the very least "Beyonce" (if you can't be bothered to figure out how to make an e-acute). |
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| Lady GaGa – Bad Romance Lyrics | 15 years ago |
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I'm pretty sure Gaga's talked about what this song meant already, so I'll just talk about my interpretation of it. She juxtaposes a lot of "I want your love" with things like, "I want your ugly" and "I want your horror", and I guess it's most telling when she says, "I want your design." His design = his blueprint = a roadmap to understanding every aspect of what makes him tick. She wants to know everything about him, even the dirty/nasty/secret stuff that you never share with anyone. What I get from this is the fact that a lot of couples, even couples who really feel/believe they are in love, tend to hold parts of themselves back from each other. They try to hide the unpleasant parts of themselves because they feel like they'll be less worthy of love, or the other person will get scared off or be disgusted. But when you tell someone all of your secrets, all of the absolute worst parts of you - the things you've done, thought, fantasized about that you know were sick or wrong - that's when you're really opening up to them. And if they love you despite that, then you know it's a real love. That kind of love is scary, and I should know, because I have it right now. When you open up like that to someone, you give them a level of power of you that most people don't want to give to another person. They have the ability to hurt you in ways that no one else ever had. To feel like that about someone takes a lot of trust, or a lot of obsession, or a lot of willingness to be hurt, take your pick. Somehow, I'm thinking that for Gaga, this guy was some kind of obsession, and probably because he was off-limits. She says, "I don't wanna be friends," so I'm guessing that they were friends. It's possible that he was married or dating someone she knew, or he just wasn't into her and didn't want to "ruin the friendship". Any of those situations could lead to feeling obsessed over someone, and I could easily see it leading to some kind of screwed-up situation (cheating, stalking, whatever) that would create a need for revenge. So that's what she meant by "bad romance", in my opinion. Not like a cheesy romance novel, but more like-- she's feeling obsessed over someone she can't have, and what she feels for him is the kind of consuming *want* where someone could get hurt. |
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| Vanessa Carlton – White Houses Lyrics | 19 years ago |
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"Crashed on the floor when I moved in This little bungalo with some strange new friends Stay up too late, and I\'m too thin We promise each other it\'s til the end" She goes to this new school. It's the first time living away from home, and when she gets there, there's no place for her to sleep yet ('crashed' means just that, like when you ask to crash at your friend's house.) It's all strange and new but she and her other four roommates bond pretty quickly, and tell each other it's 'til the end.' Dance school (or any really good focused school for that matter) tends to be really difficult. A lot of people drop out under the pressure. They're swearing that the five of them will be there to help each other stick it out. In the meantime, with her newfound freedom, she immediately begins hanging out (staying up too late) or maybe just practicing all the time. "I'm too thin" - dancers need to be thin. The girls eat very little, and gaining too much weight can actually get you expelled. A lot of them turn to anorexia. "Now we're spinning empty bottles It's the five of us With pretty eyed boys girls die to trust I can't resist the day No, I can't resist the day" Hanging out with her four new roommates, she gets involved with boys, and they're playing all the usual games. At their age (she was 14 when she went there, I think), spin the bottle probably seemed very risque. But it's all glorious, filled with new experiences... and boys! She gets swept up in her new life. "Jenny screams out and it's no pose 'Cause when she dances she goes and goes Beer through the nose on an inside joke I'm so excited, I haven't spoken And she's so pretty, and she's so sure Maybe I'm more clever than a girl like her The summer's all in bloom The summer is ending soon" Jenny seems like the roommate who is the most out-going and sophisticated. I'm getting the impression that Vanessa feels a bit intimidated by her (or overwhelmed by her), is decidedly envious of her. A part of me wants to think that Jenny was the first of the group to lose her virginity, if she was a virgin at all. "It's alright and it's nice not to be so alone But I hold on to your secrets in white houses Maybe I'm a little bit over my head I come undone at the things he said And he's so funny in his bright red shirt We were all in love and we all got hurt I sneak into his car's black leather seat The smell of gasoline in the summer heat Boy, we're going way too fast It's all too sweet to last" She meets this guy, and he's funny and all, and she gives it up to him in his car. I get the feeling it was less about actually *wanting* to have sex, and wondering more what it was like (and in a way, trying to compete with Jenny and/or the other more experienced girls.) "It's alright And I put myself in his hands But I hold on to your secrets in white houses Love, or something ignites in my veins And I pray it never fades in white houses" She isn't even sure if it was love... what are the feelings associated with your first time, especially if you AREN'T in love with the person you're doing it with? I think she convinces herself that it was good, and that she's having a good time, even though she feels kind of out of control. "My first time, hard to explain Rush of blood, oh, and a little bit of pain On a cloudy day, it's more common than you think He's my first mistake" 'Rush of blood' is double entendre (excitement/actual blood of losing virginity). She regrets giving it up to him. She wasn't actually in love, and probably didn't even like him THAT much. "Maybe you were all faster than me We gave each other up so easily These silly little wounds will never mend I feel so far from where I've been So I go, and I will not be back here again I'm gone as the day is fading on white houses" Sounds like she couldn't handle the pressure of school, and she was feeling lonely and far from home, and their friendships are ending over stupid arguments.. So she leaves, and she says that she's never going to look back (the way it seems they've done to her and to each other.) "I lie, put my injuries all in the dust In my heart is the five of us In white houses" Even though she's pretending to be cold and unaffected, she remembers everything vividly, and that promise made at the beginning of the summer actually meant something to her. "And you, maybe you'll remember me What I gave is yours to keep In white houses In white houses In white houses" This last bit is for the guy she gave it up to, whom she assumes doesn't even remember her name. But in the event that he remembers that one summer, she says, 'What I gave is yours to keep' and it sounds bittersweet... even though she finds the entire experience bittersweet and kind of sad, it seems like she wouldn't take it back if she could. |
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