| The Mountain Goats – 1 Samuel 15:23 Lyrics | 15 years ago |
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I totally agree! I also love your interpretation of that line. "Plant some fucking grapes". It's the same stubbornnes and defiance that I love in a lot of John's other songs. |
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| Joanna Newsom – Inflammatory Writ Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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Absolutely it!!! Bravo. Very eloquent explanation... :) This song is wonderful - makes me smile every time I hear it. I love the cheekiness of her despair. I think anyone who's ever had writer's (or artist's) block can relate to this song. I often listen to it while trying to write essays for uni... :S |
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| The Decemberists – The Hazards of Love 4 (The Drowned) Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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My thoughts were that William is the classic do-good hero - he's made a promise to the river, so he won't break it. As reagank points out, Margaret has a choice (though she being the classic do-good heroine, she doesn't /really/). Consider William's moral compass in "Annan Water" - he's desperate to save his love before she's raped (probably even more dishonourable than premarital sex. Whoops.), and he hasn't got much time. I think he makes a choice in that moment - to sacrifice himself for her sake. Which is not only horribly, bitterly romantic, but also a fairly well-established literary theme... like the sacrifice in "The Nightingale and the Rose", or for a tamer example, think of "The Gift of the Magi" (wikipedia those stories if you don't know them). It's how I think of the story, anyhow. :) |
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| The Decemberists – A Bower Scene Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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Personally I think witeshado's interpretation is the most convincing... "when will you baptize the baby?" Although there's just a small chance the "trouble the waters" line is a Biblical reference (would you put it past Meloy?) - the pool of Bethesda was "troubled" by an angel in order to give the waters healing powers. Although again, this wouldn't explain "when wilt THOU". |
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| The Mountain Goats – Slow West Vultures Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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John is a lyrical genius - too much so for me. I can tell you that the line "Shooting the sequel before the treatment's even finished" is an extremely clever pun - in the movie industry, a "treatment" is like the first written proposal for a movie, which just outlines the plot. So at first glance the line is about getting ahead of yourself. However I'm almost certain that John's talking (singing) about taking drugs (again) - perhaps "shooting" up before the last dose has quite worn off. So there's the connotation of a medical "treatment" as well (possibly rehab?). Gah, so much meaning crammed into just one line! I love this guy's songs so much. :) |
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| The Mountain Goats – Quito Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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Y'know, while I agree that the song is about the idea of "sobering up", or "making good" with all the people you've hurt by damaging your own life so /badly/... ...I think there's a tone of irony to the entire song. I don't think the song's sentiment is so simple as "this is what I'm going to do". It's more like "this is what I *would* do... if only I knew how". I'd back my claim up with the surreal images John has written into the song. Gypsy children dancing wildly, bodies rising like salmon... it's utterly vivid, but you've gotta admit it's like a dream sequence. The other line I'd point to is "when I wave my magic wand". When you're stuck so deep in personal issues that seem nearly impossible to resolve (and drug addictions would definitely fit this category)... there's a sense of helplessness. Of wanting everything to "just go away, magically". Hence the mention of a magic wand. For these reasons, I find the song hugely powerful. Because the narrator is hoping against hope that he'll get out of this spot... and is so fiercely desperate. Ironically, the song always puts me in a determined, uplifted mood. Catharthis, maybe? |
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| The Mountain Goats – The Coroner's Gambit Lyrics | 18 years ago |
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I think you're right. And I absolutely /love/ the image of Death as a salesman... |
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| The Frames – Dream Awake (Alternate) Lyrics | 18 years ago |
| Yes, thankyou! These are the lyrics that actually get /sung/. Moreover, /these/ ones make grammatical sense. | |
| The Frames – Live Forever Lyrics | 18 years ago |
| One of the best angry-day songs... ever. | |
| The Mountain Goats – Moon Over Goldsboro Lyrics | 19 years ago |
| Oh god, this is shattering... | |
| The Fiery Furnaces – We Got Back the Plague Lyrics | 19 years ago |
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God yes! "But though sometimes the signs from heaven are vague... Early November we got back the plague". Pity the bloody fool wouldn't be able to pick up such subtleties. |
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| The Fiery Furnaces – Straight Street Lyrics | 19 years ago |
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AH! I get it, "Finnished". Nokia, right? Never picked that up before. Hahaha, right on, valrus. |
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| The Fiery Furnaces – Rub-Alcohol Blues Lyrics | 19 years ago |
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I love this song so much... I almost cried when I found out my CD had gotten scratched... now this is the only song that won't play. Grrr. Some people have no respect for other people's treasured possessions. |
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| The Fiery Furnaces – Leaky Tunnel Lyrics | 19 years ago |
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Well it took me a while to realise (well, in my opinion) that this song's about the Greenwich tunnel in London. It's a tunnel under the Thames, and it leakes a little... it's a bit seedy really. Although before that dawned on me (y'know, before I listened to the lyrics properly and the place-names) I had this freaky sci-fi landscape in mind, and people being sent down to the sewer outlets to be eaten by ferocious monsters with too many limbs... just goes to show what an over-active imagination + these guys' fantastic lyrics does to you. I even drew a *picture* of the scene. Sigh. |
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| The Fiery Furnaces – Chris Michaels Lyrics | 19 years ago |
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One of my favourites too... I've always thought this one was all about people who gossip and backstab each other... and starting rumours. But then I don't know why she's suddenly recruited into the army. Hmm... |
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| The Fiery Furnaces – Blueberry Boat Lyrics | 19 years ago |
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I always thought the girl waving goodbye was some relation to the pirates - a mistress or something. And "I don't know no-one there yet, but just wait, see what you get" was her way of implying that the ship is doomed to be attacked by the pirates. I love this song, I can just picture Eleanor done up in pirate regalia. Y'know, even though her character isn't actually one of the pirates... |
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| The Frames – Santa Maria Lyrics | 19 years ago |
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Hmm... I heard that it was about the wreck of the Santa Maria off Ireland... with only one survivor. Although I did get that from a possibly dodgy source... |
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| The Frames – Locusts Lyrics | 19 years ago |
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I *think* this is also about his friend Mic Christopher... who was his best friend when he was younger, and who died after falling down a flight of stairs. *sniff* This song makes me a bit teary... |
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| The Frames – Lay Me Down Lyrics | 19 years ago |
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At one gig he joked: "This song is about buying your girlfriend a grave for Christmas... ...and she doesn't really dig it." |
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| The Frames – God Bless Mom Lyrics | 19 years ago |
| Yep, and that's because she let him go off and become a musician at the age of 13... | |
| The Frames – Giving Me Wings Lyrics | 19 years ago |
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Most beautiful love song ever written, I'd have to say. Although I love "Headlong" as well... hmmm. Tough choice! |
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