| The Mountain Goats – Sourdoire Valley Song Lyrics | 14 years ago |
| I think the lines "Take care of the old man, See if he's in pain, Have somebody stay with him, Comfort him when he complains" refer to a skeleton found in the Shanidar cave in what is now Iraq (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shanidar_Cave#Shanidar_1). It was a skeleton of a forty or fifty year old man, with severe disabilities, including a damaged eye, withered, largely useless right arm and numerous deformities on his legs and foot, which would likely have left him with a bad limp. He would have been useless to the tribe, but the injuries had healed years before death, showing the Neanderthals looked after their sick and aged. | |
| The Mountain Goats – Deuteronomy 2:10 Lyrics | 16 years ago |
| I just listened to it again and there's obvious points about mortality as well. | |
| The Mountain Goats – Deuteronomy 2:10 Lyrics | 16 years ago |
| I agree, it's largely figurative, so feel what you will when you hear it. For me, it's mostly about loneliness and not feeling understood - feeling distant to people. Some of the lyrics definitely seem to refer to his role as a musician though. | |
| Okkervil River – For Real Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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i agree with all the stuff about how pain and violence have an appeal because they're real and simple. there's definitely an emo cutting yourself vibe, but kind of in a positive way. it's kind of about catharticism too i think. i kind of dectected hints of a sadomasochistic element - the guy takes this girl out to some abandoned old house, unlit, unheated - a more primitive place. it's almost rape - he likes it rough, she doesn't. my main point is that you should listen to the song in context with the album, and watch the video. the album, as a whole, tells the story of the black sheep boy and his love for a princess. the black sheep boy kind of represents the darker elements - but in a way our most real, primal elements as well. the video seems to be about a boy who gets turned into an evil horned monster. the boy/monster seems to be the black sheep boy - there are references to the black sheep boy having horns in other songs. underneath he is still a frightened kid though, and this girl gets eaten by the monster, but rescues the boy inside, cuts their way out from inside the monster and escapes. it seems to be about a monster who likes violence, and fighting this love for violence. |
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| Brand New – Luca Lyrics | 18 years ago |
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i haven't really figured it out properly, but i've got a few theories, so here's a ramble. it reminds of me of "me vs maradona vs elvis" in a way. it seems to be about fallling from grace and sexual promiscuity. according to that theory, the 1st verse would be about sleeping around. i take "sister" to mean "nun", i.e. innocent, "pure" girls. "bloodletting this bedwetting cosmonaut" could be about having sex with young virgins. the chorus is pretty self-explanatory - its about STDs. if you believe in this theory, the bridge is from another person, who's condemning the one speaking at the start. the chorus can also be interpreted as one half of a couple knowing, or at least worrying, that their partner's cheating on them. the 1st verse is then about cheating, and the 2nd verse is kind of about suspicion and anger. it seems unlikely that jesse would bring it up again, but i can't help but think of the old taking back sunday feud, in which case the bridge is about jesse leaving taking back sunday. |
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| Something Corporate – Ruthless Lyrics | 18 years ago |
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i think the lyrics above are slightly but significantly wrong. its actually "and i could still be ruthless..." instead of "that i could still be ruthless..." interpreting the quote miss america made from the dvd, i'd say it's about some girl (or his manager, according to another theory) he "stabbed in the back" somehow, who then stabbed him back, perhaps by leaving him. he wants her back, but he's saying he'd still do the same, "if she let him" (by having him back). "for the last time" indicates its happened several times already. he now knows that he'll always hurt her in the end, which he should have known before. that'y my interpretation anyway... |
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| The Decemberists – The Soldiering Life Lyrics | 18 years ago |
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the homoeroticism is really strong. in addition to all the ones already mentioned. "pulled out of your pantaloons" is slightly obvious. "my bombazine doll" doesn't sound like a description of a comrade - but sounds right for a lover. "our rifles blaze away" is clearly inuendo, given that it's in the contex of never having felt "so much life" - it'd be pretty sick to say you were happy and that you'd never felt so much life because you were shooting people. |
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| Brand New – You Won't Know Lyrics | 19 years ago |
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http://www.newsday.com/news/local/longisland/ny-licrash-sg,0,390101.storygallery the song is written from the perspective of martin heidgen, the drink-driver responsible for the limo crash, and most of it is adressed to the judge. |
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| Brand New – Millstone Lyrics | 19 years ago |
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this is the crash: http://www.newsday.com/news/local/longisland/ny-lilimo-0717,0,5167164.story i'm fairly sure jesse knew the man, martin heidgen. all the songs on the album can at least partly be related to this, and most are written from the perspective of those involved. |
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| Brand New – Sowing Season (Yeah) Lyrics | 19 years ago |
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The title Sowing Season is definitely about starting fresh - after loss of some kind. In Jesse's case, that was, as the first verse says, losing his friends, and getting used to normal life again after sick. "Do you miss the blend of colours she left in your black and white field?" is obviously about losing a girl, but we don't know who "you" applies to - someone specific or anyone who's lost someone. On a deeper level, this song is also about how everyone ends sometime - "it takes a while to grow anything before its coming to an end", including life itself - "before you put my body in the cold ground, take some time to warm it with your hands." |
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| The Ataris – The Boys of Summer (Don Henley cover) Lyrics | 19 years ago |
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i think the ataris version is better than the original, but less subjectively, its very different. the change in style reflects the youth of the ataris when they recorded this. apparently "the boys of summer" was a book about baseball players who had flings with loads of girls, which supports the theory that its a guy singing about how he still loves his ex, unlike the boys of summer who will soon be gone. i think the bit from "out on the road today..." and the chorus are supposed to be years after the other verses, altho thats just my own feeling. you could stretch it to a girl talking about how her love for him is deeper than her love for the "boys of summer", but it was originally intended, by, and makes more sense, if it's a guy. u can just tell it's a guy from the style too. |
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| Brand New – Guernica Lyrics | 19 years ago |
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i dont think its a weak track at all, altho it didnt appeal to me immediately. i think the title guernica just refers to suffering in general, as picasso's painting does - if u see it, u will realise it does not actually try to depict the bombing, just suffering. |
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| Brand New – The Boy Who Blocked His Own Shot Lyrics | 19 years ago |
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my personal interpretation is that despite breaking up, Jesse still misses her, and loves her ("you are the blood in my veins"). he broke up with her because he was fed up with her games ("You say you wanted a solution, you just wanted to be missed"). she still misses him ("a brand new day in a life that you hate"), but can't forget a wrongdoing of Jesse's, possibly rape or unfaithfulness. he wants her to be happy ("if it makes u less sad..."), but is scared of hurting her again ("you are second hand smoke, you are so fragile and thin"), so does not want to press his attentions. at first i thought the title referred to a gunshot, but it seems to make more sense if it refers to his "shot" at winning her over. the act of blocking his shot was whatever he did wrong that he wishes she could forget. the title also makes me think of the smiths - "the boy with the thorn in his side", who of course heavily influenced Jesse. |
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