| Manic Street Preachers – Journal For Plague Lovers Lyrics | 16 years ago |
| The message here is in line with sentiments presented by Dostoevsky and Camus regarding an omnipotent-omniscient deity and humans' free will. As stated by Dostoevsky in I believe "Demons," if an interventionist God exists, by the concept's very design and definition we can do nothing outside of His will. Only if He does not exist are humans truly independent and free. To claim we are all part of God's divine plan, but to also maintain in the same breath that we have free will is an innate contradiction, which is what I think Richey is pointing out here with bitter sarcasm. For many who do not recognize the blatant discrepancy, when something beneficial occurs, it is because God caused it to happen; when something harmful takes place, it is because humans choose of their own free will to do evil. What Dostoevsky and Camus pointed out--and, again, what Richey is echoing, at least in my interpretation of this song--is you can't have it both ways. Either everything comes from God or from us. | |
| Manic Street Preachers – All Is Vanity Lyrics | 16 years ago |
| In my eyes, this song speaks of one breaking through into epiphany, finally reaching that sublime moment when all is understood and viewed in its proper light. It's about one's perception making that final evolution beyond which seemingly all others are capable of. The narrator hasn't shaved for days; to many, this would be a sign of slovenliness caused possibly by depression, hence "What's wrong?" But the narrator is so far beyond such paltry tasks as shaving. One should not be asking him "What's wrong?" but "What's (finally) right?" or, "What have you recognized that we cannot yet see?" | |
| Manic Street Preachers – Marlon J.D. Lyrics | 16 years ago |
| I would say the "J.D." of the title does refer to James Dean, and is initialized for a reason. Like MBlack said, Dean and Brando were cut from the same cloth. Whereas Marlon Brando lived on, becoming a grotesque self-parody, James Dean's life was shortened in his prime. Therefore, the title could be seen as two sides of the same coin, one abruptly cut-off, one allowed to live on with dubious consequences. | |
| Tom Waits – Hold On Lyrics | 17 years ago |
| Going from personal experience, perhaps no song has ever featured a more accurate single line than "you don't meet nice girls in coffee shops." | |
| Tom Waits – Who Are You Lyrics | 17 years ago |
| Never thought, when i first heard this song years ago, that i'd ever relate to the lyrics "how do your pistol and your bible and your sleeping pills go?" Weird how things work out. | |
| PJ Harvey – I Think I'm A Mother Lyrics | 18 years ago |
| Probably is loosely inspired by the Cap'n's song. PJ is a huge fan of his, his influence pops up repeatedly in her songs. They're friends as well, PJ calling him up when she needs career advice and whatnot. | |
| PJ Harvey – Who Will Love Me Now? Lyrics | 18 years ago |
| Sounds like a Greek tragedy set to music. | |
| The Black Keys – Stack Shot Billy Lyrics | 18 years ago |
| The story of Stagger Lee or Stack O'Lee and Billy Lyons is a key figure in American blues music. In 1895, Stack shot Billy Lyons, pretty much as the song states. For whatever reason, the story was adapted into a blues song, and blues being an incestuous musical form, it thoroughly ingrained itself in the aesthetic, with artists as diverse as the Clash doing their own spin on it. Perhaps one of the grittiest versions of it is Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds' "Stagger Lee," from the "Murder Ballads" album. | |
| Grinderman – Man on the Moon Lyrics | 18 years ago |
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Starts from the POV of a child, relating how he believes his father to be an astronaut living on the moon, rationalizing his absence. This is but a cover, what he has been told by those who know the true reason his father has absconded, meant to dull the pain of simply telling the kid the truth, either that his father ran off or possibly died. Second verse I believe is the narrator speaking from adulthood, speaking through the pain of learning the truth and having to deal with such a gaping wound, now doubled by knowing a lie was concocted to cover it up "for his best interest." Pretty tragic song, despite its short length. |
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| Sparklehorse – Dog Door Lyrics | 18 years ago |
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These lyrics are way off, but that's understandable based on their obscurity. Real lyrics are: She’s as mean as a needle Don’t get too close to the heater She’s a mean shop-keeper She’s got an extra gun She about 6’4” She’s a wreckin ball Now go ahead and kiss her She brought the bad weather with her She got you coming through the dog door She got you coming through the dog door Now pigs get fat Hogs get slaughtered You ought to walk away You can't but you ought to Climb the rickety stairs She got the long black hair Don’t sit there! Electricity chair She got you coming through the dog door She got you coming through the dog door Pitchfork (pitchfork!) Crow bar (crow bar!) Claw hammer (claw hammer!) Hot tar (hot tar!) She’s got ruin in her name Well she can make it rain She’s a small town jail And you’re starving in the belly of a whale She got you coming through the dog door She got you coming through the dog door pitch fork, crow bar claw hammer, hot tar |
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| Grinderman – (I Don't Need You To) Set Me Free Lyrics | 18 years ago |
| Seems to be about the tug-and-pull nature of resentment and love. The narrator, on one hand, is enamored with a girl, yet because she fails to so much as acknowledge him, he despises her simultaneously. He's sickened by her, but by himself as well for allowing to be so captivated by her. Hence, he wants to be free of the spell she's inadvertently cast upon him, yet at once revels being captive in that's what it takes to keep a vestige of her in his life. | |
| Stereophonics – Rainbows and Pots of Gold Lyrics | 19 years ago |
| Aside from the Waits song, the lyrics and mood are also similar to Leonard Cohen's "Famous Blue Raincoat," detailing a very similar situation, wherein Cohen writes a letter to a male friend of his who apparently had an affair with Cohen's wife/girlfriend. | |
| Stereophonics – I'm Alright (You Gotta Go There to Come Back) Lyrics | 19 years ago |
| My first impression of this song was that it was a look into the mind of some sort of sexual predator, a date rapist or something akin, describing his insidious and cunning methods for getting what he wants. | |
| Tom Waits – 16 Shells from a Thirty-Ought-Six Lyrics | 19 years ago |
| I get the impression the song is told from the perspective of a desperate, dedicated lawman, obsessed with capturing some notorious criminal who always seems to evade him. The lawman has been on the trail a long time, and the longer it takes, the more his hatred of the object of his pursuit grows. Great song. | |
| Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds – Tupelo Lyrics | 19 years ago |
| The song actually is a frightening take on the story of Elvis's birth. He was born in the town of Tupelo, and it describes how his twin brother died at birth ("firstborn is dead"). Also, it is somewhat based on the lyrical themes of John Lee Hooker, who also wrote a song called "Tupelo." | |
| Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds – Where Do We Go Now but Nowhere? Lyrics | 19 years ago |
| I see this song as being written of the collapse of a relationship in the wake of a child's death. When I hear the stanza beginning with "From the balcony..." I see a father, mother, and son watching a parade or festival from a balcony. The child for some reason falls, the father grabs his hand, yet he cannot hold on and the child tragically dies. Afterwards, the mother is so stricken with grief, she suffers a total collapse. The father tries keeping it together, tries to salvage what he can, namely, his wife/lover. After trying to kill her husband with a poison cake, the wife is committed and doped up. This is just one more thing to add to the husband's mound of guilt, and he tries keeping his own sanity intact by pleading for his lover to wake up, to come out of her mourning. Truly one of the saddest songs ever written in my estimate. | |
| The Twilight Singers – Bonnie Brae Lyrics | 19 years ago |
| Supposedly last year some time, Lanegan had a relapse of sorts, a nearly fatal one. Dulli, his best friend who has experienced a similar lifestyle, allegedly wrote this song as his reaction to Lanegan's struggles. The term itself, "Bonnie Brae," is a popular drug spot in LA. Taken in this light, it's not hard to see this song as a plea from one friend to another. | |
| The Twilight Singers – Bonnie Brae Lyrics | 19 years ago |
| Rumor is the song is about Mark Lanegan. | |
| Mark Lanegan – Last One in the World Lyrics | 19 years ago |
| I believe this song is about Layne Staley and his deteriorating condition and transition into a recluse. Mark and he were great friends and roommates for a while. Allegedly, he sang this song at Layne's funeral. Pretty prophetic song. | |
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