| My Bloody Valentine – Only Tomorrow Lyrics | 11 years ago |
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I'd say it's your general breakup song. English major coming through, so prepare yourself for an excessively long, in-depth over analysis. I've also had a bit too much Ritalin too so.... "Into the heart That won't come back to Into your heart It's been hard on you" As the opening lyrics, these set the scene for the rest of the song. First, we get a heart (an obvious symbol of love, emotion, etc.) that won't come back. Then we are presented with a second, different heart ('your' heart versus 'the' heart) to which the first won't come back to, which leaves our speaker's heart (?) with a hard time dealing with it (I know some of this may seem blindingly obvious, but when it comes to analysing lyrics, it's a good to spell it out for the sake of clarity and remove ambiguity (ambiguity which is notorious within shoegaze songs), so bear with me). "What's in the mud That love falls into Open or close It is all it was" The mud seems to me a way of describing a messy love, or even just the messiness of love in general, arguments, difficulties in a relationship, differences in personality, etc. In questioning what's in the mud that love falls into, it seems as though the speaker is troubled about what the problems in love are, and where they come from. "Open or close" may hint at what the issues in this relationship were - maybe there wasn't enough openness between the two, or maybe too much. It also sets us up with a binary, two opposing ideas that are incompatible (because how could something be open and closed simultaneously?). It's probably safe to say that it's just an expression of an inherent incompatibility between these two hearts. In this case, it seems to put the questioning of the mud into context, as it suggests that the speaker is trying to find an answer for this incompatibility. That said, listening to the song, it almost sounds as though Bilinda is saying "open your clothes," which, given MBV's use of vague vocal overdubs, seems entirely possible too. In this case, it could suggest a relationship based heavily on sexual elements, which seems to put the following line of "it is all it was" into perspective, that this love was...not false or fake necessarily, but based on different desires, hearkening back to that idea of inherent incompatibility within the relationship. "Only tomorrow The love comes easy What should I do It is all it was" As far as the lyric "Only tomorrow" goes, I'd say it's that general feeling that the pain of a love that's lost becoming easier to deal with the more time passes. Of course, there's a sad wistfulness in the idea that love will only come easy tomorrow, as no matter what you do, tomorrow is always the next day, placing a sense of resolution always just a day away. As such, the speaker then laments that they're unsure what the next step is (if there even is one). "What should I do" places our speaker within the realms of indecision. Alternatively, you could see it as the resurgence of new love (to be more specific, the idea that it could get easier to love someone new the more that time passes). But it seems to me to have the same issue with the previous line of "only tomorrow," as once again it puts this idea finding a new love a day away. Then again, you could also read this as the speaker holding on to a sense of hopefulness, that a resolution that a new or faded love could offer is merely a day away. "It is all it was" seems to me like the speaker is somewhat disheartened idea that love is all they'd gotten, suggesting a feeling of discontent. Perhaps they wanted more out of it, (a family? a lifetime spent together? eternal love?) but then what more can you ask for from love? It could also be seen as a sentiment of resignation, in that the relationship is all it was, and that there indeed is not much more you can ask for, and the speaker is coming to terms with the idea that it's over. It seems to me to be almost an existential resignation, that all it was was love. In this light, "what should I do," then becomes a similarly existential resignation, in that any sense of meaning has been lost, or only thought to have been there, in which case, if all it was was love, it holds no inherent meaning either. It was just love, meaningless. But yeah that's my take on it. |
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| Butt Trumpet – I've Been So Mad Lately Lyrics | 15 years ago |
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This song is fucking epic. YOU CAN EAT THE CORN OUT OF MY SHIT |
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| That Handsome Devil – Sleep It Off Lyrics | 16 years ago |
| It's about a guy who gets drunk one night and is brought to the hospital. It's pretty straightforward. | |
| The Smashing Pumpkins – Jackboot Lyrics | 16 years ago |
| Fuckin' love this song. | |
| The Smashing Pumpkins – Cherub Rock Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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I've always thought it was about the music industry, but I have a different take on what some of the lines actually mean. The music industry execs are pretty much telling them what is hip, how it should be done, the kind of things they should play. This was during MTV's round-up of 'grunge' acts (they thought the pumpkins were grunge) and they were all "do a performance video." Freak out, give in, doesn't matter what you believe in: Always thought it was just about them as a band, they used to be indie (sub pop) but then they moved to a new major label (virgin). Apparently, they were never really considered indie by most indie bands, that they were "careerists" from the start. I just thought that the lines "doesn't matter what you believe in" just relating to that, the music industry being so critical of what they do, that what they (the band) believes takes no precedence, it's no longer up to them. Stay cool, and be somebody's fool this year: They were new to the whole major label thing, they had to play it cool. However, sounds like Corgan knew that they were being made fools of, often being told what to do - Today was initially chosen by the music execs to be the first song off the album - Corgan chose otherwise. 'Cause they know, who is righteous, what is bold: The music execs are the ones in power, they know when a band is good, they know what music is bold and new. So I'm told: At least, that 's what they think. Who wants honey As long as there's some money Who wants that honey? : A little vague. But it seems to fit in with the music exec thing - They only want to support their music provided they get money off it - like before, what they want or believe doesn't matter, just as long as they get their sweet sweet cash. Hipsters unite, come align for the big fight to rock for you: Hipsters unite refers to their mainstreamness - it's up to the hipsters to decide their outcome, whether they're a success or a failure. This is seen in the next line, "come align for the big fight to rock for you" - choose a side, you decide whether we can rock for you, will be be a success or a failure? But beware, all those angels with their wings glued on: Could refer to the music industry again, being quite fake about how they go about their business, only supporting them if they make money - the execs are funding their music, pretty much being the saviors of the band, keeping them alive. During this time, Corgan had gone through depression, and has said that he thought, if this record doesn't do well I'm gonna break up the band. However, while they may be keeping the band alive, should the band be a failure, they'll be quick to drop the pretense of angels, lose their glued on wings. 'cause deep down, we are frightened and we're scared: Probably refers to the band, not sure how the new album would do. Like I said before, Corgan was afraid the band would be quite a failure, saying "We felt a great pressure that if we didn't come up with a record that was huge, we were done. It was that simple in our minds. We felt like our lives depended on it." If you don't stare: I think he just said this because it rhymed :) Let me out: Seems pretty clear. He wants to get out of this routine way that the music industry has put them through, doesn't want the pressure of having to be a success. Tell me all of your secrets, cannot help but believe this is true: I think it may refer to the music of the time, maybe tell me all of your secrets (to being a great success), you can't help but believe that what the music execs have been telling you is good or bad. I know, I know, I know, should have listened when I was told: Corgan knows, he probably should listen to them, they seem to know what should be done. However, in contrast with the rest of the song, it seems to be more of a giving up sort of statement, saying "Okay, fine, have it your way, I'm tired of it anyway." If you look at the lyrics in total, you could see that it starts out as more of a rejection of the music industry itself, saying that they (the pumpkins) should do it their way. Then the next verse, it changes, as though he's changing his mind, leaving it up to the world to decide, despite the fear they face in doing so. Then the "let me out"s are pretty much a complete "fear taken over" sort of thing, he just wants out of it, screw trying to do it your own way, screw letting others choose it for you. Third verse: He's still trying to figure it out for himself, wanting to know the secrets the industry has to offer. However, he's gone into a relapse, giving in to the industry, saying he should've listened what he was told. That's just my interpretation anyway. |
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| Failure – Saturday Saviour Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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I think it's along the lines of what the second person said, only it's a little bit different. Sounds to me like breakup sex. The narrator/singer/whatever is talking about having sex with someone who's just come out of a relationship. The person who's gotten out of the relationship feels shit, wants sex, and he's the person she's gone to. She seems to be wishing that he's her old partner/pretending he's her old partner. He seems to know this, and is kind of taking advantage of that. "I'm never gonna say the words that you want me to" probably means the girl he's with (who thinks he's her old partner) is kind of hoping he/her old partner will say I love you, but of course, he's not, and won't. "I only wanna be your Saturday Saviour" he knows this, but doesn't really care, he wants to have sex. Blatant? Perhaps. "Impostor in your bed" refers to him sleeping with her, only she wants him to be somebody else (her former partner) thus him being the impostor. "I'm never gonna make you feel that you're satisfied" He's not her partner, so she's not gonna be satisfied. Or at least not for long. "I'm never gonna open up more than this" Well why should he? He's just the breakup sex person, and doesn't need to open up. They're not in a relationship. Yeah...that's just my interpretation of it anyway. |
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