| Wilco – One Sunday Morning (For Jane Smiley's Boyfriend) Lyrics | 12 years ago |
| Thanks! Mine hasn't even been shipped yet, or at least I haven't received an email yet saying that it's been shipped. Can't wait! | |
| Wilco – One Sunday Morning (For Jane Smiley's Boyfriend) Lyrics | 12 years ago |
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I hear the first and last stanzas/verses as: This is how I'll tell it Oh, but it's long One Sunday Morning Oh, when the sun is gone ("I'll" sounds like just "I" at the end though) I hear the first line of the second stanza as: "Against silhouetted dawning" but I could have that wrong. I'm fairly certain though that "How am I forgiven?" should be "How will I forgive him?". Great song, and a very different type of songwriting than we usually see from Jeff. |
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| Wilco – Art of Almost Lyrics | 12 years ago |
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Here are the correct lyrics: No, I froze I can't be so Far away from my wasteland I'll never know when I might ambulance Or hoist the horns with my own hands Almost Almost I heard a faint ole', true love But I had other ways to hurt myself Like calling I could open up my heart and fall in I could blame it all on dust The art of almost Almost Almost Almost I hold it up, shake the grail Dissipate across the waves, tomorrow I'll have all the love I could ever ache And I'll leave almost with you Art of almost Almost |
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| Flake Music – Spanway Hits Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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I don't think this part of the lyrics is right: "They just want you to come by The florist in foam A rigid folk’s home in time that I might cry" I'm pretty sure he says "bottles of flourescent foam" in there, maybe describing things that would be on the shelves in a younger person's room. I think this song is about how much we all each individually change as the years go by; the older and younger versions of ourselves would hardly recognize each other. |
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| The Shins – Your Algebra Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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I find the responses/analyses very ironic and amusing. This song is simple: don't focus so much on the little things that you miss the big picture. |
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| The Shins – Mild Child Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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Ok, after listening again a few more times over the past few days, I've corrected my own reading of the lyrics: These tender old, smiling summer eyes, They win, they win. Their survival showed us how they could dance like angels. Even when there's a talking on the clouds, the sun, some of you're never set, just learn to punish. Being calm inside to hide away from age-old haters and wink(weep?), Beside, I try to hide, but I recall the alien eyes and what that felt like 'cause they were happy laughing there, the delayed window came But dont allow yourself to make believe any kind of virtuous life, Because each of us is both of them, one blowing out, one breathing in. Now, with these seemingly minor changes, I now think the song is a lesson from the perspective of an old guy thinking back on his life, happy about how it went. At the same time, he's also thinking about other old men who are bitter about their past life events and how he himself was like that once ("beside, i try to hide, but i recall those alien eyes and what that felt like") but once time went on and he gained a better perspective on the events of his life, he started to feel better about them and look at them in a more sentimental way ("the delayed window came"). The song ends with a warning to people who are optimists with smiling summer eyes to not look down on those who are more pessimistic because, after all, we all have both attitudes at different times and without experiencing one attitude, we can't fully experience the other ("one breathing out, one breathing in"). The old man's lesson can then be applied to all kinds of past life events and attitudes, no matter the age of the person. |
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| The Shins – Mild Child Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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I'm fairly certain the lyrics are as follows: These ten-year-old, smiling summer eyes, They win, they win. Their survival showed us how they could dance like angels. Even when there's a talking on the clouds, the sun, some of you're never set, just learn to punish. Being calm inside to hide away from age-old haters and wink, Beside, I try to hide, and I recall the alien eyes and what that felt like 'cause they were happy laughing there, then the delayed window came But dont allow yourself to make believe any kind of virtuous life, Because each of us is both of them, one blowing out, one breathing in. I think Mercer is saying that we're all part innocent child, part jaded adult, and that we shouldn't try to be just one or other but find a liveable balance. |
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| The Shins – My Seventh Rib Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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This song is about growing up and losing your innocence and sense of fun; Mercer is saying that it doesn't have to happen that way and it isn't meant for that to happen to us. "Your silver tongue", "A spoiled tomato", etc, this is about how older, "more mature" people look down on the young who are carefree and they're kinda doing it out of a bitterness that they feel like they can longer live like that themselves. I think the point that Mercer is trying to get through in this song is that we don't have to give in to this rotten view of life; we should try to remain the free spirits that we are in our youth and not give in to what we think we are supposed to become as we get older. This is a common theme among many of The Shins' songs, perhaps most notably in Australia. |
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| The Shins – Australia Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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ElectRonald: I think that interview snippet definitely backs up my interpretation from 12-30. Mercer confirms that the song is about a girl who used to have dreams but opted to go the safe and "ordinary" route and has become a dreadful person because of it. I think the subject of the song is any person like that girl and the form of the song is a plea to us not become like her. Truly brilliant wordplay at work too. Thanks for providing (and translating!) the interview snippet!!!! |
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| The Shins – Australia Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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Wow, after reading what some other people have thought, especially G-Farb, I have a much different take than I did before. I originally had a more shallow view of the song, thinking that the speaker was pleading to a girl to stop letting a man hold her down and to free herself, but now instead of it being "a" man, I think it's about "THE" man. This song is a plea to all of us to be true to ourselves. The song starts out by reminding us how we're social animals and dreamers by nature, but many of us sell out. Life might actually be easier, simpler, and seemingly more carefree for those who don't worry about "selling out" and that type of thing and are able to just live and conform, but this song is pleading with us to dare and not take that easy route. The song goes on to describe a benevolent "fool" who sort of forgoes her ideals and takes the easy, "ordinary" route in life and tries to convince herself that all is well; the song then again, telling her it has seen all the life sucked out of her, pleads to its target to forget the "ordinary" life and live the way she has always wanted. |
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| The Shins – Sphagnum Esplanade Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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A few minor lyric corrections to what the person above me wrote: Crowds jump to their deaths from the bridge AS I drive by tonight; and We've marched so long and we've much farther THAT WE"VE GOT to go With that said... I just gave this song my first close, careful listen tonight, and it is striking me so hard right now that it might just be my new favorite song. To me, this song is about how everyone tries to find an answer to everything in life, what they're supposed to do, how things are supposed to turn out for them and why, why we're here, etc. but there is no way to really know and that's what's beautiful about life: maybe we're not supposed to know or maybe even we CAN'T figure those things out and shouldn't try, and by accepting this we can truly be free. I find this song truly liberating. In my own life, I've been kinda feeling like the speaker in Spilt Needles, someone who is growing up and is being asked to decide on a direction in life and just feels lost, "like I'm perched on the handlebars, of a blind man's bike." Maybe instead of trying so hard to figure out why and how certain things in my life happened the way they did and instead of trying to come up with an answer now to what my life is going to be, I should just live life and not stress out about those things. That's the effect this song is having on me right now. |
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| The Shins – Sphagnum Esplanade Lyrics | 17 years ago |
| I definitely heard this song played (probably more than once) at the Cirque Du Soleil show Corteo a few weeks ago. | |
| John Legend – Maxine Lyrics | 17 years ago |
| Someone caught their girl cheating and is either in denial or being bitterly sarcastic... | |
| The Shins – Sleeping Lessons Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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Not overbearing at all ladybug, very interesting take. Also, a slight lyrics correction: "God" sounds a lot more like "guard" in this song to me. |
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| The Shins – Red Rabbits Lyrics | 17 years ago |
| I'm still struggling with this one, maybe it's about being the "other guy" in an adulterous affair? | |
| The Shins – Phantom Limb Lyrics | 17 years ago |
| I think this song is about how girls generally have a somewhat mystical power over guys and dominate their thoughts, always longing for the ones we put on pedestals whether or not there's a reason to... | |
| The Shins – Sleeping Lessons Lyrics | 17 years ago |
| I agree with doctortim; very interesting thoughts on the album ladybug. I personally think that a lot of the songs have meanings in and of themselves separate from an overaching story/theme, but I can also see it from your angle. | |
| Mos Def – The Rape Over Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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A few corrections (in caps): Listen OLD white men is runnin this rap shit Corporate forces runnin this rap shit SOME TALL ISRAELI is runnin this rap shit We poke out OUR asses for a chance to cash in Cocaine, is runnin this rap shit 'Dro, 'yac and E-pills is runnin this rap shit The rape over, turn your face over nigga No god in THE SKY, it's me, game over Hey lil souljahs you're ready for WAR? But don't ask what you're fighting for They thought that you sur--vived the gunfight, the drama, the stress You get in the line of fire we get the big ass cheques You gettin your choice OF pimp Make your choice and fall in This is HO STROLL B I, take that cock in your behind, Beatch Hit the streets and perform for us HO hard and bring it on to us, fucker I let you sip, comes an army, get a Mercedes And kick back and let you pay me, my Mack is crazy I leave the KNIFE IN, fist fight filled with glamour Yeah, take a picture what this platinum-plated sledgehammer We over-do it, add the fire and explosion to it WE'VE SOLD CONFUSION, WE RUN rap music Mtv, is runnin this rap shit Viacom is runnin this rap shit AOL and Time Warner runnin this rap shit We poke out OUR asses for a chance to cash in Cocaine, is runnin this rap shit Hennessey, is runnin this rap shit Quasi-homosexuals is runnin this rap shit Watch out we run the world That's it" This song epitomizes what the entire album is about: a big fuck you to the record industry that wouldn't allow Mos to make the most of his musical genius and shot down his proposed Black Jack Johnson album. Mos was pissed when he made this album, and it shows. |
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| Bob Dylan – All Along the Watchtower Lyrics | 17 years ago |
| This song might be a lot simpler than people think (but amazingly complex with how a specific happening is generalized so well that it can fit so many different situations that call for change). Here's my theory of the context behind the song: the song was written and released shortly after Huey Newton and Bobby Seale's Black Panther Party first started making headlines and just prior to starting the Party, Huey had been to jail for stealing ("thief") and Bobby Seale was a fledgling stand-up comedian ("joker"). These two guys came up with the idea of a revolutionary group through personal discussions with each other and brought a wind of change. Bobby was kind of a hothead, brash speaker as the joker is here, and Huey was an extremely introspective, deep thinker who was all about making things happen (so much so that I feel that to this day no one knows exactly what Huey was trying to accomplish with the Party; his purposes were always hidden behind a designed way of getting things accomplished (not a prevailing theory on the Panthers, but one I feel there is strong evidence for and one that Huey's best friend has agreed with me on in personal conversations)). Regardless, Dylan will never admit this as the meaning (and would probably sharply deny) even if it were the original meaning of the song since he and Huey went on to differ very strongly on their views of the Israel-Palestine conflict and never got along personally because of their opposing views. Even if I'm off-base with the original inspiration of the song, I have no doubt that this song is about a pending revolution. | |
| The Shins – Sea Legs Lyrics | 17 years ago |
| To me, this song seems to be about a couple that's together for now, and that should enjoy the beauty of what they have even though they know it won't last. And when it's over, there's "no use in searching for the mutt's remains," just appreciated what it was and move on. "Sea legs" is what they have in coming to grips with the beautiful yet temporary nature of their love. | |
| The Shins – Australia Lyrics | 17 years ago |
| I think that in this song the speaker is someone who is single and is trying to talk a girl who is tied down into freeing herself. He says that we're born to multiply, talks about how she wants one more Saturday, etc. Then he talks about how she's tied down and has to pine through windowpanes and about how she's kidding herself thinking things are still fun being beholden to someone else. Even though he's trying to convince her to join the ranks of the free though, he's doesn't seem so sure himself if his way of life is better; he may be the one kidding himself and might really feel like he's of a dying breed as he gets older and all the other people around him start settling down. His motives for trying to convince the girl to free herself from her relationship with an ordinary joe may actually be selfish; he wants her to be "free", but "free" with him. | |
| The Shins – Sleeping Lessons Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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I agree with srbsam. Also, I think "You're low anymore" should be "You low animal" |
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| The Shins – Pressed In A Book Lyrics | 17 years ago |
| To me, the first half of this song is a pretty scathing rip on someone; the last part is a futile, superficial attempt to make up to them. | |
| The Shins – Pink Bullets Lyrics | 17 years ago |
| This song IS a year of my life. Amazing. | |
| The Shins – Turn On Me Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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I think the correct lyrics for the last two verses are: "And the tails [tales?] will never mend, Because you had it in for me so long ago, Boy, I still don't know, I don't know why and I don't care, Hardly anymore, And you've always seen yourself hating me, Hating me, When I've been so much more than fair, And you had to let those feelings spread, One thing I know still got you scared, You're all that could I have, Never once aired on a dare, You had to know that I was fond of you, Fond of Y-O-U, So I took your lips at the time, When you change like that it's just so hard to do, Hard to do, Don't let it whip crack your life, And bow out from the fight, The ???? sisters were right, [I have no idea what the word/name is before 'sisters', anyone know the reference or think it is a personal reference?] The worst part is over, Now, get back on that horse and ride," Maybe I'm impressing too much of my own experiences into the song, but, to me, this song is about a guy who was infatuated with a girl who hated that he liked her in that way. She played some sort of game with him for reasons he doesn't know and at least pretends like he doesn't care to know, and as a defense mechanism she "sees herself hating him" and feels bad about doing so. The speaker is telling the girl that it hurt but he's past it and she should try not to worry about it/feel bad about it anymore. Too much of a stretch? |
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