| TV on the Radio – Blues From Down Here Lyrics | 19 years ago |
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Furthermore, the titular line in the song, "How do the blues sound from up there?" is an inquiry into how the rich, in their gilded towers, react to the suffering and day-to-day struggles of the poor, whom they use as human fodder to power their ubiquitous commercial and industrial machines. The singular reference to religion can be found in the following lines: "Time for your favorite story Of how to achieve golden glory Wash yourself all squeaky clean All in while on All Hallow's Eve" This is, of course, the answer to the aforementioned inquiry, and is a clear invokation of the famous quote by Karl Marx, stating that "religion is the opium of the people." Basically, if you're poor, living paycheck-to-paycheck, can barely afford to feed your family, don't have health insurance, etc., then put your faith in God, because the high priests of the free market don't give a shit about you. After that, it's back to more of the same. "Just stay on your knees" because if too many of us choose to rise up and say enough! with this mindless exploitation of the working poor, then the house of cards built by big business may just come tumbling down. Here's hoping it happens sooner rather than later. |
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| TV on the Radio – Blues From Down Here Lyrics | 19 years ago |
| This isn't about relgion -- and it certainly doesn't have anything to do with Labyrinth -- it's about class struggle and cold-hearted economics. When 10% of the people control 90% of the wealth in our societies, something is seriously wrong, and this song is addressing the disparity between the haves and the have-nots. | |
| TV on the Radio – Wash the Day Lyrics | 19 years ago |
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This song is, to put it simply, about our species-wide loss of innocence. When Adebimpe sings that the "kids burned down the greenhouse" he is talking about our willingness to strip-mine not only "the dying woods of Brazil," but our whole identity as living, breathing creatures who depend upon this Earth for survival. We now care more about "new bodies" and "diamond encrusted guns" than we do about the well-being of our fellow man, and the myriad lifeforms that made all of this possible. One day we will realize that we've hit a wall, that we've taken more in our time than nature has been able to give. It is a troubling issue, and Wash the Day is a worthy attempt by a few concerned citizens to voice their opinions in the best way they know how. |
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| TV on the Radio – Snakes and Martyrs Lyrics | 19 years ago |
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Oops, didn't mean to hit "Add" so soon.. Anyways.. Here's how I hear it.. Everyone makes the same wave at the same time (like bubbles on water) And we call all those interrupting lines (sons and daughters) A community So let's join hands in some Blessed unity But brother, I don't wanna know you I don't even want to know you Sister, I don't want to know you I don't even want to know you But we're trapped In this lover's lament* Hold you close and smile Fake Like they do Way out West So many medicines for So many heads, and I'll help you clean the skeletons from Under your bed, but I don't even know you How could it be me that sends you Darling Didn't your momma Tell you not to let no stranger bend you Probably someone here that could Help to mend you But it's not me Got my own Anxiety ...and after that it gets sloppy. |
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| TV on the Radio – Snakes and Martyrs Lyrics | 19 years ago |
| It's not "like pebbles on water" or "like petals on water", it's "like bubbles on water"... | |
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