| Elliott Smith – Junk Bond Trader Lyrics | 15 years ago |
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This song makes the most sense to me as being an indictment of the commercialization of punk culture, rebellion, and self destruction that was taking place in the music industry throughout the 1990s. The imitation picks you up like a habit Writing in the glow of the TV's static Taking out the trash to the man Give the people something they understand seems to be about a lack of artistic integrity, producing a cheapened, fake art A stickman flashing a fine-line smile - a stick man is one dimensional, has no depth Junk bond trader trying to sell a sucker a style - a junk bond trader sells a worthless commodity as the next big thing Rich man in a poor man's clothes - adoption of street culture as a style, erasure of its original meaning The permanent installment of the daily dose The second verse seems to deal with the tired, but real cliches of experience that people who live outside of mainstream culture seem to share. The last two lines: Brought down like an old hotel People digging through the rubble for things they can resell are about record companies and style-makers, or maybe artists, rummaging through the wreckage of people's/their own lives for marketable trash The bridge seems like a paraphrase of various 'anti-' attitudes being packaged for mass consumption 'won't take your medecine' 'don't want nobody else' 'I can do it by myself' The final verse shows the punk artist fully appropriated, working as a police man to keep everything running smoothly in the status quo, living cheaply to make a few dollars while their fake rebellion remains in style |
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| Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks – Post-Paint Boy Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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I don't feel like Malkmus is chewing out post-paint boy here, but sympathizing with a clever artist engaged in a somewhat futile pursuit, which is an obvious parallel to Malkmus' chosen career. Penny smart and dollar dumb- I feel like this is referring to the kid's ability to come up with lots of clever fragments of expression without formulating a coherent whole. It's not that Post-Paint boy has no merit, rather that he will be under appreciated because he eschews the established art forms to seem cooler to a hipper crowd. Scraps of acceptance from coked up quasi urbane kids- the futility of his pursuit. Fleeting recognition from a group of people whose main merit is their ability to project an image, rather than anything substantial. I think this ends up being what a lot of young independent artists and musicians receive for their efforts. Also, I just got the line 'seventeen anteaters sequestered in a room with the sisters of mothers of famous gluttons...' gave me a chuckle How did Malkmus get to be this clever? |
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| Elliott Smith – Punch and Judy Lyrics | 17 years ago |
| Some of the music in this song is kind of reminiscent of happiness off figure 8. I think the subject matter could be interrelated as well. Any thoughts on this? | |
| Modest Mouse – Polar Opposites Lyrics | 18 years ago |
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This song makes the most sense to me in the context of a certain monotony that can creep into everyday life, especially in the suburbs, and make you question the point of your existence. Here's my analysis: Polar opposites don't push away (This is kinda like the thesis of the song, and essentially means that everything boils down to the same meaninglessness. Some of the lines of the second verse are examples to prove the point) It's the same on the weekends as the rest of the days (Monotony. Having free time doesn't change the overall mood of the singer, which we can assume is rather depressed, given the chorus) And I know I should go but I will probably stay And that's all you can do about some things (the singer has a vague sense there is something he could do to change things and stop wasting his time, but he knows he is generally unmotivated and probably won't do it, perhaps because the monotony of his life has paralyzed him with apathy. I can totally relate to this hypothetical situation) Chorus is self explanatory Second verse is where things get interesting lyrically, so I'm less sure of my interpretations here, but will post what comes to mind Two one eyed dogs, they're looking at stereos (This line reminds me of a picture I've seen of a dog sitting in front of an old gramophone. If that's the intended reference, it could be that the singer is observing an image duplicated in a mirror, to create the multiples of the original objects. The mirror images face in opposite directions, but are essentially the same thing. Also, they're both two dimensional- flat, which could have a connotation of emptiness. Also, one-eyed dogs would have no depth perception, which would make everything seem flat.) Hi-fi gods try so hard to make their cars low to the ground (The singer is observing some kids who happily define themselves with a pointless, empty style of life, putting time and money into a goal which ultimately is an absolute waste) These vibrations oil its teeth (The vibrations are the things he's observed, the 2 dimensional mirror images, the obnoxious ways in which people waste their time and money, perhaps some uninteresting radio drivel blasting from the hi-fi gods' cars. All of these, and his inability to escape a sense of monotony, "oil the teeth," which could mean making them sharper, more "biting," of the thought that has been plaguing the singer and rendering him more depressed/apathetic, which is articulated in the next line.) Primer gray is the color when you're done dying (Everybody, no matter what they looked like in life, no matter what colors they wore, or what they did, will end up a gray corpse. The singer sees gray as the base color of life, over which everything else is a temporary coat, which is why he calls it "primer gray". Gray also resonates with his feelings of emptiness and monotony) Back to the chorus, and now we know pretty much why Sir Brock has been trying to spend as little time as possible in a conscious state |
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| Modest Mouse – Parting of the Sensory Lyrics | 18 years ago |
| very interesting sinkingtothetop. I haven't read Moby Dick, but I'll bet Brock has, and it would be a good source of material for him cuz he wanted this album to be about a crew of sailors who have a different adventure in each song and end up being killed in every song as well. Thanks very much for the insight. And lookdeeper, thanks for pointing out the line about knowing how often you will die... hadn't even thought of that one! It's way too easy to pass off potentially important segments of modest mouse lyrics as crazy rambling stuff strung together for its rhythm, cuz Brock definitely likes to shout on a beat as long as he can | |
| Modest Mouse – Parting of the Sensory Lyrics | 18 years ago |
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My bad about one thing... I shouldn't have said that these are "strong political statements" What I meant is that it seems like Brock could be incorporating his observations of current events and the news generating happenings of this country and the world into his general musings on life, death, meaning and nothing, not abandoning his poetic fixations to write protest music. So, in summary, i mean I see protest in the lyrics, but that's by no means what the entire song, album, or anything is about. As raftman pointed out, pseudo political phenomena such as suburban sprawl and homogenization have fueled Isaac Brock's drive in the past. Quite often, I think Brock reacts to something simple, almost mundane, which most people have some experience with, and pastes it into the collage of what his bigger point or idea or image of the universe is, as a fitting metaphor, or allegoric point. Sorry if that's drivel, don't know why im writing this shit at 3 am... |
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| Modest Mouse – Parting of the Sensory Lyrics | 18 years ago |
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Two more things: Anybody who wants to instantly dismiss the idea that modest mouse ever writes anything that isnt a really simple song about death or god being a cruel bastard has the right to do so, but if you take this stuff seriously, read raftman's and mine's comments and at least think about them and the points we argue before telling us we're full of shit On a friendlier note, check out the fanvideo for this song, which can be found on youtube. Trippy and awesome! |
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| Modest Mouse – Parting of the Sensory Lyrics | 18 years ago |
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battleofny et al, That's one simple way of looking at it... Personally, it seems like there's more than just hating that you have to die or having a beef with a god that might not exist for conceiving such a cruel creation. The lyrics, especially at the beginning imply a weariness, and the difficulty in assigning a single meaning in part stems from the juxtaposition of the tired, "it's old, old news to read" and the repitition of his purposeful oversimplification of the circle of life at the end and the anger other lyrics express. I think that the worlds Brock scrutinizes in this song are both the inescapable general reality of the universe and the quietly horrific state of more worldly immediate affairs. A line like "not like you hoped but change will surely come, it will be awful for most but really good for some" reminds me of certain widespread, unsavory political practices. This poetic rant at unfairness and cyclical hopelessness is directed at powers that be, or the state of things, and could be against God (allegedly nonexistent, but still a valid target), people in power who contribute to the inherent cruelty of life's rules, just the way things are in the universe, or some combination of any of the above |
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| Modest Mouse – Parting of the Sensory Lyrics | 18 years ago |
| I would actually not discredit political aspects of this song. I recently bought the album, and on listening several times and looking at the lyrics, I would say that there are parts that, while written brilliantly enough to remain open to interpretation, certainly could be construed as strong political statements. This song and Steam Engenius especially come to mind (the latter being about a robot designed to solve humanity's problems who was torn apart because he couldn't act natural, "you cheered as I was split in half, a mechanical sacrificial calf for you... Both halves are the better half... stasis is what you got... in the past talking present tense, gonna break it gonna wreck it, gonna try to make it all MAKE SENSE" definitely could be construed as a criticism towards the conservative mindset). Just because modest mouse tended to avoid political songs in the past doesnt mean Isaac doesn't reserve the right to write about what he sees and what provokes him. Certainly it's possible that these flexible, amazing artists sometimes write something that's more than a reference to death and atheism! | |
| Modest Mouse – Dashboard Lyrics | 19 years ago |
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Hummm ummm ummm I agree with those who said that this is sort of a rehash of the significance of float on (which I actually thought was a very interesting song, with the cathartic shouting at the end, it really subverted the lyric. The voices were so insitent that the message seemed to become one of desperation, like saying "everything's going to be alright" with the subtext of "We're all doomed and it's totally unfair and underneath this cool exterior I'm boiling with rage at the world") The lyrics aren't bad, though the song seems a little one dimensional, which specifically is what I find dissapointing. I get the feeling like MM is moving more and more towards generalizations and I haven't heard a really solid, awesome idea from them in a little bit. That doesn't mean the album won't be good. Thinking about previous albums, I think the individual songs from earlier albums were stronger, but the later albums worked better as a whole. Also, Brock is really, really good at doing all out, brutally honest passion, when he decides to, which I hope will be included on this album. For instance, Black Caddillacs, which I think may be my favorite song off Good News, had very little complex metaphor or anything to obscure the meaning: Somebody turned out to be fickle, something that took time and effort to build fell apart, the singer is back at square one with one less illusion and a lot more baggage. As long as Brock can find something to express, he'll express it well, and the band is tight enough to make it work. I just hope he keeps feeling things |
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