| Elliott Smith – Pretty Mary K (Dead Imagination) (Either/Or demos) Lyrics | 14 years ago |
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To me, this song invokes imagery of suicide to spite an unrequited love: "I'm going to go down in the water Fill my mouth up full of sand I'll be waiting, still impatient With my dead imagination while you're with some other man" He wants her to discover his body so that she realizes how she's hurt him. "Pretty Mary K is off in somebody's room I'm down here by the bay, my arm around the moon But I'll be with you soon just as soon as I pay A walk across the water with pretty Mary K Walk on water, pretty Mary K" "Just as soon as I pay" could refer to paying the toll for the ferry to cross the river Styx which leads to the underworld. |
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| Interpol – Not Even Jail Lyrics | 16 years ago |
| This is close to the way I interpret this song. | |
| Interpol – Not Even Jail Lyrics | 16 years ago |
| This is close to the way I interpret this song. | |
| Interpol – Not Even Jail Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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My interpretation of the song is that the narrator is at a point in his life where he's become numb and wants to feel something again. He is ready to settle down "if things come alive." He may have issues with substance abuse or violence, but is honest and wants to change for the better. I'll lay down my glasses (he will stop looking at other women) I'll lay down in houses (he is ready to settle down) if things come alive. I'll subtract pain by ounces, Yeah, I will start painting houses, if things come alive I promise to commit no acts of violence, Be it physical or otherwise, If things come alive (he will be the best he can for her) I'll say it now I'll say it now I'll say it now Oh, I'll say it now Cuz I want it now (he is tired of not feeling alive or feeling loved and wants it NOW) When personality is scarred tissue, We travel South with disuse I'm subtle like a lion's cage Such a cautious display (talking about his personality/demeanor) Remember take hold of your time here Give some meanings to the means To your end. Not even jail. (he has fallen into a routine and wants to change his life) We marshal in the days of longing, We tremble like anyone's children, And wink towards the fire. (subtlety) I'm erring on the side of caution, Betraying no other symptom, But girl, you shake it right. (he tries to keep it to himself but wants her badly) I will bounce you on the lap of silence, We will free up to the beats of science, And girl, you shake it right (my favorite line!) I'll say it now Oh, but hold it still, darling, your hair so pretty (stay in this moment) Can't you feel the warmth of my sincerity? You make motion when you cry You're making people's lives feel less private. Had to take time away (she takes away his loneliness but he still needs time to himself) You make motion when you cry (she doesn't understand his behavior) we all hold hands, can't we all hold hands, When we make new plans? (self-explanatory) I pretend like no one else To try and control myself. I'm subtle like a lion's cage. Such a cautious display. (he keeps his emotions under control) Remember take hold of your time here, Give some meanings to the means To your end Not even jail |
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| Porcupine Tree – Drawing the Line Lyrics | 16 years ago |
| I love the chorus. | |
| Thom Yorke – Atoms For Peace Lyrics | 16 years ago |
| It's about duality. There are two ways to perceive life: so many allies, or so many lies. It's about fighting to maintain a positive mental attitude. | |
| Fleet Foxes – Icicle Tusk Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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I think the person speaking witnessed the coal miner's daughter being murdered for money. He was peeking through the wall at the prostitute with her murderer (keyhole peeker). "Twenty-five grand on the table Of the high wall street stable I'm not responsible for The reputation of the Neighborhood whore" The murderer tries to rationalize the act to the witness after the fact, using her reputation as a prostitute against her. The speaker isn't concerned with this fact, and takes justice into his own hands as he sees fit. "Icicle tusk" represents the weapon used, perhaps an ice pick. |
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| Interpol – Mind Over Time Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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I think this song is about someone close to you, who is near death but having trouble coping with it. "I will still be up by fall I'll still be up by fall either way Still be up by fall I'll be still to hear the call either way" You know you will be around to see this person die. "Street of thought In all your bones Hold your place and Save your throne Lie awake supine and golden Wait for grace It's time" I think the person is holding onto life and waiting for the right time to pass away. "Mind over time Mind over time" If you have the will to live, you can stick it out a little longer. "Sleight of fate And borrowed clothes Songs of places No one knows Draped in lace we all lean over To greet the great It's time" This is accepting that we are all going to die, eventually. It is our shared fate. |
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| Arcade Fire – Wake Up Lyrics | 17 years ago |
| Suicide? | |
| Radiohead – Weird Fishes/Arpeggi Lyrics | 17 years ago |
| following a cult leader | |
| Radiohead – Nude Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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"Don't get any big ideas They're not gonna happen You paint yourself white And fill up with noise But there'll be something missing" About how you have to be what society wants of you--and you learn to let go of your own dreams, your own meaning. "Now that you've found it, it's gone Now that you feel it, you don't You've gone off the rails" You find the meaning-then it disappears just as quickly as it came. "You'll go to hell for what your dirty mind is thinking" Another example of how mass religion brainwashes people out of their creativity. |
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| Radiohead – 15 Step Lyrics | 17 years ago |
| a relationship where one person feels the other has cut them off emotionally and then "cuts the string" | |
| Radiohead – Myxomatosis. (Judge, Jury, & Executioner.) Lyrics | 17 years ago |
| without having read any of the above comments, it's about alzheimer's disease... mixed memories. | |
| Radiohead – Videotape Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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"I won't be afraid, because I know today has been the most perfect day I've ever seen." When someone decides to end their life after a long time of suffering, everything seems more beautiful and meaningful to the person. |
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| Interpol – Pioneer to the Falls Lyrics | 18 years ago |
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This song makes me think of someone recently deceased, whom the narrator was close though he still doesn't buy into the make-believe notion that the soul is eternal. But if it's still pretty wet With all these leaks We'll be fine, unsupervised Perhaps this line means the pain is fresh and the deceased is still being mourned. They feel the loss greatly. |
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| Porcupine Tree – Buying New Soul Lyrics | 18 years ago |
| This song is about staying true to yourself, even if it means being unhappy. It'd be easy to give into the mainstream, but you wage your little war against them and get ignored. I think it's mostly about the music industry. | |
| Porcupine Tree – Trains Lyrics | 18 years ago |
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Nostalgia. "Train set and match spied under the blind." As a kid, he spied on the train through the blinds in his cousin's bedroom. "Scars in the country, the summer, and her." Bittersweet memories of a lost love, or a love that's faded. "You're tying me up, I'm dying of love." I always pictured the lover tying him to the railway tracks...but it could also be referring to his longing for her love, or bondage even. |
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| Porcupine Tree – Pure Narcotic Lyrics | 18 years ago |
| He's in love with a girl that once loved him back, but doesn't anymore. She expects too much from him, he feels like a let-down. "Leave me dreaming on a railway track, wrap me up and send me back"--listen to Trains. | |
| Porcupine Tree – It Will Rain For A Million Years Lyrics | 18 years ago |
| Another possibility is space travel- the "capsule" above the blue planet. Or drugs of course. | |
| Porcupine Tree – It Will Rain For A Million Years Lyrics | 18 years ago |
| Near Death Experience or reincarnation. | |
| Porcupine Tree – Lips of Ashes Lyrics | 18 years ago |
| In Open Car, the girl he has meaningless sex with is smoking. The sex eases his pain. "I drill down inside" could have more than one meaning-sexual &/or violent. | |
| Porcupine Tree – Open Car Lyrics | 18 years ago |
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Some of the lyrics are wrong. The correct ones are: "You think you're smart, I think you're art, We agree on this" If you listen to any of the other songs, he obviously loves this girl who doesn't love him back. She just uses him. |
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| Porcupine Tree – Arriving Somewhere But Not Here Lyrics | 18 years ago |
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This song is obviously about the mystery of death. A few lines could be about rejecting a major religion. Steve Wilson does look down upon Christianity. "Never look for the truth in your mother's eyes" - Many mothers try to protect their kids from the truth. "Ever had the feeling you've been here before? Drinking down the poison the way you were taught" Could be a reference to reincarnation. "Ever thought from here on in your life begins And all you knew was wrong?" Rejecting what you've been taught to believe and deciding for yourself what is true. "Did the scissors cut a way to your heart? Did you feel the envy for the suns of mothers tearing you apart?" Being agnostic or atheist can be very hard at times. It's so much easier to believe we're being taken care of by someone (sons of mothers=believers). Your brain tells you one thing, your heart another. |
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| Porcupine Tree – How Is Your Life Today? Lyrics | 18 years ago |
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At first, I thought it was about contemplating suicide, after a lover has left. "the neighbours have guessed 'cos I've cancelled the milk and they don't hear your voice through the walls anymore" Then it hit me that Steve Wilson loves to write dark lyrics. This line in particular hints at murder... "I was kissed on the cheek by a cold mouth While the taxi was waiting like a getaway car" The cold mouth could be that of a corpse. "Each second seems like a lifetime And the cat it's been staring at me all this time" These lines hint at guilt, maybe regret. Finally, "how is your life today?" seems like he's mocking the dead lover who wanted to leave. |
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