submissions
| The PAper ChAse – The Kids Will Grow Up to Be Assholes Lyrics
| 15 years ago
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There is an irony in the music here: the hip-hop inflections of the song might be a commentary on today's generation of kids, who listen to rap but don't really come from the streets.
Ghosts basically narrate all the songs on "Now You Are One of Us," so this particular spirit is just laying it for some parents. Their kids are selfish brats; the parents' ailments and tales of woe are all they have left in this life. It's a sad existence.
Yet the pAper chAse, as always, isn't meant to me taken literally. Some people complain about the younger generation or their own illnesses as a way to get attention or make themselves feel important. The ghost of "The Kids..." is both satirical commentary on the younger generation and an indictment of parents who won't take responsibility for their own failings.
Ghosts have all the power on this conceptual album. So when Congelton sings "We'll be watching you so watch your mouth," he might mean that people who complain--whether about wayward kids or physical ills--should watch what they are saying. Things could be worse, after all. You could be dead, right? |
submissions
| The PAper ChAse – The House Is Alive and the House Is Hungry Lyrics
| 15 years ago
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"The House Is Alive..." ends the album, and the last words of the song are key to understanding the implicit humor of the pAper chAse: "let's cast a mirror right back at fear/let's show this world we were here."
Throughout the album, ghosts are described in all their bizarre glory; spirits vow vengeance against child abusers, curse the Almighty, and tell parents that their kids suck, all the while taunting we the living with rattling chains and operatic moaning. Yet to fully understand Now You Are One of Us, it takes multiple listenings and the realization that John Congelton is only trying encourage listeners to gain power over fear.
In this song, the ghost narrator wants to haunt a specific target: a perverted "sick sexual" serial killer, who embodies all that is wrong with society. But, as with all pAper chAse songs, it is not necessarily meant to taken literally. Instead, Congelton is "casting a mirror right back at fear," summing up any and all earthly worries, and saying "don't be afraid." It's brilliant satire, but the real brilliance is how this band uses ghosts and the fear of death to affirm life.
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submissions
| Yes – And You And I Lyrics
| 18 years ago
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"And You and I," one of the three perfect songs from the brilliant Yes career pinnacle LP Close to the Edge, may be about a relationship with God the Creator. Many of the lyrics seem to reference being present as the earth, nature, and humans are being engineered; "in the sight of seeds of life with you" in particular seems to imagine the origin of all life on Earth. The denoument, with its soaring visions of flight, also reinforce this notion. If you died and God granted you a wish, might you ask to see a "replay" of creation itself? |
submissions
| Modest Mouse – Parting of the Sensory Lyrics
| 18 years ago
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Something that I don't think has been mentioned here is the idea that the song's structure itself could represent the life cycle. It starts with Brock issuing a nursery rhyme coo (childhood), continues with a tone of bitter disgust (adutlhood), finally ending with that gypsy chanting (the afterlife?).
As for the lyrics, "Parting of the Sensory" is a puzzle. The undertone of the song touches on the fragility of the human body--"this fit like clothes made out of wasps"--and, perhaps, evolution of the species in the line "change will surely come / and be awful for most but really good for some." An allusion to natural selection?
All in all, Parting of the Sensory attempts a much deeper philosophy of human life, but still reaches a mundane (if joyfully sung) denoument: "someday you will die somehow and something's gonna still your carbon." |
submissions
| Joy Division – Transmission Lyrics
| 18 years ago
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The widespread fallacy is that the first verse comes from The Book of Thoth; that notion is from an error in the Mark Johnson book, "An Ideal for Living." In reality, Crowley's writing does not contain the phrase "listen to the silence, let it ring out...etc."
As for Transmission, it may be a commentary on Ian's dread at Joy Division's impending popularity. The first verse tells of fear of the light (perhaps a metaphor for record sales) and the second verse alludes to people around Ian that thought "nothing was wrong" with the band's successes. A deeply personal track, Transmission is one of Joy Division's very best songs. |
submissions
| The Tragically Hip – Titanic Terrarium Lyrics
| 18 years ago
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One of the most fragile songs on a very dark album, Titanic Terrarium is ostensibly about technology. Blimps and giant cruise ships of yore float through the singer's mind; he is both protected by and imprisoned in a futuristic dome that provides shelter but largely excludes nature (except, of course, pervasive "ants and roaches"). The current situation is sterile and dull, but there is hope at the end: "if there's glory in miracles, it's that they're reversible." Technology is a two-edged sword. |
submissions
| Arcade Fire – Keep the Car Running Lyrics
| 18 years ago
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"Keep the Car Running" is one of the most straightforward songs on the enigmatic Neon Bible LP--one of the very best rock albums, by the way, of this current decade. The second track on Neon Bible is about a terrorist who is trying to comfort his wife; at some point, the bomber knows, she will become a widow. Note the comforting language: anyone would want to think that their dearly departed are in the "same place animals go when they die." Yet the protagonist intends malice towards his enemies. Terrorists often claim responsibility for their actions ("They know my name because I told it to them...keep the car running"). Lastly, the good-natured folk music-tone of the song contrasts with the deadly intentions revealed in the lyrics. All in all, one of Arcade Fire's very darkest--and most misunderstood--songs. |
submissions
| Arcade Fire – Keep the Car Running Lyrics
| 18 years ago
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"Keep the Car Running" is one of the most straightforward songs on the enigmatic Neon Bible LP--one of the very best rock albums, by the way, of this current decade. The second track on Neon Bible is about a terrorist who is trying to comfort his wife; at some point, the bomber knows, she will become a widow. Note the comforting language: anyone would want to think that their dearly departed are in the "same place animals go when they die." Yet the protagonist intends malice towards his enemies. Terrorists often claim responsibility for their actions ("They know my name because I told it to them...keep the car running"). Lastly, the good-natured folk music-tone of the song contrasts with the deadly intentions revealed in the lyrics. All in all, one of Arcade Fire's very darkest--and most misunderstood--songs. |
submissions
| New Order – In A Lonely Place Lyrics
| 18 years ago
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This spooky song was originally a Joy Division track, but is probably best known for its inclusion on the double-disc New Order 12" singles collection, Substance. I think that the song is about the ambiguity of love and hate; violence and affection both elicit such strong emotions so as to confuse the meanings of both ("awful delight"). |
submissions
| New Order – Your Silent Face Lyrics
| 18 years ago
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The lyrics are overwhelmed by the majestic keyboards and Bernard Sumner's melodica playing; the words therefore seem, at first listen, like nonsense. However, the song may be about the moment someone dies. With typical New Order black humor, even in death ("no hearing, no breathing, no movement, no colors, just silence"), the song's narrator is still able to deliver an insult ("why don't you piss off"). |
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