| Pavement – Shady Lane Lyrics | 13 years ago |
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This is a song that I've listened to fairly regularly for at least 15 years and never explored the lyrics too deeply, even though I like to analyze lyrics. About 6 months ago I was listening to Pavement as it'd been a while, and when this song came on it just hit me. I think I needed to live a few more decades with this song in my head for it to sink in the way that it did. Disclaimer: I might seem simple even daft for not putting it together, but sometimes only experience can open your mind to certain revelations. It might not even be the intended meaning but it's a new way of looking at it for me: I actually think both sections are from the same person's p.o.v., the two just happen to be years apart by his changed perspective. To me, it's about the usually unaware human cycle of perpetuating the roles that are before us, be they demonstrated through music, art, literature, politics, family, etc. In this song, the symbol of family is used. The date shows two people who are mutual risk takers putting on airs. this could work as an allegory for any sort of meeting between interested parties/lobbyists in politics or musician/agent whatever. The line about the emory board giving him a rash demonstrates that he was trying to enter a role for which he simply isn't suited - the oysters, the fanciness, it grates to the point that he has to admit he's broke and it's all a farce. she finds this upsetting, probably because something about their encounter made them click. in all of this, there is a beauty because the ugly truth prevails in their race to deceive/impress the other. all that we want is a shady lane, everyone has their struggles that can vary wildly, but the desires within don't change much from person to person. at this point in their experience, the shady lane represents financial wealth, ease of life, for the universe to smile upon them for a change. as for the extra in a movie adaption of the sequel to your life - i think that's his way of comfortin her rather than an insult. we are never fully in control of our lives and sometimes the safest, least upsetting perspective to take is that of an outsider. i see this line as a sweet cheer up kid this is as good as we're getting. the 2nd section seems like an older, more financially secure narrator speaking to his offspring. don't be rude and stare at those who shock you (possibly the poor and homeless as they make their way into a fancy hotel). being taught to recognize your heirs smacks of sitting in front of photo albums with family and having dead relatives pointed out and named to you, as well as a sort of projection from the man to the children to be stingy with what they have so they may never suffer. a message that says "look after your own - don't worry about those people lying in the streets." the line, "no, not me, i'm an island of such great complexity" reminds me of parents and their silly the do-as-i-say-not-as-i-do rule of thumb. sometimes when people who grow up with very little suddenly are able to make do, they wish to shower their children with all the things they felt they missed as a kid, and unintentionally spoil their own joys with this. I think that's what happens here, and the kid shows little respect throwing some sort of tantrum in the lobby of the hotel, embarrasing our narrator. the fact that his kid seems to show concern/respect for the people in the streets and then berates him in public is the smack in the face that gets this man craving a shady lane again. |
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| Sparklehorse – Tears on Fresh Fruit Lyrics | 14 years ago |
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i don't think the narrator is worried about fresh fruit in the literal sense. he's dead, unable to console her. the first verse, just when you found your way (dead) they come to pick you apart (autopsy) and with acetylene torches (used in cremation). the narrator can do nothing but watch this girl mourn as he enters the crematorium. with regards to the fresh fruit, i believe she's holding a newborn, and as seen from a dead man's eyes, he is wondering why she cries with a new life in her arms. his primary concern is the baby, as he tries to sing a lullaby that only he can hear, behind his skull. that or the person being buried/cremated is just a baby (the fresh fruit), and the narrator is a silent observer unable to see a fit way to be of help/consolation to the bereaved mother, so he plays/sings a lullaby for the kid in his head. |
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| Clap Your Hands Say Yeah – Goodbye to Mother and the Cove Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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i feel pretty sure that the first half of the 2 word lines refers to pregnancy and birth. "skin thick / to tell" beginning to show i think that instead of "the air to speak" it's "the air too sweet" and that "not sick / nor well / the air / too sweet" refers to morning sickness then goes on to describe the baby forming, then the trip to the hospital (running a light/stop sign on the way?), the birth, first feeding, and back home not sure about the last half, and the background vocals on that bit drive me up the wall. i come back to it every now and then, but all i can make out is "she will find his feet will run" (at least i think that is what's said) and something about a photo album. |
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| Atmosphere – Spaghetti Strapped Lyrics | 17 years ago |
| happy clown bad dub 8 | |
| Okkervil River – A Glow Lyrics | 17 years ago |
| i think this song could be about an affair resulting in a pregnancy. the reference to the glow is either the well known glow that pregnant women have or the glowing vibe that people who have just made a life changing decision carry. perhaps she had an abortion, thus the blood on her clothes. i think the father is someone other than the singer and that the pregnancy has been terminated or the baby died at birth: "no heart that was mine, no hand that i'd hold" | |
| The Flaming Lips – The Sound of Failure/It's Dark... Is It Always This Dark?? Lyrics | 18 years ago |
| i read that they wrote this for some friends whose father was dying of cancer. they were fed up with pretending to be optimistic, and also with having to hear fake enthusiastic pop music everywhere they went. it's about a girl whose best friend died and accepts that it's ok to fail to understand such darkness and not parade around shitting rainbows. | |
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