| Laura Veirs – Chimney Sweeping Man Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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I pulled this from wikipedia: "Chimney sweeps were often depicted in Victorian literature as heartless scoundrels who abused their barbies child workers. The English poet William Blake portrayed the chimney sweep as an abused child who hoped for a better life." If we look at the chimney sweep from this perspective then the man referring to himself as a "chimney sweeping man" might be referring to a man who is admitting he turned out as a bad man. He sings about how he used to want to make things better, but now he has these black lines on the backs of his hands (signifying his bad acts). With his great aspirations to make things better, his cheshire grin, high IQ And charming baby blues, you might have thought he would turn out to be a good man, but instead he labors as a scoundrel chimney sweeping man. |
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| Tom Waits – Had Me a Girl Lyrics | 16 years ago |
| I always felt this song was a man in the hospital after a serious accident or discovering a serious illness. He is all alone with no one there to support him. The Dr. says he will be OK, but he is feeling lonely and reminiscing about his past lovers, how none of them worked out and about how now he is alone with no one who loves him to care for him. That his past girls are all from different locales suggests that this might be the same character as in Tom Traubert's Blues (this would be a prequel to that song). | |
| The Decemberists – A Bower Scene Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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I'm thinking this makes more sense: A woman's private chamber in a medieval castle; a boudoir. http://www.thefreedictionary.com/bower Thus, she's sitting in her room in a castle. I agree with the your cistern assessment. |
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| The Decemberists – The Hazards of Love 3 (Revenge!) Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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"Spare the rod, you'll spoil the child, but I prefer the lash" Any ideas on what is meant by this? Dawn and Charlotte seem to express a sort of sarcastic naivete (Papa, we died on accident, but don't worry, we're back!) whereas Isaiah is clearly aware he and his sisters were murdered (also evident in the Rake's Song). As such, I think this line might be different than the preceding openers by Dawn and Charlotte. I am thinking it could be some sort of threat to his father that in death his father is going to get it. I guess it could also be a reference to his father beating him, but that's no fun. |
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| Violent Femmes – Waiting For The Bus Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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I went ahead and requested a correction in the report thread for "we all get late". I really like the line "We got the mother and the kids we got the guy and his date" because public transport is so like that. People with completely different backgrounds, interests and motives are all working together (at least in some very basic sense) to navigate the often ridiculously inefficient/confusing bus system. Buses are great for people watching. I love it. |
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| Aberfeldy – A Friend Like You Lyrics | 18 years ago |
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This song is about friends who are the social butterfly type. You might consider them good friends, or close to you, but you don't get to spend much time together because they are too busy networking all the time or being the social butterfly type that has to talk to everyone at the party. They flutter around the party you brought them too even though you wish they would just land on you. Relationships like this are rough because the social butterfly makes you feel like you are a friend at their convenience, when they have time (Do we stick like glue, when it's easy to do) The singer is bothered by the butterfly, but made sacrifices because she believed that they were close friends (I threw a lot of what I was away And I'm all confused today And I'll take anything you hand to me, If I don't know better than you I will agree...), but in fact her friend is only her friend when it's convenient (With a friend like you, baby, what would I do? I think about it all of the time Do we stick like glue, when it's easy to do Or do I wait until you've made up your mind? Can I wait until you've made up your mind?) and as a result she's upset and wants her to make up her mind and decides in the end that she will wait for her to make up her mind whether or not she really wants to be her friend or not. (I will be yours, and baby you will be mine And now I'll wait until you've made up your mind...) |
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