| Beat Happening – Cry for a Shadow Lyrics | 16 years ago |
| To me, this song has a sweet, simple meaning. Calvin likes a girl, but she rejects him in favor of more aloof guys who don't really care about her. These guys never stick around, and she is continually hurt ("they come and go, leave you shattered"). Calvin sees the "patterns" of this behavior and equates it with crying for a shadow--as in, mourning the loss of something that was never really there to begin with, which is pointless. Though his "heart cries out to her", she can't seem to spare any emotion for him, and he has to admit that he, too, is crying for a shadow by liking her so much and feeling sad when she pays him no attention ("I've cried for a few"). Still, to him even her tears are precious, and he continues to dream of the day that she might give him a chance. | |
| Blink-182 – All the Small Things Lyrics | 17 years ago |
| I remember reading a long time ago that they needed one more song for their album, and so they wrote this in like, ten minutes. And that they had to call up a bunch of different people to make sure they were using the word "commiserating" correctly. So I think its a safe bet that this song means absolutely nothing; its just a bunch of words strung together because they rhyme. | |
| Commander Venus – Showcase Showdown Lyrics | 18 years ago |
|
Oh, the memories.. Commander Venus! I was thinking the same exact thing about the "reasonable man" line. I always giggle. They're men now, though. Here, not so much. |
|
| Bright Eyes – Spring Cleaning Lyrics | 18 years ago |
| *haunting. Damn typos. | |
| Bright Eyes – Hit the Switch Lyrics | 18 years ago |
| Last time I saw him live, he changed the line "when I kneel at the toilet" to "when I sit on the toilet". I'm not kidding. I cracked up so much, but I don't think anyone else noticed. Yeah, LOVELY imagery there.. not. | |
| Bright Eyes – Spring Cleaning Lyrics | 18 years ago |
| Actually, I saw Conor sing this song live last night, and it sounded hanting and beautiful. So yes, this song works with his voice as well. | |
| Bright Eyes – Motion Sickness Lyrics | 18 years ago |
| Does anyone else notice how he sneezes near the end? I swear thats what it is. Please tell me I'm not crazy.. | |
| Bright Eyes – We Are Free Men Lyrics | 18 years ago |
|
Ah, you beat me to it! I was going to link that interview. You put it to words perfectly. I have heard him state more than once that he believes in God. Though I never claimed he was "religious". He's not... thank God. Really though, I didn't mean to turn this into a debate about the singer's theism [or lack thereof]. Regardless, this is a great song. |
|
| Tom Green – The Bum Bum Song Lyrics | 18 years ago |
| Call me crazy, guys, but I have this kind of weird theory about what this song really means: I THINK [though I could be wrong] that Tom green is trying to say that he likes to put his bum on things and generally thinks butts are funny. | |
| Bratz – Grow Up! (Blah, blah, blah) Lyrics | 18 years ago |
|
I clicked on this via "latest comment". And I'm horrified. THIS is what our little girls are being taught to think like now? Oh my God. Listen, I'm the first to shake my head at feminazis who boycott Barbie, but this is taking it too far. When my daughter [she's 18 months] is old enough to play with such dolls, she won't be getting any Bratz, thats for damn sure. Girls, please. This is consumerism, plain and simple. "Get a cell phone. Get new clothes. Buy more makeup. Don't speak properly, because obviously thats not cool." Fight this. Seek out real music and real role models. This is not what cool is. And they thought MY generation had it bad... But you know, why am I even bothering to say this. I'm sure all you hear is "blah blah blah"... |
|
| The Decemberists – Red Right Ankle Lyrics | 18 years ago |
| I listened to this song on the night that my daughter, Annemarie, was born. I cried then because the words to the first verse suddenly made perfect sense to me when I looked at her. When you have a child with someone, parts of both them and you come together to make someone new entirely. | |
| Pedro the Lion – June 18, 1976 Lyrics | 18 years ago |
|
I've tried to like this song, honestly. I mean, its not a bad song... but the lyrics really, really bother me. I'm sure they're probably not true [which by the way, neither was 'padraic my prince' but i'm sure you all know that] but I am still outraged at the way the lyrics romanticize the idea of a woman who left her newborn without a mother by choice. There is nothing "beautiful" about that no matter how sad you are; its just plain selfish and ultimately, cruel. I'm annoyed by how people seem to eat it up, too. If you want to listen to a REAL suicide song in which the protagonist makes a humane, unselfish decision because of his loved ones, listen to "no lies, just love" by bright eyes. And no, I do not need a kleenex right now or anything of the sort. Gaaah! |
|
| Bright Eyes – Napoleon's Hat Lyrics | 18 years ago |
|
Thank God this didn't come out until I was already out of high school. Otherwise I probably would have tried to use it to study for history tests and failed miserably. I've always had a hypothesis that the Napoleon verse is a tad personal, too, because Conor himself is quite small physically [I was surprized at how tiny he was in person] and now he finds himself something of a "hero" to a lot of kids. |
|
| Bright Eyes – When the Curious Girl Realizes She Is Under Glass Lyrics | 18 years ago |
| Um scrumpy, I hate to break this to you, but he didn't actually have a brother who drown in a bathtub- that was completley made up. | |
| Bright Eyes – Something Vague Lyrics | 18 years ago |
|
The only thing that has ever really been clear to me about this song is the reference to "hanging like a star for all their starving eyes to see". Simply- "they" [the possesors of the "starving eyes"] are the people from the narrator's hometown. They never got out, fell into dull routine lives and hence, thier eyes are "starving" for anyone or anything slightly more exiting or beautiful. And now they have just that, their very own "star" who came from the same place as them but somehow got out and became something so much more. They stare and wonder at him, and he feels sorry. Also the Tim Kasher meaning discussed ealier is interesting. I know that they are dear friends. |
|
| Tilly and the Wall – The Freest Man Lyrics | 18 years ago |
| I just thought I should point out that there is in fact a Bright Eyes song entitled "We are free men". | |
| Bright Eyes – We Are Free Men Lyrics | 18 years ago |
|
Wow. I'm surprized that so many people took this song so differently than I did. To me, these words are not about a person at all- they are about spirituality and a relationship [or lack thereof] with God or a higher power. First verse- The narrator is disillusioned with religion [perhaps mainstream religion, which he has found to be false] in general and takes on an athiest, nothing-means-anything attitude towards it all. [I.e, "so tell me whats the use to pick and choose from what you should or shouldn't do, thats time spent better sleeping in your bed."] But living a life completly devoid of any kind of beliefs makes him untimatley empty and further unhappy with himself. Which brings us to verse 2... he finds success but still can't find contentment. So out of desperation, he decides to once again "embrace the ephemeral" and finds real comfort in it. By now he has grown up a bit and realizes that he doesn't have to be a part of the constrictive religion he disliked in order to be a spiritual person, and likewise, he can have beliefs without feeling that he's conforming. He realizes that ultimately, there must be something bigger than himself out there- it can't be "all just physical"- as in saying that only science exists and we are all just bodies and when we are gone thats it. Thus with this newfound clarity, he wants to "drink in everything that is" and not waste any more time in life than he already has. Yet while he now belives that there is in fact a God, he excepts that he may never know who or what it is, or even if it cares about human beings at all. He continues to reject the values held by most mainstream religions about "right and wrong". The songs ends with a blatant statement of theism "We will be lifted up from all of this, yeah we will transcend the insignifigance of our existence. Now your body's gone but angel you will live." He belives that there is a God and an afterlife, and with that he finds peace. Conor Oberst is not an athiest! People often say this, but its untrue. This song seems to be a sort of personal manifesto of his spirituality. |
|
* This information can be up to 15 minutes delayed.