| Sufjan Stevens – Chicago Lyrics | 13 years ago |
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The biggest clue to the meaning of this song is the line "We sold our clothes to the state." Why would the state purchase someone's clothing? Presumably because that person is becoming a ward of the state. A ward of the state might be a child, but in this case I think it's someone in a mental institution. Someone who would say, "I made a lot of mistakes, in my mind, in my mind." Now let me tie this all together. The song is addressed to a person who came to the mental institution, where he picked up several people. He drove these people in a van to New York. In this trip they experienced great new freedom, and they all grew from the experience. Obviously this song is about the 1989 comedy film The Dream Team, starring Michael Keaton! The only line that I can't sort out is the mention of Chicago. I can only guess Sufjan added this at the last minute to fit the song into the Illinois theme, going so far as to use this for the song title. |
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| mewithoutYou – Messes of Men Lyrics | 14 years ago |
| One thing I have to add: "... is a memory as useless as a rod without a reel" is a fantastic line. It's a double metaphor. He is pointing out how useless the memory of one lusty night is to him now, but he's also making reference to the way he was that night, out of control and thinking only with his... you get the idea. | |
| mewithoutYou – Messes of Men Lyrics | 14 years ago |
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Great song. I take it to be the story of someone who destroyed his marriage with an affair. I think there's very little that is explicitly Christian in this song, but much of that has to do with what you bring into it as the listener. The lines "made everything look wrong from anywhere we stood, and our paper blew away before we'd left the bay", and "watching sink the heavy ship of everything we knew" show how their married life was completely and disastrously upturned. The line "such distance from our friends, like a scratch across a lens" speaks to how tangled mutual friendships might be after such an event. I read several different opinions on the line "I drank a thimbleful of fire and I'm not ever going back." I think this is speaking of the affair as well. While it was passionate in the moment, it was really fleeting and insubstantial looking back on it. And yet, it was enough that he can never go back to his old life. |
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| Mason Jennings – Ulysses Lyrics | 17 years ago |
| This is a song about feeling lost and alone in life, and losing to one's fears. He looks for answers in an old book of wisdom, in his desire for a girl, and ultimately in gin. The book doesn't teach him anything, the girl is only a fantasy, and he's not even able to buy his drink of choice. Sarcastically he compares himself to Ulysses at the end because he "heroically" avoided getting drunk. | |
| Graham Coxon – No Good Time Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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"Wasted little DJ, fillin up the floor and your records are all boring cos you're cool as hell" That's my favorite Graham Coxon line. He's such a great commentator on social trends and the concept of coolness. So many of his songs just drip with irony. This line works so well for him, because he's one of the few artists who can make genuine, thoughtful, creative albums which are also fun and kick ass. |
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| Graham Coxon – What's He Got? Lyrics | 17 years ago |
| This has a retro feel, and I see it as a modern take on 60's rock music. The lyrics are simple and straightforward as a song from that era tends to be, which adds to the effect. Fun song! | |
| Belle & Sebastian – Act of the Apostle II Lyrics | 18 years ago |
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This is the continued story of the girl from part I. She has a challenging home life, and escapes by listening to music. This is where she finds God and/or revelation. (Like Paul heard from God on the Damascan Road.) Her favorite broadcast is of a choir from a big church in the city. They are what she listened to during her revelatory moment, and so she decides to go on a quest to see the women singing in the choir face to face. It's her way of trying to grow up, seek answers, and find her own way. She doesn't know exactly what to expect but hopes to find it when she gets there. Unfortunately, she doesn't even get into the church! God has not answered, and she finds herself alone in the unfriendly city. She's back to square one of her (dare I say it) life pursuit. |
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| Belle & Sebastian – Song for Sunshine Lyrics | 18 years ago |
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This song has quite a cheesy 70's groove to it, and an equally cheesy "modern life is rubbish / why can't we get along" message. And yet... I like it anyway! Go figure. I'd say it's the weakest song on a stunningly fantastic album. |
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| Elliott Smith – King's Crossing Lyrics | 18 years ago |
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I agree with those who have said this song is about heroin and Elliot's music career, and not about suicide. It does touch on death, but I think that's mostly about how heroin is a way to check out from life, and how an overdose could be a permanent checkout. The final section is describing waking up in a hospital after nearly overdosing. Time is reversing as he comes off his high and is pulled back from nearly dying. At that point he realizes he almost killed himself, and that seems to scare him. I think that this following section is talking about the stress of touring: Open your parachute and grab your gun Falling down like an omen, a setting sun Read the part and return at five It's a hell of a role if you can keep it alive He grabs his guitar (gun) and the performance is full of glory and sound, but at the same time he feels himself falling apart. Then he decides he just doesn't care because he's going to shoot up after the show. I think that "I've seen the movie" could also be talking about anti-drug promos shown on TV or in school. This is your brain, this is your brain on drugs, etc. He knows perfectly well what he's getting into. The whole song makes more-or-less sense to me now, except those first four lines. The theory about the safe injection site in Australia seems most likely, because the "scraping subject" would fit right in there. I like the Elvis theory but I'm not sure if it really adds up. |
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