| Destroyer – Watercolours into the Ocean Lyrics | 12 years ago |
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I was listening to this song today and I was struck by how reminiscent the imagery is of Al Stewart's "The Year of the Cat." A foreign country. A mysterious person/woman/story. A whirlwind adventure. Dan: "And wore her watercolours into the ocean." Al: "She comes out of the sun in a silk dress running like a watercolor in the rain." |
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| Jens Lekman – Maple Leaves Lyrics | 15 years ago |
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The strings are actually a sample from "Do You Wanna Dance" by the Mamas and the Papas. I love how Jens uses samples in his music--they just fit so well! I love his linguistic creativity too, oh the puns! |
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| Jane's Addiction – Jane Says Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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The part that really resonates with me is Jane says "I've never been in love - no" She don't know what it is She only knows if someone wants her "I only want 'em if they want me,..." "I only know they want me..." Farell's insightful expression of a feeling that is so difficult to put into words absolutely blows my mind. Jane was NOT, in fact, a prostitute; I think this part of the song becomes more meaningful and potent if the prostitute interpretation is avoided. The despair and frustration of the feeling of being used is expressed beautifully and pointedly in this passage without sounding trite or shallow. These lines simultaneously evoke the feeling when you hear something and think "That's EXACTLY how it is" so much to the extent that it becomes painful to hear out loud, but also so enticing and magnetic that you have to play the song on repeat every night when you come home after an empty day. |
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| The Dismemberment Plan – Back And Forth Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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i don't think anyone can ever exhaustively pick apart this song and all it's meaning and complexity. i think when someone listens to this for the first time (maybe not a DP fan) they might think he's just speaking nonsense just to make it sound cool/like psuedo-rapping or something (I've gotten this reaction from friends who dont really appreciate the beautiful lyrics and can only make out the ironically inane chorus...) i find that the imagery in this song absolutely blows my mind. i know that most songs can be considered poetry, but to me, this one really stands out as more poetic than the rest. this song is like a psychedelic dream swimming through jello with glitter in it. |
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| Death Cab for Cutie – Lowell, MA Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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one of my top 3 death cab songs (along with "we laugh indoors" and "title track"). i think everyone above pretty much covered the lyrics. it has such an eerie, foreboding sound to it that is somehow so creepy yet addicting at the same time. it gives me the chills. the sound also kind of reminds me of surfing music (although this is more depressing/in a minor key)... i guess its the ringing/echoing chords that give it that effect. i know this may be a touchy topic, but the imagery also makes me think of 9/11 (for obvious reasons), even though the song was released first. for awhile i couldn't listen to it. |
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| The Decemberists – California One/Youth and Beauty Brigade Lyrics | 16 years ago |
| gorgeous song that calms, cleanses, and rejuvenates the spirit. my favorite part is the piano right before "anabel lies..." and that stanza is my favorite, not for the lyrics necessarily, but i think colin's voice sounds the most beautiful in this section. i too think of this part as the transition between the two parts. this song is a soothing lullabye, and if songs were able to physically touch people, this one would be a very light (almost ticklish), comforting stroke on the arm. | |
| Earth, Wind & Fire – Let's Groove Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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this song cracks me up. so cheesey, but you can't be upset or mad when you listen to it, it 's just impossible. everyone should see the music video for it too, just make sure you pee before you watch it http://youtube.com/watch?v=_XOY7lsBVpo they must have made it when green screen was becoming popular. when i watch it/ hear it, i can't belive this actually exists. AMAZING |
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| Tears for Fears – Everybody Wants to Rule the World Lyrics | 16 years ago |
| avesjohn--i definitely feel the same "ominous" vibe you get... i was a baby/little kid when this song was popular (I was born in 86), and it somehow has a bittersweet pang of childhood memories for me (not that my childhod was bad at all, it was wonderful and that's why it makes me sad). i guess the feeling it inspires in me is longing, for the times when i was a little kid. also, for some reason it definitely reminds me of going to the dentist. this song, for me, is a lot less about the lyrics/intended meaning and more about the memories i associate with it and the lonely/bittersweet yet victorious feel i get from it (i know that sounds contradictory but it's just how it feels) | |
| Widespread Panic – Airplane Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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the intro/hook is one of my favorites. even though the lyrics are simple, i like how they are stream-of-consciousness and they kind of reflect the way your mind wanders when you're just chilling/sitting around/waiting or something. i agree-- really simple but so fitting for this song |
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| The Jim Yoshii Pile Up – heart my home Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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Hmm.. no one has posted on this. This song seems pretty straightforward, but some has some beautiful simiies that I think are so original, unique, and basically perfect (I don't know how else to put this); I'm listening and I'm like "YES! That's EXACTLY how it is..." For example the line "an audience that can't and won't react"/"chooses not to react" could mean a number of things, but it always comes to mind when I'm engaged in a conversation w/ someone, and I get enthusiastic/passionate/excited about an idea or anything, and the other person will just not react. It seems so strange. For example, when someone says "That sounds great. I'm so excited," in a monotone voice and without exclamation points, it just seems so unnnatural and incongruous. I know this isn't the main point of the song (or perhaps not even an auxiliary point), but it really resonates with me. The image/analogy I really like is "all his bad intentions turn to birds, they flock to him, like st francis in his garden." St Francis is the patron saint of animals (primarily, among other things) and there's a story about how he was in the woods filled with birds and preached to them and blessed them. You can also see statues of his likeness in many gardens. I think this comparison is just amazing, like the quantity and affinity for the main character's "bad intentions" to plague him is akin to the birds toward St Francis. |
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| The Dismemberment Plan – The Other Side Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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AMAZING AMAZING AMAZING. In my top 5 dp songs ever. I love the crazy time signature and the schizo-ness of the background contrasted with the melancholy ringing sounds throughout the song (what is that instrument in the beginning/midway after "other side"? I'm guessing guitar with some funky effects on it, but who knows?) The lyrics are absolutely genius; my favorites in particular are basically the entire second stanza. The metaphors, analogies, and imagery (the wind and the slugs? absolutely beautiful and ingenius) in this song are dead-on. Not one word is wasted breath. One line that really stands out to me--not because it is particularly unique, but because of the sentiment-- is "there'll be days when you don't know how you picked the wrong life." I think many people go through a time or think they have a revelation that what they are doing with their lives is not what they were meant to do/be, or that one has missed his/her calling. The feeling is one of such immense dispair that the path you have chosen for yourself is totally wrong and that if only you had done something else you'd truly be fulfilled and happy, yet you are so far along doing what you've been doing all along and it's impossible to get to the "other side." I could go on and on and pick apart every amazing line, but I think the lyrical beauty needs to speak for itself and for each individual listener. djmog-- totally love the remix (if you're referring to the one on "A People's History..."), although I wouldn't say it's better, but a completely different feel (I think it has less of a despairing, melancholic feel and more of a chaotic yet resigned vibe). |
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| Belle & Sebastian – Nice Day for a Sulk Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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This song is amazing. I love how the sound and the title are incongruous-- the song chugs/marches along kind of with a feeling of being carefree/oblivious to everything going on (if that makes sense?) The sound has a feel of being at your grandma's house as a little kid and she's making you a sandwich and all you can think about is how content you are with your grandma and your sandwich in her happy kitchen without awareness of the world's troubles. However, the title is somewhat jarring "nice day....for a sulk" sounds like it is something someone who is jaded with life would say. This hypothetical cynic is no longer excited by life's little pleasures (like sunshine and sandwiches) and would rather be sour to prove a point. Now onto the lyrics themselves... Honestly, I think the lyrics are mostly nonsense/fun/silly. They seem like they could have been lyrics formed by filling out a Mad Lib (those stories where you fill in parts of speech and the end result is often hilarious and nonsensical). I think it's pointless to read too much into these lyrics, but I do think they paint vivid and entertaining imagery for the listener. Seriously, just picture the first stanza... My favorite line is "There's no way you will ever be misunderstood by me." I think there's comfort in knowing someone intimately for a long time (like your best friends in your "gang") and having a deep understanding of eachother and knowing that your intentions/meanings/thoughts will always be understood by at least someone. It certainly is an awful feeling going somewhere where you don't know anyone or only know people on a superficial level and being misunderstood by them. Often, strangers or acquaintances don't really understand what you're saying because they have not spent enough time with you to genuinely know you, but with a best friend/parent/significant other, etc. you can depend on them to "get" you and likewise. The last stanza is less abstract/silly, but describes a carefree summer, listening to Brit bands (The Fall--also referenced in Jens Lekman's "Maple Leaves" and Manfred Mann) dancing the summer away. I could listen to this song on repeat for hours (and I have). It is light and silly and yet still has a bittersweet nostalgic feel to it that betrays the (at times) nonsensical lyrics. |
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| Erykah Badu – A.d. 2000 Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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I always thought that the 4th line of the song was "my name will be misDATED," and my interpretation of the song centered around that line and it's relation to the title. The title "AD 2000" conjures the image of those plaques you see outside of buildings denoting the year of construction. Ms Badu proudly states that having a building named for her (or after anyone for that matter) can never accurately represent all that she stands for, whether now or in the distant future when it would inevitably become rundown. Instead, I like to think that she uses this album as a token of her existence, hence the title "AD 2000" (when the CD was released). Her songs will always remain intact, accessible, and in the form she intended; they will endure for as long as music exists, far longer than any material monument or building would. She changes the line "my name WILL be misdated/mistated" to "my name WON'T be misdated/mistated." This song will carry her voice through time, from 2000 and on into the future; it is her her stamp on the world, more significant and meaningful than any building bearing her namesake could be. |
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