| The National – 90-Mile Water Wall Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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when I read all the comments it struck me that people tend to interpret the love relation within the song in two different ways... some (like me) are seeing the speaker to be the one in love, the girl the one who does not love back. others consider the speaker the one who cannot love the girl back. looking at the lyrics neither of the theories can be contradicted... interesting... we might just see it the way we've last - or strongest - experienced it and this also reminds of how non-mutual love can be a tough thing for both persons involved... (not only for the person who does love) |
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| The Decemberists – Eli, the Barrow Boy Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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when I heard the lines about the pine grove I instantly thought of her having died through murder, and I'm really wondering why noone actually mentioned that... I don't get the impression that she was in fact buried there, but that she was left there dead by whoever might have killed her. and this makes Eli's decision to suicide more likely, seeing how brutally and suddenly she was taken from him. what also strikes me is that Eli says, he wishes to buy his love a fine gown, BUT he is dead, presenting his death as an obstacle, thus unwanted. but then again, if you consider the (very significant) parallel structure of the two stanzas where Eli speaks, it becomes clear how much he wishes their lives and fates to be parellel - he wishes to be with her, "dead and gone" like her. there is also a similar relation between the pine grove and the river, the locations of their deaths: both die in nature; Eli is only brought to the church ground by the others, seemingly involuntarily. in the song, the church ground location destroys the parallelism Eli creates and separates them, even in death. she is in the pine grove, he is in the church ground. this is emphasized very much in the song. the church as an obstacle, a force, an involuntary influence to his (their) life? I feel he is imprisoned in the church yard, thus cannot be with her. I'm still not sure about the shift from "must" push the barrow to "still" push the barrow... apparently, some liberation has taken place, but he does not seem to be able to be with her... is that due to his suicide or because he is "imprisoned" in the church yard, influenced by society's conventions even in death? hm... this song is tremendous. a truly sad and moving piece of art. incredible. |
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| The Decemberists – Summersong Lyrics | 18 years ago |
| oh and by the way is it possible that he sings "I felt her slip into a watery grave" and not "I felt a slip..."? It would definitely make more sense. That would stress that he was on the ship when it sank. | |
| The Decemberists – Summersong Lyrics | 18 years ago |
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When I first heard this song I really loved the melody, music, and intonation but I was rather disappointed at how superficial the lyrics seemed to be. Well, seemed. The parts about death then made me think... It is truly incredible how my mind changed. This song is about a ship, so incredibly much about a ship! There’s no need to discuss the part about the linen = sails anymore, not to mention the bend of the hand = bent hull of the ship that is digging into the sand because it sank. But what about the lips? I really couldn’t figure that one out. And then I found something very amazing. As wikipedia states it, "Lips, or Livos, was the Greek deity of the southwest wind, often depicted holding the stern of a ship.“ wow! See how it all fits? The southwest wind(which stands, by the way, for the summer, again) parting like a “flag unfurled” – wind parting like a flag unfurled, that makes much more sense than if you think about lips as part of the face. And the god holding the stern of the ship is parting, leaving the ship without support, ready to sink. Tremendous. Then I started wondering about the first line. “peppery skin”. I’m not a native English speaker, so do I miss out something obvious here? But peppery skin… if this is about a ship, there must be something more to it. Again I did a little research and found out about the “Peppery furrow shell”, and I thought the ship or its “skin” might be covered by shells because it sank. But these shells don’t seem to cover rocks and other stuff so I probably got carried away a bit… any ideas about that? Apart from that I agree that Summer could be the name of the ship, it fits well with “blows away” and “gets swallowed by a wave”. I also agree that the speaker is a sailor that died when the ship sank. But what about “waylaid, the din of the day”? Waylaid by a storm, that makes a lot of sense… but does the “din of the day” only refer to the noise of the storm – it is after all the din “of the day”? Don't know about that one either... Oh I really love this song by now. The lyrics are simply great – the way the stylistic devices are interwoven, and how there is so much more to it than you would think at first glance! Amazing. |
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