| Enter Shikari – Thumper Lyrics | 12 years ago |
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Worth reflecting on the title - I suspect but cannot evidence that the band intends with the title to reference Dune, where a device called a Thumper is used to attract sandworms in a revolutionary context. The comparison between the rhythmic thumping created by the Thumpers in Dune and the beat/tempo referenced in and part of the song may be the intent. Does anyone know who or what is being referenced by "OK, I admit it, we are totally lost"? On first listening I assumed this was sampled from somewhere. |
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| Enter Shikari – Quelle Surprise Lyrics | 13 years ago |
| Further to my previous analysis, it's clear on re-watching that the lyrics are truncated because the shadowy figures (obviously representing the 'stagnant' institutions) are tugging on the rope around Rou's waist. Again, it'll be interesting to see whether in concert the lyrics are restored or whether they see the truncation as so significant they keep the effect in live performance. | |
| Enter Shikari – Quelle Surprise Lyrics | 13 years ago |
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I think we can take the first verse at face value - nothing in the lyrics or video seems to contradict the notion that Rou is providing an honest appraisal here of humanity's values, which are generally seen as positive in ES's songs. The second verse, however, sees Rou sarcastically complimenting humanity on being 'so fucking adaptable' we can evade the truth, even when it's in our faces. "If it adds weight to the contents of our pockets, we'll sit and stagnate" - i.e. when times are seemingly good we're content not to look below the surface. The next part had me puzzling for a while, but I believe the actual meaning is something like this: "If it adds weight to the contents of our pockets, we'll sit and stagnate with banks, and use rockets/to oversee that it's our bottom line that gets carried to the high seas". Given the general left/anarchist leanings of ES I don't think we need to look too deeply into the reference to banks, except they're viewed as conservative institutions that exemplify 'stagnation'. I suspect the second part of this verse would make more sense (albeit you would lose a crucial half-rhyme) if the word 'overlook' were substituted for 'oversee' - even in British English, 'oversee' actually means to consciously watch and monitor while 'overlook' awkwardly means the opposite; to fail to notice. I suspect ES have the second meaning in mind - if you have to use rockets to get enough height to overlook something, you are going to extreme lengths to ignore its' existence. So: "If it seems to serve our short-term interests, we'll let the good times roll and entrust our futures to conmen, doing absolutely everything we can to avoid recognising that ultimately we're being betrayed". The title drop is a borrowed phrase (probably more common in British English) - although originally French for 'what a surprise', it is used in English with exactly the same pronounciation - 'surprees' (in the same way as 'hoi polloi', Classical Greek for 'the people'). Here the meaning is most likely 'you're in for a rude awakening'. If you ignore that your long-term interests are being undermined by stagnant institutions, you are going to have a nasty surprise. Why in the second verse are the lyrics truncated? My original notion was that ES were leaving the lines short for concert use so the audience could pick them up - but in the video Rou is literally shown as choking on his own words (or possibly being attacked by an invisible opponent). I have seen at least one version of the lyrics where the final line reads "Where it's our bottom line that gets CUT" (a fishing line being cut extends the 'high seas' metaphor introduced earlier), which explains why the other lines are likewise cut short. Alternatively, Rou may just be acting out the human tendency to not want to look at or think about the consequences of inaction; in which case it'll be interesting to see how they play this live. |
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| The Vla – "When I Am Through With You" Lyrics | 15 years ago |
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I agree with Benioff that the song doesn't speak to drug addiction in any specific way. As far as I can tell the song is about a man who believes he has the prerogative to love women and leave them, but has met his match in a woman who it is implied will do the same thing to him. It's possible that there are actually two women in the song - the protagonist pursues and seduces "Daisy" in verse 1 with the aim of breaking her heart - "I'm gonna pluck you right in half." The following chorus is sung in the voice of the protagonist. By verse 2 he has left "Daisy" and is on the hunt again in new stomping grounds ("I come to the city alone"). But his new love calls him by the same name he used to call Daisy and it is implied she will leave him and break his heart - the final chorus is sung in the persona of the new woman. The first line of the first verse - "Oh come back where did you go?" - could be taken as evidence that it's the same woman throughout, and the protagonist thinks he's got her where he wants her when in fact the exact opposite is true. However, the fact that the protagonist has seemingly left the first woman by the beginning of the second verse seems to militate against this interpretation. Without the very first line of the song "Little lamb ... smile!" it might almost be possible to suggest that the protagonist will break the heart of the second woman too, or that verse 2 is basically restating the terms of the relationship in verse 1. However, the fact that the 'second' woman "says "Smile, little lamb"" strongly implies that the tables have turned and the final chorus should be assumed to be hers. Another interpretation could be that the protagonist is a serial killer, and his depredations are simply couched in the language of aggressive romance. Even in this interpretation though, I think there's ample evidence that he has met his match by the end of the second verse. Either way, an excellent song, and a perfect choice for 'Damages', Patty Hewes fitting the persona of the ruthless manipulator to a T. |
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| The Legion of Doom – Destroy All Vampires Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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Possibly significant is the sample that appears after the first hook from "The Shooting Star..." - does anyone know where it comes from? It sounds like a Robert Schuller-style sermon. As far as I can make it out: "(Then?) in a moment, in a twinkling of an eye, Christ will (return?) in those days for all of us. Events unspeakably strange and startling will occur with amazing rapidity". ...followed immediately by the second "Shooting Star" hook. It might also be helpful if someone could decipher Triune's section. |
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| Depeche Mode – John The Revelator Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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Hmm... I think it's fairly obviously criticising the historical/biblical figure rather than being a cloked attack on modern politicians (even if this renders the "stealing a God from the Muslim" hilariously anachronistic). There is, however, one point people haven't mentioned - "Bye-bye" Most versions of the lyrics have it as: "By and by" This seems to me to be a far more compelling rendering. The phrase "by and by" is found in only four verses of the Bible, two of which we can discard as irrelevant as they don't mean much on their own. The others: "But when ye shall hear of wars and commotions, be not terrified: for these things must first come to pass; but the end is not by and by." It's possible that this is being seen as contradictory to the Apocalyptic "hysteria" of the Book of Revelation, which treats every war into a sign of the End Times. "And she came in straightway with haste unto the king, and asked, saying, I will that thou give me by and by in a charger the head of John the Baptist." In other words; the time of this alleged charlatan has come to be exposed. Of course, the fact that this is John the Baptist not John the Evangelist/Revelator might lead us to prefer the first interpretation. Any thoughts? |
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| Necessary Response – Forever Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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Fairly sure it's: "...how I followed through" When I first heard the second verse I assumed it was: "And all this time I've fooled myself it's true" Which to my mind makes more sense, but on re-listening I can see where people are coming from with "force." In this case, there's probably supposed to be a semi-colon somewhere in there. "And all this time I force (or "I've forced") myself; It's true/I'm slipping further than you know." Which would also make sense. I don't know where people are getting "stepping" from, as "slipping" both makes more sense and sounds more accurate. Anyway, any thoughts on the meaning? Since the verse is clearly about the singer telling the subject of the song how much they've hurt him, can we assume the chorus is another character? Or is it intended to reflect that the singer still wants to stay with the subject? I think the most intriguing lines in this song are "though the angels scream and shout for you/they're following me home," which could almost be construed to case this piece into religious terms, unless the "angels" are being used here to mean "good guys," as in "on the side of the angels" (in which case it's just stating that whilst the subject of the song makes a good pretence of having got the worst of their relationship, the singer is the one who has really been wronged). |
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| The Rasmus – First Day Of My Life Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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Gwynbleidd & Lilandra: Regarding the "I'll kill you" line, I'm fairly sure there's some punctuation missing. My best guess at this section would be: And you say "I'll heal you, I'll always be yours." And you say "I'll kill you" if I do something wrong. This makes significantly more sense - the singer is in a co-dependent relationship with someone whose promises of devotion seem somewhat hollow in light of their threats of violence every time the singer does something wrong. |
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| The Mars Volta – Goliath Lyrics | 18 years ago |
| Also, for the record, I assumed that "All the days of my life/Ever since I've been born/Never heard a man/Speak like this man before" and "This is the closest to any kingdom you will come" were both Biblical references, albeit applied to the singer and his subject (John 7:46 and Mark 12:34 respectively). | |
| The Mars Volta – Goliath Lyrics | 18 years ago |
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I think people might be missing the point on this song. It's a fairly blatant update of an older song, "Rapid Fire Tollbooth". The lyrics to RFT are much easier to explicate, and it seems like Goliath is a "Finnegans Wake"-ized version of it with loads of phonetic changes, incorporating references to death and sealing in (which dovetails nicely with the idea TMV wanted Goliath to be a "spell" that would seal away or bury the bad luck of the Ouija Board). With that in mind: Rapid Fire Tollbooth is an angry breakup song: "You might not remember how we slept in the past I'll soon remind you when I cut off the hand that was offered to me And then we'll shake on it. The stains you can't hide, or the smell of his sweat Are they so permanent? Did you catch the left eye? Did it blink three times? Or once, just to reel you in?". "For the rest of your debt ('Cos I knew you'd forget) I throw ashes at the bones of your feet Now that you slay with a pack of strays I do believe you're not the mongrel for me". Crucial changes in Goliath - "smell of his sweat" becomes "pain of this hex" (a hex is a curse, generally associated with bad luck). "Reel you in" (the passage is blatantly referring to a wink) becomes "seal you in". "You're not the mongrel for me" becomes "This is eternity", stressing the finality of the spell. In RFT, the narrator is pleading with the subject; essentially, it appears, for breakup sex. "Give me that dress please The one you wore nightly (or "that tugs tightly") I really want it now Put it on slowly I want you to show me Does it (or "Does he") make you feel alright?". There seems to be an intermediate version where Cedric sings "Give me that flesh please", which rhymes with "dress" and could easily be commuted into "corpse" (as it appears in Goliath) through simple word association. I'm not sure Goliath is intended to make any "sense" beyond the underlying RFT structure. They're simply singing an old (well, not that old) song and incorporating phonetic and word-association changes intended to reverse the "curse" they believe (if you believe the concept of the new album) has been placed on them, with some schizophrenia/epilepsy themes thrown in ("I foamed at the mouth whilst the lights winked at me"). "The Bedlam In Goliath" has a double meaning; it's a reversal of "The Goliath In Bedlam" (the Ouiji Board locked away) and suggests the internal turmoil of schizophrenia. |
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| The Servant – Cells Lyrics | 18 years ago |
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Further to Gummy's response, it is worth noting that the title, "Cells", actually has three (possibly more) meanings directly alluded to in the text. 1.) Biological cells. The crass materialism of the world around the narrator is contrasted with the transience of human life: "The cells I am at the moment will soon die". Interestingly enough, this is the only place in which the word "cells" appears, further strengthening my conviction the multiple meanings are intentional. Another band might have called this song "Every Day", which would suggest only one level of meaning. 2.) Prison cells. The narrator's desk job is depicted as a "cell" keeping him away from his significant other. Television similarly separates them - "We eat chinese off our knees/And look for each other in the TV screen(s)". Video games are also a distraction from human contact, which neatly leads us on to the third meaning. 3.) Minesweeper "cells". It is obvious that the game being played is Minesweeper - "I've got another level that I want to clear". The dull, relentless pace of the game is linked to the narrator's treadmill life. |
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