submissions
| The Weakerthans – Night Windows Lyrics
| 16 years ago
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John Samson has said in a CBC interview that this was song was about a friend of his dying in the war, I believe in Afghanistan. It's a beautiful memorial for his friend. It's the soft, slow remembering as he mourns his friend even in the small things. |
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| The Weakerthans – Left and Leaving Lyrics
| 17 years ago
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"The best parts of lonely" was one of the "things that you gave me" and so I think that there's a connection between his relationship with this person and that statement. I'm not sure how to explain what "the best parts of lonely" are exactly, but it's one of those things that I feel like I understand even if I don't. |
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| The Weakerthans – Utilities Lyrics
| 17 years ago
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I love this song. I dont know the comp version, but I love love love this version, so I can't imagine one that was better. The images that he constructs here are beautiful and poignant, and I can completely understand the wish to be good for something. Sometimes a person feels useless or like they're contributing nothing, especially when there's so many things wrong in the world, and this is the perfect song to sum up a wish to do more than you feel you're managing. Wishes don't do dishes, or solve world poverty, or stop bombings, but we continue to hope that our wishes do something good. |
submissions
| The Weakerthans – My Favorite Chords Lyrics
| 17 years ago
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This song talks about a lot of things, going from talk of the Mayor, to construction sites, to love, but it somehow all seems to fit. Some of the lines are just perfect. "Me and my anger sit folding a paper bird, letting the curtains turn to beating wings." That image is so spectacular! Then the note on the machine always feels like the most innocent, genuine act you could think of. This tone is also carried into his idea about where to hide all their tenderness, etc. I love this idea and definitely agree that it's an enormous thing to walk and to listen. If you notice, he ties the following all together effortlessly: "You are a radio. You are an open door. I am a faulty string of blue christmas lights. You swim through frequencies. You let that stranger in, as I'm blinking off and on and off again. " He doesn't use a metaphor and abandon it; he's following through here and making use of what he'd already established. Finally, I just love the final line for no reason. |
submissions
| Sarah McLachlan – Adia Lyrics
| 17 years ago
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I don't know what she wrote the song about, but at the same time, I don't think that's as important as what people actually take away from it. Here's what I get from it: the narrator is talking to a friend who she's lost and she feels that she's failed in some way. She is explaining to her friend why she should have hope and giving herself hope in the same moment. If they commited some small unfortunate act, even if it was only maturing past youth and discovering the darker parts of living (bitterness, jaded-ness?), they are absolved if they choose to be. |
submissions
| Sarah McLachlan – Adia Lyrics
| 17 years ago
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I don't know what she wrote the song about, but at the same time, I don't think that's as important as what people actually take away from it. Here's what I get from it: the narrator is talking to a friend who she's lost and she feels that she's failed in some way. She is explaining to her friend why she should have hope and giving herself hope in the same moment. If they commited some small unfortunate act, even if it was only maturing past youth and discovering the darker parts of living (bitterness, jaded-ness?), they are absolved if they choose to be. |
submissions
| Sarah McLachlan – Adia Lyrics
| 17 years ago
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I don't know what she wrote the song about, but at the same time, I don't think that's as important as what people actually take away from it. Here's what I get from it: the narrator is talking to a friend who she's lost and she feels that she's failed in some way. She is explaining to her friend why she should have hope and giving herself hope in the same moment. If they commited some small unfortunate act, even if it was only maturing past youth and discovering the darker parts of living (bitterness, jaded-ness?), they are absolved if they choose to be. |
submissions
| Sarah McLachlan – Building A Mystery Lyrics
| 17 years ago
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I always focused more on the lines she directs at herself than those she directs at her lover; I suppose that says something about the way that this song connects to me. I always thought that she was talking about her contradictory and strange nature, and why she's attracted to those same qualities in a man she loves, even though she knows that he's bad for her. She sees the beauty in him almost as a way to see beauty in herself, since I think she is as damaged as he is. On further analysis, I think I agree that the man in question in creating a facade for others and putting on airs, but she sees through it, whether that's for good or bad... well, I think this song is written post-relationship so... |
submissions
| Immaculate Machine – Small Talk Lyrics
| 17 years ago
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I think this song is about a loss of innocence and a desire for a return to that. It also references a time between friends where both people hurt each other and they're trying to heal from that, to go back to the photograph, but they've been hurt and they're wary. |
submissions
| Immaculate Machine – C'mon Sea Legs Lyrics
| 17 years ago
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I love this song and it's meaning! It's pretty clear that he's talking about getting used to the changes and tough parts of life, and how it's hard to accept these things. You have to do it though, or risk wasting your life just fighting these changes and suffering. It's a great message. |
submissions
| Metric – IOU Lyrics
| 17 years ago
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To me, this song is about acting on your wishes and dreams. I love the lines
"Every ten year-old enemy soldier
Thinks falling bombs are shooting stars sometimes
But she doesn’t make wishes on them
When she wishes, she wishes for less ways to wish for
More ways to work toward it
Ten year-old enemy soldier
Our falling bombs are her shooting stars"
Which talk about someone in a harder situation than the narrator has to deal with wishing not for things to just be better or easier, but hoping to act to better their situation. This idea of action is developed further in,
"wound up in a movie with no story
now it’s late and you are nowhere to be found
hesitation’s always mine
hesitate outside the times
with all I don’t say
with all I don’t do
I’m sending you
Invitations to hesitate too"
Where she not only says that she's "wound up in a movie without a story" (i.e. she's waited for things to happen and nothing did) but she's going on to say that by doing so, she's setting an example for others that they should be hesitant to act on their dreams and wishes too.
"oh call me or drop me a line
say you’ve been with me" Shows further passivity (call her, she's not going to call you) and that she's had the tools to take action all along ("say you've been with me") |
submissions
| Metric – Raw Sugar Lyrics
| 17 years ago
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I don't get the "Raw Sugar" reference either, but I think the chorus is about not wanting to give up being human and living life for the corporate world ("High rise grave") but the tone makes me feel like she thinks that she's stuck where she doesn't want to be. She can't escape from... the games and the machine, and even if they could they'd just want back. |
submissions
| The Weakerthans – The Reasons Lyrics
| 18 years ago
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I love this song, and it's very straightforward and direct, but I feel like it has all the allure of a complex, layered song. I feel like it could describe a romantic relationship just as easily as it could be talking about a very close friendship, one of those where you can be completely honest with your friend. "We know who we should love, but we're never certain how." could be a general statement that some love is friend-love and some is romantic-love, and maybe that's not so important as the relationship itself. |
submissions
| The Weakerthans – Reconstruction Site Lyrics
| 18 years ago
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I agree that this is about nostalgia and coming to terms with mortality. I also think that it has a hopeful ring to it, like this person has been rinsed clean by this realization of death. He's throwing away his misery and dispair, realizing that it never contributed to his life so he lets it go. I love the memories of family gathers and thoughts. "When tomorrow gets here, where will yesterday be?" and "Beauty is just another word that I'm never certain how to spell" are some of my favorite lyrics. I love the Weakerthans! I can imagine falling asleep in my brand new winter coat so well... |
submissions
| The Weakerthans – Pamphleteer Lyrics
| 18 years ago
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I agree mostly with what was said by those like blackemma, however I would like to say that I've always thought that the line "I am your pamphleteer" meant that he was a supporter of this girl in his life, like she were his cause. It's a metaphor, another way of saying, that she is a kind of belief for him; that his love is so strong, so devoted, that he would support her like any other campaign. I do agree that he is an actual pamphleteer who is disillusioned by the last of care. |
submissions
| The Weakerthans – Left and Leaving Lyrics
| 18 years ago
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I feel like the song is about returning to a hometown, a city you used to live in, where you have a lot of personal history. It feels like both an ode to the city, but also it seems like returning to the city recalls a break up with an old girlfriend. "who's left and who's leaving" he's trying to decide who broke up with whom. "We meet here for our dress rehearsal to say "I wanted it this way." " screams relationship to me. |
submissions
| Megan Slankard Band – Mocking Bird Lyrics
| 18 years ago
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I love this song and I think it's so poetic. It's a love song, but not. I feel like it's about escaping from a relationship where she's not truly in the heart of the one she loves. |
submissions
| Missy Higgins – Scar Lyrics
| 18 years ago
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Um, can't a song include her sexuality without it being ABOUT it? I mean, songs where someone mentions a straight relationship aren't necesarily all about them being straight...
Personally, I think the song is about being put into a box by someone trying to change you, especially in relationships. The narrator is talking about other people trying to change who she is and she's coming to terms with the fact that she should be herself. The "scar" is to remind her not to try to change for someone else again. |
submissions
| Ani DiFranco – To the Teeth Lyrics
| 18 years ago
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I love the lines, "and if i hear one more time about a fools right to his tools of rage" because I feel that it's rather accurate at times. This song about gun control is a beautifully spoken statement about an ugly issue. |
submissions
| Ani DiFranco – Parameters Lyrics
| 18 years ago
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I really like this and I agree that it's an examination of fear. I always felt that it was a response to a home invasion, although I'm taking it very literally I feel and it could be a giant metaphor just as easily. I feel like she was robbed and she was so used to everything being right and hers, feeling safe at home, and afterwards her perception of safety is very shaken. |
submissions
| Ani DiFranco – Shroud Lyrics
| 18 years ago
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I love this song, but I find it hard to explain what it means exactly. I feel like she's trying to find the truth of the matter, and sometimes it's hard to hear and she's had to make sacrifices in order to gain the wisdom she needs. |
submissions
| Ani DiFranco – Studying Stones Lyrics
| 18 years ago
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I agree with most of the comments made, especially KatieC, but I think a lot of what is inspiring this return to the learned behavoir of numbness is someone who makes so much emotion well up in her that she feels out of control or will explode, so whenever she sees them, she has to suppress it. |
submissions
| Ani DiFranco – The True Story of What Was Lyrics
| 18 years ago
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I can't believe that no one has commented on this song! I love it! Seriously. The lines "to search in the darkness for someone who looks like me (though i'm not really who i said i was or who i thought i'd be) just a collection of recollections, conversations consisting of the kind of marks we make when we're trying to get a pen to work again, a lifetime of them!" feel so relevant to my life, and I love the comparison with the pen because I could imagine it exactly. I think this song is about getting to the truth, to who you are, to honesty. A fresh, better start, maybe, by the end. |
submissions
| Ani DiFranco – 32 Flavors Lyrics
| 18 years ago
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This is also my first Ani Difranco song and I love it. I really like the idea of "I am 32 flavors and then some", especially after hearing a poem by slam poet StaceyAnn Chin (awesome!), where she says "I'm am too many flavors for one ****ing spoon." I also appreciate the fact that Ani mentions that women are their own worst enemy sometimes, because that's true. |
submissions
| Ani DiFranco – Hypnotized Lyrics
| 18 years ago
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I feel like this is a story of a "foreign fling" in a sense. She meets a man in another country and they have this connection, but there isn't enough there and it's not a happy relationship - you were no picnic, etc - but for a while, they have enough to stay together. Eventually, they fall apart because there's not enough to draw them together. I also think that the world of this man isn't like hers and she doesn't like it, which is also a point of contention. |
submissions
| Ani DiFranco – Half-Assed Lyrics
| 18 years ago
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I love that this song; I feel like it's describing wanting to really feel alive, living exactly how you mean to, and being who you are. The line "make me forget every moment that went by and left me so half-hearted 'cause I felt it so half-assed" always gets me, because I feel like I don't appreciate the fullness of moments. People are walking around, living life half-assed. |
submissions
| Ani DiFranco – Buildings and Bridges Lyrics
| 18 years ago
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I think mickzzzzz has it right: the final lines are the meaning of the song. It's about bending before you break; letting go instead of holding on to anger. I completely love the second verse. "turn every scar into a joke." Good advice. |
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| Ani DiFranco – Origami Lyrics
| 18 years ago
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I feel like this is a song that is directing anger towards a man in her life who is always taking, and doesn't understand that she's a strong, independant woman. She doesn't want to save him, and she hates that his needs come before hers: "i'll be your never ending vending machine. I could never need to be alone, never need to be my own, as much as you need your queen" It's a sarcastic line and I love this song because it's unabashedly disconnecting all the ties in the relationship that say that she's less important than he is. |
submissions
| Ani DiFranco – School Night Lyrics
| 18 years ago
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Oh, I love so many of the lines in this song. Beautiful, absolutely. I always felt that it was about ending a relationship that just didn't work, even though she loves him, for an ex who's returned and would be better for her, or even just because she still has feelings for someone else that would be better for her. But it's also about herself, and choosing something right for who she is. "and the fact that i adore you is but one of my truths" Etc. |
submissions
| Ani DiFranco – Not a Pretty Girl Lyrics
| 18 years ago
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I love Ani's feminism because I feel that it is - at least in most cases that I've seen/heard - like this song: it's about being whoever you want to be. I don't feel that feminism is about "rising up against oppressive patriarchal society" but about something individual, and strong. To me, this song says "Be who you are, not what's "expected", and face down any and all who try to keep you in their box because it makes them feel better." I don't need to be rescued, thanks. |
submissions
| Ani DiFranco – Untouchable Face Lyrics
| 18 years ago
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I love this song, especially because it's a different take a little for a long song. I read the comments that say that it's about seeing an ex with their new girlfriend, but I have to say that I never saw it that way either. It always felt to me that she was pining for a friend that was already really happy in their relationship. Something you could never have, and who you know is happy and in some sick way, you want that for them, even if it means that you'll never be happy with them. But the frustration and the impossibility ways on you. "fuck you" for being so desireable and so out of reach and making me want you so badly. It's a great sentiment, really, and very honest. |
submissions
| Donovan Woods – I Ain't Saying She's Better Than You Lyrics
| 18 years ago
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I love this song! People should comment on it, because I think it describes a situation that's so common. He's talking to the girlfriend he just broke up with and he's trying to explain that the girl that he's leaving her for isn't a better person, but they're a better fit. He's trying to point out that it's better that he didn't lead her on or lie, but I get the feeling that it's still really really hard for her to hear. But that's kind of the thing that you want an exboyfriend to tell you, that he didn't leave you because he thinks someone is BETTER than you but that he just found someone who's better for HIM. I've never heard a song that puts this forth, so I was impressed with Donovan Woods. |
submissions
| Matchbox Twenty – The Burn Lyrics
| 18 years ago
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Yeah, I think Unconquered Sun was right. It's about not being able to connect emotionally. He never gets "the burn", that overwhelming passion. He can't feel anything at all "I thought about leaving but I couldn't even get out of bed", etc. He wonders "if I'm ever gonna learn how lonely people make a life" because he doesn't know how lonely people make a life, or how he'll make a life. Essentially, he's a numb mess. |
submissions
| Matchbox Twenty – Black and White People Lyrics
| 18 years ago
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I think this is about something similar to what fragile child said, it's about when you feel like there's no color in your life - black and white - and you're just trying to make it through the day. "The technicolor dreams of black and white people" is a line that gives it away for me, that we're living this colorless existance sometimes and we dream of truly living in real color. |
submissions
| Donovan Woods – Car Won't Start Lyrics
| 18 years ago
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I love this song and I feel like it's tragically sad in a great way.
I think that it's a man talking about a girl he was in love with. She married another man, but it was short lived and now she's back home and struggling to get by; money's tight, she's staying where she can, her car won't start. He had planned to ask her out immediately after her past relationship ended, but she's having a hard time and there are still barriers between them.
In the stanza talking about "that one night" obvious references a night when they really made a connection, maybe talking at a party or sharing a kiss, or something more. And he knows that it did mean something to her, as proved by the next two lines, but he's frustrated because he wants her but he still can't have her.
I think they will get together in the end. |
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