| Cake – Cool Blue Reason Lyrics | 18 years ago |
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Bush's daughter!!?? You gotta be kiddin' me. Song was written long before Bush's presidency. Death row? 8 hours to go before you're dead?? I get a funny feeling it's not this. My take on the line "the minutes change like seasons, only 8 more hours to go" Time moves so fast, but it can seem so long. ('It" refers to, well, "it": a life that can be lonely, can be painful, but can also be the opposite of this harshness as well). My reasoning: Time moves so fast: as the lyrics imply, each minute is representative of three months. Before you know, before the blink of an eye, you're a year older, and then another year after that. But in the self-pitying tone of this song, it's a lament to how he's getting older, but nothing's really gettin' better for him. It can seem so long: This is the paradox! It's great. The end, "death", seems life forever! You're life sucks, blah blah, and you just wish it would all end, but it never does...you're waiting it out and it feels like forever. The paradox is this: you're growing older but nothing's getting better. At the same time, the *end* seems like it'll never come. |
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| Cake – Hem of Your Garment Lyrics | 18 years ago |
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I believe myadrall gave a great analysis. In fact, if I were to write my own argument about this song, it would be almost exactly what myadrall says. Correct me if I'm wrong, but in a nutshell: "I'm not like a real person should be, full of emotion, kindness. No, I'm empty inside. I don't feel like a *real* human being. (To the girl:) You are the embodiment of a shining, lovely, caring woman, but for some strange reason, you choose to be with me. But I'm inferior to your brightness." |
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| Cake – Baskets Lyrics | 18 years ago |
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Yes! I'm poppin' this one's cherry. I'll break it down for ya in a nice, simple way. "She'll hang the baskets on the walls" The guy's gf is loving, caring, in love with the guy. "Heard the slamming of the door" Argument: One of those times where there's a (not so amiable) "goodbye" but then a week "I can't live without you"...and together again. What's the argument about: anything...cheating, money, blah blah - if you're old enough to know, well, you know :) I don't think it mostly implies that repeated "goodbye....(come back)....hello" rather than a final termination. This argument is supported by the "Come summer, winter, fall." If it implied a conclusive end, that lyric would be more like "It's the end. She'll never return." As for the turtle wax...you got me :) but that turtle wax and the following like "in his mind, he won't be coming back" means that they're dating/living together but there's no emotional connection anymore. Yeah, I've had a few of those...the relationship just continues b/c you & and the girl are just afraid of going out there, being alone, and playing that *b1tch* of a game called dating. My two cents, anyway... "There'll be baskets on the floor" |
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| Cake – End of the Movie Lyrics | 18 years ago |
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My 2 cents: The "End of the Movie" refers to the whole of life and of specific periods in life. The whole of life implies the alternatives of "keep on keeping on" and suicide. A similar connotation can be said for delineated periods in one's life. In this case, the "end of the movie" references this period/relationship/whatever. |
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| Cake – Alpha Beta Parking Lot Lyrics | 18 years ago |
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I like Frank's input that the alpha beta was a known grocery star that, well, died in the 70s, or whenever it was. More or less the same metaphor as the 'sun setting': the relationships coming to an end. I also believe that alpha beta subtly implies the concept of control/power. Indeed, many of cakes songs are about leaders/followers, the real go-getters, and the loser-havenots. My interpretation of this facet of the alpha-beta reference is that, yes, the girl ran away with someone new, and in John mcCrea's mind, someone better, more successful than he. |
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| Cake – It's Coming Down Lyrics | 18 years ago |
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I've been a Cake fan for quite some time. I enjoy browsing this site to hear what other people have to say. It's interesting that everyone has alternative interpretations about them all. Granted, music is a medium that reflects each listener's own concept of identity, but someone of the interpretations that I find are just so clearly WRONG that I begin to doubt the aggregate intelligence of the entire human race. This is the one song where every one one of the above commenters actually more or less unanimously agree about the (correct) interpretation [well, besides the moronic drugs comment]. One reason for this is because the lyrics are relatively simple, but I'll ignore that for the moment. I do, however, have one contingency about the details of the "mattress" and the "red sweater." I couldn't have said it better than Immortal 13: they are exactly nails in the coffin, stabs of emotional pain. I lived in Hollywood for a brief time and this song always conjures up memories of something I saw there. I had been attending the musicians institute and I had this one really great guitar teacher, "Stan." I was walking home one night and all of a sudden maybe half a block ahead of me I heard this huge argument going down on the front porch. In a nutshell, the girl was screaming "You slept with her! You f'n slept with her!" The man vigorously denied this. She continued, "You slept with my f'n best friend! That b1tch! Get out! Get the f' out!" She began to throw his things at him, still screaming. That man was Stan. More to it than that, but, well, it is what it is. |
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| Cake – Sheep Go To Heaven Lyrics | 18 years ago |
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Obviously I'm in the minority here. Does this forum somehow attract devout people. Heh, that comment turned people off. I'm not gonna dissect the whole song cause I know when I see this long essays I read a couple words in each paragraph. Obviously this song is not purely personal - although it is somewhat, how else could mcrea have written it. It's art - therefore anyone familiar with the ultimate philosophy of art is that it represents all the different emotions, etc of LIFE. Like all art, this song is cathartic to some in the same position. The beginning of the song is sort of a personal lament. He's having a real low period. Maybe broke up with gf, unhappy with that he's not successful - not just in music but in life in general. Doesn't have a good career; his job is miserable, etc. The CHORUS is a statement that he WANTS to be true cause he's so miserable. Goats are representative of those STRONG people: the go-getters. Sheep are followers, not the leaders. As portrayed in the 1st verse, at this pt in life, he's a weakling, thus a sheep. Thus the chorus more or less is an angry WANT that the go getters will ultimately get nothing. Not necessarily in the afterlife, but again heaven/hell is can be a metaphor for EVERYTHING. He's JUSTIFYING his emotional suffering. The next part, "the carpenter can take you out to lunch" reinforces the idea that he's in a FOLLOWER STATE: those dudes are taking him by the hand (thus leaders) while he's just taggin along. Again this is methaphorical. The first pt of the next verse reinforces the above idea. The second section w/ the part about panpipes and alcohol is a referense to the semi-healing powers of music and drowning your sorrows in alcohol. Then the part about sunset strip reinforces how miserable he is: he's so depressed that he's incapable of fun. Remember CAKE is based in HOLLYWOOD, and they've been so since the beginning. Hence, sunset strip and the real disparity between those go-getter executives and, for lack of a better word, pee-ons. Again, I want to EMPHASIZE the idea that it is only in part about HIM exclusively. It's also meant for EVERYONE feeling down-and-out. I also want to EMPHASIZE it's not religious in any way, but metaphorical about the weaklings and the strong ones (again, the real go-getters). Well, that certainly turned into an essay rather than a short blurb like I promised. Heh. |
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