| The Jezabels – Mace Spray Lyrics | 14 years ago |
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This song has been bugging me, so I thought I'd try to rationalise it using the 'feminist' theory - more to get my head around my own interpretation than anything else. Maybe it will help you decide what it means to you... The protagonist perceives stereotypical feminism as seeing females as subrogated in the social architechture of society (feminism asks her to "wait beneath" the "statue"). When the protagonist reflects on the shape and construction of society (when she "goes" there), it causes sadness (she "weeps"). Instead the protagonist takes a post-feminist stance, taking control of her own subrogation by using her sexuality to her advantage ("onto the counter"), being proud of it ("showgirl") and perfecting it ("perfect the slow body roll"). The protagonist is "breaking away" from the anger of social contructs, by breaking away from one set of sterotypes (the virgin wife), but at the same time she is self critical ("hoe"), and realising that in letting go of anger she may be lettig go of something more ("let it all go"). The protagonist is conflicted, wanting to reject stereotypical feminism, but at the same time being drawn to it. In the same way it is hard to get rid of/escape those who love you (family/friends/bad relationships) she finds it hard to escape feminist notions ("But she loves me"), even if stereotypical feminism is forceful in its approach ("more than anyone wouldn't lay a hand"). At the same time she is repulsed by how vulnerable females are within the feminist stereotype, as victims who cannot trust anyone and need to take steps to protect their rights ("keeps mace spray"), because according to feminist stereotypes the male race will not do it for them (you can't rely on the common man"). All of these ideas are not clear, or only barely illuminated ("night", "under the starlight"), Feminism calls for the protagonist ("you call"), and shows that the protagonist is cold/detached (blistering as in blistering cold, blue being a colour for cold). Confronting feminism, the protagonist sees that the rigid contructs of society begin to change. The constructs begin to break (the ceiling began to move) and the very the formation of society shatters, but it is wonderful (glistens). Feminism postulates that the protagonist will be lost without having gender roles to ascribe to (won't find her way through the plaster") and the values and attitudes the protagonist held inside as being hers will be exposed as being common, and insignificant (an empty hourglass in the sand). But the protagonist can't escape feminism, and the protagonist is attracted to feminist thought despite how cruel its philosophy is to ideals that many women ascribe to ("ore than anyone who wouldn't speak like that" - ie saying that the protagonist will be lost) In the end the protagonist accepts that she will have this love/hate relationship with feminism, and its stereotypes, and accepts that she may never resolve it. It is alright for her to feel this way, and where she is emotionally and philosophically ("the place I am"), with an air of hope that in time that will change (the reference to "time") and someday will be able to rationalise her relationship with feminist thought. Feminism hopes the protagonist will come full circle and embrace feminist beliefs, leaving a "light on at night". The prospect of fully embracing one ideology, at thisstage, only reinforces the pprotagonist's aversion to feminism, and her love/hate relationship with its moores. |
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| Fionn Regan – Be Good or Be Gone Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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Wow scottb, I hadn't thought of it as a suicide note. Reading it with that i mind sent a chill down my spine (possibly just for me as the daughter of a suicide victim). I always loved the line "I have become an arial view of a coastal town that you once knew" too. I always imagine a framed google-earth-esque photograph hanging on a blank wall - even if you knew the place well, the photo still seems so foreign, yet it brings back memories that have no obvious resemblance to it. Just beautiful. It reminds me of the memories that flow back when I see my childhood friend - She is such a different person inside and out that I can barely recognise her, but memories flood back whenever I see her. The memories have very little resemblance to the person she is now, apart from the fact that I am someone who once knew her so well that they could recognise "her" even from far away, from a different angle, and with lifetime of years of separation... You sort of know that what you "knew" doesn't exist anymore |
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| Death Cab for Cutie – For What Reason Lyrics | 16 years ago |
| I relate the reference to "candle" to a small flame (a friend of mine always used to ask if I "still held a candle" for a certin someone; like the remnants/kindling of a flame/passion) so his fondness of her is what will be damaging; his desire for her is set to be thing that is going to be destructive to her. | |
| Elliott Smith – Needle in the Hay Lyrics | 17 years ago |
| Works by Lou Reed and The Velvet Underground predate Elliott Smith's releases by a little over two deacdes. | |
| Josh Pyke – Fed and Watered Lyrics | 18 years ago |
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Firstly, I agree with speakerrun that the chorus on the surface appears to be about a gambling addicton: it demeans stayng in the game, as by chosing to gamble you are a "loser" and by choosng to cut your losses you are a "winner". The verses however seem to be about the music industry: "And they can keep you around like a head on a stake, I guess the industry found a use for my name sake." - The industry keeps using him as a poster-boy, he feels he has little control over the use of his image, and it is his image/name and not himself as a person/performer that draws intruige "I built my callouses up, from fooling on the guitar. I keep them hard in the midst of what seems soft and bizarre." - the industry demands a "soft and bizarre" image and the juxaposition of the hard calouses acts to cast the industry in a bizzare light "And ephemeral notions like a song are a curse, offering a return but making me feel worse." - The industry and song writing are more pain than gain/return "So I sit in the meantime and sharpen my teeth, And encode all the bitterness I choose to bequeath, But if 1 = C then your A = 3 but the encryption just adds to the mendacity." - Once again he loathes "bequeathing bitterness", but he chooses to keep doing it in order to stay in the game. He really doesn't like what he is dong an aknowledges that it is only temporary ("in the meantime") "Now I'm on top of the water, Still suppressed by the air." - One of the best in his field, still anlysed by media and consumers and controled by the industry players "I earn my wage on a track that's almost totally bare," - once again the loathing of his career choice comes through, it is an uncomfortable "bare" existance "Of the things I expected when I first got the itch, I'd turn it off if only there existed a switch." - All the things that drew him down this path become part of the trappings that inavoidably keep him here Read in the light of the verses, the chorus then acts as an extended metaphor. On the surface the chorus is about gambling. The music industry is a gamble that "winners" gently bow out of before they are tired out. In the end we are left with the note "by then I bet you'll be gone", which is cleaverly dichotomous: he hopes he will be a "winner" and have bowed out, but at present he is still betting, still gambling, and still playing the music game. |
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| Angus and Julia Stone – Wasted Lyrics | 18 years ago |
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"WASTED" - RESISTANT READING At a recent gig I was floored by the atmosphere of intensity when Julia sang wasted - such poignant duality; infactuation can intoxicate you, or ravage & destroy you... She said when she "first wrote [the song] it was about being intoxicated by infactuation for someone, but today [she] sings it with a different one" and it was really the second meaning she alluded to that is essentially captured by ameliabeth and seato. Scenario: Unrequited love. She loves him, but this intense infactuation is wasted on = unappreciated, unwanted or unknown by her "love". "Wasted" has two components under this reading. Firstly it has a sence of loss, in thather love goes to"waste". Secondly there is a sence of destruction, in that the situation is crushing and destroying her. She is overwhelmed by a combination of emotion and confusion. The consequence of being "overwhelmed" is it makes you unstable, and unproductive. Thus her as a person is "wasted" or destroyed as a result. "I don't know just what I'll do Everytime you walk into the room" This conveys confusion, and a sence of being overwhelmed by, and unable to cope with, seeing him. She is also confused about her situation generally - his feelings, and her actions. "Oh my head is spinning around And I can't see clearly right now" Her intense emotions overwhelm her, and she is sent into a spiral of conflicting emotions and confusion. "I don't know if I'll survive, In this magical land behind your eyes." Once again she is so confused and pent up about her situation and her emotions that it feels like it is slowly destroying (wasting) her. She spends so much of her time trying to second gues what is going on in his head, "behind his eyes". She comes up with meanings/motivations behind his actions that are unlikely/fanciful to the point of being magical. Ultimately she feels like she is crushed under the weight of emotion, confuion and obsession. "And there's all these funny little men, There all asking me to dance and sing." She is emotionally uninvolved in her real life. She alienates anyone who shows her affection, calling them "funny little men". She also paints their affection as ludicrus, and she is so far removed from the joy they propose "dance and sing" that it too seems outlandish and irrational. "Red and yellow, pink and green, purple and orange and blue. Are all of the colours I see my love, everytime I see you." She "sees" all the colours in the same way you would "see red". It describes her complex array of emotion, and her feelings of being confused and overwhelmed by it. RED is the color of fire and blood, so it is associated with energy, war, danger, strength, power, determination as well as passion, desire, and love. YELLOW is the color of sunshine. It's associated with joy, happiness, intellect, and energy. PINK signifies romance, love, and friendship. It denotes feminine qualities and passiveness. GREEN is both associated with ambition, greed, and jealousy, and nature symbolizing growth, harmony, freshness, and fertility. PURPLE is associated with royalty andbolizes power, nobility, luxury, and ambition as well as being associated with independence, creativity, mystery, and magic. ORANGE is associated with joy, sunshine, and the tropics as well as representing enthusiasm, fascination, happiness, creativity, determination, attraction, success, encouragement, and stimulation. BLUE signifies infinity. The view extends upto the blue distance of sky and sea. It is the colour of emptiness, signifying"death" and sadness. I think it is important that she begins with red - passion and rage, and ends with blue - emptiness and infinite sadness. Ending with blue metaphorically captures the lamenting nostalgic vibe that permiates the entire song when read for the alternative meaning. This song is is really, truly beautiful. |
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