submissions
| Aimee Mann – Today's The Day Lyrics
| 9 years ago
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The line about "Major Reno at the bluff" sent me to Wikipedia, so I thought I'd weigh in with what I learned.
Major Reno served under General Custer at the ill-fated Battle of the Little Bighorn. The battle is commonly known as "Custer's Last Stand" because Custer (and a lot of his men) died in the fighting. Reno was ordered to lead an attack from the south, while Custer attacked from the north. The Native strength had been greatly underestimated, and Reno's men were overwhelmed and retreated to a bluff overlooking the village. They took up defensive positions and spent the remainder of that day and much of the next surrounded and under fire, as Custer and his men were wiped out. Towards the end of the second day, the Native forces withdrew and Reno's group was able to escape.
After the battle, Reno's conduct was questioned - why did he not come to Custer's aid? But he was found to have acted honorably, and carried out his duties in a desperate situation. So Custer and Reno are controversial figures. Custer is either a hero who died heroically, or an arrogant fool who is personally responsible for an avoidable defeat. Reno either failed Custer at great cost, or was smart enough to save himself and his men from a hopeless situation brought about by Custer's flawed plan.
In the context of the song, I think Aimee invokes him as a sort of patron saint of sensibly abandoning lost causes. Why stick it out when it's hopeless? Save yourself!
Then again, Aimee's songs rarely have heroes. Maybe she chose a controversial figure on purpose. Relationships fall apart in messy ways, and competing stories tend to emerge from the wreckage. Maybe she's suggesting that the subject of the song give up on the situation, because it's hopeless, but also because they're not really the sort to stick it out anyway. Leaving would be smart - and typical, too. |
submissions
| Regina Spektor – All the Rowboats Lyrics
| 13 years ago
|
First of all, I believe it's "I touch a sculpture" rather than "I fetch a sculpture".
Having watched the video, I think there's a subtext about how beautiful women are treated because of their beauty. Why else would our sweet, quirky Regina be dolled up like she was auditioning for The Vampire Diaries? |
submissions
| Catie Curtis – The Big Reprise Lyrics
| 17 years ago
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Beautiful song. "Molten broken Jesus at my feet" - wow, what an image.
I'm pretty sure this is about the church burnings that afflicted black congregations in the south during the late 90's. |
submissions
| Belly (US) – Feed the Tree Lyrics
| 17 years ago
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I always thought "feed the tree" was a reference to the Larry Niven novel "The Integral Trees" where "feeding the tree" was a reference to death (among other things).
Oggy's more definitive answer gives the same basic meaning, but from a different source. |
submissions
| Prefab Sprout – Moving The River Lyrics
| 17 years ago
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One of the tasks Hercules accomplished was moving a river to clean a supposedly uncleanable stable.
To me as a high school student, this song was always a voice for my anxiety about being able to keep up the pace of accomplishment I had set. "You're only as good as the last great thing you did, and where've you been since then?"
As an adult, it's hard to hear the song without that wash of earlier interpretation, but now I think it's about a guy in a mid-life crisis looking to break out of his rut. |
submissions
| Sleater-Kinney – The End of You Lyrics
| 17 years ago
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This song draws a parallel between The Odyssey and being in a successful band. It's a voyage full of trials, and it takes a great deal of resourcefulness to survive. |
submissions
| Aimee Mann – Goodbye Caroline Lyrics
| 17 years ago
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The album this song is taken from is a consistent story about an alcoholic and the gal who loves him anyway. With that background, the song is pretty easy to get - he's giving up and leaving her, abandoning himself to the addiction.
I just *love* the line about Caroline being a faith healer - she loves him and thinks she can heal him just by believing in him. |
submissions
| Aimee Mann – Satellite Lyrics
| 17 years ago
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Interestingly, there are a lot of physics terms here. "Charm" and "strange" are names for characteristics of quarks (subatomic particles) The whole thing about deflating the stars & putting away the sun... it sounds to me like a breakup with a physicist.
I'm not sure I really believe that. But what else could "play the game of charm and strange and satellite" mean? |
submissions
| Aimee Mann – Little Tornado Lyrics
| 17 years ago
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A dark song. I thought it might be about an abusive guy - the destructive metaphor of the tornado in the trailer park hints that way - but I'm wondering now if it's the dying thoughts of a woman in an unhappy relationship, as she is killed in a storm. Or I'm way off - I just got the album a couple days ago. |
submissions
| Aimee Mann – Medicine Wheel Lyrics
| 17 years ago
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I think it's a mother addressing her drugged-out ex, who is reduced to holding up a cardboard sign and panhandling under a bridge. She's upset because the bastard is corrupting their son now.
But I'm not real sure about any of that. It's not Aimee's most obvious song. Anyone? |
submissions
| Sondre Lerche – To Be Surprised Lyrics
| 17 years ago
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The basic point of the song is that planning your life out can only get you so far, because you never know what's to come. So "be prepared to be surprised", that is, be flexible and you'll handle what life throws at you much better. |
submissions
| World Party – She's The One Lyrics
| 17 years ago
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I love the bridge - as a thirtysomething, it echoes the surprising realization that there are some great benefits to getting older and figuring yourself out. |
submissions
| The Waterboys – World Party Lyrics
| 17 years ago
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Karl Wallinger left the Waterboys to form World Party, which was (especially at first) more political than the Waterboys; this song was their farewell to him. I think it's intended as a critical send-off (the references to castles in the sand and "nothing to do with anything that is real", for instance) but not a simple dis. Something like, "You're a naive idealist, Karl, but hey, good luck - if the world can be changed, you've got a decent shot at doing it." |
submissions
| The Dandy Warhols – Mohammed Lyrics
| 17 years ago
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Lakeman - modern anti-Islamic sentiment in the USA didn't materialize on 9/11 - it goes back to the Iranian seizure of the US embassy in Tehran, the bombing of the Marine barracks in Beirut, probably beyond those events to the oil crises of the early 70's. Deliciosa's comment is plausible - but I think it's more a lonely song about a Muslim in the USA who disapproves of the shallow culture all around him. |
submissions
| Rage Against the Machine – Maria Lyrics
| 18 years ago
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NoOrthodoxy, I think the lines you reference indicate that she's coming from not Mexico, but one of the Central American nations that served as a proxy battleground during the Cold War. Our involvement in these dirty little wars left those countries completely messed up; the irony is that this has fueled illegal immigration, because who would want to stay there? A policy of peace would have been better for our economy and security.
I think "Maria" is more than one woman. Zach chose the most common female name possible because she's supposed to stand for every woman crossing the border. "She" dies in the truck, "she" dies in the sweatshop, she disappears only to reappear. There's always someone else coming to take her place. "Her time is near" = the time is coming when we'll have to come up with a real, humane solution to this problem. |
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