| Dispatch – The General Lyrics | 17 years ago |
|
One of the things I know about Dispatch is that they are very involved in the anti-war movement, so my first reaction is to see this song as being a reminder to their audience that war is often not worth fighting. IMO they are reminding us that the "Others" we see out there and fear so greatly that we would enter a war (and war is costly, horrible, etc) are like us. They have mothers/families etc. I didn't see the general as some sort of Jesus figure, and while there are a lot of stories/songs/you name it that do make big, sweeping Jesus analogies, its also true that people sort of meta-theme Jesus onto everything in a way that I find both simplistic and offensive (the last 8 pages of debate reminded me of a conversation that I had with a high school English teacher about whether or not "the Lord of the Flies" was some sort of Christian parable). Also, several commenters have mentioned that one of the band members is a Christian, but what the hell business of ours is that? Seriously? Are you going to suggest that they are preaching to us because one of them maybe attends church or believes in god? That notion makes me deeply uncomfortable. Back to the General. I see him as a plot device. Having a man who has given his entire life to becoming very good at warfare suddenly decide that fighting has too great a cost, that its wrong, is a powerful statement. That change of heart says a lot about just how opposed the songwriter is to warfare (possibly?), plus its a cool narrative trick. Also... another two cents, everyone interprets songs through a filter which affects what they associate the lyrics with. I started listening to Dispatch again (following a long break) around the time that I was watching the 3rd season of Battlestar Galactica, and the General in the song reminded me of Admiral Adama from the show. There is no way in hell that this song is about BSG, but it plays off of the same leader-archtype that appears so frequently in our stories. |
|
| Death Cab for Cutie – We Looked Like Giants Lyrics | 18 years ago |
| I love this song. Always assumed that it was about a guy and his high school girlfriend who had gone to different schools, and were trying to make things work long-distance, with questionable results, and feeling terrible about it. It works just as well if she's his ex though. | |
| The Postal Service – This Place Is a Prison Lyrics | 18 years ago |
|
In high school this song was a bit of an anthem for my friends and I who just wanted to get the hell out of Seattle. Its a beautiful city, don't get me wrong, but as far as hometowns go there is also something kind of oppressive about it, the oppressively flat gray skies six months of the year, the plastic friendliness of the people, and the unwillingness of the populace at large to make new connections with people. I also identified with this song because I first heard it (my senior year of high school) at a time when I was feeling trapped in the northwest (because I stayed for college) my strict parents, and my inability to ballance having a social life and an after school job. It also seems to be a song about alcoholism. "The District Sleeps Alone Tonight" seems to have a lot of AA references (or so say some of my parents friends), and several other songs on the album, including "Brand New Colony" seem to deal with the theme of over-drinking, or people around you over-imbibing. Maybe its about feeling trapped in this place (in the winter), drinking to deal with feeling trapped (especially if it was written while he wasn't touring, or before he got famous enough to move his band), and then feeling trapped by either his own drinking, some binge drinking friends, or both. |
|
| Marcy Playground – One More Suicide Lyrics | 18 years ago |
| this song has been stuck in my head for a few weeks. I have been to Chehalis, and still live in that general area so it resonates with me. Western Washington has a fairly high suicide rate, and has some of the most endemic seasonal depression of any region in the country. Its also a part of the country where there is a lot of non-religious/non-denominational people. The areas around Chehalis are more religious then some place like Seattle, but given my experience with the area, and the content of a lot of other northwest-themed songs (incl. the shadow of seattle, or "this place is a prison" by the postal service) i've been guessing that the song is probably about someone who is losing the battle between man and his environment. He is sad, and spiritually unfulfilled, or perhaps he sees dying as the only way to answer his various questions about religion, but either way a sense of despair at the place he's in (I mean its Chehalis!) and inability of find a sense of himself spiritually are what do this poor fellow in. | |
| The Blow – Fists Up! Lyrics | 18 years ago |
| this is the best unrequited crush song i've ever heard. | |
| The Blow – True Affection Lyrics | 18 years ago |
|
Perhaps its because I was in one of those "just because its real doesn't mean its going to work" situations when I first heard it but... For me this song is about the insecurity of that comes from a near-miss relationship, a situation where two people click, have chemistry, like one another, but have other things (not necessarily romantic entanglements with others, but just personal stuff) and aren't really in a place where they can be together. Maybe they tried to make it work, or maybe they just talked about it, but either way both parties agreed to ending things. There isn't a scorned lady/you left me vibe to this song. Even when breaking up/pre-emptively ending things is the right decision it sometimes feels weird. You worry that maybe you weren't good enough, or maybe, deep down they weren't. If the other person was someone with whom you'd been close before the weird relationship element came in, or someone you'd had a long flirtation with then a recognized end to those behaviors is going to make you feel lonely, particularly if it was the kind of dynamic where when together the two of you had felt sort of drunk off of flirting. |
|
* This information can be up to 15 minutes delayed.