| Nick Drake – Black Eyed Dog Lyrics | 15 years ago |
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The song uses the central image of a black eyed dog to represent depression as a physical and tangible entity. The black dog is a reference to depression that dates back to the 18th century and associated with the devil for even longer. The relationship between the voice in the song and the black eyed dog is one of the central themes in the song. ‘A black eyed dog he called at my door The black eyed dog he called for more A black eyed dog he knew my name’ The change from the impersonal/unfamiliar ‘A’ to the known/familiar ‘The’, when referring to the black eyed dog, suggest it is a returning visit it this teamed with the fact that it is calling for more suggests a familiarity. These two positions are joined together in the third line with the use of the unfamiliar ‘A’ set alongside the knowing his name, this both reiterates the familiarity and suggests a desire to keep the black eyed dog at a distance. The other central theme is the safety, comfort in certainty versus the idea of change and uncertainty. This is expressed through the lines, ‘I’m growing old and I wanna go home I’m growing old and I don’t wanna know’ When you read growing old as, becoming an adult (or being a ‘grown up’) and home as a place of safety and comfort- returning to the bosom of his family, protecting him from the world. Within the line the dichotomy of childhood and adulthood is created. Growing old can be taken less literally as change this create the interesting juxtapositions of uncertainty certainty and change stability. In the next line there is the idea rejection to the responsibilities of adulthood and the change and potential instability of the world. This like could sound like the voice of a precocious child stamping it’s feet but the tone of the line is a resigned sadness and fear not a defiant refusal this created by minor fall in the melody at the end of the line. Looking beyond just the words, the song has a general feeling sadness and longing to it, the way Drake’s voice previously strong, has become strained. There is a shake to some of the sustained notes, Drake’s voice begins to falter and cracks at points creating a sense of fragility to the whole piece. I feel it is quite a balanced song lyrically it isn’t overtly negative or suggestive of death and suicide but I certainly wouldn’t say it was a happy, cheerful song either. The song is about depression the after affects the fear that it will return and the terror knowing what to expect when it does grip hold of you again. It is only hindsight that casts the spectra of death and suicide over the song. |
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| Grant Lee Buffalo – Happiness Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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This song has made me cry too many times. I have always interpreted it quite literaly as about being sad/depressed. The contrast between the title and the sentiment of the music and lyrics to me sums up the horrid grown up thing of feeling sad and crap but getting on with life like a normal happy person. |
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| Thin Lizzy – Sarah Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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In my family this has always been my song it was released about a year after i was born. it was an integral part of my childhood we had it on 7" my mum and dad would dance around the living room with me to it right up until my late teens ( i have a strange family). i treasured this single. When my parents split and we moved, it got shattered. my mother found me balling my eyes out clutching the fragments she vow she would replace it. she did it was the best Christmas present ever and i cry even more. It normally make me cry but i love it, it is part of my identity, it is one of the few thing that make me realise the love that my mum has for me. |
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| Everclear – Summerland Lyrics | 17 years ago |
| As with a lot of their songs there is this theme of 'you and me against the world'. The idea that you don't fit in the the world and life in general but it doesn't matter because you have each other. I just find this some incredibly romantic. | |
| Manic Street Preachers – Hibernation Lyrics | 18 years ago |
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I don't see sarcasm, just the sadness that you have to conform to what society demands and tie yourself to a relationship that has little love or emotion just get by. In someways i feel that it relates to people of an older generation than myself (more my parents) in that you had to get get married to leave home then get a house, subsequently buying into debt, scrimping and saving to get by. This was the social norm and is much less common now it seems to fall into that period between the two. I find it a very tender and beautiful song even with the lack of romance "no time for a kiss" I totally agree that it should been an album track |
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| Elliott Smith – Clouds (Quasi cover) Lyrics | 18 years ago |
| Smith wasn't an official member of Quasi, they acted as backing band for some his tours (and i think he may have returned the favor at some of those gigs) | |
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