| Flogging Molly – To Youth (My Sweet Roisin Dubh) Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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I always thought it was about the writer telling the younger people of the world that there are all these problems that are the legacy of his and other generations that this new generation can either inherit or leave it behind them. There are some clear allusions to the historical problems that Ireland has had, poverty, war, subjugation, etc. I always saw this song as a sort of lamenting over how the history of this land has gotten tangled and caught everyone up over such a long time. I think the lyric "Tell me why must our grief still be grieving For a language that never spoke its loss" is really interesting. I think it's talking about how the Irish speak English and not their actual native tongue (I believe it's Gaelic?). It's kind of a sad thing to see any people be robbed of their language, sort of symbolic for one's culture. |
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| Death Cab for Cutie – The Sound of Settling Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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I actually agree with Bodnible that this song is actually a lot more upbeat than everyone's making it out to be. Getting older isn't just a bad thing or a good thing, it's a distinct feeling of letting go of some things but also looking back fondly on them or perhaps becoming at peace with the choices you made in your life. I once knew a guy who seemed terrified of getting old or wasting his youth and energy. I'm sure you probably all know someone like that. Whenever he talked about this sort of need to do stuff while he was young, I always thought about how this song was a counterpoint to it, about how the truth is that we'll never be able to capitalize on our youth as much as we would want, and that we'll all always have regrets. However, the song remains optimistic because to me it evokes the sort of soothing way you look back at your past and end up letting go of the regret you had. I think every guy is going to have at least one girl he wished he talked to. It's kind of a natural recurring theme among males in general. But I think the tone of the song is that in the end you look back at your life and more sort of muse about the choices you made and the possibilities, rather than agonize over it. I think "settling" isn't exactly the best word to describe it, but it's what a lot of us younger kids think of about older people. I think the point of the song is that "settling" isn't exactly what we thought it was, and that it's not something to be feared. |
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| The Flaming Lips – Turn It On Lyrics | 17 years ago |
| From the beginning lyrics, I always thought it was about seedy talkshows and people wanting to be on TV at any cost. Perhaps it's also about the voyeurism people experience when they also like peering into the lives of those they feel superior to. | |
| The Wonders – That Thing You Do! Lyrics | 17 years ago |
| It's quite funny that this song is so catchy and indicative of a one-hit-wonder that it actually became popular for a brief period just like the movie's namesakes. | |
| Teriyaki Boyz – Tokyo Drift Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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Oh my god it's the silliest lyrics I've seen that could sound like the writer is trying to be serious. I can't say half these lyrics without bursting into laughter. |
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| Rick Astley – Never Gonna Give You Up Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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It's one of those terrible songs that get stuck in your head forever. That said, it's fun if you don't take it seriously. I mean that's what getting rickrolled is all about. showofhands, I think you give a bit too much credit to the /b/tards out there. They didn't make Rick Astley, he was a legitimate one-hit-wonder in his day. He was famous for that one moment in time so it's not like /b/ created his fame out of nothing. I would say it's been more just revived and kept for its camp value. I'm gonna take a shot at the meaning though: A guy's talking to a girl, and he wants to let her know that he's never gonna give her up, let her down, run around, or desert her. I don't think he'd make her cry, say goodbye, tell a lie, or hurt her either. Whew, real tough one. Gotta dig real deep to get the meaning. |
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| Portal – Still Alive Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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I think Darthbaka is mostly right about the lyric meanings. There's actually some interesting hints about portal 2, if you care to read into it. I think the song implies that GLaDOS was planning for Chell to beat her. The line "As they burned it hurt because I was so happy for you!" is actually the most puzzling line in the song. Why would GLaDOS be happy for Chell at all? Perhaps GLaDOS has further plans to exploit Chell, or perhaps she's not as nefarious as she had let on, and she was merely conducting her tests because it was hardwired into her. I think it implies that the tests Chell underwent were only a primer for what is in store for her in Portal 2. |
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| Blind Guardian – Lost In The Twilight Hall Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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One of my favorite Blind Guardian songs. I always kind of took the lyrics a bit literally. There's a character who's stuck in this odd portal dimension who can jump into different mirrors to live events in real time, only to come back to that dimension at the end of that event. So essentially, he's eternally stuck in this place and can get out but must inevitably return. On closer reading, however, it could be just generally allegorical for being in a sort of death-purgatory state and then getting reborn/reincarnated. The character doesn't really sound like Gandalf to me, though. |
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| The Pillows – Advice Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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I agree that Japanese bands should generally try and stick to using their own language. But it's fun and vogue to use English in Japan, apparently. As someone once said of "engrish" it adds the same exotic flavor for the japanese that using translated chinese characters (like "strength" or "love" or whatever) does for english speaking countries. Why does anyone have to be exotic? I dunno, maybe we should all see each other as full and complex cultures. I like this song. Can't speak to its meaning though because I prefer the instrumental. |
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| Blind Guardian – Precious Jerusalem Lyrics | 17 years ago |
| Hmm interesting theory about the lyrics being tied to Jesus' life. I didn't even pick up on that. Because of the kind of confrontational nature of the song, I always thought it was talking about conflict. It's not in the lyrics per se, but I always thought it was talking about contemporary problems with that region of the world. | |
| Blind Guardian – And Then There Was Silence Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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Quite clearly about the Trojan war. One of the best 14+ minute songs out there. |
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| The Dandy Warhols – I Am Sound Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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It's a perennial favorite of mine. I actually didn't give much thought to the lyrics of the song, but the general voice made me think of it as being about a person looking back with that mixture of happiness and melancholy over the things he/she has done in the past. It's sort of like when you're looking at yourself back in high school now being much older and thinking about the really insane sort of emotions and things you did during that time that were both destructive in a way and yet they were so pivotal to who you are now. So you think back about those times in your life and it all comes together in this sort of far off rush and you feel both wise and distant from it, but also sort of at that moment. It's perhaps a bit of a stretch, but I definitely get a sort of mixed-emotions feeling from the song. And not mixed in terms of "I don't know how to feel". More mixed like, "I'm seeing it all at the same time". |
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| The Pillows – Ride on Shooting Star (English Version) Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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It's refreshing to hear a japanese song that spontaneously has english non-sensical lyrics only to find that the rest of the song is that way too! A reviewer of FLCL said that it's like Marry Poppins on acid. I think this song reflects a similar tone where the exact meaning is lost but the feeling and the abstract shapes are there. |
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| The Pillows – Kim Deal Lyrics | 17 years ago |
| Judging from what a translation of this song says if you google "Hybrid rainbow and go to that fansite", it's definitely a story of lost love. The lyrics apparently speak of the writer filling his mind with the memories of this girl who's no longer with him and how he(presumably) can do nothing but think of her and yearn to hear her voice. If the translation is right, the lyrics are pretty evocative. | |
| The Pillows – Little Busters Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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"would you people knock it off,just cuz they lend their songs to the flcl soundtrack doesn't mean the song(or any of their others songs) is about the goddamn show.you people are so fuckin' ignorant.the song is about the japanese youth and their struggle to free themselves from their elder's clutches." I actually think that many of the Pillows songs in FLCL can serve both as a good thematic meaning to the Anime and as a general commentary about the tenuous situation that Japanese youth are in right now. Both the show and the lyrics to this song are perhaps commentaries about youth and this generation. Every young adult needs to have a point where they go out and become their own person (at least in western culture), grow up, and learn to act as themselves rather than how they're supposed to. In my estimation Naota is acting the way others want him to, while trying to moderate how he probably would really like to act. It's a strong theme that comes out in the show and the music. I think many of the themes of the songs chosen for FLCL run along those lines, including this one. |
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| The Pillows – Crazy Sunshine Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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I actually think the song applies also as a social commentary about our generation. To me it's about all the promises we were given by society that working hard and striving to be the best and being a productive member leads to happiness. I think our generation is one of the first to be acutely aware at birth of how the truth we're told turns out to be a lie. I think also it has led this generation to be both apathetic and cynical. The Pillows, I think, feel there's hope: "All the world's cowardly monkeys Are caught up in a game they'll never finish Banana roulette won't let them go til they die We'll pry open our sewn-up eyelids And the feelings this generation has lost Will be reflected in the tears that fall" Most of all this passage kind of highlights the idea of the previous generation is stuck in a unending and grueling cycle. The message of the song though is to counteract that. To say that you can see these errors and you don't have to be sad or depressed or cynical. I think the message is that you have to do the opposite; to find happiness regardless, understand that joy happens anywhere, and once in a while forget about what you're told to do in favor of doing what you want. I'm a big fan of the Anime that this accompanied, and I think it's put at just the right place. Furthermore the Pillows was a spot on choice in terms of lyrics and sound. I think this song speaks to anyone in a younger generation, but perhaps it particularly speaks to the Japanese. I don't claim to be an authority on Japanese culture, but I have a feeling if someone else knows a bit more first hand, perhaps he/she can elaborate on it. |
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