| Birdy – A-Team Lyrics | 13 years ago |
|
Delicate, and much better than the Ed Sheeran original. The lyrics are about a woman who takes Class A drugs, and is willing to do anything (including prostitution) to get them. Birdy's sad, sympathetic vocals are miles better than the Sheeran original though. At least she doesn't portray the poor woman in ironic pop stylings. Birdy's music seems more sympathetic to me, less pop-art and more of a portrait of a sad story that doesn't end well. |
|
| Buddy Holly – That'll Be The Day Lyrics | 14 years ago |
|
No one can understand the lyrics of this song without first watching the John Wayne/John Ford film, "The Searchers". That is the film that the line "that'll be the day" was originally drawn from. In the film, "that'll be the day" is the signature phrase of John Wayne's tired, world-weary gunman; not a phrase that's at all about bravado, but a phrase that denote bitterness and loss of hope and resignation. In the masterpiece of film-making that was "The Searchers", the phrase was a characteristic of an important character. Buddy Holly raised it to a cultural icon. "That'll be the day", in the days of the Hawks Code, was an aphorism for 'fuck no, not going to happen'. The phrase originated in Old Western films, and is used here as it always was: a way to indicate defiance, even in an atmosphere where defiance might not have been acceptable. |
|
| Eminem – You're Never Over Lyrics | 15 years ago |
|
Corrections to the text (basically, these are the lyrics with all the [?]s filled in, and a few words corrected): [Chorus] The days are cold livin’ without you The nights are long, I’m growing older I miss the days of old, thinkin’ about you You may be gone, but you’re never over [Verse 1] If Proof could see me now, I know he’d be proud Somewhere in me deep down, there’s something in me he found That made him believe in me, now no one can beat me now You try, it’ll be them doors on Dre's Phantom, believe me clowns That means suicide homie, you’ll never throw me Off of this course, blow me Bitch I do this all for the sport only But I want it all, I’m not just talking awards homie And the balls in my court and it’s lonely On top of the world when you’re the only One with the balls and your shorts To leave them jaws on the floor with no re- Morse, remember that when they get to doggin’ you boy homie So y’all can just get to bloggin’ about bologna I’m not gonna stop the saga Continue, no stoppin’ the force Obi, I’m moppin the floors With them, I keep tryna pass it, but they keep on droppin’ the torch And it won’t be, long til this sport is O-V- E-R, just blazin’ and we knockin’ them doors and no we Ain’t pumpkins on Halloween but we’ll show up on your porch, so be Careful what you say, there ain’t no punks over here so follow me Through the fog like I’m S-N-double-O-P Let me guide you through the smoke G If only I wasn’t travellin’ down this road by my lonely No one who knew me like you will ever know me I don’t think you understand how much you meant to me [Chorus] The days are cold livin’ without you The nights are long, I’m growing older I miss the days of old, thinkin’ about you You may be gone, but you’re never over And it don’t stop (oh) And it don’t quit (oh) And it don’t stop (oh) And it don’t quit (oh) And I miss you (oh) I just miss you (oh) I just miss you (oh) Homie I’ll never forget you (no) You're Never Over Lyrics Eminem on [Verse 2] For you, I wanan write the sickest rhyme of my life So sick it’ll blow up the mic, It’ll put the dyna in mite Yeah it’ll make the dopest MC wanna jump off a bridge and shit hisself Tap dancin’ all over the beat, it’ll jump off the page and spit itself Yeah it’s the best thing I could do right now for you Doodi is to rap SO Imma fuck til I die, yeah Imma do it to death And itstead of mourning your death, I’d rather celebrate your life Elevate to new height, step on the gas and accelerate, Imma need two mics Cuz the way that I’m feelin’ tonight, everything I can just do right There’s nothing that I can do wrong, I’m too strong and I’m just too hyped Just finished the rhyme and bust it, and excuse the corny metaphor They’ll never catch up (heh heh, ketchup) to all this energy that I’ve mustered (and mustard) So God just help me out while I fight through this grievin’ process Tryna process this loss is makin’ me nauseous But this depression ain’t takin me hostage I’ve been patiently watchin’ this game, pacin’ these hallways You had faith in me always Proof you knew I’d come out of this slump, rise from these ashes Come right back on they asses, and go Mike Tyson on these bastards And Imma show ‘em, blow ‘em out the water slaughter ‘em homes I’m on so many bells the only place they can hit me is below Homie I know I’m, never gonna be the same with you I woulda never came in this game, I’m going insane without you Matter of fact it was just the other night, had another dream about you You told me to get up, I got up and spread my wings and I flew You gave me a reason to fight, I was on my way to see you You told me nah Doodi you’re not layin’ on that table I knew I was gonna make it, soon as you said think of Hailie, I knew There wasn’t no way that I was gonna ever leave them babies, and Proof Not many are lucky enough to have a guardian angel like you Lord I’m so thankful, please don’t think that I don’t feel grateful, I do Just grant me the strength that I need, for one more day to get through So homie this is your song, I dedicate this to you I love you Doodi [Chorus] The days are cold livin’ without you The nights are long, I’m growing older I miss the days of old, thinkin’ about you You may be gone, but you’re never over And it don’t stop (oh) And it don’t quit (oh) And it don’t stop (oh) And it don’t quit (oh) And I miss you (oh) I just miss you (oh) I just miss you (oh) Homie I’ll never forget you (no) |
|
| Jakob Dylan – Will It Grow? Lyrics | 15 years ago |
|
I have no idea where you got any of that, because it's certainly not in the text. Pills? Deceased fathers? What? I agree with commenters above that it's about a difficult relationship, but that doesn't in any way mean a frigid wife. The song implies a relationship where one person is more committed than the other ("Got me stone cold sober in a drought so long/ Boarded mansions and ghost filled yards", also in "There's a well-worn saddle but the horse is gone"), and the more-committed partner wonders whether all his effort is enough to make the relationship grow. I have no clue how you got the impression that there's "no metaphor here", as I see no other way to interpret the song. Parts of it are undoubtedly metaphorical. As for the last line I mentioned, do you think there's a literal saddle and horse? No. Metaphor. The whole song is metaphors. |
|
| Don McLean – The Grave Lyrics | 15 years ago |
| I agree that the song is lovely, and is probably applicable to any war fought. It's one of the most powerful songs about war I've ever heard, and I think it owes a lot of its power to the emotion in McLean's voice over the last two verses. But the suggestion of 'trenches' specifically suggests WWI rather than Vietnam, since WWI was where trench warfare killed hundreds of thousands. | |
| Nerina Pallot – God Lyrics | 15 years ago |
|
Along with 'Damascus', another song about losing the faith you had as a child. When she was young, the singer believed in God wholeheartedly, found Him comforting, 'went to sleep with him in her head'. But as she grew older, she realized that there is a dark side to the many stories about God (go look up the story of the prophet of God who cursed forty children to die by being torn apart by bears because they teased him about his hair), and felt that God was indifferent to her life. So she lost her faith, and now asks whether He would let her in even if she could get close enough to touch. |
|
| Nerina Pallot – Damascus Lyrics | 15 years ago |
|
I think it's a song about losing your faith slowly over time, sung to a friend who similarly lost their faith. The text is replete with religious references: Paul's conversion experience, mecca, resurrection in the 'died for so long, let's just get out alive' line, hell, the devil. For me the most poignant part is the tension in the lyrics. The singer wants to have faith in something greater than herself and doesn't want to believe that everything means nothing, but can't help that she's given up on the idea of a God who cares at all about her life. I also found a lot of resonance in the idea that 'hell is where I'm gonna be' (what atheist or agnostic hasn't heard that one at some point?) and that 'hell is other people's hearts'. Biblically, Paul met God on the road to Damascus, fell down and was blinded but given faith. The singer has trod that road, but didn't find divinity on the way to town ('Conversion has just left me heathen'). |
|
| Journey – Don't Stop Believin' Lyrics | 16 years ago |
| Love what Glee did with this. The cover is amazing, and I think it captures all the energy of the original. Wow. This was (and still is) such a FANTASTIC song! | |
| Johnny Cash – Hurt (Nine Inch Nails cover) Lyrics | 16 years ago |
|
Easily the best cover Cash ever did, and easily the best music video of the year it was released. The real irony of this song is that it started out as a NIN single (where, IMHO, Trent Reznor's vocals come across as shallow and the precursor to today's self-focused, selfish emo music), but it took someone in his late years, scarred as Cash was by drugs, death, alcohol and personal tragedy, to light up the real potential in the song. The video is a masterclass on how to take a controversial career and make a revelation, and the song itself is poignantly beautiful, haunted throughout by the ghost of June Carter Cash. The line "Everyone I know goes away in the end", in the video, focuses on a photo of June in her late years. The first time I saw it, I cried. The whole song could be an anthem for my own grandmother, who recently lost her beloved husband and who also suffers from dementia and Alzheimer's, which means that she often feels like she's let people down when the disease won't let her remember, and who loses the people that she loves best: sometimes to death, but just as often to her own mind that won't let her recall the things she used to know. There aren't many songs out there about the real pain of growing old. Johnny made this one one for the ages, though. |
|
| Beyoncé – If I Were a Boy Lyrics | 17 years ago |
|
Sexist? I don't think that words means what you think it means. Try feminist. The song is about the double standard between what boys can get away with and girls can get away with. Girls live in a culture where it's okay for boys to not care about their appearance (girls are expected to take half an hour on makeup and hair just to look 'professional' at work and can get fired if they don't, while boys just toss on a shirt and slacks and are good to go), it's okay for boys to get drunk with the boys and chase a dozen girls because that's 'boys being boys' (while if a girl gets drunk and rowdy it hurts her reputation, and if she chases lots of boys she's a slut). It's kind of heartbreaking, and it's easily my favorite song Beyonce has ever done. |
|
| Thea Gilmore – The Things We Never Said Lyrics | 17 years ago |
| This is such a gorgeous song about how things fall apart, and it's truer to life than most songs about that. I love how it's bitter about his affair, but at the same time it's about how the breakup was both people's fault. One of my favorites. | |
| The Mountain Goats – Home Again Garden Grove Lyrics | 17 years ago |
|
"Our dreams were like fugitive warlords" Genius. John has such a gift for metaphor, and this line is one of his better ones. This song is probably in my top five of his pre-studio sound. |
|
| The Mountain Goats – In Corolla Lyrics | 17 years ago |
| He did this at the end of a live show in Ithaca NY, and in a room of 200 people you could have heard a pin drop. You needed to be that quiet: his voice was barely more than a whisper, but god what a punch this song packs. I saw people crying by the end. That was back when the record had only just come out a few days ago, so many people hadn't heard the song before. I think it took them by surprise. | |
| Flobots – Anne Braden Lyrics | 17 years ago |
|
The line with the question mark is "adolescent comfort's gone". The second line with the question mark is "it's plainest just to say" This is easily the best song on the album. It's about one of the earliest and most dedicated white allies to the civil rights movements. But it's also about the South today, how racism hasn't really changed much in many places, and it's a portrait of how other movements (queer rights, homophobia) will have to advance. "Another america" is a slogan the queer rights movement has picked up on, actually. One day we'll get there. |
|
* This information can be up to 15 minutes delayed.