| The Mountain Goats – Oceanographer's Choice Lyrics | 15 years ago |
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Stab at the title. I'd say for a start that it probably refers to Hobson's Choice. An apparently free choice where only one option is really offered. That is to say, the protagonist is drawn to the subject of the song, and although s/he could choose not to pursue the relationship, really s/he has no choice. I'd suggest that the 'Oceanographer' refers to the tempestuous nature of the relationship, emotions like waves that come and go almost of their own volition, driven by incredibly powerful undercurrents. Things both deeply burried and invisible to the naked eye. Thus, one who studies the flow of oceans is analogous with one who studies human passions. So, it's the attempt to understand the reasons why you love someone who is bad for you, and knowing that even if you could understand, you are powerless to resist. |
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| The Mountain Goats – Golden Boy Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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I definately think there is some criticism of a certain type of religious thinking here. The passage: 'if thine enemy oppresses you you must let him opress you some more' seems critical in that regard. As does the childishness of the promised reward and the didactic tone (all the 'you must's). It seems Darnielle is satirising religion promising rewards in the afterlife in return for obedience to a church-prescribed lifestyle in this life. Oh, and it IS damn funny :). |
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| Joanna Newsom – Emily Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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This seems to me to be a song about a certain kind of -- for want of a better word -- spiritual longing. The repeated metaphors of birds and stars and clouds is always looking skyward, disappearing back into the dreamworld, yet the protagonist is trapped in the temporal world, where people are swallowed up like stones in a river. She longs for an otherness, a unity with something larger than herself that she can only hint at in song, and feel in fleeting moments. In many ways the protagonist sees herself as the meteroid, a barren rock, devoid of fire. But, neatly, the meteroid is also the meterite and the meteor, viewed through a different prism... she both feels the greater force, the 'fire' and is devoid of it. She can 'see' the meteor, but can never know the meteorite. This is a work of literary genius, without a doubt. Oh, and I find it incredibly moving too. |
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