| R.E.M. – Swan Swan H Lyrics | 12 years ago |
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Michael S. commenting on this song on a fan site I found: "civil war song. That’s all I know of writing it, I remember the inspiration but it just flowed. What noisy cats are we I lifted from an actual civil war written piece and Mike and I agreed finally; the title is now Swan Swan Hummingbird. My pretentious 20’s are long gone and we can now all breath a sigh of relief. kindof" Website here: http://popsongs.wordpress.com/2008/09/28/ask-michael-stipe-finale/ |
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| Tom Waits – The Piano Has Been Drinking (Not Me) Lyrics | 13 years ago |
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The show is/was "Fernwood Tonight", a spoof talk/variety show hosted by characters played by Martin Mull and Fred Willard (if you haven't seen Willard's work as the dog show commentator in "Best in Show", you're missing out). It's the late '70s equivalent of The Colbert Report and I assure you, the hosts, the audience and Waits are all in on the "joke". Yeah, it's a little "canned" sounding, but listen to Waits' play this song live in Dublin. The audience laughs along with that as well, especially during the "Our Father" and other "improvised" parts in the middle... ; ) Ultimately, no, it's not a "funny" song, but it's one of those things where you laugh so you don't have to cry.............. |
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| Warren Zevon – Jesus Was a Cross Maker Lyrics | 13 years ago |
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I think the original is by Judee Sill. I have a tribute album to her where Frida Hyvonen does an *amazing* cover of this song. I'd heard this expression before, but never gave it much thought until I listened to the song extensively. I've heard explanations that the song was inspired by Sill's relationship with JD Souther (long time Eagles and Zevon collaborator), but the expression itself is absolutely fascinating to me. Listening to the lyrics and thinking about the notion that "Jesus was a cross maker" implies a twisted symbiotic relationship between Christ and the Devil (in a literal, lyrical sense) or the singer and her antagonist (in a metaphorical sense). The idea is a simple one: every hero needs a villain. And the second verse paints an even more clear picture: Jesus stood to benefit from his struggles with the Devil and ultimately his own death; consequently, despite his great efforts to cast the Devil out, he always had to let him come back around (chasing him out windows but leaving his door open wide) so he'd have someone to validate his existence. Truly the stuff of classic dysfunctional relationships... : ) |
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| Billy Bragg and Wilco – The Unwelcome Guest Lyrics | 14 years ago |
| Holy hell, this is a powerful song. They just don't make them like this anymore... | |
| Mark Knopfler – So Far From the Clyde Lyrics | 14 years ago |
| Can't edit my post, but it sounds like "The shallow sea washes *her* hands" should be definitely be "their". Makes more sense that way, anyway... : ) | |
| Mark Knopfler – So Far From the Clyde Lyrics | 14 years ago |
| Can't edit my post above, but it sounds like "The shallow sea washes *her* hands" should be definitely be "their". Makes more sense that way, anyway... : ) | |
| Mark Knopfler – So Far From the Clyde Lyrics | 14 years ago |
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Brilliant song, but there are a lot of mistakes in the lyrics above. They had a last supper the day of the beaching, She's a dead ship sailing, skeleton crew. The galley is empty, the stove pots are cooling What's left of the stew. The time is approaching - the captain moves over. The hang man steps in to do what he's paid for. With the wind and the tide, she goes proud ahead steaming. And he drives her hard into the shore. So far from the Clyde Together we ride... we did ride. As if to a wave from her bows to her rudder, Bravely she rises to meet with the land. Under their feet they all feel her keel shudder; The shallow sea washes her (?) hands. Later, the captain shakes hands with the hangman And climbs slowly down to the oily wet ground, Goes 'bout to the car that has come here to take him Through the graveyard and back to the town So far from the Clyde Together we ride... we did ride. They pull out her cables and hack off her hatches. Too poor to be wasteful with pity or time, They swarm on her carcass with torches and axes Like a whale on the bloody shore line. Stripped of her pillars, her stays and her stanchions, When there's only her bones on the wet poison land Steel ropes will drag her with winches and engines Till there's only a stain on the sand. So far from the Clyde Together we ride... we did ride. So far from the Clyde Together we ride... we did ride... |
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| Michael Penn – No Myth (Romeo in Black Jeans) Lyrics | 14 years ago |
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Jivenugget, I think you're right on with your punctuation. That line always bothered me, but I think you've made sense of it. Like Lionel Hutz once said (more or less): "That's a misprint. It should say, 'Works on commission? No! Money down!'" |
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| Warren Zevon – Accidentally Like A Martyr (Prelude Alt.) Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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Agreed. I never really liked the album take, but this version is one of my favorite Zevon songs ever (and that's saying something). I'm sooooo glad "Preludes" was released... The tracks are so *real*... Zevon was always such an autobiographical writer, but you on the "Preludes" tracks even more than usual is revealed... It's just much more raw... Great stuff... |
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| Warren Zevon – Piano Fighter Lyrics | 17 years ago |
| Oops... Looks like the italics code doesn't work here... Probably should have been underlined anyway... : ) | |
| Warren Zevon – Piano Fighter Lyrics | 17 years ago |
| True... Like his good pal, the late Dr. Hunter S. Thompson, he could really only write autobiographically... I just read [i]Dirty Life and Times[/i], his biography... It sheds a lot of light on his music... | |
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