| Malajube – La Russe Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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Ahh, I love this song! The spoken word is just so catchy... "pourquoi polluer vos propos par la politique, vous ne vous amusez plus avec la musique?" Quelle belle allitération :P |
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| They Might Be Giants – Narrow Your Eyes Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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This song is brilliant. It's this sad song about a mutual breakup. So many good lines in it. "They say love is blind / I don't think you're blind" Implying that he doesn't think she loves him anymore "And I don't want to shake your father's hand" Something you'd associate with becoming part of her family I also find the whole "race to the bottom of a glass" part incredibly sad, mostly because it's mixed with that really upbeat, almost happy-sounding tempo... I like how they use "narrow your eyes", too. Not 100% on what it means, but when I think of narrowing your eyes I think of suspicion, or dislike, or resentment. So he's telling her to narrow her eyes at his lies, and he narrows his eyes when he thinks of things she's told him... Ahh, too much awesome as usual, TMBG. |
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| They Might Be Giants – Dig My Grave Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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"Dig my grave" reminds me of the expression "kill me now". Seems to me the singer is just sick of someone, and whenever he has to deal with them now he just says... Dig my grave! The song is great, so full of energy :D |
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| The Strokes – Between Love And Hate Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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It sounds like a couple who worked out great for a while, then drifted apart, tried their hardest to make it work, but in the end she broke up with him, and he brushed it off and acted like he was fine but really it truly bothers him. Maybe it's just because I've experienced exactly this, but it fits the song perfectly. She tearfully breaks up with him, but he doesn't feel sorry for her because he knows it's causing him more pain than her. He's realizing how she's done him wrong, and wants to make her feel terrible ("you're feeling lonely"). He tries to brush it off by convincing himself that he never needed anybody. He's reminiscing about the good times they had, and how they're gone now. She's agreeing with him, saying it's all her fault and she was terrible and he deserves better, but he wishes she could just stop it ("Don't sing along with me"). Basically, he didn't want to give up, but she did. And it sounds like it might have been their second try together? ("I'm fine, it's just the second time we lost the war") As for the song, it's just amazing. I love the kind of melancholy verses mixed with the upbeat chorus, it really sounds like he's getting over something and is convincing himself that he never needed it and he's happy again. |
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| Jonathan Coulton – Big Bad World One Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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This one makes me think of My Monkey, in that it takes a real serious message (in this case hopelessness), but explains it with childish language ("I quit, it's no fair, the big bad world is winning"). It goes back and forth from depressing-sounding verses to the chorus where it sounds more like he's just getting frustrated like a kid, or "knocking over the chessboard" so-to-speak. For me this makes it one of the few songs that I can listen to when I'm sad, but that can make me feel better. Often listening to sad songs when you're sad yourself just makes it worse, but this one has just that hint of cuteness to it which makes it okay. Makes me feel like I am being childish and that my problems aren't as bad as they seem. |
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| Cake – Guitar Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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Also, as far as meaning goes, to me it sounds like things aren't going anywhere with him and a girl. He's gone over to her apartment, but she's just been on the phone so he's been looking out the window feeling a bit neglected. Then he's considering whether or not he'd regret if he just left her right there. I can definitely see the record company interpretation too though. |
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| Cake – Shadow Stabbing Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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To me this sounds like a song about a writer. He's all locked up in his room, tapping away at his typewriter, and he's saying that he doesn't need the outside because he can "say it all" right there in his room. Writing is his skill, his life, and it exhilarates him. Somebody "has got to say it all", and that person is him. Also, I noticed he never pronounces the "has" in "has got to say it all"... it's easy to hear it as "forgot to say it all", or just "got to say it all" on its own. |
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| Cake – Guitar Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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"The way you treat me like the only Slightly brings me down a lot" I can't figure out if it's "like the only" or "lightly only"; are these lyrics 100% confirmed? I can see both ways making sense ("the way you treat me lightly" could mean not being taken seriously, and "the way you treat me like the only" could mean being treated well). Either way, I just love those words, and I don't know why. "Only slightly brings me down a lot" sounds like he's trying to downplay the problem. Which makes me think of when someone asks you if you're okay and, though you're not, you say you're fine, and it sort of comes out like, "Yeah I'm fine, except, well, not at all really" |
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| Cake – End of the Movie Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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This song is so short and beautiful. I'm glad they didn't try and stretch it out to a three-minute song or something, because although I always feel like it ends so quickly, that's one of the things I love about it. I think it's pretty clear that it's about suicide, or more specifically, the lack thereof. I find the verb choice kind of eerie, though: "People you love WILL turn their backs on you". It's like he's TELLING you that this will happen to you. And it's said as a certainty: that this is just a fact of life. "Your life's going to go to complete shit someday, but you're gonna put up with it anyway to see how it plays out." (to me this is the message the song conveys, but somehow pulls it off in a quiet and hopeful way :P) All I know is, if I ever contemplate suicide, or know someone who is, I'm playing this song. |
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| Cake – Love You Madly Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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I really identify with this song. I think it's just about the ideal love that he wants; it's kind of a naive hope, but doesn't everyone hope for their relationship to be perfect? I think the "across the table from you" part is just about nervousness. I mean, if you're on a date and you say something stupid, or the date goes badly, don't you just want to get away? As for the "ornaments look pretty" part: if you interpret "ornaments" as things like makeup, clothes or jewelry, it means that all the things she does to be attractive are actually making it worse. So, he finds she looks prettier without all that extra stuff "pulling down the branches of the tree". Just my take on it. "I don't want to think back to The one thing that I know I Should have done" This. This is the "no regrets" ideal I try to live up to. |
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| Cake – Commissioning A Symphony In C Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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"You're sitting there thinking your thoughts They are not about what is but what is not" Everyone has been interpreting this as pessimistic or negative. That's one way to see it. I call it creativity. He's thinking of things that have never been tried before, things that are completely new. This could tie in with the simplicity of the key of C. The "You are seldom breathing life but mostly death" line right after still hints strongly toward the pessimism side, but I thought I'd bring this up anyway. |
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| Cake – It's Coming Down Lyrics | 17 years ago |
| I love the contrast between the breakup (very serious) and the fact that she has his sweater (in comparison, insignificant). It's almost cynical. ("Everything I loved has fallen apart around me. Oh, also, I'm down a sweater! Effing wonderful.") | |
| The Offspring – Half-Truism Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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To me this one has sounded like a breakup song, where the singer is fairly pissed off. Lines like: "The twisting knife turns all by itself, On to someone else" He's moving on because it can't be saved? "If we don't make it alive It's a hell of a good day to die." Sounds like he just doesn't care if they "don't make it" "All our light that shines strong Only lasts for so long." A cynical remark about how all good things fade and come to an end. "It never mattered anyway" Another cynical line, maybe claiming that to her it never mattered. I have a feeling this isn't the intended meaning of the song, but it certainly seems to fit. |
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| Cake – Take It All Away Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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snugasagrub, I kind of disagree with your interpretation of those lyrics at the end, but I do find them puzzling. The "Better come with an army" line makes it sound like he's going to try his hardest to keep the relationship going, to oppose her attempt to "destroy it", which kind of goes against what's said during the rest of the song. I've always thought of it as being said sarcastically/cynically, but after thinking about it I'm not sure that makes sense either. Hmm... |
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| Cake – Jolene Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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"She opened the door quietly and stepped into the night" has got to be my favourite verse of all time. Just the way it gets quieter until he's nearly whispering that line, it's just so... perfect. I just get the impression he's trying to save her from her unfulfilling life. She starts to get restless too ("Right then she knew there must be something more"), and she eventually, well... steps into the night. Tries to leave it behind. I don't get the impression that she completely does, though, because of how desperate the song gets toward the end (with the singer shouting and pleading). |
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| Cake – Palm Of Your Hand Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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I love this song because, though it's so simple, it creates this vivid story in my mind. The way I see it, he's trying to speak some sense into a younger or more naive friend, and after a while just gives up and says "Get in the car", drives them to an old ruined house (presumably his old house), and uses it as a metaphor to prove his point. Obviously I'm not saying that's exactly what the song is about, but that's just what the lyrics and tone make me think of. I just get the impression that he's gone way out of his way to show this place to the person. I won't even get started on hidden meanings. |
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| Jonathan Coulton – Not About You Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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It's basically what Raine said: the irony of the song "not being about you". It makes me think of The Stroke's "Between Love and Hate". Its chorus is "I never needed anybody" repeated 4 times, like the singer is trying to convince himself it's true. That's pretty much what happens here: it's like he's saying it out loud to make it seem like he's over her. |
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| Jonathan Coulton – Big Bad World One Lyrics | 17 years ago |
| I find Coulton has so many songs that people can identify with, this song being one of them. Who hasn't had a tough day and just wanted to give up? | |
| Strike Anywhere – I Will Question The Answer Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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Sounds to me like it's about being manipulated and sent to war by the government. Heard this off of a Tony Hawk game, great song :D |
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| Albert Hammond Jr. – 101 Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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I'm gonna second "Back to the 101" meaning "Back to basics", just watch the video. It shows Albert waking up as a ghost and seeing his own dead body beside him (near a bike and a crashed car, presumably he was hit), and he eventually finds his way back to his buried body and comes back to life. It's a pretty funny video actually. I mean, I know lyrics can mean what you want them to, but the video strongly suggests he's starting anew. Link to the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c0Ck3UNnPcI&eurl=http://www.alberthammondjr.com/videos |
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