| Matt & Kim – Good Ol' Fashion Nightmare Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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I second rioking94. I think it is about learning everything about someone and their past, but looking forward to see who they are and appreciate them and their past "nightmares". A lot of this interpretation is founded in the part where he says "Show me the side streets in your life" which means he's looking into all of the little intricacies of a person and admiring every part, much the same way you don't "know" a city until you have seen many of the side streets. Normally, I wouldn't put so much emphasis on a single line, but it's stated without music, increasing the emphasis on the lyric. He then goes on to discuss a lot of negative imagery, "train yards like boneyards sharpened knives" and how those are the previous situations and nightmares of the past. The sidewalk imagery represents moving along a journey to either know someone or to be who you are. I think it's more about knowing who someone is. The sidewalk is "unassuming" because most people don't ever boast about their past nightmares; they usually try to hide them. "Concrete and cracks won't cut you deals" is more or less talking about the person's past and how their "sidewalk" was harsh and didn't ever cut them any slack. The next lyric pretty much solidifies this whole reasoning for me. "Lost teeth like white jewels of some kind" means that even though this person has had many "good ol' fashion nightmares", these nightmares (lost teeth) have become a sort of jewel for them internally. They use these past horrors to drive them to be who they are. The second part of the song is all about the person listening simply accepting them for who they are and appreciating their past troubles. The train imagery is meant to represent the journey of this relationship that's being built... Because the listener appreciates the speaker's past pain, they will likely have a stronger relationship (still we got nothin' but time). "The skyline looks brighter tonight, Let's go smash out every light, Your left foot in front of right" comes to describe how they eventually begin to share the same experiences. It's the listener "picking up" and pushing the speaker to be who they are, regardless of their past. Agree/Disagree? Absolutely love the song. |
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| Paul Simon – Peace Like A River Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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In my opinion, this song represents oppression and its ever-changing role in society. The title, "Peace Like a River", represents the time when the world will finally be at peace. In essence, PS is dreaming of a time when "Peace Like a River [runs] through the cities. Long past the midnight curfew represents the oppression and the people of the city sitting starry-eyed represents the time when everyone finally stands up to the oppression and they are satisfied with their lives. The second verse represents the world when all people will look back on oppression and say "I remember the days when misinformation followed us and we were unable to see if things would ever change." In essence, whenever anyone looks back on oppression (IE slavery) everyone seems to think "how did we ever do such a thing?" and in making reference to the civil war, many people thought that slavery should never change. In essence, it is a reference to this type of thought that plagues most oppressive regimes or types of rule. The third verse makes reference to the ways in which people stand up to oppression, peacefully. The people are saying to their oppressors "you can beat us with wires and beat us with chains but you will never change the fact that we have made history." The reference to "I seen a glorious day" brings to light the importance of dreams in changing oppression. In essence, the people are saying to the oppressors "we have a dream and we will make that dream happen." The final verse discusses how the people in this situation must deal with the frustration and wrongdoing of oppression, but they are reconciled by their dreams. The person is a civil rights fighter who wakes up in the middle of the night sadly thinking about all of the things that are wrong with the world but the dream of having a peaceful world is reconciling to him, although it has not yet happened. He feels helpless, bringing meaning to the words "Nowhere to go but back to sleep" and "but I am reconciled" explains how the dream gives him hope. The final lines of the song leave us contemplating the ways in which dreams drive reality. The person who has dreamt is left unable to sleep but thinking of ways to make this dream a reality. |
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