| Gang Gang Dance – Thru and Thru Lyrics | 11 years ago |
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A warrior/soldier is badly wounded in a (metaphorical) war zone, but pretends (s)he is not. ("No my eyes ain't silver No, no my eyes ain't blue When your well it ain't got no water I don't hate you I pity you") But then, a voice tells the warrior/soldier the true extent of the situation. ("On a Saigon night in God's sky There's a butterfly on your wrist The flies are stuck to your neck! You see the... Search planes are out for you!") Whether the person was then taken into an "enemy's" or a "friendly's" hospital via a rescue plane is unclear, but the more important parts follow... The injury is so difficult it requires a neurosurgeon to fix, but luckily the neurosurgeon succeeds, and thus a new, healthy person emerges from the injury. Whether the warrior/soldier fell in love with the neurosurgeon because of or in spite of the surgery remains unclear. The (ex?-)warrior/soldier is now able to live forever in spirit (at least), so the neurosurgery must've unlocked something in the brain that was blocking the emergence of a whole new person/entity. |
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| Enya – Caribbean Blue Lyrics | 14 years ago |
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"So the world goes round and round with all you ever knew They say the sky high above is Caribbean blue" Admittedly, I am not sure what this means, beautiful as it sounds... "If every man says all he can, if every man is true, do I believe the sky above is Caribbean blue?" I interpret this to mean that if we only say essential things in good, honest spirits, then we may be surprisingly close to Utopia (the question mode of the second stanza seems sort of rhetorical...). "If all they told was turned to gold, if all the dream was new Imagine sky, high above, a Caribbean blue" What if everything promised to come good indeed turned out good (="was turned to gold")? What if that Utopian feeling never faded, was never subjected to entropy ("if all the dream was new")? The last stanza ("Imagine sky, high above, a Caribbean blue") sort of encourages to think of Utopia because it could be achieved with surprisingly simple measures. That's why all of the stanzas about the sky and the Caribbean blue are so peculiar. They are meant to be sort of subtle jabs at those who scorn at the idea of Utopia being something completely detached and unreachable, when in fact the opposite might be true (in a lot of ways). |
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| Paramore – Turn It Off Lyrics | 14 years ago |
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Definitely one of the darkest, if not _the_ darkest, lyrics that Hayley has written. "And the worst part is Before it gets any better We're headed for a cliff And in the free fall I will realize I'm better off When I hit the bottom" That there (the chorus) says it all. If the music wasn't so upbeat, this would be pretty depressing, lol. |
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| No Doubt – Rock Steady Lyrics | 14 years ago |
| Some of Gwen's best lyrics IMO. Simultaneously devoid of any hope and yet very life-affirming - amazing. | |
| Meshuggah – Lethargica Lyrics | 15 years ago |
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My newest interpretation of this song - and this may sound strange - is that it is sort of a tribute to monstrosity in general, to pure indifference, whether this is manifested as nothingness, Cthulhu, entropy, or some other godlike force. It is fascinating and terrifying at the same time ("Monstrous, prodigious, indifferent..."). Also, encountering the limits of one's own competence might feel like an infinite void. From this one could infer that the only infinite power in life is nothingness. Thus, "nothing is all, all is contradiction", as they already sang on Catch 33. This is the "schizoreality warp" (again from Catch 33) that people refuse to accept, and because of this, they live in fantasies/simulacra of empowerment - a subject matter discussed extensively on obZen (the album). A pretense to the importance of self, meaning, or structured existence in general. Actually, in one way, the title of the album could refer to the delusional attempts at harmony in life against the infinite force of chaos/void. So on one level the album could be interpreted as exhibiting different mindsets and coping strategies when faced with this. Since most people can't handle the truth (to use a cliché), they live in the aforementioned illusions of permanence, structure, and harmony, regardless of the means to achieve and sustain them, and at any cost. Thus, perverted harmony, thus, obZen. A self-defeating logic, a catch 33, an impossibility at the heart of existence. Lethargica is starkly different from all the other songs on the album because it is almost strangely neutral in its tone towards its subject matter. I'm not sensing any bitterness or anger at an all-powerful nothingness, even though, of course, the song is cathartic. All I hear is an honest description of nothingness/monstrosity and its impact upon us, which is all that can be asked for. It's a strangely relaxing song, too (probably due to its hypnotic rhythms). |
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| Dido – Hunter Lyrics | 15 years ago |
| I think what really elevates this song are Dido's vocals in the final chorus. "Let me go, let me leave, let me go": it's no longer sung in a confident or a suggestive tone, but rather in a desperate tone. The plea to become a "hunter" really becomes a plea to salvation - for her spirit to break through the shell of suffering she's been confined to. So, rather than becoming a hunter in this song signifying a will to renewed promiscuity, I think it's more of a linguistic decoy to allow a glimpse at real existential suffering, which is always more touching than banal relationship ramblings, since, ironically, those relationship obsessions tend to make us desperate for "the hunt". | |
| Meshuggah – Lethargica Lyrics | 16 years ago |
| This song means so much to me. In a way I feel this is the conceptual high point of the album where the protagonist stares the supreme evil right in the eye before being brainwashed in "obZen". And I agree with what has been discussed in other songs of this album that this supreme evil is both the conditioning/programming of reality and the heinous bastard behind all of it. Never discard the possibility that we're simply an experiment conducted by a monstrous, perhaps advanced, or in some other way supreme entity... | |
| Sleepytime Gorilla Museum – Angle of Repose Lyrics | 16 years ago |
| I think it's about how the banality of existence drives us mad, because we're supposed to be curious and explorative of things, yet we can't hold onto the significance of those, ie. we "forget them all by day". It's about facing the chaotic, psychological hell of the meaninglessness of life, to put it simply. It's actually portrayed very disturbingly in this song because Carla (the violinist who sings this song) starts out indeed in almost a child-like hush, a curious, semi-innocent tone, but by the time of "I buried the laughter and cried" she's gone completely insane with despair. That moment usually makes me shed a tear, it's so powerful. | |
| Meshuggah – Dancers to a Discordant System Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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That's good insight. Actually, now that I think on it, both Catch 33 and obZen (and maybe even to some extent Nothing), at the bottom, seem to be about how enlightenment/wakening up goes awry because reality is conditioned in such a way that everything exceeding the modus operandi of whatever (be it social interactions or the logic behind human reasoning) hits a brick wall relatively quickly. This forces us all to become impotent drones that have very little to do except "Suffer in Truth." Subjectivity becomes redundant in relation to the overall mode of operation. |
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| Meshuggah – Electric Red Lyrics | 16 years ago |
| I think the song's lyrics critize the notion that there is a specifically human (or humane) essence through which we can relate to the world without any epistomological or moral problems, when in fact we can be moulded to act accordingly to the needs of the powers that be, and then simply repeat out the behavioural patterns for as long as is needed and/or required. This song is the painful realization, the wakening up to that. The "We give in to the atrophy..." - section is especially powerful considering the lyrical context. | |
| Meshuggah – Pineal Gland Optics Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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Purely an interpretation, but it seems to me that the lyrics (ironically) deceive the reader to believe that the subject in question is really and honestly empowered. The themes seem so well in conjunction with the message, for example, in the song "obZen", where harmful aspects of life are raised into pseudo-divine power so that nothing will shake mental balance anymore, even if it is unjust. "Cast off - the concealing veil, the rational cloak of doubt Torn off - the restraints, the blinded's shackles Burned away - the agony, the fear, true grief A new set of eyes cleansed by a new belief" These last lines are the key. Everything disturbing, doubtful or restraining is thrown away. It's making the crazy and, in many cases, tragic, leap of faith, where you abandon "common sense" and at least some sort of consideration and morality to attain higher ideals - at any cost. It's a terrifying song, sung with as equally angered sarcasm as "obZen". |
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| Meshuggah – This Spiteful Snake Lyrics | 16 years ago |
| I agree. I'd also like to add that in this song reality isn't just an external agent of evil that kills everything - it IS the death of everything. It doesn't need any leverage to accomplish that goal, since everybody and everything is already abolished in the transcendental laws that govern reality. So the source of everything is a nothingess or a void that makes all hope causally vain. This song is a grim reminder of the things we try to actively forget as much as possible, for quite obvious psychological reasons. | |
| Gary Jules – Mad World (Tears for Fears cover) Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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PhishieD said it very beautifully. I didn't take notice of this song until very recently. I wondered what was about it so that it affected people so much. At first I thought it was just a beautiful-sounding, nice song. Then I listened with a specific concentration on the lyrics... god damn it. The song hit me like an anvil on the head. I think the line "Bright and early for their daily races" is key (at least for me). It's sung with such terrifying conviction that I can't understand how anyone can stay dry-eyed when they understand the meaning of that line in such a mournful melody and song. The person who sings the line is adopting a sad and resigned form of sarcasm, because (s)he is completely alienated from the dominant mode of living, the rat race. The helpless feeling is only ever compounded by the fact that the person sees this mode adopted by everyone else too, even though "Their tears are filling up their glasses". But since this tragedy just keeps on repeating and repeating, people become insensitive or even oblivious to it, and have no expression as a result. Reality appears cold and indifferent. The line "Hide my head, I want to drown my sorrow / No tomorrow, no tomorrow" follows almost logically after that. People who can't emotionally numb themselves from repetitive tragedies will have constant existential crises. The rat race will then appear as a perverted, even demented ("Mad world"), yet collectively shared and enforced simulacrum of a desirable life (as opposed to fighting for something out of one's true aspirations). The daily races grind our belief, desire and will to change our lives, or the world, to dust. A terrifying anthem for the human race. I wish its lyrical content wasn't true. :o( |
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| Lady GaGa – Just Dance Lyrics | 17 years ago |
| What does Lady GaGa murmur 3:32 into the song? You'll hear it if you listen closely, in the background (use headphones if you don't hear it otherwise). It sounds like a proper sentence of sorts, but I can't make out jack. If someone could help, I'd appreciate it. Thanks! | |
| Meshuggah – Sane Lyrics | 17 years ago |
| I interpret this song to be about how it's unfortunately very rational to act only for your own gain. It's completely "Sane" to manipulate, deceive and betray people, if a given maximum in life is to always act for your own gain. Hence the anguish with which the chorus is sung. It's sort of painful sarcasm (the whole song actually). | |
| Meshuggah – Dancers to a Discordant System Lyrics | 17 years ago |
| If obZen is a concept album about the human condition in a kind of perverted, demented new age era, then this track, with its melancholy melodies towards the end, affirms that the protagonist of obZen - so convinced and empowered during Pineal Gland Optics and Pravus - has no option but to acknowledge that his faith will always be betrayed by the discordant nature of reality. The protagonist stares at the abyss of life drained of meaning, purpose and belief. | |
| Meshuggah – Closed Eye Visuals Lyrics | 17 years ago |
| I agree with evildemonclone's analysis. | |
| Meshuggah – Bleed Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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I think the whole of obZen is a concept album about giving into a belief system that seemingly causes great suffering (the lyrics of the song obZen: "where deprivation, lies, corruption, war, and pain is God"), but because all hope is seemingly gone, it becomes "easier" to adopt. The human mind closes upon itself, because it can't take anymore confusion and powerlessness. It adopts a clarity of opinion/conviction that is easy but at the same time very tragic, as displayed by the prominent violence of the obZen lifestyle. This songs' lyrics are to emphasize the theme of blood on the record, as it gives (illusory) strength to the otherwise powerless protagonist of obZen (this song & "Electric Red" especially). |
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| Stolen Babies – Filistata Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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I think this song is clearly about being an outsider and the subsequent difficulty of retaining your mental sanity as one. The key line is "When you are alone and you're not one of the boys and girls." You have to build your own safe world to dwell in, your own (way of) life, but if the attempt fails (due to a clash with dominant signfications or the majority of society), the vanity of it all ("Will I have wasted years?") will mess your mind up. |
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