| Shannon Wright – With Closed Eyes Lyrics | 15 years ago |
| Really can't live without. The lyrics border on the obsessive to me, the best example being "from now on it shall be you/though we may never speak." Wow. She's really into this person. She also sounds desperate to hang on to him or her- "Save me before the moment's gone." | |
| Joanna Newsom – This Side of the Blue Lyrics | 15 years ago |
| I think a lot of these interpretations are valid, but one thing that people seem to overlook is the sailing analogy. The narrator and Svetlana are sucking lemons to avoid scurvy. "This side of the blue" can also refer to the sea, which I suppose she actually does in the first stanza. | |
| Pixies – Gigantic Lyrics | 15 years ago |
| I think the lyrics are actually "he's like the dark" rather than "he's dark". | |
| Cat Power – Fool Lyrics | 15 years ago |
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"Why can't we see our fortunacy, living as legends have lived?" The song is about waking up to the America that many of her listeners live in. There are many things that we take for granted or just flat-out ignore, and this is detrimental to living a more authentic life. |
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| Joanna Newsom – Monkey & Bear Lyrics | 15 years ago |
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The ending of the song reminds me of the ending of the Kate Chopin book The Awakening (though of course it is not certain in the song whether the bear drowns or just escapes). I think the bear is trapped being this one thing (that she doesn't want to be) and she realizes that the monkey only cares for her if she continues to be what she's not. |
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| Joanna Newsom – Sawdust and Diamonds Lyrics | 15 years ago |
| This is a break-up song of sorts. The break-up hasn't happened yet, but it is sure to come, hence the tolling of the bell. She tries to ignore it, but it's no use. Their love is a "sand castle that the gibbering wave takes". The relationship is at an end. | |
| Joanna Newsom – Peach, Plum, Pear Lyrics | 15 years ago |
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There's a children's jumprope chant: "Apples, peaches, pears and plums Tell me when your birthday comes" (Then you keep jumping until they get to the month of your birthday.) I don't think this is necessarily significant to the song meaning, but it may help explain why she chose peach, plum and pear specifically. |
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| Joanna Newsom – The Book of Right-On Lyrics | 15 years ago |
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The song is about an introduction to a difficult-to-break-into group- yes, possibly so. But I don't believe she is singing as herself, but rather satirizing a character who can be quite cruel, egotistical and shallow. One great example of this is "even when you touch my face, you know your place." Sure, you can be my lover, but I'm #1. It can be more overtly comical, too: "even when you run through my mind, something else is in front, oh you're behind." And of course "I killed my dinner with karate." Ridiculous. "And you do say that you do pray, and you say that you're OK". This character is thinking "how can you be OK if you are praying?", not realizing that people do not just pray to beg. To me, the song is part funny, part serious. I'm glad she framed it in this way, though, because it is not only fun, but a lot easier to swallow. |
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| Joanna Newsom – Sprout and the Bean Lyrics | 15 years ago |
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I, too, think the song is likely about a relationship and not an abortion. "Big-boned and fey" is not a description of pregnancy (pregnant women are not usually thought of as ugly), but feeling less happy about herself when her partner is not present. "Should we go outside? Should we break some bread?" seems to me to be a reference to a picnic. Breaking bread could have religious connotations, but mostly I think it just refers to sharing a meal. And counsellor is actually a real word. It was the name for the chess piece that eventually became the queen. |
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