| The Smiths – Cemetry Gates Lyrics | 15 years ago |
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Funny. I was browsing another site and saw a comment pretty similar to this one. ".. The words Morrissey has heard said a hundred times (maybe less, maybe more) come from Shakespeare's Richard III. Morrissey paradoxically both caustically dismisses Wilde ("weird lover Wilde") and champions him above Keats and Yeats, generally conservatively considered to be the more "important" poets. This song echoes Morrissey's memories of visiting Southern Cemetery in Manchester with his greatest friend, Linder Sterling. This cemetry, by the way is absolutely huge. His mention of a "dreaded sunny day" is surely a tongue-in-cheek lyrical landmine for those who accuse him of being miserable all the time. The mis-spelling of "cemetery" is a MozMistake, as opposed to any dire pun on the word "try", thank god." Taken from http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:http://www.compsoc.man.ac.uk/~moz/lyrics/thequeen/cemetryg.htm Just wondering if that was your post; if not, then this post is steeped in so much irony I can't even begin to imagine! |
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| Talking Heads – (Nothing But) Flowers Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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I think a lot of people here are trying to project what they want the song to be about, rather than putting what it actually seems to be saying. To me, it's obviously about the irony of enviromentalist culture; that the kinda people who sit complaining about consumerism do so in starbucks. If you reverse the song, had it talking about a beautiful river or something rather than a highway, that section of the song would be classed as "moving" rather than humerous; what's the difference in finding beauty in nature and finding beauty in human development? But, no, I don't think he's being anti-enviromentalist. Just pointing out the fact that there's no way back to a hunter gatherer society, so stop moaning and being all romantic about the "good old days" and just do the best with what we've got. It's called evolution. Society evolves in the same way that nature does. Everything is industrialised because that's what we wanted. Now we need to find a way to balance meeting our needs and not destroying our planet. Too much focus on preserving the natural enviroment, and we wouldn't be able to cope, and miss out on the kinds of scientific developments that save lives. Too much focus on satisfying human needs and not enough on preserving the enviroment, and we'll live in a barron, smoggy wasteground. |
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| R.E.M. – The Great Beyond Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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First, a preface. I'm not an atheist (I class myself as agnostic), or a Dawkins follower, but these are my views. The song, to me, seems to reflect trying to find beauty and meaning in a meaningless world, trying to understand human nature in the absence of a god. I've watched the stars fall silent from your eyes All the sights that I have seen (Finding beauty in other people and the wonders of the natural world) I can't believe that I believed I wished That you could see (A realisation that believing in a god does seem ridiculous, and trying to show someone else that noticing how amazing the intricacies of world is) There's a new planet in the solar system There is nothing up my sleeve (Showing that seeing something amazing can usually be explained in scientific terms, it doesen't need to be a mystery) I'm pushing an elephant up the stairs I'm tossing up punchlines that were never there (I'm doing something impossible, I'm looking for answers where there are non, there is no one answer to the way the world works, no great perfect understanding; it's a billion different answers to a billion different questions) Over my shoulder a piano falls Crashing to the ground (Cause and effect; something happens, in this case a piano falling, and gravity forces it down, it can be explained scientifically, even if it looks strange) And all this talk of time Talk is fine (Talking about the nature of the universe in a metaphysical manner is fine, but it's just talk. Trying to find deep meaning can feed the soul, but sometimes evidence is needed) And I don't want to stay around Why can't we pantomime, just close our eyes (But I don't want to procrastinate and play along, I want to find the real answers) And sleep sweet dreams? Me and you with wings on our feet (dreams of an afterlife or heaven is a comforting, sweet thought, and we can cling to that if we so choose; but it's likely just a dream) I'm pushing an elephant up the stairs I'm tossing up punchlines that were never there Over my shoulder a piano falls Crashing to the ground (covered this) I'm breaking through I'm bending spoons I'm keeping flowers in full bloom I'm looking for answers from the great beyond (All the beliefs that people have about finding this "perfect" realm of understanding, where everything makes sense and we are enlightened. People wanting a simple explanation for a complex world.) I want the hummingbirds, the dancing bears Sweetest dreams of you I'm looking to the stars I'm looking to the moon (again, seeing beauty in the things that we know are there, and fillus with wonder, without being supernatural.) and we've covered the rest, as it repeats. I'm not saying that the song is about stopping searching for enlightenment, by any means. I think it's about realising that the search is probably futile, but that the search itself makes us feel special, and that's amazing in itself; even if there probably isn't an answer out there at all. |
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