| Animal Collective – My Girls Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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The first line of the final verse is "I don't need to seem like I care about material things, like a social stance". Trust me, I've just scrutinised the lyrics through my very expensive headphones! :) It's a simple commentary about the way a lot of people pin a lot of importance on getting the latest gadgets, the shiniest new car etc. People treat getting into the latest gear as a 'social stance'. He's saying all that's important to him is that he has a home with his family. |
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| Hot Chip – So Glad To See You Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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I think the "one true friend" might be one of the band's synths. I know the band are really fond of their equipment (including several very expensive vintage synths). And the strange vocal effect on the chorus makes it sound like they are presenting this synth as a kind of mystical object. Just a thought. |
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| The Decemberists – Billy Liar Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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I always thought the character 'Billy Liar' was a little kid, probably no more than 5 years old, so I'm interested in what makes people think he's so much older. He sounds like a bored, snot-nosed kid who nobody wants around, but the song looks at it from his perspective. By my reckoning there is no logical timeflow to this song and the chorus isn't really meant to link in with the Billy Liar character. |
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| Elbow – Great Expectations Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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This is a look back on a relationship he had and fixing on a particular perfect memory - walking down the aisle of the last bus home after a quiet walk through the streets. Both the aisle of the bus and the importance of that moment to him draw comparisons to a wedding - perhaps a wedding he wished he'd had while he had the chance. The final verse is him revisiting the place where the memories occurred ('the last bus home') and reminiscing. He hopes one day she will get on the same bus and they will be able to start again - 'And if you’re running late / This is where I’ll go / Know I’ll always wait'. An absolutely beautiful song, and Elbow's best in my opinion, but it's the delivery of the lyrics that makes it. It sounds so much more impressive than the lyrics look on paper. |
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| Saul Williams – Lalala Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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I'm surprised nobody's commented on this track. It's easily one of his finest! I read this track as a fairly general introduction to the themes he is most interested in, although it does contain some of his most profound lines. The opening verse comes across slightly arrogant (as many of his things do at times) but I think it's more of a statement about the way people need to be if we are to cure the world's ills, as well as a gentle threat to the 'fake niggas' who unfairly dominate hip hop. This verse tackles black rights and the (corresponding) hypocrisy of the materialistic side of mainstream hip-hop culture. The second verse is about his more spiritual side, and I think the 'maker of drums' stuff is purely metaphorical. It's making a statement about the fundamental importance of music to the human race. The verse examines the effort our most distant ancestors would go to just to make music ('we scraped the inside of goat hides to seek the hollows where sound resides'). And that's because even then they recognised just how important music is on a level above most people's understanding. |
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