| Brandi Carlile – Dreams Lyrics | 15 years ago |
| YES! I knew it, lol. I thought I was just being filthy. I kind of love Brandi even more now. | |
| Josh Ritter – Harrisburg Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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I don't think Romero's origins/nationality etc are actually that important to the song meaning (although the pilgrim association with his name is interesting, hadn't heard that before). And really any historical context can only be proven by asking Josh what the hell time-period he was referencing, since the lyrics don't happen to say 'Romero the Italian immigrant got married on the 5th of July, 1891 in western Pennsylvania'. Which is probably a good thing 'cus I have a feeling that wouldn't flow so well. But yes, the industrial revolution and the railroad are obviously important, as a metaphor for movement in the most negative sense, i,e, abandonment. I personally see it as a pretty straightforward song about abandonment and fleeing responsibility. I'm guessing Harrisburg represents a sort of industrial 'hell'- the terminus of the railroad, which is a 'modern' path to hell. It's the old 'iron horse' vision of the trains and the railroad, as percieved by American Indians- you know, scary metal satan coming to destroy the lush paradise that used to be the American West (aka the Garden of Eden). And all that is just a vehicle (literally! hardy har) to illustrate the man's abandonment of his family and put it into this sort of huge parallel historical context. In that sense it's reminiscent of the English ballad 'The Dalesman's litany', which was set during the glory days of the Industrial revolution and is sort of a plea for god to deliver the narrator from 'Hull and Halifax and Hell' modern cities where 'furnaces thrust out tongues of fire' etc etc. Except that that has a happy ending, and 'Harrisburg' definitely doesn't! |
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| Regina Spektor – Fidelity Lyrics | 17 years ago |
| Oh hell that was supposed to be a normal comment, not a reply. Sorry rai chel! | |
| Regina Spektor – Fidelity Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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Yes- WATCH THE MUSIC VIDEO!!! It really 'explains' the song visually and actually tacks a few extra layers of meaning on too. I didn't really understand the song until I'd seen it. The most interesting bit was the reversal of the negative associations with the phrase 'it breaks my heart'- in the video she literally breaks a small silver heart which has all this colored paint stuff inside it, which breaks up the black-and-white sterility of the 'mental landscape' of the room she's in. In other words, 'breaking her heart' becomes a good thing because it allows her to 'let go' and experience emotion again. Also, just to be an asshole, I would point out that this song probably isn't biographical. I think I read somewhere that most of her songs aren't. |
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