| David Sylvian – Forbidden Colours Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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Forbidden Colours was, as noted, a war film. Specifically, one about the relationship between a young prison camp commander and a particular Australian prisoner who exerts a deep fascination upon him. The japanese word for colour is jiki, but it also denotes erotic love. Compounded with the modifier 'kin' meaning ilicit, you get kinjiki, which can be translated either as Forbidden Colours, or equally well was Forbidden Sexuality - in it's latter sense the word is used as a euphemism for homosexuality. In other words, the homoerotic subtext of both film and these lyrics isn't exactly hidden. Possible spoilers for 'Merry Christmas, Mr Lawrence' follow: In the film, Captain Yonoi is ocnstrained by strict rules of bushido honor code and ultranationalist militarism from acknowledging his attraction to Jack Celliers. Ultimately this tension leads to his nervous collapse, and the cruel execution of Celliers. Characters on the sidelines of this confrontation, Hara and Lawrence, meet again after the war and are able to establish for a moment the communication that failed between the two leads (and their cultures). The simple wish of 'Merry Christmas' is the first indication ofn the possibility of forgiveness and understanding between them. Then song lyrics introduce a second theme of Christian faith to this context, adding a further dimension to the examination of the many cultural barriers around kinjiki. |
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| Amanda Palmer – Another Year: A Short History of Almost Something Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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I don't get the suicide theme at all. The heroine is putting off doing something in part because she expects a long life ahead - after all, granny died at 83. She doesnt have to overcome her fears today, because there are still plenty of tomorrows. It wouldn't make sense if she was putting off suicide *because* she was lucky enough to expect a long life. Would she really stay off cigarettes to avoid a non-suicide death and thus make sure she really did get to take that warm bath with the razer blade and the martini one day? Drowning pools are not the only thing one can fall into - love springs to mind, for example. She suffers, unrequited, but is still around the object of her affections. All her friends know about the crush and despair of her ever making her declaration... And as long as she's got a drink in her hand it doesnt hurt so much not to be beside him. You don't get rejected if you never make the pass - and you can fool yourself that its all 'just about to happen', for years. But then right at the end, she *almost* makes the play - she's not going to ask, but maybe they can wait for her to ask... together. |
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| Amanda Palmer – The Point of It All Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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Hrmm. A songstress at the height of her powers, postergirl and muse of the punk cabaret movement, famous for brutal honesty and addressng difficult topics, gives us a beautiful and harrowing solo album... ... and takes a break in the middle of it to tell us 'dolls are pretty and don't move around much'. Somehow, I remain unconvinced. It may be a cliche that rock chicks write songs about drugs, but cliches become cliches by being true more often than not. That's my ego pandered to. Now a soupcon of humanity: take care of yourself, change those first 4 words when you can. |
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| Amanda Palmer – The Point of It All Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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'Getting the needle' is possibly more Brit-specific slang. If you 'needle' someone, you are trying to annoy them with lots of little jibes and remarks; conversely, to get the needle is to become annoyed by such remarks - but theres a subtle shading of being quietly or privately annoyed, rather than snapping back or punching the wall. So one of the needles is alienation from your friends through their tactless (or perhaps deliberately hurtful) remarks. But that isn't the only needle in this song; overall we're in hypodermic territory I think. |
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| Amanda Palmer – Have to Drive Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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Defintely roadkill when I first heard it. If you've ever hit something with your car you know its upsetting enough to trigger the muse. So a bit of environmentalism-lite (lets take all the nice furry animals away from the nasty cars) coupled with some musings on why we were driving in the first place: it's sometimes less about arriving at point B than it is about getting away from point A. Oh, and a faint whiff of lorries driving into pinewoods to machinegun their star-marked passengers... |
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| Amanda Palmer – Guitar Hero Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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Yes, I agree with the themes of school shootings, and gaming as an introduction to war, and mine clearance in Iraq etc. But... I also get the feeling that there is an open letter to another artist in there. Someone who is churning out commercial pap, not quite knowing why it is selling so well or if they are any good but scared to stop, and certainly scared to try and produce the real art they are capable of (even though their current success is such that not even an uncommercial (but honest) work could damage their fanbase too badly). I wonder who it was? A hit band member who could have been saved if the relationship had worked out..? As usual; everyone hears their own song.... |
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| Amanda Palmer – Ampersand Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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Any number of my friends have changed from the singular person I cared for to a muted component of the 'X&Y' couple/hivemind. It's great that they're happy, but I'm almost bereaved. The ampersand really captures it; you can't talk about Mark any more, its got to be something called 'Mark&Samantha', all run together like that. A 'merged permanence'... This song contemplates the problem from another angle, what you would have to give up to conform perfectly to the 'other half'; didn't some other songwriter say "I believe one plus one makes two"? Anyway, it looks like AFP isn't willing to pay the price, smooth down enough of those spikey edges, to lock together with someone else forever. No compromise. I applaud the sentiment. |
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| Amanda Palmer – Leeds United Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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Oh dear - posted this after only reading page one of the comments. Good to see above that AFP has gone on record with something like what I was thinking. Apologies to those who have already cleared up the references I picked on. |
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| Amanda Palmer – Leeds United Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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The 'double ex's' repeated hook is the one that gets me. I could construct this whole thing about chromosomes: an 'extra' XX, i.e. an XXY male, aka Klinefelter syndrome... But I won't. it's probably just a can of Fosters. I actually just put it down to a riff on racial violence among soccer supporters: the blacks and the beatkids fighting in the stand while our narrator gets frightened and looks to the law to 'protect us'. Maybe someday the Leeds supporters will stop hating each other/their coloured players etc and really be 'United' - the extent of the interest that our narrator can raise in the game that her lukewarm boyfriend is obsessed by... Good fences make good neighbours, 'they' say, and a bigot would mkae sure that those fences were white... There seems to be some brit vocabulary confusion That I can help with: Those wicked sandwiches are not evil, they are just very good; wicked, in fact. I myself had a wicked curry last night. Sainsbury's is a mid- to low-end national supermarket chain (think Walmart?) Burberry Check is the iconic 'designer label' fabric of the sort of people who think it is important to wear designer label fabrics for the scarves, hats, shirts, trousers etc. The brand owners are absolutely horrified to have been adopted by the Essex boys and Chavs who buy counterfeit Burberry at market stalls. I shudder to think what such people would consider a vice. But that's my 'Leeds united'; doubtless yours (and Amanda's) is greatly different. |
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