| The New Pornographers – Mass Romantic Lyrics | 12 years ago |
| I like Donny's interpretation but I just want to say, it should read SOUL AND virtue. It's basically about different ways of being a poser. "Separated by sheets" -- an academic who only knows about writing philosophical papers, giving some kind of lecture on morality -- "soul and virtue." | |
| They Might Be Giants – We Want A Rock Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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John Linnell has said that this song is about politics, and how people incorrectly assume that they know what's good for everyone / what everybody wants. This interpretation makes the meaning of the song very clear and explains more than the "fads" interpretation (which is not bad at all). The first stanza is an ironic twist to the common phrase "if you were smart then you would..." -- a typical TMBG device. The speaker goes from "I want a rock" to "Everybody wants a rock", and eventually uses this to define an enemy of the state who is "trying to burn the playhouse down" and want to stop the good citizens who just want a rock to wind a piece of string around. Radical politicans claim to stand for what people actually want, until it turns into something wholly different, such as "prosthetic foreheads". For example: "Everybody likes democracy. Therefore people who don't like democracy are 'terrorists'. John doesn't like democracy. Therefore John is a terrorist..." etc. Along the same lines, "Throw the crib door wide/_Let the people_ crawl inside" is a childish version of many a radical's motto. |
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