| The Dukes of Stratosphear – My Love Explodes Lyrics | 12 years ago |
| I think the song is a reference to ejaculation. | |
| Sugarplastic – The Way This Is Lyrics | 13 years ago |
| I don't think these lyrics are right, but honestly I'm not really sure. I think its "Carolina" instead of "Caroline No", for example. | |
| Delerium – A Poem For Byzantium Lyrics | 15 years ago |
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This is not a love song. The title says this song is about Byzantium... its not some generic pop love song like many seem to be interpreting it. Love songs are a dime a dozen, but this is something different. To understand its meaning you have to understand what Byzantium was. It wasn't someone's lover, it was an empire. In 1453 Constantinople fell to the Ottoman Turks, who made it their capitol and changed the name of the city to Istanbul. This was the final death knell for the 1000 year Byzantine empire. Many citizens of Constantinople fled to other parts of Europe, namely Italy, and this flood of well educated Byzantines helped culminate in the Renaissance which finally lifted Western Europe out of the Dark Ages. So in my opinion, this song here is from the perspective of one of the refugees from Constantinople after its conquering by the Turks. Look at the lyrics. "I ran away to a room here on the bay." This line seems to reference the flight from Byzantium. The author "ran away" to someplace still safely in Christian hands. Here they found a "room here on the bay" which would have been an apartment or something similar. "Interrupted life again, another new beginning" Life was indeed interrupted by the Turkish conquest, but a "new beginning" refers to the new life in the West. "Where the silence echoes "you're no longer with me."" Byzantium ceased to exist, therefore it is "no longer with me". Pretty self explanatory. "Here and now, I feel that I'm embracing freedom Even though I may be alone, but that's okay." The Byzantine citizens who did not flee from the Turks faced a bleak existence of persecution and unspeakable atrocities. Fleeing to the still Christian West meant "embracing freedom". Yet, these refugees were still foreigners in a strange and therefore may have felt "alone, but that's okay". "Through the darkness I would walk in the streets." The streets of medieval Europe were poorly lit, but the darkness mentioned here is probably a reference to the darkness of the "Dark ages" where superstition and illiteracy were rampant. To a refugee fleeing from enlightened Byzantium, this darkness would have been a shock. "Confessions never seemed to provide me with a release. Held me down and tried to cure me, tried to give me reason. But nothing could separate this burdened mind from me." This "burdened mind" may refer to a feeling of guilt the refugee has for fleeing his/her homeland at its moment of greatest need. Perhaps this individual wishes they had remained behind and fought to the death alongside his/her comrades rather than abandoning them. "Confessions" could not release this guilt. "I do not seek and do not intend to find A calmer ocean or a sun that never will rise. My world will never change and time will bring you to my thoughts, and I'll move on and then forget you all over again." The narrator seems intent on remaining in their new home rather than finding some other place. They do not intend to seek the "calmer ocean" of greener pastures, nor the "sun that will never rise" which refers to Byzantium which will sadly never rise again. The author's "world will never change" from this point on, but "time will bring" Byzantium back to their thoughts over and over again. "Moving on, I can forgive you all over again." Might refer either to forgiving the Turks who ravaged the narrator's homeland, or it could refer to the nations of Western Europe, which did not lift a finger to aid their Christian brothers in fending off the Turkish advance in Byzantium's darkest hour. The bottom line is this is not a romantic love song between two lovers. It is a song about Byzantium from the perspective of one who had lived there. |
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| Peter Gabriel – My Head Sounds Like That Lyrics | 15 years ago |
| You guys both have it wrong. The song is actually about having a migraine, and every little sound or annoyance is amplified to an unbearable level. This song is a lament for his pounding headache. | |
| Delerium – Poem For Byzantium Lyrics | 15 years ago |
| This song is about the final days of Byzantium and how they had to face the onslaught of the Turks all by themselves, because the rest of Christendom had abandoned them. | |
| Toad the Wet Sprocket – Begin Lyrics | 16 years ago |
| In his more recent solo work Glen has written a song titled "In My Darkest Hour" which I understand is about the death of his father. Perhaps this song is also a reference to his father's death? | |
| Toad the Wet Sprocket – All Right Lyrics | 16 years ago |
| The song is about depression, and this time its all right because he isn't allowing himself to be led down that road again. The Lorelei calls are being ignored. | |
| Toad the Wet Sprocket – Inside Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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It is definitely about something inside (just as the title suggests), but whatever it is is deep and buried. I agree completely with Moonlapse Vertigo that this is about being weighed down by self-righteousness, anger, and so forth. What is buried deep within is forgiveness and love and until it comes out this individual will never be able to move forward. This is an excellent song, one of the best by Toad. Its a shame it isn't well known. |
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| Toad the Wet Sprocket – So Alive Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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Seems to me to be a song about life after death. Being laid in a hole sideways probably refers to a dead body being buried in a grave. "A breath escapes and I fly with it" The body's final breath and the departure of the soul. |
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| Toad the Wet Sprocket – Are We Afraid Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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I could be wrong, but my interpretation of this song is of some childhood friends who've done something that they are ashamed of that they would want "penance" for. "The flames rolled and I said OK" Maybe what they did was set something on fire? |
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| Toad the Wet Sprocket – Something To Say Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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Where are you getting that this song is about an abusive relationship from the perspective of a woman? I don't see that at all. What I say is a non-romantic relationship between the narrator and someone who deep inside is a great person, but has a thick outer shell that makes them really hard to be seen for who they really are. |
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| Toad the Wet Sprocket – Chile Lyrics | 16 years ago |
| Based on this song's title and the lyrics I would guess this is about the South American nation of Chile during the years when it was controlled by the dictator Augusto Pinochet. | |
| Toad the Wet Sprocket – Liars Everywhere Lyrics | 16 years ago |
| I think you are both wrong. This song to me seems to be about being unable to trust anyone with either our heart or our mind. Almost everyone tells lies or is at least capable of lying, so it is easy to lose faith in others and not trust anyone. I think that is what this song is about. | |
| Toad the Wet Sprocket – Come Down Lyrics | 16 years ago |
| It seems to me the narrator of the song is referring to a relationship where he feels inferior or beneath his partner, and by asking her to "come down" he means to come down to his level; where he is at. | |
| Toad the Wet Sprocket – Don't Go Away Lyrics | 16 years ago |
| I really like this song in every way except for the chorus; it sounds too much like whining. But then again, I guess it is supposed to... | |
| Toad the Wet Sprocket – Come Back Down Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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I concur with those who said this song is about a drug addiction. Furthermore, the title itself offers a clue to this. When you do drugs you get "high", so it seems logical that when you "come back down" it means you are getting down from that high. This doesn't necessarily mean Glen or anyone in the band had a drug problem, though. It could be about someone they know, or just something they decided to write about for whatever reason. |
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| Toad the Wet Sprocket – All In All Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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It means his life is going nowhere and is basically "burning away". Compare this song's lyrics to Pink Floyd's Time and you will see the theme seems to be pretty much identical. What the writer of the lyrics (Glen Phillips) may be waiting for is "someone or something to show him the way", but as he states in the lyrics: "I am only just as much as I can make myself". So he needs to be able to help himself, but the lyrics state that he can't help himself. So to me the song seems very clearly about struggling to find meaning or direction in life, and the waiting is about waiting for something to happen rather than going out and actually making it happen. |
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| Toad the Wet Sprocket – Butterflies Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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I have no clue what this song is really about, but the reference to gigantic moths reminds me of the book Mothman Prophecies by John Keel. The angry man with the red eyes may refer to a MiB (men in black) that is mentioned in the book. I'm probably completely off the mark here, but that's just something that comes to mind with the references in these songs. I have no idea what the real meaning is. |
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| Toad the Wet Sprocket – Woodburning Lyrics | 16 years ago |
| Our lives are like Wood, and the world is a fire in which we are consumed. We are powerless to pull ourselves from this fire in to save ourselves. Ashes to ashes... | |
| Rush – Armor and Sword Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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The first two lines may refer to the "death of a thousand cuts", which was a Chinese torture method also known as "Ling-chi". The point was to prolong suffering and keep the victim on the edge of death for as long as possible without going over. "Death of a thousand cuts" may also refer to the gradual or incremental destruction of something. I think this is probably what Peart was referring to when he wrote that line. When a child is born into this world, he is guaranteed to endure a lifetime of "snakes and arrows" which will inflict on him the "death of a thousand cuts". It may not be a single major thing that kills us, but if not then it will be due to countless other things which wear us down and eventually destroy our bodies (such as the aging process, for example). At least that's how I'm seeing it... |
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