| The Beatles – The Fool on the Hill Lyrics | 11 years ago |
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Like most Beatles songs, it's not about any one person or thing in particular, Paul's painting the picture of a really smart intuitive guy who sounds like a blubbering idiot because he's either "ahead of his time" or just has a goofy appearance/voice/presence. Lyrical evidence; "But nobody ever hears him, or the sound he appears to make" - nobody cares what he has to say "But the fool on the hill sees the sun going down and the eyes in his head see the world spinning round" - he's intuitive enough that without ever being told, he saw the sun set and KNEW the world was spinning (unlike 10,000 years of scientists). He's basically the smartest dude on the planet and everyone thinks he's an asshole. Chances are, Paul was talking about himself, then tried to back all off and be all "yeah it was about that miashi dude or however you spell his name lollerskates PM out." But then he went and got knighted so nobody can be mad at him anyways. |
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| Harvey Danger – Flagpole Sitta Lyrics | 11 years ago |
| This is an awesome explanation, and I really want to believe it, but that just seems so out there. Amazing story though; +1. I'd love to have a band member confirm this. | |
| Fountains of Wayne – Supercollider Lyrics | 12 years ago |
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(More to UnCommonLoon than you) What's wrong with them making a song in the style of Oasis? One of the reasons Fountains of Wayne is so awesome is that they like to experiment with all kinds of sounds. They probably heard an Oasis song and went "we should write one like that." And it turned out to be a pretty cool song, if you ask me. Lord knows what the lyrics are about though! It sounds to me like they're just really high and admiring a bunch of plants. Hyacinths, sage, stella radiata, and coriander are all flowering plants. |
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| Fountains of Wayne – No Better Place Lyrics | 13 years ago |
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This is one of my favorite songs of all time. "And it's running back and forth inside your mind, Just how that town defined you Dressed you up, painted on your face." That line is just amazing. Makes me think of where I grew up and how much it sucks that I never go back. I always think about how my hometown defines the way I am. and then "So I taxi to an all night party, Park me in the corner in an old chair, sip my drink and stare out into space" reminds me of visiting old friends at different colleges. I almost never do it anymore, because I drive so far to see them and realize that they have brand new friends I don't know, and I end up bored as hell. Fountains of Wayne always hits the spot somehow. I can't describe how, but their lyrics feel so relatable and charming. Great song. |
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| The Beatles – Come Together Lyrics | 14 years ago |
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This song is awesome. The way I see it, it's kind of calling out Paul McCartney in a very discrete way for not being one of them anymore. The song was written right after Timothy Leary was arrested for marijuana, and Lennon was pissed. It would be likely to assume that Paul McCartney, who didn't get try LSD until a couple years after Lennon/Harrison, was much less pissed. As always discussed, each of the verses seem to be describing one person. But I think the flow of the song is much more important, as well as the contradictions between the verse about Paul McCartney and the rest of the verses. The first two verses, about Harrison and Starr respectively, come back to back with only a short guitar riff in between. There is then a short break before Lennons verse, where he notes that Yoko Ono might be drawing him away from the band ("he got Ono sideboard," "Hold you in his armchair/you can feel his disease). After this is a long guitar solo, followed by a seemingly accusatory verse about Paul McCartney. "He Roller Coaster" could refer to the rocky relationship between Lennon/McCartney, "He one mojo filter" seems to say that he takes the magic out of things, "he say one and one and one is three" accuses him of excluding John from recordings and leaving three Beatles, and the line "Got to be good looking cause he's so hard to see" indicates that McCartney was rarely around anymore, but was producing good music when he was. The first three verses also have some sort of drug reference, and seem to separate McCartney as the odd man out. Harrison is "groovin up slowly, he got joo-joo eyeballs" which could be referring to the slow come-up on acid and the extremely dilated pupils that follow. Starr "shoots coca-cola" and "one thing [he] can tell you is you got to be free." Lennon is a "spinal cracker" which may refer to the myth that LSD is permanently stored in your spine, and cracking your back may cause flashbacks. The best part about The Beatles is how you can never quite tell if they were being cryptic or just producing nonsense to mess with their fans. This is one of those songs that could go either way, but I think its relation to Timothy Leary's arrest makes it too good of a political opportunity for Lennon to have passed down with a nonsensical pop-hit. |
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| Gorillaz – Clint Eastwood Lyrics | 15 years ago |
| Songs can have a literal meaning and a deeper meaning at the same time. Everything in this song would work to describe the feeling Clint Eastwood has at the end of The Good, THe Bad, and The Ugly, however I think the deeper point they were trying to make is largely drug related. What I get out of it is that the band feels like drugs wrote their songs and made them famous, not their own talent. "Percussion he provides/with me as a guide," "remember that it's all in your head," "Allow me to make this childlike in nature," "Chicks and dudes, who you think is really kickin tunes?" "one token psychic." I don't know, that's what I get from it anyways. The singer appears to be saying that he's not happy, so he smokes and feels his "future" in the music industry coming on. | |
| Gin Blossoms – Not Only Numb Lyrics | 15 years ago |
| Oh and also to add, he gets nostalgic about seeing bars he used to play shows at with his band, mainly because she was always with him. | |
| Gin Blossoms – Not Only Numb Lyrics | 15 years ago |
| This song reminds me a lot of the movie "Garden State." Like someone else said, it feels like he's someone returning to a place he hasn't been since a devastating thing happened, and he still feels numb about it. The most significant thing to me is the use of the words "home" and "familiar." It sounds more like he's saying he's returning to a place where he was in a relationship with a girl, but now is "familiar with the sound [he] hears in bed when [he's] alone." This girl has "thinned the air" of the place he considers his home, and turned it into a Hell, and "she knows." | |
| Pomplamoose – Beat the Horse Lyrics | 16 years ago |
| This song is amazing. I love the "The stage lights glow and we stare like rookies." I think that is poking at the fact that they rarely play live shows. The general idea of the song seems to sound like there's an argument and the narrative side isn't very passionate about it, and they're rather apathetic but in disagreement. They're saying "you can spread your cause around as much as you want, and you can say I'm as unfair as you want, whatever, lets see what's on TV." Then she says "It's all for show so please call this number. You'll never know, and you'll always wonder," which seems like she's saying in a last attempt "I'm right, but you'll never know." That's what I personally get out of it anyway. | |
| Say Anything – Most Beautiful Plague Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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Max Bemis parallels things in all of his songs. He's comparing a relationship to the plagues. This song makes me laugh because he talks all about how this girl takes up all his time and makes him feel so broken, and then goes on to say "but you're beautiful tonight." Who else could do that? |
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| Say Anything – The Futile Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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I was about to yell at the guy who commented on the "what do the old people teach us but how to die?" quote, then saw someone else already did. The song is basically saying the world constantly looks at the bad parts of life before the good. "What do the old people teach us but how to die? What to your hissy fits teach you except how to cry?" It's saying these have better connotations with these, however these are still true. Max Bemis is basically just irritated with pessimists. |
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| Say Anything – It's a Metaphor, Fool Lyrics | 17 years ago |
| I forgot to include the part about "got your scars on my wrist, you're safe inside my fist." I think this part is using slitting wrists as a metaphor (fool) for depression. Since this is the girl that made him depressed in the first place, he's saying "I have your scars on my wrist" like the scars on his wrist are the depression she brought to him. Though it could also mean literally cutting his wrists, but since the song is supposed to be consecutive metaphors I think there's a deeper meaning. | |
| Say Anything – It's a Metaphor, Fool Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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my interpretations: He's been with 16 girls before at the time writing this song. AKA 16 exes. I wouldn't say 16 girls he's slept with. I'd say this girl is the one that's often referred to in Say Anything's early songs, which is said to have sparked the creation of the band. She's the only one who can "get me hot like this" meaning angry, not turned on. Now he's saying "all you are to me is dead skin" saying he's over her now, yet she's begging for him back. So he tells her to give in to every sick demand he makes, as if for some sort of revenge. But all she is to him is dead skin. |
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| Say Anything – The Writhing South Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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Max Bemis is very good at putting multiple meanings in a song. He does it all the time. The song's literal meaning, to me at least, is him trying to pick up a girl. My initial interpretation, from all the talk about the south, is that maybe she's a southern girl. Though that was just my first thought. He gets really irritated after being repeatedly turned down by this girl, and gives her "one last chance to burn me, turn me down." But otherwise, he'll spend the last of his little money to take her on a date and do whatever she could possibly want. As long as people are talking about a music industry parallel, it does almost seem like him going to a southern town searching for a record deal and getting increasingly frustrated with his lack of offers. The line "They've got the army of ears, they can't hear you now" could be him talking almost to himself, telling himself that nobody is going to listen to his music. This theme repeats a lot through this album, always referring to the fact that nobody wants anything to do with his messages and nobody takes him seriously. It's almost ironic that this is what launched him forward to where he is now. |
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| Say Anything – Woe Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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This is a great song, but I like all of Say Anything's stuff. Max Bemis is a great songwriter, and his lyrics are incredible. Even people who don't like the band have to admit that his writing surpasses almost any band one could name. This song is him just saying "I'm no longer beating around the bush, this album is going to be me telling everyone what's up." The particular instance in the song he's referring to is sleeping with a slutty groupie who is meaningless to him, but he can't get anything else. Someone commented earlier on the part where he uses the word scene ("All the words in my mouth that the scene deemed unworthy of letting out"). I actually think the word scene is almost supposed to be satirical of the people he's referring to. He speaks out of frustration in this song, he isn't referring to his fans or anything at the time. This album was the launching point of Say Anything and before it, he had very few fans, so this "scene" isn't a stab at his fans. He's trying to point out that nobody wants to listen to his band and was calling him Emo because of his songs on Menorah/Majorah and Baseball, yet they just misinterpreted the message and won't listen. This album really catches the frustration an artist needs to go through when writing, especially if it's of a dead or beaten genre. Songs like Admit It!!! and An Orgy of Critics really show how annoying it can be to be criticized consistently by the people you hate, yet all the while you have to suck up to them in order to get any success. |
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