| John O'Callaghan – Find Yourself Lyrics | 12 years ago |
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This is about looking at life through a loaded gun, like a bullet, as if you're ready to strike at any moment. Relevant phrases: "faint hearts on an endless path letting go of the ones we break" It took me a while to realize that "ones" in this refers to previous hearts that were broken as a result of the bullet, that the bullet is on an endless path piercing one heart after another. "faint" meaning they're distant until the bullet hits them. "drawn in to the darkness here with your eyes on the prize at stake" The darkness is the target, or the prize, which is someone's heart. "Looking at life through a loaded gun" A "loaded gun" is ready to strike and hurt at any moment. It's a metaphor for living life under the assumption that everyone around you is the enemy thus evoking permanent defensiveness. "Take your best shot, aim it at the sun" No idea what this means. "you'll find yourself alone" Literally a life like this is lonely. It's like being a bullet in the chamber of a gun. There's always one bullet in the chamber, alone but ready to strike. "Drawn into the backdrop . . . burn a hole in the dying day" No idea what this means. I'll update when I understand that part better. I absolutely love Sarah Howell's voice, particularly in this song. It's yet another thing that helps keep this song relevant even after a ridiculous number of listenings. Add to it the fact that it's a bit of a puzzle wrapped into a song. I know this isn't new but the fact that it's part of such a fantastic song, sung by someone with such an amazing voice makes the song tremendously addicting. |
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| U2 – Acrobat Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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Okay, gonna take a stab at this. The whole song revolves around the phrase "in dreams begin responsibility" which is a powerful idea, and also a title to a story from an author by the name of Delmore Schwartz. It's a story about an unnamed character walking into a theatre to watch a movie only to discover it's about his own parents and their courtship. He is so disturbed by this movie that he has to be removed from the theatre. The song really isn't about the movie, but about the influences of the movie. It sort of represented the hopes, dreams and struggles of immigrant families moving to America. The song and the movie had to do with the choices they made, and the burdon (sp?) that comes with those choices. There is a reference to "snow" in the song, as was there in the story, when the character finally realizes it was all a dream, and he is out in the snow on his 21st birthday. This song is about a whole generation of people who took great risks for freedom. The idea of the acrobat has to do with the melting of cultures into the "melting pot" of america, and their struggle to act as if they were blending into another culture, but at the same time still knowing their roots, and whatever conflicts there were in that. And you can dream So dream out loud And you can find Your own way out You can build And I can will And you can call I can't wait until You can stash And you can seize It's all part of the "american dream" what people had to go through to make it to freedom. The call to "don't let the bastards grind you down" has to do with the frustrations with this transformation, and to keep in mind that the "tide" (the one that brought them there in the first place) is "turning 'round". There is a reference "to drink the cup to fill it up, to drink it slow, can't let you go" which is a reference to jews possibly converting to Catholocism as part of their process of immigration. I'm a little shakey on that, but the movie referenced in Schwartze's story does focus on Jewish immigrants. I'm too naive about cultural religions in the world to really speak to that with a whole lot of authority, but I believe I'm on the right track there. The images are unmistakenly Catholic (drinking the cup is a symbol of communion), and unmistakably conflicted. Personally when I listen to it, I feel a sense of frustrated challenge. It's sort of the idea that I've been hit for the last time, and I know I'm going to "hit out" soon in return. Not many songs can consistently mobilize and motivate me to act as well as that one does. It makes me angry (though I can't exactly say how), it makes me agitated, and it makes me do something few other songs can do. It inspires and incites. |
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| Lisa Miskovsky – Still alive Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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As another poster pointed out this is the theme song for a video game called "mirrors edge" which is a video game about parkour. Parkour, as you may already be aware, is sort of a sport where those involved acrobatically run and jump from building to building as fast as possible defying danger. The "you" that's referred to in this song is her city, and it's buildings, evidenced by phrases such as "concrete heart" and "Just sunshine and blue sky. That's just how it goes for living here." She LOVES her city. There are a number of troubling phrases though "come fire . . . let it burn and love come racing through" is one of them. I'm tempted to belive the "it" that this line refers to is a building or something, but she loves her city. I think it just refers to the fire itself. So "it" just refers to the fire. Let the fire is probably a metaphorical one. Another one "So silent,no violence. But inside my head so loud and clear. You're screaming...You're screaming...Cover up with a smile I've learned to fear." is a delicate way of expressing what high regard the speaker holds her city in. This phrase, like others in this song brings out the humanity in the city, and thus helps the listener to understand the speakers love for it. The city itself is quiet. Without human activities it isn't violent, but she assigns an internal turmoil to the city. The "learned to fear" reference has to do with respecting it in he same way a surfer respects the water, and its awsome power. When the speaker says "i'm still alive" "and I can not apologize, no" there are actually dual meanings there IMHO. It's a song about a video game that's about parkour. She's "still alive" because she didn't fall. But the buildings can't be alive. Although they are live to her in her hear and mind, and she interacts with them acrobatically, they essentially have a "concrete heart" that "isn't beating", and she can't "make it come alive" so she can not apologize to them because they are inanimate. Why she'd need to apologize, I'll leave to someone who is better than I at breaking this down. I confess, that my analysis doesn't quite capture exactly the essence of the song, and falls somewhat short, but perhaps someone else can shed further light. |
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| The Goo Goo Dolls – Real Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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This could be one of my all time favorite bands. I've read some biograpical information on them, and the way they write their music is they write it the way it sounds good to them. So if it sounds good to you, guess what? You'll continue to get great music from this band. This song . . . Wow. I love it first of all. It's typical goo goo dolls in sound and in lyrics. They tend to use sort of nebulous lyrics for many of their songs. It's sorta like lyrical Escher, but that's the point. Since several albums ago, their music has sort of focussed on the whole sense of being part of this "big machine" . . . As if we're all cogs in the wheel. Many of their songs touch lightly on the hoplessness that is being a part of that existence, but not really knowing any better. Their music is knowing better. It's transcendential of that condition. His reference to the "sting of corrosion" in this song seems to be an obvious reference to all of this, and sort of a nod to the previous work while simulteneously moving forward with a different direction, the idea that love and life are tied together, not the same, but difficult to define where one leaves off, and the other begins. Whereas in other albums the lyrics hit on the condition, this piece touches on the answers. The artist is asking "once you've transcended the oppression of the 'big machine' and you feel alive again, can you 'feel in love?'" It's tempting to think that the speaker in this song has transcended, but that's not really the case. The speaker knows that for that to happen, there first has to be love, so this is the struggle the song centers on. Ot me this song and others from this band are a reminder that we can be in the "world" without being OF the "world." That if you live with "open arms and wide awake" you'll emerge from this place where "nothing's real and nothing lasts" and "everything shines but leaves me empty." It may be a bit ambitious, but maybe this band can tackle the concept of what "love" really is, and what it REALLY means to love someone (not just adore them). It's sort of out of their normal lore, but it's one of the great lies; that if you subscribe to them, love has been sorta confused with lust and adoration. It isn't that. It's a choice, much like what the speaker in this song is asking the other person to make. Anyway, these are pretty raw thoughts, so I'm sure I probably missed somethings and got a few things incorrect, but I believe the gist is there. |
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