| Talking Heads – The Facts Of Life Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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One of my favorite Talking Heads songs. Seems to be a lament of the notion that "love" (and other human behavior) is nothing more transcendent than a simple and uncontrollable biochemical reaction which is probably no different than any other animals experience. Lyrics that always haunt me in this song, and which I have no great explanation for, are "I'm afraid that God has no master plan. He only takes ... what he can use". |
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| St. Vincent – Marry Me Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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Really cynical critique of the institution of marriage from someone looking to use it (and her intended spouse) purely as a tool for stability to advance other appetites. She wants a sexless (Mary & Joseph w/o the kid) marriage to a stable, yet emotionally easy-to-manipulate man (a rock with a heart like a socket I can plug into at will) so that she can be taken care of and comfortable until something that tickles her fancy comes along ( I'm as fickle as a paper doll...I'll be in someone else's arms). Pretty ruthless when you consider that she KNOWS she's going to leave him before they marry (marry me, you won't realize I'm gone), that she knows she's manipulating him (I don't care what you want, I want to marry you), AND that she even considers that she can potentially do this to him multiple times in the future when she's between affairs ( "And will you guess when I come around next? I hope your open sign is blinking still"). The really depressing thing about the whole song is that the implication by the singer is that her approach to marriage is really not any different than anyone else's. "most mainly want to win the game they came to win. They want to come out ahead" and "we'll do what married people do". |
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| St. Vincent – Now, Now Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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Seems like an "I am woman, hear me roar" type of statement being made by the songwriter. Guess it could be aimed at a dominating husband/boyfriend, but I sort of lean towards it being a rebel yell at an overbearing mother. The "your mother's favorite dog" and "pawn to your king" might suggest the former, but a few things about the chorus suggest to me that the latter is more likely. The turns-of-phrase like "you don't mean that, say you're sorry", "I'll make you sorry", and the title phase "Now, now" are slightly antiquated, and the sing-song way they are delivered certainly suggest a parent-child interaction. I suppose a 3rd possibility is that its aimed at both. As th0rn points out, probably the most clever part of the song is the "I'm not anything". Definitely a play on Annie Clark's first name, and perfectly fits the song's vibe. "I'm not your 'Annie, Annie, Annie, Annie' thing". On one level, a declaration that the singer is tired of being objectified and treated as an object instead of a person. On another, the delivery of the "Annie, Annie, Annie, Annie" strongly suggests mocking mimicry of singer's intended target. If you see it aimed at an overbearing mother, it could me mimicking constant nagging. However, ff you see the song as aimed at a spouse/boyfriend, it could be a mocking of the fellow in question during the throes of passion which would change the meaning of the line slightly to something more like "I'm not your plastic love doll". |
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