| The Smiths – There Is a Light That Never Goes Out Lyrics | 13 years ago |
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"And in the darkened overpass..." Oh my, that has to be the greatest Smith's line ever. Unrequited love for an ignorant friend (?): hope and anxiety; shyness; despair. Imagine the elation of the speaker when he's about to confess/ask something that has burdened his mind for so long, and the inevitable despair that follows because he is just to apprehensive to bring it up. Better despair than disappointment? |
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| Morrissey – Thats How People Grow Up Lyrics | 13 years ago |
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It's sarcastic the whole way through. Morrissey very literal in many of his songs, and that literal style hides the true meaning hidden in the more ambiguous statements. The deathbed scene may have you thinking, "Morrissey is saying to man up because there are worse things out there," but I think it's entirely sarcastic. The dying man is not saying, "I'm not worried about dying because there are greater problems out there"; he's saying, "Don't be so conceited. Can't you see that I'm dying?!" It's fortifying the selfishness in the song. Maybe the speaker is admitting that his selfishness is what's causing his loneliness. "Someone must look at me and see their sunlit dream," is admitting that love is expected, and also wildly sarcastic. He's "trying to fall in love" with someone else, but no where in this song is the speaker stating what he has to offer to another person: a completely selfish song. In "One Day Goodbye Will Be Farewell" the speaker admits this one-sided faculty: "A savage beast, I have nothing to sell"; he has nothing to offer. When you break your spine, the accompanying struggles will undoubtedly preoccupy your mind and distract you from your lack of love. In the end, a broken spine is only temporary, but it can't hold a candle to a whole lifetime of an unfulfilled love life. |
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| Morrissey – I'm OK By Myself Lyrics | 13 years ago |
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From "That's How People Grow Up": "As for me, I'm OK For now, anyway." He is only OK for now. In both these songs he says being alone is OK, but in the end it really isn't. "That's How People..." is entirely sarcastic (maybe except for the death-bed part), and a closer look at this song shows that he really doesn't believe what he says. |
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| Morrissey – When Last I Spoke To Carol Lyrics | 13 years ago |
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I don't see how you came to realize that the suicide is portrayed as brave. I don't think a positive or negative opinion is actually made. Look at the follow up, "That's How People Grow Up." It's sarcastic; he wasn't really wasting his time looking for love, and he might be OK, but only "For now, anyway." He's inevitably going to continue struggling as did Carol. It's about guilt. The speaker refused to help Carol, and his guilt is seen by his presence at the funeral. "Nobody," including himself "ever comes." |
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| Morrissey – I'm OK By Myself Lyrics | 13 years ago |
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I think most listeners here are wrong; the straightforward structure hides the more subtle elements. I don't think he really is OK by himself. Why does he say he is OK? Because he doesn't trust anyone; no one can get close without him thinking that they mean harm. He takes it over the top with the weapons imagery; will a potential close friend really want to kill him? He is absolutely adamant when denying the help of others ("No, no, no, no, no"). He could just simply say, "No, thank you," but he practically lashes out at those who try to help. In fact, he degrades the help's argument until he believes it is moot: At first the help is "morality," ("being by myself might not be healthy, but I don't care"); he admits that the help has some value. Then it is "benevolence" ("I know you are trying to be a good person, but I don't care"). Then "home-spun philosophy" ("you're just making this up, aren't you?); this here is an insult as he tells himself that companionship is just a fabricated ideal. "This might make you throw up" is when he actually admits that his life choice is to a certain degree grotesque; I know many can figure that last part out, but why does he admit this? He dismisses the idea of companionship by debasing the arguments against him, and this last part is probably him coming to terms with his decision. Finally managing to convince himself that he is OK (and he has to convince himself), he admits that his decision is not only different and strange, but awful enough to induce vomiting. |
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| Morrissey – One Day Goodbye Will Be Farewell Lyrics | 13 years ago |
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I like the shift in tones and themes: (1) Foreboding: the song opens with a warning. (2) Despair. The repeated "And you will never see the one you love again" drives the message home, making you think, "I will lose someone I love." (3) Dark humo(u)r: "The smiling children tell you that you smell." While you are grieving over your loss, the innocent children will be teasing you as usual. (4) Guilt; see my reply to Coow. (5) Hope/mediation, or a (futile?) grasp at hope found in the last line. |
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| Morrissey – One Day Goodbye Will Be Farewell Lyrics | 13 years ago |
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I respectfully disagree. I think he's admitting mistreatment of his loved ones. Morrissey is a private individual, and distancing yourself from one whom you love can be abuse if they care about you too. He doesn't want to say "Goodbye" when his loved one dies, but when he finally receives his punishment. See: "When Last I Spoke to Carol?" --"To the rescue, nobody ever comes." What about the speaker himself? He didn't promote an optimistic view for Carol or lend her support ("I can't pretend...). He failed Carol, and didn't even come to the rescue himself. Being at the funeral shows guilt. "That's How People Grow Up" is not about being happy with loneliness, but rather about not letting it ruin your life ("Someone on their deathbed said, 'There are other struggles too'"; grow some balls). It promotes a more stoic take on life. "I'm OK By Myself" is admitted out of distrust, not out of happiness. The narrator says being alone is OK and he adamantly refuses to listen to any one else's opinion; listen to the incessant use of "no." He's OK by himself because he feels safe that way and doesn't have to invest any sort of trust, not necessarily because he wants to. |
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| Morrissey – If You Don't Like Me, Don't Look At Me Lyrics | 13 years ago |
| I think "That's all" refers not only to the indifference promoted in the song, but also the song itself, i.e. the structure ("That's all of the song"). It's very simple, especially for Morrissey. Many of his verses tend to be short, and when he repeats a whole verse he tends to change it very minimally (see: "On the Streets I Ran"). The indifference introduced by the lyrics extends to the song's structure, giving "That's all" I dual role. | |
| Baroness – War, Wisdom and Rhyme Lyrics | 13 years ago |
| Maybe the saw grass noticed the Confederate defeat, or noticed the graves over which the grass grew. It's also kind of hinting at the fallen soldiers becoming forgotten over the years. | |
| Baroness – War, Wisdom and Rhyme Lyrics | 13 years ago |
| Apart from "feel" and "steel," this song has no Rhyme! | |
| Circa Survive – The Greatest Lie Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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Unless Anthony actually says what the song is about, we can only make interpretations. Both the relationship and religious interpretations are great guesses. Which ever meaning the listener wants to give the song, that is the correct one. Music affects everyone differently. Through experience, this is what the song means to me: "And in a day dream I imagined my house Where all my father's sense of strength was lost" (I grew up without a father.) "This building smelled so familiar And I had thought this sense was lost" (I have a detached relationship with my mother, and we will never be close.) "The sense of smell that you use all your life Well now you know your father lied" (Growing up without a father, my dad has disappointed me greatly. When combining that with my relationship with my mother, the thought of a comforting and secure home does not exist.) "And it's all we have, so find me a place to begin." (This is how I grew up, and I am suffering from it. I am looking for the relationship that I had been denied.) "If I could get this feeling to end Trembling idle hands, holding me there. We laugh in the face of love because nobody's really there. Nobody's real. Desire I would try it either way" (More with my desire for comfort and a true feeling of love. I don't really open up to any of my friends and I'm kind of scared of a romantic relationship, although I could really use one.) Men, don't abandon your children. |
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