| Augie March – Dogsday Lyrics | 12 years ago |
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Skimming through weather records of the Porth Arthur area, Aprils aren't all that hot (it's the middle of autumn so the traditional idea of a dog's day would be extremely rare), but considering that Richards is from Hobart, Port Arthur is a likely basis for the song (it could also be applied to any mass murder in general). The fact that the cafe where many of the shootings occured is called the "Broad Arrow Cafe" augments this. Also I think the final line "let the world be kind to you" echoes "A Streetcar Named Desire", where one of the characters says "I have always depended on the kindness of strangers." She was raped, so the idea is that if you accept the kindness of strangers, you're going to have to accept their unkindness too. |
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| Augie March – Mother Greer Lyrics | 12 years ago |
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"Mother Greer" wrote a book called "The Beautiful Boy" released in 2003 that apparently has a bunch of pictures of "beautiful teenage boys", which is probably the basis for the "Boys are beautiful 'till the age of nine" line. The change in age was probably just to make it rhyme. |
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| Barenaked Ladies – It's All Been Done Lyrics | 12 years ago |
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I know I'm most likely wrong but I just like to imagine that the lyrics are what it says on the tin--basically it's about two immortals with the male (singer) coveting the female. The female is bored with life because of her immortality, the male thinks that a love between two immortals would be something new and exciting, but the female is too disenchanted now to bother. They meet randomly in various time frames (because after all, if you had all the time in the world you're bound to bump into each other every once in a while), and finally in the 30th century they marry. It would make for a great movie or TV show concept, sort of like Osamu Tezuka's "Phoenix". |
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| David Bowie – Life on Mars? Lyrics | 12 years ago |
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A line from Monty Python actually sums up this song very well: "Pray that there's intelligent life somewhere out in space, 'cause there's bugger all down here on Earth." Also a funny thing to note is the line "... is out of bounds, to my mother, my dog and clows" which is essentially saying that there's an exception to the hypocrisy and degredation which defines humanity, his mother (because even bad guys love their mommas), dogs (possibly a reference to the Cynic philosophy, or maybe simply because they're man's best friend) and clowns (implying that clowns aren't human, which I agree with). |
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| Blink-182 – Waggy Lyrics | 13 years ago |
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I like listening to this song after jacking off because of the lyrics "I know I'll get it right but I don't know when I'll open my eyes, I've got something in side I'll just jack off in my room until then" 'Cause I feel like yeah, right now I'm jacking off in my room but someday I'll be big like Blink and doing it in a five-star hotel, or maybe I'll even be banging hoochie mommas who suck my dick real clean. |
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| Modest Mouse – 3rd Planet Lyrics | 13 years ago |
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I reckon the whole song is kind of like trying to sum up the whole universe in just a couple of minutes and showing the whole "microcosm, macrocosm" thing of how everything is just a smaller example, and a larger example, of something else, and showing how everything is both big and small at the same time and how it's just mind-boggling and trippy... Like zooming a video camera out and in on some object so that the viewers end up just feeling dizzy and not being to tell when the object is zoomed in and when it's not. For example the whole "... in the water in the oceans in our bodies... another ocean on the planet Given that our blood is just like the atlantic." goes back and forth rapidly between tiny things like our bodies and bloodstreams to oceans. "The universe is shaped exactly like the earth if you go Straight long enough you'll end up where you were." is the same, on a huge scale. Imagine a music video where the screen zooms out from a shot of the earth to the shot of the whole universe and back again in time with each line. "Outside, naked..." is looking at Adam and Eve and God (as just a general basis for the start of humanity) and then "... Three and not just two. And that's how the world began. And that's how the world will end." is saying how the end will probably be the same--except there's just two people, they had a child but the child died and they have since become infertile or just don't want to bother trying to keep the human race alive anymore, and so it will dwindle down to nothing again. Ending the same way as it began, everything and anything is all the same, etc. Well, just my opinion anyway. |
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| Modest Mouse – The World at Large Lyrics | 13 years ago |
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I found a poem that has the same basic idea as The World at Large, it is called "The City" by C. P. Cavafy, Translated by Edmund Keeley, if anyone wants to read it. Also @eljavi, if you check out the guitar tabs both songs use the same four chords, The World at Large picking them as an arpeggio, and Float On strumming them. There is definitely a significant meaning in that. |
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| Taking Back Sunday – Number Five with a Bullet Lyrics | 14 years ago |
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I am surprised so many people thing this song is about sex. To me it seemed blatantly obvious that it was about a couple who are living "decently", but not happily, for whatever reason. They haven't got anything except each other, and they know they are going to die "like this, miserable and old", so the girl is suggesting that if they know they are going to die miserable, they may as well end their lives now rather than endure it for its whole length. To this the guy asks "are you absolutely sure?" because even though he knows that it is true, and that it would be easier just to die now, suicide is a big step, and he can't throw away everything without being sure that it's the best thing to do. He doesn't know if it IS for the best, so he implores the girl to get dressed and ready for the day. The other lyrics talk about their personal life together, how they are together but not really in love or connected, and they know they are ruining each other's lives (are you smart enough to keep your dfistance?) but they are so indecisive they can't decide on anything, whether breaking up or killing themselves (this is obviously not the first time they have talked about it). And it's that indecision that keeps them leading miserable lives, but that's better than taking the big step of suicide, because they can "keep it up living like this". I also thought the title was a reference to using a gun for the suicide, but it is number 5 instead of number 1 because they are uncertain and slow about it, and may not even do it. I didn't know the original "with a bullet" idiom or the High Fidelity quote either, so maybe it might have something to do with "not being able to move up the ladder" "going nowhere" etc. Or maybe it is just about sex or a break-up/cheating. Either way I am going to keep interpreting the song as I like to interpret it, even if it is wrong. |
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| Justin Bieber – Baby Lyrics | 14 years ago |
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Everyone is being so shallow about this song! Don't you know Justin Bieber only keeps his "hot teen that all the 12 year-old girls want to sleep with" image so that he can hide the darker side of his lyrics, because he can not go without saying the things that hurt him deep inside, but he also does not want anyone to know about what he feels because they would never understand anyway? But I understand Justin. I understand it all. This song is about the internal struggle of a boy with the meaning and purpose of the "self", after coming to the conclusion that nothing but Nihilism explains all of the questions and concerns he has about life and the universe. The song takes an especially strong view on the idea of "ignorance is bliss" and Justin's constant references to his childhood are about how he wish he could go back to a time when he did not understand or know anything, and did not have to suffer from the realisation that all life is without purpose. The "baby, baby" is referring not to a girl, but actually to himself as a baby, and the "ahhs and oooohs" are pathetic attempts to replicate the sounds he used to make at that time, because out of his desperation he is willing to try anything to go back to when he did not understand anything. The "thought you'd always be mine" is of course about his innocence and how he thought he could stay ignorant and blissful forever. The verses are about how he slowly lost his ignorance over the years, as he learned that the things society teaches us can make us happy (possessions, money, love) made him happy at first "I'll buy you any ring", but slowly he finds they are meaningless "When I was 13, I had my first love, There was nobody that compared to my baby (once again referring to how there was nothing like the ignorant bliss he had as a child)", and as he keeps living his life he finds that materials and emotions have no value, and Justin struggles to hold onto things but he can not stop a nihilistic view from taking hold of him, "And I wanna play it cool/But I'm losin' you". Finally the last verse is a bit ambiguous. The "I'm gone" could be referring to the "self", i.e. with Nihilsm completely taking over him he now has no conception of himself, and so he is now an empty shell without anyone inside (therefore he in essence is gone, even if his body is still there), OR it could also mean that in his struggle with Nihilism the only way out he could think of was suicide, so the "I'm gone" could refer to his falling into the pit of despair and killing himself, but I don't know for sure. You'd have to ask Justin in person to find out... |
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| Kanye West – Gold Digger Lyrics | 14 years ago |
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I believe people are being WAY too close-minded in their view of this song. On the outside pretty much every rap/hip-hop song is about as shallow as a crepe pan, but Kanye West is different, his songs are very philosophical, poetic and inspirational. This song is about Kanye's struggle with Hedonistic Existentialism and the Darwinistic struggles that continue even in modern life, and his sadness at how such things are so rampant, so that we are no different from out monkey ancestors, personified in a single girl about whom he is singing. Starting with the chorus, Kanye talks about how this girl is a "gold digger" (i.e. a materialistic hedonist), and how she "did him wrong" -- an example of his struggle with the amoral views of Existentialism, and how no matter what your world viewpoint is there are some things which should be considered "wrong" to everyone. Furthermore when he talks about "broke niggaz" he is not referring to his fellow African-Americans, but rather taking the original "negroe", coming from the Latin for "black", he is referring to "the void", or in Existential thought the lack of meaning in the universe. The words "but she ain't messin' with..." means that she does not care about that lack of meaning, and honestly believes her hedonistic philosophy is the right one. The verses pretty much discuss her materialistic views in detail, and her constant struggle to obtain more, which can never be satisfied so long as there is more for her to obtain. The constant references to "babies" and "children" is about the innate desire to reproduce present in all humans, and he is juxtaposing that with the more modern views of hoarding money and possesions, to show that they come from the same source. The final words "But when you get on he leave yo ass for a white girl" I believe is referring to God, and white being the colour of purity is most probably the Virgin Mary. I believe he is saying that although religon is generally insufficient (I believe I read in an interview script that Kanye said he did not believe in God), compared to the current life that she is leading it is a much better option, and at the end of her life "when you get on", she will have no chance to reconcile or repent, but will have a revelation in her final moments and look back on her life and see it as a complete waste. |
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| Augie March – Heartbeat And Sails Lyrics | 14 years ago |
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| Modest Mouse – King Rat Lyrics | 14 years ago |
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Well as Rontho insisted I am going to call him out. Brock is not so narcissistic that he would write a song specifically about life in the USA. His lyrics are global; nay, universal. The song on the first level is obviously about the life of a thief, who is unable to escape from that way of life "Well, the till had a hole in it, ha-ha" (I am quite sure that is the real line, as are many others), "we took all that we could carry, but we tried to carry more", and "what do you have to say for yourself" is a phrase often said in reprimand when someone has done something bad... But then looking further into it, there is a constant sarcastic joy throughout the song, with the "ha-ha"s, the "lucky lucky lucky lucky me"s, "We laughed about paying rent", "I love this shit" at the beggining of the song... The thief hates this lifestyle, but it is all they know and all they can do, so out of desperation they laugh and try to trick themselves into thinking they enjoy it -- and the major idea behind the song, I think, is about people are willing to do just about anything to ensure their own survival. I found a copy of Clavell's King Rat at a second-hand store, have not read it yet but I will see if it changes my interpretation somewhat. Looking at the blurb though it talks about the harsh conditions of a WWII prison camp and how only "one in fifteen men survived" -- so pretty sure the connection is on doing anything to survive, and hating yourself for all the things you do to ensure that, but not being able to stop anyway, and filling your life with "senseless denial" and tricking yourself into believing you like it as the only way to be able to live with yourself. |
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| Against Me! – Wagon Wheel (Old Crow Medicine Show cover) Lyrics | 14 years ago |
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"Rock me mama like the wind and the rain, rock me mama like a south-bound train" makes me ejaculate. It is word porn, especially the way it is sung in the cover. Seriously, it is like my "cellar door". |
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| Modest Mouse – Alone Down There Lyrics | 14 years ago |
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annie516's interpretation that this is Isaac Brock singing about his dick made my day. And if Isaac Brock actually happened to read it I bet he'd come out and say "Dude, you should write my songs for me." |
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| Modest Mouse – Missed the Boat Lyrics | 14 years ago |
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There are a lot more accurate interpretations in the comments for this song than I've noticed for other Modest Mouse songs... Well for those who do not quite understand or have some pretty farfetched ideas like "it is all about the breakdown of a relationship", try this... Think of the album title, "We were dead before the ship even sank". Now think of it as "Our lives were over before we were even dead". Now listen to the song again. See what you think. |
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| Modest Mouse – The Good Times Are Killing Me Lyrics | 14 years ago |
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The great thing about this song is you do not even have to do drugs to relate to it. I am straight-edge (don't even drink alchohol) and yet I can relate this song to my escapism, and pretty much anyone can too. Everyone has something, whether it is drugs or sex or video games or books that they use to keep themselves from looking at the cruel monster that is reality, but every one of these "good times" have a debilitating effect along with the pleasure they bring, that slowly kill you. Plus the sort of low-quality, "acoustic" sound and the talking at the beggining which makes it feel like the guys just sat down in a circle in an empty room one night and churned this out... It's so gritty and fitting... |
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| Modest Mouse – Parting of the Sensory Lyrics | 15 years ago |
| I know that one, except in the 'Feminists' version. | |
| The Killers – For Reasons Unknown Lyrics | 15 years ago |
| At least they made an interpretation that the lyrics are literal and not metaphoric; better than some other comments which just have "I really love this song" and that is it. | |
| Ben Folds Five – Smoke Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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I think people are not getting the right idea about this song. To me, it is not about the bible or relationships, but about life. A "book" is a common metaphor for life, and in the song, Folds is talking with a lover, who are towards the end of the "book", looking back on everything. Smoke, is a metaphor for the past. It is light and whispy, it is the by-product of a greater thing (fire, or the present) and slowly it disperses and dissapears. The song is extremely tragic, with the first verse about the couple being so frustrated with the lives, or books, which they have lived that they are just going to tear it up and throw it away. The second verse is about how what the past is - it is just smoke. The things they have written (done) don't really matter, and the people that were in it have gone, they don't exist to the couple, so it is impossible for the couple to forgive them, for whatever they may have done. The little bit about not writing a new one is obvious. You only get one life. You only get the chance to write one book. You can't do it over, and the couple are coming to terms with that agonising realisation. The next verse talks about specific bad things that have happened, a night he took the blame for something, a night which was filled with shame (possibly that night). They throw them on the fire to destroy the thought of them. The lines about not speaking for years and years pretty much represents the years that they look back on and can't doing anything or getting anywhere - years wasted. Then once all those memories are thrown away they want to believe they will not cry, but they know they still will, but theoretically nobody, not even them should know the reason as to why they are crying (of course they still will because those memories will still be there) The last verse is about how everybody's miseries (secrets) are always there, floating in the air, as smoke. Then the whole smelling the smoke thing is about how although the smoke is there, it is not the past, just the reminiscent shards of the past, and the past is dead. It is gone, the fire has been put out, and if you stop to smell the smoke, you will realise that too. And so there is nothing you can do. The book has been written and the past is just smoke which you can not rewrite. You have to die with the regrets of what you did and did not do. Quite tragic really, and then it goes on to the couple realising that they soon will die and float into the air as smoke, and eventually dissapear. I swear, I am going to listen to this on my death bed in a couple of decades and I am just going to burst out in tears as I think about how much I have wasted my life. It's a beautiful song, but tragic. Luckily I am young right now or just writing about it would make me a wreck. |
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| Modest Mouse – The World at Large Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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This song is probably my favourite song ever by Modest Mouse :) In the strictest sense the song is about Isaac and the life he lives touring around because of the band, where he is never in one spot for too long, as someone mentioned before. That is the only context in which "You don't know where and you don't know when But you still got your words and you got your friends" can adhere to the meaning of the song, by words meaning lyrics to the songs and friends meaning band-mates. Anyway, one can just as easily interpret it as all about a word that doesn't exist in English, but does in German, called 'Sehnsucht' (Pronounced Zane-zuhkt). That word means a longing for a reality or something which one does not have. A slightly superficial example of it is if you feel nostalgia for an era which you did not live through, since you want it even though technically it was never a reality that you knew. So the whole song is about a person who continually travels from one place to another (a vagabond) because they wish to satisfy their sehnsucht. Of course, it is not sehnsucht if you are actually living the reality, which is the paradox of this person's life. He will never find the paradise which he seeks, because it only exists in his mind as the place beyond the horizon. He knows this is a stupid and impossible concept, and he often wonders if he made the right choices, but he can't help it, especially with the "moths beat themselves to death against the lights" and "my thoughts were so loud I couldn't hear my mouth" after all, in the pursuit of paradise, is impossibility a good enough reason to give up? I haven't really explained the individual lines, but try listening to the song again with what I said in mind, and the interpretations of each line should come to you if you understand the concept. |
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| Aerosmith – Toys In The Attic Lyrics | 16 years ago |
| you are quite shallow. | |
| Modest Mouse – Alone Down There Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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The song definitely starts off from the point of view of the devil, "flies they all gather round me" is a reference to 'the lord of the flies', which is another name for Beelzebub, which is another name for the devil. That is where the title of the book came from. The "how do, how do you do?" is introducing himself on a sheepishly personal level, and he goes on to say that you are the devil too, I guess he is just saying there is a devil inside all of us. I think (not sure) the next two lines, "You can't see anything well You ask me what size it is, not what I sell" are referencing the deal that the character is having with the devil, saying he can't see what exactly he is doing and is asking the wrong questions, which gives the devil space to trick and deceive without lying. Then it gets to the main part of the song. The main character loved somebody very much, but they died. The character knows that person went to hell, and although (or rather, because) hell is a hideous and painful place they don't want that person to "be alone down there". hence the character makes a deal with the devil so that they can be with the person they love, but we all know it is going to backfire. But the story of the song is; to be with someone they love, a person is willing to spend eternity in hell. This poses the question; would heaven really be heaven if your most loved person wasn't there, but in hell? Would it be worth going down to hell to be with them? How do, how do you do? My name is you Flies, they all gather around me and you too You can't see anything well You ask me what size it is, not what I sell The flies, they all gather around me and you too I don't want you to be alone down there To be alone down there, to be alone The devil's apprentice, he gave me some credit He fed me a line and I'll probably regret it I don't want you to be alone down there To be alone down there, to be alone Ah I don�t want you to be alone down there To be alone down there, to be alone |
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