| Closure In Moscow – arecibo message Lyrics | 15 years ago |
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Awesome song, but it's seems much harder to pierce to its deeper meaning than some of their other songs. I don't have a full interpretation yet, but I'm definitely seeing some "gender inversions," so I think it's about the male being in a position of weakness in a love relationship (again, perhaps it's a one-way emotion from him to her). "My earthly womb" is clearly a feminine symbol (the womb), whereas a "monolith" is about as phallic as it gets. Since the "earthly womb" is inside the "monolith," I think the idea of inversion is pretty strong, which is furthered by the reference to it being sewn at his "hips." The next lyrics, of going to the person's "city" but stuck with no way to "atone" also seems to imply that something has happened between the two in the relationship which requires apology, but that apology is hard to come up with ("stuck inside your vestibule"), which perhaps implies the person has certain mannerisms/characteristics, or perhaps something else entirely, that makes apologizing difficult. In any case, that's my thought on the first few lines, but I'm still puzzling over the others. If anyone has any ideas (even if you think they prove I'm dead wrong), please share, I'd really like to get a better understanding of the potential meaning of this song. |
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| Vampire Weekend – Giving Up the Gun Lyrics | 15 years ago |
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First of all, I want to say I think that a lot of these interpretations have legitimacy. No single interpretation can claim a monopoly on the meaning of a song, and all I want to do is add another one to the mix. So I'm going to agree with the people commenting on the Japan allusions. It seems pretty definite to me, and if you've seen the music video for the song, there's only more allusions to Japan. On the other hand, I don't think the song should be restricted to some esoteric commentary on Japanese culture/politics/etc. Rather, I think the allusions are just vivid images to strengthen the more universal backbone of the song, which I believe has to do with excellence. Think about it, Japan's traditional sword-fighting techniques were up there with any civilization/group that has ever grasped a blade. But ultimately in the post-Tokugawa era, and even to some extent before that, the swords of the samurai were being replaced with Western guns to keep Japan from falling to imperial expansion and allow Japan to do some expansion of its own. Viewing it that way, the metaphor of giving up the gun is a return to an older practice, an older part of a culture, and a shift towards something almost mythic. Take that and apply it to your own life. If you're older now, say out of college, and you're working full-time for some business/corporation when your dream through high school was to be a different profession, say a professional sport, then I think the metaphor can be easily applied to your individual life. Giving up the gun is returning to the thing you loved to do, the thing that you cared about and valued, the thing that gave you meaning. You can see older people talking about that one football game in high school where they scored the game winning touchdown, or a last-second goal to avoid overtime (if you're not in the US :) ), and it's much the same thing - the past actions have been mythicized and are looked upon fondly. There are a lot of vocal references that I think support this. "Locked up like a trophy." For one, this references your former successes, your trophy, and at the same time it's a reference to the fact that you are no longer actively engaged (at least not the way you were) in the activity. The fact that "your sword's grown old and rusty" also implies this weakness from disuse, as does the idea that one is "right back where you started from." All the same, there's a sort of ecstasy coming from those two lines, because all it takes is a little oil to unrust a sword, and if you're back where you started from, that also means you can regain your skills (maybe not all the way, but there's still potential for growth). But again, the songs more complicated than that. The fact that one's ears are "blown to bits" from the gun, and the craving of "that sound" also implies that what you're doing now has worth, and you do enjoy it. So what do you do? The speaker encourages you to shine, to go on. And I think that's saying, you should return to your old passion, but you don't have to completely give up what you're doing now (but I guess that option is open, if you want to completely "give up the gun"). Also, for anyone that has seen the music video, I think the girl playing tennis and beating the other nations sustains the Japan references above-mentioned, but I think it's also sort of a dream for the girl (reliving her glory). The ultimate finish is playing herself and self-overcoming, sort of finding her way again. Anyways, my analysis certainly isn't perfect, so if someone has some other ideas to help this interpretation of the song develop, please share. |
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| Closure In Moscow – We Want Guarantees, Not Hunger Pains Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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Here's my interpretation. So I think there's a guy/girl who likes someone else, but their love doesn't care for them/realize it - "...martyr for your indiference". When he sings "...just an awkward formal dialogue" I think its kind of referring to the current situation - he's not going to have a super emotional burst about his feelings but their relationship is kind of tense now. I think the line "We want guarantees, not hunger pains" definitely supports this - he'd rather have a yes or no then continue consuming himself with his emotions. I think the next thing to look at is the second verse, "...The sleepless crusade, The bitter campaign." I think this might be referring to abstinence (sleepless and bitter - metaphorically). So the reason why there isn't a yes or no (or maybe a no), is because the person doesn't believe in sexual relations or in having a more serious relationship at all. I think this is further supported when you look at the chorus - "Somewhere between the penance and the patience... I think we've lost our way." Penance and patience both carry religious connotations, and could be connected to the idea of sexual abstinence. Then, when it says "... the walls are skin and they're writhing" I think is kind of like a reflection on the tension between the two of them. Skin writhing is hyper frenetic movement, so it's like the room has all this tensed up energy inside, the tension between them. But the one line that confuses me is "You'd be unwise to sate the urge but go ahead you wouldn't be the first". Its either said from the other person's point of view, or it reflects that the person is just kind of desperate but agrees with their love's point of view on the matter. Or ------------------------------------- To the person above me, I'm pretty sure Closure in Moscow is from Australia. Unless there's something to suggest that their fans of the US military and its overseas involvements, I don't really know if they'd be singing a song in support of it. Not that's its impossible, I just think it's not that likely seeing as they aren't from the USA. |
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