| Robbie Williams – Bodies Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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Here's a short stab at this - others above have done some great drilling down on this. I think this is Robbie reflecting on a body vs spirit theme. Particularly, he sees and fears both our obsession with bodies, and their uselessness at the same time. His first two verses talk about how his body drives (sex, drugs, admiration) control him. The 3rd verse Rapture etc is almost like hoping for escape from his body, because everythings infectious (something that the body is in danger of). The pre-chorus ends with "bodies in the cemetary, and thats the way its gonna be" - this is the key line for me. Clearly Robbie believes in the spirtual life beyond this life in some form or another, but he sees his body destined for the grave, and therefore useless. Why so much time and obsession with his body when its going to lie to rot? Buddhism is a strong theme here (though I am not a Buddhist) - the Bodhi tree reference may relate to a Buddhist poem - google search it - which to me sounds like its saying that the "mirror like mind" has no imperfection except what is introduced by the body, which supports it. So Robbie knows he is trapped in his body, trapped to pleasing his body, and wants a reflection which in the mirror is not stained by his body. The lines which stick me are the 'Jesus never died for you' ones - my best guess is like domesticcat above - going from heaps of confidence, to no confidence of God's favour, and purely because of the desires and fears of what Christians often refer to as "the flesh" or the "sinful nature" (see Romans 8:5-6 same original word). Robbie believes though that his spirit is innocent, and looks for release. Great song - I'm not sure that Robbie pertains to understand exactly whether Jesus died for him or not. Just out of interest, if he did, the Bible's answer would be that "The law of Spirit and life has set you free in Christ Jesus...by sending his own son in the likeness of sinful flesh (i.e. a man), and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh (took the consequences of sin in his own flesh) " (Rom 8:2-4) Therefore the body problem is dealt with, but the body doesn't need to be discarded necessarily as this song suggests, but rather it is "washed clean"/swapped and curiously the body and spirit are both made alive at the resurrection. Anyway thought that might be interesting - hope you don't think that stepped over the bounds of this discussion. |
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| U2 – Get On Your Boots Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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Hey Great ideas about the women theme - I reckon that is the core of it, as shown in the video. I would tweak the interpretation slightly -> I think this is a personification of Africa as the woman. The band sings of Africa being beautiful, full of potential, and he is telling it that now is the time that it can get back on its feet and show itself to the world. Where do I get this from? -"I've gotta submarine, you've got gasoline" -> Africa has all the oil, the west has all the might. Why can't it be big? -"Let me in the sound..." -> Africa needs to be let into the world's conversation -"if someone's into blowing up we're not into growing up" -> saying that conflict and dictatorships e.g. Zimbabwe are what stunt Africa's development -the second chorus in the video shows 1. African women 2. a raised fist with a white armband (Make Poverty History) amongst a crowd in a desert landscape But I think this is a great mystery that has me a bit stumped - "you don't know - you don't get it do you" - haha feels like me. |
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| U2 – Magnificent Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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Good comments above. I want to say that sometimes Bono is vague and cagey about pinning down a song with a clear meaning, but this is actually a clear song. I think that the mother thing has some merit - it could well be that the "you & I" is referring to his mother, and he has written before about her. That may be what is going on behind the writing of the song, but it is not clear from the lyrics that we should think that is the main point. We need to read it for the plain meaning. When we read it - what is the simple message that is being suggested? What are the markers? To me, I think "the magnificent" is the kind of term that people reserve for the divine. If it was about a mother, or a lover, or a father, then these would only fit to particular parts of the song (v1 makes sense of lover but not v2) - but God covers all parts of the song. But instead think of the things he is actually saying: -love that leaves a scar, that comes via pain -together we uplift the magnificent -I was born to live and sing for you, I had no choice - "predestination" or the idea of being purposed for this -Now I choose to give it freely for your sake -justified till we die I am a Christian, and no I don't think it is right to say as above that only we can interpret these songs - I think that is a bit silly. But this is what I think the plain reading of it is, not a superstitious reading. And BTW this is like a killer killer song and how great that it will be the next single. |
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