| Liz Phair – Fuck And Run Lyrics | 11 years ago |
| @[TheTeens2011:1170] The original version from a 1991 cassette that she self-distributed has the "You want a girlfriend" inversion; the much more widely-known version from the 1993 Exile in Guyville album does not. There ought to be two separate lyrics entries. | |
| Liz Phair – Fuck And Run Lyrics | 11 years ago |
| @[musicgeek86:1169] There are two versions of the song. The original version from the Girls Girls Girls cassette (part of the ca. 1991 "Girlysound" material) has the 'You want a girlfriend' bit. The more rocking version generally available on the Exile in Guyville album (1993) does not. | |
| Liz Phair – Fuck And Run Lyrics | 11 years ago |
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@[musicgeek86:1167] @[BIGBOOMBA:1168] It appears my earlier comment has been misinterpreted. There is no issue of double standard here, and both men and women are free to do what (and whom and when) they want. The point is that what the narrator is doing is evidently not making her happy--to the contrary. When the sexual / romantic partner(s) you are with don't make you happy, often you need to find (a) new AND DIFFERENT one(s). But to attract ones that are substantially 'better' or even different, sometimes YOU have to become a substantially 'better' or different person. That's equally true for men and women. A person (male or female) for whom no-strings-attached sex / hookups are not providing happiness will probably do better to find a partner who is not really interested in no-strings-attached sex / hookups. Of course, people who are not really interested in no-strings-attached sex / hookups tend to prefer partners who do not engage in no-strings-attached sex / hookups. A female 'playa' (rather like the narrator in "Fuck and Run") is not as likely to attract a male who is not a 'playa' but instead is more of a "letters and sodas" guy--and a male 'playa' is not as likely to attract a female who is not a 'playa'. Agree? |
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| Throwing Muses – Not Too Soon Lyrics | 12 years ago |
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As the desert philosopher Pappagallo from Mad Max 2 put it, "Well, what does all that mean?" Because it ain't at all clear to me. My current leading theory is that "she" is in a relationship with "him", but the relationship is dysfunctional and beginning to disintegrate, as the singer / Tanya is observing it. He has been distancing himself from her, and starting to pursue the singer. However, the singer at least knows her, and may be something of a peripheral friend, and most importantly the relationship has not officially ended. For these reasons the singer rebuffed his advance. He tells the singer that it's not too soon for him to move on / have the fling with the singer. However, the singer, despite having herself been in a similar circumstance in the past, finds the prospect of a fling with him unsavory and disturbing. Well that's the theory. I could be very wrong. |
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| Juliana Hatfield – Road Wrath Lyrics | 14 years ago |
| As part of one of her "20 questions" sales at PledgeMusic in April 2011 to finance her next album, in response to the questions, "A sincere expression of frustration with that large proportion of American drivers who apparently got their licenses in Cracker Jack boxes, or a lampoon of those with road rage, or a mixture of both, or something else?", she wrote, "I guess it's both. Just sort of commenting on American culture but also trying to tell my own self to lighten up because I am a really impatient driver and not too tolerant of bad drivers." | |
| Juliana Hatfield – Outsider Lyrics | 14 years ago |
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What she herself wrote, in response to one the the "20 questions" she sold in April 2011 through PledgeMusic to finance her next album: "I was indeed talking about songwriting or in a larger sense, being a creative person and feeling the call of duty to create (write or paint, or whatever it is). This call, for me, has often seemed to take me away from people- the creative urge is often/always stronger than the urge to spend time with or to bond with other humans. Sometimes I have to stop my car when I'm driving and pull over in order to write down some ideas. And all this is what has made me feel like an outsider-- the need for aloneness. I think any artist will tell you that it's kind of a curse but it's also an incredible gift. The chorus is explaining it: I'm looking out of a hotel room window at someone-- maybe a stranger, maybe someone I wish I knew better-- with a sense of longing and wishing things could be some other way but they can't be because I am who I am." |
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| Elvis Costello – Welcome To The Working Week Lyrics | 15 years ago |
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Vinifera, the problem with your interpretation (that the song is about him and his own stardom) is that this was the first song on his first album, which he recorded on "sick" days from his regular job; he was not a star at the time. The recording occurred in 1976, before even the release of his first single (which was released in 1977, just a few months before the album). |
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| Bad Books – You Wouldn't Have To Ask Lyrics | 15 years ago |
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It sounds to me like the lyric is actually, "Well I tell you you're fine and forgiven". (For I while I wasn't sure whether all that alliteration / consonance was over the top, but WTF, I really like the song.) |
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| Liz Phair – May Queen Lyrics | 15 years ago |
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I think this is fairly clearly about her infatuation with a guy, probably Nash Kato, who is out of her league, and nominally/ostensibly her friend (maybe almost a "frienemy"), but effectively aloof. "May Queen" refers to someone who is semi-exalted, kind of like homecoming queen. She is not saying he's gay, maybe instead that he's a shallow/vapid dandy/pretty-boy, "a rock and roll Ken doll". They see each other, and he is always surrounded by an always-different set ("the changing of Her Majesty's guard") of very good-looking but also-vapid women--"all of them hayseeds", which I take as a somewhat less demeaning alternative to 'bimbos'. So he is above her, in the sense of out of her league. But he sees her and asks her (maybe a formulaic set of the always-same) basic questions, either to genuinely hit her up for drugs ("Got any what?"), or else to make a joke of their standard banter, or maybe to tease her about her dope smoking. To me, a great little song, fairly simple, but with nice imagery and good music, maybe about the third- or fourth-best song on Exile in Guyville (which says a lot!). |
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| Sammy Hagar – I Cant Drive 55 Lyrics | 15 years ago |
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We'll it's certainly a good teenage boy fantasy, and the video really adds, even if it's way overdone and kind of cheesy (in the best way!), IMO. I think that's a Ferrari 512BB (or 512BBi) he's driving--the contours are wrong for a 308-series--which means he must have gotten a gray market car, as Ferrari did not officially send that one to the U.S. I've always had a thing for those flat-12, mid-engine Ferraris. |
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| The Dead Milkmen – Punk Rock Girl Lyrics | 15 years ago |
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Yeah, I think the correct lyric is "Your dad is a vice president / Rich as the Duke of Earl". This is one of the greatest videos ever. The song is super, and I love the shots down the back of her green Mohawk, and the waitress who looks like Frankenstein in drag, and them bending the Poison record, and the awful goop that is the Sunday meal, and the "Sonny Bono for Mayor" bumper sticker on the car they steal. |
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| The Dead Milkmen – Punk Rock Girl Lyrics | 15 years ago |
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Yes, it's "beau", which essentially means "boyfriend" here; literally, in French, "beau" and "belle" are the male and female forms, respectively, of beautiful. |
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| Liz Phair – Why I Lie Lyrics | 15 years ago |
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How much is this song autobiographical? If the answer is substantially, then this song is arguably the most important / insightful / honest about herself in a long time. |
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| Liz Phair – It's Sweet Lyrics | 15 years ago |
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It may be a story of her picking up a groupie-type guy, of the starving-artist / starving-guitarist type, for a one-night stand, with him thinking he loves her based on what he knows of her public persona. She has repeatedly made comments to the effect that people think they know her but they don't, that you can't assume that all of her songs are autobiographical, and that the mass media picture of her is at best deceptive. Nevertheless, there seems to be a larger-than-usual number of guys (and girls, I suspect) who seem to really think that they are in love with her, despite never having had any real personal interaction with her. So she's out on the road, looking for a companion for the evening, meets a guy who adores her, and she is flattered and thinks it's sweet, but ultimately thinks the guy doesn't really have a clue, and doesn't really interest her for even the intermediate term. Or at least, I think that's a reasonably coherent theory. |
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| Liz Phair – Polyester Bride [Girls Girls Girls (Girlysound) ve Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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This is the original version, which appeared on Girls Girls Girls, the second "Girly-sound" cassette, from 1991. You can freely download it from http://girlysound.com/, where they cite Phair herself, the copyright owner, as granting permission for the free distribution of the songs. It stands in some contrast to the better-known version on whitechocolatespaceegg (1998). With slower tempo and less tightly-focused lyrics, this one meanders a bit more. But it's worth a listen, especially for those seeking insite into the later music. |
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| Liz Phair – Stratford-On-Guy [Girlysound version] Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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This is the original version, which appeared on the third "Girly-sound" cassette from ca. 1991. You can freely download it from http://girlysound.com/, where they cite Phair herself, the copyright owner, as granting permission for the free distribution of the songs. Anyway, this version is a more surreal, even comedic, song, compared to the version on 1993's Exile in Guyville. One might say it presents a schizophrenic switch between the interestingly descriptive lyrics familiar from the later EIG version and the pyscho stewardess/cheerleader popping into this version to make odd suggestions. All that said, IMO the song also succeeds on its own merits as enjoyable to listen to, as well as interesting. |
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| Liz Phair – Fuck And Run Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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The version of this song on Girls! Girls! Girls!, the second Girly-Sound cassette, from 1991, contains an interesting difference--it makes the guy feel guilty too, and the last verse expresses his sentiment as basically mirroring hers: You almost felt bad You said that I should call you up But I knew much better than that And almost immediately you felt sorry 'Cause you didn't think this would happen again No matter what you could do or say Just that you didn't think this would happen again With or without your best intentions And whatever happened to a girlfriend The kind of chick who tries to win you over And whatever happened to a girlfriend The kind of chick who makes love 'cause she's in it And you want a girlfriend You want a girlfriend You want all that boring old shit Like letters and sodas Letters and sodas Letters and sodas Letters and sodas Between 1991 and 1993, did she become more cynical about guys, or more cynical about this particular guy (presumably Urge Overkill's Nathan "Nash Kato" Kaatrud), or inclined to believe that the unilateral sentiment just made a better song? This song (and most of the Girly-Sounds songs) are available for free at http://www.girlysound.com/. There they report that Phair, who retained the copyright to the tapes, has granted the world permission to copy them on a free-distribution basis. |
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| Liz Phair – Count On My Love Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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P.S. I ought to clarify the "another album truly worthy of Guyville's legacy" part. That's an extremely (maybe impossibly) high standard, and the comment was not a knock on her later work, some of which I think is very good. She's hardly the only musician / songwriter whose earlier stuff strikes me as arguably more consistently interesting. Elvis Costello is another example: some of his later stuff is very good, but of the several albums of his that I have, I don't consider any as first-song-to-last enjoyable as My Aim Is True. I yet I would be quite pleased to hear something new from either Phair or Costello. |
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| Liz Phair – Count On My Love Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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Nobody seems to have a question about the basic meaning, specifically, who is the "you" to whom Phair is singing? I suppose most people think it's a guy with whom she's having a romantic relationship. But I'm wondering whether it could be her son. The lines "With me you'll feel protected / And you'll never be rejected" sound more like a parent's love for a child than romantic love. "One day you'll meet somebody", in this tone and context, suggests she's saying that will be a good thing, as opposed to the end of their relationship. And how old is "you"? The line "your whole world now is an open door" suggests someone young, probably pre-college. Last, could the lines "You go through your whole life waiting / But you don't know what you're waiting for" be a reference to the experience of becoming a mother adding a new depth and dimension to her life, and saying that one day he will experience the same thing? Oh, and obviously, this is not Exile in Guyville, or for that matter Whip Smart or Whitechocolatespaceegg. All the same, this is an enjoyable song, albeit much lighter and less (on the whole) bitter than her early work. I don't think radio-friendly and smart / incisive / witty / intriguing/ sharp / deep / different / etc. HAVE TO BE mutually exclusive. Maybe we can just pull for Phair a little, and hope that she can deliver another album truly worthy of Guyville's legacy (which is NOT to say it has to have the same style or outlook)? In the meantime, if she thinks the way to get a little economic security for her son is to put out some Avril-esque music, maybe that's the responsible, if possibly artistically painful, thing for a single mother to do. |
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| Liz Phair – Glory Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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Well maybe I'm way off base, but the first thing that came to my mind was Mick Jagger, and the second was Jabba the Hutt licking Princess Leia around his headquarters/club (although that was 1983, not 1981). "Snaking around the club" doesn't sound like a dog, or really like oral sex, for that matter, at least not directly. And what is the 1981 angle, under these theories? Now back to Mick versus Albini or whatever. Jagger's got the really big tongue that rolls way out. If you imagine him pursuing a woman around a club, and her thinking him sleazy and not being interested, there you go with "slicks you down", kind of like "I've been slimed!" (I realize women often throw themselves at him, but perhaps at some point he got tired of easy and enjoyed the challenge more.) With her whole Guyville-as-response-to-Exile bit (regardless of whether you believe that explanation), she certainly got some reflected glory, or at least benefitted from publicly making the claim. As for 1981, this is a stretch, but one could argue that Tattoo You from 1981 was the last of the Stones' really noteworthy albums, although I'm sure that there is a big range of opinion on that. Maybe I'm way off base. But it struck me as an interesting theory/reconstruction. |
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| Liz Phair – Dance Of The Seven Veils Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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Vtowndawg has it exactly right, at least insofar as clearly John the Baptist, Herod, and Salome is the story the lyrics reference. But I don't put Liz Phair at just retelling Bible stories, even with saltier language. I think her spin, which I do not recall being part of the Biblical story (am I wrong here?), is that Salome wanted John the Baptist romantically / sexually, and he rebuffed her, so she took her mother's suggestion to get him, albeit in less than whole and living form. Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned and all that. Or--alternate theory--she is using the Salome story to tell some guy who is leading a life that draws his interest away from her, that she'd just as soon seen him dead (physically or metaphorically)? Did she have a thing for some holy roller guy who told her he'd never date a fuck-and-runner? Or maybe he was just a guy who was too busy with other pursuits to notice her, and she's giving him the finger here? Well, I hate to get too far afield on the interpretation, so I'll leave it at I dummo, but am somewhat intrigued. |
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| Liz Phair – Stratford-On-Guy Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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So does it have any meaning other than as a well-done image of what she experienced approaching Chicago by airplane? I assume that the Stratford-On part is a reference to William Shakespeare's hometown of Stratford-upon-Avon, and Phair is comparing herself to Shakespeare (how's that for an expression of self-confidence?). I assume the Guy part is her referring to Chicago (or its music scene) as Guyville. I agree that it's a good song, sure. But is there a deeper level or meaning that I'm missing? |
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| Liz Phair – Help Me, Mary Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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P.S. I think the second line above is wrong--after several listenings, I don't hear a "your" in there, and it just seems to be simply, "I've lost my home to theives." Indeed, it would be odd to plead for help from someone who in some way controlled the theives, especially when some of the help requested is for tempering hatred with peace. |
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| The Monks – Love in Stereo Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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Some have suggested that this song is about polyamory, the practice of multiple simultaneous openly-engaged-in romantic relationships--think polygamy (or polyandry) without the marriage. In fact, at one time, Googling this song gave hits mostly on websites devoted to polyamory, and listed this as a song on the subject. However, I am not at all sure that is correct. I suspect that "I can't choose 'cause they're identical" uses "identical" to mean something more like "sharing the same identity, that is, one and the same". I think he is (sort-of) complaining that his girlfriend shows wild variances in what she wants to do etc. with no apparent warning. She changes her mind all the time for no apparent reason. Why? Well first off there are not too many women in the UK who would tolerate their boyfriend carrying on so openly with another woman that the three of them would all dance together, much less all sleep in the same bed ("One wants to read in bed / the other wants the light out"). Second, that "One wants to marry me / the other wants to break up / One wants to call it off / the other wants to make up," would hardly seem to present any unusual problem: if he had an unmanageable two girlfriends, he would be going to just having one. However, a one-woman-with-two-personas situation is one that he actually likes, for the variety he experiences with her. It's just that he's not always sure how best to handle / relate to her. Is this not just a new way to express a common complaint of sorts that men have made for a loooong time? |
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| Liz Phair – Help Me, Mary Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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I'm kind of surprised that this song has not yet drawn a comment. First and foremost, the "Mary" strikes me as very probably meaning Mary, the mother of Jesus, in Christian religions (more on that in a moment). But a quick Googling pulled up a couple of references (e.g., http://www.nndb.com/people/481/000024409/) stating that Phair is a Scientologist. Perhaps the references are wrong, or perhaps Phair was raised Catholic (the religion with the most devotion to Mary, and very common in Chicago), and retains some sliver of Catholic belief? Evidence that "Mary" refers to the mother of Jesus includes the prayer-like requests for assistance ("Help me Mary please"), especially when coupled with a request to bring peace ("I'm asking, will you, Mary, please / Temper my hatred with peace"), which sounds typically Catholic. Of course, maybe "Mary" refers to someone (or something?) else (cf. The Beatles' "Let It Be", about which many think "Mary" refers to marijuana). Anyway, to me the song is about getting mixed up with so-called friends who you learn are bad for you--they use you, mistreat you for sport, say mean things about you, show no respect for your home or property, and generally enjoy seeing how badly they can treat you before their utter contempt for you makes you do something about it. Popular culture is full of stories of anti-social groups who pick out a loner / loser to befriend, just for the sport of abusing the "friend". I think Phair is singing about such experiences, and/or maybe complaining that she has some "friends" of this sort. The fame part does stump me just a tad. Is it a Joplin-esque request (cf. "Lord, won't you buy me a Mercedes-Benz / My friends all have Porsches, I must make aments")? Is it a suggestion that these "friends" would be devastated to see her achieve success? I don't know. |
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| The Rolling Stones – Star Star Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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The song almost has to be about one particular groupie or groupie-type female; either one real woman, or a composite of more than one, or an imagined ultimate groupie. As to who it might be based on, elsewhere I have seen Carly Simon mentioned, although she strikes me as somewhat unlikely, and somebody like Bebe Buell or Pamela Des Barres seems to be a better bet (not necessarily saying one of them, just somelike like that, a super-groupie). |
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| Veruca Salt – Seether Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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Okay I'm probably WAAAAY off base here, but I seemed to recall (can't tell you from where, but see, e.g., http://www.epilepsyfoundation.org/epilepsyusa/yebeh/upload/Baxendale.pdf) that a long time ago, (1) people with epilepsy were thought to seethe or foam at the mouth, and (2) boiling water was though to be a remedy for epilepsy. Is it possible that Louise is/was, or was thought to be, epileptic? The first part is saying that she's not anything unusual because she's epileptic, and the last part is about formerly-used remedies now considered barbaric, and things though to provoke an epileptic seizure. Okay, I know it's a crazy theory . . . |
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| Monty Python – Medical Love Song Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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Minor point, but if you want to look this stuff up (at least in US references, can't vouch for UK spellings), you need some correct spellings, which I think are "balanital", "monilial", "dhobie's", "gonococcal", "balanitis", "meningomyelitis", and "epididymitis". |
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| Monty Python – Medical Love Song Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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I think NSU are his lover's initials, maybe old-school stuff like carving them into a tree. |
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| R.E.M. – Driver 8 Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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Basically, yes, Amtrak runs the Crescent between New Orleans and at least Washington, D.C., and I think as far as New York. |
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| Liz Phair – Fuck And Run Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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Okay, I'll admit, "sex addict" is too strong a characterization. But clearing waking up and having trouble figuring out where you are ("I didn't know where I was at first") shows dangerous and dysfunctional behavior by any ordinary standard, and she/the subject clearly recognizes it and had previously resolved to stop engaging in this sort of hook-up ("I woke up alarmed . . . And almost immediately I felt sorry / 'Cause I didn't think this would happen again / No matter what I could do or say . . . ."). It appears to be a somewhat open question whether the guy is someone with whom she has had an ongoing non-romantic but sexual relationship, or is a new, semi-random hook-up. But to say simply "it's about wanting more from someone than just sex" is to miss the overarching situation and also the nuance. Wanting a truly loving relationship is one thing; engaging in at least demeaning (in her own view), potentially dangerous (if he's more-or-less random), and destructive behavior as a semi-alternative to one is quite another. Just because she hasn't found a "letters and sodas" guy/relationship is not really a good reason to wake up in the arms of the hook-up, as she arguably/apparently realizes. And the pattern appears to be making her more bitter and cynical. She's not sure "letters and sodas" are what she really wants, as opposed to regarding them as "stupid old shit". And she is interpreting his behavior in the most negative possible light, as opposed to giving him a chance to be more/better for her ("You said you had a lot of work to do / But I heard the rest in your head"--maybe he really DID have a lot of work to do, but no, she can read his mind; "You almost felt bad / You said that I should call you up but / I knew much better than that"--maybe he DID feel bad and/or really wanted to see her again). Is that a cause of, or an effect of, the fucking and running--or both? How much is it really the guys, versus some emptiness inside her that she's trying to fill? I just watched (for the first time) the DVD that comes with the fifteenth anniversary re-issue. To me the most interesting and insightful part had to do with two related anecdotes. As much as she says her mom is great, and as much as one has to assume that her mother was not naive to the lifestyle she was living, she comments that her mom cried when she heard the album. And she also says she cried upon listening to it again after seven or eight years. She makes a comment to the effect that she was a sad person at the time. I don't know the extent to which the song is autobiographical, versus just an adoption of a character she could relate to. But clearly it shows a perspective of someone who is sad, with a hole in her life, which she tries to fill with meaningless encounters, even as she realizes that they aren't the answer, or even a good thing. |
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| Elvis Costello – This Year's Girl Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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Agreed that the meaning is fairly self-explanatory, especially in the context of the album title (This Year's Model) and cover photo (EC behind a professional-type camera). To me perhaps the most interesting feature of the song is the way the man or men project their hopes for her, and in a somewhat conflicted way at that. One moment the sentiment is, 'She's not just a dumb model,' rather like the old joke of reading Playboy magazine for the articles ("Still you're hoping that she's well spoken / 'Cause she's this year's girl"). The next it's, 'I hope she's dumb and desperate to make her an easier conquest' ("You want her broken with her mouth wide open / 'Cause she's this year's girl"). Such are the ways of infatuation / crushes ("Never knowing it's a real attraction"), which rarely involves genuine and appropriate affection for its subject ("'Cause you don't really give a damn / About this year's girl"). |
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| Elvis Costello – Tear Off Your Own Head (It's a Doll Revolution) Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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Title Track, I basically agree. The song seems to be about a person, probably a woman, treating a/the man in her life / a significant other like a doll, thinking she can manipulate him however she wants. But he rebels: "Tear off your own head!" I think there's an equal-opportunity aspect here ("You could make somebody a pretty little wife / But don't let anybody tell you how to live your life"). This song was used effectively, I think for its meaning, in the interesting Rachel Weisz movie The Shape of Things. |
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| The Clash – Spanish Bombs Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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re: "The reference to flying in on a DC10 is probably not about the US gov't at all, but about foreigners rallying to the cause of the socialist alliance . . . ." It cannot be about either: the DC-10 did not enter service until 1971, long after the Spanish Civil War was over, and indeed, after Franco started preparing for the power transition anticipated upon his death, which occurred in 1975. The line can only refer to a flight more-or-less contemporary with the song being written. |
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| The Clash – Spanish Bombs Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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The "fixin' bayonets" part refers to attaching a bayonet, which is a knife that attaches to the end of a rifle (or musket). (It has nothing to do with repairing something that is broken). Bayonets were (and rarely, are) used for very bloody, hand-to-hand fighting. The reference suggests desperation and/or extreme violence. |
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| Squeeze – There at the Top Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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Here's another song from Argybargy with a nice tune but dark subject-matter. So is she actually a call-girl, or merely crossing the line by using sex as a business tool? I tend to think she's a call-girl. "Slender and modern so all the men will take her"? Sounds like it to me, especially because she was "[f]ound under covers with some representative". Why she went "[b]ack to the mirror in the Empress Hotel" presumably was to get herself in condition "so all the men will take her". So if she's not a call-girl, who are these "clients" for whom she's doing this stuff, and what is her trade? |
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| Squeeze – Misadventure Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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One of several songs from Argybargy with a catchy, happy tune and a dark subject, in this case apparently drug smuggling. "[H]igh up on the Khyber" almost certainly refers to the Khyber Pass in Afghanistan / Pakistan, through which passes or at least historically passed a large percent of the world's supply of opium / opiates. Again, "discovered the shipment of Moroccan" presumably refers to hidden drugs, for which he is now "[b]ehind prison walls and gates". |
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| Ramones – Blitzkrieg Bop Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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No, blitzkrieg means "lightning war", not "lightning speed". "Blitz" is "lightning", and "krieg" is war, as in "Kriegsmarine", which is what the German navy was called during WWII. |
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| Ramones – Blitzkrieg Bop Lyrics | 16 years ago |
| Your characterization of blitzkrieg is incorrect. It has nothing to do with bombing cities. It has to do with speed of advance, especially by a highly mechanized army, especially with copious close air support (think Stuka dive bombers and tanks knifing through Poland). | |
| Ramones – Blitzkrieg Bop Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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"Blitzkrieg" means lightning war, not lightning strike or lightning speed. It has nothing to do with bombing a city, and everything to do with speed of advance, especially using highly mechanized forces. In the music context, the Ramones made a high-speed assault on the schlock that was the pop music of the day with a high-tempo alternative, music that moved fast. And more than a few of "the kids" loved it. |
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| R.E.M. – Me In Honey Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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re: "Michael Stipe's sexual orientation" At one point, I seem to recall he said he was bisexual (something like "I'm an equal opportunity lech."). But perhaps more to the issue, if indeed this is a response to "Eat for Two", well, 10,000 Maniacs lead singer Natalie Merchant dated Stipe for a while. |
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| The Smithereens – Behind the Wall of Sleep Lyrics | 16 years ago |
| I saw about 80% of the video for "Behind the Wall of Sleep" on MTV one night in 1986 or 1987 and had to find the album. Wow. After more than twenty years, the song hold up very well, and indeed, I rate Especially for You as one of the three best albums, start-to-finish, among the several hundred in my collection (the other two being Lush's Lovelife (1996) and Squeeze's Argybargy (1980)). At some point I supplemented the LP I'd originally bought with a CD, but it still gets a regular listen. | |
| Lush – Tinkerbell Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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The lyrics listed above are substantially different from the ones to the version of "Tinkerbell" on my CD of Topolino. Supposedly there are two or three different versions of Topolino; I wonder whether there is more than one version of "Tinkerbell". Anyway, on my CD the lyrics are "Insecurity is my philosophy," instead of "Gender traitor of the highest degree"; "I say that it's because their boyfriends all fancy me" instead of "It's not my fault that men just can't resist loving me"; and "Normal conversation always leaves me insecure," instead of "So i never feel that confident when i talk to girls"; and in between the last two lines listed above, there are additional lyrics, which with some help as to the last of those lines, I think are probably "Male appreciation is my one ambition / It's a competition I must win / When I talk to girls its just monotonous shit". |
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| Squeeze – Goodbye Girl Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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I think he sings "Jersey", not "New Jersey". Jersey is sort-of part of the UK, a British island off the coast of Normandy--see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jersey. (And recall that King William I, who conquered England in 1066, was first Duke of Normandy). |
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| Elvis Costello – Welcome To The Working Week Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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I think it's about a friend, or former friend, with high ambitions and high expectations imposed by the friend's family, who doesn't like the career that family pressure imposed, but who has recently had a professional or business breakthrough. The friend is forgetting old friends and becomming something of a phony. The suggestion that the person spoken to must be female due to the reference to people masturbating to the friend's picture in the newspaper strikes me as way too literal. I think it's more of a dig--'You think you're such hot s^*% that people toss off to your picture in the newspaper.' EC is saying step back, take it easy, get out of the rat race, I know you hate it, I'd like my old friend back. Or at least that's what I think. |
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| Elvis Costello – (I Don't Want to Go to) Chelsea Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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In part I think there's an element of the women (fashion models, or prostitutes, or?) being quickly discarded as 'yesterday's'. The lyrics "she's last year's model / They call her Natasha when she looks like Elsie" I think refer to Elsie the cow, the symbol for Borden milk, which is or was the biggest milk brand in the US--in other words, Natasha is so last-year, she looks like a cow (too fat). Could it be that the men in white coats are at an institution dealing with eating disorders (reportedly common in fashion models) on an in-patient basis? Be anexoric or be discarded like Natasha! But don't let anyone SEE your disorder (finger down your throat privately, please). Could the he, at sixty-six, be a photographer (like EC on the cover) or a fashion designer? Is EC saying such men use models like prostitutes? |
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| Lush – Untogether Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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Great song, but I'm undecided / uninformed about "You were right, I was wrong, now does that make you happy?" Is she really admitting fault, and saying that harping on that fault is a waste of time unlikely to bring anyone any peace or closure? Or is she just saying that to shut him up / send him on his way? |
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| Lush – Outside World Lyrics | 16 years ago |
| "Can't you understand my body's changing fast / It's not up to me how long I'm going to last"--was she (Emma, I think) pregnant at the time? | |
| Lush – The Childcatcher Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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I don't think it's about "about a father molesting his young daughter" or pedophilia ("Try to look sixteen all your life"--pedophilia refers to sexual attraction to pre-pubescents, and sixteen is at or above the age of sexual consent in many jurisdictions). I think instead it is about a man who dates a succession of much younger women because he can manipulate them, and they don't have enough life experience to see through he sh*% and stand up for themselves ("Once upon a time you never criticised me"). Also, is it maybe "Try to ACT sixteen all your life" instead of "Try to look sixteen all your life"? After all, the next line is "Old women grow bitter". not something like 'Old women get wrinkled'. |
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| Lush – Heavenly Nobodies Lyrics | 16 years ago |
| Great song, I think about the perils of hero-worship, and how many we regard today as hereos are not truly heroic, and even many real heroes are nevertheless very flawed human beings (how true!). Gret tune. | |
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