| Ra Ra Riot – Dying Is Fine Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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In this sense, I believe dying means to lose something, and Death means to stay the same. The song begins with a cry for Death, a world where everything is predictable, there is nothing to dread. Then the chorus rings as a call for death, and a stop of living dying, which means losing parts of yourself. For example, when you grow you lose prejudice, you lose ego, you lose hatred, and you lose other parts of who you are... only to be replaced by what you've learned. However, if someone is dead, all they have is the peace of themselves, and nothing to think about. They snub knowledge with a smile, just to live "happily." However, the second verse reverses the roles, to a Dead man, who yearns to learn something from the nothingness he's put himself in. In the final chorus it is more of a cry of the situation, saying that it is better to die and lose parts of yourself, than to lose your whole. |
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| Sufjan Stevens – A Winner Needs a Wand Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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Well Sufjan always says he looks to his own past and feelings in his writing, so I think it is definitely about himself. I think this song is really a defiant stand against what people think of him, and his choice to venture into music. It's like the burdens of becoming an "artist" fall upon him, and he questions what he should do with his gown, in which he's probably referencing graduating from college. Now that he has an education he has the doors opened to him to do as he pleases, and become a doctor or lawyer, but he chooses music instead. Sufjan, it should be noted, was not a musician, however. His major instrument he played in high school and college was the recorder, he always jokes. So what chance is there of him becoming a master of music? There is a much better chance of him becoming the greatest at something else, though that's not where his heart lies. As for the title, I think the wand could also mean a conductor's baton. A winning composer in the musical world stands before an orchestra leading, and here he is with his ambitions and his degree from the New School. As for most of it I think it's him questioning God on whether or not he was put on the earth to make music, and on whether or not he will do it anyway, what he "should" do or not. |
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