| Phoenix – One Time Too Many Lyrics | 15 years ago |
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This is a pretty personal song for me. It reminds me of my husband. We make decisions and I assume we are making them together and after it's all done, my man decides to tell me that he didn't really want to make that decision, he was just doing it to make me happy. It reminds me of the line, "Then it's hard to tell you kindly that ain't what I'm like." It's like a lie, but one of omission and he has a hard time breaking the news to me that he never really wanted to do what we did. It's incredibly frustrating and I end up feeling guilty for our situation or like I forced him into something he didn't want to do. The song talks about trying to tell things apart that look alike, like trying to determine why she's crying or in what manner hands are waving goodbye, and is comparing the appearance of a lie to the truth. The singer has been telling her lies and she believed him and now everything is unraveling and he's trying to get out of the situation and backtrack on what he said. |
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| Phoenix – Rome Lyrics | 15 years ago |
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I love this song! To me, it's about a longterm relationship that was troubled, but to top it off, the other partner cheats with a man that she's idolized(static silhouette of the other guy waving from a tropical sunset) and that the singer casually knows(the reference to sharing the cigarette somewhere). The singer finds out about them and is haunted by his brief encounter with the other man. When he sings about always calling to tell his partner that he's on the way, it's his way of making sure that the other man isn't there when he gets home and that he cannot ever trust her again(always and forevermore). They almost break-up and he tries to say that he never loved her, but it's not really true(I've never loved you and if I love you...). Somehow, they end up staying together, but the trust is gone and they are destroyed inside. He uses the Roman empire as a metaphor for their relationship as slowly decaying and breaking down for numerous factors(her cheating, his misspoken words, their lack of trust) as the actual Roman empire did over a long period of time. Their relationship is a facade of ashes and will crumble, much like the Colosseum still stands and is doomed to eventually crumble, but for now they are together. It's interesting that another band, The Decemberists, would also use the Roman empire to describe the dissolution of a relationship in Record Year for Rainfall. Anyway, Rome is a wonderful and beautiful song! |
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| John Vanderslice – Trance Manual Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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I read in an online review of the song that it's about a "journalist transformed by a visit by a prostitute", but I think the meaning can go deeper than that. It could describe any relationship that can be considered "dangerous". Specifically, an affair. The person singing is trying to woo a woman that he is not supposed to be with. When they meet, she has to go through elaborate security measures, similar to sneaking around on a boyfriend or spouse. He calls her the "flag of a dangerous nation" meaning that he shouldn't be messing around with her, but she is "warming weather" and is like spring in his life. Yet, when spring comes the snow melts and the river rises and floods the country around it. They can't meet in normal date places like bars and dance clubs and when in public they have to be very careful of how they act so they "stand alone" and "shift and shift." In the video, the girl lighting the matches is wearing a wedding ring and we know John Vanderslice has sung about being attracted to someone else's girlfriend in "You Were my Fiji". Maybe he is exploring this idea again in this song too. Whatever the meaning, this is a beautiful song! |
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