| Josh Ritter – Man Burning Lyrics | 7 years ago |
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Nobody will look this up because it's so obvious. But.. for a little fun... Imagine Josh wrote this while sitting on the toilet after eating something really, really spicy. You're welcome. |
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| Josh Ritter – Good Man Lyrics | 7 years ago |
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I wanted this song to mean a lot of things but the reason I'm coming back to it (after the last post was what.. 10 years ago?) is because I think everyone sort of got it right but not quite. Think of it as a cover band's love letter to an artist or even an artist asking to replay another song by someone they greatly respect. It's not unheard of for someone to go all out to get permission to cover or even use a song in a film (Jack Black and Led Zeppelin come to mind for "School of Rock"). This song plays like Josh is shaking hands across time with an artist that is accomplished but, like him, writes tracks they are proud of and tracks they are not. Doesn't stop him from loving their stuff and asking - politely - if they'd like to let him use it. With that in mind, it suddenly starts to make an awful lot of sense and even the Lone Ranger imagery seems to place the moment in time. |
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| Josh Ritter – Thin Blue Flame Lyrics | 14 years ago |
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If you weren't painfully aware, Josh Ritter is an atheist and the song has DEEP atheist tones not hidden in any way, shape, or form. The one line that sums up the "speaker's" feelings better than anything else: "It's a Bible or a bullet they put over your heart It's getting harder and harder to tell them apart" The song, in its essence, is about mankind's constant struggle with what's "upstairs" and how much grief, death, and outright violence has been caused by it. There are many, many lines from multiple forms of religious dogma that are used against themselves to support this truly horrific "death cult" that is somehow acceptable in the world. The speaker gave up on the idea of god a very long time ago and decided we're wasting our time thinking that ANY horrible action in this world will take us to another and with any "supreme being." -mC |
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| Dave Matthews Band – What Would You Say Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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I find the meaning simple but I happen to liken it to Dave's atheist line of thought. I think he feels people are judgmental and are quick to assume their judgments. They don't take a step back, they run right through the motions because that's what they've always done. To me, the key here is "because of original sin." It hearkens all quick responses to "just do as you've always known." Don't think about it. The keys here aren't anything with the bear or the monkey or the dog. Those are just events that happen and the responses that follow. "Everyone goes in the end." Who cares how it happened? You have to go sometime, who cares what the circumstance? The "lifetime's passed me by" is never taking a look back and thinking about what's actually going on around you. In the end, I feel the true emphasis of the song is his only direct plea to the listener... "look in the mirror my friend." Don't wait for something to come along to automatically cause a response. Stop, realize that you yourself generate a whole myriad of stimuli and get to work. Its very.. existential. But a lot of what we atheists think about is existenial. :) |
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