| Bright Eyes – Roosevelt Room Lyrics | 13 years ago |
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A few important corrections: "And the people's sun comes pouring in / On a brand new day" "You who dammed the river" - Can't make out specifically whether this is said in present or past tense, but it's dam or dammed the river--as in built a dam, not damned or cursed the river. "You paid a dowry for your child bride - A dowry is traditionally paid by the bride's family to the husband--reversed and perverted in this case. Someone is purchasing a child bride, akin to slavery. "What good, what good are you? / With your Cherokee Trail and your Roosevelt Room" - This part is inverted. Cherokee Trail is in the first portion of the chorus, coupled with Roosevelt Room. "What good, what good are you? / With your Seneca plague and your Arlington Tomb" - Seneca was a Roman writer who wrote a variation on the classic play Oedipus. A plague features prominently in the plot of Oedipus. However, this line more likely refers to the Seneca people, one of the Iroquois Tribes, and how they were plagued by disease as a result of contact with European colonists, which is more in keeping with the theme of the song. Arlington Tomb refers to the Tomb of the unknown soldier in Arlington National Cemetery. "Your shadow's long but the day is young" - A common metaphor for old age. A shadow lengthens in the setting sun, symbolizing someone nearing the end of their time. |
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| Tokyo Police Club – Your English Is Good Lyrics | 16 years ago |
| Sorry. One more thought that I forgot to mention. The major repeated lines in the song "You don't need to change / Your future's with us" refer to politicians pandering to their audience to get the vote. In other words, promising to take care of potential voters by giving them whatever they want without having to change or sacrifice anything, which is obviously a lie. | |
| Tokyo Police Club – Your English Is Good Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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The song seems to be, at least somewhat, a critique on politicians and the way they treat voters, specifically minorities and lower income voters. The first verse mentions searching for the tramp (beggar, vagrant) in the gravel pit, ending with "Until the tramp finds Christ / Injustice is my middle name." This seems like a commentary on self righteous, religious politicians, those that claim to follow Christ but do nothing to aid the downtrodden (or those who do not share their beliefs) through their policies once in office. The second verse makes a similar point with the line "your English is good" followed by "In this neighborhood / We ain't driving you home." In this case, politicians are looking to court the minority vote (those who may not be native English speakers), but they would never set foot into any of the poorer neighborhoods where those voters live. The overall point being that some politicians will say anything to win support from the desired demographic, but that they don't truly care about the well being of those they are elected to serve. The lines "And my rook will check / Across this black and white chess board" further emphasize the idea of political strategizing in a game of race. Notice that he specifically mentions that the chess board is black and white. My 2 cents. |
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| Tokyo Police Club – Your English Is Good Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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The song seems to be, at least somewhat, a critique on politicians and the way they treat voters, specifically minorities and lower income voters. The first verse mentions searching for the tramp (beggar, vagrant) in the gravel pit, ending with "Until the tramp finds Christ / Injustice is my middle name." This seems like a commentary on self righteous, religious politicians, those that claim to follow Christ but do nothing to aid the downtrodden (or those who do not share their beliefs) through their policies once in office. The second verse makes a similar point with the line "your English is good" followed by "In this neighborhood / We ain't driving you home." In this case, politicians are looking to court the minority vote (those who may not be native English speakers), but they would never set foot into any of the poorer neighborhoods where those voters live. The overall point being that some politicians will say anything to win support from the desired demographic, but that they don't truly care about the well being of those they are elected to serve. The lines "And my rook will check / Across this black and white chess board" further emphasize the idea of political strategizing in a game of race. Notice that he specifically mentions that the chess board is black and white. My 2 cents. |
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| Brand New – Limousine Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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@urbancoyote I agree, so here is my interpretation of some of the more cryptic lines. @religionoftheweak About the oars: "You explode, you firefly, you tiny boat with oars, Feather oars." These lines are analogies emphasizing different aspects of Katie's death. She is a firefly in that her life is a very bright, but brief flash. She is a boat with feather (useless) oars, meaning that she is helpless in the face of the elements acting against her, just as a boat with feather oars could not hope to effectively paddle through a vast ocean. "The world tilts back and pours and pours. And so, you satellite, you tidal wave. . ." This part is much vaguer, but I believe it's a description of the violence of the collision itself in keeping with the sea and boat metaphor established in the previous line. Again, she is a satellite because she is helpless and remote, cut off from everyone else just as a satellite is distant and subject to the orbit of other planets. I agree with most of the other suggestions about the counting. It seems to symbolize both her age and references 7 as being a number that the Bible associates with perfection and with God. Hope these thoughts helped. |
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