| 36 Crazyfists – The Back Harlow Road Lyrics | 14 years ago |
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The 1986 film "Stand By Me" (based around the Steven King novella "The Body") is about a group of boys who hear about the location of the dead body of a teenager who had recently gone missing- they decide to go look for the dead body, and eventually find it at the Back Harlow Road. Any ideas if this is where they got the title of this song from? It's somewhat similar to the story of Brook's sisters falling out, in that during this scene the main boy Gordie talks about how he'll never make his father proud (the father's favourite son, Denny, had died in a jeep accident). Gordie's best friend, Chris, also comes from a bad family and believes he'll never get a chance to become something of himself due to society's preconceptions of him ("no one lends a chance to make up..."). Another possible relation to Crazyfists, when we skip to the future and see an aged Gordie finishing his memoir he ends with "I never had any friends later on like the ones I had when I was twelve. Jesus, does anyone?"- extremely similar to "At The End Of August"'s lyrics, which makes me quite certain the band are fans of the film/novella. |
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| Alkaline Trio – Maybe I'll Catch Fire Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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There's minor differences in the acoustic version found on the Agony and Irony Deluxe Edition CD, nothing big enough to write up another set of lyrics for but here they are: Most exciting thing I do - hang half way out a third floor window, *I'LL* throw lit cigarettes down. And *THE* most relaxing thing I do - hang half way out *MY* third floor window, and look at *THE* rocks, if I fall out, *I'LL PRAY THAT* I'll fall hard As I said, very minor changes in the acoustic version but the last change really makes the song better in my opinion, as if he wants his most relaxing activity to end badly so that he dies when he's in his calmest, happiest state of mind :-) |
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| Alkaline Trio – Clavicle Lyrics | 16 years ago |
| Who doesn't? MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM GINNY! | |
| The Shins – New Slang Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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Actually, you know what? It was a slow day at work so I wrote down the lyrics and had a stab at analysing them line for line. I completely change the above opinion of mine, and I think I may just be onto something :-) I've checked through the previous eight pages and no one has had the same idea for the final verse as me, though there are some similarities of opinions in other areas of the song; I'd really appreciate it if someone gives an opinion on this take! --- "Gold teeth and a curse for this town were all in my mouth. Only, i don't know how they got out, dear. Turn me back into the pet that i was when we met. I was happier then with no mind-set" ...Right, I'll begin with the word "pet": to me this says he was a domesticated man; that is, he enjoyed a cosy, predictable life. His mindset has changed now however, and he wants to get out of the boring town he lives in. I believe "gold teeth" is a metaphor for wisdom (gold "nuggets of truth", if you will :P), and the curses for the town are the downsides of life there others do not have the mindset to see. I no longer believe my above post's idea that it was the girl who changed him- I think it just happened over time, as an epiphany. ---- "And if you'd 'a took to me like A gull takes to the wind. Well, i'd 'a jumped from my tree" ...I thought about what a gull taking to the wind would mean. I originally thought it meant that birds and air go hand in hand, as should the protaganist and the girl. Now I think it means to literally take flight- the man is taking a plane out of his old life and wants the girl to come with him, which she refuses. If she had come with him (jumping from the tree into flight, as birds do), he'd have proclaimed his elation without concern of seeming foolish to others, in the same way my above post believed. That's pretty much the only line my original idea keeps the same haha :P --- "New slang when you notice the stripes, the dirt in your fries. Hope it's right when you die, old and bony. Dawn breaks like a bull through the hall, Never should have called But my head's to the wall and i'm lonely." ...Some of the other posts here got the same translation of what new slang is as I- it's a mindset that others are not used to/cannot comprehend (an idea of life that is literally slang to them). I believe that either the first two lines or the entire verse is the phonecall's dialogue of him speaking to the girl- it's the same meaning either way, the only difference being whether he admits his loneliness to her or not. Anyway, our protaganist phones the girl and tells him that his new mindset is not one that necessarily makes him happy (as is shown in the first verse). He wishes that she forever remains in her current lifestyle, where ignorance is bliss. His head's to the wall because he doesn't want to leave her behind, but he knows she doesn't understand his reasons for leaving. Dawn breaking like a bull means one of two things to me- either he's at the airport during the call and his plane has just arrived, ready to change his life forever; or the (possibly drunk, I'm still unsure...)phonecall was the night before, and the realisation he shouldn't have called hits him like a brick wall, giving him immediate regret for putting her through it. --- "God speed all the bakers at dawn may they all cut their thumbs, And bleed into their buns 'till they melt away." ...Okay, this is why I like my new idea of the song- it covers this damn baker's verse that I had no idea about in my other take on it haha. What I originally thought was "melting away" was the bakers themselves, bleeding to death or something stupid like that. Now I see it as the blood mixing with the buns, making them soggy to the point where they are falling apart and destroyed. With that in mind, I think he wishes the bakers to accidentally cut themselves, in hopes that they experience the same epiphany he has had- with their buns destroyed, and no products for them to sell, he wants them to realise there is more to life than their domesticated, pet-like jobs. However, with that said I am unsure on his real intentions in the verse regarding the "Godspeed". There's a chance he could be sarcastic in its use, scorning the sheep-like bakers for not having the foresight to see the new slang; afterall, in verse two he wishes the girl to not see it. --- "I'm looking in on the good life i might be doomed never to find. Without a trust or flaming fields am i too dumb to refine? And if you'd 'a took to me like Well i'd a danced like the queen of the eyesores And the rest of our lives would 'a fared well." ...I read through all the posts, and no one seemed to think the same take as me on this verse. I had been wondering why the King changes to Queen in the last chorus, but matching it up with the question asked in the final song's verse seems to match- from this point on it's no longer our protaganist talking. He's gone on his plane to tearfully live his new slang...who we have right here talking is the lost love :-) The girl who couldn't understand his reasons for leaving has recieved a call from him on the last day he's in the area- she's looking in on "the good life" that only he out of the whole town seems to be able to comprehend. "Flaming fields" I believe is another metaphor for a dull life of routine- could the field be the scorned baker's wheat, once again destroying their products by burning? "Without a trust" is the man's opinion that she'll never understand, and that he doesn't actually WANT her to because of the pain it is causing him; this makes her question, "does he think I am really too dumb that I would never understand his lifestyle? That I cannot understand him as a person?" which saddens her. And the reason it saddens her is of course, because she loved him just as much as he loved her- note that the "bird takes to the wind" line is omitted in her version of the chorus. She hasn't taken flight, so for him to "take to" her would've been him staying in the town. --- So to sum up: Boy meets Girl, Boy's lifestyle changes to something that cannot exist in Boy's old town, Girl doesn't leave with Boy, both are left broken hearted. But told in a damn beautiful way :-) Sorry for anyone who actually read all that, I thought it'd come out shorter haha. Opinions welcomed! I really think it flows together nicely, but I still don't know what imagery "notice the stripes" was hinting at...I can't imagine it'd change the second verse's meaning any, either way. |
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| The Shins – New Slang Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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That's a pretty interesting take on the chorus whaattt, I've never thought about it that way before. That said, I don't think the girl ever did feel something for him- to me I think he was always only a friend of hers, and the king of the eyesores bit means that if she ever did decide to date him he would've proclaimed his elation in a really embarrassing manner, not caring what anyone who saw him would think (for like of a better example, singing "I Think I love You" on the canteen table in Scream 2). In retrospect I think the guy almost wishes he never met her (he "was happier then with no mindset", because now he can't stop thinking about her/doomed never to live his idea of "the good life" because it involved her) and calls her when he's drunk and courageous enough to admit he's lonely without her. My guess is she married someone else and is still in touch with him (he's "looking in")- I haven't the foggiest what the line about bakers means though haha. |
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| A Skylit Drive – Balance Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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Is it definitely "like proper men we dive in"? I've always heard it as "like proper men we die now", which seems to follow onto "live...you'll be the proof of my existence" considerably better in my mind. Can any bigger fans than me that have the booklet lyrics or whatever help me out? :P This is my favourite song off the album, I agree with ShinjiruX5's link to Crisis Core as well. |
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