| Pixies – Where Is My Mind? Lyrics | 1 year ago |
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@[musicaleuphoria:46709] Love this interpretation … yes, I’m about 14 years late answering. Where is my mind? ;) |
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| Genesis – Follow You Follow Me Lyrics | 1 year ago |
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@[Scott216:45846] Most of these comments are from years ago, but yours is relatively recent. So maybe you’ll actually see this. I just recently rediscovered this tune after nearly thirty years and had forgotten how lovely it is. I always interpreted that line as a nod to the fact that there will always be rough moments, even in a devoted and caring relationship. It says, “but only rarely, just a single tear,” in each year. A passing cloud on an otherwise unblemished day. |
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| Elton John – Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me Lyrics | 1 year ago |
| @[DJacques75:45835] I don't think he is. | |
| Electric Light Orchestra – Can't Get It Out Of My Head Lyrics | 2 years ago |
| @capt.11491 I know your comment was from years ago, but just wanted to say how sorry I am to hear of your loss. I know the pain never fully subsides, but hope you have found happiness in your life. Be well. | |
| Don Henley – The End of the Innocence Lyrics | 4 years ago |
| @[emuInAmuumuu:31622] I was just listening to it for the first time in many, many years and was immediately struck by the fact that it sounded like a Bruce Hornsby song. The rhythm is shockingly reminiscent to "The Way It Is." Now I know why. Thanks! | |
| Elton John – Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me Lyrics | 10 years ago |
| I had always thought that line was "I'm just a fragment of your life to wander free," which I always just meant they'd been discarded or left behind. That made so much sense to me that I was surprised to find out that I'd been wrong all these years. I'm usually quite good with lyrics. | |
| R.E.M. – I Believe Lyrics | 12 years ago |
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One thing I've always loved about this song is the first 15 seconds of the album version on Life's Rich Pageant. I love how it starts with a very traditional banjo piece that sounds like something right out of back country Appalachia. Then, when the song launches - if you're really listening - you realize that the band did indeed take that traditional sound and gave it a modern makeover. I just find it fascinating musically. I'm not sure if it was meant to convey something about the song meaning itself, but it adds a special element. |
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| R.E.M. – Bad Day Lyrics | 12 years ago |
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Not too much to say about the song in general, except that it is a powerful political critique of politicians and the media reporting on them and topics of the day. That is, it is not just about someone having a bad day. The main thing I wanted to add was the whole bit about "please don't take a picture." To me that has always been a funny tongue-in-cheek reference to political scandals and ethical / legal issues, where the white collar criminal always looks so stupid trying to hide their faces. Everyone knows who it is, but in the era of images that stick around forever, they just don't want that clear, precise image of their face while they are in shackles. So people will go to great lengths to cover their faces . . . ducking, putting their hands up. It has just always seemed obvious to me that they are playing on that in the "it's been a bad day. Please (a very pleading please) don't take a picture" riff. |
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| Pet Shop Boys – Minimal Lyrics | 12 years ago |
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I recall reading somewhere that this song was inspired in part by one of their impressions of friends who had gone all "minimal" in their homes and interior designs and style. As I recall, it wasn't intended in a positive way. They found the "minimal" fad more insipid than inspired. |
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| Pet Shop Boys – Only The Wind Lyrics | 12 years ago |
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That makes a lot of since, Steve-e-b. There is also the allusion to drinking, which fits the angry drunk abuser: "My hands are not shaking, I don't touch a drop You must be mistaken, I know when to stop" |
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| Pet Shop Boys – Liberation Lyrics | 12 years ago |
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Ok, so I know this song is probably one of the most direct ever. But I love it. It's just a very straightforward and exuberant expression of what it feels like when you let your guard down and admit your love to someone who loves you despite your flawa. Anyone who's ever been the hold out on a relationship that just fit, and then experienced the relief when they let go of their fears can relate to this song. That feeling is liberation, and it feels wonderful. I think it's great that someone wrote a song about it. |
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| Pet Shop Boys – Rent Lyrics | 12 years ago |
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I know I'm answering this two years late, but if you're like me I check into this site about three or four times per year. So maybe you'll find my answer eventually ; ). I have always considered that the real irony of the song (if that's the proper usage of irony) is that the rentboy does indeed love the man who pays his rent . . . who also may be married, with family. Note that the song doesn't say explicitly "I love you BECAUSE you pay my rent." It simply says, "I love you. You pay my rent." The two aren't necessarily related, just a statement of fact. I've just always interpreted that the rent boy tries to convince himself it's just about money, but I imagine it takes an emotional toll. I don't know for sure, but I can't imagine you could build your life (however shaky it may be) around someone whom you have no feelings for, even if they paid you to. So I see this lines as being the one time the rent boy "breaks the mask" and admits there is something more going on. He feels more than he would like to admit. |
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| Pet Shop Boys – DJ Culture Lyrics | 12 years ago |
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I remember recalling that the PSB's considered this song their response to the lunatic cheerleading over the first Gulf War. The constant visual dazzling showing the pinpoint bomb hits and bunker busting explosions from so high up it didn't even "feel" like death. It was all like a cool video game. So in that context, all the talk of "imagine a war where everyone won," and "living in a satellite fantasy, waiting for the night to end," fit quite well. I seem to recall the last line was specifically in reference to Wolf Blitzer's report from the hotel room when Baghdad was struck. It made him an instant media hero, and represented the new era of modern gizmo war. Laser guided missiles, drone weaponry, and the like. |
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| Pet Shop Boys – Being Boring Lyrics | 12 years ago |
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That is an excellent essay explanation of this song. Really quite well written. Thank you |
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| Pet Shop Boys – Being Boring Lyrics | 12 years ago |
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That is an excellent essay explanation of this song. Really quite well written. Thank you. |
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| Pet Shop Boys – Nervously Lyrics | 12 years ago |
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I had kind of hoped someone had commented on this song, which is one of my favorites of Pet Shop Boys. I have always had a strong belief this song is about a young and closeted, or recently open, gay boy meeting another boy in a similar situation. Just that awkward brief, and possibly chance, meeting when you first see someone with whom there is a spark. The song means a lot to me because I recall being that shy man, finally acknowledging to myself that I was gay, but so nervous as to how I might befriend another man. It wasn't the sexual attraction that scared me. It was wanting to find someone to learn with, whom I might possibly like, and not sure how to go about it. I was in the US military at the time, which heightened my nervousness at the prospect. So all the lyrics in this, whether intentional or not, mirrored that feeling. I eventually made some friends, and even dated a man who remains a great friend. Everytime I hear this song, I recall that first meeting with him. The line "Smile, knowing why I approved of you, right from the moment you turned to face me," is magical to me. That instant spark when you when know someone touches you in some way and that you fancy them. It's the same for men, women, and for gays or straights. But this was the first song that spoke of it to me as a gay man. "I never knew the world could operate this way," was how I felt, followed by the joy of realzing love was possible for me as well, as a gay man. I'm not sure if that is what they mean when they wrote this song, but I'm glad they did. Because it is what the song represents for me. |
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| Simon and Garfunkel – The Sound of Silence Lyrics | 13 years ago |
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This song holds a special place in my heart . . . or just my consciousness in general. It was only years later that I realized why. This song is what I was listening to when I first had true consciousness of my existence, or at least my existence as a being - a real separate being from my parents, an individual. I think I also recognized mortality, at least as much as a small child can. Before you laugh, let me explain. I was very young and riding in the back of my dad's truck "cap" Older folks will know what I mean . . . they were those stubby not-quite-a-camper things that people used to put on their trucks to cover the bed - not at bed height level, but at the level of the top of the front cab area. I guess they still make them, but I can't remember when I last saw one. At any rate, I was less than 5. I want to say I was 3, but I may have been 4. I was riding in the back with my older brother who had a little transistor radio. It was really late at night, or pre-dawn, and we were driving out to a piece of land my parents owned. I think they were going to dig a well or something, and I was brought along. At any rate, it was dark and we were driving by an old, long tin fence that was virtually covered with graffiti. The fence went on for several miles . . . to this day, I don't know why it was such a substantial fence, essentially blocking forest on the other side. But I remember seeing it for years when we would drive through that part of the panhandle of Florida. The song "The Sound of Silence" was playing on my brother's radio, and I was cloaked in a blanket to shield me from the cold wind coming through the side vents of the cap, and just watching the graffiti on the fence pass by in a semi-sleepy haze. I can recall listening to the words of the song, and really trying to figure out what it meant, though I was so young. I remember feeling the emotion of the song though I had no concept of what the words meant, or even the skills to formulate thoughts about it. I suddenly recognized I was present in a unique moment . . . I could feel the cool air, see the colors of the grafitti speeding by as they were illuminated by the edge of the beam from the headlights, and knew I was experiencing a specific point of time. I'm sure I probably just fell asleep or something afterward, and probably didn't think much of it for a while afterward. But as the years went on, the memory stayed with me. I would ponder over it once in a while, and kind of relive it in my head. It always felt so profound. Years later, when I was an adult, I told an older friend about the memory. They just said matter-of-factly, "That's when you first experienced true self-awareness. That's why you remember it so clearly, and why it touches you." When they explained that, it instantly clicked that it was exactly what had happened. So, anyhow, that's my memory of this song and why it haunts me me no matter when or where I hear it. |
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| Tears for Fears – Break It Down Again Lyrics | 13 years ago |
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It is of course even more possible that an artist who writes their own songs could write about an experience of someone other than themselves. It's kind of a strange debate . . . think of all the books that have been written heartfelt and complete by authors of opposite sex, sexual orientation, race, etc. The key is tapping into the emotional universality . . . being alone, being hurt, scared, angry, even hopeful. So of course they could have written a song about gays frustration, though I don't think that's what the songs about. I think it is tapping into a more general sense of needing to listen to what's really in your head . . . not hiding, not fooling yourself, needing to stop where you're heading and thinking about what you really should be doing. The imagery reminds me somewhat of REM . . . Michael Stipes often writes almost dream-like imagery to capture a feeling or express emotion. |
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| Sarah McLachlan – U Want Me 2 Lyrics | 13 years ago |
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I never really noticed that, but the first piano line is a perfect match, and the second only the mildest variation at the end. I'm surprised I had never noticed it until now. The reason I wanted to post was a recent observation that fascinates me about the lyrics of this song. I realized it has a perfectly haunting double-entendre (I think I'm using the properly for this context). There are two meanings with the same lyrics. This site post the lines as follows: "Do you want me to stay and say I still want you? You want me too, don't you?" That's how I always heard it when the song first came out. But traveling a few weeks ago it suddenly occurred to me that there is a different interpretation just as valid. In fact, some sites actually list the words like this: "Do you want me to stay and say I still want you? You want me to, don't you?" As in, "you want me to stay and say I still want you, don't you?" It's subtle, but the interpretation of the song can be very different depending on how you interpret the lyrics. In the first, the person is much the victim, plaintively hoping their lover still wants them. But the second interpretation is a bit more cutting, or at least blunt. There could even be a hint, given all the other lyrics, that the person is tired of the games, implying they aren't going to stay and live the charade anymore. Perhaps they are not, in fact, going to stay and pretend anymore. It's just a profound, but subtle shift. I think it could be on purpose, hence the purposeful "U want me 2" nomenclature of the song title. I thing it adds a really nice complexity to the song. Very creative. |
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| R.E.M. – I've Been High Lyrics | 14 years ago |
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Of final note, the last line is what always chokes me up after the build-up from the previous thoughts. A good friend of mine once observed that I lived my life via "pictures" - images of how life is, or should be. Perhaps we all do to some degree, but with me it was a vital part of how I coped with life. It's what keeps me going, and is the source of the optimism I do possess. The friend didn't mean it in a judgmental way, just an observation to help me understand myself better. So the last line - "close my eyes so I can see, make my make believe believe in me" - possesses a lot of power for me. It captures perfectly how I feel when I need to stop whatever destructive or damaging or merely distracting path I have stumbled upon and remember the voice in my head, the images in my consciousness, that help guide me towards what is truly important in life. |
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| R.E.M. – I've Been High Lyrics | 14 years ago |
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I have a different interpretation of what this song means, based of course on my own life experience. I love this song . . . it's one of my favorite REM songs (and I have several). The first time I heard this was during the 2004 presidential elections, and I felt myself tearing up. It just reminded me so strongly of how much belief in the promise of the world had been in my youth and how that belief was being constantly challenged and beaten down by the news and "real life" each day. So, in that context, I saw someone who was naturally optimistic and gracious in their approach to life but who has grown disillusioned. They desperately want to understand what they missed . . . how they could have been so wrong. "Life washes over me," in that context isn't a good thing. It's the forces of the real world drowning their faith. They want to escape that by letting go - letting it wash them away or by soaring away from it, whatever escape they can find. In the end, what they really want - what they really want (as the song says ;) - is to live life on high, to be able to hold onto that once strong faith in the goodness of life and carry it with them, and to see it in other people, they way they once did. In this song, they are taking a big leap of opening up to themselves - and someone else - about their heartfelt desire because they see something in that other person they hope means they feel the same. That's how I interpret it anyhow. |
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