submissions

R.E.M. – You Lyrics

13 years ago

My reaction to this song when I first listened to it was, "*WOW* this is sexual, and it's definitely about a man." I respect a lot about Stipe that he can write lyrics that have some subtlety to them but are that much more *charged* than ones you hear in other popular music, that don't leave much to the imagination. I don't agree that it's completely loveless lust, though. I think the narrator in this song has some pretty powerful unrequited feelings for the guy who's wiping his lips, indicated especially in the last stanza. "I learned to disrespect the signs" - I learned to quit picking up on hints that you might care for me, because I just get hurt that way; "I want you like a Pisces rising" - Pisces are supposed to be deeply emotional, intuitive, and romantic, so wanting someone like a Pisces rising is like wanting to be deeply emotionally connected to him.

submissions

R.E.M. – At My Most Beautiful Lyrics	13 years ago
I believe it is intentional. Peter Buck and Mike Mills were supposed to be big Beach Boys fans and there's a Beach Boys-ish sound to this song.

submissions

R.E.M. – Belong. Lyrics

13 years ago

I agree that it sounds like it could be about someone in East Germany reacting to the fall of the Berlin Wall, especially with the line, "she began to breathe, to breathe at the thought of this freedom." If you've ever seen the movie "Goodbye Lenin!", it's a little bit reminiscent of that. In the movie, the main character's mother falls into a coma just before the Berlin wall falls, and he tries to cover up the radical changes in the world after she wakes up, because the shock could kill her. Here, it sounds like the mother character's head is spinning over radical political change in her world, and the only thing that feels solid to her still is her relationship with her child. She clings to the child and says, "belong," because in light of the confusing and frightening changes in the world, they still belong to each other.

submissions

Pink Martini – U Plavu Zoru Lyrics	16 years ago
It's about watching someone leave on a train and gradually disappear from sight. The cello is supposed to sound like the train wheels turning. Lauderdale's comment on it was, "It's SAD, it's not a DISS!"

submissions

Pink Martini – Kikuchiyo to Mohshimasu Lyrics	16 years ago
I don't have the exact translation, but the song's about a mysterious and sad geisha who goes into a nightclub, dances with the protagonist, steals his heart, and slips off into the night, never to be heard from again.

submissions

Pink Martini – Dosvedanya Mio Bombino Lyrics	16 years ago
I saw Pink Martini in concert once (2006 or so?), and they played this song. China Forbes said her sister had dated a guy who was half Russian and half Italian, and apparently he was a bit flaky, so she got inspired to write this song. Ultimately, it's about someone who doesn't know what he wants, and the two countries make handy metaphors for those warring interests.

submissions

Pink Martini – Hang On Little Tomato Lyrics

16 years ago

I saw Pink Martini in concert once when they played this song. Thomas Lauderdale introduced it by saying he'd seen a ketchup advertisement from 1964 that depicted a tomato on a vine, with the slogan, "Hang on, little tomato!" The idea being that they only harvested the most ripe and flavorful tomatoes to smash for their ketchup. So, he said, it's a song about hope... and death. Straight from the horse's mouth, as it were.

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