| Randy Newman – Bad News from Home Lyrics | 11 years ago |
| It is a pretty evocative song -absolutely dripping with foreboding or menace. My original thought was that he was simply contemplating suicide. I thought the bells might be her wedding bells. I didn't think he had killed them, though that's a solid theory too. Agree with bertiebottbag that he must be a police chief which makes the "you can run but you can't hide" lyric work. However he could be telling himself that because he knows he will have to go on living in the knowledge she is with somebody else. | |
| Fleet Foxes – Oliver James Lyrics | 15 years ago |
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The Moses thing struck me instantly too - baby + cradle in river = Moses (and I see from bakemd4 others). Moses didn't die, he led a miraculous life, and until I read the other posts here it didn't even occur to me that this baby might be dead. I guess it just really struck me as odd that a baby would end up dead in a river with its cradle. A cradle is a symbol of life and safety really, so for me the baby is alive - probably grown up and left home causing sad reflection for the parents - but alive. It disturbed me to think the baby might be dead so I played the song to a friend and asked them what they thought about the baby - they said without hesitation "well he drowned". I guess this song is pretty well crafted like so many of the FF's and you can take away various interpretations. |
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| Fleet Foxes – Meadowlarks Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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Yes the part of the song about the cornucopia and golden crown is almost certainly about a plant - or at least it is an allegory referencing the relationship between a bird and a plant. Flowering plants are dependent on birds like hummingbirds and perhaps meadowlarks to reproduce. A flower does hold a cornucopia of nectar which attracts birds. When they put their head in the flower to get their nectar they get a 'golden crown' of pollen on their head that they pass to the next plant when they fly somewhere else. Actually cornucopia is a particularly good word to use, because the flower is horn-shaped (cornucopia = horn of plenty, literally). Possibly the next verse (I think just let me die is correct) then makes good sense too - because after a time the flower dies. However if the humming bird has given it their 'best try' then the plant will reproduce and seeds will be produced. It's perhaps sad that the flower dies but the cycle of nature keeps on going - a theme thoughout the album. Some of the things that the song evokes for Goldjester are understandable in this context, and all the later lyrics about boys and girl(s) later make some sense. Maybe the song is from the perspective of nature itself? A great song I think. |
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