| Leonard Cohen – I'm Your Man Lyrics | 15 years ago |
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Hmmm. People kind of miss the point of Cohen's songs sometimes, and this one is no exception. He's not really a happy love song kind of guy and this song is no exception. The man will debase himself, do anything, obliterate his own identity, for the woman. This is not a positive thing. From listening to songs such as Famous Blue Raincoat and reading interviews with him, Cohen believes that this idea of property over and ownershiph over other people that we have in relationships isn't good. I think this song fits into that... maybe it's an acknowledgement of the obsessive feelings of ownership we can have towards those we "love" and how it's not really love. I'm not sure. I don't think it's a simple love song though. |
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| Leonard Cohen – Famous Blue Raincoat Lyrics | 15 years ago |
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Lots of really interesting thoughts on this song. I just wanted to add one thing. In my opinion, the song is sung softly and sadly, but... there is an anger and bitterness to it. The line, "Thanks for the trouble you took from her eyes, I thought it was there for good, so I never tried"... is a deeply bitter recognition of the fact that this man was able to do something for Jane that he wasn't able to, in fact never even tried to. Also, he refers to the man wearing the famous blue raincoat as his "killer" and he refers to himself as the man's "enemy". And tells the man, "You're living for nothing now". This is a man who essentially destroyed a relationship he had, waltzed in and treated his woman to "a flake of his life". Ideals about love and possession aside, there is a lot of obvious anger and bitterness in this song and I think that's an important part of it - as important as the resignation and sadness. If you listen to how it's sung, you can hear the sarcasm and bitterness to some parts. |
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| Leonard Cohen – The Stranger Song Lyrics | 15 years ago |
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There has been a lot of good analysis of this song, very thought provoking. The lyrics are simple but very deep. I wanted to add a note. The chorus that is repeated at the beginning and end of the song - "And then leaning on your window sill, he'll say one day you caused his will to weaken with your love and warmth and shelter, and then taking from his wallet an old schedule of trains, he'll say I told you when I came, I was a stranger"... At the beginning of the song, clearly he's talking about the other "players" the women has known and been with. He establishes that he's different, and she has trouble believing him, and realizes too late that he didn't have an agenda, and was just offering shelter. However, I think the chorus being repeated after this is not just symbolic, but it also has some irony to it. He's recognizing that even though he never intended to treat her like the other players, and never wanted to leave her, nonetheless that's what he's doing, and he's a stranger like any other. I don't know if he ends up leaving her because of her mistrust, her inability to believe, or if it's because he really was another player all along and was fooling himself. But I think he's basically saying, well I loved you and I was different, yet here I am doing the same thing, I'm leaving you just like all the others, and you should never have expected any different, I guess. Just my two cents. I think the analysis that talks about these men who have high ideals and dreams and are willing to give them up, and also the analysis talking about how he's saying he's unlike any other relationship she's had, both have a lot of validity to them. Wonderful song, it's making me fall in love with Leonard Cohen's music. So sad, though. |
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| OutKast – Ms. Jackson Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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DumplingSoup, thanks for your post. You cleared up a few of the lines for me, the part at the end when BB is talking specifically. This line: She need to get a, piece of the american pie and take her bite out You said you didn't know what it meant - he's saying she needs to get a life. American Pie is sort of a reference to the American dream, and she needs to get her own success (her own bite) so she'll have her own life instead of obsessing over what's going on with her daughter and the child. As for the song in general, Outkast is incredibly talented. I had never bothered to listen to hip hop before hearing Outkast, and this song specifically (I tend more towards rock). Andre's lyrics are incredibly poignant and the song in general has stood up to hundreds of listenings. Overall one of the best, if saddest, songs on my iPhone. I'd love to know what else Outkast has done that is on par with these, so I can go find it. |
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