| Bon Iver – RE: Stacks Lyrics | 14 years ago |
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to me this song means letting go. and i'll try to make this brief. This my excavation and today is Kumran Everything that happens is from now on This is pouring rain This is paralyzed - it's a new day and it begins with uncovering yourself; past, present, future. It might be depressing and it might leave you listless but isn't that where you already are? I keep throwing it down two hundred at a time It's hard to find it when you knew it When your money's gone And you're drunk as hell - i don't know about others but when i'm really struggling my vices get worse. some people drink, some people steal, and some gamble. everyone has their own "drug" of choice. On your back with your racks as the stacks as your load In the back and the racks and the stacks are your load In the back with your racks and you're unstacking your load - baggage, it's all just baggage. and it's about time you let go (unstack your load) I've twisting to the sun I needed to replace The fountain in the front yard is rusted out All my love was down In a frozen ground - for some reason "twisting to the sun", to me, seems more so of recoiling from the sun or writhing in pain from the thought of going outside and living your life. i don't want to go outside, i don't want to replace that dilapidated fountain or fix up anything in anyway. the last two lines evoke emotion in me, not so much a solid meaning. dead love, cold love, love lost. There's a black crow sitting across from me; his wiry legs are crossed And he's dangling my keys he even fakes a toss Whatever could it be That has brought me to this loss? - the black crow reminds me a lot of "The Raven" by Edgar Allen Poe. it might help to read what wiki has to say, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Raven This is not the sound of a new man or a crispy realization It's the sound of the unlocking and the lift away Your love will be Safe with me - this isn't a "new years resolution" type of situation. i'm not changing myself per se. I'm letting go of a part of me that's been hidden, padlocked, bolted to my psyche. i take the last line as a promise to a past love and a promise to a future love sort of like "don't worry, i won't forget you, but you won't get in the way of my future and i will love openly and freely again." but then again, i'm pretty sure my present situation is making me biased. i've been listening to this song for years now and have never felt this overcome by it. |
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| Sufjan Stevens – For the Widows in Paradise, for the Fatherless in Ypsilanti Lyrics | 15 years ago |
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i know i'll probably get crap for this but everyone saying that this song isn't about Christ and we need to stop "forcing" Christianity on every song Sufjan writes is a fucking lunatic. how can you completely disregard the most blatant allusion to Christianity and Christ in this song...for fucks sake it's in the title! for the WIDOWS in paradise, for the FATHERLESS in ypsilanti - this is almost identical to the Bible verse Psalm 68:5 "A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in his holy dwelling." i'm sure i don't have to go into great detail on why this is obvious. damn you guys are pissing me off with all this "it has no Christian background. i'm an athiest and i still like sufjan. blah blah blah bullshit." |
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| Joanna Newsom – No Provenance Lyrics | 15 years ago |
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about the gold not being gold, i would like to point out that she says "bales of bullion" and bullion means gold or silver (precious metals). also i would like to point out provenance is defined as "the history of ownership of a valued object or work of art or literature". and since she says no provenance - could that mean no ownership, meaning the horse doesn't belong to her or her partner? i really liked your interpretation, but this song still confuses me a lot. but thanks to you it's not just a bunch of really amazing and beautiful words/themes/poetic devices strung together any longer. hopefully i get to figure it out more and more for myself as time goes by. *fingers crossed >_< |
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| Joanna Newsom – Go Long Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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never knew the story of Bluebeard; see that's the wonderful thing about Joanna, she teaches you things you might never get the chance to learn. since most of what i understood from the song has already been touched on in one way or another by the other comments i just want to point out the lyric: "You burn in the Mekong" - this is a reference to the legend of the NÄga/The Curse of Kadru, where (in short) "Kadru, the ancestral mother of snakes, made a bet with her sister Vinata, the stakes being that the loser would be enslaved to the winner. Eager to secure victory, Kadru requested the cooperation of her offspring in order to fix the bet so that Kadru would win. When her offspring balked at the request, Kadru grew angry and cursed them to die a fiery death in the snake-sacrifice of King Janamejaya, the son of Parikshit, who was the son of Abhimanyu the son of Arjuna. The king of the snakes Vasuki was aware of the curse, and knew that his brethren would need a hero to rescue them from it. He approached the renowned ascetic Jaratkaru with a proposal of marriage to a snake-goddess, Manasa, Vasuki's own sister. Out of the union of the ascetic and the snake-maiden was born "a son of the splendor of a celestial child." This son was named Astika, and he was to be the savior of the snakes. In accordance with Kadru's curse, Janamejaya prepared a snake sacrifice of a type described in the scriptures, the Puranas. He erected a sacrificial platform and hired priests and other professionals needed for the rites. Following the proper form, the priests lit the sacrificial fire, duly fed it with clarified butter, uttered the required mantras, and began calling the names of snakes. The power of the rite was such that the named snakes were summoned to the fire and were consumed by it. As the sacrifice took on genocidal proportions, Astika came to the rescue. He approached Janamejaya and praised the sacrifice in such eloquent terms that the king offered to grant him a boon of his choosing. Astika promptly requested that the sacrifice be terminated. Though initially regretful of his offer, Janamejaya was true to his word, and the sacrifice came to an end." the sacrificial platform is the "palanquin" and i think Joanna sees herself as a sort of saviour/comrade to all women tormented and tortured by men/society. She relates herself to Astika and, most likely her ex Bill Callahan, to the offspring that were destined to be burned in the Mekong River and also the more evil, more willing to kill/sacrifice others, Kadru. This legend and the story of Bluebeard have many parallels such as the killing of many and the escape of one. Joanna being that one who got away. Personally, Smog, i think you're missing out. PS: i'm still trying to figure out this song. feedback would be nice/helpful :) |
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