| MGMT – Electric Feel Lyrics | 14 years ago |
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This is mainly a response to ppcv's interpretation of the song, which I believe is definitely getting at some deeper meanings here. He's not a native English speaker, it seems, which makes it harder, but certainly not impossible, to ascertain his meaning, and in fact makes his entire interpretation much more powerful since he is probably writing from the outside of Western culture. The reference to the Amazon has, I believe, nothing to do (directly, at least) with the status of the Amazon rainforest. In Greek mythology, the Amazons were an exotic and strange race of warrior women, who "fought like men". Depending on the myth, their male children would either be killed, exiled, or put into slavery. Given this, it's obvious that an encounter with a woman like this in the jungle may not necessarily be the best idea in the world. She's damn sexy, but she "shocks him like an electric eel". A high-voltage electric shock is not good for health. Both lokigirl and ppcv are approaching what I think is a good message. To "do what you feel now" is, indeed, a self-actualization experience (to not "do what you feel now" would be to pursue education, save for you or your family's future, or labor in pursuit of a better life later on). And ppcv's perspective on how Western culture seems to be about "doing what you feel" is understandable if he lives near anywhere in the world that's getting rained on by American bombs, and certainly in how he likely sees the rampant materialism in the West and perhaps the rapid, polluting, and corrupt industrialization of China in response to their demands for iPods and trinkets. Could the "electricity" that the man in the jungle gets from the electric girl be a representation of hedonism and emasculation, or a more self-centered worldview? I'm glad ppcv came in to say something about the Eastern export culture, because that caused me to view this verse with new eyes: "All along the eastern shore Put your circuits in the sea This is what the world is for Making electricity You can feel it in your mind Oh, you can do it all the time" Of course, if the sea has become "electrified", you'd only have to dangle a couple little wires into it from the Eastern shore in order to "electrify" quite a bit of the land. It's funny that a couple of commentators here have taken the time to claim that this song is all about how sex is just so great and feels so good man, but I don't think that's exactly what MGMT was getting at. "Oh, you can do it all the time"? If everybody has the "electric feel" and spends all day having sex, who's going to run the power plant or forge the steel? Here's a quote I just saw from another commentator in reference to the Western front: "As if he's comparing suitors or men who want to sex up this girl with soldiers waiting to be shot." Indeed. It seems that if I came across this woman in the jungle, it would be very tempting to "sex her up". But hopefully I'd have gotten some information on her less than savory electro-powers. |
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| MGMT – Honey Bunny Lyrics | 14 years ago |
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My interpretation is that Honey Bunny is addressing a girl, perhaps "girls in general", and men, to give them some advice on girls. "Hello dirt, goodbye innocence, Catch me a drop of dew. Goodbye hope, hello elegance, You've got a lot to prove." The parallel phrasing here puts together "innocence" and "hope" (probably in a reference to childhood), but strangely, it also puts together "dirt" and "elegance". This could be a jab at some unnamed girl that is quite elegant (in terms of fashion or whatever) but who is in a sense "dirty" as well -- perhaps spiteful or of poor character or virtue, according to MGMT. I don't know what to say about "dew", but dew has been historically considered as something that "fertilizes" if you know what I mean. "Sunshine beach, you've got sandy toes, race to the perfect beach, I owe you, thanks a lot, thanks for everything, you are a weasel shit." The only way I can find to ascribe meaning to this part is if "beach" is being used euphemistically for "bitch". If that's the case, these four lines are just a straight-up insult without a lot of meaning. "Oh my God! What have we done? I killed your mama, you better run! You better skip, on outta here, We'll miss this place, Gonna disappear." This stanza evokes eloping. Now how that fits in with the attitude of the rest of the lyrics, or with the literal or metaphorical mother-killing, I have no idea. "Fucking weasel, you've lost your touch. Skinny as hell, but it's not enough." The girl is a "fucking weasel" who the speaker is no longer attracted to. Incidentally, she's quite slender, but the speaker wishes that she were even more so (perhaps to the point of starvation?) "Life is a mineshaft of love. But don't dig too deep." I really love these final lines. The meaning is clear -- a large part of our lives are in the pursuit of love, but it's possible to cause ourselves ruin if we get involved with the wrong girls or somehow in the wrong way. To go on past the basic meaning in a metaphorical explosion that may or may not have been intended by MGMT, I like to think about civilization depends on what comes out of mines -- coal, metals, uranium, and all that -- to survive. Is MGMT saying that we, then, as individuals need love to survive? Now, if the mines are "dug too deep", a couple bad things could happen. The mine itself could collapse, killing workers. Or, to go to a global scale, mining too intensely without regards for sustainability could cause civilizations to flounder for want of resources. One could think about how these "too deep" scenarios might work for love. |
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