| Michael Jackson – Human Nature Lyrics | 14 years ago |
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You're getting at what jumps out at me from this song, and also why it has such strong appeal to me. (I am not in particular a MJ fan.) Basically, if someone asks, "why is he [nobody in particular, anybody, just some person in someone's life] so cruel to me?" the answer is that it's just "human nature." So this song is actually rather complex... it just scratches just the surface of human nature, and reveals just a few of its diverse facets: curiosity, the lustful sense of adventure... and also cruelty, or at least capriciousness, in the way we treat each other. "He" treats you cruelly because it's just human nature. And all delivered in a ironically sweet lullaby. It reminds me of some of U2's songs (again, not a fan in particular), basically tributes to Love (big L), where they merely go on and on about how cruel it is. And all delivered in those ironically infectiously sweet, sweet melodies and beats. (Consider "The Sweetest Thing" and... uh... mind gone blank.) Also! Very observant points made by razajac. |
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| Sebadoh – Homemade Lyrics | 15 years ago |
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Sure, it's about masturbation, but it's about more than that. It starts with just boredom, touching one's self, getting off... but then it turns ominous. "Praying to the beast that stole the sex from me." It's about the excesses of masturbation. Not from a religious or moralistic perspective, but from a practical, interpersonal perspective. Too much masturbation -- solo sexuality -- can make it difficult to relate to another person on a sexual level. Hence the description of masturbation as "praying to the beast that stole the sex from me." And the writer's dependence on the heightened, impersonal sexuality of porn ("There's still pictures in my mind / I've been addicted all this time") makes it even more difficult to relate to another human being sexually. Unable to perform with natural passion in a natural sexual situation, he asks his lover, "Tell me, girl, did it leave me cold?" Really honest, psychologically deep lyrics. (I hope that doesn't sound trite.) I love this fucking song and the powerful bass riff that drives it along. |
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| Why? – Against Me Lyrics | 15 years ago |
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I'm not going to tackle the entire song. It is far too dense. I'm going try my hand at the verse that I've found most perplexing, not only in understanding the words (i.e., what is he saying?), but the meanings behind the words as they sound to me. The lyrics that I find most inscrutable are: Cold chased on run and covered like a horse before the race Upon a closer listen, it sounds to me like: Cold-chased, un-run and -covered like a horse before the race. (I.e., un-run, and un-covered). It would fit with his concerns about the burn of scrutiny: a horse before the race is not fully prepared. One who is not fully prepared for something will feel "the burn of scrutiny." So, perhaps the comparison is that in some aspect of his life, he feels like that horse, unprepared, naked, and therefore subject to the burn of scrutiny. |
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