submissions
| The Fall – The Man Whose Head Expanded Lyrics
| 13 years ago
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To me this sounds like MES is ranting about people who are convinced their brilliant ideas are being stolen and put on TV (and getting a big, or expanded, head about it) when really their ideas are not st all brilliant and everybody's had them at least once. General self-importance and incompetence. |
submissions
| Menomena – Boyscout'n Lyrics
| 14 years ago
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I'm noticing a bit of a parallel between this song and The Sunflower by Simon Wiesenthal. Not saying they directly have anything to do with each other, but that they may explore similar themes. So it's a lot like Wrat said, but this parallel helps me understand a little more of the chorus.
First verse -> Karl, a fatally injured SS officer, recalling the time he was an active Hitler Youth member (Hitler Youth like a Boy Scouts for genocidal racists?) eager to prove what he could do for the fatherland.
Chorus -> Now on his deathbed, Karl feels a great deal of guilt for having murdered so many Jews. The reference to prayer reminds me of how he used to be a Catholic, but lapsed upon joining the Hitler Youth. The last line is what makes more sense now. Catching your breath and coming away unscathed is not generally something thinks is possible if one is worried about just surviving the fall at all. To me, this disconnect springs from a hope that what the protagonist has done is not so bad. In the book, Karl demonstrates that even though he feels guilt, his Nazi indoctrination makes it hard for him to see that asking for forgiveness from an unrelated Jewish man is an unreasonable request. Similarly, though the protagonist here feels that what he's done is wrong, he doesn't see how wrong simply because those were the orders.
Second verse -> Regret on having spent his whole life on what essentially amounted to a false idol. |
submissions
| Stevie Wonder – Pastime Paradise Lyrics
| 14 years ago
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To me, "pastime paradise" means nostalgia. Stop living in the past (and for that matter stop idly dreaming of the future) and work towards a better tomorrow. |
submissions
| Gang of Four – Call Me Up Lyrics
| 15 years ago
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I think the juxtaposition of "having fun is my reason for living" and "give me a break" reveals the hidden meaning of the line: "give me a reason for living". Because, as we all know, having fun as a way of life is soul-crushingly unfulfilling. |
submissions
| Panda Bear – Last Night at the Jetty Lyrics
| 15 years ago
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I love the part where "and I'll call you my friend" turns into "and I'll call you my/Dream that I once had". It totally recasts the following verse as more nostalgic for the time mentioned at the start, as if we've jump-cut to 20 years later and he can't remember if it was all just a dream. |
submissions
| Surfer Blood – Harmonix Lyrics
| 15 years ago
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The references to ice not thawing and "could have been the best of friends" directly reference the last song. And it was going so well, too! Sad. |
submissions
| Boredoms – Acid Police Lyrics
| 15 years ago
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Find the video on Youtube. Read the comments. You will never hear the song the same way again.
For example: "I said! Polish it!"
"Oh shit! Barney's here!"
"I sell! Portishead!"
"Asshole! Punisher!"
"I said! Pooty tang!" |
submissions
| They Might Be Giants – Why Must I Be Sad? Lyrics
| 15 years ago
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I think the reference to a spiral notebook and hope that "one day other people will feel as low as this" points to a caricature of a depressed - or "emo", if you will - teenager. Especially since Alice Cooper, as far as I understand it, was more of an over-the-top thing than depressive. |
submissions
| The Go! Team – The Power Is On Lyrics
| 15 years ago
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The lyrics are unintelligible as far as I'm concerned, even if you can make them out. I just prefer listening to how awesome the words sound. |
submissions
| Menomena – Five Little Rooms Lyrics
| 15 years ago
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I'm just going to go out on a limb and say that the line "All this could be yours someday" is a threat. Maybe it relates to the "play in a freezer" we are told to "get the hell away" from. Thoughts? |
submissions
| Cannibal Ox – Iron Galaxy Lyrics
| 15 years ago
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I think I get what the intro means, kind of. "Mechanical found ghost" is a way of referencing "ghost in the machine", that is, technology given life. I think that has to do with how the beats are so synthetic yet far from lifeless, and they form the shell in which the words form. "Animal found toast" brings to mind stray animals scrounging for food. |
submissions
| Caribou – Kaili Lyrics
| 15 years ago
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"Just to hear two things about" is actually "just a hint of it survives". |
submissions
| The New Pornographers – The Electric Version Lyrics
| 15 years ago
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I think it has to do with music. There are magnets in headphones/earbuds, so to me that's what "streaming out of the magnets" means. Said magnets could also belong to a cell phone. To me it has to do, at least partially, with the feeling you get when you hear a great rock song you haven't heard in a while, even if just in passing ("twelve whole seconds"). |
submissions
| Battles – Ddiamondd Lyrics
| 15 years ago
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I agree that the song has a metaphorical bent, but it would still kick ass if there was a heist movie with this song in it. |
submissions
| Blur – Fade Away Lyrics
| 15 years ago
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Not only are they not really concerned about their family life, they're not really concerned about the rest of their lives, content to work long hours, worry about their appearance, blend in, and not do anything of note. |
submissions
| Jamie Lidell – Multiply Lyrics
| 15 years ago
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I heard about an interpretation of this being about multiple personalities; under that interpretation, I think "stuck between my shadow and me" makes more sense, and going under is not dying, but going crazy, which he references. |
submissions
| of Montreal – Art Snob Solutions Lyrics
| 15 years ago
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Yeah, I was about as surprised that the Mascara Snake reference was the only one a lot of people didn't get, because if you're listening to "indie" like this, I find you're much more likely to run into somebody amazed that you haven't heard Trout Mask Replica (Captain Beefheart, highly not recommended to non-art snobs) than that you aren't familiar with Arvo Part. |
submissions
| Suede – My Dark Star Lyrics
| 15 years ago
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Sounds like some sort of revenge for mistreatment by the British government? India was under British rule for quite some time, and Argentina has the Falklands. The line about the government's lies would seem to confirm this. |
submissions
| Liars – No Barrier Fun Lyrics
| 15 years ago
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Literally, it sounds like he's gotten a glimpse of life outside his house and wants to go out (make his skin adapt to the sun), but there's a sinister undertone (as is usual with Liars): how does he know it's a girl exactly, Why has he been underground so long he needs shades? |
submissions
| Portishead – Magic Doors Lyrics
| 15 years ago
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Doors are symbolic of endings and beginnings, and this song definitely sounds like the end of self-denial and the beginning of self-acceptance. Also, I like Anarchitect's comment about the walking dead, but not regarding the opening tone. I always thought the beat sounded like lurching and stumbling around, unsure of rhythm. Zombies walk like that, and metaphorical zombies certainly do think like that. |
submissions
| The New Pornographers – Valkyrie in the Roller Disco Lyrics
| 15 years ago
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Encouraging someone to go out and have the time of their life. That person means a lot to the narrator (you're a gold mine) and they want the "valkyrie" to have some fun and not to leave until the lights go up. Pretty straightforward apart from the weird title. |
submissions
| Franz Ferdinand – Fade Together Lyrics
| 15 years ago
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I personally agree with you, GovernmentProject. I also love how much the music conjures up a sense of place; the echo and the sparse piano gives me the image of a guy in a cabin in the frozen wilderness with little more than a picture of his long-distance love and the bedsheets to keep him from freezing. |
submissions
| Beck – Get Real Paid Lyrics
| 15 years ago
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I always interpreted "Does he cover you like butter and just stick you in the gutter" to mean that he is intrusive and controlling one moment and then indifferent the next.
Also, "Touch my ass if you qualify" is a GREAT line. |
submissions
| The Aquabats – The Thing In The Bass Amp Lyrics
| 15 years ago
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I agree with beccac. Not only is the thing representative of the ugly side of human nature, it's also a target for said blame! If anyone says the Aquabats don't have any serious lyrics, I point them here. |
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