submissions
| Matisyahu – Got No Water Lyrics
| 14 years ago
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Matisyahu uses lots of Biblical imagery in his songs, and especially in this one. The way I see it, a lot of it is his personal relationship with god with references to the Bible within the song. For example, he uses the word Hashem, meaning 'the name' in Hebrew in place of the name of G-d and references heavily to the Exodus of the Jews of Egypt, or Mitzrayim as he calls it, meaning Egypt in Hebrew. He also references the Exodus through the story of the Nile, the role of the Pharoah within traditional Egyptology, and the reference to the 'humble one on Mt Sinai'. Within Exodus it is written that Moses had the two tablets of the 10 Commandments bestowed upon him on Mount Sinai in the Sinai peninisula. He also says the Shma, the first prayer in the song 'Shma, Yisraeyael etc' with the translation given. He encourages to find God and reveals it's the Chabad, or the Orthodox Judaism, which is the deepest 'well spring'. |
submissions
| M.I.A. – Dash The Curry Skit Lyrics
| 15 years ago
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Dash means to throw violently, and it's kind of a stereotype and it's assumed that everybody from South East Asia eats loads of curry. The whole 'refugee education' etc. . .they're basic lessons that point fun at racism experienced by refugees. She's poking fun of both language patterns that differ in languages [I'm not sure what it's like in Tamil, but in Punjabi we put the verb at the end of the sentence, kind of with German and sub-ordinating conjunctions and use of a second verb]. So she's adopting basic English from an immigrant perspective using wrong word order owing to differing word order patterns [playing on stereotypes]. Dash is also a term of frustration in the UK, so it's - in my opinion- taking the piss out of ill-conceived UK stereotypes. From a British Asian perspective, this song is fucking side splitting. |
submissions
| Foals – Cassius Lyrics
| 15 years ago
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seriously though, since when did the owner of sub pop have to start signing such shit bands to fund his crack habit? sad times |
submissions
| The Kominas – Rumi Was a Homo Lyrics
| 15 years ago
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Siraj Wahaj is a homophobic imam from New York. . .wherea Rumi is a Persian mystic poet from around the 24th century who was alleged to be homosexual. Asma Hasan is an american pakistani writer who. . don't get me started.Oh and her brother's in Junoon. Both Junoon/junoon related things and handjobs are mentioned in two different songs on wild nights in guantanamo bay, although 'fuck junoon i want a handjob' is now just 'i want a handjob'. It's not mentioned here, but there's a hilarious part that goes something like 'Oh siraj, you can light my minaret on fire any time YOU WANT'. They're just taking the piss, really. |
submissions
| The Kominas – Par Desi Lyrics
| 15 years ago
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I always viewed this a song about racism, and I think it's down to the whole 'they tried to shut me out/but they only fuelled the flames/boots crushing my shoulders/where angels chose not to remain'. I'm not sure about the US, but in the UK there was this huge 'paki bashing' movement where skinheads would go out purposefully to beat up people of Pakistani descent, and it's making a comeback now, given the EDL and the WDL. Another thing that makes me think this is 'In Lahore it's raining water/in Boston it rains boots'; in the UK it was said that the red on the Dr Marten Boots of skinheads came from the blood of Asians who'd been beaten up and kicked. Well, at least that's what's said in South Wales.
I love the religious imagery throughout the song like 'smashing six string idols; huge tradition of the prophets of abrhamic monotheistic religions smashing idols; e.g. Abraham and his father's idols, I'm pretty sure Jesus did and Muhammad smashed the idols of Mecca. 'there's no times for the 99 names'; the ninety-nine names of Allah according to Islam. '. . My shoulders where angels chose not to remain', the two angels who record your deeds in Islam are on your shoulders. 'They tried to stomp me out, but only fuelled the flames' I interpret as a sort of 'they tried to stop us but they strengthened us more to carry on.'
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submissions
| The Kominas – 9000 Miles Lyrics
| 15 years ago
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I'm pretty sure that 9,000 miles is some sort of Nation of Islam reference or 5%ers. Either way, it's an American sect of Islam post Malcolm X, but I can't remember what it is.
Anyway, moving off topic. I think it's basically about a journey to find out more about Islam. There are so many referneces to Islam in it, for example 'Noble Drew' and 'hung my eyes off the crescent'. However, there's a bit it that goes "I still recall your visage,
march down stairs through the hinges there into the daylight that jipped me that night you decided to pack to forget me"; looks like someone left. I don't know. This is probably their most cryptic song, but the last verse of
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Life's hard when you're singed, by the shades of the past,
moments can be cinched, by the fear you'll be last,
thaw my heart, thaw my heart, I've been frozen in old groves"
I think that they took the journey to find more about Islam by the looks of it, just some sort of searching for whatever's real out there. trying to forget what happene dbefore because you're 'singed by the shades of the past'; I think he got his heart broken and he's trying to get over it as best he can. |
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