| Radical Face – A Ship In Port Lyrics | 8 years ago |
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The chorus and title are references to the old adage "A ship in harbor is safe, but that is not what ships are built for," which first appeared in print in a 1928 book of sayings by John A. Shedd (unsure if he wrote them or just collected them). It's often misattributed to Grace Hopper, the famous computer science pioneer and naval admiral, who quoted it on more than one occasion. One of my absolute favorite songs, about letting go of the fears that keep you from pursuing your dreams. The line that always strikes me is "So forgive me if I wander off, and forgive me more if I just stay." Sometimes we worry we'll be letting the people around us down if we go pursue what we want, but we'll be letting ourselves down if we don't. |
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| Owl City – Kamikaze Lyrics | 14 years ago |
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But he is fighting a war. I certainly can't speak for all religious groups, as I don't know all of them, but many Christian denominations look at the ongoing conflict between good and evil as a war, with Christ as the captain of the forces of heaven--that's why there are hymns like "Onward Christian Soldiers" and why CS Lewis describes Christianity as "spread out through all time and space and rooted in eternity, terrible as an army with banners." This refers not to an actual battle but to the daily struggle by believers to resist temptation, practice righteousness, and build the kingdom of God in the face of adversity. You may not see much of a war or feel that there is a spiritual dark, and no one's saying you can't feel that way, but this song was written by Adam Young, and as he's a devout Christian, it's not surprising that he does feel that there's a war and that he's fighting it. And in response to the idea that he's not fighting for anything, if indeed people make strong atheist comments on his blog (I don't read it much so I wasn't aware of that), then isn't that a battle he's chosen to fight for his faith? To talk candidly about his beliefs, on his blog and in his music, even though people respond negatively to him? |
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| The Pogues – Fairytale Of New York Lyrics | 15 years ago |
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I've always assumed that she overdosed and that's why she's "on a drip in that bed." It's entirely possible, of course, that she's actually dying, but I don't know if there's enough evidence in this lyrics to definitively state either way. Also, many people seem to think of it as saying even though they love/hate each other and blame each other for the destruction of their dreams, they stay together because they don't know what else to do; does anyone else assume they've broken up by the end? I always have. In the intro, which is sort of the epilogue, he's alone in the drunk tank; I assumed he was spending Christmas Eve drinking alone. I guess it's possible, going back to my first paragraph, that it's because she's dead, but I always interpreted it as they fall apart as people and then they fall apart as a couple. Anyway, this song is brilliant. The melody always gets me; the soaring heady chorus reflects how happy they are on that first Christmas Eve as they "kiss on the corner then dance through the night," but the verses, which are a little more subdued musically (especially the last one), follow their downward spiral as New York City marches on unconcernedly without them. They have so many hopes and dreams and the city just chews them up and spits them out, and it seems from the intro that he, at least, won't ever recover. |
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