| Leonard Cohen – Anthem Lyrics | 13 years ago |
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There is a wonderful passage in the essay 'What I believe' by E.M. Forster (http://spichtinger.net/otexts/believe.html) which goes: "The more highly public life is organized the lower does its morality sink ; the nations of today behave to each other worse than they ever did in the past, they cheat, rob, bully and bluff, make war without notice, and kill as many women and children as possible; whereas primitive tribes were at all events restrained by taboos. It is a humiliating outlook - though the greater the darkness, the brighter shine the little lights, reassuring one another, signalling: "Well, at all events, I'm still here. I don't like it very much, but how are you ?" Unquenchable lights of my aristocracy! Signals of the invincible army ! "Come along - anyway, let's have a good time while we can. "I think they signal that too." And when you put it like that it doesn't seem so bad, after all. Things are crap - of course they are, they always have been - but oh well, never mind. Carry on regardless: make the most of it. The crack is how the light gets in. You'll be hurt, you'll be screwed over, everything that is sacred will be rendered profane - but remember the words of the wise man. This too shall pass. And when you're tired, cold, ready to surrender - that's just when love will come to you. To make it all worthwhile. It is a tremendously hopeful message. In spite of all this adversity, well, there's still beauty. There's always something worth living for. |
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| The Velvet Underground – I'll Be Your Mirror Lyrics | 13 years ago |
| if there is one thing you can say about this song - one thing which distinguishes it from almost anything else Lou wrote at this time - it's that it's completely free from cynicism. It's an honest and heartfelt love song for the times when we all need reassurance. And it's remarkably beautiful. | |
| The Jim Yoshii Pile Up – Reckless Driving Lyrics | 14 years ago |
| This is probably the most intense break-up song I've ever heard. I mean, wow. | |
| The Velvet Underground – Pale Blue Eyes Lyrics | 15 years ago |
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It is a song about unrequited love. You love this person but they do not - they cannot - love you. And even though you know this, even though it tears you apart, you cannot be without them, so you try to kid yourself that you don't feel this way: 'The fact that you are married Only proves you're my best friend'. But this doesn't really work - it's belied in the first verse: 'Mostly you just make me mad'. Mad at yourself for loving them. Mad that they do not love you. And mad with the anguish this causes. This song breaks my heart, in part because it is so perfectly-formed. The punchline, that this is not just a lost love, or a troubled relationship, but is instead a pure instance of unrequited love, makes the song for me. They are married, you are not, what you want can never come to pass. What is left? The shame of loving without being loved back and the lingering image of pale blue eyes. |
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