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| The Clash – Ivan Meets G.I. Joe Lyrics
| 13 years ago
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I only remember the tail end of the cold war, but this song brings to mind memories of the mood in Europe - that we were trapped, geographically and politically, between two dangerous lunatics. There was definitely a feeling that if Russia and America went to war, we'd be the ones getting the bulk of the fallout (pun intended). |
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| The Rolling Stones – Sympathy for the Devil Lyrics
| 13 years ago
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The Beatles weren't trying to maintain a clean "good boy" image - especially not by 1968. They only seemed clean in comparison to the Stones, who went out of their way to be outrageous.
I like the production in this song, personally - I like lo-fi and rough edges in general. It's not bad production; it's a stylistic choice to make the music sound rawer and more primal. A lot of later 'classic' rock (70s/80s) sounds overproduced and sterile to me. |
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| 10cc – Dreadlock Holiday Lyrics
| 13 years ago
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We do say "ain't" in the UK, and "me" instead of "my," and it's nothing to do with African Americans. A working class accent is a badge of honour over here; very few people in the UK speak the way foreigners imagine we speak.
As for what the song is about, it's about Justin Hayward of The Moody Blues getting mugged while he and Eric Stewart were on holiday in Jamaica. |
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| Lana Del Rey – Video Games Lyrics
| 14 years ago
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I may be alone in this, and I have no idea if it was intentional on Lana Del Rey's part, but I find the narrator to be at least as much a part of the relationship problems as the man. She strikes me as overbearing and cloying, refusing to allow him any time to himself for fear that he might lose interest. She's making a big show of being submissive to his desires, and that's often a form of control. Ironically, the reason he's losing interest is because he finds her too needy, when he'd rather she just be herself instead of spending her life trying to please him. |
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| Faith No More – Everything's Ruined Lyrics
| 14 years ago
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The interpretation of this being about the stress fame put on the band makes sense, but I think it's written smartly enough that it's relatable to other pursuits; the thing you did for fun becoming something you do for profit, or even for a living. If you want to kill your interest in your hobby, start doing it as a job!
I don't think it's politically motivated, although I suppose the above interpretation would make it passingly critical of capitalism. |
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| The Fratellis – Chelsea Dagger Lyrics
| 14 years ago
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Well, blackguard is pronounced blaggard, and a lot of British* people drop the consonants on the ends of words... but I'm positive that in this song it's 'blagger' which is British slang for someone who talks people into doing things for them or giving them things.
*Since The Fratellis aren't English :p |
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| The Fratellis – Chelsea Dagger Lyrics
| 14 years ago
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Eh, I think the lyrics here are mainly about showing off the singer's vocal dexterity. This is performance poetry, basically. It's not really fair to castigate modern music like that based on this one song. Not least because plenty of outstanding bands from decades past had rubbish lyrics too... Iron Maiden's lyrics were pretty bad, Black Sabbath's lyrics were atrocious. Even Led Zeppelin's lyrics weren't great most of the time. Doesn't mean they weren't great bands. |
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| Madison Avenue – Don't Call Me Baby Lyrics
| 14 years ago
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But it's alright for her to call him baby, in the line "You got to know that baby that will never do"? Pfft. Sh'yeah right. Still a boss choon though. |
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| Kate Bush – Running Up That Hill Lyrics
| 14 years ago
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While this is a beautiful song, I have to say that I disagree with Kate's sentiments, the idea that men and women can't understand each other. Gender is such a small part of our psychological makeup, or so life has taught me, that it's only a barrier if you let it be. Or maybe that's the point? That it's not actually that hard to empathise if you just try?
I think that, more than any of the double entendres in the lyrics, that's what makes it clear this song is very specifically about sex - because it's one of the very few circumstances in life where you *can't* experience things the way the other gender does. |
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| Kate Bush – Running Up That Hill Lyrics
| 14 years ago
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In the case of Placebo specifically, I would imagine that's intentional, given how much of their image is based around androgyny and genderbending. |
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| The Killers – Mr. Brightside Lyrics
| 14 years ago
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I've only read the first couple and last couple of pages so this has probably already been said, but I get the idea that this girl came to him quite easily - they didn't intend to date, it just happened, and now that he's truly fallen for her, he's paranoid that she'll leave him for someone else just as easily too. |
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| The Beatles – The Ballad of John and Yoko Lyrics
| 14 years ago
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Of course Yoko was single-handedly responsible for breaking up the Beatles!
I mean...
The fact they all had different ideas of what sort of music they wanted to take.
John's arrogant belief that Paul and George were awful songwriters compared to him.
Paul's overbearing controlling nature regarding the band's direction and management.
Ringo's alcoholism.
Paul wanting Linda to be creatively involved in his music despite her lack of musical ability.
John not wanting Linda around despite wanting Yoko present all the time.
Ringo quitting the band during the recording of The White Album.
George having an affair with Ringo's wife.
The fact they couldn't seem to turn around without one of them causing controversy.
Their collective disillusionment with the world in general, post-Maharishi.
The fact they'd been working together nonstop for the better part of a decade whilst living under the pressure of being the most famous people alive.
...none of those things contributed to the band breaking up in the slightest. It was 100% Yoko's fault. |
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| John Lennon – How Do You Sleep? Lyrics
| 14 years ago
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Ringo actually quit for a while during the recording of the White Album, and didn't contribute to Back In The USSR or Dear Prudence. It was George who persuaded him to come back - John and Paul, by all accounts, were just as happy with Ringo gone. |
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| John Lennon – How Do You Sleep? Lyrics
| 14 years ago
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John wanted to call out the Maharishi by name in Sexy Sadie, but George convinced him not to. It's conceivable that someone similarly convinced him not to use the word 'Paul' in this. |
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| The Beatles – Come Together Lyrics
| 14 years ago
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I'd always had the feeling that in some way this was another of John's songs dissing the Maharishi, but couldn't quite put my finger on why.
The interpretation that each verse is about a different Beatle is intriguing, though... |
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| The Beatles – Come Together Lyrics
| 14 years ago
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I'd always had the feeling that in some way this was another of John's songs dissing the Maharishi, but couldn't quite put my finger on why.
The interpretation that each verse is about a different Beatle is intriguing, though... |
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| The Beatles – Back in the U.S.S.R. Lyrics
| 14 years ago
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Neither pro nor anti Soviet. It's no more lampooning the USSR than it's attacking America... which is not at all.
Random aside: I love how he sings the line "That Georgia's always on my mind" just ambiguously enough that it could sound like "That George is always on my mind." No idea if it was intentional, but sly faux-affectionate references like that to each other was always a very Beatles thing to do. |
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| Catatonia – I Am The Mob Lyrics
| 14 years ago
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I'm with 14zerozero, I always thought this one was about their first label, Blanco y Negro, with whom they reputedly clashed a lot. |
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| Alanis Morissette – Ironic Lyrics
| 14 years ago
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Irony is when a statement's intended meaning differs from its immediate literal meaning. For example if a "man eating tiger" turns out to be a man eating a tiger.
So this is a song called "Ironic" wherein none of the examples presented, which purport to be ironic, are in fact actually ironic... which is rather the point of the song. Yes, it's not ironic, which is in itself WHY it's ironic, and I have to figure that Alanis is intelligent enough for that to have been the intention. |
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| Gorillaz – Doncamatic (All Played Out) Lyrics
| 14 years ago
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Could be about the immediacy of the artist/fan relationship these days - regular people become stars on Youtube or MySpace, or via reality TV, while stars are increasingly shown to be real people, and communicate directly with their fans. I dunno, that's kinda pretentious really but it's my off-the-top-of-my-head interpretation right now. |
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| USS (Ubiquitous Synergy Seeker) – Drop Around The Clock Lyrics
| 14 years ago
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While I get weary of every song on this site being interepreted as being about drugs, there's just so many references here it's hard to ignore. I don't think it's ABOUT drugs, but it's using drug-influenced language for some effect. Perhaps suggesting that mass media pop culture is a kind of drug? I don't agree with Brandon666's interpretation, but I think he's circling close to the right interpretation. I just can't quite put my finger on it yet. |
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| New Radicals – You Get What You Give Lyrics
| 14 years ago
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Isn't "Hanson" actually "Hansen," as in Beck's last name?
Dunno what Beck or Courtney Love thought of being referenced in this song, but legend has it that Marilyn Manson just found it funny. Although supposedly he wasn't too happy about being mentioned in the same breath as Courtney Love! |
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| Bic Runga – Suddenly Strange Lyrics
| 15 years ago
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I used to listen to Drive all the time, and then I just completely forgot about it until today. As far as I can remember, this was my favourite song on the album. |
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| Filter – Jurassitol Lyrics
| 15 years ago
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Rather than being a generalised subject, I'd heard that this song is very specifically about Richard's father and the fact they never got on. Wish I could remember where though. |
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| Filter – Miss Blue Lyrics
| 15 years ago
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Interesting. As a teenager, I thought it was about suicide. As an adult, I just thought it was about death in general. I haven't heard the D'Arcy idea before, but it would be interesting if it's true. |
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| Ben Folds Five – Magic Lyrics
| 15 years ago
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At the time I took the suicide interpretion, but nowadays I'd agree that the terminal illness interpretation makes more sense. When an old girlfriend and I broke up, this and "Yuko and Hiro" by Blur were the two songs I listened to for catharsis. LOVE the unresolved ending in this one. It works so well. |
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| Ben Folds Five – One Angry Dwarf and 200 Solemn Faces Lyrics
| 15 years ago
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I'm in the minority with this one I guess. It's not sympathising with the narrator, imo, half as much as it's ridiculing him in a kind of tragic way. He's so proud that he's made something of his life so he can stick it to all the people who picked on him as a kid... and they barely even remember him. He's been hung up on it his whole life and they forgot about him as soon as they left school. That's pretty horrible really. |
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| Reuben – Stealing Is Easy Lyrics
| 15 years ago
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On the surface this seems pretty straightforward - he and his girlfriend broke up becase she wanted something serious out of life while he wants to kick around and play in his band. However, I'm not sure what the title has to do with that! Anyone have any thoughts? |
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| Ben Folds – Zak And Sara Lyrics
| 15 years ago
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When I first heard this song, my interpretation was that Sara suffered from something like autism or down syndrome, and her perception was skewed. Nowadays however I agree with the interpretation of it being about a guy who's trying to impress a girl by showing her that he's a rock star in the making, via playing old songs she's not that interested in, while she politely listens and has prescient daydreams about the future of music. I think the 'favourite song' bit is telling - it's not actually her favourite song at all, maybe one she happened to mention liking once, and he's assumed it's her favourite song and always plays it for her, which has pretty much killed her interest in it. |
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| Ben Folds Five – Kate Lyrics
| 15 years ago
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Lovely song but unfortunately it brings back some bad memories from an acquaintance called Kate who had the hots for me, and had adopted this as her theme song (our mutual love of Ben Folds Five was got us talking in any depth in the first place). I did not have the hots for her sadly, and I also had a girlfriend, and things got awkward.
Side note: Every day she wears the same thing, she smokes, and she never gets wet... damn this girl must smell terrible! She's so filthy in fact that plants grow where she treads! |
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| Silverchair – Emotion Sickness Lyrics
| 15 years ago
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Re: the addiction to antidepressants thing, you can get psychologically addicted to them quite easily but it's pretty hard (not impossible though) to get physically addicted to them.
To me this is about denying you have a problem - not in the sense denying that you're an addict, but in the sense of denying that you SHOULD be seeking some kind of help or medication. Kinda like saying to yourself "I can't be depressed, because I'm not on antidepressants." |
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| Silverchair – Petrol & Chlorine Lyrics
| 15 years ago
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Further to Cabrosa's interpretation, I think it could be read as someone who mentally toys with suicide but out of either apathy or fear would never actually do it. |
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| Silverchair – The Door Lyrics
| 15 years ago
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Awesome song but let's be honest, most of the lyrics on Frogstomp and Freak Show aren't exactly deep or meaningful. I always figured this one was just random sentences which go together so I'm inclined to believe Daniel there. |
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| Silverchair – Asylum Lyrics
| 15 years ago
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Such a mellow, beautiful song about the time you're alone with your thoughts and utterly at peace. Maybe my favourite Silverchair song.
"Next time I dedicate a song to you man I swear I'll sing it in key." ...man I hate Daniel so much at that point! Two hours onstage and he's complaining about the fact he's like a semitone out of key! XD |
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| Dubstar – Not So Manic Now Lyrics
| 15 years ago
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I think the literal interpretation may be the intended one, but I like Insomniac's take too and it makes sense as a possible alternative. |
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| Sentenced – Excuse Me While I Kill Myself Lyrics
| 15 years ago
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I agree with LoboPalamilitary, I definitely read this as mocking the emo 'waaah my life sucks' bands. Not that there's anything wrong with a bit of that, as suffering begets art. But damn some people take it too far. Love this song. |
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| Bomb The Bass – Bug Powder Dust Lyrics
| 15 years ago
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I've heard this was an attempt to fit as many pop culture references in as possible.
The line "typewriter that's sexier" line is also interpreted as "tight bite of dyslexia" by a lot of people... I hear the latter, I must say, even though the former would make more sense in regards to the Burroughs and beat poet references. |
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| Britney Spears – Toxic Lyrics
| 15 years ago
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crushinator's interpretation is brilliant. There's not really much more can be said. Personally, I like this song but in all honesty, there's a ton of people who could have done it and it would still have been a good song. I don't think there's anything Britney specifically brings to the table. Also I love the mashup with Faint by Linkin Park, which is kinda surprising because I usually find Linkin Park bland as all hell. |
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| Cake – Short Skirt/Long Jacket Lyrics
| 15 years ago
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I get the feeling I wouldn't like the subject of the song. People that self-assertive and business minded tend to annoy the hell out of me. That may be influencing my take on it somewhat, but I get this as a parody of songs/poems/whathaveyou outlining the ideal woman. |
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| Björk – Army of Me Lyrics
| 15 years ago
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For some reason I think both the literal and ironic interpretations of this song are right. One the one hand it's saying that if you want to overcome an obstacle, just sitting there complaining will be no help - you have to put the effort in and be proactive to succeed. Yet at the same time, given Björk's history as an anarchist activist and critic of oppressive states, it could be read as a sarcastic attack on those who demand obedience while offering no support to those under their authority. |
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| The Flaming Lips – Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots Pt. 1 Lyrics
| 15 years ago
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As far as I'm concerned this may well be just be a random little nonsense ditty about Yoshimi P-We of Boredoms (she's the girl in the video eating fruit), but the fact that there are so many differing interpretations is wonderful. Is it about love, drugs, politics, cancer, nature... who knows? Well, Wayne of course. But even if there's nothing to the lyrics beyond being a fantasy story about one of his mates, the fact that it touches so many different people on so many different levels is a weird kind of heartwarming. |
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| Manic Street Preachers – Ifwhiteamericatoldthetruthforonedayit'sworldwouldfallapart Lyrics
| 15 years ago
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It's so hard to tell with early Manics when they're being sincere, when they're being sarcastic, and when they're just saying something controversial for the sake of being controversial. That said the gun control element of this song doesn't seem sincere to me, and Finland's quote seems to back that up.
As for the anti-American sentiment of the song, I think that while it's criticising America, I think it's also criticising both Americans who believe that their country is the only one to suffer the problems discussed (i.e., the song is saying that the USA's problems are no more important than anyone else's, despite what Americans might like to think) and Britons who hold up America as an example of All That Is Wrong without being willing to address the similar issues we have over here. |
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