| The Shins – Girl Sailor Lyrics | 15 years ago |
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The gutter may profess its love, [Refers to a lowly and unworthy lover (a womanizer) in the girl's recent past who said he loved her. The gutter is NOT the narrator of the song, and is thus this is not a self-deprecating remark about the narrator.] Then follow it with hesitation, [Gutter was unable to deliver in the loving ways that are consistent with professed love, which implies a disingenuous proclamation of love by the Gutter.] For there are just so many of You out there for rent. [This implies that to people like the Gutter, there are plenty of girls out there who are easily misled by false proclamations of love, ready to be exploited by the Gutter until the next girl (victim) comes along.] A stronger girl would shake this off in flight, And never give it more than a frowning hour, [GS is taking her recent rejection by the Gutter badly and has allowed it to take on a protracted mourning period.] But you have let your heart decide, Loss has conquered you [Conquered implies that the loss of Gutter has had a more global effect on her. She has shown the white flag of defeat by love, such that she's giving up on love entirely, to the exclusion of all others.] You've won one too many fights, Wearing many hats every time, But you wont win here tonight. [This stanza implies that GS has a substantial ego when it comes to matters of love, and generally matters of opinion. When one wears many hats, it means that they are versed in many things, i.e., expert in many field (or at least she has thought so of herself). Alternatively, it could mean that she's played the role of both the person ending a love affair, and the one that gets dumped. Either way, her experience is not going to help her extricate herself from the pain of loss she's currently feeling, and thus even if she's right about what has happened to her there is no winning in matters of love lost.] You made it through the direst of straits all right, Can you help it if plain love now seems less interesting? [The loss of Gutter at this juncture of her life seems insurmountable to GS; she is feeling like it is the worst loss of her life (perhaps she may have thought it was the love of her life). And now the love that the narrator once offered, and perhaps still offers, the "plain love", is too ordinary and doesn't register in GS's radar.] You haven't changed an ounce in my eyes, And I cannot lecture you. [The narrator know GS well. She's the girl that thinks she knows it all... still winning all the arguments. The dynamic the narrator probably had with GS has remained static even after their love affair ended and she's probably not going to listen to him now, just as she didn't before, so he knows he can't just tell her of her errors in love with Gutter, such that she chose to love someone (the Gutter), who was only using her, while he loved her sincerely and she didn't appreciate his ordinary, but genuine love for her.] And does anything I say seem relevant at all? [The narrator is equivocating between his desire to tell in exact words what he feels and hinting at what he wants her to pick up with sublety... he wants GS to see the subtleties in his words; he wants her to see that he loved her sincerely albeit "plainly" before Gutter came along, but like many Hamlet-like characters the narrator is weak in his approach and is unable to speak out clearly and act decisively about his desires... perhaps his inability to speak in plain language, tell her "look, I love you, I'm here. Why are you choosing to remain heartbroken over someone who didn't love you at all when you have the real thing right before in me?" But like Hamlet, he is indecisive and can only hint at what he wants her to realize, perhaps it's because he's been hurt by her rejection in the past.] You've been at the helm since you were just five, While I cannot claim to be more than a passenger. [Again, the narrator is feeling like his part in the relationship he and GS had in the past was all of GS's doing. He, and his relationship with GS, was always at the discretion of GS.] But, you've won one too many fights, Wearing all of your clothes at the same time [The narrator seems to be saying that GS's strong character and super ego, renders her unable to see beyond all the baggage of her experiences. Her self-centered view of life, is keeping her from seeing things from different perspectives... perhaps the narrator's perspective. The narrator is giving up on her and doesn't think she'll listen to his words of warnings.] Let the good times end tonight, [Certainly this line is intended as an absurdity to make a point in the opposite direction. The girl is not having a good time at all; she's mourning over the loss of Gutter's disingenuous love. As a possible explanation, he's asking her to see that her memories of the love she thought she shared with Gutter are selective memories. That in reality, her times with Gutter were not good at all. Gutter used her, and if tonight she recognizes his insincerity she can realize that true love is still out there... in the form of the love the narrator offers her.] Oh girl, sail her, don't sink her, [The narrator is asking her to let her heart remain open to the possibility of real love (the narrator's love); he's asking her, like a good seaman, to navigate the murky waters of love lost and come out the other side more able to see what true love looks like.] This time [The narrator is asking GS to look at him, and the ordinary love he offered her, with renewed appreciation.] Just a moment or two from now, Not a mind will retain even a trace, Of the thoughts that I struggled to tell [The narrator is sharing his present feelings. He sees GS with her frailties and the undesirable qualities of someone who was dumped, and likely pathetic. Someone who is lamenting the loss of a shallow and false love... and he's realizing that he's starting to get over her. Seeing her falling apart over Gutter, he's just about ready to move on from GS himself. He probably wanted her back sometime ago, and loved her after she had left him, but he was unable to. But now he's about ready to let her go.] And how our stack of cards just fell. [This establishes that their previous love dissolved... prior to her most recent love with Gutter.] So settle this once and for all, The light no longer shows the cracks around my door, And I have no lantern to light your way home tonight. [The love that he once demonstrated for her, that continued after their love ended, is becoming less apparent. He still loves her, probably, but if she's going to find him, she'll have to do it on her own... she'll have to come to him, because he's not going to chase her. If she comes back to him, it'll have to be on her own, and it'll have to be in the context of seeing him for his qualities and the love he was offering her, not because she needs a rebound love.] You are not some saint who's above Giving someone a stroll through the flowers. [This phrase alludes to "walking someone down the garden path" which means to deceive someone. The narrator is saying he sees her for all of her faults; he know she's no saint, but he likes her anyway, but she can't deceive him... he knows her and the truth about her relationship with Gutter.] You've got so much more to dream of, [Again, he's asking her to give true love another look... and in the narrator's eyes, that would be him.] Oh girl, sail her, don't sink her, This time, This time, This time. [The narrator is ultimately asking GS to navigate the messiness of a failed love and come out the other side ready to appreciate the true love the narrator thinks he and GS are capable of sharing.] |
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| Broken Bells – Citizen. Lyrics | 15 years ago |
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Any reference to walls falling suggests an allusion to the Battle of Jerico, from the Bible, book of Joshua-5. What is significant is that in this battle all the Canaanites of Jerico were killed, including the innocent children. One could make a strong argument for the innocent (the children) being bound to the damned in this case. "How the innocent are bound to the damned" If we stick with the Jerico reference, you could review Joshua:5 for a reason for why the city attacked and its inhabitant murdered... however, you might come up empty in that search. In that bible passage there is no obvious reason given, no motivation, save except that the city was built near the River Jordan, of why these people were killed. One cold make a case for a lack of reason (lack of motivation) is found.. or "A day without a trace of reason" If we take this song as an indictment organized religion, we can ask how a progressive might view religion. Such a progressive might as ask what motivates people of religion, why they they follow religious dogma without insightful introspection. Many progressives view different world religions as a means of leaders controlling their respective populations. This view reduces religion to a paradigm more akin to magical thinking and superstition, for reasons of controlling the masses. So such a progressive might argue that in many ways religion is similar to wishing upon a star, or luck (such as trying to get lucky at cards): "Call on your brightest star or play your hand as it lies" Although, the lyrics offer up an alternative, both are reliant upon unseen forces out of the individual hands and left up to a god of some sort. The dilemma of fatalism and God: In many religious doctrine this is a recurring theme. We are without control and the fate of our lives is all in a deity's hands, yet we are asked to act moral as if we had a choice in a fatalistic reality. "What is, just is, I know." If what is held in religious dogma is the ultimate and true answer to all our questions, what is left for us to do if we are still unsatisfied by those answers. Thus, we find ourselves "trapped by answers" we're not happy with. This would require one to break with their cultural past, to break through to find unconsidered alternatives. Mercer steps out of character to the broach broader topic and ask, where are we if we expel God from the heavens? "Are we all to ride the edge of nothing?" It's like the fear and exhilaration of when you learn how to ride a bike and your father lets go. You're now free and you have control, but you're somehow alone. And can we reconcile this new freedom against our need for the comfort of an omnipotent and benign caregiver. So we're at once at odds with our own understanding. We "shake hands with fighting eyes" and it leaves us reconciling this new schema with uncertainty. And if we reject out of uncertainty the religions we we're born into, then can we ever know is right? Perhaps all religions are wrong when they don't consider that each one is a component of this whole we comprise as humanity. So what is left other than to conclude they are all right? "And if they don't know... The heart is stopping... Cause everyone is right" So can we ever know what it means to be an insightful sentient being if we cannot offer purpose for our existence? Can we ever truly know ourselves? We begin life unknowing and uncaring of the philosophical mountains we may one day climb. And when we reach the top of what is knowable, in maturity or our time of reflection such as in old age, are we anymore certain than we were when we newly born? "From the moment that we're born... Till we're old and tired... Do we ever know people?" LOVE HAUNTS TO THE END - perhaps all that is knowable is that we live, we die, and if we're lucky there our some things in life we learn to love, whether they are things, places, ideas, or most importantly, people. In the end, what thing better defines what we are than what we love. What is important to note in this song is riddled with three question marks??? Mercer's is a mind that is questioning internally, but not rhetorically. (Mercer is not trying to guide us to his answer, she he doesn't have these answers.) This suggests that Mercer isn't trying to lead the listener to a pat answer, a nice, neat and tidy answer to explain all that there is. The overall theme of the song suggests that Mercer is attempting to get the listener to questions their own existence and how they view the world, its people and their motivation. And in essence, Mercer is guiding the listener to ask their own questions, and search their own answers. |
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