| The Jimi Hendrix Experience – Castles Made Of Sand Lyrics | 12 years ago |
| When listening to this song, it's important not to overthink its meaning. Simply put, a castle made of sand is a castle that's doomed to be washed away by the ocean tides. This is admittedly a broad metaphor, but it is a representation of something that is not meant to be. It can be an idea, a person, a thing, or a place. It does not matter. If something is meant to be, it happens. If something is not, then it does not. Sometimes, things that appear to be meant to be are things not meant to be, and vice versa. In the end, the things that are meant to be--such as the life of the crippled woman on the edge of the seashore who does not end up committing suicide--are meant to be, nothing more and nothing less. | |
| Warren Zevon – Empty Hearted Town Lyrics | 14 years ago |
| Another great song by WZ. I'm not sure why he rejected it from his proper debut, though it is a bit wordy and would have benefited from some editing. That said, it is an excellent portrait of loneliness in a big city, specifically LA. By the way, the second line in the chorus is "wishing I had a warmer jacket," not "wishing I had worn a jacket," which is far less poetic than what WZ wrote. | |
| Buffalo Springfield – Burned Lyrics | 15 years ago |
| This song is quite obviously about marijuana. | |
| Neil Young – I Believe In You Lyrics | 15 years ago |
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Now that you've found yourself losing your mind Are you here again? Findin' that what you once thought was real is gone and changin' Perhaps he and the woman have reconciled after she left him for someone else (or just plain cheated on him) and that relationship went awry. They still love each other enough to forgive one another but their love just not the same the second time around. Now that you've made yourself love me Do you think I can change it in a day? How can I place you above me? Am I lying to you when I say That I believe in you I believe in you Perhaps she has come back to him suddenly and he can't resist because he hasn't found another woman and he really loves her regardless. Despite the newly repaired relationship, the sting from their breakup still lingers and he is unable to trust her completely after what she did to him. Coming to you at night I see my questions I feel my doubts Wishing that maybe in a year or two we could laugh and let it all out This is him basically repeating what he expressed in the last three lines of the chorus: can I really trust you? He is cautiously optimistic, however, and hopes that time will heal their wounds and make them forget about this dark patch. This is one of Neil's best gentle songs. Beautiful, heartfelt, and simple lyrically but the words say more than their volume. An underrated masterpiece, perhaps overshadowed only because it sits next to nine other masterpieces on ATGR. |
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| Neil Young – Tonight's The Night (Parts I & II) Lyrics | 15 years ago |
| The titular phrase is Neil saying "tonight's the night I heard the news that Bruce died." Simple as that. I'm sure Neil was aware that Berry had a serious drug problem and was shocked but not surprised to find out about his death. It's almost him saying, "So THIS is the night he passes away...I knew this was coming, and if it hadn't been tonight, then it would have been some other night." | |
| Neil Young – Don't Let It Bring You Down Lyrics | 15 years ago |
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I don't think, and I'm pretty sure that Neil himself doesn't think that analyzing this song line-by-line will bring out some definitive, super-deep hidden meaning. It should be looked at it on a macro, rather than a micro level. These lyrics are very impressionistic, and I believe that Neil wrote them to give the listener a general feeling of what he's trying to say rather than saying it outright. These lyrics sound great either sung or recited but there is no set in stone meaning to them. Rather, the only meaning they have is based on the perception of the listener, and obviously there can be many different interpretations from person to person. That said, I think that there is a general message to the song, and that is that love can triumph over darkness. It's a very common theme in song, but I think that what Neil is trying to communicate is something like "Someday you will find out the truth and it will be a game-changer and it will turn your life on its head. This change will be difficult. But if you love somebody or something enough, then it'll be alright. You'll be able to handle it." The line "It's only castles burning" can be interpreted in many ways, but if you want to use castles as a metaphor for one's worldview, then it fits nicely. Worldviews, like castles, are seemingly made of concrete and built to last. But even they can be destroyed. That is my interpretation, but again somebody else may have something completely different but that's OK. There are no wrong interpretations, and lyrics this impressionistic don't have a single specific meaning. |
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