| Scratch Acid – Lay Screaming Lyrics | 8 years ago |
| My overall impression of this song is that it's the kind of thing you'd listen to at a hardcore BDSM party. | |
| R.E.M. – Man On The Moon Lyrics | 14 years ago |
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I think this song is about Andy's deeply spiritual beliefs. With the wrestling and elvis references we can see that Andy was fixated on the kind of performance art that was meant to really entertain people through tricking them. Wrestling is quite obvious but the Elvis reference is a bit more unique because although Elvis died, there have always been people who claimed that he lived on and they believe it and feel it in their hearts as much as they can believe in the presence of living people around them. With the Elvis impersonations we can also see how after his death, these performers all contributed to something that in a way upheld this deeply human desire of immortality. After Andy died, his friends have paid great tributes to him that honour his spirit in such notorious acts as Tony Clifton. Bob Zmuda apparently used to do the Tony Clifton get-up half the time and Andy would do it half the time but they both never admitted it was an act and even tricked concert halls and TV shows to sign this character Tony Clifton as if he were a real person. That being said, when Tony Clifton continues to perform occasional surprise shows to this day it tricks people's minds to thing of the fact that if Tony Clifton's existence prior to Andy's death was either Andy or Bob or someone else altogether, then it in turn gives you this intuition that not knowing if Tony Clifton exists must also mean that although Andy Kaufman died, he is just as likely to be alive when Tony Clifton shows up at a smokey nightclub. So in essence, the song is about the warm and bittersweet affection for Andy's cleverness in life and how the art that he created is one of those things that at times was done with so much gratitude, kindness and love for the audience. Andy sincerely realized how beyond death his lasting images on screen would still remain and that even though he's long gone today, you could see an Andy Kaufman skit and have it lighten your mood and make you have the humorous moments that make life good. Have you seen the movie Man On The Moon? Notice how at the funeral they played a tape where Andy is talking out at the camera and saying "don't be sad" and tells them all that it's a wonderful world and sings to them? This is a perfect example. In doing that, Andy had realized that although dead, he would still communicate with people in really heartfelt ways even though he may not be present in a living human body. Oh, but remember how I mentioned Tony Clifton? Well, when Tony Clifton has made those reappearance's, it's a trick of logical uncertainty of who is under the mask of Tony Clifton. In that sense, there's a physical kind of channel for people to believe that Andy is still with us. It's a trick that Andy put up his sleeve and it's really cool! Moses went walking with the staff of wood. - this is about when a man makes the decision to go as far as possible in life to find out what is really going on beyond our life. moses was kind of a bad ass because he was like 'screw what everyone else is gonna tell me, i'm gonna find out for myself' Newton got beaned by the apple good. - reference to the tree of knowledge proposed evil by religion actually being the opposite and awakening the world to the science of how the universe really is Egypt was troubled by the horrible asp. - a reference to evil again Mister Charles Darwin had the gall to ask. - a reference to evolution Now Andy did you hear about this one? Tell me, are you locked in the punch? Hey, Andy are you goofing on Elvis? Hey, baby. Are you having fun? - this question is posed to andy in the song with the belief that through a universal channel of infinity that he is listening If you believed they put a man on the moon, man on the moon. If you believe there's nothing up my sleeve, then nothing is cool. Here's a little agit for the never-believer. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Here's a little ghost for the offering. - this song is like a kind of spiritual incantation to welcome andy's spirit Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Here's a truck stop instead of Saint Peter's. - poke's fun as the idea that heaven either doesn't exist or that the singer is reflecting on the meloncholie or ordinary life Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Mister Andy Kaufman's gone wrestling [wrestling bears]. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Now Andy did you hear about this one? Tell me, are you locked in the punch? Hey Andy are you goofing on Elvis, hey baby, are we losing touch? If you believed they put a man on the moon, man on the moon. If you believe there's nothing up their sleeve, then nothing is cool. If you believed they put a man on the moon, man on the moon. If you believe there's nothing up their sleeve, then nothing is cool. If you believed they put a man on the moon, man on the moon. If you believe there's nothing up their sleeve, then nothing is cool. If you believed they put a man on the moon, man on the moon. If you believe there's nothing up their sleeve, then nothing is cool. |
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| Cheap Trick – Surrender Lyrics | 15 years ago |
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The lyrics people are must hung up on are "Whatever happened to all this season's losers of the year? Ev'ry time I got to thinking, where'd they disappear?" and "Surrender, surrender, but don't give yourself away, ay, ay, ay." I think that if you go back to the beginning of the song "Mother told me, yes, she told me I'd meet girls like you. She also told me, "Stay away, you'll never know what you'll catch."" He's with a chick on a Friday night and she wants to fuck. He's a virgin, so he's nervous. She also has some cocaine, which makes people extra chatty in such situations. He goes off into this coke talk about how his mom told him he'd meet girls like her, and here's a bunch of other stuff she told me. He's ranting on and on about what his parents told him about the birds and the bees. The coke wears off and it makes him feel stupid for opening up to her and not just having sex. "Whatever happened to all this season's losers of the year? Ev'ry time I got to thinking, where'd they disappear?" His evening ended on an awkward note. He goes home early. I theorized the cocaine element because it does have a really quick peak and a very depressing afterbuzz. Anyways, he is home early. He thinks of himself becoming a teenage loser who might fade into obscurity because he doesn't know how to have fun. The lyrics that follow about walking in on his parents doing coke and getting frisky it finally reveal to him the contradiction of authority. He also realizes that when his parents told him about people getting V.D. and having their dicks fall off that they were high on coke because it's all really random stuff that they just go on and on about. In this sense, he sees a direct reflection of his own experience with their lifestyle. Philosophers like Slavoj Zizek talk about how in our society there are certain rules, but while many things are conservatively spoken against i.e. premarital sex, experimenting with drugs, etc. they are "implied" subversively as actually being permissible. "Mommy's alright, Daddy's alright, they just seem a little weird. Surrender, surrender, but don't give yourself away, ay, ay, ay." From seeing his parents engaging in activities that they hide, he realizes that he too can still be an "alright" and good person while also engaging in a bit of debauchery now and then. To "surrender but don't give yourself away" would mean to give into a bit of temptation but not let it consume you completely. "Surrender but don't give yourself away" could also be another thing his parents told him about love. To surrender but not give yourself away would mean dating a chick but not getting lost in co-dependancy and compromising his personality and independence by falling to much in love. He must have told his parents that he really liked this chick recently so everything they said was in response to his new relationship. Perhaps he actually gotten laid with his girlfriend and since he's also stoned and thinking too much, the first half of the song is about his conscience nagging on him as if his parents would be so ashamed of him if they knew what he was doing. When he saw that his own parents were into sex and drugs themselves he probably felt like his guilt was completely gone. He could live his life and they could live their life. When they try to teach him about their wise parental advice, he could just surrender to it superficially from now on. So while on the surface the nuclear family performance is upheld as expected, he knows that everyone can smile on the inside knowing that we're all free to live our lives truly in any way we want just as long as we know how to 'surrender' to the roles in society that are of foundation. Just don't give yourself away by letting different worlds collide. "Don't give yourself away" double meaning also implies responsibility and conscience in light of private life. So all in all, it's a very truthful song about growing up and learning to think and live for yourself without completely disengaging from parents and society. |
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