| Sufjan Stevens – Wordsworth's Ridge Lyrics | 9 years ago |
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I'm working at the Wordsworth Trust right now, right next to Wordsworth's beloved home and beloved lake in Grasmere, England. It is lonely out here, but knowing this song exists gives me hope! Wordsworth is all about being elevated in feeling and thought by nature. In the particular passage Sufjan's referencing, Wordsworth takes a boat out onto the lake in the middle of the night. The peace he feels and the beauty he seeks and sees is soon interrupted by the huge, dark, and menacing hills above him that frighten him into rowing back to shore. The ridge, the peak and outline of the mountain, is the turning point in the excerpt, what Wordsworth finally focuses on and what eventually grows enough to scare him. Wordsworth/Sufjan is a swan in the boat, and the huge dark shadow is like an animal, a predator that devours him. It isn't necessarily a bad thing though. The feeling of fear is instinctual being alone in dark expansive nature, and it must be thrilling for both of them. It becomes so much more of an experience this way, with these feelings arising from this dark imposing landscape & night. Sufjan, like WW, grew up around lakes and wilderness. Nature was formative for him. But as in the case of both of them, it's not about nature but about the feelings and state of mind that nature brings. |
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| Radiohead – Bullet Proof...I Wish I Was Lyrics | 11 years ago |
| Please, you are forgetting all the intelligent religious people. ManofSteel is right, none of us really "know" what happens after death. We are all having similar experiences and we all feel each other's pain despite that we are all doomed to a certain extent of loneliness. That is what this song means to me. | |
| Joanna Newsom – Sprout and the Bean Lyrics | 12 years ago |
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Not to mention the fact that she is obviously distraught by the choice in this song. You ignore that aspect. The people who comment on this aren't making it anti-abortion. It is the lyrics that suggest sorrow and guilt. Anyways you don't go have an abortion and then forget about it. |
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| Joanna Newsom – Sprout and the Bean Lyrics | 12 years ago |
| @Sheherezade that is so evil. You are a terrible person. | |
| Sufjan Stevens – Come On! Feel the Illinoise! (Part 1: The World's Columbian Exposition; Part 2: Carl Sandburg Visits Me in a Dream) Lyrics | 13 years ago |
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Great song. As for lyric meanings, I made a connection that may or may not be intended. In his new song, Impossible Soul, Sufjan sings this in the third part of the song: "Stupid man in the window, I couldn't be at rest All my delight, all that mattered, I couldn't be at rest From what I liked, from what I gathered, I couldn't be at rest Stupid man in the window, I couldn't be at rest And don't be shy in the window Come down and give your best Oh, delight in the window I couldn't be at rest Stupid man in the window, I couldn't be at rest From what I liked, from what I gathered, I couldn't give my best Oh, I know it wasn't safe, it wasn't safe to breathe at all Oh, I know it wasn't safe, it wasn't safe to breathe at all Oh, I know it wasn't safe, it wasn't safe to breathe at all Oh, I know it wasn't safe, it wasn't safe to speak at all" It reminded me a lot of the part in this song where he sings: "I cried myself to sleep last night And the ghost of Carl, he approached my window I was hypnotized, I was asked To improvise On the attitude, the regret Of a thousand centuries of death." In this song he sounds very reverent when talking about "the ghost of Carl." Seems like he had an attitude change or something, because in Impossible Soul, he seems really frustrated with the "man in the window." Perhaps there is no connection, but it seems very plausible to me. Just something to think about. |
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