| Band of Horses – Neighbor Lyrics | 14 years ago |
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This song really strongly reminds me of that book, Cold Mountain. Inman is a soldier who deserts the army, then tries to find his way home, relying on strangers to take him in and give him food on his way. In every house, the women and children were waiting for some man who was away at war and often they take him in because to them the war does not matter- they just see a man trying to get home the way their loved ones might be trying to get home. I think this song is telling a similar story. I believe it is about a man who is trying to get back to his home (the home is described as decrepit and empty- waiting for him to return and maintain it again), but along the way approaches the houses of strangers for help. These strangers and their houses are also waiting for someone's return. It is imploring us to look past politics and help one another as neighbors even in times of great upheaval. We can live by our own laws- be kind according to our own conscience, not according to what a political context might dictate. |
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| Beach House – Real Love Lyrics | 14 years ago |
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I actually think this song is about someone who always needs to know what's going on, who may like to follow the rules and may be a little pious, which is getting in the way of establishing a real love. The first lines: I met you somewhere in a hell beneath the stairs There's someone in that room that frightens you when they go boom May be introducing the idea that one member of the relationship has some sort of fear of unexpected things. The 'someone in the room' that frightens them may be the speaker. Whether the lyrics be "boo" or "boom," both sounds really express sudden, frightening occurrences. I think that these lines establish that the significant other cannot deal with surprise or spontaneity. The next lines are: The color you say is black is the one you might lack In the size of your eyes, is there a righteous prize? Again, an aversion to dark things (i.e. ambiguity, chaos, or any wildness, lack of piety, etc.). I think that in the second line here, the righteous prize mentioned may be 'real love,' but a sort of righteous, idealized love. I think this person basically wants a deep relationship, but they want it to be perfect. Then: There's something wrong with our hearts when they beat pure they stand apart In the black room, the light, watch the seabird fall Real love, it finds you somewhere with your back to it The speaker basically responds by saying that a real love can't be perfect. The kind of purity required for a 'perfect' relationship actually keeps them from forming a true bond, no matter how pure the love may be. I believe the seabird is a metaphor for love- something living and wild. In the black (chaos, ambiguity, craziness, etc.), it flies and thrives, but in the light (order, certainty, righteousness, etc.) it simply falls. Real love, they conclude, is something that finds you "with your back to it," not something you can actively look for or plan for. Finally: You know, you know, we belong by the stream, to the dawn I think this is just basically the speaker saying that people and love are objects of nature, and that their beauty blossoms not from their being controlled, but rather from their being natural and wild. I think that the repetition of 'I met you' reinforces the idea that the two have not been able to truly take their relationship deeper than just the act of meeting, regardless of how much time they may have spent together. They still don't really know each other and the most the speaker can really say of this person is that they have met them. |
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| Band of Horses – Our Swords Lyrics | 14 years ago |
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I think this song is about someone who has committed a faux pas and done something bad (among their friends or family or maybe even in public, if they are famous) and is now facing the consequences. The narrator is advising them to apologize before it is blown out of proportion. (Out on the wall sounds of banging's constant coming from your head And desperate the calls came then ringing from those wanna wring your neck Your neck) The person in the song is banging their head against the wall, beating themselves up for doing something so stupid. Meanwhile, they are starting to get phone calls from people who are angry. (And open your mouth sounds of breathing foulness spilling from your face You'd best to beat them to the humbling traffic stomping on your name) The foulness reference is the description of the person responding badly to the friends' outcry (or it may be a reference to the original faux pas). The narrator tells them that their best course of action is really just to beat the others to the criticism- to admit their own guilt and weaknesses before everyone else can point them out. (Count on us all falling on our own swords tonight) I imagine that the narrator is somehow affiliated with the protagonist in a group (family, maybe)- and he explains that in order to get past the ordeal, they'll all have to 'fall on their swords,' a Samurai way to avoid dishonor by not surrendering- instead killing yourself with your own sword. Basically, in order to preserve their honor/reputation, and not surrender to the anger of their friends, they'll have to sacrifice themselves, injure themselves publicly (by slandering and injuring their own names/ admitting guilt). Only then can they preserve their honor and continue on with their lives. (And chilling walk home down the portions of roads there leading straight to your place It looked like the tin can would swallow the kitchen plugging up your space) I think the chilling walk home may refer to the loneliness of life after the apology, the time still in the friends'/family's/public's disapproval. I think the tin can reference is a metaphor for how big the problem seems. One tin can cannot plug up an entire space, nor can it swallow the whole kitchen- this one incident is not going to swallow up and destroy the protagonist's entire life; it just seems like it at the time. (Count on us all stepping on our own toes tonight Count on us all stepping on our own toes Count on us all falling on our own swords tonight) I think the 'stepping on our own toes' reference might mean that throughout the whole debacle, they're still going to make mistakes, occasionally say the wrong thing while they try to mend the situation (or it might be a reference to walking on tip-toes, being hyper-cautious and conscientious in order to be less offending to the public/their friends). Once again, he repeats that they'll all have to fall on their swords- just suck it up, admit guilt, and apologize no matter how painful it may be. |
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| Band of Horses – The Funeral Lyrics | 14 years ago |
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Kinda sounds more like: for they don't have trees to hang THERE ON. -which doesn't make a difference for meaning |
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| Band of Horses – The Funeral Lyrics | 14 years ago |
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After listening to the interview everyone's been talking about: http://www.abc.net.au/triplej/mel/listen/mp3s/bandofhorses.mp3 I agree that it is about hating making a big fuss about holidays/birthdays. I'm coming up only to hold you under and coming up only to show you wrong And to know you is hard and we wonder To know you all wrong, we were Ooh, ooh I think this verse is about how snippy and vindictive family can be at big occasions. There is always some judgmental aunt or mean old grandparent who barely knows you (knows you all wrong) but still wants to point out your weaknesses (hold you under, show you wrong). Really too late to call, so we wait for Morning to wake you; it's all begun To know me as hardly golden Is to know me all wrong, they were I think this verse is literally about calling someone to wish them happy birthday. Some people like to call at midnight, when your birthday starts, but that is too late, so they will instead call early in the morning and wake you. Then-'it's all begun,' -that's when you have to run the gauntlet of thanking people, showing up to birthday events, etc. I think the 'hardly golden' bit is just about age, since everybody talks about age at birthdays- he is saying that he is getting up there in age, almost a golden oldie. He is no longer 'hardly golden.' At every occasion I'll be ready for a funeral At every occasion once more it's called a funeral Every occasion I'm ready for the funeral At every occasion one billion day funeral The chorus just explains that when he shows up to holiday events, they feel more like funerals to him, miserable and endless, (he feels like each lasts 'one billion' days). I'm coming up only to show you down for and coming up only to show you wrong To the outside, the dead leaves, lay on the lawn for they don't have trees to hang upon Ooh, ooh Again- the frequent vindictiveness of family or friends who show up to happy events but are just judgmental and hateful and want to confront you (have a showdown- 'show you down') or show you are wrong about something. I think that the dead leaves reference is an image of entities who are not connected to a community or family (as in family tree). I believe that the presence of this image in the song shows that the narrator, while he resents the event obligations of having a family and a community of friends, acknowledges that the alternative is a lifeless, empty existence. |
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| Band of Horses – The Funeral Lyrics | 14 years ago |
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I always thought billion, too! But I think the leaves part makes the most sense (and sounds the closest) as: To the outside, the dead leaves lay on the lawn. For they don't have trees to hang upon. |
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| Beach House – D.A.R.L.I.N.G. Lyrics | 15 years ago |
| Maaaaayyybee this is a song about someone who is dying. There are lots of mentions of parting. Furthermore, the harbor/anchor metaphor seems to suggest a death theme, as the ocean is often a metaphor for death. The subject of the poem may be on their death bed, and as soon as they 'find their anchor' they will be off to the sea (the sea being death). In this case, D.A.R.L.I.N.G. may be the inscription on their tombstone?? | |
| Beach House – Real Love Lyrics | 15 years ago |
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I actually think this song is about someone who always needs to know what's going on, who may like to follow the rules and may be a little pious, which is getting in the way of establishing a real love. The first lines: I met you somewhere in a hell beneath the stairs There's someone in that room that frightens you when they go boom May be introducing the idea that one member of the relationship has some sort of fear of unexpected things. The 'someone in the room' that frightens them may be the speaker. Whether the lyrics be "boo" or "boom," both sounds really express sudden, frightening occurrences. I think that these lines establish that the significant other cannot deal with surprise or spontaneity. The next lines are: The color you say is black is the one you might lack In the size of your eyes, is there a righteous prize? Again, an aversion to dark things (i.e. ambiguity, chaos, or any wildness, lack of piety, etc.). I think that in the second line here, the righteous prize mentioned may be 'real love,' but a sort of righteous, idealized love. I think this person basically wants a deep relationship, but they want it to be perfect. Then: There's something wrong with our hearts when they beat pure they stand apart In the black room, the light, watch the seabird fall Real love, it finds you somewhere with your back to it The speaker basically responds by saying that a real love can't be perfect. The kind of purity required for a 'perfect' relationship actually keeps them from forming a true bond, no matter how pure the love may be. I believe the seabird is a metaphor for love- something living and wild. In the black (chaos, ambiguity, craziness, etc.), it flies and thrives, but in the light (order, certainty, righteousness, etc.) it simply falls. Real love, they conclude, is something that finds you "with your back to it," not something you can actively look for or plan for. Finally: You know, you know, we belong by the stream, to the dawn I think this is just basically the speaker saying that people and love are objects of nature, sort of a 'go with the flow,' message. I think that the repetition of 'I met you' reinforces the idea that the two have not been able to truly take their relationship deeper than just the act of meeting, regardless of how much time they may have spent together. They still don't really know each other and the most the speaker can really say of this person is that they have met them. |
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