| The National – Graceless Lyrics | 11 years ago |
| Guys, guys. Come on. This song is about atheism. A better word, perhaps, would be 'aspirituality', with the 'a' prefix acting as a negator. I know people who aren't (for example) Christian, who do not believe in a god, but who readily recognise a sort of sacredness, a sort of unspeakable enchantment, in the world. This song is exactly about those moments - which we have ALL experienced - when the late-night romantic associations are dissolved and we just - I don't know how to explain it - we just completely lose FAITH in the world, in our lives. The song is about that experience of 'atheism' (a broad, inclusive term), and I think that if you understand what I am talking about you will agree with me. Look at the music video: there are people, admittedly on YouTube, talking about how the video represents the band having fun, in a winsome way. But no; as evidenced by the presence of the cleaner guy, the guy who mows the lawn and tends to the pool, the video represents a kind of first-world behaviour which disregards respect and encourages selfsihness, stupidity, complete obliviousness to others. It isn't even necessarily a bad thing, and in fact I think it's quite natural in the modern world. But that is what it is. | |
| Radiohead – I Might Be Wrong Lyrics | 14 years ago |
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This song is about mindless hedonism, if the lyrics are interpreted as ironic / sarcastic. This is most obviously reflected in the chorus: 'Let's go down the waterfall / Think about the good times and never look back'. To me, the 'waterfall' is the stupid, mindless torrent of ignorant, hedonistic and disturbingly pleasurable bullshit that we immerse ourselves in. And obviously, thinking about the 'good times' and nothing else is rather ignorant - almost like using your happy memories to block out all the negative aspects of your existence. 'There is no future left at all', I think, can be interpreted as a standalone statement, without the 'I used to think before it'. Actually, there are two interpretations, the optimistic (which reflects happiness, possibly ignorance / hedonism etc), and the pessimistic: 'There is no future' as a lone declaration, followed by the line 'I used to think' - this person, just like all the idiotic, credulous, hedonistic masses today, has had their independence and autonomy sucked right out of them. I guess the title sort of suggests an insecurity in this person with regard to their life, as if they are only doing all this waterfall bullshit because everyone else does. |
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| Isis – So Did We Lyrics | 14 years ago |
| All the things that Isis have supposedly achieved, all the work they have put into their music and all the people they have influenced, is all insignificant. Yes, they are an amazing band, but over time everything and everyone is forgotten. 'The years they passed and so did we' - yes, they've passed on just as everything else has, just as we all will. We are all nothing. Our impact is nil. In a million years time, none of us or anything we have contributed to the world will be remembered. That's what this song means. | |
| Radiohead – Separator Lyrics | 15 years ago |
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Happily, I have no real idea what this song is about. To me, it is beautifully bittersweet, and probably the best song on the new album. Those guitars around 2:30 are serene. Obviously, there is the quite blatant theme of dreams to work around for a meaning. I want to say that it's to do with love, because even though none of the lyrics really hint at that it feels that way to me. The 'wake me up' section at the end is actually stunning. If this was the last recorded Radiohead song ever, it would be a spectacular end note. |
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