| Garbage – Blood For Poppies Lyrics | 11 years ago |
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Lyrics above are really wrong. I think this song is about a wartime pilot being shot down in World War One. First of all, the title 'Blood For Poppies' refers to the fact that red poppies are associated with fallen soldiers, especially those of WW1. This is because poppies grow really well in muddy fields and frequently carpeted the trenches and battlefields of Flanders, looking like the blood of the fallen. The person in the song is trading blood for poppies, i.e. getting wounded/losing friends and getting only flowers or memorials in return. Then there are the lyrics: Salute the sun I've been sitting here all night long Running rough over Buda with the Longhorn Got a hole, rip the pocket off my uniform With the Black Watch, "Boys, get your heads down!" (A Longhorn is a type of biplane used in the early years of WW1. The wings were made of canvas, as were flight jackets, so if you got a hole shot in your plane, you could patch it with a piece of uniform. Early planes were also prone to all sorts of engine problems so it's no surprise he's 'running rough', especially if he's being shot at. 'Buda' is an abbreviation of 'Budapest', a war-torn city in Hungary. The Black Watch (AKA the Royal Highland Regiment) are a Scottish infantry unit that saw extensive fighting in the war. "Boys, get your heads down!" is a phrase commonly told to troops under fire for obvious reasons. So he's flying his plane over Budapest with engine problems and a hole he has to patch with his uniform, implying both that he's been shot at and that he can't stop for better repairs, possibly because he's still being pursued. He might be remembering his time in the infantry via a flashback.) Duty calls, but it's way too late, I'm too far gone 'Waiting For Godot' hell with my pants down Wreck the skies Semi-quiet in the middays Soon I'll miss my dog, and I miss my freedom (This also seems to me to indicate a military pilot. The war needs him but either he or his plane are too damaged to keep going. 'Waiting For Godot' is a play that deals with two characters just sitting around pointlessly waiting for someone named Godot to show up but he never does and so they just sit there. I think this is a comparison to war - waiting for reinforcements to arrive or for things to make sense. 'With my pants down' could be in reference to his damaged plane - he's been caught with his pants down and now he's a perfect target for the enemy who are wrecking the skies. Planes rarely flew at high noon because they were a perfect silhouette for anti-aircraft guns on the ground. Likewise, field artillery usually took a break in the middle of the day, so there would be a lull in the sounds of firing but there would probably still be some sounds of battle.) I don't know why they're calling on the radio They know I'm here, just out of sight I don't know why they're calling on the radio He's by my side, and I know I'm right (This seems pretty self-explanatory. It seems slightly exasperated, like he's tired of being checked and double-checked on. Like waiting for Godot, it just seems pointless. As for 'he' this might refer to another man in his plane, a buddy who's got his back.) I hit the fences, Think about you when I'm all alone I know you're tough, but I've been gone for so long I play the memories of you inside my head So all the pictures of us burn and radiate Watch the clouds And I'm falling, falling through the cracks Head beats and my heart is pounding Off the ground, into the starry dark Into your arms, I'm falling (Any soldier trying to cross no-man's land would have run into huge, tangled fences of barbed wire and once a man was trapped in them, it was almost certain death. I think here it's being used metaphorically - he feels that he and his plane have 'hit the fences' and can't go any further or do any more. He's obviously thinking about someone back home, probably a wife or sweetheart, who will be struggling to get by without him. As a pilot, it's super important for him to always watch the clouds because he never knows when another plane is going to come flying out of it at him. In the next few lines, he's struggling with his damaged plane, trying to keep flying in the dark but feeling like he's falling with his heart pounding either from altitude sickness or nerves, but thinking of his love the whole time.) My friend lay by my side I got to stay alive I got to take a chance and keep on moving Keep on moving I see your light from miles away (Also pretty self-explanatory, I think. He's got a friend, (possibly the 'he' in the chorus?) but that friend may be wounded or dead and he's got to keep going. If he's been shot down in enemy territory and his friend is lying dead next to him, he's got to move fast before he's spotted. They'll be looking for him and all he can do is keep moving and hope they don't find him before he gets home. The light could be either an actual light that he knows represents safety or it could be figurative light representing his love guiding him home. Anyway, yeah, that's what I think it's about. Great song. |
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| The Decemberists – The Island: Come and See; The Landlord's Daughter; You'll Not Feel the Drowning Lyrics | 13 years ago |
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While I completely agree with this song being a condensed version of Shakespeare's The Tempest, I'd also like to point out that "The Landlord's Daughter" follows the line of a number of 18th and 19th century ballads, such as Whiskey In The Jar (I first produced me pistol/And I then produced me rapier/Saying "Stand and Deliver"/For he were a bold deceiver) and False Sir John/May Colven (which has an impossible number of versions, all of which involve a ruffian of some sort attempting to rape and/or murder a young woman by the sea: Until they come to a lonesome part/A rock by the side of the sea/"Leap off the steed"/Says False Sir John/"Your bridal bed you see/For it's seven ladies I have drowned/And the eighth one you shall be"). Also 'I'll take no gold, miss, I'll take no silver' reminds of the Medieval ballad of Death & The Lady (which also has many, many versions, including the song "O Death") in which the woman offers riches only to be told 'no wealth, no ruin, no silver, no gold, nothing satisfies me but your soul'. It seems to me that Colin had fun mixing The Tempest with old ballad themes, which it's clear he has a fondness for (Mariner's Revenge, anyone?) Just my thoughts. Cheers! |
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| The Decemberists – One Engine Lyrics | 13 years ago |
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I don't know what this song is about, but as soon as I heard it, I immediately thought of The Great Locomotive Chase. In 1862, a number of Union soldiers in disguise stole a Confederate train in Kennesaw, Georgia (hold on, they're breaking their bonds) and ran away with it (one engine barely makes it away). The conductor of the train pursued them, first on foot and handcar, then by train (bear down, they'll run you aground) for eighty miles until the stolen train finally ran out of fuel and the soldiers jumped out, only to be pursued and eventually captured, imprisoned (we all must suffer awhile in a way) and hung (the martyr line is a bitter pill). The soldiers' goal was to destroy the train-track behind them, break the telegraph lines, burn the bridges and anything else they could to cripple the Confederacy (I'd like to get you in some kind of way). The line that separated the North from the South effectively turned brother on brother and made whoever was on the other side from you the enemy (and the line of right, it will barely make you feel). As this song was apparently featured in The Hunger Games, which I have neither read nor seen, it probably has some other meaning within the context of that story-world, but me, personally, whenever I listen to the song, I see this crazy train-chase going through my head. :) |
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