| Alice Cooper – Blue Turk Lyrics | 7 years ago |
| I think the title and jazzy feel are a direct reference to Dave Brubeck's jazz piece "Blue Rondo A La Turk". Brubeck's song starts out in a lively 9/8 time and is quite different sounding but by it's middle section it has slowed to 4/4 and features a walking bass line, sax, and piano. At that point you can hear similarities between the two songs. For me it's just an example of Alice Cooper eclecticism. They borrowed from all sorts of musical genres. | |
| Ani DiFranco – Slide Lyrics | 7 years ago |
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My feeling is that the song is probably autobiographical and Ani is singing about herself, rather than about a friend or acquaintance. My guess is its about the ending of a relationship with a boyfriend and expressing the fear and longing, as well as the sense of being in free fall. It's all the chaotic feelings that happen when a love relationship is collapsing. Getting sad and depressed and staying home instead of attending a party. The bicycle ride in the rain is a metaphor for being in a relationship that is driven by passion and need, but one that is also reckless and out of control. Incidentally, I used to live in the New Orleans and can completely relate to the idea that you can just hop on a bike a look for a decent meal based entirely on what smells good down the street. (It also rains like crazy every single day in the summer). |
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| Regina Spektor – Carbon Monoxide Lyrics | 7 years ago |
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I think it's a stretch to conclude the song is about Sylvia Plath just because Plath wrote a poem called "Daddy" and happened to die by suicide. (Natural gas is methane in any case, not carbon monoxide). To me, these lyrics are just an example of the type of word play Regina Spektor was experimenting with around the time of Soviet Kitsch. The song is lovely and dreamy in quality--it doesn't have to be assigned any kind of deep meaning. |
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| Joy Division – Ceremony Lyrics | 8 years ago |
| @[birlking:20804] I agree that the New Order lyrics are different than what can be heard in the live version on STILL. I must say I prefer the version of lyrics you've listed--they seem to have a bit more of that aggression that comes across in many Joy Division songs. (And better fit the intensity of Curtis's delivery on the live recording). This is one Joy Division song that can never be cleanly resolved into some kind of final meaning. I think it's the fragmentary and unresolved nature of the song that fascinates people anyway. | |
| Joy Division – Ceremony Lyrics | 8 years ago |
| @[shinikaru:20802] Interesting theory. | |
| Todd Rundgren – International Feel Lyrics | 9 years ago |
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I've listened to this song since high school in the 70's. I always loved the music but didn't know what to make of the lyrics other than they just seemed like abstract run-on ideas and hallucinatory images much in the style of some of the trippier Beatles songs. But after recently finding a 1973 interview with Todd discussing his ideas about the concept of Utopia and levels of communication, I'm starting to think International Feel was never intended as abstract, but rather as something of a manifesto for the album A Wizard, a True Star. Basically I see the song as Rundgren urging people to keep moving forward musically (and socially), on to new ideas and more complex levels of communication. To not just fix on familiar and everyday things that you already enjoy and understand, but to push past those. The repeated phrase "There's always more" is the essential promise of the song and the album. It is central to Rundgren's idea of Utopia, which is that communication and experience is unlimited, there's always more to be experienced--you shouldn't dwell too long on what you already know. In the 1973 interview, he talked about how he's intentionally avoided writing a pop song like "I Saw The Light" from Something/Anything, even though writing those types of songs would be easy and profitable for his career. He stated that once he's done something, he doesn't want to do it again, he wants to move forward. The idea that Todd no longer a pop star is central to A Wizard, A True Star. He begins the new album with International Feel and the opening statement "Here we are again, the start of the end" The song begins with us living in the present, in our daily routine, which from our ordinary perspective is familiar and safe, but Rundgren is suggesting it's "the start of the end." In other words, routine is also a road block to what comes next. There's more we can be doing and new ways of approaching communication and life. "I only want to see if you'll give up on me" He's asking if you'll take this new musical journey with him, or if you'll give up because it's not the same musical journey he took on the previous album. This I interpret as the central challenge of the album... given that Wizard was considerably more experimental than Something/Anything. The trippy part of the song, where he sings words like "interplanetary," "interstellar" and "universal" that have hippie new age overtones, this part I interpret as Rundgren trying to express the unlimited and varied experiences that await you, provided you don't just stick to the familiar routines you already know. The remainder of the song seems to express a kind of doubt and pessimism, suggesting that Rundgren knows that even though there are many promising things ahead (musically) that unfortunately most fans won't be willing to make the journey because they can't see the potential or don't believe in it.They just want everything to stay the way it was and would prefer to have Rundgren stick to pop songs. |
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| Blondie – Angels on the Balcony Lyrics | 9 years ago |
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I agree with Capitalist; I also interpret the song to be about memories of a once great theater, probably an old movie palace. I imagine a beautiful old place that's in ruins, where kids sneak in and explore. The "theater's sky" verse seems a reference to the little star lights (no longer working) and the painted clouds that some movies palaces had on the ceiling to give the audience the illusion that they were sitting outside. I have lovely memories of the Fine Arts Theater in Chicago--very much like the movie theater described here (minus the star lights). I used to love sitting in the balcony of that theater when watching film. |
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| Red House Painters – Song for a Blue Guitar Lyrics | 11 years ago |
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I'd agree the link to Mazzy Star seems pretty evident at first glance, but I don't think it matters too terribly much. Mark Kozelek did more with the his song than they did with theirs. What's more, Mazzy Star didn't originate this chord progression anyway. There are both a Bob Dylan song and a Neil Young song that use the identical or very similar progressions. The Neil Young song (Helpless, 1969) even has the slide guitar sound. So the timeline going backwards is Song for a Blue Gutar>Fade Into You>Knocking on Heavens Door>Helpless So, who borrowed from whom? Critics said Dylan's song (1973) sounded like Youngs at the time, and who knows where Neil Young got his song idea? For all I know, he borrowed the chord progression from someone even earlier. In any case, it means more to me to consider who did the most with the song progression and in my opinion the Mazzy Star song is the weakest of the four. |
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| Jethro Tull – Back Door Angels Lyrics | 12 years ago |
| I take it to be an expression of deep skepticism; essentially saying that religious faith is no better than believing in fairy tales. The randomness of good fortune in the real world makes it impossible to sincerely believe in divine beings. Angels would have to be fickle and absurd for the world to operate as it really does because there is no sense to who thrives and doesn't, who suffers and who doesn't. Outcomes are a based on chance, not design. The eye wink suggests that the narrator is not fooled by what he describes but is aware it is some grand joke. | |
| Spoon – Don't You Evah Lyrics | 12 years ago |
| Spoon's version is an interesting contrast to the original "Don't You Ever" by The Natural History. Natural History sings it as a conventional love song with a guy talking to his fiance or wife about the strength of their relationship. The chorus is supposed to make you feel good: "never be down, I said don't ever." Spoon turns the song on it's head. They make it an anti-love song about a relationship that's not going anywhere. Most of their verses are changed and they add an extra line to the chorus "it's going to keep him hanging around," which gives the song an ironic twist, more in keeping with the pessimistic side of Spoon. Both versions are cheerful sounding, but Spoon's only works as a feel good song if you don't listen to what they're really saying. | |
| Alice Cooper – Blue Turk Lyrics | 12 years ago |
| I think the title and jazzy feel are a direct reference to Dave Brubeck's jazz piece "Blue Rondo A La Turk". Brubeck's song starts out in a lively 9/8 time and is quite different sounding but by it's middle section it has slowed to 4/4 and features a walking bass line, sax, and piano. At that point you can hear similarities between the two songs. For me it's just an example of Alice Cooper eclecticism. They borrowed from all sorts of musical genres. | |
| Joy Division – Day of the Lords Lyrics | 14 years ago |
| I always took it to be about war atrocities; however, I can also see that it could be about childhood suffering. It might be interpreted as a "Lord of the Flies" allegory. | |
| The Go! Team – Ladyflash Lyrics | 14 years ago |
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If you're really into this song you can download the multi-track master for Ladyflash from the free stuff area of The Go! Team web site. That way you can listen all the tracks and samples individually. Import the tracks into Pro Tools, Logic, or Cubase, and you can look at the whole song and solo the various parts. So, under the cold harsh light of audio analysis it's clear that none of the singing/rapping is from Ninja or anyone from The Go! Team. The lyrics come from eight separate clips that repeat at various points. The separate vocal clips are: 1) Yeah, Yeah, Yeah, Yeah 2) Good starting out, (they) say your the kind of man, takes every girl for a fool 3) When the balls go swish they always score but can they do it with the Cold Crush at they door? 4) They shoot, shoot, shoot. Fantastic is the romantic. Say what? Romantic is the fantastic. 5) We came here to rock the microphone 6) Our aim was to break you down to the bone 7) Cuz it's gonna rock 8) OK home boys whatcha gonna do? You gotta shoot the shot and do the do. |
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