| Rush – Clockwork Angels Lyrics | 7 years ago |
| @[jimcornete:28120] You just now figured out Neil was an Atheist and a fan of the works of Ayn Rand? Have you been living under a rock? For me, that's something I admire about him. | |
| Iron Maiden – Can I Play With Madness Lyrics | 8 years ago |
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I can't believe no one has nailed the meaning of this song: "Give me the sense to wonder To wonder if I'm free Give me a sense of wonder To know I can be me" This is about the philosophical debate of free will and determinism. "Wonder if I'm free" means wonder if he has freewill or that he is truly free in a system that restricts his freedom "Give me the strength to hold my head up Spit back in their face Don't need no key to unlock this door Gonna break down the walls Break out of this bad place" This stanza really sets the tone. Some group of people has held this person captive in some sense. This idea about not needing a key is as if to say this group of people has prescribed that he must obtain the key from them and he says fuck it and just decides to break out of the place he is in. I believe this refers to some type of religious doctrine that he is breaking out of. You'll see why now. "I screamed aloud to the old man I said don't lie don't say you don't know I say you'll pay for your mischief In this world or the next Oh and then he fixed me with a freezing glance And the hell fires raged in his eyes He said do you want to know the truth son I'll tell you the truth Your soul's gonna burn in the lake of fire" Now we see it clearly, the protagonist is having a conversation with a Christian possibly clergy. It's evident in that this "prophet" clearly states "You're soul is going to burn in a Lake of Fire" (Revelation 20:10). But the protagonist who is either Agnostic or Atheist says "I said don't lie don't say you don't know." He believes the "prophet" is spreading false lies about something that cannot really know about or have evidence of. It's very clear. As to the "Can I play with madness?" part I cannot be certain what that refers to. I can only think of that once a person rejects religious belief systems they are usually left with the possibilities of a universe and existence that is absurd and pointless a la Nietzche or Camus. Entertaining and contemplating such ideas is "playing with madness" because I think what religious belief systems give people is a safe, stable framework for how to think about existence. Once you take that away, it's hard to make a transition to some other school of thought. |
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| Mötley Crüe – Home Sweet Home Lyrics | 8 years ago |
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"You know I'm a dreamer But my heart's of gold I had to run away high So I wouldn't come home low" This part of the song seems like it's about someone leaving home to find themselves. The idea of leaving "high" could be drug-related but it could also be leaving at a higher point before they were dragged down by whatever situation they were in. "Just when things went right It doesn't mean they were always wrong Just take this song and you'll never feel Left all alone" Going along with the theme of leaving home, it's as if the person left a bad home life. When they left, their life improved, but that doesn't mean it was always wrong. This seems to express the idea of feeling alone with your family that you don't fit into. The last two lines are about the idea of taking this song so you never have to feel this loneliness because the speaker understands and shares your feelings of loneliness with that situation and can relate. "You know that I've seen Too many romantic dreams Up in lights, fallin' off The silver screen" This seems to be about romanticism. You think based on what you read in fairy tales and see in movies that the experience you're leaving home to go find is going to be just absolutely amazing but when you experience what it actually is, it doesn't meet those lofty expectations. Ultimately, it doesn't fill that life purpose that you were looking for. It's like a warning about this type of disappointment/let down and the sense of feeling lost but you can always go home when you feel this way. "My heart's like an open book For the whole world to read Sometimes nothing keeps me together At the seams" To me this is the person expressing part of who they are. It's as if they went out trying to find their place in life, hoping to find something only to realize that which they were looking for doesn't really exist and they are just left with themselves and go on to describe what that feels like. The "Sometimes nothing keeps me together at the seams" is an existential reality that we all end up facing. Many people realize there is no grand scheme, no safety, no script to follow, it's just life and what you make of it. It's not surprising that Nikki Sixx would write this song because I think he was one of the more deep thinkers of the band. If you look at the song Life Is Beautiful by Sixx AM (his band) you see the philosophical and existential contemplation. |
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| Rush – Natural Science Lyrics | 9 years ago |
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@[Seanyc:17661] A little late but for those who come back to this, the first part with the suspended 2nd chords is 8 time with a shuffle 1-2-3-1-2-3-1-2 or with shuffle (1-and-a-2-and-a-3, etc.). The next part is 8 time without a shuffle 1-2-3-1-2-3-1-2 then after the oberheim space sweep it's 7 time 1-2-3-4-1-2-3 1-2-3-4-1-2-3. Then after that Neil actually plays in 4/4 for a little bit (mind blown) then back to 7 time. Then back to 4/4 and the solo in the 2nd movement is in that time. Then 8 time for the bridge into the 3rd movement (1-2-3-1-2-3-1-2). Then in the 3rd movement it's 4/4 time again. Then 3/4 and it alternates back and forth. It's actually not as complicated as you might think. In order to be able to hear the meter and patterns, you have to practice in a lot of different time signatures with a metronome. You also have to practice different things like in 8 time what does it sound like if I think about it as 1-2-3-4-1-2-3-4 or 1-2-3-1-2-3-1-2 or 1-2-1-2-3-1-2-3 or 1-and-a-2-and-a-3. You have to experiment with a lot of different things. After awhile, you just start hearing it and you can improvise in any of those time signatures. It took me awhile to get there but once you get there it all feels very natural for some reason. idk. :) I analyzed this by listening to the song once with my trained ear. Cheers! |
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| Extreme – Money (In God We Trust) Lyrics | 9 years ago |
| I can't believe no one ever commented on this song. It's brilliant. It's a snarky satire about America's core value placed on money and the idea that it's also supposedly founded on the idea of Christian values ("In God we Trust" on the dollar bill even) which contradict each other. I'm Christian tradition I'm referring to not worshiping false idols (money aka the golden calf) "Money, my personal saviour". It shows the inherent insanity in American cultural values. | |
| Alice in Chains – Shame In You Lyrics | 9 years ago |
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@[whatwaswillneverbeagain:13654] I think you missed part of the meaning of this song. Sure part of it is most definitely about drug use and the relationship ending but there is evidence to suggest another intertwined theme is present. When an emotionally devastating or traumatic event occurs in one's life, it can cause them to re-evaluate their life and the meaning of their life. Perhaps this relationship was a large chunk of Layne's meaning in life and without that present he began to contemplate other things: "Still believin', yet mistaken, all God's children, yeah" "Now you hear me, for the things I see, yeah I believe in inner peace, yeah" It is possible that Layne and Demri were two lost souls trying to find some solid piece of ground for them to feel at peace with things and then when the relationship ended, any chance of that was gone for what they were trying to build? So now Layne is contemplating well where else does this solid piece of ground come from? It would seem that when Layne contemplates God he says "nope" in an atheist sort of way. Then he goes onto say that even though he may not believe in Love or God, he still believes in inner peace. The title of the song "Shame in You" could mean he's referring to Demri's shame, or his own shame or shame in people in general. Perhaps a very deep theme is how we all feel shame and we are constantly trying to feel better about ourselves through any means necessary and maybe he thought that he and Demri were working together to conquer that and then when she faltered, he may have lost hope but he regains a little bit at the end of the song when he says he believes in Inner Peace (something to hold onto) even though he doesn't believe in God which many people cling to for hope. |
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| Oingo Boingo – Nothing to Fear (But Fear Itself) Lyrics | 9 years ago |
| @[ccbubblegum:12722] It hasn't changed... that's the irony. | |
| Suicidal Tendencies – I'll Hate You Better Lyrics | 9 years ago |
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It's a song about how hate is the antithesis to peace. However, the only way world peace would theoretically work is if everyone collectively decided it was in all of our best interests to be peaceful and cooperate with each other. Unfortunately, this has never happened in society EVER in the entire history of the human race. As a result, we have to be prepared to defend ourselves from the "haters" but the thing about that is, one can become cynical and jaded about the so-called "haters" and become a hater as a result perpetuating the vicious cycle for generations to come as has been done historically. This song seems to express the frustration of this paradox. |
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| Porno For Pyros – Pets Lyrics | 9 years ago |
| @[mwahahaa:12661] Spot on :) You could take it a step further and say it's an expression of how absurd the typical over-inflated human ego is and how if you imagined it enclosed in a cage like a pet, it could be quite entertaining to watch like a cat chasing its tail or a dog licking its balls. | |
| Prince – Let's Go Crazy Lyrics | 9 years ago |
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I can't believe someone didn't nail this one yet. This song is simply about existentialism. It's about the classic questions: what's the meaning of life and what happens when we die. He also talks about something really important in these parts: "Instead of asking him how much of your time is left Ask him how much of your mind, baby" "And if the elevator tries to bring you down Go crazy, punch a higher floor" The concept here is that this world with a lot of its stresses, evil, anxiety, etc. has a tendency to challenge one's mental resiliency. He's saying that letting this world get you down or even worse causing you to lose your mind would cause you to stop living while you're alive. It reminds me of this quote: "Death is not the greatest loss in life. The greatest loss is what dies inside us while we live." -Norman Cousins If we are to believe in an afterlife and we know the physical body doesn't go, we must ask themselves what is left that does go. It's this part that we must take great care of above all else. You can call it your mind, consciousness or soul but Prince is saying the loss of that is the worst thing of all so never let that happen no matter how much life tries to get you down. |
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| Coldplay – Hurts Like Heaven Lyrics | 13 years ago |
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This song is somewhat open ended but I think what this song is about is the way our world is structured. It's cold, it's dead, it has no soul. The world seems to stifle things like love and creativity in favor of things like status, money and materialism. These things never lead to happiness but quite the opposite. People fight over them like mad. Chris Martin says use your heart like a weapon because it hurts like Heaven because God is love and God's love conquers all. Even if you're not Christian, it's about using love and positive energy to conquer the bad things in the world that lead to suffering. Our world in a lot of ways is a reflection of the suffering we've created. "Don't let them take control." "Use your heart as a weapon" Don't ever let them take control of what's in your heart. Use your love and positive energy endlessly. If we all did it would completely change the world. I disagree with the person that said that Chris Martin doesn't write good lyrics. He absolutely does. The thing is, many of his songs, several on X |
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| Coldplay – Every Teardrop Is a Waterfall Lyrics | 14 years ago |
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This is a fantastic song. I have always loved the 80's new wave sound. This song is very interesting lyrically as well. There are many themes and metaphors. I think a lot of the comments are right on but one thing I think that got missed is that it's not just about life and how we experience life and about keeping our chins up in the face of life's challenges. There is another theme that goes along with this and it is very clearly portrayed in the video. Chris is also talking about how when we are young and innocent, we have this incredible, powerful positive energy and spirit. He is telling us to not lose that because that is what empowers us to make positive change in the world. When we lose that and give into the negative aspects of life, we effectively become walking zombies. You can hear this when he talks about how the kids dance all night but when Monday comes that life is completely different (at work, part of "society" etc.) In the video, you see what appears to be a concrete, drab, dirty city but they show us that with what appears to be like children's sidewalk chalk, we can paint our dreams onto a dreary difficult life and turn it into something truly wonderful. And if we always focus on what's in our hearts, that truly powerful energy that beats in our chests and flows through our souls (the kind that we are born with as children) we will be empowered to do this. And no matter how much life tries to drag us down we will continue to raise the flag and hold onto this. With it, our spirits and souls can never be hurt no matter what. |
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| Weezer – My Name Is Jonas Lyrics | 14 years ago |
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I'll take a crack at this. At first, he's carrying the wheel that is referenced later in the song "The wheel is flat." He's at the end of the story, his life has fallen apart and he's carrying some memento "the wheel" of "the car" (his life) that fell apart. He's showing it to someone and he has a lot of questions about why his life fell apart and why life is the way it is. Then he's saying "thanks for all you've shown us." He's thanking the person he's talking to but realizing they fell short in preparing him for what he found in life. He reminisces about how much easier life was when he was a child and how he can never go back. Then he talks about how he gave up his childhood so easily on the promise of a better future living his own life. He talks about how easily he was willing to give it up so but not realize what he was losing at the time. He talks about someone having a box of his old toys that represent his childhood innocence and dreams. His dreams have been run down by his life experiences but his hope and aspirations are still alive (toys are still makin' noise even though they're out of batteries) Then he asks for advice on what to do with the mess he's gotten himself into in life (Tell me what to do). He's tired, he's feeling weak, he's wondering why life is the way it is and why it can be so difficult. He relates his own experience to another experience, his little brother. He describes how he left to build his own life. He thought he knew everything (the driver swears he learned his math) and had it all figured out. When he tried to go out in the world and execute his plan, he found that life was very different and failed. Whoever he's telling the story to (perhaps a parent), he's trying to figure out where he went wrong and how to get back on track. |
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