| Crystal Castles – Exoskeleton (Take 2) Lyrics | 14 years ago |
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Studiokill is absolutely right as far as I am concerned (and unless I hear otherwise from something the band says in an interview, etc) - this song, at least in my reading of it as well as his, IS ABOUT AN INSECT'S EXOSKELETON AS A DIRECT METAPHOR FOR THE DIGNITY OF A PROSTITUTE, or if not a prostitute, stricto sensu, at least a woman whose subjectivity has been completely denied her by the abuse of the single or various men surrounding her. It is even more evident in the original version of this song which I have read lyrics to but is the one CC song I have not had a chance to hear. It is abundantly clear in this version, but just in case someone would like to pick apart fragile bones, in the original it says: "Look at that lady, she wears bitch heels / The top of the blood, that's how we GOT SKILLS / You can give her head and PRETEND THAT SHE'S TIGHT / You can make her hunger dead, she won't tell her friends" and "Start packing up meat, send it by the ounce / I'll give you FIFTEEN BUCKS to see those titties bounce" and also "Your dick is her pet and it's undergrown," THEN - and this should put any doubt to rest "I'll MAKE HER CUM, make her perspire / When she's crying in pain your dick is on fire / We got some SPARE CHANGE, you're all for me / You better PIMP YOURSELF for the guillotine" Even without that, this official version has ample evidence, such as when it talks about "as somebody cums when you probably should", when it says "You can push her around / SAY SHE'S NO GOOD," and also "You can spit in her hair, hands round her neck / Most died in your eyes, SHE'S ALWAYS THE BEST" as well as how "SHE SWALLOWED PRIDE, I need it". This is one of my favorite CC songs and I hope they keep playing as they did for a long time as the opening song of their concerts. I have been away for a while but can't wait to see them again. |
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| Crystal Castles – Exoskeleton (Take 1) Lyrics | 14 years ago |
| I really wish I could find this version. This version of Exoskeleton is the ONLY Crystal Castles song I have been absolutely unable to find. (Well, this and their cover of Straight Out of Compton, since all copies of that, which I used to just watch on youtube, have been deleted several years ago). | |
| Beck – Devil's Haircut Lyrics | 14 years ago |
| One more thing - while on the subject of how people with nothing to lose, the "rotten" ones, will do anything to remain comfortable while at the same time having an utter disregard for their life and the lives of others. Anyone interested in a great illustration of this should read the lyrics to Crystal Castles' song "Intimate". | |
| Crystal Castles – Intimate Lyrics | 14 years ago |
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People who have experienced intense abuse, or, let me modify that and say... people who have been exposed to anything difficult and of a degree of intensity that the said event shattered their life and they were forced to pick up the pieces... some people are incapable of doing so and thus jump from one other to the next with impunity and utter disregard for their life. This is when intimacy itself degrades into need and a capitalistic transaction of services for shelter; money; sex. What is brilliant is that the lyrics, like almost all of Alice's, are very brave and include the line about the lost one being HIV positive and correctly impart the feeling of his fear - were he to tell his romance/sheltering/throw-away/intimate partners his true predicament, he would be cast aside, yet what is further even more brilliant is the last verse that expresses that this is inevitable: if it is not at the hands of a precarious and fickle humanity it will most certainly be done at the hands of the world and the circumstances around us - as the subject of the song weakens, he loses the je ne sais quoi that made him interesting/attractive - he becomes frail (and not in the aesthetically ambiguous and interesting way); the pain he has been fleeing from into the arms of others, of lovers, catches up to him with a scythe; ready to take his life, and he returns to the soil; "to frailer form". i have not asked Alice and I am only guessing at what I am about to say next, but I wish to do so nonetheless; I believe the reason this song is impossible to hear when performed live; the reason it is either vocoded into an unintelligible state or the mic is turned down to inaudible levels is very much tied in with the meaning of this song - as it stands alone lyrically and in the sense of its meaning to her. Very much in the way the subject of the song wishes to RETAIN his subjectivity in the face of inevitable death, his story is one that must be discovered, not heard simply by exposure to it. Alice once said at a live concert before playing this something like "now, this is a real fucking song" - and this is precisely why, possibly, it is one that must be sought out in order to witness its written content. There are others that are similar in that extent, but none as much as "Intimate" - one must get intimate with the writing itself, and that process may bring tears, revulsion, or appreciation but I encourage anyone who tells me they like Crystal Castles to get on here and read the lyrics to EVERY SONG. So many people see the band as a supreme act of electronics - machines making sounds then distorted and taken to the max, and thus they dance... they dance, dance, dance. I believe that if half of them knew what these songs contained lyrically/meant (I am not sure what they mean exactly to Alice, and since she wrote them, I can only go on my experience, but they speak volumes to me), they would run for the exit. Thus, brilliance. PS - I was so stoked to see Alice at a downtown lounge in NYC recently, just as it was closing - a great gal with a strong strong presence (yet not intimidating); full of energy; I hope one day I will have the chance to discuss the profound things she has written with her rather than simply cheers and get fucked up... but alas, my perspective and voice come from that very fucked up place so who am I to criticize? |
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| Beck – Loser Lyrics | 14 years ago |
| This is a great song and it is without coherent logic or grammar, however, everyone saying that Beck is always like this needs to take a long look at "Sea Change" - the lyrics are crystal clear and devestating. | |
| Beck – Devil's Haircut Lyrics | 14 years ago |
| Sorry for the double section on "Mouthwash Jukebox Gasoline" - I redid it but I seemed to forget to erase the original section I wrote so both are there. Sorry for being accidentally redundant. | |
| Beck – Devil's Haircut Lyrics | 14 years ago |
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I have scanned the comments after reading the first half and later saw many people understanding this song in a less simplistic way than I did at first. Also, I have not read where Beck talks about the song but I would wager that what I have to say fleshes out and extrapolates upon the ideas that recent posters mentioned about Beck saying this song's mention of the 'devil's haircut' is about vanity. It may be a bit unconventional, but I'm going to argue for the necessity of humans to sometimes don a 'devils haircut' to avoid being ripped to pieces by the sharks and lions that are their fellow (wo)man. Lots of people seem to think that this is just words laid out to rhyme without meaning and to sound great… what I would like to add is that even if this is the case, there is a subconscious and/or unconscious motivation for the words chosen and thus: even if the song is intended to be creative rhyming nonsense, meaning insidiously creeps back in nonetheless. Seems like the first verse is about the typical encounter with humanity (which I will return to shortly) — from a young age many of us are taught to love the neighbor, but most of humanity is sleazy and deceptive — to make this personal I have tried again and again to trust people but because I am in a position of privilege, 9 times out of 10 I end up stolen from or taken advantage of, which is why I have come to love the friend (true friend, tried and true), not the ‘neighbor’ or in other words, the ‘cesspool that is humanity,’ especially in large city environments where people will totally disregard others’ humanity in order to survive and remain in such an environment rather than leave and recognize their shortcomings. These people are the “leprous faces” and they are abundant, as our reality errs on the side of selfishness and greed rather than an ethic of love. “Heads are hanging from the garbage man trees” This is addressed above — people will do anything to hang on to status or their “place in the sun” (read: presence in a large city … “lol — ‘rotten oasis’) and even if they arrived with good intentions they soon wear the devil’s haircut. The next line, “Mouthwash Jukebox Gasoline” is, for me, the most important in the song: “Mouthwash” = preparing to face the world and enter the public sphere “Jukebox” = mingling with that sphere; the proverbial ‘dance with humanity’ — at a distance, people seem possible to love/relate to/befriend/spend time with, but up close most are the exact opposite of the injunction to “love thy neighbor” — they steal, lie, rape, manipulate, and drain. The dance is comic and hence… “Gasoline” = Torch it! Burn it all to hell! I love the smell of napalm in the morning!... No, seriously, I feel the word either enacts the repeated but often half-hearted attempt to go out and meet humanity (mouthwash), the encounter (jukebox) or the presence of the word Gasoline represents the tendency of humanity to err on the side of burning things down and being destructive rather than loving — to err on the side of destructiveness: to walk the earth with a “devil’s haircut” on top of their vindictive and rotten head, willing to ‘point their pistols’ at a “poor man’s pocket” rather than face themselves and make difficult decisions and reorientations of their way of being in the world with others. “Mouthwash” = preparing to face the world and enter the public sphere “Jukebox” = mingling with that sphere; the proverbial ‘dance with humanity’ — at a distance, people seem possible to love/relate to/befriend/spend time with, but up close most are the exact opposite of the injunction to “love thy neighbor” — they steal, lie, rape, manipulate, and drain. The dance is comic and hence it becomes impossible to wear a halo when relating to this world - as Milan Kundera would say.. we should laugh the laughter of the devils, not the angels (in the Book of Laughter and Forgetting). “Gasoline” = Gasoline is the most flammable substance most of us come into contact with on an almost daily basis. It is easy to procure and abundant and can be used on people/things to... torch it - to torch them and their nihilistic values! I feel the presence of "gasoline" as the third of the words either represents the dissatisfaction of going out to meet humanity (mouthwash), the actual encounter with the slime of life (jukebox)... or the presence of the word Gasoline represents the tendency of humanity to err on the side of burning things down and being destructive rather than loving — to err on the side of destructiveness, i.e. to walk the earth with a “devil’s haircut” on top of their vindictive and rotten head, willing to ‘point their pistols’ at a “poor man’s pocket” rather than face themselves and make difficult decisions and reorientations of their way of being in the world with others. “Love machines on the sympathy crutches” — again, manipulation — those that wear the devil’s haircut will use any tactic to gain more drugs, more money, more sympathy, and more empathy (yes, they will go to the extent of becoming very convincing) all to feed their selfish needs. Their tactics are crutches. The next three lines are, admittedly, hard to decipher at all but definitely seem to refer to a return to the rotten place mentioned in the beginning of the song and the daily monotony of dealing with the people that inhabit such a place, hence the “briefcase blues.” Left with these thoughts and experiences, who would choose to wear a halo when reality constantly debases them by exposing them to vile human beings; who would ‘turn the other cheek’ when those around them would only laugh and slap it? “I’ve got a devil’s haircut, in my mind” (x4): easier to present the façade of jadedness and the ‘devil’s haircut’ than to appear innocent only to be devoured alive. I feel like the final verse is the easiest to interpret in light of what preceded it: "Something's wrong 'cause my mind is fading Ghetto-blastin' disintegrating Rock 'n' roll, know what I'm sayin' And everywhere I look there's a devil waiting" Interacting too long with the baseness and debasement of humanity that has let go of themselves; that has accepted that "freedom is just another word for nothing to lose [1]," causes the mind to fade and after a while one accepts the reality around them and becomes debased themselves - "everywhere I look there's a devil waiting." There always a devil waiting, and it isn't always a bad thing to clientele with demons, but it is certainly unproductive and destructive to do such a thing when one is not of a solid mind/their "mind is fading" because if they do, they end up the same as everyone else in the "rotten oasis" and it consumes them - either through stasis, heroin, booze, or simple apathy. Does this make sense to anyone? [1] Kris Kristofferson and Janis Joplin, Me and Bobby McGee. |
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