| Buzzcocks – Whatever Happened To? Lyrics | 13 years ago |
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I used to think 'the cow' was a sly reference to Henry Cow and his ever changing line ups often referred to as 'the Cows' as his brand of avant-garde was very important touchstone for that generation of English art rockers (Mark E. Smith of the Fall particularly adored him) almost akin to what Frank Zappa did in America. All those Manchester art kids loved those early (great) Henry Cow records. But now I understand that that whole verse is about religions/ideologies. You have actual religion ('God above'), marxism ('Chairman Mao'), new age/technology ('plug-in love'), making 'the Cow' an obvious reference then to Hinduism/Eastern religion. In the Hindu practice, the Cow is seen as virtually the most respected and venerated of all animals as seen in the Hindu saying, "The cow is my mother". Hope this helps. Yeah, the overall song is about a critique of losing what's real/ aspiring for transcendence for what's fake, cheap, and easy. One of my personal favorites from the great Buzzcocks. _ _ _ _ Oh, and adding "... the cow" is just sort of blunt and funny sounding next to all the religious stuff. I think the Buzzcocks intended that humor too. |
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| Buzzcocks – Whatever Happened To? Lyrics | 13 years ago |
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I used to think 'the cow' was a sly reference to Henry Cow and his ever changing line ups often referred to as 'the Cows' as his brand of avant-garde was very important touchstone for that generation of English art rockers (Mark E. Smith of the Fall particularly adored him) almost akin to what Frank Zappa did in America. All those Manchester art kids loved those early (great) Henry Cow records. But now I understand that that whole verse is about religions/ideologies. You have actual religion ('God above'), marxism ('Chairman Mao'), new age/technology ('plug-in love'), making 'the Cow' an obvious reference then to Hinduism/Eastern religion. In the Hindu practice, the Cow is seen as virtually the most respected and venerated of all animals as seen in the Hindu saying, "The cow is my mother". Hope this helps. Yeah, the overall song is about a critique of losing what's real/ aspiring for transcendence for what's fake, cheap, and easy. One of my personal favorites from the great Buzzcocks. |
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| Jarvis Cocker – I Will Kill Again Lyrics | 13 years ago |
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I think this song has to be approached more abstractly. It's actually a protest (or rather a statement) about Jarvis' feelings about petite bourgeoisie people, seemingly his old friends who have aged into affluence as people so often do. People reach a status and suddenly they think they should "get into classical music", or "drink wine" where before they probably were into rock music and having a nice pint. The songs about people changing themselves to fit into a social status and Jarvis' desire to kill those people (metaphorically of course). It should be listened to along with The Jam's 'Mr. Clean' for added context or understanding. I think they're both going on about the same thing. When Jarvis says, that if he's given "half a chance" he'll "kill again" it's similar to when Paul Weller says "if I get the chance I'll f*ck up your life, Mr. Clean..." They're talking about destroying a whole set of values and stupidity that exist within that phoney social class. Hope this helps. This is to me one of Jarvis Cocker's most moving and brilliant songs. |
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| Randy Newman – I Think It's Going To Rain Today Lyrics | 13 years ago |
| Agree with others about sarcastic nature of song; it's wonderfully poignant, symbolic, and ironic. Masterful poetry that is so open that such a wide range of artists have put such a unique stamp on it. I mean compare my 2 favorite versions: Dusty Springfield's (that is true to the depressive, lush intent) and UB40's that obscures and finds the meditative repetitions. Both wonderful and light years apart. | |
| Blur – There's No Other Way Lyrics | 13 years ago |
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Correct. It's a three and a half minute version, essentially, of Debord's The Society of the Spectacle. Our lives will be achingly bland because we're taught to watch and not act ('act' in any arena be it love, politics/revolution, art, etc) |
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| The Clash – The Magnificent Seven Lyrics | 14 years ago |
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yes, this is the Blockheads' Watt-Roy on bass, and he actually borrows from himself for the bassline largely (which sort of trumps the claim that this is first British rap song, check out the Blockheads' 'Reasons to Be Cheerful Pt. 3' from their 'Do It Yourself' album which came out almost exactly a year before this Clash record). Either way they are both great tracks, and because the Clash's is a bit more socially urgent I like it a bit more. I too love the reading of 'cheesebooooiger', which was a cool pop culture reference (fyi) to Saturday Night Live's 'Cheeseburger, cheesburger, chips' skit with good 'ol Belushi. One couplet I've always loved but never understood totally was the bit about Socrates and Nixon both 'going out through the kitchen'. Perhaps it's obvious and I'm thinking about it to much about it. It's poetic enough that I still love it though. |
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