| Big Black – Kerosene Lyrics | 12 years ago |
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I'm sure there's not much to this but in this video ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08YwU-tHsts ) Albini introduces as "a song Jerry Lee Lewis wrote before he killed one of his wives." I believe the wife this refers to is Shawn Stephens whom Lewis was accused of abusing and murdering during a marriage that lasted 77 days in 1983. As I've said I'm sure there's nothing in that really other than an interesting reference. |
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| Big Black – Kasmir S. Pulaski Day Lyrics | 12 years ago |
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The one thing that has always strikes me about this song now, is how incredibly this contrasts with Sufjan Stevens song of the same name (though spelt correctly with the 'C'), his song being so earnest and heartfelt compared the really heartless and brutal lyrics of this one. The "stay outta my way-ski" is probably one of the funniest lyrics Albini's every written though. The song is about witnessing a car being blown up. I think the line listed above as "Drew a rod" should read "Threw a rod" as in, a pipe-bomb. The car explodes and the poor guy goes everywhere. The "Benny" part at the end makes me think that this was inspired by a true story. The reason for this being that Albini has said that the song L Dopa, also from Songs About Fucking, was written after he heard about a town where "sleeping sickness" broke out (see the song meanings entry for L Dopa, the guys there have the whole story off pretty well.) L Dopa makes repeated reference to Daisy in a pretty similar way to the repetition of Benny here, Daisy being a sufferer from the disease either real or created by Albini. A tenuous link I know but I think it's an interesting parallel anyway particularly the idea of repetition and questioning in both songs. |
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| Therapy? – Stop It You're Killing Me Lyrics | 12 years ago |
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Pretty sure it just means "Over Dosed" as in a drug overdose though in this context I think its referring to be "dosed" with a belief. The preceding lines are "Love is for the weak Or so you'd have me believe The thought's killing me" Also I think what the lyric should be read as "a head o.d'ed." Took me a minute to figure out how the phrase fitted into the lyrics but I think that's a pretty decent approximation. |
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| Therapy? – Enjoy The Struggle Lyrics | 12 years ago |
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Not sure how I can reconcile all of the lyrics with this interpretation but I'll throw it out there anyway since no one else has offered anything. When I first heard this song I immediately thought it was referencing The Troubles in Northern Ireland (Therapy? are from Antrim in N.I) or at least cycles of violence. As someone from the Republic of Ireland, I think its very unlikely that Cairns would pen a line like "Through all the trouble" and not realise what that implied. The same month the album was released (March 2009) FROM WIKIPEDIA… "Two British Army soldiers were shot dead and two more seriously injured during a gun attack at Massereene Barracks in County Antrim. The Real IRA claimed responsibility. These were the first British military fatalities in Northern Ireland since 1997." Though the song obviously wasn't written about that incident in particular, if you look at a timeline of events leading up to the incident, attempts on police officer's lives etc, there is a sense (at least in retrospect) that the violence was leading up to something shocking. FROM WIKIPEDIA… "The attack came days after a suggestion by Northern Ireland's police chief, Sir Hugh Orde, that the likelihood of a terrorist attack in Northern Ireland was at its highest level for several years." I can't think of any Therapy song off—hand that directly references The Troubles but their earlier albums (Babyteeth and Pleasure Death particularly) do have a political edge to them with songs like Animal Bones and Loser Cop. That's my interpretation anyway, I'd be happy for someone to offer an argument against it. |
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| Therapy? – Animal Bones Lyrics | 12 years ago |
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I love the lines "Fuck democracy, do as I say, your ideas get in the way", they really remind me of sarcastic anarcho-punk bands (DKs et al). I think this song definitively has that sort of feel musically as well, being a lot more brutally simple than some of the others on Babyteeth like Loser Cop and Innocent X. As for a meaning I think infotainment_lad pretty much has it spot on. |
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| Afghan Whigs – Retarded Lyrics | 12 years ago |
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As much as I hate the idea that Greg Dulli's lyrics are so often equated to being simply about drugs or a girl (or both), I think that you're absolutely right about this one the references to "jones" "It could never get that bad", and particularly the word play of "roll up". I do think though that there is a sense of denial about the lyrics. The line "Today the retard speaks to me" always reminds me of the line from Pearl Jam's Jeremy "Jeremy spoke in class today" and I think that there are hints of an abuser/victim relationship between the speaker and the subject as there are in Jeremy. The sense of denial I'm getting is based mainly around the line "It could never get that bad just ask." Basically the narrative I hear in the song is the speaker being abused by the "retard" (being called a retard but not for using drugs as you suggest), THEN turning to drugs. His tormentor has obviously od'ed or become seriously brain-damaged from drug abuse. The speaker sees this and is glad, "Who you call retarded now?", but refuses to accept that his own drug problem might lead him the same way. I realise this interpretation is very speculative and I'm playing fast and loose with the lyrics a bit. Just thought I'd weigh in. |
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