| London Grammar – If You Wait Lyrics | 8 years ago |
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The double edged golden sword of unrequited love - the sharp extreme of that feeling of love for the other person which of itself elates you (yet not them as they remain indifferent) juxtaposed against the blunt extreme of a longing, aching heart, body, soul and mere existence in the world, in the air around you, knowing that despite your extreme love for that other person, it not only is not returned to the same degree, it's not even extinct, it's just not there at all in the slightest. Such poses ethereal and questions for both parties, but essentially seeking answer to the same question: "is love, or the absence of such, real or merely a delusion within upon which we get high and low?" How one answers this determines if love is more valuable than gold, but more valuable even than air, without which we cannot exists; or is it dust, blown back and forth in the desert forming a mere worthless mirage. The one person in life I perhaps loved the most, to this day has not satisfied herself what love is. We are both equally adrift, equally unfulfilled, yet we endure life in search of that which eludes us. Let's hope we all reconcile, one way or the other, during our short time journeying on this planet. x |
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| Judas Priest – Beyond The Realms Of Death Lyrics | 9 years ago |
| @[Stormrider666:16238] Have to agree with you on the Unleashed In The East version. I have had both on vinyl since 1978 and 1979 respectively. I thought the studio version couldn't be surpassed but they only went and nailed it in Japan. | |
| Judas Priest – Beyond The Realms Of Death Lyrics | 9 years ago |
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@[MasterofMetal:16237] Actually there are many drugs, both prescription and illicit, which can induce such a state. Moreover, people who overdose do not always die quickly. It was my experience when working in the fields of psychiatry and neuroscience and later in hepatic studies and liver transplantation, that many people who overdose can suffer a most prolonged and agonising death. I have on this page suggested another scenario - that of the person being in a state of catatonic depression which can in many ways seem like coma. |
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| Judas Priest – Beyond The Realms Of Death Lyrics | 9 years ago |
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The song does not actually describe the protagonist being in a comatose state, but is more akin to catatonic depression which renders the physical abilities of the sufferer dysfunctional to the point where they have no ability to move their limbs etc and may not even be able to blink. Breathing becomes very shallow, but not laboured as all that is needed is to maintain the quiescent metabolism of the immobile body. In fully progressed stages the person has no bladder or bowel control and of course without limb movement would be unable to feed themselves. Often they need to be fed via a feeding tube if mouth movement and mastication are extant. Though along with the anal phase, the oral phase is one of the later functions to go. Hence why his friends / carers need to wash, dress and feed him - the fact that they do so by hand suggests he has some oral mobility remaining and that peristalsis is still functioning. These states are generally precursed by a short, but acute period of depression following a traumatic life episode and outwardly it seems to loved ones and casual observers that the sufferer has merely lost the will to live; hence the assertion that "He'd had enough, he couldn't take anymore." which is true on a purely neurophysical level, not a conscious choice. Despite the outward appearence of a pseudo-comatose person, the consciousness is generally fully functional and whilst the person may remain in the same depressed state, they can endure all manner of emotions whilst in such a state, but be unable to express it to others as they can neither speak nor move. Limited electro-encephalography studies show that the brain can continue to emit a full range of waves in this state. Whilst the song suggests that in this state he has become inwardly happy (a premise which cannot be asserted by an observer) the state can be extremely distressing for the sufferer. Whilst I had past experience of studying such patients in a joint department of psychiatry and neurosurgical science during the 1980s and 90s it never prepared me for when I personally entered into such a state for some months in 2013 following a prolonged state of acute trauma. Whilst in this locked-in state the actual fear of the incapacity can lead the depressed person to further progress into psychosis and madness which may persist even if the sufferer subsequently emerges from the catatonic state. Some have claimed his final release was through an act of suicide, but this is neither supported by the lyrics or the likely physical state of the person who would remain unable to administer any poisons to himself or otherwise engage in other acts of suicide requiring motion such as hanging, vascular incision or turning on the gas taps or running a car engine. Suicide was also repudiated by Rob Halford et al when giving evidence in the trial following the suicide 1985 attempts by Raymond Belknap and James Vance. It was alleged that Judas Priests cover on Stained Class of Spooky Tooth's "Better by You, Better Than Me" contained subliminal messages about suicide which was not upheld. The trial also looked into the lyrics of Beyond The Realms of Death which was alleged to promote suicide and again this was deemed as unfounded. Moreover the central tenet of the song is predicated as being "beyond the realms of death", whereas a successful suicide would of course be death. Thus when the lyrics say that "The wind kissed him goodbye and then he died......" it is likely this refers not to actual death, but the metaphysical death of the person when they cross over from a state of depression / anxiety / PTSD where they are bothered and enslavened to the worries of those states, to a metaphorical release in the form of acute psychosis / delusion / madness when essentially they transgress to now being utterly oblivious to reality". So his troubles had been kissed goodbye and he was released from the pain and torment, hence the smile as is common in psychosis and mania. Yet he would now be 'dead' to the loved ones / carers/ observers as his body never recovered from the catatonic state despite the mind's degenerative progress. He was now through madness lost to them too. |
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| Cass McCombs – That's That Lyrics | 11 years ago |
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There is a degree of nostalgia in this song. The lyricist is indeed recanting the longing and desire for a slightly older woman (or man) in years gone by with a person who may initially have been a platonic friend (they both went down South on a whim) but for whom that changes, at least from the perspective of the narrator. Let's make hay while the sun shines can of course just mean making the most of any given opportunity but in this context I think it also refers to sexual desire and exploration and this is further emphasised by the 'loss of innocence' imbued in the lines "Old playthings are all laid to waste Thrown out to make better space " whereby a youth transgresses and abandons the toys and playfulness of childhood to become preoccupied with being a sexual man more interested in relationships and work; and in respect to the latter becomes a slave to the machine, as a janitor in Baltimore. The joyful aspirations of childhood are supplanted by the harsh realities of adulthood. In this respect making a 'better space' is viewed somewhat with irony - yes it is a right of passage but the narrative just laments what was left behind at that turning point. Whatever it's about I was instantly hooked when I first heard this. I love the almost ethereal vocal style coupled with a humdrum (the machine of working life?) percussive beat and that oh so sublime baseline which haunts as much as the nostalgia in the lyrics. I got the album on the basis of this track alone. :-) |
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| Steely Dan – Hey Nineteen Lyrics | 14 years ago |
| Everyone's getting hung up on a 'fine Columbian' meaning cocaine or cannabis but, it could also refer to nothing more innocuos than a fine Columbian cigar which our ageing Donald would savour with his Cueva Gold tequilla. Remember; this was back in the days when smoking in bars was not only legal but derigour for a guy of a certain age. | |
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