| Nickel Creek – You Don't Know What's Going On Lyrics | 11 years ago |
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“You Don’t Know What’s Going On” dates back to Why Should the Fire Die?, but Chris, whose youthful first marriage was unraveling at the time, admits “I was too in the moment to write anything anyone else would want to listen to.” from http://www.nonesuch.com/artists/nickel-creek I also can't help but notice the "bailing water while the ship goes down" lyric that also shows up in Punch Brothers' "Don't Get Married Without Me." Obviously similar themes, probably from Chris Thile's personal experience, but it's fun to contrast them. |
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| Howie Day – Collide Lyrics | 12 years ago |
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My interpretation actually varies a lot from what most people seem to be saying. I see it as the beginning of a relationship. The singer perceives himself as the shy, more dependent one of the relationship, unworthy of the object of his affection, and yet "out of the doubt that fills [his] mind," they've come together. He wakes up with her after presumably, they've finally admitted their feelings, but he hasn't completely internalized that she also likes him. He feels like he's clinging onto her, that she is the confident one and he is always a step behind. He wants to continue developing their relationship, however, hence "I'm close behind." |
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| Sufjan Stevens – The Predatory Wasp of the Palisades Is Out to Get Us! Lyrics | 13 years ago |
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I don't think that the song has to be about romantic love necessarily. Like other commenters have said, we can feel very strongly about friends without associating romance with that love. Another commenter also talked about how, regardless of gender, friends "making moves" on other friends can be scary. I think as kids, especially in the ten to twelve age range, everyone is growing up at different rates, which is part of why we often grow apart from friends at that age. When I was eleven, I lost a good friend because he had a crush on me and I got freaked out. Even now, though we still know each other, we're not close, because we both still feel awkward about it. I know I feel terrible about hurting his feelings, even though it was almost a decade ago. In my opinion, even if Sufjan didn't have romantic feelings for his friend, he and his friend may have been at different stages, and the song is pretty much Sufjan regretting the rift in their friendship and emphasizing how much he still cares about his friend. |
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| Norah Jones – Seven Years Lyrics | 13 years ago |
| I've always thought that maybe this had a connection to Norah's dad, as she only saw him sporadically as a child. | |
| Joan Baez – Gracias a La Vida Lyrics | 13 years ago |
| I can see it being sung sarcastically, having read the lyrics, (since I learned it as a little girl who couldn't speak Spanish,) but I don't think it has to be. Personally, I would interpret with both ironic and sincere parts. "thank you for allowing me to see these injustices" may be ironic, while "thank you for allowing me to see/hear/go to the man I love" is sincere. The entire song thanks life for everything, for laughter and tears ("la risa y el llanto") with which she makes her song ("Los dos materiales que forman mi canto"). I think it's acknowledging that life is a mixed blessing and that the good and the bad is all necessary. | |
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