| Portishead – Elysium Lyrics | 12 years ago |
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Okay, I'll drop a bomb here and say this is about sexual orientation. "No one has said what the truth should be" Means that heteronormativity is not necessarily "the truth", but merely one aspect of many people. No one can say "X is normal, and Y is not". "And no one decided that I'd feel this way", Because sexual orientation is not something you choose, not yourself, not your parents, nor anyone. "If you felt as I, would you betray yourself?" This is quite obvious, would you not want to follow your heart, despite of what others might say? "But, you can't deny how I feel And you can't decide for me" That sort of thing won't change, no matter how hard you try, and it's undeniable it exists. "No one should fear what they cannot see And no ones to blame it's just hypocrisy" No one should be afraid of love between people, (they cannot see it, because it's an abstract thing, love, or maybe it's talking about sex, which usually happens in a private place where other people can't see) and it's a hypocritc society that which talks about freedom and won't let certain people love each other. "It's written in your eyes And how I despise myself" Many LGBT people end up hating themselves and fall into deep depression. It's written in "their eyes" (society's eyes) that people must be "one way", and thus those different from others dislike themselves for not fitting what is written in others' eyes. "And it's your heart That's so wrong Mistaken You'll never know Your feathered sacred self" And it's those who see that love other than heterosexual is evil whose hearts are "wrong", because of their hatred or fear. Using christian imagery, she states that they will never reach a sacred state, be angels or whatever, because of this intolerance, since god is all-loving and wouldn't care what love looks like, as long as it's true love. |
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| Portishead – Cowboys Lyrics | 12 years ago |
| If it has a political meaning, then it's definitely against imperialism: cowboys "conquered" the west, just as the rich countries constantly try to keep the third world opressed and conquered (in an economic way, since now they can't just invade them). They chose an American image to represent the opressors, because they are the power in turn, but it could be any "typical" character of Europe, for that matter. A British band can complain about that just as any, I guess, since it's their government who is guilty of imperialism, not the people living under it. | |
| Vashti Bunyan – Train Song Lyrics | 13 years ago |
| Not only is it missing a chunk, it's also got an extra paragraph that isn't in the song. | |
| Portishead – Threads Lyrics | 13 years ago |
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Finally, (and I better stop doing this or else I'll start hating the song...) part of the lyrics of the song seem to be written in her hand in this vid: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s_eO3FhucD0 You can see it clearly says "When will I sleep?" in the fourth line. If only that could be enhanced digitally... The fact that I've looked into this so much freaks me out. |
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| Portishead – Threads Lyrics | 13 years ago |
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I've also found this site: http://www.alwaysontherun.net/portis.htm#t , where they claim that the lyrics were written and corrected by Beth herself. (Yet apparently only those of the first two albums...) It says the lyrics from the album version and the concerts are different... Which could be true, since "Stand, stand, damned one" might be just too much for some people to bear... |
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| Portishead – Threads Lyrics | 13 years ago |
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I've started listening to many videos of Portishead live in order to understand the lyrics, but I still have a lot of difficulties... In http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rDG-xt09uv8&feature=related it sounds like she says: "Widow or wife, (?)(Makes no sense though) When will I sleep? Where do I go/What will I know with all that I got?" Or "What/when will I know, in all that I got" could also be. It's really hard to listen to. In http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I3nnvm3ufoQ : "Riddle of life (I like this better, because it makes much more sense, but it still sounds much like a "w" sound.) When will I sleep What do/would? I know (Or, as someone else said, "When will I go?") In all that I got?" In http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G7tQUhl-JVY it kinda sounds like "Where do I go In all that I know?" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WuHZ4nWQDrY "What do I know, In all that I've got?" Album version (The hardest imo.) "When and(/or?) why, Will I sleep? What do I know, And where do I go?" In http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=042pCi5lpmA "Widow of why (?) ("Widow of war" makes more sense... but I really here an "y" at the end of that word. Perhaps she says "Window"?) When will I sleep? What do I know In all that I got?" (The "got" sounds like "go", so I'm not really sure.) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1UD7DIZdKQw "Widow of life When will I sleep? Where will I go, with all that I got?" ("Got" still sounds like "go", but the beginning doesn't match!) There's a lot other videos, some have quite a decent quality, but I can't hear anything different than that I've already heard. So, basically: "Widow of life/war / Widow or wife / Riddle of life / When or why When will I sleep? Where do I go / What do/would I know / What will I know / Where will I go ? With all that I got/know / In all that I got/know " I'm also quite sure she says "Tears on tears" and not "tears and tears". I know that I'm only creating more confusion, and this probably won't help a lot. I even started thinking at some point that she just sings different lyrics every time. Anyway, the fact that I'm not a native english speaker might be a factor in my interpretation of the lyrics. This is my favourite song, and that's why I've put so much effort into understanding it. I hope we can clarify what she really says. |
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| Portishead – Machine Gun Lyrics | 13 years ago |
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m3kp9u8qKOM&feature=plcp&context=C3e8a7ebUDOEgsToPDskJIf8-dnI8JqHuBIkuu5gZj She says "Here am I, with plenty, what more can I say?" I've found that watching live concerts really helps when trying to sort out what they're saying. |
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