| Liz Phair – Batmobile Lyrics | 12 years ago |
| Thank you, Bair23! Mind sharing where you read/saw this information? | |
| Veruca Salt – Seether Lyrics | 12 years ago |
| Thank you! And Nina's nod to "Seether" in "Volcano Girls" ("Well, here's another clue if you please: The seether's Louise!") certainly agrees with this. Though, Nina wrote the song, not Louise... | |
| Liz Phair – Headache Lyrics | 12 years ago |
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I suppose this is one of those catchy little ditties - harmless though they seem - which bewitch you for quite some time. Hypnotic bass line, exquisite guitar part during the bridge - this song is an experience, so bittersweet in its brevity. I became obsessed with attempting to coax the meaning out of it - as if there were actually a concrete meaning buried somewhere beneath that intoxicating bass-line. And then I realized there was not some grand, abstract metaphor awaiting me - it's got the same damn meaning as all of Liz's songs: She lives this miserable double life. Her public persona is that of a man-eater: "You can take me home, but I will never be your girl, and I won't let your mystery unfurl." After all, she crafted that image with her casually raunchy lyrics in Exile. However, there is a discrepancy between her public persona and her actual life, "I'm a psychosomatic sister..." It's all in her head - she's "secretly timid," remember? The cleverness lies in the extended metaphor of herself as a soldier fighting the Russian Army. Recall her cavalierly sexual sentiment in "Girls, Girls, Girls": "I get away, almost everyday, with what the girls call murder." Liz fancied herself a "murderer" of men - a woman who got what she wanted and walked away, leaving her prey devastated and desperate for more. She depicts that battle as a figment of her imagination, yet still indulges in the psychosomatic glory, proclaiming, "And I think I'm the last survivor!" Now, herein lies the brilliance: She sings, "I've got seven other men in the ditches behind me, and I think I'm the last survivor." So, if the men are on her side, who is the "enemy" she sings of in the first line? "On one side of me lies the enemy, the other half is dead." She is her own enemy, crafting this sexually ravenous façade. Her true self wages a war against her imagined self - her mind is constantly conflicted - thus creating her own "Headache." |
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| Liz Phair – Down Lyrics | 12 years ago |
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Relevant: https://twitter.com/PhizLair/status/305535301420478466 "And again, "Down" is not about my husband. I've lived a pretty interesting life. Does not need banal embellishment to merit a wikipage :)." Prior to this, "Down," was widely believed to be about her ex-husband, Jim Staskauskas. |
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| Liz Phair – Uncle Alvarez Lyrics | 12 years ago |
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I hate to be "that" person, but you're all terribly mistaken. For Liz's sake - just listen to the chorus! "Oh, oh, oh, IMAGINARY accomplishments..." Liz is mocking a tall tale-teller. Further evidence: "He's NOT really part-Cherokee Indian He DIDN'T fight in the Civil War." Don't believe me? Take it from Liz. I own a beautiful mp3 of her playing "Uncle Alvarez" live in 1998 in which she states about the song, "...Stems from a lot of dinner tables where a lot of men expounded at great length about anything they wanted to (laughs) and a lot of the women just sat there and smiled." Essentially, the song mocks men who fabricate grand tales of their success - rather, the success they would like to have accomplished. Feminist though she may be, Liz doesn't let their wives get away - they are guilty in their deliberate ignorance (perhaps not ignorance, but deliberate submissiveness?) to their husbands' faulty tales. By far the cleverest song on Whitechocolatespaceegg - and admittedly cleverer (though not more honest) than anything on Exile. |
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| Lana Del Rey – Pawn Shop Blues Lyrics | 13 years ago |
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Nice interpretation, bambinoir! LOVE the verse that begins "In the name of..." But I think you did it justice, so I won't interpret that particular lyric. Lana is quite good with symbolic hooks. The song isn't called "Breakup Blues." It's "Pawn Shop Blues." She is, essentially, equating a breakup with trading in precious possessions to get by. It sheds entirely new light on the topic, revealing a whole new perspective on the end - or "death," as I prefer to call it - of a relationship. Once you have reached that lonely, but tranquil point of acceptance, you finally have the strength to let "nice things go." The golden earrings she pawns symbolize the memories she is letting go - perhaps the very sign of final acceptance. To release those memories is to deny the sacredness of the dead relationship. In a manner of speaking, to end one's mourning over their dead relationship. She pawns the earrings to get by monetarily; pawns the memories to get by emotionally. "I can do this once more...No man can keep me together...Been broken since I was born." So beautiful, it shatters my soul with every listen. Here, Lana realizes life's harshest truth: People are not going to make you happy. YOU are going to make you happy. She realizes she could go through this again and again - and emerge from her mourning alive each time. No man broke her; the harsh consequences of human existence broke her. |
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| Lana Del Rey – Smarty Lyrics | 13 years ago |
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I agree, ilikeboats, it's definitely "beat me." I would love to see some fan interpretations of this! This song is hypnotic. I've gone through phases verging on addiction to it. (It's been like that with a lot of early Lana for me, though.) The verses are quite clearly about an abusive relationship in which Lana finds masochistic comfort. Because she is subservient to him in their relationship she has become dependent on him, helpless without him. But does anyone else think that the refrain ("Who has a face like....) is meant to be from the man's point of view? He refers to himself as "Smarty" to assert that he knows best and imply that Lana is stupid, or unable to make the informed decisions "Smarty" can. Perhaps Lana is thinking of leaving the deadly relationship, but he convinces her that "Smarty" knows best - and no one else has a "face" or "voice" like Smarty does. Finally, "Smarty" deviously turns it around on Lana - "Who has a choice like Smarty does?" He implies that HE has the power to leave in the relationship, not Lana. And that is why she stays/stayed with him. Perhaps writing this song is how she gained great enough insight into the troubled relationship to realize it was Smarty who needed HER; She did not need him. I like to think that this song has helped at least one victim in an abusive relationship.... Lana has the courage to speak the truth when it comes to controversy, and that is what it takes to save lives. |
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| Lana Del Rey – For K (Part 2) Lyrics | 13 years ago |
| Actually, wecametodance, blue.painted.tears is indeed correct. Actually, you are both correct. These lyrics are the final version of "For K: Part 2" which appears on The Nevada Album. The correction you made, wecametodance, is actually from the demo version, which Lana released under the name "Lizzy Grant and the Phenomena." Both versions have a unique beauty to them, but I've always preferred the demo version... it's eerier. | |
| Lana Del Rey – Jimmy Gnecco Lyrics | 13 years ago |
| Usually this song is seen as "Jimmy Necco," but is based after Lana's real-life (ex) boyfriend, "Jimmy Gnecco." | |
| Lana Del Rey – Pretty Baby Lyrics | 13 years ago |
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As I noted in an earlier comment on mistitled "For K: Part 1" (which is actually "Sirens") there is no song entitled "Pretty Baby." It was some sort of fan error...understandable, of course, with our limited knowledge of Lana's "May Jailer" days. This song is actually called "For K: Part 1." There are echoes of it in the better known "For K: Part 2" in which Lana croons "Pretty baby..." Chilling. Remind anyone of Cat Power's music? |
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| Lana Del Rey – For K (Part 1) Lyrics | 13 years ago |
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First of all it's "Funny, I don't feel free even though it's not me." Second of all, this is NOT "For K: Part 1." This is "Sirens." "For K: Part 1" is actually the song mistitled as "Pretty Baby," and there is no REAL "Pretty Baby." ...Nevertheless, all this confusion is what makes Lana so alluring! |
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