| The 6ths – Give Me Back My Dreams Lyrics | 11 years ago |
| Such a great album. It manages to be incredibly moving, ironic, and completely cheesy at the same time. Even the title of the album and band is kind of a joke, if you think about it. It's like they tried to pick the hardest words to pronounce if you have a lisp. The 6ths, Hyacinths, Thistles. Which is kind of funny because Stephin Merritt is gay, and the worst nightmare for a gay guy (believe me I know) is having your lisp made fun of. Many layers of meaning in this album. | |
| Lady GaGa – Just Dance Lyrics | 11 years ago |
| The song's lyrics are pretty obvious. The only part that I wonder about is the very first two lines: Red One. Konvict. I understand Red One is a producer. What is her connection to Konvict records? An influence? A benefactor? Curious. | |
| Van Morrison – Madame George Lyrics | 11 years ago |
| I have a very strong emotional connection to this song. He perfectly captures the adolescent fascination with someone living completely outside the rules. It's a defining moment that many sensitive artists will relate to, the feeling of liberation that you feel in the presence of someone who simply doesn't obey the rules you were brought up to believe as the order of the world itself. In this sense, it also articulates a sense of the uncanny, the occult, which have a long association with transvestitism. In native American cultures the two-spirited or transgendered were considered to have a stronger connection to the spirit world because of the fluidity of their identity. It's also a reminiscence on a young man's imagination of the adult world. Young people can distinguish authenticity better than grown-ups, and the narrator of the song senses something different in Madame George, and this has a profound effect on him, so much so that it acts as a kind of landmark in his personal history around which many memories orbit. I wouldn't say it can be reduced to a this happens and then this happens and then this happens kind of narrative, as the nostalgic perspective of the song is so poignant that the song comes to be about memories of childhood and its defining moments generally. | |
| The Knife – Full Of Fire Lyrics | 12 years ago |
| I'm basing my interpretation on both the short film released as the official video for this song and the lyrics. I just watched the film, and found it really interesting, if maybe a little predictable. Makes me think of early 'nineties identity politics theory, and queer theory. Having been immersed in this theory back then, the video feels like a throwback to that period of passionate "New Queer Cinema" but still seems fresh and edgy today, which shows how slowly power is wrested from those who wield it. Maybe that's the point? To draw attention to the scary rise of right-wing conservative reactionary politics, maybe even more overt in Sweden than N. America. There's some comment on representation, who gets to write the story? What is opinion, your view, your story, and what is his-story? The guys, the signori ("sirs" or "senior" homophonically, superiors) vs. the queers, the freaks, whose desire is outside the mainstream, challenging gender-bound power. Our fantasy lives, our identities, our stories, who we think we are intersect private and public spaces. The lady in red who can't pee on the street like a man, so squats down in a kind of occupy the gutter action, bringing attention to herself from passerby, by defying taboos against women's bodily needs expressed in public spaces (urination, breast-feeding, menstruation). The elderly woman cross-dressing as a man, and fantasizing about a beautiful woman in pearls. Just a stroll in the city, but politicized because of what is going on in her heart and head, her screaming in frustration, rage. The child who sees the injustice that her parents do not see, the sadness and rage of the working class, the maid's private rebellion of breaking the wine glasses, the delicate objects of the rich. Only the little girl sees the aftermath of her tempest in a teacup. The power switch where the policewoman yelling at the protester turns into a pick-up scene and they walk off smiling, the protester in kinky handcuffs. In a sentence: our desires are political. Maybe it's a good time to be reminded of that so we can connect with the fire within that motivates societal change. | |
| The Knife – Pass This On Lyrics | 13 years ago |
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I've always loved this song. The cheesy Casio steel drum rhythm combined with a feeling of longing and loneliness that's palpable makes it one of my favorites. I love the drag queen in the video, lip-syncing to Karin's voice, trying to be her, as it were, anything to get closer to the brother, the love object. She perfectly captures the mood of the song, and makes me wonder if it might have even been a drag queen who originally asked Karin to "pass this on," i.e. her feelings of love for the brother, if it was drawn from an experience she had. Everyone dancing at the end is the ultimate fantasy of everyone getting along, all barriers to understanding and acceptance obliterated. There is no possibility of the singer's character ever being able to pass on the feelings herself, she can only admire the brother from a distance, obsessing over his laughter with his sister, the way they dance together. She is full of questions for someone who knows him better than she ever will. What kind of girls is he into? Would he accept me if he knew what I do? (Drag queen? Prostitute?) "Can he play," is he allowed to 'fool around?" Has he asked about my age?" She's full of doubt and inner conflict. What's his name? Maybe I shouldn't even ask that, it would spoil my fantasy. She is "in love" with someone whose name she doesn't even know. I get the impression Karin is very close to her brother, almost like they are twins or lovers, which makes the probing by this stranger doubly strange. Why would Karin share anything about her brother with this person? What makes it moving is that we can all relate to having an intense crush on someone, and wanting to find out something, anything about them. Is there any possibility they might share our feelings? Haven't we all been there? Desperate for any scrap of information we can find about the object of our affection, but scared that something we might find out will ruin the fantasy we've built up in our minds. We really don't want to hear anything that would burst the bubble of our obsessive longing for something we secretly know we'll never have. |
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| The Knife – Pass This On Lyrics | 13 years ago |
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I'm in love with your brother What's his name? I thought I'd come by to see him again And when you two danced Oh, what a dance And when you two laughed Oh, what a laugh Has he mentioned my age love? Or is he more into young girls with dyed black hair? I'm in love with your brother I thought I'd come by I'm in love with your brother Yes, I am But maybe I shouldn't ask for his name And you danced Oh, what a dance And you laughed Oh, what a laugh Does he know what I do? And you'll pass this on, won't you? And if I ask him once what would he say? Is he willing? Can he play? (I wasn't really looking for some more than Some company on the dance floor And does he know what I do? And you'll pass this on, won't you and...) |
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