| Broken Bells – The Mall and Misery Lyrics | 12 years ago |
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I share a lot of luckyguess' thoughts, but I have a bit of a looser interpretation. In my view, the narrator is speaking rhetorically to someone he cares about, passing along advice that he has learned the hard way from life experience. Perhaps she is a bit younger, 25 while he is approaching his 30's and she is still a bit naive about "the real world". However, he relents that despite his experiences he still doesnt have it figured out. "I know what I know would not fill a thimble". He sees the flaws with the way things are, and worries that like all the others he will become accustomed to western civilization and therefore less apt to want to do something to change the system. By participating in conspicuous consumption, you are sacrificing morality for comfort. This is a trade-off he is reluctant to make but at the same time does not see any alternatives because the game is already so established. "they don't let go, so keep them away". His only advice is to ignore the outside world and focus instead on the things that personally provide you real spiritual fufillment vs. the things ads tell you on tv and inside the mall will make you feel satisfied. By taking the easy way out, you miss out on the greatest aspect of life, growing into something great. |
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| Nada Surf – Popular Lyrics | 12 years ago |
| I think that this song is less about teenage love and high school social status and more about a personal opinion about the value of such constructs. Some others have commented mentioning that they identify with this song because "the geeks got the last laugh" for example.. and while thats the way it works in hollywood and hence the way the american public supports the underdog, the reality is simpler. The song is not saying that the popular kids are unsuccessful or will be unsuccessful - what is is saying is that the social constructs themselves are meaningless, and the resulting entitlement is a mere illusion supported by frivolous perks, like access to a car or a position on the football team. The verses are a more personal account of someone who is caught within this social hierarchy and is feeling screwed over by it, and its true nature is finally revealed- filling him with a sense of disillusionment and ultimately redemption from his suffering because he now realizes the futility of participating. | |
| Beck – The New Pollution Lyrics | 13 years ago |
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"She's got cigarette on each arm..." - A perfect example of "new pollution", cigarette smoke. This is a classic beck move to start out with something literal and then gradually become more figurative. "She's got the lily-white cavity crazes..." -She smokes cigarettes, but yet worries about her teeth being white. He is poking fun at trends in vanity. "She's got a carburetor tied to the moon..." - On a car, the carburetor regulates the flow of air and fuel (the life blood of an engine) .. Her "carburetor" is tied to the moon in the sense that she functions best at night. He is either making reference to the fact that she gets horny at night or she gets energized by going out on the town Pink eyes looking to the food of the ages - When she goes out, shes looking for some lovin' ;) "She's got a hand on a wheel of pain..." - This hurts his feelings a lot, of course. "She can talk to the mangling strangers..." - She's going to flirt with strangers who are just going to "mangle" her body "She can sleep in a fiery bog..." (she can sleep with someone else) "Throwing troubles to the dying embers..." and when she does, he's going to know about it and its going to bother him. The 'dying embers' are his relationship with the girl he is singing to. "She's got a paradise camouflage Like a whip-crack sending me shivers She's a boat through a strip-mine ocean Riding low on the drunken rivers" She's trying to get hers over on him by pretending to live "well", but in his opinion, she's robbed herself of the best parts of life, hence the "strip-mine ocean" I really hate when people say that Beck's songs are meaningless because if you break them down line by line they are the complete opposite. This is actually a very dense song. If only the people on this website weren't the same way... |
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| Twin Sister – Meet the Frownies Lyrics | 13 years ago |
| Her boyfriend is content with things the way they are: they hang out before he goes to work, get high together, and hook up... but she is looking for a deeper connection. When she attempts to confront this issue, he only recoils further. It seems like she isn't even really a pot smoker ('cause you taught me to) but instead she is getting high because she knows that's the only way she'll be able to spend this time with him. This is interesting because marijuana often has the effect of making people more introspective and less in touch with their surroundings, thus distancing the boyfriend further from her psychologically. The last stanza implies that as a drug user, the boyfriend feels no need to leave this space that they share, and she is coming to accept that this is the only side of him that she will know. | |
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