submissions
| Rufus Wainwright – Hallelujah (Leonard Cohen cover) Lyrics
| 10 years ago
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It's always seemed obvious to me that this song - written and first sung by Leonard Cohen - expresses, fundamentally, Cohen's bafflement by this Biblical story about David & Bathsheba. Bafflement because Cohen is not a Christian and so cannot be expected to understand Biblical stories as they are meant to be understood. |
submissions
| Bob Dylan – Mr. Tambourine Man Lyrics
| 11 years ago
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"Take me on a trip upon your magic swirlin' ship,
My senses have been stripped, my hands can't feel to grip,
My toes too numb to step, wait only for my boot heels
To be wanderin'.
I'm ready to go anywhere, I'm ready for to fade
Into my own parade, cast your dancing spell my way,
I promise to go under it."
I don't agree that these lines necessarily are about death. In fact, if I had to make the argument that the song is about hallucinogenic drugs, I'd probably pick these lines to "prove" it. I think it's a life-affirming song, not fundamentally about death or drugs, which is partly why it's lasted and continues to enchant almost 50 years after Dylan first released it. |
submissions
| Bob Dylan – Mr. Tambourine Man Lyrics
| 11 years ago
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@[hpylori:238] I agree with much or all of that. Dylan, in an interview, said he had been inspired by seeing & hearing a tambourine player at a street festival, the morning after some night before. To my mind, therefore, it seems to me the singer-songwriter-poet is asking "Who's gonna sing for ME?" i.e. who will inspire the singer who inspires so many others?
At least, that's what I thought back in 1971, near the end of an acid trip, as my friend played the song for us. |
submissions
| Rufus Wainwright – Hallelujah (Leonard Cohen cover) Lyrics
| 12 years ago
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No doubt because he doesn't understand Cohen's Biblical reference nor share his belief in the Bible.
Of course, the transcription above should read ""You don't really care for music, do ya?", since that's how Cohen sings it. |
submissions
| Bob Dylan – Like a Rolling Stone Lyrics
| 12 years ago
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I can't help feeling you're all trying to make it more complicated than it is. Surely it's about a girl who "had it all" but now finds herself reduced to penury, and to lowering herself perforce to talking with the tramp etc etc. So, it's a continuation of Bobby's political concerns but infused with poetry i.e. Dylan at his best |
submissions
| U2 – All I Want Is You Lyrics
| 13 years ago
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Yes, just like a river. And it's like one of those songs that seems like it's always existed and the writer or composer just discovered it - like Hubert Parry's tune for "Jerusalem" or Danny Boy or Holst's Jupiter or maybe To Be a Pilgrim. |
submissions
| U2 – All I Want Is You Lyrics
| 13 years ago
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"They promise him the world, never knowing that they are the world to him."
Yes, and vice-versa. It's so beautiful
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submissions
| U2 – All I Want Is You Lyrics
| 13 years ago
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Yes it's beautiful and moving, really touching, it's got to be a love song. It shows their gift for melody, performance, heart-touching sincerity... |
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