| Suzanne Vega – Tom's Diner Lyrics | 7 years ago |
|
The broad theme is alienation, but there's also a steady motif of people being self-centered and ignoring one another. Waiter ignores narrator because he apparently likes this umbrella woman. Narrator ignores them, in turn, because they make her feel uncomfortable. Narrator ignores story of dead man because it does not seem immediately relevant to herself, seeks distraction. Dead man died in a very self-destructive way. Narrator thinks she is being watched, watcher is in fact woman obliviously checking own appearance. Narrator "tries not to notice," presumably because she once again feels uncomfortable. Narrator thinks of lost love who is probably not thinking of her. Everyone, in short, is in their "own little world." |
|
| Courtney Barnett – Elevator Operator Lyrics | 10 years ago |
|
It's a fun song about a guy who's frustrated with his life. When he feels particularly stressed he likes to go to the top of a very tall building and just meditate at the sight of everything below. One day, while riding the elevator, he meets a wealthy, stuck-up woman who assumes he must be suicidal. As the song says, she is probably just "projecting." Though the main character is poor and frustrated, he's also found an escape that brings him peace. The woman, in contrast, still seems anxious despite her wealth. The chorus line "I'd give anything to have skin like you" is revealing. She is coveting how nice the fellow's skin is, despite the fact that she has presumably already spent a lot of money making herself look beautiful. She has to assume that the poor person has a worse life than herself in order to make herself feel better with her own lot. |
|
| The Aquabats – Pool Party Lyrics | 10 years ago |
| It's obviously a fun and goofy song without much depth to it, but I often get a sort of... insecure vibe from the lyrics. In the sense that the happiness and boastfulness is just SO giddy and exaggerated it might be saying something subtle about the neediness of the sort of people who chase popularity and approval in this way. | |
| XTC – The Ballad Of Peter Pumpkinhead Lyrics | 10 years ago |
| Peter is a sort of Christlike figure, but seems to be anti-religious and anti-Christian, which in the song's mind, is what it would take to be considered truly radical and controversial in today's society. | |
* This information can be up to 15 minutes delayed.