| Richard Thompson – The Great Valerio Lyrics | 9 years ago |
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Like so many Thompson songs, this one has multiple levels of interpretation. Historically, it would be about the famous 19th century tightrope walker, Blondin, who repeatedly walked across a rope from the states to Canada . . . Thompson confirmed this in a pdf book with the same title you can find a link to on his Wikipedia page After that, it's a lot more open to guessing, but here's my (current) verse by verse: 1 - A picture of the ideal enlightened psyche, the "great hero" inside, who cannot make a poor decision and is able to look directly at the suffering and emptiness of life without losing any composure, already in the ideal heaven/nirvana he is travelling towards. What we all wish our lives could be. Superman. See Nietzche, thus spake Zarathustra: "Man is a tightrope between superman and the abyss". And, yes, the path to enlightenment is perilous for all but the master to tread, Valerio being the master. 2- Us, afraid to tread the path or else "fools", who believe they know the way to perfection but run the very real risk of falling from the state of perfect grace they extol, whether they actually see the light or not. The rest of us seek a semblance of grace by following an ideal to the best of our ability, without actually balancing on a cross or a wire or a master's path . . . usually through human love, as our "hearts turn like the seasons". Yet, it is beautiful even to seek, and those who "learn to watch" become "acrobats of love". Chorus- As above. Valerio as (nearly?) unreachable human ideal. 3- Beware, fools! Do not proclaim your answer so quickly, or trust in your own infallibility, for Valerio you are not. None can save you when you fail, except perhaps the "net" which may or may not be divine grace. Yet those perfect beings (Jesus, Buddha, etc.) are there for a reason, beautiful to contemplate . . . an invitation to all humanity. The last two lines are the tricky part - "I'm your friend until you use me and then be sure I won't be there" My guess is the speaker switches to God/Valerio, who wants humanity to rely on themselves and will not intervene to save us from our own mistakes just because we say a few prayers. A warning to pious fools. This song was before Richard's conversion to Sufism. |
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| Richard Thompson – Outside Of the Inside Lyrics | 9 years ago |
| @[th1nk4y0urself:17901] In a 2004 concert Thompson said it was "a Taliban's eye view of the Western world". But I still have no idea what "the misery cord" that those grey pious people are kneeling on is. The Muslims I've asked have no clue either. | |
| Richard Thompson – Shoot Out the Lights Lyrics | 9 years ago |
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Of all RT songs to have no comments (although there aren't nearly enough here that do), this one begs for them . . . truly iconic guitar drama, and solos that will bend your mind if you have one. Thompson has said that, at least on one level, it relates to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. I imagine an Afghani militia member engaged in urban guerilla warfare by night against the invaders, while hiding by day. As for less overtly historical meanings, it was written a year or two before he left his (pregnant) wife Linda for his current wife (see "Man in Need" from the same album), so there's probably nothing direct to read in there, but it's almost certainly the feeling of a mind under siege and avoiding -or destroying- all outside scrutiny. While making secret moves of it's own. The gun/trigger could be the ability to lie to others . . . or even a syringe full of dope to blot out one's own consciousness. As a personal note on the latter interpretation, it was the perfect soundtrack to a brief phase of solitary drug abuse while holed up in an apartment in Saigon. Insert your own secret paranoia here. But not necessarily Thompson's . . . as a songwriter, he's great at symbolic character portraits of other people. |
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| Sebadoh – Not Too Amused Lyrics | 9 years ago |
| Always thought it was "slack-jawed". As in, stoned at the bakesale. | |
| Sebadoh – The Freed Pig Lyrics | 9 years ago |
| One of the few bitter reality-rooted songs with some accountability It's mostly about how he feels guilty for his own behavior, but still feels sorry for himself and thinks J was arrogant as fuck for kicking him out. I'd say. | |
| Sebadoh – The Freed Pig Lyrics | 9 years ago |
| One of the few bitter reality-rooted songs with some accountability It's mostly about how he feels guilty for his own behavior, but still feels sorry for himself and thinks J was arrogant as fuck for kicking him out. I'd say. | |
| Sebadoh – Too Pure Lyrics | 9 years ago |
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I've been wondering what drug this song is referring to for awhile (maybe 20 years). It sounds autobiographical: doesn't mean it is, but LB is known for that and there were a few songs that sounded like he was dabbling from the Harmacy era. Pot ("Bakesale", "Smoke a Bowl") is the drug I tend to associate with Barlow, but there are 2 references to blood ("Heavy in my . . . ", "If I give it up, clean out my . . ") which might indicate IV use. The key clue may be "I stretch until I'm sore/then open up for (four?) more." More of what? There are some references on other tracks that are probably to amphetamines, but that might be someone else in the band (like Lowenstein) yowling about Crystal Gypsies and Weed against Speed. The song "Skull" talks about "chasing dragons through the snow", which would suggest Lou smokin' heroin. Heroin doesn't normally make one edgy. Lou's material is so intimate that you want to know the details of the story, if they exist, or at least I do. The actual meaning of the song appears to be a person experiencing relationship tension and figuring out if it's him, his drug habits, or the other person. he feels pressure from his superego ("I got a saint . . .") but thinks he's being harsh on himself ("never understood me but still tells me how to live"). He thinks about changing his lifestyle, but doesn't know if it will actually improve matters (suggesting it is pot in the reference, which is subtle enough that you're not sure if it's a problem or not). The last lines are a judgement on himself, for not being pure and connected enough, with the double meaning of "connected" prominent. I think. |
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| Leonard Cohen – Teachers Lyrics | 10 years ago |
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@[xpsychicheartsx:4389] Sorry about the empty comment. An accident. I very much like your interpretation, up until he gets to the hospital, which may be symbolic instead of literal. The scalpel blade may be a reference to suicidal thoughts or mental rather than physical self mutilation. The silver spoon may be a reference to drug (heroin) use, which he was no stranger to at that point in his career, which has an element of self mutilation, especially when you're a very conscious guy and you know what you're doing to yourself. This was about the time he was shooting up with Janis in the Chelsea hotel. The idea of spending hatred being a good thing, I'm not sure about. He asks his "teachers' how much the suppers (possibly the fame and money he was just beginning to acquire, or even the women) cost, and the hatred seems to be both price and currency, a suffering he endured which fueled his music and his despair as well. "Someone gave me wishes" might refer to his becoming known outside literary circles when Judy Collins etc. started covering things like Suzanne, and he started "running for the money and the flesh" (as per Chelsea Hotel #2 again). For those who believe LC never experimented with homosexuality, I refer you both "and then I was embraced by men" and that element in Beautiful Losers. Except he realizes he wasn't getting quite what he was looking for. And some critic (God, himself, fans) knows he hadn't expressed himself fully yet. "The words you sang were wrong" I do agree with your ending. No one else decides when your lessons are done. Thanks for liking this song as much as I do. |
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| Leonard Cohen – Teachers Lyrics | 10 years ago |
| @[xpsychicheartsx:4388] | |
| Leonard Cohen – First We Take Manhattan Lyrics | 10 years ago |
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It seems there are quite a few interpretations of the metaphor that kicked off Cohen's late 80's resurgence. I won't offer my own, since I believe it was meant to be interpreted in multiple ways. However, there is at least one reference to one of his older songs no one seems to have picked up on: "Remember me? I used to live for music. Remember me? I brought your groceries in." compares to: "Just some grateful, faithful, women's favorite singing millionaire the patron saint of envy and the grocer of despair working for the Yankee dollar" (Field Commander Cohen) He's ringing in his own changes, commenting on his evolution in a way others can identify with, and proclaiming the new identity he adopted in the late 80s and early 90s, with I'm Your Man and The Future Of course, Berlin points to Holocaust references just as Manhattan would point to fashion and (music) industry references. The "terrorism" theory is, 8i my opinion, taking the metaphor at face value. But he is certainly adopting the role of a revolutionary for this song - and a few others. Field Commander, the Partisan (not originally his),There is a War, etc. Oh, and "the monkey and the plywood violin" (note the mocking laughter). The monkey would point to addiction, being a classic metaphor for same (note the "ape with angel glands" in Master Song off his first album, which probably is a drug song). As well as the drug reference in this one. The plywood violin would seem to be flimsy despair, since LC was viewed for quite some time as a very depressing songwriter ("I'm not a pessimist. A pessimist thinks it's going to rain and I'm already soaked to the bone", from an interview), and is again a classic metaphor. But he practiced on that damn thing every night, and he made the violin cry tears of redemptive blood, which he was ready to let flow in 1988. Religious themes are a norm in his work, and he bears the name of the priestly tribe of Israel, which was never lost on him, although he had supplemented (not replaced) Judaism with Zen Buddhism by this point. So those theories have support. And women have also been an extremely major theme, so the prosaic interpretation of leaving a domestic life to tour would apply also. His sister is probably metaphorical, but may stand for a female friend, of which he would seem to have had many. There was a point in the early 80s where he was taking psychiatric medication, including anti depressants and ritalin, which appears in biographies (and the ritalin is referenced in a poem in back of Stranger Music). And remember the 80s music industry? Thus that whole "I don't like . . ." verse. Give the great artist his due. He was a celebrated poet, and a criminally forgotten master novelist (Beautiful Losers, anyone? Among the greatest novels ever) prior to becoming one of the world's greatest songwriters - nearly 50 years ago. No point in locking this song into a single interpretation. He knows how to stack images and meanings so that the feeling comes through clear, and you can find what you're looking for in the lyrics. |
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| Leonard Cohen – Avalanche Lyrics | 13 years ago |
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My interpretation is that it's an aspect of Chen's muse talking to him, and those inspired in a similar way. Which is not to say anyone else's is wrong or unsupported. But, recently, I hear the lines like this, possibly because I am a one man band partially named after this song: Well I stepped into an avalanche, (I entered the world of senses) It covered up my soul; (but could not be properly expressed) When I am not this hunchback that you see, (When I am not this negative ugliness I project) I sleep beneath the golden hill. (I remain as an eternal archetype of desire) You who wish to conquer pain, (To defeat what I express) You must learn, learn to serve me well. (You must find it's perfect expression through yourself) You strike my side by accident (You come across my dark vein of creativity) As you go down for your gold. (As you search for your own voice and meaning/success L.C often said he got into music cause it paid better than poetry) The cripple here that you clothe and feed (This archetype to which you give musical form) Is neither starved nor cold; (Does not actually need you, many others do the same) He does not ask for your company, (You are not necessary), Not at the centre, the centre of the world. [Because I (the archetype) am essential and eternal in the human spirit] When I am on a pedestal, You did not raise me there. ( I made you famous and relevant, not the other way around) Your laws do not compel me To kneel grotesque and bare. (You can't invoke me for your art without experiencing me on my own terms) I myself am the pedestal (Everyone listens to your dark songs because I am inside them too) For this ugly hump at which you stare. (And that's why you find me compelling to write about) You who wish to conquer pain, You must learn what makes me kind; (If you want to stop suffering, find the key to the redemption of the archetype and it's real meaning.) The crumbs of love that you offer me, (Fake, maudlin, rehashed emotions will not do the trick) They're the crumbs I've left behind. (They have already been expressed.) Your pain is no credential here, (Your personal suffering is not special, and entitles you to nothing) It's just the shadow, shadow of my wound. (But it shows you where I am inside your psyche) I have begun to long for you, (You are feeling the need to say) I who have no greed (What does not need or want to be said) I have begun to ask for you, (You are becoming a chosen vehicle of my expression) I who have no need. (Although I am omnipresent in everyone already) You say you've gone away from me, (You want to separate your life from the force you invoked, and find a gentler muse) But I can feel you when you breathe. (But I'm in you now, constantly, like it or not.) Do not dress in those rags for me, (Don't pretend your personal experience of suffering is unique and worthy of sympathy) I know you are not poor (It isn't, and we both know it.) And don't love me quite so fiercely now (I gave you ideas, and you were proud, but lose the pride) When you know that you are not sure, (You have not yet fully experienced me) It is your turn, beloved, It is your flesh that I wear (But you will. And so will others, through you.). |
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| Leonard Cohen – Avalanche Lyrics | 13 years ago |
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My interpretation is that it's an aspect of Chen's muse talking to him, and those inspired in a similar way. Which is not to say anyone else's is wrong or unsupported. But, recently, I hear the lines like this, possibly because I am a one man band partially named after this song: Well I stepped into an avalanche, (I entered the world of senses) It covered up my soul; (but could not be properly expressed) When I am not this hunchback that you see, (When I am not this negative ugliness I project) I sleep beneath the golden hill. (I remain as an eternal archetype of desire) You who wish to conquer pain, (To defeat what I express) You must learn, learn to serve me well. (You must find it's perfect expression through yourself) You strike my side by accident (You come across my dark vein of creativity) As you go down for your gold. (As you search for your own voice and meaning/success L.C often said he got into music cause it paid better than poetry) The cripple here that you clothe and feed (This archetype to which you give musical form) Is neither starved nor cold; (Does not actually need you, many others do the same) He does not ask for your company, (You are not necessary), Not at the centre, the centre of the world. [Because I (the archetype) am essential and eternal in the human spirit] When I am on a pedestal, You did not raise me there. ( I made you famous and relevant, not the other way around) Your laws do not compel me To kneel grotesque and bare. (You can't invoke me for your art without experiencing me on my own terms) I myself am the pedestal (Everyone listens to your dark songs because I am inside them too) For this ugly hump at which you stare. (And that's why you find me compelling to write about) You who wish to conquer pain, You must learn what makes me kind; (If you want to stop suffering, find the key to the redemption of the archetype and it's real meaning.) The crumbs of love that you offer me, (Fake, maudlin, rehashed emotions will not do the trick) They're the crumbs I've left behind. (They have already been expressed.) Your pain is no credential here, (Your personal suffering is not special, and entitles you to nothing) It's just the shadow, shadow of my wound. (But it shows you where I am inside your psyche) I have begun to long for you, (You are feeling the need to say) I who have no greed (What does not need or want to be said) I have begun to ask for you, (You are becoming a chosen vehicle of my expression) I who have no need. (Although I am omnipresent in everyone already) You say you've gone away from me, (You want to separate your life from the force you invoked, and find a gentler muse) But I can feel you when you breathe. (But I'm in you now, constantly, like it or not.) Do not dress in those rags for me, (Don't pretend your personal experience of suffering is unique and worthy of sympathy) I know you are not poor (It isn't, and we both know it.) And don't love me quite so fiercely now (I gave you ideas, and you were proud, but lose the pride) When you know that you are not sure, (You have not yet fully experienced me) It is your turn, beloved, It is your flesh that I wear (But you will. And so will others, through you.). |
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