| Joni Mitchell – The Fiddle And The Drum Lyrics | 13 years ago |
| heavenly math... this is written in the prophetic language of love | |
| Joni Mitchell – The Fiddle And The Drum Lyrics | 13 years ago |
| it is a sign of the times! this is the 99% able to convince 99% of cops to not arrest them... this is rhythm of the heart... this is choir music for Inspiring Peace. | |
| Joni Mitchell – The Fiddle And The Drum Lyrics | 13 years ago |
| there is heavenly math in the language of this song... it is THE song to sing to an officer of lesser laws. | |
| Joni Mitchell – The Fiddle And The Drum Lyrics | 13 years ago |
| c'mon now... you're going to say a thing "sucks" when commenting on a song about unifying in peace? oh, my friend, what time is this? | |
| No More Kings – God Breathed Lyrics | 13 years ago |
| I think understanding this song once can help someone over a breakup, but to understand it twice can make one impervious to worry entirely. | |
| No More Kings – Obey the Groove Lyrics | 13 years ago |
| They never say it, but I think they're from Mercury... the only planet they don't mention is the one of the messenger god. | |
| No More Kings – Zombie Me Lyrics | 13 years ago |
| I'd have to argue "They're coming to get you, Barbara" by this same band. It's on Spotify. | |
| No More Kings – Old Man Walking Lyrics | 13 years ago |
| If I'm ever that old man, I'll be doing this whole thing as a shtick just to see the different kids' reactions... and playing it out as long as they choose to laugh. | |
| No More Kings – Someday Lyrics | 13 years ago |
|
This song does a perfect job of explaining the condition of one who's begun the creative healing process. He's beginning to re-create the stories he's grown up with and discovering his own ability to perform. I'm reminded of a quote from Salvador Dali: "Those who seek to imitate nothing, create nothing." As humans, we have a tremendous ability to learn through observing other humans. When we start playing with, acting out or otherwise depicting the characters in our favorite stories, we begin to open ourselves to the creative inspiration that brought them to our attention in the first place. We make a decision to encourage, rather than discourage, ourselves and suddenly we find ourselves dreaming of what we're willing to work toward. We paint a mental picture of what the future could look like if we bring our own contributions to it. |
|
| No More Kings – Michael (Jump In) Lyrics | 13 years ago |
|
I don't believe anyone could miss the point of this song... Save the world, and always do good by "The Hoff"(and Mr. Feeny). There's just no time to get hung up on if or when we'll ever finish. Right NOW is our chance to either try, or give up. And life is undoubtedly better for those of us who can enjoy the pursuit of trying, rather than stagnating in a wasteland. |
|
| No More Kings – Sweep the Leg Lyrics | 13 years ago |
|
It took me a while to see the message between the lines of this song... It's obviously the point of view of Johnny from "Karate Kid", but it's not ABOUT him so much as it's about his regrettable condition following the devil's bad advice. This represents the dangers of choosing a teacher for the wrong reasons... If you only want to succeed "to be somebody", you're not being anybody at all, because you are making your life's worth conditional upon the expectations of others. If you follow a teacher for no reason other than their willingness to take your money, you're wasting much more than cash on your classes. Ambition without integrity is a recipe for disaster. That, to me, is what this song boils down to. |
|
| No More Kings – Sweep the Leg Lyrics | 13 years ago |
| Ditto here! I think I've heard this album all the way through an average of four times per day since discovering it almost a month ago... I love the transition of it. They tell a complete story of personal development, from being a television "zombie", to an end where all he wants in the world is just "This"; the present moment. | |
| No More Kings – Zombie Me Lyrics | 13 years ago |
|
This song is perfect for the album its on... anyone who is fond of well written metaphors in song writing needs to hear this whole album in order. Verse one, the story of becoming a "zombie", the singer trips over his shoelaces and "dies". This is similar to what we see when we log on to facebook and see our friends, acting like their life is over because someone dumped them, or their iphone wouldn't text in the bathroom. It represents everything encapsulated in "fml"... Tripping on your shoelaces is embarrassing, but if you just tie your shoes and get over it, there's no reason you should have to remember it even happening.. and definitely no reason you have to let the incident come between anyone you care about. "Can't just press undo" means that the character in still trying to move forward, while still feeling the shock he's recently been through. Verse two proves the metaphor. If the singer were a "real" zombie, he would not "have all he needs" as she floats by, distracted by her cell phone. When we're holding on to the damage of our past, we become unattractive to any potential future lovers. We "speak with all the eloquence of livestock" as we try to impress a person we don't internally feel worthy to be with. To FURTHER prove the metaphor, the rap verse describes the "all I need" mentioned in the previous verse... Having been rejected, our zombie enjoys the life of the undead, re-watching the same old stories(Happy Days, All in the Family, Ghostbusters 2) on TV and seeking out the company of others with no compulsion to create their own art of any sort. The last version of the chorus would hook hardest those people who just don't get any of this. "Recruiting new meet as we march to the beat, now our army's complete." This could translate metaphorically to meeting new friends based on nothing more than media interest, who are equally cut off from their inner light of creativity... which is surprisingly common in a country that was "land of the free" before Reagan's zombie army stamped out the smolder of those ashes... This is a very lighthearted and funny song, but also very carefully considered and well executed. |
|
| Tom Waits – Two Sisters Lyrics | 13 years ago |
|
This isn't the discussion I'd hoped to find... so I joined this site so I could talk myself through figuring out this song, and share it. "Bow, balance to me" Think "balance" like a checkbook. The "me" in this repetition seems to shift perspectives through the song, but I interpret it as the voice of the storyteller... who is the only character not referred to through any of the various scenes. This can be interpreted as either a command, and claiming the balance of some transaction, or alternatively; bestowing another with a bow, and offering them the balance. "and I'll be true to my love, if my love will be true to me" This is the hook. A vague, yet inarguable truism of conditional love. You love what, or whomever, only IF they comply with your wishes for it, or them. This line can shift speakers for each and every one of the characters in the story, but I keep coming back to the conceptual voice of the storyteller. So who are all of the characters? Where and how do they all fit in? Verse one: 5 characters and an introduction to the storyteller "There was an old woman, lived by the seashore" This is the mother... She is introduced, but otherwise unmentioned. Without her, there would be no story because these daughters would never have been born. "Bow, and balance to me." This is the start of identifying the storyteller... who orchestrates the entire stage of this reality. The storyteller has brought life to the mother of four daughters, the youngest of which is destined(**spoiler alert**) to drown following an altercation with the eldest. "Hello, mother of four, give us a courtsey and your money." Maybe the storyteller is writing the story for tips, or maybe the storyteller is a malicious high overlord in this world... There is no speculation one can offer without reflecting what's in there own deepest intentions... but regardless of the nature of our storyteller, it's clear that he is in control of this mother, if not the rest of it all. Line four: "The number of her daughters; one, two, three, four." The song, Two sisters, counts four daughters. We can assume the less mentioned sisters do nothing but exist is the world, or we can place them metaphorically into later verses. "and I'll be true to my love, if my love will be true to me" Nobody has professed love for anyone in the story yet... This is a line which we identify and repeat reflexively without care or consideration to the meaning... This is the power of love at it's most neutral, but also its most unstable, condition; conditional love is a danger, and it ought to raise red flags for a conscious person... as we'll find out later in the story, when we see what happens when love isn't true to one of these sisters. Alternatively, I've considered this could be refferring to the love of money, which makes the storyteller a very dark overlord, who is collecting dividends throughout every interaction between every character in the story... Verse two: 1 more character "There was a young man, come to see them and the oldest one got stuck on him." A young man comes calling... perhaps there's a debt between him and this family and "bow, balance to me" is exchanging bows, and the courteous settling of their differences where "me" is the young man... or the young man is being commanded by the storyteller to collect his balance... "I'll be true to my love" may be the eldest, fantacizing over this young man... but I like the metaphore where the storyteller explains how money works; by coming between friends and family to create lethal problems. One who loves money certainly only loves the condition where they actually have it... money can't buy unconditional love. Verse three: "He bought the youngest a beaver hat, and the oldest one got mad at that." The hat doesn't seem to be too significant(unless the oldest sister is vegan, but this song feels older than that term, so I'll rule that idea out, but feel free to use that if you like), BUT he bought the hat with money, so bow and balance to the storyteller... or else the youngest daughter bows to the young man, and recieves the balance of her affection... The point of this verse is that the young man fancies the youngest daughter, which ignites jealousy in the eldest daughter. "I'll be true to my love" can be uttered by the young man, either of the two sisters, or again the storyteller explaining the conditional love of money. Verse four: "Oh sister, oh sister, let's walk the shore, and see the ships as they're sailing o'r." An innocent enough sounding invitation from sister to sister. This is a case where "Bow and balance to me" doesn't seem to fit as anything but a hint that an object bought with money has come between the sisters... Being "true to my love" in this case seems to be a hint from one sister to the other that, because she feels slighted, she must repay the balance of her heartache to the youngest sister. Verse five: "While these two sisters were walking the shore, the eldest pushed the youngest o'r" - I really can't push strongly enough my belief that "Bow, balance to me" is the storyteller's way of saying "praise me for setting this scene"... The description is vague enough that the listener is inclined to picture something playful where the younger sister lands on flat sand, unless they're the sort of person who's spent any time rock hopping along the Atlantic. "I'll be true" is either the storyteller's reminder, or either one of the sisters. Verse six: Willy "Oh sister, oh sister, please lend me your hand, and you'll have Willy and all of his land." This verse stands out to me because I hear "bow, balance me" in this context, and think of the younger sister calling up from the water at this point, asking the elder to bend over and restore her physical balance. She is obviously aware, at this point, that her older sister is jealous, and she offers to turn down Willy... who may or may not be the young man who bought the hat. The reason I don't assume Willy is necessarily the young man is because Willy has land, and the jealousy began with a hat. I consider how old traditions would pair people based on financial convenience, and the younger sister could mistakenly believe she fancy's Willy, while her personal designs on Willy may be nothing more than to marry him for dowry. Regardless of who Willy is(either the young man, or the storyteller, or both), neither one of the sisters are legitimately true to him. The youngest doesn't care, and the elder doesn't care to see him with who he really seems to fancy. Verse seven: "I never, I never will lend you my hand, but I'll have Willy, and all of his land." Sisterly love certainly proves untrue here. The eldest reveals her intentions to damn her sister and claim her prize love. "Bow, balance to me" seems to be the eldest here, asserting her dominance over the youngest, she also seems to take up saying she'll be true to Willy... Whimsically fantacizing, or quietly warning, about conditional love. Verse eight: "Sometimes she sank, and sometimes she swam, until she reached the old mill dam" If you didn't catch it four verses back, you've got the picture that the youngest sister is in the water now, struggling to stay alfoat... "bow and balance" is definitively the storyteller here. The sister is recieving no balance from this point on, and there are no other characters here. Though she may be wishfully thinking of a love conditional upon someone saving her life at this point... We might wonder how the sea brought her DOWN stream, since brooks tend to flow toward the sea. This could mean the location is one of the special places on earth where a small beach divides a brook from the ocean... but technically speaking, it seems unlikely such a brook could turn a mill... The listener must either suspend disbelief and accept that the sea carried this sister down stream, or we may choose to see the water as a metaphore.... and there's probably no end to how many directions human consciousness could bring metaphores about water. I don't want to do it right now. Verses nine, ten, eleven and twelve: the miller "the miller, he got his fishing hook, and fished that maiden out of the brook" The 9th verse introduced the miller as savior to the young sister. "Oh miller, oh miller, here's five gold rings, to push the maiden in again" A mysterious character bribes the miller. We're left to guess who. "The miller he received those five gold rings, and pushed that maiden in again" The miller takes the money and throws the woman back in the water. "The miller was hung in the old mill gate, for drownding little sister, Kate." The miller is hanged. It's interesting to consider some numerology here... The number nine represents the conceptual almighty divine. Its a number of completion in the sense that it's the largest single digit, after which everything just stacks and repeats. The sister meets what appears to be her savior in verse 9. In verse 10, the savior is presented with a new consideration, a new beginning, stacked on the story thus far, brought up by a "zero" who wishes to see the sister dead. Another numerological curiousity are the five rings. Five represents the five fingers of man, and supreme chaos... gold may represent either or both, human greed and lineal prosperity. It may or may not be the sister commissioning the hit, but why does she pay in 5 gold rings? Is it possible these are the rings of someone who's been married 5 times? What about the mother at the beginning... she had 4 daughters, but did they all have the same father? Is the storyteller married to the old woman, but father to none of the daughters? I have no idea beyond speculation, but whomever did it was persuasive enough to turn the miller against his recent catch. Surprise, Kate, your savior has betrayed you for money... Nothing personal, but miller's gotta eat... and oh, damn, now the Kate AND the miller are dead, no one's to blame, and everyone's sad... That's why this song is a bastard orphan. |
|
| Tom Waits – Two Sisters Lyrics | 13 years ago |
|
This isn't the discussion I'd hoped to find... so I joined this site so I could talk myself through figuring out this song, and share it. "Bow, balance to me" Think "balance" like a checkbook. The "me" in this repetition seems to shift perspectives through the song, but I interpret it as the voice of the storyteller... who is the only character not referred to through any of the various scenes. This can be interpreted as either a command, and claiming the balance of some transaction, or alternatively; bestowing another with a bow, and offering them the balance. "and I'll be true to my love, if my love will be true to me" This is the hook. A vague, yet inarguable truism of conditional love. You love what, or whomever, only IF they comply with your wishes for it, or them. This line can shift speakers for each and every one of the characters in the story, but I keep coming back to the conceptual voice of the storyteller. So who are all of the characters? Where and how do they all fit in? Verse one: 5 characters and an introduction to the storyteller "There was an old woman, lived by the seashore" This is the mother... She is introduced, but otherwise unmentioned. Without her, there would be no story because these daughters would never have been born. "Bow, and balance to me." This is the start of identifying the storyteller... who orchestrates the entire stage of this reality. The storyteller has brought life to the mother of four daughters, the youngest of which is destined(**spoiler alert**) to drown following an altercation with the eldest. "Hello, mother of four, give us a courtsey and your money." Maybe the storyteller is writing the story for tips, or maybe the storyteller is a malicious high overlord in this world... There is no speculation one can offer without reflecting what's in there own deepest intentions... but regardless of the nature of our storyteller, it's clear that he is in control of this mother, if not the rest of it all. Line four: "The number of her daughters; one, two, three, four." The song, Two sisters, counts four daughters. We can assume the less mentioned sisters do nothing but exist is the world, or we can place them metaphorically into later verses. "and I'll be true to my love, if my love will be true to me" Nobody has professed love for anyone in the story yet... This is a line which we identify and repeat reflexively without care or consideration to the meaning... This is the power of love at it's most neutral, but also its most unstable, condition; conditional love is a danger, and it ought to raise red flags for a conscious person... as we'll find out later in the story, when we see what happens when love isn't true to one of these sisters. Alternatively, I've considered this could be refferring to the love of money, which makes the storyteller a very dark overlord, who is collecting dividends throughout every interaction between every character in the story... Verse two: 1 more character "There was a young man, come to see them and the oldest one got stuck on him." A young man comes calling... perhaps there's a debt between him and this family and "bow, balance to me" is exchanging bows, and the courteous settling of their differences where "me" is the young man... or the young man is being commanded by the storyteller to collect his balance... "I'll be true to my love" may be the eldest, fantacizing over this young man... but I like the metaphore where the storyteller explains how money works; by coming between friends and family to create lethal problems. One who loves money certainly only loves the condition where they actually have it... money can't buy unconditional love. Verse three: "He bought the youngest a beaver hat, and the oldest one got mad at that." The hat doesn't seem to be too significant(unless the oldest sister is vegan, but this song feels older than that term, so I'll rule that idea out, but feel free to use that if you like), BUT he bought the hat with money, so bow and balance to the storyteller... or else the youngest daughter bows to the young man, and recieves the balance of her affection... The point of this verse is that the young man fancies the youngest daughter, which ignites jealousy in the eldest daughter. "I'll be true to my love" can be uttered by the young man, either of the two sisters, or again the storyteller explaining the conditional love of money. Verse four: "Oh sister, oh sister, let's walk the shore, and see the ships as they're sailing o'r." An innocent enough sounding invitation from sister to sister. This is a case where "Bow and balance to me" doesn't seem to fit as anything but a hint that an object bought with money has come between the sisters... Being "true to my love" in this case seems to be a hint from one sister to the other that, because she feels slighted, she must repay the balance of her heartache to the youngest sister. Verse five: "While these two sisters were walking the shore, the eldest pushed the youngest o'r" - I really can't push strongly enough my belief that "Bow, balance to me" is the storyteller's way of saying "praise me for setting this scene"... The description is vague enough that the listener is inclined to picture something playful where the younger sister lands on flat sand, unless they're the sort of person who's spent any time rock hopping along the Atlantic. "I'll be true" is either the storyteller's reminder, or either one of the sisters. Verse six: Willy "Oh sister, oh sister, please lend me your hand, and you'll have Willy and all of his land." This verse stands out to me because I hear "bow, balance me" in this context, and think of the younger sister calling up from the water at this point, asking the elder to bend over and restore her physical balance. She is obviously aware, at this point, that her older sister is jealous, and she offers to turn down Willy... who may or may not be the young man who bought the hat. The reason I don't assume Willy is necessarily the young man is because Willy has land, and the jealousy began with a hat. I consider how old traditions would pair people based on financial convenience, and the younger sister could mistakenly believe she fancy's Willy, while her personal designs on Willy may be nothing more than to marry him for dowry. Regardless of who Willy is(either the young man, or the storyteller, or both), neither one of the sisters are legitimately true to him. The youngest doesn't care, and the elder doesn't care to see him with who he really seems to fancy. Verse seven: "I never, I never will lend you my hand, but I'll have Willy, and all of his land." Sisterly love certainly proves untrue here. The eldest reveals her intentions to damn her sister and claim her prize love. "Bow, balance to me" seems to be the eldest here, asserting her dominance over the youngest, she also seems to take up saying she'll be true to Willy... Whimsically fantacizing, or quietly warning, about conditional love. Verse eight: "Sometimes she sank, and sometimes she swam, until she reached the old mill dam" If you didn't catch it four verses back, you've got the picture that the youngest sister is in the water now, struggling to stay alfoat... "bow and balance" is definitively the storyteller here. The sister is recieving no balance from this point on, and there are no other characters here. Though she may be wishfully thinking of a love conditional upon someone saving her life at this point... We might wonder how the sea brought her DOWN stream, since brooks tend to flow toward the sea. This could mean the location is one of the special places on earth where a small beach divides a brook from the ocean... but technically speaking, it seems unlikely such a brook could turn a mill... The listener must either suspend disbelief and accept that the sea carried this sister down stream, or we may choose to see the water as a metaphore.... and there's probably no end to how many directions human consciousness could bring metaphores about water. I don't want to do it right now. Verses nine, ten, eleven and twelve: the miller "the miller, he got his fishing hook, and fished that maiden out of the brook" The 9th verse introduced the miller as savior to the young sister. "Oh miller, oh miller, here's five gold rings, to push the maiden in again" A mysterious character bribes the miller. We're left to guess who. "The miller he received those five gold rings, and pushed that maiden in again" The miller takes the money and throws the woman back in the water. "The miller was hung in the old mill gate, for drownding little sister, Kate." The miller is hanged. It's interesting to consider some numerology here... The number nine represents the conceptual almighty divine. Its a number of completion in the sense that it's the largest single digit, after which everything just stacks and repeats. The sister meets what appears to be her savior in verse 9. In verse 10, the savior is presented with a new consideration, a new beginning, stacked on the story thus far, brought up by a "zero" who wishes to see the sister dead. Another numerological curiousity are the five rings. Five represents the five fingers of man, and supreme chaos... gold may represent either or both, human greed and lineal prosperity. It may or may not be the sister commissioning the hit, but why does she pay in 5 gold rings? Is it possible these are the rings of someone who's been married 5 times? What about the mother at the beginning... she had 4 daughters, but did they all have the same father? Is the storyteller married to the old woman, but father to none of the daughters? I have no idea beyond speculation, but whomever did it was persuasive enough to turn the miller against his recent catch. Surprise, Kate, your savior has betrayed you for money... Nothing personal, but miller's gotta eat... and oh, damn, now the Kate AND the miller are dead, no one's to blame, and everyone's sad... That's why this song is a bastard orphan. |
|
* This information can be up to 15 minutes delayed.