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Passion Pit – The Reeling Lyrics 12 years ago
This is the way I view it too. Kind of like an existential crisis of sorts.

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Sonic Youth – Sweet Shine Lyrics 13 years ago
Been listening to this song for awhile and I think I got down its meaning.

First off this song is definitely about Kim Gordon's mother. If not her own, then about someone else's mother.

"I hear my angel mounted baby
Pretend to everlast a lady
Marlboro belt unbuckled baby
They told me you were just crazy"

Her mother is dysfunctional yet pretends to be a "lady"
Her friends told her not worry about her relationship with her mother so much, she's just crazy- plain and simple.

"I feel that I could burst
Gimme a little drink of yr sweet time"

She's frustrated and wishing for her mother to give her some attention.

"Is it the way you think?
Or just a pattern of yr glory
Is it just some story?
You wrote all for me
Do you think yr my home?
Down deep yr just a little whorey
I know you, I'm from you
I know you, I'm from you"

Why is she like this? Kim's trying to come up with some answers as to why her mother behaves the way she does. She wants to believe she knows her mother well considering the fact that she's her daughter.

"Cowboys are languishin'
Little boys are bees
Is it really a green stage coach
Crawling up to me"

The first two lines I still don't quite understand their meaning. The "green stage coach" could be Kim's money hungry mother who is now more involved in Kim's life due to her sudden success.

"I dreamt that you were my vacation
Woke to find desire and dislocation
Yr always heavy in rotation
Coming on, flirting with the nation"

She desires to have a good relationship with her mother but she's never around, instead moving on from one man to another.

"Why is the way you grew ?
Still in the soul wanting you ?
Smell of the night jasmine
Hypnotises me
The flower tells me stories
That make me feel so sick and free"

Why is her mother holding onto the past? Why won't she change for the better?
The night jasmine could be a smell she remembers as a child. Something that comforted her throughout her childhood.

"Alice is a chain store
Down past 1st and Vine
You can shop there anytime
It's all very fine"

Despite her estranged relationship with her mother, she still wants her to be a part of her life. It's as if she's saying "come live with me, there's a store you can shop at and everything."

"Look his head is colored, do you think it grows?
Look it's changing colors, it's bigger than a hose
Look it's changing colors, it's bigger than a rose
Look it's changing colors, it's bigger than a pose
Look it's changing colors, it's bigger than a hose
Look it's changin'...."

Do you think people change? Basically she's questioning whether it's possible for her mom to change for the better.


Just my two cents but this was just my own interpretation. That ending always makes me choke up. The optimism and sadness in her voice when she talks about Alice, the chain store, is tragic. Such a heartbreaking, yet beautiful song.

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