submissions
| Donovan – Superlungs My Supergirl Lyrics
| 1 year ago
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Is it just my dirty mind playing tricks on me, or is this a song about a 14 year-old groupie? Her nickname is Superlungs. Is that a reference to her breasts? And what about, "Her breathing is real good . . . they would if they could"? Could these be sexual references? Breathing, lungs . . . is this meant to suggest blowjobs?
Then again, Donovan was the ultimate flower child. Maybe he is just talking about a young fan, a cool kid who likes to draw, and likes to breathe with her great lungs. Pretty weird, tho! I think I recall hearing somewhere that he was attracted to young girls.
This song was also covered by Terry Reid. |
submissions
| Donovan – Superlungs My Supergirl Lyrics
| 1 year ago
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Is it just my dirty mind playing tricks on me, or is this a song about a 14 year-old groupie? Her nickname is Superlungs. Is that a reference to her breasts? And what about, "Her breathing is real good . . . they would if they could"? Could these be sexual references? Breathing, lungs . . . is this meant to suggest blowjobs?
Then again, Donovan was the ultimate flower child. Maybe he is just talking about a young fan, a cool kid who likes to draw, and likes to breathe with her great lungs. Pretty weird, tho! I think I recall hearing somewhere that he was attracted to young girls.
This song was also covered by Terry Reid. |
submissions
| Neil Young – Expecting to Fly Lyrics
| 3 years ago
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The singer is looking back on a romance that has ended, probably a youthful one in which they were together for a long time and very dependent on each other. In the first stanza, she leaves him (and is expecting to fly, which he finds laughable). He is hurting, but begins to heal from this loss. He still thinks of the sad way it ended ("ended with a cry") and is not fully recovered ("stumbled", "fumbled"), but he knows that it is over ("knowing it was gone").
Check out the double negative in this line: "If I never lived without you | Now you know I'd die." In other words if he had ended up stuck with her permanently, it would have been the end of him, so it is just as well that it is over. But he still wants her to know that he loved her, even if he was not very good at telling her.
A beautiful, sensitive song, a little mournful and vulnerable, like a lot of Young's ballads. I wonder if this was about Pam Smith, who (I think) was his teen years girlfriend. There is a photo of them together in Young's autobiography. |
submissions
| Neil Young – Flying on the Ground Is Wrong Lyrics
| 3 years ago
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This has to be a break up song. The song is addressed to the person the singer is breaking up with. He is apologizing, and saying he will miss her, and that she is his kind of person, but he is leaving nevertheless. The thing I am not getting is this "flying on the ground" line, which is also the title of the song. It could mean that he is leaving, and fast, but it could also refer to a sensation of flying, of feeling like one is in the air. |
submissions
| Neil Young – Sugar Mountain Lyrics
| 3 years ago
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@[powderfinger:36052] I am listening to Neil's Archives Vol. 1, and in there is a little live rap by him in which he confirms what you are saying, that Joni's "Circle Game" is a response to this song. |
submissions
| David Sylvian – Waterfront Lyrics
| 3 years ago
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Hello, sns. Thanks for commenting on my comments. The song is certainly worthy of discussion and different interpretations! I just wish Sylvian would make some more music, and make what he has done more available. I check his website from time to time, but very little from his post-Virgin Records releases seems to be available. I did pick up "A Victim of Stars" recently and that had a bunch of things on it that I had not heard before. For me, his music is standing the test of time very well. Cheers... |
submissions
| Elton John – All The Nasties Lyrics
| 4 years ago
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@[steeviec60:33628] Maybe you are not aware that John and Taupin were not just songwriting partners, they were a gay couple? |
submissions
| Sarah McLachlan – Hold On Lyrics
| 4 years ago
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This song made me think that it is about being involved with someone emotionally unstable, and being in the middle of a breakup with him/her. But after reading the lyrics and seeing some of the comments here, it appears to be about something else. Or maybe, like many great songs, in can be interpreted in a few different ways. And it is a great song imo. |
submissions
| Sarah McLachlan – Hold On Lyrics
| 4 years ago
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@[soundofherwings:33269] Oh now that is very interesting! I assumed it was something she went thru because the song is so emotional and intense! lol |
submissions
| Nick Drake – At The Chime Of A City Clock Lyrics
| 4 years ago
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I think the song describes his feelings about city life. It is a collection of images and impressions, with the overall feeling of the singer wanting to hide away, to protect himself from the dangers of city life (e.g. poverty). He has some friends and deals with people (but not with great success), and dreams of finding a bride and making his escape. |
submissions
| Nick Drake – Hazey Jane II Lyrics
| 4 years ago
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Cheery, mellow music paired with dark, downbeat lyrics. This morning that he is talking about is not the dawning of a sunny day full of promise. It is more like the coming of a cold, new reality. I think it is about growing up and beginning to make your way in the world. |
submissions
| Beck – O Maria Lyrics
| 4 years ago
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Like other songs on the Mutations album, this is about feeling alienated from a world of pleasure, comfort, and fun. The singer looks around and does not perceive all the pleasurable things that are supposed to be there. Instead he sees a foolish world that is falling apart, with no real joy in it. The part that throws me is the title and the reference to Maria. Clearly, it is someone the singer knows, and he is talking to her, but this is not a relationship song.
I like the music a lot also. It is sort of folky, jazzy, and slow, and has an old school vibe. |
submissions
| Beck – O Maria Lyrics
| 4 years ago
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Like other songs on the Mutations album, this is about feeling alienated from a world of pleasure, comfort, and fun. The singer looks around and does not perceive all the pleasurable things that are supposed to be there. Instead he sees a foolish world that is falling apart, with no real joy in it. The part that throws me is the title and the reference to Maria. Clearly, it is someone the singer knows, and he is talking to her, but this is not a relationship song.
I like the music a lot also. It is sort of distorted, slow, old popular jazz stuff. |
submissions
| Nick Drake – River Man Lyrics
| 4 years ago
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There are some really interesting intepretations here. It is a mysterious and beautiful song, one of Drake's very best, and a personal favorite. I cannot hear this song without seeing images of rain hitting a window, autumnal trees, and chilly streams in a cloudy countryside.
If an artist has committed suicide, it is very easy to go back and interpret all of their work as leading up to that, or being thoughts related to it, et cetera. It is safe to say that during his lifetime Drake had more on his mind than just suicide, and that not every song dealt with it. But it does appear in his lyrics, and I think it appears here, but I would not go so far as to say this is a song about suicide. I think it is more a song about sadness, about struggling with life, about looking for help and guidance but not being able to accept it.
In the song, Betty comes to the singer (let's call him Nick) with some worries on her mind. She has not had time to choose "a way to lose" but "she believes." That is pretty mystifying. Lose what? Believe in what? This sends Nick off in search of advice, to the River Man. He is a mystical figure, a spiritual guide or perhaps even godlike figure, who understands and perhaps controls the flow of the river. Rivers are of course are a well established metaphor for life.
Betty is contemplating the end of her life, and perhaps thinking of suicide, but something beautiful, a summer rain, pushes her out of the doldrums and back into a more positive frame of mind. But Nick is still troubled, and still wants to go the god/wise man for support. (Not sure what the ban on feeling free means.) However, he can't really accept the river man's guidance and wisdom and falls back into himself, just watching things come and go. |
submissions
| Neil Young – Star of Bethlehem Lyrics
| 4 years ago
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Lyrics blocked by the publisher. That is so stupid. As if someone couldn't listen to the song and write down the lyrics. All it blocks is discussion of the song. |
submissions
| Nick Drake – Tow The Line Lyrics
| 4 years ago
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This was the last song Drake recorded before his suicide. And who is he talking to in this song? I am willing to take a guess - God. It makes sense. |
submissions
| Nick Drake – From The Morning Lyrics
| 4 years ago
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Here is proof that not all of Drake's songs were packed with sadness. He sings here of the morning light, and of rising and flying. Yes, the darkness is still there - night will fall eventually, and there are games that we have learned and must play - but one can still get out and appreciate all of life's beauty. |
submissions
| Elvis Costello – Uncomplicated Lyrics
| 4 years ago
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I have always wondered what this song is about - the first couple of stanzas are pretty mysterious. But a look at the lyrics makes me think that it is a pretty straightforward love song / relationship song. |
submissions
| R.E.M. – I Remember California Lyrics
| 4 years ago
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I have heard this many times and it still leaves me puzzled. The music and lyrics both have a dire, moody feeling, as if something bad is going to happen in the middle of a perfect day. There is a darkness lurking underneath the golden surface. That is hardly an original thought when it comes to California, but Stipe and REM do it well. I get the images and memories part of it, but what is he talking about with the tides and ebbs? A nice finish with "at the end/edge of the continent" - it is a common feeling among Easterners that there is something unreal about California, that it is on the border of reality. |
submissions
| Bob Dylan – Idiot Wind Lyrics
| 5 years ago
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This is a song of bitterness, sadness, and anger at the stupidity that surrounds the singer. He is in the middle of a crumbling relationship, and he lashes out at his ex-lover. The world is full of jerks and no one understand what he is going thru. He refers to the distorting effects of fame. Dylan works in a bunch of interesting images along with the descriptions of interpersonal battles. He is so good at that, and those deft touches often give his songs a deeper resonance, with references to old legends and the old American West. Ultimately the singer realizes he is one of the idiots too - the wind is not just swirling around him, it is also his fault.
The dark, moody singing and music match the lyrics perfectly. This is a great song, another one of Dylan's classics. |
submissions
| Neil Young – Mr Soul Lyrics
| 6 years ago
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@[mrMojoRisen:24748] Good analysis. I was just thinking how I've heard this song hundreds of times but never really thought about what the lyrics might mean, just getting caut up in that driving beat and Neil's voice. |
submissions
| Blur – Blue Jeans Lyrics
| 7 years ago
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The song has a personal meaning for me. It seems to be about a man who is in a romantic relationship with a fairly passive woman. She accepts everything he says and uncritically goes along with his plans. He may be a bit boring, but on the whole things are going well. He wants everything to stay the same forever - but we know how that goes, don't we? The music and vocal harmonies add a mellow beauty to it.
At one point I was involved with someone and I was listening to Blur a lot at the time, including this song. My girl was pretty easy to get along with, and mostly accepted the things I said and wanted to do. I was unaware at the time that she had begun scheming how to end things between us. And that is why I like the first comment here, the one that refers to the interview with Albarn. It makes me think he went thru something similar. |
submissions
| David Sylvian – Waterfront Lyrics
| 7 years ago
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Thinking some more about these lyrics - they seem to me essentially spiritual in nature. The train falling off the track is another image of futility, of something ending in dissolution. The lines "So the world shrinks drop by drop / And the wine goes to your head" are key. I used to think this was something else - "So the world's dream string I draw" (lol). Here the singer is drinking up the world, and it is going to his head. He fell for the world's lies, it has led him on, and while he is aware of this it has still left a mark on him. I think the last line is the collective "our love" (not a reference to a romantic relationship) - is our love strong enough to do what? It is a little unclear, but perhaps overcome the world's illusions. |
submissions
| David Sylvian – Waterfront Lyrics
| 7 years ago
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I have heard this song a lot, and thought about the (mysterious) lyrics. A fair amount of wistfulness and vagueness is typical of a Sylvian song. This collects some images focusing on a waterfront. A setting sun, a sinking ship, a starry sky, people hanging around in bars. The singer walks along the beach, remembering things and feeling sad. Then, jarringly, comes the image of a train falling off a mountainside, but the carriages are empty, so no one has died. There is another reference to drinking alcohol and the statement that your god is dead this time. The singer wonders if "our love" is strong enough - but is he referring to a romantic relationship he is in, or is it more abstract, like human love, everyone's love? Beautiful, haunting music, and a fascinating song. |
submissions
| The Go-Betweens – Boundary Rider Lyrics
| 8 years ago
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This is one of my favorites. It starts with a lone cowboy, a boundary rider, someone riding a horse along a perimeter fence at a ranch (or a cattle station - isn't that what a ranch is called in Australia?). He rides along the fence and sees the steers, and also the bones and blood of dead animals. He looks for breaks in the fence, where animals could get out or in (presumably to make repairs). Now this is where McLennan (I'm guessing it was McLennan, since he is on vocals) creates a wonderful metaphor. The boundary rider is anyone/everyone. The fence is the barrier between us and the world/other people. The rider is trying not to let too much get out of - or in to - his heart. To understand this process is to understand oneself, and by understanding one becomes more fully oneself. This gives us strength to get through pain and sadness. The stark, haunting music and straight forward singing goes well with these lines. A brilliant song imho. |
submissions
| Elliott Smith – Needle in the Hay Lyrics
| 8 years ago
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@[parenthetical:10313] Really good interpretation, thanks. I think you catch the internal struggle / split personality thing very well, and that was not clear to me before. |
submissions
| The Style Council – Man Of Great Promise Lyrics
| 8 years ago
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@[dwitefry:9528] Thanks for posting that, and to andyd as well for his comment. This is a great tune, one of my favorite SC numbers. I've listened to it many times, and often wondered who Weller was singing about. Was it a politiician or an artist, somebody semi-famous? And what was his "dangerous passion"? I thought it might have been homosex. And I wondered about the last line too, which I thought was "in the corner" not "in the cold earth." Thanks for clearing that up. Now I would just like to know why they decided to take this dark elegy and add super catchy, jaunty music to it. |
submissions
| Elliott Smith – Angeles Lyrics
| 11 years ago
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There are a few of Smith's songs that are really haunting, and that I come back to again and again, and this is one of them. Lots of really insightful comments here, and they mostly sound right to me - the song does appear to be about the music business. But I like my interpretation too, that it is about a dark, manipulative force that can bestow power and make "your secret wishes all come true" (genius line there, not the only one btw - saw your picture on a $100 bill, someone trailing some new kill, real skill, no one is gonna fool around with us). But this power, although tempting, is manipulative and evil. The power of fame, perhaps? It is a little vague, but so many great songs are - and this is a great one. |
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