| Arcade Fire – Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels) Lyrics | 10 years ago |
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It makes me sad that people are neglecting some important parts of this song. I recommend when analyzing lyrics, you listen to the tone of the lyrics being sung. This song seems to be a loss of innocence, and ultimately a reflection. The beginning verse seems like it's in the midst of a tragedy, or even arguably a fight. Really it's subjective, but they relate to the same idea. The speaker of the lyric obviously finds solace in his love, and seeks shelter from the tragedy through his feelings. Childlike idea of digging a tunnel indicated how naive the speaker is initially. Teenage Rebellion follows, sneaking out is much more realistic than digging a tunnel, so it shows growth immediately. There's substance to this plan of love, but the speaker is still escaping, for what reason is not elaborated. However, he plans to leave it all behind and begin a new leaf with this love. The chorus is really misinterpreted. I don't think the lead in the head is an image of suicide. I think it's a reference to alchemy, and using it in the context of emotions. His head is full of something not valuable, lead. She changes it to gold, something beautiful of high value and substance. That's a beautiful image. The verse following the chorus is the reflection. Immediately, a shift in tone is evident from the change in melody. The style is strained. It's almost desperate and fleeting. Anyway, lyrics. Naming their babies, they're far down the line at this point. After turning their new leaf, they're trying to reflect on the past, which is difficult for them. Eventually they finally reflect on the parents they so eagerly left behind, which results in one of the heaviest lines I've listened to "Then we think of parents, well whatever happened to them?" The Win Bulter shrieks this line, and its desperate and filled with pain. I get shivers whenever I listen to it. It fully captures their loss of innocence, as they are faced with the weight of their responsibilities of the parents they once had. The second chorus adds clarification and meaning to the first chorus. Lead, gold, love, yeah. The last part of the song eludes me, but spreading ashes is usually following the death of something, obviously. What this death is happens to be ambiguous. Is it there innocence, is it their own parents? Possibly both given the context of the funeral album, as it follows several family tragedies. |
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| Animal Collective – Peacebone Lyrics | 10 years ago |
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Okay so this song is widely misinterpreted by the majority of Animal Collective listeners. That sounds like a weird statement because art is free to interpretation, but it's written by Avey Tare, and he utilizes images and themes that have consistency. He says he's blending together images from different places, so let's analyze them. (BBC interview) Before anything, I'm going to take note of all the childlike images in chronological order. (Dinosaurs, colors, magic, bubble baths, kids screaming, babies crying) Why are these images important? Avey has been writing about loss of innocence since he was 16. Penny Dreadfuls, Alvin Row, For Reverend Green, Banshee Beat, I could go on for hours. Avey's childhood was very important for him, and he thinks adult life and responsibilities so mundane and awful. In addition he mentions the greek myth "I bet the monster was happy when we made him a maze 'Cause he don’t understand intentions and he just looks at your face" It's pretty far fetched for me to assume this, but small children are oblivious to the darker undertones of actions. Mazes and cribs. Anyway, speculation, I think that one's free to interpret. Which brings us to the chorus, the most directly coherent part of this song (since the rest is blended images). I'll go line by line. 1. An obsession with the past is like a dead fly -Obviously Avey Tare laments on his childhood in obsessive amounts. This line lets us know that he's very much aware of this. 2. Just a few things are related to the old times -The mundane aspects of adult life are contrasted in For Reverend Green, and it's also done here. "Red negativity in the streets, but a baby on the bus smiles so easy" is a pretty direct one. 3. When we did believe in magic and we did die -Children are pretty imaginative. I died hundreds of times as a kid. Alternatively, it refers to adolescence as the death of childhood. 4. It's not my words that you should follow it's your insides (adjust your insides) -This is a tough line for me to decide on because it could directly affect the meaning of the entire song. See, he could be refusing to acknowledge that his obsessions are bad because he's listening to what he feels inside and going with his gut. Beautiful song, beautiful opener to a song filled with these themes. For Reverend Green and Fireworks add to these images with remarkable clarity. |
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| Animal Collective – Alvin Row Lyrics | 10 years ago |
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I hate to be doing this on my phone, but I've been listening to this song on repeat almost constantly for the last couple days. So I'm going to give you this gist of it. I will not directly quote by line, but I will refer to stanza (or group of lines) by how songmeanings has grouped them. Before that, some pretext and analysis. Pretext: a lot of Avey Tare's music contains a common theme that has been used in literature since the beginning of time. That theme? The loss of innocence. The bible is referenced a lot in western culture for its themes, one of which includes the loss of innocence with Adam and Eve and the apple and snakes and shit. This is seen all throughout Alvin Row, all the way to Feels (grass, did you see the words), all the way to SJ (for reverend green [even the title of that lmao], fireworks [babies, also an image seen here]) and that goes all the way to MPP (in the flowers). Your mind should identify the baby image. The loss of innocence in growing up is terrifying to a lot of people. It's one of the reasons I've identified personally with AnCo. ONTO STANZA ANALYSIS Stanza 1: opening shout really just provides the situation. Stanza 2: here we are at one of the most critical stanzas in the song. Avey guides the listener through the baby's life growing up. You see this baby grow up, losing innocence as years pass (New Years evening washed away). That's symbolic of years passing. That's big. Stanza 3: this stanza is less significant, but it shows the youthful imagery and conflicts, as they're pretty childlike, imaginative and harmless. An important line is the "rust" on the silver child. Ring any bells? Stanza 4: begins cryptically, you can interpret this as a plea. If you read it in the right context, it's almost like Avey is relating to Alvin. Then it ends with the the "Runs." This is important, Alvin is fading, but Avey begs him to run, to escape the fade. It is finally made clear that Alvin may be a direct symbol of the youth, and that Avey is begging to cling to this youth, asking it to escape it's fade. Heaviest verse, it gives me goosebumps. Stanza 5: back to cryptic. I don't understand this symbol to be honest. The bakers daughter eludes me in meaning. Stanza 6: clear change in tone, the drums come in and the rhythm is pushing. The ice cream man is the big image in 6. Stanza 7: winter represents death, and autumn represents decay in literature. Clear symbols relating to the loss of innocence. Worded beautifully. Stanza 8-9: images of growing up. The maze, unlocking the stage. Clearly symbolic in advancing to the next stage of life. Driving to the pharmacy and owning an apartment are not childlike, they're things that young adults learn to do. The spinal rage is assumed to be coping with this loss of innocence, and lighting the page could be him writing to express his dismay. This song an example. Stanza 10: this ones hard to think about. He could be reaching out to Alvin, his symbolic younger self, despite growing up. Or it could be a catchy hook. Hard to tell on this one for me. Beautiful part of the song regardless. Alternatively, he could be moving on, as it fades out. Conclusion: Alvin Row is a symbol of the innocence lost while growing up. Alvin Row is the child you're born as, and the child that fades with each passing year. This song correlates with so many AnCo songs, but it's one of the first and most painful. It's gorgeous. Please listen to these lyrics with a lump in your throat and a subtle longing for the past. That took half an hour yikes. I hope somebody likes the analysis. I'll be coming back to this one for a long time, if anyone has any questions I'll be back to answer them. |
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| Vampire Weekend – Horchata Lyrics | 10 years ago |
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Horchata is one of the most morbid songs by Vampire Weekend solely in the fact that it is incredibly misleading. The theme of decay is juxtaposed with the upbeat tropical rhythm and bright major melody. The most observable and significant section of the song is the verse that follows the instrumental break towards the end. "Winter's cold is too much to handle... cracks in the pavement" is the verse that captures the horror of the song. The song clearly depicts a relationship and its decay. Winter represents death, or the end. This is justified by the lines that follow. 1. "Years go by, and hearts start to harden." -The relationship is reaching a point of frustration, a low, a winter. It's implied that the dynamic of the relationship is changing, and it's obvious that it isn't for the better. 2. "Those palms and firms that grew in your garden are falling down and nearing the rosebeds." -The garden is a symbol representing their relationship. It's been hand grown over a long period of time. Hard work has been invested into this large garden features palms, firs, rosebeds. It's been an investment, and it's experiencing decay and NEGLECT. 3. "The roots are shooting up through the toolshed" -Over growth as a result of mismanagement has led to decay of even the most basic foundations in their relationship. This line serves as a supporting image to decay and neglect. 4. "Those lips and teeth that asked how my day went are shouting up through cracks in the pavement." - This is a morbid line that ties together the pain of the song. The cracks in the pavement are decay of a sidewalk, a symbol of support. You can observe further change in tone. The partner that used to ask how his day went have changed, and now they're shouting through this decay. It's painful, it gives you goosebumps, this image is important to understanding the emotion pushed through in this song. I get goosebumps when the lines that follow the climax are "Here comes a feeling you thought you'd forgotten, chairs to sit, and sidewalks to walk on." I feel as though the chairs and sidewalks represent support, the feeling that's been deteriorated and forgotten. It's truly a tragic song sung to such a happy tune. "You understood so you shouldn't have fought it." -Transient is the idea that decay is inevitable, and this is the singer's acceptance with the decay of the relationship. Note that this is not bitter, but passive and full of reconciliation. |
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| Vampire Weekend – Ottoman Lyrics | 11 years ago |
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Somebody mentioned the idea that the woman he's with is of a higher up, wealthy family. This can be inferred, since the portrait is being hung in the "dark of some parliamentary hall." The speaker claims to be nervous, as he is "sweating like a teenager." He dresses in his elegant clothes because he "want[s] to be seen with her." This correlates to the ideas referenced in Taxi Cab on Contra, where the speaker reflects his failed relationship with an aristocratic woman, because he was intimidated by her wealth. Anyway, about Ottoman. As we discussed, he is nervous about his impending marriage with a woman of high social status. The first two verses and the chorus are discussing the moments before, and moments following the wedding. The verses discuss his anxiety, and the chorus paints a picture of the wedding scene. That's the obvious part, the third verse is the part that hits me the hardest. The shift is obviously post marriage. It's clear because he discusses "all of the costs, and all of the time it took." This paints an image of a family, or perhaps the wedding ceremony and preparations. However, it's all "lines of red in a leather book," perhaps an image made to show the distribution of money or possessions setting up a divorce. The idea of this divorce is emphasized by the speaker is "Begging [her] to wait for a minute by the door, her creeping feet where they've never been before." This image is strong and truly painful. It's pretty self explanatory, as the woman leaves him. As I said, this correlates heavily with Taxi Cab, as the themes of aristocracy and break up. I encourage avid listeners of this song to look up Taxi Cab for comparison. |
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| Damien Rice – Animals Were Gone Lyrics | 12 years ago |
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I think, in correlation with the album, you see a story. Nine Crimes is obviously of an affair. I think this song follows when he returns home to his wife. He realizes her faults and her flaws are what make him in love her. It seems as though he acknowledges his affair, saying "Oh I know that I've left you in places of despair" by destroying his relationship. But he feels regret, and knows that "waking up without [her] Is like drinking from an empty cup." I truly believe this song is further appreciated when you connect the dots with Nine Crimes and Elephant. Elephant can be interpreted as a return to his mistress, and claiming the affair in Nine Crimes must be ended, taking responsibility. I believe the album is a story, and each individual chapter/song can be enjoyed alone, but the entire length of it paints a detailed picture. |
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