| Jason Isbell – Songs That She Sang In The Shower Lyrics | 11 years ago |
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Hey, no one interpretation is necessarily correct! It can be different for each person. I actually could see it being about marriage as well. Perhaps he's talking about how many people are willing to settle in relationships and settle for a marriage - instant gratification for many people. Another way of saying "she wasn't right for me, and it's best it ended sooner than later." |
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| Billy Bragg and Wilco – California Stars Lyrics | 11 years ago |
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The first time I heard this was less than a year ago, but I immediately fell in love with the song. I know it's one of those songs that I will always find incredibly beautiful every time I hear it. I've lived my entire life in California, spending most of it in the SJ valley near Sacramento, so I'm sure I see special meaning in it due to that. This song really brings me back to memories of the house I grew up in, which was from 1991 until 2000 when my father purchased a new home (where he lives now). But in that house, we had a relatively small backyard in a quiet neighborhood with a hot tub. I have these memories using that hot tub (maybe when I was 5 or so), and looking up at the stars in wonder. I don't remember anything that was said, but I specifically remember tilting my head back and experiencing awe. It was sort of that innocent curiosity children have; "where am I? what's out there? what is truly possible?" Now, every time I hear this song I think about the type of life I want to live. Love, peace, purpose - it's the ideal life, at its core. Not what society expects of me, not what my parents want, nor what I might say I want. It's about living a life that is true to oneself, and being a person that you believe you are capable of. The song is just perfect to me. I'd love to feel Your hand touching mine And tell me why I must keep working on Yes I'd give my life To lay my head tonight on a bed Of California stars I'd like to dream My troubles all away On a bed of California stars Right here it covers most of the main points. Feeling the love of your life touching you, so relaxing. Giving up your life (metaphorically, and perhaps literally) to just experience a moment of pure bliss and relaxation. Lie there, and let go of all your problems and anxieties and just look up at the much larger universe around you. Jump up from my star bed Make another day Underneath my California stars I think this is an important, overlooked part of the song as well. This is the maturity and acknowledgment that the world is going to continue spinning, and you still have your responsibilities and things you need to accomplish. But at the end of the day, you're always going to be just one person, and you'll always be living underneath those California Stars. Fun fact: I just played this song 4 times in a row. Great stuff. |
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| Jason Isbell – Relatively Easy Lyrics | 11 years ago |
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Great albums always tell a common story throughout, and this is one of the greatest albums of this generation. Certainly, from Cover Me Up through Relatively Easy, this is some of the best songwriting of the last two decades. I do want to slightly disagree with jfoxx about the album being centered about the downtrodden. More than anything, Southeastern has to deal with redemption and Isbell's path to happiness and love in his life. This theme is hinted at in many of his songs; it's true, common themes are loneliness, alcoholism, drugs, death, etc. But in many of the songs, there's that "but..." Even possibly the darkest song, Elephant, he ends the song repeating "we just try to ignore the elephant somehow," hinting that despite the cancer they still have a special moment of real human connection. In Songs That She Sang In the Shower, at the end he says "the frost on the ground probably envies the frost on the trees." jfoxx is right in saying that this song is the punchline to the album. It strikes you as Isbell's philosophy on life, it was the whole purpose of Southeastern. Despite everything, he now has someone to look forward to in his wife, and his once lonely heart beats relatively easy. What an incredible album. Raw emotion, sadness, beauty, love, hope, and he does it all without using any awful cliches throughout. Jason Isbell is emerging as one of the great artists of our generation, and his music will be timeless. Also, this is my favorite song of the album, which says a lot. |
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| Jason Isbell – Songs That She Sang In The Shower Lyrics | 11 years ago |
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I'm a bit surprised that this album doesn't have more comments about it, especially considering that lyrically this is one of the greatest albums of our generation, and Isbell has become a phenomenal songwriter. The one thing I've noticed in this album is that Jason has this unique ability to create songs that are both perfectly universal and also painfully and beautifully personal. Obviously one of the big stories for Isbell and this album is his newfound sobriety, paired with the love of his life, Amanda Shires. However, there's something important to note when interpreting Isbell's songs, and it comes directly from him: "For a lot of folks who get sober, the process of getting and staying sober becomes their higher power, and it becomes a religion that sort of consumes a whole lot of them. I just don't think that that's necessary. I think that that can be a side note rather than the story of your life." Additionally, he also notes that he's never been much of a religious man, and didn't feel the need to become religious in order to become sober. His lyrics come across in a very agnostic, but also stoic manner, which creates some powerful, but simple messages that as I said, apply to everyone. Now the song. [On a lark] [On a whim] [I said there's two kinds of men in this world and you're neither of them] [And his fist] [Cut the smoke] [I had an eighth of a second to wonder if he got the joke] Simple at first glance here. Perhaps a personal experience of Isbell making a witty joke to some guy (perhaps in a bar), saying he's not a man, for whatever reason. This is also a metaphor for the situation of the breakup he's about to experience; your actions will sometimes result in painful consequences. However, and we'll see this at the end of the song, the world isn't ending and there's always hope for a brighter future. [And in the car] [Headed home] [She asked if I had considered the prospect of living alone] The story can be interpreted as Isbell getting in the car with his woman headed home. I don't necessarily subscribe to this song being told in a chronological order, however. But quite simply, this is the general way of how woman break up with men; not direct at first, but you know what she's getting at. [With a steak] [Held to my eye] [I had to summon the confidence needed to hear her goodbye] [And another brief chapter without any answers blew by] Isbell likely suffered a breakup after this "bar fight", so he probably did have a steak held to his eye. But it can also represent the painful feeling you experience whilst being broken up with. It's that moment when you know it's over and she hasn't actually said anything, thus needing to "summon the confidence" to stay strong while she says the words. Then, a very important lyric is mentioned here, "another brief chapter", as Isbell's maturity shows here demonstrating that it's only a small part of his life. However, it's still one of those moments that we end up looking for answers for a while to understand the why? [And the songs that she sang in the shower] [Are stuck in my head] [Like "Bring Out Your Dead"] ["Breakfast In Bed"] To Isbell, one of the things that he loved about this woman was her singing in the shower. But the songs also represent the things that you remember a woman by, and that after a breakup you simply cannot stop thinking about. [And experience robs me of hope] [That she'll make it back home] [So I'm stuck on my own] [I'm stuck on my own] Again, the maturity here shows that he knows it's pointless to hope of any reconciliation. When it's over, it's over. Now he's on his own again. [In a room] [By myself] [Looks like I'm here with a guy that I judged worse than anyone else] After it's all happened, the man is alone inside his mind just thinking. The irony here is that he's alone yet with a guy that he judges (and is judged by) meticulously, himself. No is harder on us than ourselves, and we're not tougher on anyone than ourselves. [So I pace] [And I pray] [And I repeat the mantra's that might keep me clean for the day] For Isbell, he has to talk himself into not descending into alcohol and drugs. For others, oftentimes it is alcohol that will be a common solution to heartbreak. It can also be inactivity, obsessive thinking, or other unhealthy behaviors. [And the songs that she sang in the shower all ring in my ear] [Like "Wish You Were Here"] [How I wish you were here.] Back to obsessing over the woman and missing here. The littlest things can remind you of her, such as the name of a Pink Floyd song which she enjoyed to sing. [And experience robs me of hope] [That you'll ever return] [So I breathe and I burn] [I breathe and I burn] Again, he knows she's never coming back. Not sure of the meaning of "breathe and burn"; perhaps it just means to continue living (breathe) and doing what he needs to do (burn, as in burning oil?). [And the church bells are ringing for those who are easy to please] [And the frost on the ground probably envies the frost on the trees.] My favorite part of the song; where hope springs for life, rather than the woman. The first line may be both optimistic or cynical, but this is the line I'm most unsure of. As a nonreligious individual, I interpret it saying some folks are content with some religious sermon, whereas he is not. Frost is synonymous with the cold, which is the opposite of fire/heat and passion. In love, it represents loneliness and heartbreak. But the beauty of this is Isbell saying, "yes my heart aches, but it could be worse." The frost on the ground is colder and more miserable than the frost on the trees; there is always someone out there who has just experienced something much worse and they are envious of your situation. This is a great transition to "Relatively Easy", the final (and to me, the best) track of the album. [And the songs she sang in the shower are stuck in my mind] [Like "Yesterday's Wine", like yesterday's wine] [And experience tells me that I'll never hear them again] [Without thinking of them] [Without thinking of them] Despite all that, those memories of her are still in your thoughts. And every time you think of certain songs, they'll always be associated to you with her. One of the greatest and to me, uplifting, "breakup" songs ever written. Please share your thoughts with me. |
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| Toby Keith – How Do You Like Me Now Lyrics | 11 years ago |
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I don't actually interpret it as him saying these words to the woman directly (or the record label, as discussed below). I remember learning the lesson a while back when I was early on in my romantic pursuits and things didn't work out with someone, but it is "the best revenge is a life well-lived." |
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| Of Monsters And Men – Six Weeks Lyrics | 12 years ago |
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I really like Ace's interpretation. Slow, slow me down, Her blood, on my bones. Let go, lay to rest. We fall, we fall, we fall, We fall to the ground. Sleep, sleep all night, While the young, they wait alone. So get up, shake the rust. We crawl, we crawl, we crawl, We crawl on the ground. [This is the part that I'm iffiest on actually. I don't want to force a meaning here in order to fit my interpretation below.] Alone, I fight these animals. Alone, until I get home. [This is where it begins to seem clear to me. A person (could be a guy; doesn't have to be) goes through a day in the life fighting all the struggles that come with human life. There are good days, bad days, average and forgettable days; no matter the case, it takes will to march forward in life, as nothing is never "easy".] A wolf, wolf and I, We share the same cold meal. I float on, float on down. We ride, we ride, we ride We ride it all out. [Right above the singer says he fights alone. Here he says "wolf and I." But the wolf is an animal that's often symbolic of being a very solitary, but very strong and smart animal that is completely independent and successful in life. He knows he's not invincible, but is also very intelligent in that it knows what it needs to do to survive and thrive. The wolf and the human are the same thing in this case. They share the same cold meal. The "cold meal" is the important part to me here. On those bad days in life, you feel down. There's many different emotions that can lead to this feeling in the end (grief, anger, boredom, stress, etc.), but you almost always (99.99% of people do, in some way) get through it. It's a cold meal, not preferred but you will live another day. They proceed to "float on" and "ride it out".] We ride, we ride, we ride We ride it all We ride, we ride, we ride We ride it all We ride, we ride, we ride We ride it all out. [And they keep riding it out. There's a lot to face; a common theme I'm noticing in their music is the repetition of lyrics, but not all of them. They love to emphasize certain messages. More of that still to come.] [Repeat: x4] Alone, I fight these animals. Alone, until I get home. [Repeats a part from the beginning, connecting it with the previous lyrics. This time, repeating it 4 times. He has to keep fighting, until he gets home] Coming back, I'm coming back. Coming back, I'm coming back. She follows me into the woods, Takes me home. She follows me into the woods, Takes me home. [The new voice can either mean a new person or something more abstract, such as a thought. It can also be the same person, but acting differently now. The fighting becomes tiresome. It's time to return home and rest; it could be that new person from above that's bringing you home, or just the voice inside your head saying "enough for today."] [Repeat: x2] Coming back, I'm coming back. Coming back, I'm coming back. She follows me into the woods, Takes me home. [The parts at the beginning almost seem like make more sense at the end. But then, considering this entire thing is about the cycle of everyday living, the song can begin whenever it wants, as there is no real beginning and end in life (not even through birth and death.] Did I read far too into this? Probably. Doesn't make me wrong though. |
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