| Pilot – January [*] Lyrics | 4 years ago |
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David Paton explained the meanings of January in a video interview with Radio Borders. The chorus is not singing about the month of January, but actually a girl named January. Paton got the name of the female protagonist from a book that his wife was reading. Paton also explained that the verses have no connection with the chorus, and that the verses are about the success of their song Magic, and how it has affected his life. Looking at Verse 1: "Life gets me higher" - He's saying that his life has been positively affected from Magic, and that it has brought him great success, so he's in a high place in life and enjoying it. "I can show, I can glow, I can wake up the world." - I think he's saying here that he can positively affect the world with his music. Most people will know the chorus for Magic (Oh, ho, ho, it's magic, you know. Never believe it's not so.) and most (if not all) those people will probably admit how catchy the song is. Verses 2 and 4: "Sun like a fire." - Not sure what this means exactly. Maybe he's saying he has a burning passion for something, but I really have no idea at all what this has to do with the song Magic. "Carry on don't be gone bring me out of my home sweet home." - Again, I don't know what he's talking about here. Maybe he's hoping to tour so he can travel the world, but that might be a stretch. "Gotta know me, gotta show me." - Once again, this whole second verse, I don't quite understand. Possibly saying that you have to know him to know how good he feels with the success of Magic. Again, that might be a stretch. Also might be saying he wants to see how Magic has affected you as well. As a bonus, I'll answer this question at the end of my interpretation. "You've been facing the world, you've been chasing the world." - The only way I can interpret this is if the "You" is Magic. I don't think the band knew that the song was going to achieve the success it did, so when they finished the album, the song was "facing the world.", facing challenges such as poor sales and negative criticisms. However, the song achieved massive success, reaching #1 in Canada for a week, and top 20 on other weekly charts, which meant the song was now "chasing the world." Another way to interpret the "chase" is the song pursuing its success around the world. Verse 3: - "Time it's a flier." - A (intentional?) pun on the band name Pilot, being a flier. Also, to the fact that time flies when you're having fun. Paton was around 26 years old when Second Flight (the album this song comes from) was released in 1975. "Sunny day, fly away, English summers are gone, so long." - Hard to tell how this is supposed to be worded. Is he telling the sunny day to fly away? I think he means, it's a sunny day and he's flying away. Possibly quite literally, as the band toured, though never popular enough to tour in America. Of course, sunny days usually represent a good day, or good times to be had, so I think that's what the sunny day is referring to. I don't know what the English summers being gone has to do with Magic, and I'm not sure if he's saying so long as in farewell, or good riddance. "Gotta go up gotta ??? up." - I thought the ??? lyric was blow up. If it is in fact grow up, that would make sense, as stated before, Paton was about 26 years old when he worked on this album. If it's "blow up", then I think he's talking about Magic getting more and more popular, as well as "Go up", as in going up the charts. So, that's my interpretation. Anyway, how did Magic affect me personally? Well, I had originally bought the album it came from (titled "From The Album Of The Same Name, though dubbed Magic in Japan) just for that song. However, on a road trip to a convention, I decided to listen to the entire album, and it was one of the best decisions I ever made in my life. So many great tunes from that album. In fact, Magic is no longer my favorite song on the album. I'd recommend listening to "Don't Speak Loudly", as it sounds very similar to Magic. I also like Just A Smile, Girl Next Door, Lovely Lady Smile, Over The Moon, Never Give Up, and Auntie Iris. I love the entire album, but those are my favorites. Second Flight also has some good tunes, such as You're My No. 1, Bad To Me, Call Me Round, and I'd highly suggest Passion Piece, as I believe it's the only Pilot song to feature the band's keyboardist Billy Lyall on lead vocals. It's a very catchy big-band/ragtime type of song, similar to that of Queen's Good Old-Fashioned Lover Boy. Morin Heights also has some good tunes for me, my favorites being Canada and Penny In My Pocket. Going back to how Magic inspired me; David Paton himself did a guitar lesson on Magic a few years back, and mentioned he'd do the bass tab if he had the time. He didn't end up doing it, so I transcribed the entire bassline. I sent it to David Paton and he approved it, and I uploaded it to my Twitter. Anyway, sorry for the lengthy comment. Hope you enjoyed reading it though! |
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| The Beatles – Maxwell's Silver Hammer Lyrics | 7 years ago |
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I couldn't find any comments about the song's true meaning, so I will say it here. My sister had a Beatles lyrics book with some input from the composers thrown in. If I remember correctly, Paul said in the book that this song is just about the downfalls in life, when things in your life go wrong. |
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| The Smithereens – Yesterday Girl Lyrics | 7 years ago |
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Pat DiNizio from "Best Of The Smithereens (Guitar Recorded Versions)": “Yesterday Girl” was perhaps the first song I’d written where I made a deliberate decision to be open or upfront regarding the way I felt about things in general, where I am the obvious character within the lyric of the song, expressing myself. Lyrically, the song was about the down side of success. The lines “Now I’m not the same guy that you used to know, I used to be the guy that had some place to go” reflect the notion that no success in life (and specifically pop music) comes without a price. Musically, the song owes a tremendous debt to “Louie, Louie” by the Kingsmen!" |
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| *NSYNC – It's Gonna Be Me Lyrics | 7 years ago |
| Justin Timberlake said this song is about a girl who is delaying getting in a relationship with a guy, and by the time she's ready for the relationship, it's too late, as the guy has already moved on. You can see him talk about it for a brief moment on the making of the It's Gonna Be Me music video. | |
| Sting – Saint Augustine In Hell Lyrics | 8 years ago |
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A little trivia: The interlude at around 2:30 is actually taken from an earlier Sting song titled "I Miss You Kate". You should be able to find it on the CD single for All This Time. |
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| Sting – I Miss You Kate Lyrics | 8 years ago |
| A little trivia: At around 1:30, that bit was used as an interlude in Saint Augustine In Hell; also by Sting. | |
| Barenaked Ladies – Alternative Girlfriend Lyrics | 8 years ago |
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According to Page, the band saw who successful the grunge scene was, so they thought they'd try their hand at it. This is from the Disc One: All Their Greatest Hits liner notes: "At the height of the grunge revolution, we were strumming on our old banjos and singing about macaroni. It felt like we were the ones being daring. From the difficult second album, Maybe You Should Drive, this marks the debut of rock guitar (apart from a brief allusion in “Grade 9” from Gordon) in our canon. There’s nothing left that won’t cross over, indeed." |
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| Barenaked Ladies – In The Car Lyrics | 8 years ago |
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I think it's obvious to say this song's about a sexual relationship. However, I interpret the end of the song differently: "We groped for excuses not to be alone anymore" The parents of either the male, female (or both) found out what they were doing and since they are still living under the roofs of their parents, the parents are not happy what they have been up to. "We were waiting for our lives to start their endings." You know how you do something bad and you say "My mom's/dad's going to kill me!" I think that's what they were talking about. "We were never making love." Probably what they're trying to tell their parents to try and stay out of trouble. Or maybe it's the male's mental thoughts, trying to justify himself for what he/they did. Of course, I could be wrong, but that's how I've interpreted it. |
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| Barenaked Ladies – Never Is Enough Lyrics | 8 years ago |
| Maybe this song is about Ed himself? Probably not, however I do remember him saying that he worked at Wendy's and was employee of the month at some concert. I can't remember the video title but it was on YouTube and the band was playing the song on a small stage if I remember correctly. | |
| Barenaked Ladies – Falling For The First Time Lyrics | 8 years ago |
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In the Greatest Hits album, Steven Page talks about all the songs. For this song, he said it's about a perfectionist who realizes it's good to fail: "We wanted to write a song about a perfectionist who discovers the joy in failing – how he’s got to learn to fall before he learns to fly, and how that fall makes him feel a freedom he’s never felt before. I guess that’s why we removed these lyrics that Ed had improvised; “Anyone itchy must be chafing/anything chafing must be red/anything red must be important/anyone important’s already dead.” But far from failing, check out how Tyler and Kevin are playing their asses off." |
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| Chicago – South California Purples Lyrics | 8 years ago |
| Chicago's take on a blues chord progressions. The word "Purples" is a spoof of so many songs having the word "Blues" in the title. If the song were titled "South California Blues", nobody would question it, but since it's titled "South California Purples", it tends to perplex some people. | |
| Chicago – What Else Can I Say Lyrics | 8 years ago |
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I think this song is about a woman that he broke up with and now he realizes how good she was to him, so he wants her back. But she's "far away". Maybe literally, or just too far from him to get back with, as in maybe she already committed to someone else? The first verse sounds like the breakup. The second verse, I'm thinking maybe he woke up in the morning and visualized her being there next to him. The choruses are just him admitting he misses her dearly and wants her back. |
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| Sting – Children's Crusade Lyrics | 8 years ago |
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I have a book called Lyrics By Sting. In a few of the songs, he elaborates the meaning of them. Children's Crusade was on the list: "This is one of my more ambitious songs. I tried to combine an abiding interest in the FIrst World War, heroin addiction in contemporary London, and the abuse of twelfth-century street children, who were sold into slavery in a cynical pseudoreligious scam that was appalling even by the low moral standards of the Crusaders and the ethics of the time. There seemed to be a connection." |
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| Sting – You Still Touch Me Lyrics | 8 years ago |
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If I remember correctly, Sting said on his website this song was made mostly because of his passion for African-American music. Here are a few quotes Sting says about the song: "I used a quote from 'Soul Man' by Isaac Hayes - people in the know will know exactly what it is - it's a kind of soulful song with a kind of baroque chord sequence." "It's a standard song of love and loss - a homage to the type of music I lost my virginity to, that I drove my first car to and that has been burned into my brain." "I'm not interested in just copying records that were already brilliant. What's the point You can't improve on Sam and Dave or Marvin Gaye. You can't better Otis Redding. But you can twist it a little, combine it with other elements and pervert it a bit to make it your own." Also, correct me if I'm wrong but I think this song uses a drum machine, rather than Vinnie Colaiuta's drumming. Sounds like the same drums as Beneath A Desert Moon and This Cowboy Song. |
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| Sting – The Dream of the Blue Turtles Lyrics | 8 years ago |
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Sting said both the song and album name is literal; coming from a dream Sting had when he was in Barbados. Sting: "The title of the album came from a dream that woke me up on my first night in Barbados. I dreamed I was sitting in the walled garden behind my house in Hampstead, under a lilac tree on a well manicured lawn, surrounded by beautiful rosebushes. Suddenly the bricks from the wall exploded into the garden and I turned to see the head of an enormous turtle emerging from the darkness, followed by four or five others. They were not only the size of a man, they were also blue and had an air of being immensely cool, like hepcats, insouciant and fearless. They didn't harm me but with an almost casual violence commenced to destroy my genteel English garden, digging up the lawn with their claws, chomping at the rosebushes, bulldozing the lilac tree. Total mayhem. I woke up to the sound of Branford in the room upstairs, riffing wildly on his tenor sax, followed by his unmistakeable laughter." |
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| Sting – This Cowboy Song Lyrics | 8 years ago |
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I think sillybunny pretty much explained it all, but since I'm familiar with the entire album Ten Summoner's Tales, I think I get the whole story. In the prequel song "Love Is Stronger Than Justice (The Munificent Seven)", there are seven brothers who all share the same father, but their mothers are different. The song takes the first-person perspective of one of the brothers. He says that he and his brothers ended up in Mexico where a town is pleading them to help take down a bunch of bandits threatening their town. They are promised beautiful women if they help, but when the brother finds out there's only one woman in the town after they've saved the city from the bandits, he plots to kill his brothers. The song never explains how he kills them, but the song does confirm that they're dead. ("And though there used to be brothers seven, the other six are singing in Heaven.") This song is also interesting in that it is in a 7/4 time signature. (Except in the chorus, which is normal 4/4 time.) So I think in This Cowboy Song, especially in the second verse, he regrets killing them, as well as other poor life choices that he made. He thinks about becoming Christian, except he believes that not even Christ himself would accept him after the horrible atrocities he's committed. However, he has "This Cowboy Song" to sing which helps him to feel better. He feels the song gets him closer to whoever or whatever is in control of the afterlife. Additionally, some little trivia people might be interested in. According to my Japanese copy of Ten Summoner's Tales, the prequel song is based on an Akira Kurosawa film, or at least a spoof of the name "The Magnificent Seven". |
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| Toby Keith – Who's Your Daddy Lyrics | 8 years ago |
| The song is pretty self-explanatory. I've heard that even Toby Keith has confirmed it's about the relationship between a girl and her "Sugar Daddy". He will give the girl anything she wants as long as she provides good sexual pleasure. | |
| Steve Vai – For the Love of God Lyrics | 8 years ago |
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In the guitar book for Passion & Warfare, Steve Vai has some short commentary for each song on the album. This is what he said about For The Love Of God: "To date, this is the ultimate musical statement of my subliminal love for all that is, and my desire to achieve purity of heart in one of these lifetimes soon. It was inspired by divinity, like all great things that the human race takes credit for." |
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| The Alan Parsons Project – I Don't Wanna Go Home Lyrics | 8 years ago |
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First off, some trivia. This song opens with the same exact chord progressions as "I Wouldn't Want To Be Like You": Cm6/9 B♭m6/C The song is about a gambler who lost all of his money. His conscience (or somebody else) is shunning them, saying that they shouldn't have tried gambling, not even once. The song then switches perspectives to the gambler in the chorus. He feels like crap since he's lost everything. He just wishes he could play "one more time", but unfortunately for him, he's out of money. |
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| The Alan Parsons Project – May Be A Price To Pay Lyrics | 8 years ago |
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Probably my favorite song off the whole album. I think the song is about a group of friends/kids (apprentice/servants) who gamble at night when their parents (Master/sorcerer) are in bed or aren't around to see what's going on. But in the third verse, it sounds like the parents get suspicious and pretend to leave their home to check on the kids. The 'price to pay' could be a couple things. Either one of the kids bet a lot of money and lost it to one of the other kids, or the parents found out and the kids are going to 'pay' for gambling in the parents' house. I'm probably wrong, but that's the way I see it. That's a good interpretation, dracopticon, but remember that this album's songs are usually based on gambling, hence the album name. |
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| Sting – Everybody Laughed But You Lyrics | 8 years ago |
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One of my favorites off of Ten Summoner's Tales. This song was only found in international copies (I own the Japanese version, as well as an American copy). However, I first heard it on the CD single for If I Ever Lose My Faith In You. There was another song on there that had the same exact backing track but different vocals titled January Stars. How unfortunate that these songs don't get any attention from Sting. I've seen him play other songs while he was doing the Ten Summoner's Tales tours, but he never seemed to play this one. I think this song is about a male and female character in a relationship. However, the male character's friends are laughing at him, telling him that the relationship won't work out. It got so bad that the male character's "friends" stopped talking to him because he refused to believe what they were saying. In the Japanese booklet, it explains some of the lyrics throughout the album. In this song, it only talks about the 'cost the moon' lyric, which means that the male character's 'friends' said she was going to have him spend an 'astronomical' (large/ridiculous) amount of money on her, to which he replies (ironically?) "We'll be there soon." as if that was true. So maybe the song is about a woman who is in fact manipulating this man, and his friends left him because he didn't heed their advice. But this woman is so attractive to him, or something of that matter, that he can't muster up the courage to end the relationship. Just my take on it. |
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| The Offspring – Defy You Lyrics | 8 years ago |
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I think this song is about people standing to the corrupt government/politicians. They are always trying to force rules down our throat. I don't think it's exactly about standing up for what you believe in as the chorus uses the word "Us", implying it's more than one person, but to their credit, singular nouns are used ("Me" for example) in the verses. Here are just some of my interpretations: The more you say (the more rules you try to force on me), the more I defy you (the more I'm not going to follow your rules). The wind blows, I'll lean into the wind. Whatever he feels nature tells him to do, he'll do instead of following the rules. My anger grows, I'll use it to win. He's saying that he'll use the anger built inside him to inspire him to protest against the crooked government/politicians. I'm not sure what the "All my will... start again" lines mean though. Just my take on it. |
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| Barenaked Ladies – What A Good Boy Lyrics | 8 years ago |
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Wow, Steven Page was right! A lot of people HAVE tried to interpret this song in different ways. If you have their Greatest Hits CD, Page explains the song in the liner notes: I’ve heard so many good interpretations of this song that I’m loath to tell the real story, but suffice to say that it’s an idealistic twenty-one year-old’s view of gender roles. However, it is one of my favourite songs to sing, and this live version restores the outro left off the Gordon version. Matchbox Twenty’s Rob Thomas sang this with us once in New York City, and he actually did know all the words, just as he’d promised! It was pretty cool, as most musicians won’t admit to knowing the words to any of our songs, never mind a more obscure ballad. Still, all I could think was “I wish I could sing this one.” Meanwhile I’m sure he was thinking “I wish Carlos Santana were here.” |
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| Barenaked Ladies – Falling For The First Time Lyrics | 8 years ago |
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Steve Page: We wanted to write a song about a perfectionist who discovers the joy in failing – how he’s got to learn to fall before he learns to fly, and how that fall makes him feel a freedom he’s never felt before. I guess that’s why we removed these lyrics that Ed had improvised; “Anyone itchy must be chafing/anything chafing must be red/anything red must be important/anyone important’s already dead.” But far from failing, check out how Tyler and Kevin are playing their asses off. Source: Disc One - All Their Greatest Hits Liner Notes |
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| Barenaked Ladies – Inline Bowline Lyrics | 8 years ago |
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@[rokbom:5986] Took me all these years to find out it was about someone who hung himself, but looking at the lyrics, it was so obvious! I think the rope's significance in this song is from the friend. In the first verse, he teaches the character who kills himself how to make that knot, and when he found out his friend hung himself using that knot, he couldn't help but feel guilty. Imagine buying your friend a gun and taking them out to a shooting range. Later, you find out your friend shot himself with that gun that you bought him. You would probably feel really guilty and sad. But you didn't know your friend was going to do that. |
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| Barenaked Ladies – Told You So Lyrics | 8 years ago |
| When Ed played this in The Bathroom Sessions via YouTube, he was wearing a (RED) shirt, which I think has to do with AIDS research, so maybe that really is the subject matter of this song? | |
| Sting – I Was Brought To My Senses Lyrics | 8 years ago |
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Sting said the song was about appreciating nature, and comparing it as a metaphor for life and love. [Sting] I’ve come to the realisation through experiences that not only is nature an amazing metaphor for human relationships and patterns of behaviour – it’s a miracle in it’s own right. You can’t separate us from the trees, we’re part of the same carbon based family of life. If you see nature as something apart from you, you have no respect for it." |
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| The Offspring – All I Want Lyrics | 8 years ago |
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Dexter Holland originally wrote this song with the title "Protocol", which he originally wrote for Bad Religion. The song was supposed to sound like something Bad Religion would have written, with the subject matter, Greg Graffin's complex vocabulary, etc. However, when Dexter demoed the song to Bad Religion, their guitarist Brett Gurewitz replied negatively saying something along the lines of, "No, don't worry about it, Just play it for me on acoustic later or something." I think since that incident and the story behind their other Ixnay on the Hombre song "Change the World", The Offspring has (secretly) held a grudge against Bad Religion since. Dexter then changed the lyrical content and lyrics to sound more like The Offspring's musical style. Lyrically, the song is pretty easy to figure out. It's just about how society forces you to live a certain way. Dexter is suggesting you let them know you've had enough. All (Dexter) wants is to be able to live his life the way he wishes. He also tells society to try living in his shoes. How would they like it if he pushed his beliefs down their throats? They wouldn't like it very much. Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=1&v=e4Df48ytpHM |
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| Sting – All Four Seasons Lyrics | 8 years ago |
| @[pistolero983:5952] Sting said in an interview that the song was about his daughter. | |
| Sting – Beneath a Desert Moon Lyrics | 8 years ago |
| @[sillybunny:5937] My copy of the You Still Touch Me single doesn't have it. However, my copy of I'm So Happy I Can't Stop Crying does. | |
| Eric Clapton – Bad Love Lyrics | 8 years ago |
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This is one of my favorite Clapton songs. He's talking/singing to a woman he's been in a relationship with. He truly loves this woman, and knows that she loves him, too. He's had "bad love" in the past (bad relationships) and he doesn't want to suffer anymore. He also acknowledges he's a lucky man, as there are some men on this earth who will never have a woman like his. He knows how that feels, because he used to be one of those people. Of course, the Crybaby Wah pedal is an Eric Clapton staple in this song that makes it even more enjoyable to listen to. Way to go, "Slowhand"! |
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