submissions
| The Tragically Hip – Gift Shop Lyrics
| 9 years ago
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The song is a reflection on Gord's, and the band's, place "above the common rabble" --the experience of being famous. "The beautiful lull, the dangerous tug" is the temptation to see yourself as better than ordinary people, to give in to your ego. They still feel human, average, ("small,") but his/their vantage point is extremely distanced from the everyday ("high up above"). He then examines the lot of the average person and notes that we (as humans) are "forced to bed" (our creative impulses are stymied and discouraged) but ultimately no one can stop us if we're sufficiently motivated ("we're free to dream"). Ultimately Downie rejects the role of prophet, however: "I don't know what to believe...sometimes I even forget..." and absolves himself of the responsibility of providing insight to the masses "if it's a lie...terrorists made me say it." There's both an acknowledgement and an irony in the closing refrain of "from high up above"--Downie was writing this song at the peak of the Hip's popularity, giving a nod to the fact that the Hip were metaphorically--and in the song, literally--"on top"--but also admitting that once there, he really didn't know what to do with themself and didn't really want the responsibility. |
submissions
| Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds – Nobody's Baby Now Lyrics
| 10 years ago
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Some relationships, while extremely exciting, are just a really bad idea for both parties. Oil and water. This song is about one of those relationships. It's about a beautiful but troubled woman (possibly suffering from depression if her "wild feral stare, her dark hair, Her winter lips as cold as stone" are any indication) who the narrator (her "cruel-hearted man") ends up, unintentionally, breaking completely. The narrator searches in vain for answers as to why it broke down and what he did wrong. The object of his affection has given up on love and resigned herself to being alone with her pain, "nobody's baby now." It's about the pain of estrangement and knowing that you're to blame for it. |
submissions
| Tom Waits – Pay Me Lyrics
| 10 years ago
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A glimpse into the psychology of a touring artist. Clearly a thinly veiled rendering of some of Tom's own nagging self-criticisms. The life of an artist on the road can be lonely, difficult and tiring. Long periods of time spent away from one's family without significant contact may evolve into the belief that they don't care anymore, that their supportiveness is actually indifference "i.e., they pay me not to come home." |
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