| Creedence Clearwater Revival – Bootleg Lyrics | 8 months ago |
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@[chrisb1:53563] Right, and also: tell somebody that they can't have something, and it makes them want it/enjoy it more. Forbidden fruit tastes sweeter. |
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| Perfume Genius – Floating Spit Lyrics | 9 months ago |
| @[cioran:53324] Just needs punctuation. "I watched. I let it burn." or "I watched - I let it burn." | |
| Roy Orbison – The Only One Lyrics | 9 months ago |
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I came here to say that this song has a laid-back, bluesy arrangement, but the lyrics are freakin' heartbreaking! When Roy sings, "no consolation gonna come", he means it! Roy's vocals are great, as usual. I've loved this album for years, and always thought this song meant "It feels like you're alone, but you're not". Then I read the lyrics again. |
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| Roy Orbison – The Only One Lyrics | 9 months ago |
| @[h2izcool:53281] Looks like it's fixed. | |
| Suicidal Tendencies – Institutionalized Lyrics | 9 months ago |
| I'm around the same age as these guys, and I also grew up in Southern California. The final line, "It doesn't matter. I'll probably get hit by a car anyway." is definitely not about committing suicide. It's a throwaway line about the randomness and risks of life. So Cal has a "car culture" (c.f. "Nobody Walks in L.A."). Pedestrians have to watch out! We were also living in the shadow of a possible nuclear war, but choosing something as mundane as getting hit by a car expresses it better. | |
| Of Monsters And Men – Slow and Steady Lyrics | 10 months ago |
| deleted - dupe | |
| Of Monsters And Men – Slow and Steady Lyrics | 10 months ago |
| @[imtheocean:53030] Yes, those lines "I move slow and steady, but I feel like a waterfall" - they perfectly express the feeling of moving carefully through life while inside it all feels out of control. | |
| Big Country – Porrohman Lyrics | 10 months ago |
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This is such an amazing composition and arrangement. The first section with its mechanical beat evokes factory machinery and marching in step. Then the beat changes and suddenly it comes to life. I'm sure there is a more precise description of the transition, but that's how it sounds to me. I don't know what the band intended, but I imagine a story when I hear this song. "Night hangs on the city like a blanket on a cage" - you put a blanket over a cage to keep the animal inside quiet. Brilliant metaphor. I picture a worker at the end of the day, trudging a familiar route home through cold dark streets. Feeling powerless, with only "what is hidden in our hearts" to sustain them. Passing an almost-hidden doorway, there comes a new sound, and a sudden thought: "Jump!". Inside, there is warmth and *music*. The porrohman (a shaman of music) works his spell to bring out the humanity in the crowd. Soon they are calling out "give us iron, give us rope!" (Give us the tools to change our lives.) As the song fades out, we no longer hear the mechanical rhythm of the factory but the thump-thump of a heartbeat. |
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| Translator – Everywhere That I'm Not Lyrics | 1 year ago |
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Last night I heard The Sylistics' "You Are Everything" and it occurred to me that "Everywhere That I'm Not" has some similarities. Coincidence? Inspiration? BTW, I think the phrasing, "a lot like I remember you do" is absolutely brilliant. When you've lost someone, it's no longer about who they are, it's about how you remember them. Here's the start of "You Are Everything" by The Stylistics: Today I saw somebody Who looked just like you She walked like you do I thought it was you As she turned the corner I called out your name I felt so ashamed When it wasn't you |
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| The Bangles – If She Knew What She Wants Lyrics | 1 year ago |
| Some great comments here already. I just want to add that I think the change from the original first-person lyrics is brilliant. "I'd be giving it to her" becomes "He'd be giving it to her" and now it's like a friend of the couple offering observations on their complicated relationship. The original is kind of condescending, like "if this mixed-up girl could sort herself out, she'd realize how great I am". | |
| The Pretenders – Precious Lyrics | 1 year ago |
| @[Mytwobitz:50625] Yep, exactly. I associate the phrase "I had to fuck off [out of there]" with the UK rather than the US. Could be why American listeners just hear "fuck off". | |
| The Human League – Louise Lyrics | 1 year ago |
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It's not always true that time heals all wounds. There are wounds that you don't wanna heal. The memories of something really good, Something truly real, that you never found again. I had an experience a little bit like this song. My first serious relationship was decades ago and we haven't kept in touch. Then one day I saw a recent video of her. She seemed very much the same person, but decades older (of course). It's hard to put into words, but I felt myself letting go of something that I didn't even know I was holding onto. Memory? Regret? What-if? Or, to borrow a line from the Thompson Twins, perhaps it was just "An image of you and of me and we're laughing with love at it all." I'd like to think that if we ran into each other again, we would remember the good feelings and wish each other well. That's how I see the story in this song. |
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| Al Stewart – On The Border Lyrics | 2 years ago |
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"On my wall the colours of the maps are running" I just love the metaphor in that line. |
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| Danielle Dax – Big Hollow Man Lyrics | 2 years ago |
| I also agree with SelfOptedPariah. I would add that "the valley of decision" is the place of final judgement and "the wages of sin" is a metaphor for damnation. This is definitely condemning those who use religion to attain money or power, not specific to any one religion. The reference to terrorist bombing, for example, could refer to "the Troubles" in Ireland, to the Middle East, or to anywhere, really. | |
| Heaven 17 – Let Me Go Lyrics | 2 years ago |
| @[epiwoosh:47933] I don't disagree in general, but "Back on the Chain Gang" IMO is about Chrissy missing the late Jimmy Scott and Pete Farndon, who made up half the original Pretenders lineup and both died far too young. In other words, it's not a mythical time, but a real time when they were making excellent music together, and knew it. Also, reaction to the Thatcher government in Britain might explain some of the rest - disillusionment, disappointment, feeling betrayed... | |
| Los Lobos – Down on the Riverbed Lyrics | 2 years ago |
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I've loved this since I first heard it back in the day. This song manages to create a mood and tell a story with only 8 distinct lines. But the minimal lyrics also leave plenty of room for interpretation. Given the ominous musical arrangement, one could take it to be foreshadowing disaster, but I think it's about the anxiety that comes from hoping for happiness in a harsh world. Forgive me for reducing the beautiful poetry to clumsy prose. Down on the riverbed I asked my lover for her hand - the singer proposes to his girlfriend, in perhaps the only place they can be alone: down on the riverbed. I picture it as an arroyo in the dry the season. A red tailed hawk circled overhead The church on the hill, was what she said - He looks up to see a raptor circling - could be a sign of something, or just a reminder of merciless nature. She accepts his proposal by telling him where she wants the ceremony to be. A monster cloud like a big black hand ("hand", not "hen") As she drew houses in the sand - While his lover (now fiancee) imagines the house they will live in, he sees a huge black cloud suddenly overhead. To me, this represents his anxiety at letting himself hope for a happy life with her, while knowing that bad things can always happen. (Also literally a sudden storm can cause a flash flood "down on the riverbed".) Then I heard a train whistle blow And I knew it was time to go - The train whistle snaps him out of it and he knows it's time to face the future, whatever it may hold, together. ETA: a train, of course, represents movement, perhaps moving forward into the future. |
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| Paul Simon – Allergies Lyrics | 2 years ago |
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Overall, a lighthearted song, but these lyrics always get me: From what I can see of the people like me We get better, but we never get well |
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| Cream – Tales Of Brave Ulysses Lyrics | 2 years ago |
| @[greenbean:47783] I agree, too. I would add that the reference to the sirens implies that that pain is worth it. Ulysses has his crew stop their ears with wax so that the sirens' song does not affect them, but he chooses to have himself bound to the mast and to listen to it with "naked ears". Even though he knows that "the sirens sweetly singing" draw sailors to their deaths. To choose to suffer terribly, in order to learn something that no one else alive knows - it's a defining quality of the character. | |
| Blondie – Just Go Away Lyrics | 2 years ago |
| Part of the joke here is that this is the final track on the Parallel Lines album. It's like they are saying: Thanks for listening. Now go away! | |
| Blondie – Just Go Away Lyrics | 2 years ago |
| @[breakingglass27:47263] This is pure 1978 NYC attitude! | |
| 10,000 Maniacs – The Painted Desert Lyrics | 2 years ago |
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"Or so you wrote" - that just kills me. So much meaning in those few words. It sounds to me like her lover has gone on a long road trip, and they had a plan for her to meet him to see the Painted Desert. But the Painted Desert is not just a place, it's also a time of year - it refers to the wildflowers that bloom after the winter rains. Thus, "I'm sure the rain has ended, the blooms have gone". To her, it seems that their relationship may have faded like the flowers. Also, his letters are a one-way communication. She can't write to him since she doesn't know exactly where he is. ("I haven't read a word from you since Phoenix or Tucson.") She can only sing this song. |
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| Johnny Clegg – The Waiting Lyrics | 2 years ago |
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"Tomorrow is always betrayed By too much hope displayed" So sad and beautiful. |
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| Steve Winwood – Back In The High Life Again Lyrics | 2 years ago |
| @[jayhawki:45349] I think you nailed it. There is a beautiful live version of this song from PBS' "Soundstage" that really brings out the wistfulness of the lyrics. It seems clear (to me at least) that it's about a guy trying to convince himself that he can get back what he once lost. | |
| Soul Coughing – True Dreams Of Wichita Lyrics | 3 years ago |
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@[Jolpaj:43526] I've always loved the lines, "Where you stand with the keys and your cool hat of silence Where you grip her love like a driver's license" I always took it to mean that her love lets him do more than he otherwise would be able to do. This concrete description of an interior emotional state is so good. And that word "grip" - holding on tight because it means so much. |
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| The Who – Success Story Lyrics | 4 years ago |
| @[Mickyfinn:40060] Me too! But I just cranked it up with headphones, and he says, "... You shall play at Carnegie \'all." with a dropped aitch. | |
| The Who – Success Story Lyrics | 4 years ago |
| @[airforbes1:40059] I\'m pretty sure it\'s actually a joking reference to the fairy godmother who helps Cinderella attend the ball. \r\n\r\nJust like Cinderella\r\nWhen she couldn\'t go to the ball\r\nA voice said, "I\'m your fairy manager\r\nYou shall play at Carnegie Hall"\r\n | |
| Men at Work – Underground Lyrics | 4 years ago |
| @[alex100999:37957] A little pun to add extra humor, it seems. Thanks for posting! | |
| Men at Work – Underground Lyrics | 4 years ago |
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I used to think this was about spies or saboteurs. I still think it's about people outside of normal society, but now I think it's criminals. The speaker seems equally disdainful of rich and poor. The last lines suggest suggest some scheme in progress. Oh, and it's "as best as you can", not "asbestos you can". :-) |
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| Bob Dylan – Caribbean Wind Lyrics | 4 years ago |
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I always thought it was, "Bringing everything that's dear to me nearer to the fire" (dear not near) |
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| Wall Of Voodoo – Factory Lyrics | 4 years ago |
| To me this always sounds like the middle-aged version of the guy from "Me And My Dad" on the previous album. | |
| Lorde – A World Alone Lyrics | 4 years ago |
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@[xXIzzieBeeXx:36280] Not until you said it, but yes, it fits, doesn't it? "They were careless people, Tom and Daisy — they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness..." |
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| Gary Numan – You Are in My Vision Lyrics | 4 years ago |
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I took the "hero" section to be a continuation of the previous verse. Everyone pretends because they have no other way to live. I think it's another way of saying that everyone muddles through what can't be changed and tries to be ok with it. Delicate bodies That decay beneath their clothing Play cards in an empty house In Paris The wreckage of a hero Lies broken in the corner And everyone pretends They like to live that way |
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| Tom Waits – Shore Leave Lyrics | 4 years ago |
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There is something about this list of items that really gets me: and I bought a long sleeved shirt with horses on the front and some gum and a lighter and a knife and a new deck of cards (with girls on the back) |
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| Tom Waits – Shiver Me Timbers Lyrics | 4 years ago |
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I love this song, but I don't think it's really about a life at sea. I think this song is about someone fantasizing about a life at sea. All of the references are fictional and the imagery is dreamlike. There is nothing about real sailors or sailing. Martin Eden and Captain Ahab are characters from novels, and "Shiver me timbers!" is a pirate exclamation from movies and TV (in the novel Treasure Island, they say "Shiver my timbers"). "Can't fathom my stayin'" is a play on words, as if the guy wants to use all the nautical jargon he's come across. It reminds me of the end of "9th & Hennepin": "I've seen it all... through the yellow windows of the evening train." Contrast this with the specificity and loneliness in the lyrics of "Shore Leave". |
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| The Stranglers – Always The Sun Lyrics | 6 years ago |
| Probably just me, but the lyrics make me think of "The Warmth of the Sun" by the Beach Boys. That's a song about losing someone, but not losing everything. "Still I have the warmth of the sun"... "There's always the sun". | |
| The Pretenders – Mystery Achievement Lyrics | 7 years ago |
| I agree that this seems like it's about the allure of fame, and that she really just wants to dance and sing for the love of it. But she finds that fame/achievement is still "on my mind". It's embarrassing how long it took me to realize that "I love pretending" means, "I love my band". | |
| The Pretenders – Mystery Achievement Lyrics | 7 years ago |
| @[IDs_Ego:27907] I like your interpretation of "no tears on my ice cream" - not crying over bad luck like a dropped ice cream cone. | |
| Pet Shop Boys – What Have I Done To Deserve This? Lyrics | 8 years ago |
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@[jsmith:19654] I agree with your interpretation. In fact, until I came here, it never occurred to me that there was another way to look at it. When he says, "what have I done to deserve this?" I see that as irony on the part of the songwriters. Like he's saying, "How can you leave me after all this hard work I've put in?" |
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| The Clash – Lose This Skin Lyrics | 9 years ago |
| I'm pretty sure it should be "turn our head" not "turn or hate", especially because of the reference to Lot's wife, who famously turned back to look. | |
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