| Redbone – We Were All Wounded at Wounded Knee Lyrics | 7 years ago |
| @[baziz:27400] It's not about either, because there was no concept of "Native Americans" from the perspective of the Lakota people, since tribes treat all foreigners and social progress with rabid disregard. (Hence we can thank evolution and the development of the neo-Palium, alongside civilization, for even the freedom to make posts online, a great deal of which are maintained by servers on the West Coast, which is of course the end of the Oregon Trail and the consummation of Manifest Destiny.) As for the "whole US" (I'm guessing you mean "whole U.S." rather than "us"), that entity as we now understand it could only have been the product of sacrifices made, such as at Wounded Knee, in order to eliminate the tribal way of life and to attain an ethical, teleological purpose devoid of any further, needless violence. (A perfect parallel would be the character of Gustavo Fring from Breaking Bad and his cold, uncompromising war on the Mexican drug cartels.) The only "we" that could have been referred to here is the Lakota Tribe itself, and as people who inherited a civilized language we have an obligation not to abuse it against its unitive purposes. Most uses of the word "we" are illusory, because only the Individual can truly be said to exist as a sentient phenomenon; his flourishing depends entirely upon the elimination of those oppressive ways of life, such as Fascism and tribalism, that would seek to subvert the Reasoning Intellect to the rule by force. R.G. | |
| Foo Fighters – These Days Lyrics | 7 years ago |
|
This site is BURNT. You all misinterpreted this song. The song is a transparent work of pacifism. The only explicit imagery could apply exclusively to natural disaster, modern warfare, and extraterrestrial abduction. Considering the inevitability of the former and the improbability of the latter, it follows that the song is one in a long tradition of protest songs. This would account for the fact that the verse follows the same chord progression (I and IV) as that classic by Buffalo Springfield: "For What It's Worth". Grohl takes a common excuse for violence ("easy for you to say") and turns the idiom in on its most fervent users. Too often in post-modern society we are ignored once we've attained a spiritual height, punished in direct proportion to our compassion, yet rewarded when we've dug ourselves deeper into our own graves, for at that point we have escaped the leveling prejudices of our fellows, but not by a condescending avenue so much as by a descending one. Grohl reminds the public that it is no mark of authority to have suffered as a sinner, because that authority belongs to everyone, a PRIORI, and must by its very necessity and design PRECEDE the act itself. Hence war can never be justified, except by non-combatants, for the justification must precede the decision to become a combatant. Furthermore, it is "easy" for a violent criminal to abuse the power given to him by an oppressive State because that power is a position of privilege. The irony is brilliant and cutting as a kitchen knife. I can see its applications to all contemporary military conflicts. At no point does it express an emotive, temperamental prejudice in favour of either optimism or pessimism, nor does it misattribute the personal "facts" of any one set of private circumstances to the impersonal and public ethical question. The song rather lampoons the entire notion that any situation, however depraved, could justify depravity itself. A more thorough understanding of rock and roll and its political history would inform your understanding of this song objectively. Paying close attention to the band's promotional videos would all so help, as well as remembering the political views of Dave's collaborator and friend, Kurt Cobain. In many ways the latter was to the former as Socrates was to Plato, especially posthumously. It's a very straight-foreward song. It requires no further elaboration, except as a reminder that optimism is our ONLY option, since pessimism all ready presupposes that the Other is either as pessimistic or in some other ways Inferior, and that our own suffering MUST be prevented, not that it MAY be just to do so. You are welcome. R.G. |
|
| Elbow – Grounds for Divorce Lyrics | 7 years ago |
|
I took the "Seldom Seen Kid" to be a Satanic Reference. A kid is a baby goat. He is seldom seen because he hides in plain sight. The last line can be heard as "Sundays we'll be drinking with the Seldom Seen Kid", signifying sacrilege. The whole song has a spiritual meaning that transcends its secular meaning. It is not exclusively about drug use; in fact, that could be interpreted as merely a metaphor. And no: ascribing religious and occult significance to a popular rock song is not too cliché; reducing it to drug use is a lot less profound or original. I would know; I first found this website through an investigation of lyrics by Modest Mouse and Nine Inch Nails. Every line can be read to build upon the metaphor for Evil, Temptation, and the Devil: "Polishing a compass that I hold in my sleeve." This line signifies a Moral Compass that he is keeping up his sleeve. The irony intrinsic to this is that whilst he is keeping a clean conscience, he is hiding it from the World. His intent is secretive because it is either Diabolical or it contradicts the lifestyle he has fallen into, and he must harbour it as a secret. "Down comes him on sticks but then he kicks like a Horse." The image of Satan often depicts him as having the torso of a man but the legs of a goat. Hooves all so occur in horses. "Sticks" could be a reference to Hell, which is euphemized "H.E. Double Hockey Sticks" (H.E.L.L, wherein the "L's" resemble hockey sticks). "There's a tiny cigarette case. And the rest you can keep." In interpreting lyrics we must avoid being reductionistic. Every good work of poetry has layers upon layers, often revealing contexts that the writer himself did not consciously intend. Yes: this song could be a story about a deceased friend. Again: I would know. But it goes deeper than that, and by so doing it attains Universal Appeal. The "tiny cigarette case" could theoretically be a paltry reward from the divorce. But it all so works as a metaphor for the Body once it has lost its Soul. The individual has been reduced to a tiny container without any remaining substance (in both the physical and metaphysical senses) and has given all else away. A cigarette is all so often offered to a neighbour at a bar, which appears to be the setting for this sort of Faustian play. The Seldom Seen Kid might offer the protagonist a last cigarette prior to Execution. Keep in mind this too: that whilst it might appear disrespectful to speak this way of a dead friend, in the Christian tradition it is not uncommon to say that such a victim was "Used" and "Possessed" by the Devil, so the Kid could at once be an endearing child and all so the personification of the Devil, which is often how the Devil is depicted when he operates in disguise. In that sense, the chorus makes total sense: "There's a hole in my neighbourhood down which of late I cannot help but fall." Alcoholism and other forms of addiction certainly are pristine examples of this, but the metaphor of the hole runs deeper, into the pits of Hell. A similar (and more overt) example is the song "Heaven Knows" by The Pretty Reckless, off of the Album "Going to Hell". It's a fairly ubiquitous theme in this genre. You can figure the rest out for yourselves. R.G. |
|
* This information can be up to 15 minutes delayed.