| Jill Sobule – When My Ship Comes In Lyrics | 3 years ago |
| Poor Jay Gatsby didn\'t wait for his ship to come in; he swam out to it to make his fortune. So why did he change his strategy when it came to rekindling his relationship with Daisy Buchanan? Instead he played the waiting game, praying to the dim light at the end of the pier, hearing the distant ringing of the bell from across the bay, waiting for her to come and take him away, so that they could row against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.\n\nSeriously though, I think Jill is winking at us about the mentality of waiting forever for your opportunity to come to you. She\'s playing the flawed character who won\'t act for her life to change but waits for it to happen to her, dreaming about whether or not she wants revenge on the person who broke her heart or to take them with her on her imagined future success. Definitely something most of us can relate to, and it sounds like a rollicking party to boot. (I\'d love to hear this over ending credits to a movie.) | |
| Jewel – You Were Meant For Me Lyrics | 7 years ago |
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This song is a line-by-line response to the Cowboy Junkies song, "Sun Comes Up It's Tuesday Morning." In that song, Margo Timmins complains that the blinds are up so the sun hits her in the face first thing in the morning, and she doesn't have any milk for breakfast, giving the impression that these kinds of things were taken care of by her lover that she's kicked out. She goes about her day, she doesn't seem to have a job, she goes to a movie, happy that she doesn't have to share or compromise, but then she misses having someone at certain times, like the walk home. Meanwhile, Jewel's lyrics give the impression that she has her stuff together, she just misses her lover who has pushed her away. She basically does the same things (except she seems to have a job) but her complaint is loneliness, wanting to get back together. The songs are opposite in that Jewel's (and her cowriter Steve) lyrics want to get back together, just waiting for her lover to accept her back, while the Cowboy Junkies (lyrics by Margo's brother Michael) song absolutely does not want to get back together, missing companionship but "some things can never be forgiven," as there is a hint that physical abuse led to the break-up. Also, while the lyrics follow the same kind of descriptions of the day, they couldn't be more different in format. The Cowboy Junkies song has no rhyming with just one long verse and not really a chorus, unless you count the line repeated at the end of the song, "I do like these extra few feet in my bed." Meanwhile, Jewel's song is as sing-songy as you can get, with simple rhymes in couplets, giving her a happy, hopeful quality. Margo's song comes out as almost mournful by comparison, one long stream of conscious, missing the stability that the other person probably provided... but because of the abuse, they had to go. Yes, my linking the songs gives a dark quality to Jewel's song, since there is no admission of guilt in "You Were Meant For Me," since there is no hint to why the breakup occurred. Perhaps Jewel's narrator doesn't even understand or won't admit to themselves why the other person pushed them away. |
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| Natalie Imbruglia – Torn Lyrics | 7 years ago |
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This song works as the flip side of the same relationship coin as the song "Barely Breathing" by Duncan Sheik, which was huge in 1997, the same year Natalie Imbruglia released her cover. In "Torn" we hear a rather stereotypical feminine perspective; her lyrics are complaining she's losing faith that her lover is the same man "who showed me how to cry." Duncan's lyrics give us a more stereotypical masculine perspective, where he's fed up with her confusing signals and now even doubts her tears are real. She keeps saying things like he's come too late and she's already torn. Duncan's lyrics say he had believed she was "so completely torn," but now he's heard enough and feels like a sucker. Both songs show people frustrated that their relationship isn't working out. She thinks he's changed and doesn't care about her anymore. He has changed, as he now sees her as manipulative and thinks she doesn't really care about him and possibly never did. As accusing as the lyrics get, both songs don't make the break-up final, however. It's that painful spot where they both think it's over but they haven't split yet. What do you think? |
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| Duncan Sheik – She Runs Away Lyrics | 7 years ago |
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I rediscovered this song after suffering depression, and I realized this song isn't about a person. The "she" in the song is his own happiness. It's his analysis of his depression. The darkness comes and goes. Let it go. The more you wonder why, the worse it seems to get. Happiness ain't never how you think it should be. Sometimes it just runs away. Since realizing this, it's become my favorite Duncan Sheik song, and I'm surprised it's not listed as one of his hits. It was on the same album as "Barely Breathing," which seems to be considered a one-hit wonder and the most played song of 1997. |
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