| Guided by Voices – Motor Away Lyrics | 2 years ago |
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"...And then the time will come when you add up the numbers" Indeed it will, and has. |
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| Elvis Costello – Chemistry Class Lyrics | 3 years ago |
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One of my favorites from back in 11th and 12th grade school. For me as a teenager it spoke volumes as did the entire album. Its by-the-book sexual obsession with a classmate/co-worker. Some here have attributed this to actual co-mixing of chemical DNA, e.g.pregnancy and abortion, but I think EC had more of the hormonal story to tell here. I've read reviews that much of what EC was doing comprised a sort of emotional fascism that occurs in relationships (a fascinating concept, I think) -the quest for absolute power and control over others that manifests itself between a man and a woman and all the manipulations and coercion and possession and occupation (being taken over OR the job you've been given (see Oliver's Army). Young person's hormones as German Army on the march. Chemistry also continues that paranoid theme that runs through Armed Forces. So the the girl is shooting sparks and showing off her legs from across the classroom, but the narrator doesn't trust it just yet - he feels he's being subjected to a different kind of manipulation, but the end result is the same, she has no idea (or maybe she does) of what ideas she's awakened in the narrator: "you don't know what you started". More play on words with the emotional fascism angle: "Are you ready for the final solution?" is not just the chemical result of two or more solutes in the classroom beaker, but of course, shipping off of political and ethnic undesirables to their deaths is a (satirical) device as as2191 says, to the narrators overwrought (and barely controllable) emotional reactions to his situation by saying "do we do this and get it over with" and break this tension? She'll never give him the satisfaction of a real yes or no, in his mind. Now the music - starts with a slow-motion dreamy imagery (punctuated by Steve Nieve's movie soundtrack-like quality keys) that practically jumps out at you and continues the passion play you witness before tumbling into the 1960s style melodies. This song, I believe, was a bookend to the other song on the album "Two Little Hitlers", as it further pushes the envelope of emotional fascism and relationship domination between two people struggling for control. Witness the gentle descending guitar note melody in the background at the end of "Chemistry" with EC 's echoing Fender Jazz guitar while he runs effects and the tremolo bar over top. Those same simple descending arpeggiated notes match identically to "Two Little Hitlers" while the chorus of "I will return, I will not burn" are sung over top. Pure genius. |
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| Elvis Costello – Busy Bodies Lyrics | 3 years ago |
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Perfect example of EC's talent for capturing the emotional angst and desire for a girl (who represents a pinnacle of attractiveness or ideal - a common theme) who may or may not give in to the singer physically, and after its been consummated, the narrator is astounded at how pointless it was. As with many of his other material, EC is very prescient. "Everybody's getting meaner"...Like a hearing a partner afterward nonchalantly comparing the encounter to a simple physical need like going to bathroom (with a wave of her hand) , it leaves the narrator hung up in the emotional barbed wire (concertina) trap many others like him find themselves. This rings true in recent times as folks who have fought in the online dating world battlefield have experienced over and over again, doing the same things over and over again, and like in the definition of insanity, expect to get a different result. Dating is brutality and appearances are deceiving. |
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| Elvis Costello – Black and White World Lyrics | 3 years ago |
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Same as below - Additionally, I think while he eventually realizes his idealization of the woman (real, past lover, imagined, photograph, etc.) is not reality, he just doesn't really care, he's willing to live with the fantasy obsession he's created - it works better for him, so he sticks with it. Memories erase imperfections. |
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| Elvis Costello – 5ive Gears In Reverse Lyrics | 3 years ago |
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Just an overall observation how society in general is basically going to hell with the speed of changes that the average citizen just can't keep up with. If you're self satisfied and comfortable, just fine - the singer wants to break that up and introduce his brand of chaos. |
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| Elvis Costello – B Movie Lyrics | 3 years ago |
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Yup, cool groove and basslines from Bruce. As Atman says - If not completely mistaken, I think Elvis was having some relationship with Bebe Buell (groupie who was with a ton of rock stars in 70s) before reconciling with his wife, so he felt under the media microscope - that and the coverage of his mouthing off and fight with Bonnie Bramlett in Ohio. "You can't stand it when I throw punchlines, you can feel" - EC starts drunkenly shooting his mouth off in a bar putting down classic African-American musicians and composers with racial slurs in front of Bramlett because thought he was serving up some drunken final denouement to get her out of his face and he ended up being the punching bag, instead. His humorous (to him) broadsides cause her pain, and he revels in the effect its having on her. I always go back to Tom Carson's review in Rolling Stone back in 1980, where he says Elvis is singing "You can't feel" after the cool wordplay of the studio's "reel to reel" recording vs. what the woman in the song (or even himself - it's often both) wants to be the object of the song in reality (too real) - i.e., the source of his irritation with her is her vainness/narcissism. I've read that these were common assessments of Buell's personality. But then, EC constantly claims she has nothing to do with his songwriting, hence a classic kind of dysfunctional/toxic relationship that is mirrored in the entire album. Or is it? |
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