submissions
| The Human League – Empire State Human Lyrics
| 4 months ago
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It's possible to interpret it as being about growing up, but like puzzud, I hear it as being more about the darker side of ambition, which can arise from feelings of inadequacy ("they just remind me of how small I am") but can turn into a kind of insatiable monster. This person wants to be not just tall, but the biggest person in the land, and even then will probably not be satisfied or at peace. The discordant synth sounds in the outro to me suggest something grotesque and unnatural. The imperious commands to "fetch more water, fetch more sand" imply using other people to serve one's own ambition, and overusing resources, which could be a criticism of civilizational and not just individual excesses (although on the other hand, the message of Blind Youth that urbanization is not entirely a bad thing in and of itself sounds sincere to me--- building in order to live collectively is not the problem.) |
submissions
| Echo and the Bunnymen – Over The Wall Lyrics
| 6 months ago
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I discovered this song during high school, and I remember it going through my head while I was working up the nerve to ask out this girl I had a crush on. I picked up on the meaning of overcoming internal obstacles, but the song is more ambiguous than just that, isn't it? |
submissions
| Echo and the Bunnymen – Heads Will Roll Lyrics
| 6 months ago
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I always thought the "If I ever met you.." verse was a challenge directed to God. I guess Ian was reading a lot of Nietzsche. (See the last verse of Ripeness: "I've discovered my Nietzsche." )
Also, I heard the last two lines of that verse as:
The value of my face
The value of my race
(Presumably meaning the human race, not White people.) But there were a lot of lyrics on that album that I misheard. |
submissions
| Gary Numan – We Take Mystery (To Bed) Lyrics
| 7 months ago
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@[Monopatinista:53672] Maybe there is more than one version? The first verse is right, but the second I don't recognize at all, and there is a completely different verse that I do remember: "There is no longer any normal to be/ You're my assassin but you can't see the crime/ Pointless possessions of me and you and greed/ I looked at you mistaking needles for eyes." I'm pretty sure the lyrics are printed on the album sleeve--- maybe I can look them up later. Edit to add: Yes, these lyrics are the first two verses of the "Early Version" which I had never heard until just now. It's almost a completely different song from the one that ended up on the album. Several additional verses, different arrangement, different melody (except for a few fragments in common), much slower and less dancey. |
submissions
| Gary Numan – Telekon Lyrics
| 7 months ago
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The line "you end on reel one" could possibly refer to film--- i.e., an expendable character who dies in the first part of the movie, but when I first heard it, I thought it was referring to people's personalities being stored on magnetic tape, in keeping with the cyborg themes of a lot of his songs. Either one could fit with the idea that the protagonist is questioning his own reality and identity. |
submissions
| Shriekback – Cradle Song Lyrics
| 7 months ago
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I believe it was written by Barry Andrews for his son. I don't feel like I have much to say about the meaning other than that it is a beautiful lullaby that makes me tear up a bit every time I hear it. Hoping for his child to retain his goodness and spark despite everything that threatens to attenuate it. And it is unusually direct and earnest among Shriekback songs whose meanings are often more obscure or indirect. |
submissions
| Hüsker Dü – She Floated Away Lyrics
| 1 year ago
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I never thought of it as being about the girl dying, although that is one interpretation (turning into a ghost). But any interpretation has to include the third verse which is more general and isn't as odviously about the girl or her family. |
submissions
| John Mellencamp – Small Town Lyrics
| 1 year ago
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I never used to care for this song all that much, but I've gotta say that Tim Walz using it as his theme song is great branding.
I spent a very formative part of my childhood in a small town in Ohio and still have some affection and nostalgia for it, but I've become much more of a city person as I grew up. |
submissions
| Led Zeppelin – Bron-Y-Aur Stomp Lyrics
| 1 year ago
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When I first heard this, it took me a few listenings to decide it was about a dog and not a girl. It could almost work either way. Later, I learned that it was about Robert Plant's dog Strider, who accompanied the band to Bron-yr-Aur in Wales where they were recording. (The title is a misspelling; they have another song just called "Bron-yr-Aur" which spells it correctly.) |
submissions
| Big Country – In A Big Country Lyrics
| 1 year ago
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More a general comment than an interpretation: I find it interesting that a few people are referring to them as an "obscure band." You might call them a one-hit-wonder, but the song was pretty big when it came out, and the band developed some very passionate fans who hound something to like beyond the one song, including some of my friends who I considered music aficionados, so I wouldn't call them obscure. It's true that they don't get as much attention now as some other bands of the same era, but I've always liked this song. I think MellyJC's and RamuneDrink's comments are right on and don't have much else to add. |
submissions
| Gary Numan – Praying To The Aliens Lyrics
| 1 year ago
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@[barefoot:49849] That was always my interpretation, but maybe not the only valid one. There is an interpretation of "Are 'Friends' Electric?" being about vibrators, and I have to admit it sort of makes sense even though I doubt that was Numan's intention. |
submissions
| Gary Numan – Praying To The Aliens Lyrics
| 1 year ago
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Sounds like it's about (maybe well-intentioned) alien overlords trying to turn everyone gay in order to control the population. But the most obvious interpretation isn't always the only one. |
submissions
| The Mekons – Amnesia Lyrics
| 2 years ago
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Both of the previous comments are relevant. Buried in the layered metaphors I also think there is an idea that the development of rock and roll is a kind of "triangular trade" recapitulated: derived ultimately from the musical traditions of enslaved Africans, exported from America to the British Isles and then re-exported by others including the Beatles, Led Zeppelin and, yes, the Mekons. The punk-inflected sound of the Mekons may seem far removed from African roots, but perhaps they are momentarily "forgetting to forget to remember" its ultimate origins. Possibly with some uncomfortable intimation that the entertainment industry of rock might participating in a form of continuing colonialism. Overall, I think the meaning is deliberately ambiguous and suggestive of multiple possibilities. |
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