| Portugal. The Man – Purple Yellow Red and Blue Lyrics | 7 months ago |
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My $0.02….its about rejecting both the “pull yourself up by your bootstraps” mentality of American capitalism and the never-indulge-your-temptations mentality of fundamentalist Evangelicalism. Dude does not want a job of drudgery and boredom, which makes him feel hopeless and want to seek sensual fulfillment to cure it. When he says “I just want to be evil” he is not saying he’s a comic book villain or a sadist or something. Its that he wants to give in to temptations…as we all do, thats why they are temptations. I think its a tongue in cheek use of the word “evil,” like the definition from a Christian fundamentalist but one he doesn’t believe is necessarily morally wrong. From the music video, it appears those temptations for the singer are drugs and hookers. But in any case, the more we lead lives of drudgery, the more prone we are to falling into temptations (that may end up having bad consequences) to give our lives some sense of meaning, something at least we can look forward to. We need something to believe in, and in the absence of a spiritually/artistically meaningful life, the pleasure-seeking hedonism becomes something that we can believe in. |
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| Glass Animals – Life Itself Lyrics | 7 years ago |
| This song seems to be about the difference between the way things are and the way we’d like them to be. Or better yet, the difference between who we are and who we’d like to be. Or even better, the expectations that we have for ourselves and that society has for us...vs who we turn out to be....and the lies/delusions we feed ourselves to cope with that difference. | |
| Radiohead – Fitter Happier Lyrics | 22 years ago |
| Quite simply, the computer in this song is telling us how to lead our lives and be a model citizen. If we're beaten enough, we reply 'OK Computer'.... | |
| Radiohead – Karma Police Lyrics | 22 years ago |
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I think Max Wayne was on the right track... "The concept of 'karma police' implies that the governing of karmic justice is in some way enforced, rather than a vague concept of retribution." BUT, I think this was meant to be ironic, that somehow the Karma Police are a figment of Thom's imagination, or, even further, the personification of Thom's own sense of right and wrong/his consience/his sense of guilt. C'mon, there is no police force out there enforcing moral right and wrong, but there is a little voice in side (most of) us that keeps us from doing bad things and punishes us by making us feel bad for doing things we know are wrong. Also, someone else mentioned that Thom, in an interview, said modern alternative rock "buzzes like a fridge" and that alternative radio station in the US (and their music) cater to the sponsors rather than the listeners. I heard this too and I think Thom thinks that this is a serious injustice, as it is all about $$$, not expression and making music for the listeners as it should be... So, put these two together... I think this song is about Radiohead coming into mainstream popularity and joining the ranks of other 'alternative' pop stars..."we have crashed their party". Thom believes the Karma police should get these other 'alternative' pop stars (people who buzz like a fridge, as well as the style-nazis with 'Hitler hairdo's, which also make up a huge part of the music/recording industry.) So, he's attacking materialism, pretty much. Ironically, tho, like I said above, there is no Karma police to arrest these people. The Karma Police are only in Thom's head, kind of like a consience, keeping him from becoming like the other pop stars.... Answering to his karma Police, Thom says "Ive given all I can" not to turn into these materialistic pop stars...but..."its not enough"...He admits that he's still on the payroll and not really pure of exactly what he is condemning. And..."For a minute there, I lost myself"...I think is when Thom realizes that the karma Police are all in his head and that although he doesnt like these people, he's just being really judgemental and somewhat psycho... ...Just my interpretation....The great thing about Radiohead's lyrics is that they are vague enough to have million equally valid interpretations and that they make you think.... |
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