| Creed – My Own Prison Lyrics | 2 months ago |
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It isn't what this song says, but what it lacks that is meaningful. It does point out that "only he (the lion) holds the key". But it perhaps intentionally fails to understand how we are the lion and we have the strength to destroy the prison we have created. Sure, it is hard. It requires not only hope, but also faith - faith in ourselves that the Christian and Jesus claim come from God himself. So, in despair. The lion roars in the darkness. He roars for you. Believe. |
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| David Bowie – Ashes to Ashes Lyrics | 2 months ago |
| @[wellard:50080] drug addicts or other addicts lose all their friends and family for their "valuable friend" the one that they cannot live without. | |
| Bob Dylan – Desolation Row Lyrics | 5 months ago |
| Many have focused on unwinding the cryptic references. However, this song is about some kind of loss or failure to achieve what makes sense and gives life and love. Something is always missing, suffering and loss cannot be avoided. No more so than at the end. You have the sense that he has lost love, meaning, what have you. And all he has left is life without it - desolation row. | |
| Bob Dylan – Gates of Eden Lyrics | 9 months ago |
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@[billhilf:47851] I read it and I think it is brilliant except for one thing. And that one thing is related to another Dylan song. And these visions of Johanna are now all that remain. Or so the Grecian urn said. In brief, belief and faith are eternal, where all the ideas of reason, from justice to science fail. Newtons laws, but come the electromagnetic theories and Einstein. Etc on down. Is it you or me that’s insane? |
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| The Beatles – Within You Without You Lyrics | 11 months ago |
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I can;t make generalized comments on meaning or make statements about events passed where I was not there. I only know what the song expresses to me, and it is something more complex than put forward above. we externalize much of ourselves as in the first two paragraphs where we blame others for the shape and nature of the world. However, the way things really are relates to our limitations and failing to see that fact we fail to realize that if someone is behind a wall of illusion than so are we, merely on the other side. no matter how powerful you think you are, you will not change the world one little bit without what is not only within you but is also without you. they don;t know, they don't see, are you one of them? |
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| Richard Hell And The Voidoids – Blank Generation Lyrics | 4 years ago |
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First, I believe the significance of triangles is they suggest a declaration of direction, but also the potential for instability. Being born surely fits with a declaration of direction - but to Richard only in the sense of Gd's consolation prize (born into chaos). The song is ultimately a rejection of social and other norms and a freedom from letting yourself be defined, at least by other people. he brings up how he could worry about what other people think of him, but has decided to be comfortable in his own skin/home - that's what the mirror and the wall are about - dining serving as a metaphor of something people do together with other people like them and use it to judge, manipulate, interact with one another. But, when I dine it's for the wall that a set a place. |
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| Van Morrison – Saint Dominic's Preview Lyrics | 4 years ago |
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Well, I think I got it, many years after I first heard it and felt the passion in Van Morrison's evocation. I find a reference to gazing upon God as is mentioned by David in Psalms. However, we are still among the quick and instead we get to gaze upon St. Dominic's preview. Much has been made that Van had become aware that this church in San Francisco was putting forward a a demonstration and mass for peace, specifically for peace in his home country of Ireland. He sees this selfless act and his awareness of it as announcing the greater glory of when he will see the Lord - This act is in contrast of what he sees all around him, the Troubles in Ireland, the selfishness of those who only make plans for themselves or have no compassion for anybody else's pain. He offers them and the sufferers of every tragedy (Hank William train that cried) and those who are forced into bad situations (chains) or the people who make the mistake of identifying with badges, flags and emblems - or joining the brigade - this simple vision and with it a simple truth - mercy, love, compassion are the fundamental things worth desiring and experiencing - what these "Catholics" have done in refusing to participate in the hate is how he a Protestant also feels. we are blessed if we can see (and hear) St Dominic's Preview. |
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| ZZ Top – Jesus Just Left Chicago Lyrics | 4 years ago |
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Sorry, I got to point this out. Although further developed in Chicago, The blues roots lie down the Mississippi into the South, represented here as New Orleans. Blues, traditionally thought of as “the Devil’s music”, is instead embraced in this song as something wonderful, the source of salvation through suffering. Reference to California, of course is the continuation of blues music through Texas into California, T-bone Walker for example. But ask any old bluesman - Gospel is a competing force with Blues. |
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| Amy Winehouse – Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow? (Carol King cover) Lyrics | 5 years ago |
| @[montresor:27588] Carole king herself does it with backing vocals by Joni Mitchell. Of course, great irony is her coauthor and husband Gerry Goffin was loving somebody else by then. | |
| Amy Winehouse – Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow? (Carol King cover) Lyrics | 5 years ago |
| This song was a number one hit for the Shirelles for whom it was written. Carole king, | |
| Creedence Clearwater Revival – The Midnight Special Lyrics | 5 years ago |
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The first stanza in the song paints the bleak prison life in Texas, which continues today. the same thing everyday to eat, the same job that starts at dawn and ends at dusk, the same system that tells you when to eat, when to go to the bathroom - if you do anything to express your individuality you "get in trouble with the man". Yet there is still somebody outside who cares, who wants "FREEDOM" for her man. Hope exists and there is proof. The Midnight Special. The metaphorical significance of the Midnight Special in an existentialist view is great. There are not just physical prisons, there are prisons of the mind, of the soul. There is every kind of hell out there you can imagine and plenty you cannot. The train represents salvation, a HEAD ON endorsement that human life, as opposed to the life of an animal is worth it and that death is not the end. I believe in the LeadBelly version Rosie dies, but he still refuses to lose faith. I assume Rosie is his wife. |
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| David Bowie – Heroes Lyrics | 5 years ago |
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@[Anderson43:27398] I don't know if I can add to the above. I'd always thought it was about East v. West Germany. I was driving in the car yesterday and this song came up. I'd heard it a hundred times, but realized the most likely case was he was talking about homosexuality. I would put forward that one of the most well known examples of homosexual behavior in the animal world is dolphins and I wish you could swim would suggest freedom, freedom to be who one really is - not a freedom readily available when the song was written. He is trying to provoke what he considers heroic behavior from the other person. Further, this is the song he choose to perform at the Freddie Mercury benefit concert. OF course, that makes the lines about the wall metaphorical - but they seem to suggest something impossible, a West German Man and an East German Woman meeting under the wall. Something impossible, or at least at the time unthinkable. And we kissed, as though nothing could fall. Further, I think Bowie is credited with writing the song. |
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| Willie Nelson – It's Not Supposed to Be That Way Lyrics | 8 years ago |
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Another unknown song, I see. I find a deep, painful issue being addressed here. It is very hard for us to love another person when we expect something in return. But this character isn't merely playing the love as a piggy bank where you get what you put into it scenario. Instead, the artist creates a more complex dynamic where the needy person has been where the cherished one is at and where they are headed. And, well, the way things turned out was not good. And, the singer recognizes that things aren't going to turn out so well for the cherished person he is addressing. No matter how painful, however, these facts (it's not supposed to be that way and whatever the consoling is needed for) can only be accepted as the natural order of things. Hence the lament. |
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| Willie Nelson – Phases and Stages (Theme)/Walkin' Lyrics | 8 years ago |
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This song is about a great tragedy, not great in the sense it is happening to someone who is important, but great in the completeness of loss expressed. It starts with the seeming contradiction of being backed into a corner and then walking away from it all. And, yet, that is life - real and true and perfectly understandable in the metaphorical sense. He or she has weighed everything and realized that it has to end and the only question is how - with how much dignity and self-respect left. Unfortunately, the answer is not much (because guilt is the answer to the question that lies within). Now, it turns out that the only thing worth saving is not salvageable. All he or she can do is leave with the full knowledge that the loss is completely realized (after carefully considering). Willie's work had a certain immediateness to it that placed the listener close to the suffering of the human heart. |
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| Imagine Dragons – Demons Lyrics | 9 years ago |
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@[rep21:3117] there is a lot of good stuff in you interpretation. However, why does everyone always assume the good are the naïve? I assure you it is the sinners who are mistaken about how things really are. When most people in his situation want to hide the truth, it is not for the other person's sake. Rather, there is a dynamic interplay where the actor does not have to really face the emotional and moral aspects of the truth (although they know what is the case in an analytical sense) until the loved one knows. Note, it is not "there is nowhere YOU can hide" but "we". The unwillingness to face the significance of the truth is one of the great powers demons and devils ("the beast inside") have over people - shame. He projects not only shame, however, but hopelessness. and he likes to use we instead of I, deflecting responsibility and claiming this is God's sentence for him (my kingdom come). But, where I really am at odds is with the claim that eyes that shine bright are naïve. Obviously, he can't save anything, so the statement, "I wanna save that light" is offered in irony. As the next passages clarifies ("shows") it is exactly that light that can save him. After all, it's dark inside. |
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| Bob Dylan – This Wheel's on Fire Lyrics | 10 years ago |
| My view is this is an allusion to the three fates and the cord/thread of life. Lace is, at bottom, a complicated thread. The case is a casket. The suggestion of a sailor's knot feeds into the sense of control the first voice attempts to exert upon the second. | |
| The Velvet Underground – Heroin Lyrics | 10 years ago |
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Listened to this song this morning, it's been a long time for me, but I had to hear it one last time after hearing about Lurid's death. This song is undeniably about the seductive power of drugs. Romantic and immature thoughts leading to attempts to escape "the evils". All the while, the drug taking over what is good, "life". "A big decision" is at once offered as ironic and also emblematic of the redefining of life as being focused on the escape the drug offers. And then, how it leads to nowhere but annihilation. Funny how the song starts with "I don't know" and then ends with it. |
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| The Beatles – Eleanor Rigby Lyrics | 12 years ago |
| Suicide. Nobody comes to the funeral. Died in the church or died within the church means she was a member of the congregation in good standing. Until, she offer herself - this merits an unmarked " nameless" grave z- buried along with her name. You don't go to heaven if you commit suicide, no one was saved. | |
| Bob Dylan – I Shall Be Released Lyrics | 13 years ago |
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Bad news. He's not innocent. Worse news, neither is the singer (since he and the actor are the same). Worst news, neither are you. First, he has no forgiveness of anyone else and wants revenge (I remember every face of every man who put me here). He knows he can't make good on what he has done (they say everything....(but I know) that every distance is not near (as in within his capacity). You see, when one is in a lonely crowd (that is the entirety of humanity) the only voice you hear really is your own. He's always told himself he has only done wrong to protect himself (as in "they deserve it"), others are worse, they set him up.... He has finally heard himself. And now he sees himself as just another sinner, stuck in that "lonely crowd". Only now can he reject the beliefs of the lonely crowd when he realizes he too has fallen - fallen for the lie that to fall is natural and fear and loathing to be accepted. Only the rejection of the past - the mentality that seeks revenge "every man who put me here", that demands compensation "everything can be replaced", assigns blame "a man who swears he's not to blame" and the acceptance of current reality leads to a righteous life. Man is called to something higher than that. The speaker knows in his heart he is better than all that. If only in death. He has the same death sentence as the rest of us, but since he has now realized his role in sin, he accepts it and intends to follow the righteous path. |
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| David Bowie – Ashes to Ashes Lyrics | 13 years ago |
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TO expound, "Time and again I tell myself I'll stay clean tonight But the little green wheels are following me Oh no, not again I'm stuck with a valuable friend "I'm happy, hope you're happy too"" HE can't shake the addiction, and it has replaced his idea of what is good and fun, what makes him "happy". He is aware that happiness is an internal state, one that he lacks by himself, and needs yet is "stuck with" (heroin, other injectable is brought up by the imagery, but the general theory applies to anything from women to chocolate) a "valuable friend" to achieve. Of course happiness is one of those ephemeral qualities, that the more you do to get it, the less you have it. |
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| David Bowie – Ashes to Ashes Lyrics | 13 years ago |
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Surely this song is about the paradox of having made it and being on top and still feeling like crap and having the same negative self-image and even greater self-doubt as when he was nothing. The self-image problem makes the jump to the drug abuse references easy. Think about how optimistic the music and the initial lyrics of Major Tom are. Sure, ours is a dystopian universe - the people who have the stage can't even change the world (planet earth is blue and there is nothing I can do) or really even save themselves by returning to earth (Can you hear me Major Tom) once they've made it out of the stratosphere (superstardom, that is). But, then to discover there is no such thing as happiness (I am happy, hope you're happy too) or love (sordid details to follow) only the shrieking of nothing our own inner voice which in Bowie's case was pretty low during much of the 70's. That's how you get "Strung out in heaven's high"(that is on top of the world) "hitting an all time low" (ironic, isn't it, dope addicted and suicidal for all that money and fame). |
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| Bob Dylan – Idiot Wind Lyrics | 13 years ago |
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My view is that the "idiot wind" isn't stupid things people say, but rather manipulative manifestations of their own narcissism that they couch in terms of "love". A simple common real world example would be when someone tells you they love you. Certainly that could be genuine, but often it seems to be simply a method of getting someone to tell them they are worthy by saying the same thing back to them. In contrast, real love isn't worried about hearing that back. Instead of learning who a person is and loving them for who they are, we create a box and define them in how they fulfil our psychological needs. You will see people who have been married a long time stop using their spouses names and begin referring to them as "my wife" or "my husband" or even less endearing terms. I couldn't believe after all these years, you didn't know me any better than that, sweet lady (as opposed to Sara or whoever - that's why what is a compliment on paper sounds so much like an insult when he says it). IT's a character she plays because he has a psychological need for it that he realizes is a sickness unto death. This is why the reference to Jesus, Dylan is trying to find meaning in his life, and he realizes he will never have it with her. And, he knows it is as much his fault as hers. And it makes me feel so sorry. |
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| Elton John – Rocket Man Lyrics | 13 years ago |
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Something tells me he doesn't work for NASA at all. Ah, the alienation of modern life. And, drugs are only part of it. |
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| Shawn Colvin – Sunny Came Home Lyrics | 14 years ago |
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Heard this song today and was taken by it, funny, since I never thought about it when it was playing on the radio regularly. This song is about a woman who is sick of crawling and putting up with all "the rules" when others don't. It is time for an adjustment - so she blows something up (the book and the tools - she is making a bomb that requires her to strike a match) - probably her home since presumably she is married to someone who is "part of the problem". Of course, the bomb could all be a metaphor. She is tired of walking on the wire - too hard and controlled. She gives up (closes her eyes) and descends into hate ("the fire). Love the understated irony - "a few small repairs". |
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| Marty Robbins – El Paso Lyrics | 14 years ago |
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Ah, the price of romantic love. As the artist himself said, A voice tells me to go and see Another voice keeps tellin' me Maybe Death Awaits Me in El Paso |
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| Marty Robbins – El Paso Lyrics | 14 years ago |
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Ah, the price of romantic love. As the artist himself said, A voice tells me to go and see Another voice keeps tellin' me Maybe Death Awaits Me in El Paso |
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| The Band – This Wheel's On Fire Lyrics | 14 years ago |
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This song is about God. And rejecting his judgment for your own - hence free will. The first speaker tells the man how important he has been to him, how he owns his soul and will judge him on Judgment day. The man tells him to tell someone who cares - he's going to live his life his own way for all he's got. Notify my next of kin, This wheel shall explode! One of Dylan's best if you ask me. |
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| Grateful Dead – Casey Jones Lyrics | 14 years ago |
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Watch Your Speed. This song is about suicide. Or, rather, not having the good sense of knowing when to stop and causing something terrible to happen, because you no longer know that you care. IN some sense, it's a universal problem (trouble with you is the trouble with me) and only a matter of degree. Lots of people from those who caused the financial collapse by pretending they were playing with monopoly money to BP execs and engineers and MMS inspectors come to mind. Or people that act like some of the people posting here. You have left a wake of destruction behind you (trouble behind) and threatening conditions ahead suggest more dead bodies to come (trouble ahead). So, watch your speed. |
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| Jerry Jeff Walker – Backsliders Wine Lyrics | 14 years ago |
| I don't think he's been playing golf. | |
| Eve 6 – Promise Lyrics | 14 years ago |
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I promise not to try to not explain this song. I think this is a guy on the rebound. He knows he can't make any "real" promises, but be true to himself. For one, he's bad at keeping them, for another he get's let down too. He's tired on women being so demanding (Why you gotta leave a fan on high...I'm a fan--in other words I'm interested, but let's take are time, ok?) IF you think about it, there is really only one promise in the whole song people want in a partner. I promise not to lie. And, that's a big promise. Get into a relationship and do it. You'll see. |
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| Randy Newman – Rednecks Lyrics | 14 years ago |
| This song reveals that people all look down on other groups and fail to treat others as individuals and give each person a chance to earn their respect. Hence, it is critical not only of Lester Maddox, but also the smart-ass Jew and his audience. And, really anybody that is keeping anybody else down. | |
| Randy Newman – Rednecks Lyrics | 14 years ago |
| What's really funny is Bush was an East coast business elite (ok, more a frat boy than a business elite) pretending to be a cowboy. And, the people who lvoe and hate him have all bought the act. Like a Rhinestone Cowboy. | |
| Randy Newman – Naked Man Lyrics | 14 years ago |
| My view is the naked man represents a person out of options in life who now has no choices left. He has nothing left to lose, not even is dignity or humanity. | |
| Randy Newman – Naked Man Lyrics | 14 years ago |
| My view is the naked man represents a person out of options in life who now has no choices left. He has nothing left to lose, not even is dignity or humanity. | |
| Randy Newman – Louisiana 1927 Lyrics | 14 years ago |
| They're trying to wash us away. | |
| Randy Newman – Short People Lyrics | 14 years ago |
| I agree with Falcon. This song is about small-minded people. The kind of person who doesn't accept himself the way God made him and has to put platform shoes on so he will be taller. The kind of person that runs somebody else down as if that will make them any taller (as in higher up). That's who has no one to love. That's who goes around with their small view of the world hurting others with their lies. THe middle part is a great irony, to be sure, so many people will say things like that when really their hearts are full of hate of another person or group for real or imagined differences. Thee honk their horns at people and open their mouths to assault with their words. They are so unkind they have to be raised up to the level of other humans just to have a conversation with them. | |
| Alien Ant Farm – Smooth Criminal (Michael Jackson cover) Lyrics | 14 years ago |
| To me, this song is about something far more basic to human experience than "Rape" and murder. Rather, it is about a girl who is seduced by a man who couldn't care less about her. To me, the crescendo is the seduction building its energy. Hence, her heart stopping (Annie are you ok, a la CPR) and everybody needs to leave her be (I want the area cleared.) | |
| Michael Jackson – Smooth Criminal Lyrics | 14 years ago |
| To me, this song is about something far more basic to human experience than "Rape" and murder. Rather, it is about a girl who is seduced by a man who couldn't care less about her. Hence, her heart stopping (Annie are you ok, a la CPR) and everybody needs to leave her be (I want the area cleared.) | |
| Bruce Cockburn – If I Had a Rocket Launcher Lyrics | 14 years ago |
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For the record, U.S. Involvement began in the 1950's when it supported the overthrow of Guzman. It continued mostly unabated for the next 40 years. The only exception would be the Carter Administration. Hence, when the US returned to its previous "policy", the left blamed the new administration. But, this was all part of making us safe from Communism. Feel safe yet? Here come the unmanned drones, 10 thousandth time today.......... |
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| George Strait – Does Fort Worth Ever Cross Your Mind Lyrics | 14 years ago |
| Not, "do you still love me" or "do you ever think of me", but, instead, does Fort Worth ever cross your mind? I love that metaphor being from the metroplex. | |
| The J. Geils Band – Angel in Blue Lyrics | 14 years ago |
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This is a song with levels to it. I had forgotten all about it until I heard Love Stinks recently. Ultimately it is about the dystopic death of hope caused by the alienation of modern life. I love how he describes what she is wearing (red top, white boots) but because of the connotations of "blue" (sad or really lost in it's original since it meant lost in the blue aka lost at sea)she is an "angel in blue". Also, there is the porn connection with "blue". Either way, his sad protagonist and even sadder narrator are trapped in a world they never made, they live like robots or lesser beings instead of humans. Although blue and wearing red lame and what I envision as a "bold" white boot, she is the "palest" of angels. Her life has meant nothing and she is fading away into utter obscurity. |
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| Coldplay – Viva la Vida Lyrics | 14 years ago |
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Pillars of salt - the wages of sin Pillars of sand - foolishness He is referring to a temporal existence and he believes in something higher than that, but he knows he can't really grasp it. IF he was the savior, he would be really only a puppet on a lonely string. |
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| Coldplay – Viva la Vida Lyrics | 14 years ago |
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I love this song, and it's about people, not history. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberty_Leading_the_People The cover art comes from the Revolution of 1830, in which the crowd overthrowing CHarles X chanted, long live the Constitution. Meaning the Constitution established when Napoleon was overthrown by Louis XVIII. Louis XVI was the one who was executed in 1793. It was a bloody 40 years for France. |
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| The Velvet Underground – Heroin Lyrics | 14 years ago |
| What a powerful existential song about the nature of addiction. The drug takes over his entire life, it becomes his reason for living. The music really adds to the personal emptiness, the sadness that no one who hasn't been there can ever express, the desperate feeling you can never escape - feelings of weakness and self-doubt, the desire for meaning or at least significance in a meaningless world. | |
| Van Morrison – I Forgot That Love Existed Lyrics | 14 years ago |
| I really like this song. It strangled up my heart. It is a rejection of the physical, hedonistic world in search of spiritual meaning. For everyone who's ever tried. | |
| Bob Dylan – This Wheel's on Fire Lyrics | 15 years ago |
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'0'? No one has commented on this song? Unbelievable. The wheel is a symbol of eternal life through rebirth, his "wheel" is his soul. The song is a conversation between the protagonist and God. God promises immortal life through servitude and threatens his ambitions (every plan has failed) by not answering his prayers (called on me ....to get your favors done). This is defiantly rejected by the protagonist who chooses destruction/Apocalypse - a wheel on fire. Notify my next of kin is meant to antagonize, as if to say, tell that to somebody that cares. One of Dylan;s boldest efforts in my view. |
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| Steely Dan – Dr Wu Lyrics | 15 years ago |
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I love this song, it has so many lines with so many applications. "I was on the other side of no tomorrow". Don't put your faith in someone else, some drug, some woman, some pusher, some shrink, some stupid song. Even if you have just spent the last piaster you could borrow. Imagine my surprise, when I realized this was my life and I was responsible for it. |
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| Steely Dan – Night By Night Lyrics | 15 years ago |
| I have a different view of the joker. The joker, which some equate with Jesus (dylan in Watchtower, for example), is a character from a 12-steps (a la AA) program who has told him to leave NYC for a less stressful environs. He knows he won't be able to deal with life in "a rube town" - hence "Take it down" - too boring. Yet, he still has the dilemma - life on the edge is, well, too on the edge. So, he is cashing in his 10-cent life to just try to hang on - night-by-night. | |
| Jackson Browne – Late for the Sky Lyrics | 15 years ago |
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This song makes me really sad. It makes me feel too vulnerable, as in, to the point I can't take it. Say a prayer for the Pretender. |
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| David Bowie – The Man Who Sold the World Lyrics | 15 years ago |
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This song makes me feel very alone. It reminds me that there is only one way you do not die alone, as well. And, while the first verse reminds me of the TS ELIOT poem Ash Wednesday, later, it reminds me of Eliots' The Waste Land when he brings up Dante's Inferno. "I saw the shade of the one who must have been the coward who made the great refusal" - which is to be trapped in Limbo for living a life that is meaningless as opposed to evil. And, "An interminable train of souls pressed on, so many that I wondered how death could have undone so many". I also think this Eliot theory explains the speaking into eyes reference. So, I think this poem raises the question of whether the faker fools himself into thinking he has anyone whose opinion really matters fooled or is he relaly only fooling himself? |
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