| Dave Navarro – Hungry Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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Heroin ? Yes...Mr. Navarro certainly has experience with that particular substance, and the imagery fits. Much of his work, this song included and quite profoundly at that, are also influenced by and make allusions to the fact his mother was murdered when he was a teenager. |
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| Beth Orton – Thinking About Tomorrow Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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Really beautiful and powerful song. I agree, she's got a great voice. I don't even particularly like this style of singing/music, but it rips right to the core my soul whenever I hear it. "So long, bye my friend, so long So long, will it ever happen again?" 'Can we just be friends ?'. Ever heard that before ? I think after great deliberation she realizes that they CAN'T be friends, or at least can't carry on that type of relationship. Her feelings are still too strong. So...it's time to say 'goodbye'...for the good of her 'tomorrows'. Unless you've lived in a cave your whole life, pretty much anyone can identify with how hard it can be to let go of people, places, and even things. But somehow or other we gotta move forward. And despite the fact that the music itself has kind of a sad lilt to it, there's also a resonant strength in the harmonies when she says 'So long'. It's got the ring of hope to it. Very moving track... |
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| Air – Alone In Kyoto Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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"this song gives a perfect sense of the peacefulness of the many gardens, parks and shrines. amazing! it's even better when you listen to it there!" Confirmed. Japan is a beautiful country in general, but Kyoto is definitely one of the highlights. I lived in Japan for over a year and only returned to the US because of family obligations (else I would have stayed). It broke my heart to leave, but when I listen to this song, for 4:49, I'm right back there. It's gonna have to hold me over 'till I move back in'09. Sigh... It always reminds me of the rain. It rains at LEAST twice a week...year round (at least it did in Aichi-ken). Kind of ironic, for the majority of my life I've been something of a loner. But it was in fact during the time I spent in Japan that I learned to love people. So I guess I personally was never LESS alone than I was when I was in Kyoto. I still dig on the song though :P |
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| Air – All I Need Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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A very emotional song indeed. The melody, lyrics, the singers voice just gel so well it's like cool, well...Air. The vibe I always get from this song is that the singer is searching for or perhaps just pursuing something (likely a love interest) and is becoming exhausted. Not in an exasperated 'I'm sick of it' kind of way, but just supremely fatigued. And is expressing that what she's after isn't complex or exorbidant ('I just need -----, that's all...") but is so vitally important that she'll keep plugging away until she gets it. Not in an aggressive way, just a perisistant, enduring, perhaps even loyal way, with a gentle strength well communicated in the musics powerful yet soft lilt. Probably my views on it are skewed by the fact that I first heard this song at a time when I was searching for something as well (didn't realize how close I was to finding it). But that's what it says to me. Dynamite song in any case. Who actually sings it ? |
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| Supreme Beings of Leisure – Never The Same Lyrics | 18 years ago |
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Interesting thoughts 'pocketpins'. I tend to agree, but in the second to last repetition of the refrain something is said in undertones (see parenthesis below)... "Never the same girl twice Not the same girl you loved last night ( Not the same girl you f---ed last night )" Sounds a tiny bit angry...or maybe a bit annoyed. Like I said, I tend to agree that it's kind of an 'Every time with you is like the first time...' positive message, but I think the singer might be giving a nod to another common result of...eh...'intimacy'. The next morning, everything's changed between the two parties. One of them is like a different person, and just wants to move on. More of a 'That was last night, and now is now.' kind of thing. But like I said, I think it's just a nod. Maybe she's jokingly expressing how glad she is that this relationship ISN'T like that. Saying it in mock... Nice song to listen to one way or the other... |
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| Wolfmother – Woman Lyrics | 18 years ago |
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Meaning ? Simple...every guy whose into girls has at some time met a girl he digs right off the bat. I don't care what you're after, sex, marriage, snow ball fight, whatever... sometimes you know it's written all over your face, you're not happy about it, but you gotta forge ahead anyway. Cause you see something in her that says you just might have a shot. As for WM sounding like Zepplin...OH YES...yes they do. But I hardly think that can be construed as truly negative considering Justin Timberlake and .50 cent and the like are churning out records a wee bit fast than Zeplin are these days. We need all we can get of real Rock music... 'Sides, while they did some pretty awesome original songs Zeplins music (both songs and styles) were very derivative of 20+ year old Blues songs. Ever heard the ORIGINAL Lemon Song ? An old black blues musician wrote it years before the Z ever played it. And Leddy actually toned the moderately explicit lyrics down. So Wolfy can take some cues if they want, cause Zepplin did too, which was an ok move to since many of those songs would have remained undiscovered had Zepplin not helped make them famous... |
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| Tears for Fears – Head Over Heels Lyrics | 18 years ago |
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Just in case anyone is still confused on the lyrics, it's DOCTOR...GUN...HAND. I'm reading this directly from the CD booklet. I just watched the video, and if it is meant as an explication of the song itself I think most peoples comments are on the right track. Notice, the object of the singers affections is a librarian, of course she works in a library. Written works can easily symbolize the past. Knowledge and events that we don't want to let go of (so we right them down). This girl surrounds and really encloses herself in such, apparently to the exclusion of this young mans affections. He on the other hand first appears lugging his own stack of books (his own 'baggage') but he has come to get rid of it. He wants to move forward. And he goes through various attempts to explain all of this to her, and express his fears that she ultimately won't or can't let go of whatever is holding her back. It's funny, but I think the 'system of touch' lyric isn't expressed until relatively late in the video. It's like he's running out of ideas on how to break through her emotional catatonia, so he resorts to silly (childish) antics, like the 'Bang!' gun, which actually gets through to her on some level, because she responds (physically) on the same level...childish antics, like pinching his nose. If this is somehow a metaphor for sex, I don't know, but I think it's significant in that it's what keeps him going. It's not the reaction he wants (her growing up and 'discussing the weather' as adults do...) but it's enough to give him hope that maybe he can help he (like a 'doctor'), so he presses on. I don't know, I could desect it more, but that's my core theory. But based on the video it looks like he is ultimately successful, and yet he gives credence to the fact that we can't every really lose all our baggage. Even as his wife (she doesn't look like a maid to me) seemingly of many years, brings him coffee/tea, he himself is poring over a book. Maybe it's just symbolic of him reminiscing on how he and she got together so long ago ( 'Time flies...') |
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| Donovan – Wear Your Love Like Heaven Lyrics | 20 years ago |
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The drug effects description is very likely true. And I'll admit I don't know much about the group Donovan (in fact I FIRST heard this song in that very simpsons episode talked about previously). But I'll take a stab and add my two cents. Notice the singer talks about a bunch of different colors, and in the end he says "all our race..." ? I think he is making overtures towards the unity of all mankind. Of all races. "Wear my love like heaven" - The heavans look down on all mankind, regardless of race or color. So if you wear your love LIKE that, you will love and respect all humanity. And while "All our race" could refer to one particulatr ethnicity, to me it sounds like he's talking about all the HUMAN race. Everyon being free and proud of who they are. Just my take, maybe I'm being too optomistic... |
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| Stone Temple Pilots – Crackerman Lyrics | 20 years ago |
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Well, if this came from the mind of Scott Weiland before he himself got entangled with heroine, I think he might just be trying to articulate the heroine addiction based on what he saw in someone he knew. He is/was an artist, and not all art pops out of a vacuum. Jay46 has a good interpretation. I can't really dispute it but I don't *entirely* agree with it. I don't really read into it that the singer is contemplating murder so much as suicide. But I will give you that the line "Got the mud beneath my shoes" sounds like this guys is out and about on foot, possibly in inclimate weather (or at least less than ideal conditions)...if I was dead set on killing someone...a little rain would be a very minor concern (especially if I was high and/or crashing...). If I just wanted to off myself, I would probably stay inside... "Kickin' as I'm tryin' to sleep" - yeah, insomnia, withdrawls, possibly low grade stuff leading to a bad trip... "Got the mud beneath my shoes " - (see above) "Rubber band, rubber band" - Probably a reference to the turniquit used in preparation of shooting up, a reference to his addiction... "Gun in hand, gun in hand" - I guess it could be a masturbatory reference, but kinda doubt it. I rather think it's more along the lines of a .45 and not a Big Johnson... "I wanna use" - Dual meaning, he at once wants to use more heroine, and as a result he wants to use the gun (on himself or his dealer) "Roamin', roamin', roam Get away gotta get away" - Likely a simulcra of drug induced ramblings, but I could kind see it representing a permanently lost or spaced out feeling from execive drug use. Or perhaps he was "roaming" through life, lost confused, whatever and that's how he got started with heroine. Just wanted to "get away", and now it's the drugs he wants to get away from. Again, we potential for a dual meaning. "And I think I think too much" - As you can see in the partially nonsensical and repetative nature of the lyrics, the singer is going around in circles mentally. Even HE realizes it, and sees that thinking about his situation only drives him further into dispair and only increases his problems... "I don't care, yeah and I don't care" - No one does when they are sufficiently anesthetised... "Trippin' as I'm thinkin' 'Bout a boy, his name was Sue He's a man, he's man Crackerman, crackerman He's a woman too" - This could be virtually anything. He could be musing on his own past. If you REALLY want to read into it, he's remembering his descent into drug use. A boy named Sue would probably have been viewed as weak and girlish, and not really a threat (hey...we're talking schoolyard/playground logic here...), much as many people view drugs as fun and recreational aids, ignoring the danger inherint in their use. But this 'boy' turns out to be a 'Man' , decidedly more dangerous than a mere boy. But at the same time he/it's a woman as well, seductive and sweet. Or this could be one of those times when 'a cigar is just a cigar', and he is simply hallucinating as he prowls the streets looking for a fix. He sees a boy, and then a man, and then a woman walk by, and in his altered state they seem to transform from one to the other... "And I'm thinkin' While I'm thinkin'" - Still trying to puzzle out his situation with a deck of only 48 cards or so... "Wind traps Mud flaps Dust, blowin' in my eyes... I'm rollin' I'm rollin' I'm a'rollin'" - I don't know about this...highway imagery ? Is he hitchiking to get out of the city to start over ? Did he steal a 16 wheeler ? Or get HIT by one so hard he flew through the air and then just rolled, and rolled, and rolled... Well, that's what I get out of it anyway. :) CORE was one of the first rock albums I ever listened to (back in the goold old days of yore when pirating media involved a CD, an audio cassette, a cheap dual tape deck, and a friend with similar taste in music), an indelible part of my college years. Wicked Garden, Plush, and Where the River Goes are my three favorites off that album, but it's one of the few albums out there that I like to listen all the way through. |
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| Stone Temple Pilots – Sour Girl Lyrics | 20 years ago |
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To: "No-Snow" (et al) Nice theories and nice articulation. Since you've graciously invited contrasting view points, I'll throw down with some specificity to your post (with all due respect of course :) ) While it seems you tend to view the overall feel of the song as bitter, to me it sounds/feels sorrowful. More of an expression of confusion than of anger. To me the basic flow is like this... A "sour" or broken and unhappy (young) woman meets a guy that seems to be everything she didn't have in her home or in her previous relationships. And she in turn fills some kind of void for him (perhaps he has a "white knight complex" ? "Superman" ?). But eventually she learns that he is just an imperfect man like any other. I will put in a bit of conjecture and posit that he in fact has some rather SERIOUS problems ("Looks are deceiving"). I base this on the knowledge that this song was in part an expression of Weilands feelings/experiences in his own marriage (and he definitely had some serious problems...), and also on the fact that it's not uncommon for women, and actually men for that matter, who have been in abusive/destructive relationships to have trouble staying out of them in the future. It can be steep climb up... In any case, as their relationship grows, develops, and eventually deteriorates and ends, our singer is left in a quandry. He doesn't fully comprehend what just happened to him. Everywhere in the song he's asking or posing questions, as if he's alternately talking to his lost love (or rather AT her...I don't think she's listening or answering) and sitting alone musing by himself. "She turned away...what was she looking at ?" "Hey, what are you looking at ?" These two questions look pretty similar, but I think their innate difference is key. And the fact that the questions themselves can represent so many different puzzles adds to the overall feeling of confusion. 'She turned away' but from what ? Was this before their relationship, when she turned away from someone/something else and turned towards him, or is he talking about her turning away FROM him and towards a NEW person/thing ? And in either case "What WAS she looking at" Something real ? Something imagined ? Something he actually can see (perhaps even an aspect of himself) but can't understand ? And again, in either case what is she looking at now ? What is she looking at in HIM that is causing her to leave ? What is she trying to get away from ? What is she looking at that she is trying to GAIN ? What is she leaving him for ? After all... "I was a superman..." I think to a damaged woman or more especially a damaged immature woman/girl, a reasonably stable seemingly prosperous man could indeed seem like a superman compared to your average deadbeat/abusive father or unemployed lowlife boyfriend types that she might have been hanging around with as she tried to scratch whatever itch she had in her heart and head. Again, at the outset. But as time goes by his innate imperfections of course become apparent. Perhaps they are as bad or even worse than her own problems or those of her previously boyfriends. Either way, I agree that it's basically an admission that he's not the ideal lover. Maybe she THOUGHT he was but learned different. Maybe he thought so too... After all, the line doesn't say "She saw a superman, but looks are deceiving", he states "I WAS a Superman". Perhaps in being there for this girl, giving her what others had failed to in the past made this guy FEEL like a superman...maybe he even believed he was a hero of some type (at least to her). But that illusion is shattered now ("I WAS"...past tense), and he's wondering what he's left with (or just having trouble accepting it)..."What are you looking at?" ("What am I now ?") All of this sounds lost and confused to me. "What would you do...what would you do if I followed you" - Yeah, it's kinda creepy if taken litterally (so is Sting's 'Every Breath You Take' for that matter). Could be he meant it that way. But I actually tend to think this 'following' is more like imitating ...ie 'following suit' so to speak(more on that later). I agree with many of the other posters that moving from 'teenage girl' (This could be Chronologically or Psychologically speaking of course) to a 'Happy Girl' is indicative of her growing as a person. I think (as some others suggest) that she outgrew him in some important way, or at least outgrew her need for him. Like a security blanket, he served an important purpose at one time, but now he's holding her back. She may or may not know or care, but it seems that he grew attached to her too, but he's not ready to let go of her (which may be part and parcel to him holding her back...he's holding too tight, he's not growing WITH her, thus he's smothering her). So she leaves. But now he's wondering if it could still work out. What if he 'followed her' EXAMPLE and grew up like she did ? What would she do ? Would she take him back ? Could it still work out ? More confusion and mild dispair...more unanswered questions... "The rollercoaster rides a lonely one..." - I think this COULD represent the turbulence of their relationship, leading up to their parting of ways. But he says the roller coaster ride IS (well he uses a contration, but it seems to be present tense) a lonely one. This, along with my other assertions lead me to think/feel that he's talking about his endeavors to resolve their relationship and breakup in his mind AFTER the fact. Perhaps he's even vacillating into the realm of the feelings you describe, peaks of bitterness and anger followed by plunges into sorrow and lonelyness. "I pay the ransom note to stop it from steaming" - Going along with the rollercoaster line, this could also be about the relationship itself, or trying to figure it out afterwards. By letting her go (assuming he ISN'T going to stalk her) he has paid the price for her freedom, he doesn't get to have her in his life anymore, but it was the only way to stop the emotional roller coaster from 'steaming' as a train 'steams' forward. But again, he uses the present tense. If the rollercoast ride is his thoughts and emotions as he searches for resolution, perhaps he is trying to just let go of it, give it up and put it out of his mind so he can move on. But since he WANTS that relationship, putting it out of his mind feels like a loss...like he's paying/sacrificing for HIS OWN freedom and stability... "The girl got reasons...they all got reasons" - This statement sounds like resignation, but not blame (the sudden, yet subtle lull in the music at that point lends itself to a feeling of emptiness one gets when they hit rock bottom as well IMHO). He knows she's leaving him for a reason, but he can't understand it (or maybe he just can't face it). Generally people start making absolute statements like "THEY ALL blah blah blah" when they have given up trying to unravel the issue. He can't figure out what her "reasons" are, so he just throws it in the MISC. pile...Again, paying the price (never really understanding) just so he can move on... That's what I get out of this song, meaning wise. I doubt I've got it all locked down, but consider the source of the song. Mr. Weiland was not exactly the most cogent individual, it may be he doesn't entirely understand it himself. And that is the wonderful thing about art. It's subjective. All art is a rohrschac(sp) in a way. What you get out of it probably says more about YOU than it does about IT (I'm not implying anything about anyone though). And that's subjective in and of itself... :P But I will say this, having just re-read my own musings here, I can easily see that events of my life around the time this song came out are heavily reflected in what I read into it. But that may not be true of everyone. Thanks 'No Snow' and all others for sharing your thoughts/views. Thought provoking (one and all...)! And yeah, I've heard much smack talked about STP being unoriginal and such. They are not nearly appreciated enough... |
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| Soundgarden – Burden in My Hand Lyrics | 20 years ago |
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I'll take a stab at it... As others have posited, I think two central elements are alcoholism, and an abusive/destructive relationship. But I think the overriding theme is not so much the situation itself, but the singers feelings of hopelesses and despair. He's giving up (as many people trapped in addiction do...). However, I don't think the addiction is one sided... " Follow me into the desert As thirsty as you are" I think this is indicative that the woman in his life is as addicted to HIM/the Relationship as he is to alcohol. She's so trapped in it she will do illogical and self destructive things like go into a desert when she is already thristy...or stay in a relationship that is killing them both. She is "thirsty" for him/love, but he has none to give, and yet she goes after him anyway...like a person seeking water in the desert... "Crack a smile and cut your mouth And drown in alcohol" I think this is a bit of hyperbole. Like the phase "If he/she ever cracked a smile I think he/she would break their face" is used to indicate a person never smiles. She is not happy in the relationship (she doesn't smile), but she can't help herself. Why isn't she happy ? His alcoholism...it is destroying ('drowning') them both. But she keeps diving right in as surly as he keeps chugging away. "Cause down below the truth is lying Beneath the riverbed" This is probably indicactive that the singer is well aware of how bad the situation is. The "truth", generally viewed as something refreshing and renewing, seems to be closely associated with 'water' which is also viewed in the same way. Here we see a bit of a paradox (deepening the theme of dispair...making the situation even more impossible and incomprehensible). The truth is "Beneath the Riverbed" which is likely quite far from a desert, which would seem to make it out of his reach. And yet, it is flowing "below her head"...and she is always with him, so it must be all around him too. All he has to do is reach out and embrace the truth for it is all around him, but because of his addiction he feels he can't, that it is inaccessible. And so he has one more reason to run deeper into his addiction...the addiction itself... And she follows right behind him... "So quench yourself and drink the water" Here I think the singer is offering a feeble warning to anyone who might be listening, including his woman. Admonishing people to pay attention that they don't end up like he has...trapped. And that if they do they can only 'quench' THEMSELVES...meaning they have to take responsibility for fixing their own problems...which he aparently feels it's too late for him to do...and he's resigned to his fate... "So kill your health and kill yourself And kill everything you love" "I shot my love today would you cry for me I lost my head again would you lie for me I left her in the sand just a burden in my hand I lost my head again would you cry for me" He shot his love, and yet in this desert he is in (and which I think he also IS metaphorically speaking) he asks *someone else* to cry for him (he can't summon up any tears ? Water again ?). He is numb to everthing that's going on around him. He "lost his head again" sounds to me like he went on another drinking binge, but he no longer even cares enough to lie, so he asks someone else to do it for him. Or perhaps he is asking his woman to "lie for him" by actually lying TO him. To tell him reasuring lies that let him go on with his self destruction without undue stress. (NOTE: I originaly thought this song was about murder as well, but over the years I've come to think that that might not be the case. Just because he shot something doesn't mean he killed it. And in the "symbol speak" of rock music, his "love" might not be the woman herself, but his love for her and his relationship with her. Every time he gets drunk he 'shoots his love' further damaging it as he further damages himself...) "Close your eyes and bow your head I need a little sympathy Cause fear is strong and love's for everyone Who isn't me" Here again he is expressing that he is incapable of most emotions...he feels nothing about his situation. "The moon is glued to a picture of heaven And all the little pigs have gone" More expressions of his disconnection from reality. Everything is fake and 'plastic' to him...even beautiful things like the moon and the heavens... The pigs being gone is probably another indication of his resignation to death. Pigs are often associated with gluttonous behavior... and his addiction is a form of gluttony. All the other pigs have gone...they've already died (or are at least out of touch like him) and if he hasn't already, he will soon join them... "Oh no there she goes Out in the sunshine..." But here we see a piece of wretched humanity left in this poor soul. "Oh no" - Though he's numbed to the horror of his own eventual fate, he somehow finds it within' himself to be appalled by what his 'love' is doing to herself. "And if you live you can fall to pieces And suffer with my ghost" He knows that she is as addicted to their relationship as he is to booze. Just as he won't give it up until it kills him, neither will she (and abusive relationships DO kill people on occasion). And if she should happen to outlive him, his death will only make her "suffer" more. The one thing in her life that matters to her - their relationship (as hideous as it is), will be gone. And she wil be empty, just like him ( "FOLLOW me into the desert" ). With nothing but the memory of him (his "Ghost")...which will further torture her. And yet, as thirsty as she is (for love, truth, etc.), she is going out into the desert, a barren, desolate, hostile environment that HE created. "... the sun is mine" That's the one thing that disturbs him...but it's nothing another drink won't fix...and thus he "leaves her in the sand"...just as lost as he is... That's pretty much what I get from the imagery. And though I know it's pretty standard mechanics for a rock song, the refrain I think works REALLY well with the theme. He gives you a piece of the picture, explains a little of the situation or his feelings and then the refrain hits in a cyclic fashion. If you take the "Lost my head again" phrase to indicate bouts of binge drinking, you see that everytime he talks about his problems, basicaly having to face them, he inevitably delves back into his substance abuse...trying to escape from his problems. Having a recovering alcoholic in the family, and having gone to AA meetings in support of that person, I can say that that is a very apt depiction of the trap that is addiction. After a while, it drives itself... That's how it kills people... That realistic edge, mixed with suitably vague lyrics (like drunken ramblings), coupled with a strong musical backdrop make this a truly POWERFUL song in my opinion. I MISS Soundgarden. Unlike much of today's 'Pop' that TALK to no end about feelings, stuff like SG made you FEEL... Sorry for the long post but I enjoyed writing it. And I agree with one of the previous posters, even though I may not have nailed what Cornell (sp?) meant when he wrote it, that's what *I* get out of it...subjectiveity in art sure can be a wonderful thing :) |
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