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| Ian Brown – Keep What Ya Got Lyrics
| 1 year ago
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@[bison_libertine:43223] even more to the point:
"For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it."
Matthew 16:25 |
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| Red Hot Chili Peppers – Black Summer Lyrics
| 2 years ago
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Although the theme of the lyrics seems to reference climate change, covid, and personal depression, by chance the song was released just before the war started in Ukraine.\n\nThe sadness of a f*ked up world, and us facing a new reality, a new cold or hot war, fits perfectly with the melancholy music, and every time I hear it I am reminded of the mess we are all in. |
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| The Cranberries – Zombie Lyrics
| 2 years ago
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Most of the comments overlook that 1916 refers not only to the Easter Rising, but also the Battle of the Somme, where more Irishmen of both communities were killed than were in Ireland.
The same old theme refers to the endless retelling and one-sided glorifying of events to motivate new generations of Zombies, and we see it everywhere. |
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| Big Country – The Storm Lyrics
| 2 years ago
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*** Jacobites, not jacobins; James II of England and VII of Scotland (not James VI of Scotland) |
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| Big Country – The Storm Lyrics
| 2 years ago
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James was the name associated with the Jacobins, who rise up in Scotland in 1715 and 1745 to restore the descendants of King James II of England and VI of Scotland to the throne.
This was as much about religious and clan loyalties as anything to do with Scottish nationalism. As many Scots fought with the Englush at Culloden as against them.
The crushing defeat of "Bonnie Prince Charlie" was followed by a fierce extirpation of Scottish Highlander Gaelic culture in the name of bringing "civilisation" to the area. Again, many Scots were enthusiastic supporters of this policy. |
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| Madness – Our House Lyrics
| 2 years ago
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It's a jolly old sing along song we can all relate to, then "she's the one they're going to miss in lots of ways" comes like a stab in the heart.
That is genius. |
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| Madness – Embarrassment Lyrics
| 2 years ago
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For a beautiful and touching update on the story, check here:
https://youtu.be/xMQU5btgw78
The baby that caused all the bother is a grown up fine looking woman, and the family got over their prejudices to surround her with love.
It's honestly like a fairy tale! |
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| Simple Minds – Belfast Child Lyrics
| 2 years ago
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For those who don't realise, Billy is a stereotypical Protestant name in Northern Ireland, while Mary could be a Catholic. The music combines the harp and the flute, representing the blending of the two traditions. It's a plea for peace and reconciliation, not about who did what. |
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| Madness – Grey Day Lyrics
| 5 years ago
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So begins another weary day, so begins another weary day .... like hammerblows to the soul. |
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| City High – What Would You Do Lyrics
| 6 years ago
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@[loveleigh85:22177] good luck girl, hope things work out/have worked out for you and your son. Stay safe! Don't let the haters pull you down. I just want to say to you: Be Proud Of Yourself - you're doing great. Message from Manchester England. |
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| David Bowie – The Jean Genie Lyrics
| 8 years ago
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With its militaristic sound, this song always reminds me of Jigjiga. This is a city in Ethiopia which saw desperate fighting in the war between Ethiopia and Somalia in 1977-78. The fate of the two nations depended on the outcome. |
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| Tihuana – Clandestino Lyrics
| 11 years ago
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This appears to be a Portuguese version of the Spanish-language song Clandestino by Manu Chao. |
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| Laura Branigan – Self Control Lyrics
| 13 years ago
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This song always reminds me of when I was a taxi driver in Brighton; I've never been a clubber, so when it came on the radio on a Friday/Saturday night when I was driving, it just summed up that whole world out there. |
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| Siouxsie and the Banshees – Arabian Knights Lyrics
| 15 years ago
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It's a powerful song, a gut reaction to some of the horror stories we should by now all be familiar with about the abuse of women in the Middle East. Unfortunately, it only adds to a one-sided view of that culture, which has helped to justify recent wars. Terrible abuse of women does occur there - and it happens within wester cultures too. It might surprise some people, but most Arab women are not longing to be westernised. |
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| ABBA – The Day Before You Came Lyrics
| 16 years ago
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I guess there's also a message of hoe in there: today might be a perfectly dull and ordinary day, your life might seem to be going nowhere - but tomorrow things can change in an instant.
Great song. |
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| Manu Chao – Clandestino Lyrics
| 16 years ago
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I live with "illegals" in the UK. "Babylon" of course is the the Babylon of corruption in the Book of Revelation, and the Babylon system of the Rastas, but also the Rivers of Babylon, where we sat down and wept, where the Jews were in exile. (The site of Babylon is near Baghdad).
I always thought the line after africano clandestino was marroquino ilegal - makes a load more sense than marijuana.
The message is that all those despised asylum-seekers, economic migrants, Gypsies, whatever, are human beings like you.
God bless the illegals. Your day of freedom is coming. |
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| Bob Marley and the Wailers – No Woman No Cry Lyrics
| 17 years ago
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I always heard "as it was LOVE WAS burning through the night", which is a great image, like the warmth of that love was more real that that of the fire.
Such a beautiful beautiful song, a song of comfort to all the mothers and wives and sisters that suffer for their families, acknowledging the painful past while looking to the bright future.
No woman no cry, but it makes me cry everytime. |
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| Fugees – Ready or Not Lyrics
| 17 years ago
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I live and work with asylum-seekers in the UK. The Fugees parents were refugees, and the band honours that, such a contrast with the hostility surrounding refugees here. Although the chorus is about the lover's determination to find her beloved, it could equally be the refugee's determination to make it to and in their new country; it speaks of the hope of youth in a big and terrifying world.
The references to Baghdad and Guantanamo are eerily relevant today. |
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| ABBA – Knowing Me, Knowing You Lyrics
| 17 years ago
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Here's a different take for you. When this came out the civil war in Lebanon was at its height. The song just made me think of the different communities that use to live together, now locked in conflict, the mixture of rage and sorrow, incomprehension and yet knowing the others so well. Instead of an empty house, it was a wrecked country. |
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| David Bowie – Warszawa Lyrics
| 17 years ago
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I always thought it was like a requiem for Warsaw in 1945, destroyed by the Nazis. Disappoited to hear the words don't mean anything! |
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| The Spooks – Things I've Seen Lyrics
| 17 years ago
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I used to work at a shop in a railway station. A guy came by who was Iranian, I showed him a picture of his country in National Geographic magazine of a very beautiful green stream in the countryside. He was astonished, staring at the picture, and asked me to read the caption for him. He said it was very near his home, he was like speared by homesickness... so much so that he missed his train. He was going to Liverpool, I think for his Home Office interview on his asylum claim.
He jumped on another train, I never saw him again.
I imagined him trying to make sense of such an unlikely encounter in this hostile country on such an important day, when a life-or-death decsion was about to be made for him.
And then this song came on the radio. "I've seen the beauty of the universe so peaceful and serene, in seconds turn to violence and screams", and it just summed up that moment, the beauty and the terror of life in Iran, and of such a day among the English. |
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| UB40 – Food For Thought Lyrics
| 17 years ago
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Reply to myspace above - I said "in about 1984". Ok so I was five years out. You know more about the history of music, but do you know anything about Ethiopia? The great famine was in 1984-5, but similar conditions were in existance from the late 70's. |
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| City High – What Would You Do Lyrics
| 17 years ago
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There's something important no-one else has mentioned here. The guy is being all judgmental, and you all seem to agree, that she shouldn't be stripping, even if she thinks that's the only way to feed her baby. Someone wrote that she shouldn't be lowering her standards.
Well, OK, but what about all the guys paying for the five six strippers? Don't they have any morals standards to think about? If they had any decency, they would find a way to help out someone in trouble without asking them to take their clothes off, geting off on their misery.
So, it's a great song, but with something really missing. Morals and the rest are for men as well as women; and those of us that have money have responsibility more than those that are without. |
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| The Beatles – Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da Lyrics
| 17 years ago
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I think it must have been summer time when this song came out, - probably Marmalade's version - I can remember asking my Mum what Obladi meant - I guess I was about eight years old. It makes me think of happy hot summer days. |
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| The Beatles – Lady Madonna Lyrics
| 17 years ago
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This song reminds me of my Mum - I was about six when it came out. She wasn't a single mum, but she had to cope with a lot, too many kids, not much money, and my Dad made her miserable.
Actually, it's a song for all mums everywhere, that work so hard to keep things together. I don't see that it refers to prostitution, rather each day comes and goes with something different, so chaotic it's hard to keep up.
Respect to all mums, especially single ones, and to prostitutes too, who are doing their best for their kids. |
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| The Jam – Little Boy Soldiers Lyrics
| 17 years ago
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This was written around the time of the Falklands War, but I think they had in mind the lies and betrayals of earlier wars. Pretty relevant today as well though. |
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| Jackson Browne – In The Shape Of A Heart Lyrics
| 17 years ago
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It's about more than love, it's about the desperate need of so many hurt, broken, damaged people, to find someone to pull them out of their wrecked lives - and about how others just can't quite understand where the broken people ae coming from until it's too late.
In the end, after she had gone - suicided, run away from her rescuer? - he drops the ruby into one of the holes - far too many to repair in the time we were there.
It's not about love, but tragedy. The love wasn't enough, it came too late, to save her. And yet, she had clung on to that hope. |
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| Jackson Browne – Lives In The Balance Lyrics
| 17 years ago
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At the time this was writen, I thought it was about the US supporting dictatorships in Latin America - anyone remember El Salvador, the Contras, or 9-11 of 1973 in Chile?
The places may have changed, but not much else. |
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| The Boomtown Rats – Banana Republic Lyrics
| 17 years ago
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It's about Ireland before the country opened up and the economy took off - repressive, faction-ridden (forty shades of green), plagued with violence frm the North, corrupt. |
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| UB40 – Food For Thought Lyrics
| 17 years ago
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This song is about the famine in Ethiopia in about 1984. Manna is the food that miraculously appeared in the desert to feed the Israelites, now Western aircraft promise miracles, but death is the certain harvest. Politicians sharpening their knives - at the time of famine, there was also war within Ethiopia, in which foreign countries (US, USSR as was) also played a role.
Ethiopians usually have a very beautiful dark and fine skin. So we might consider them "ebony" rather than "ivory". But maybe the unfortunate woman appears white through the paleness of near-death, or maybe from the dust. Many Ethiopians are Christians, belonging to one of the oldest Christian churches in the world, and are very religious.
Food for thought at Christmastime of 1984, and now too. Even now, there is near starvation in parts of Ethiopia and Somalia - while the US encourages Ethiopia to invade Somalia.
For me this song is heart-breaking. |
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| Ian Van Dahl – Castles In The Sky Lyrics
| 17 years ago
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Just at the time this song was big in UK, the Twin Towers were destroyed. Of course, the song wasn't written about that, but it just matched so well with what was happenig.
The Twin Towers weren't just buildings - they were symbols of all that is great and terrible about the modern world, and especially America - dreams and ambitions built without a solid foundation in a just world.
In the immediate aftermath, we all asked ourselves stupid questions - why did we build them so high, just to give people further to fall, why did we overreach ourselves so much?
And do we ever wonder why? or question our lives? Or do we just follow the easy answers of Bush and Blair, or of Osama for that matter.
And who of us don't sometimes see the Towers falling in our dreams? |
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| Space – Neighbourhood Lyrics
| 17 years ago
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Yeah, it's about any rough and tumble inner city area - I live in one that's actually not nearly as bad as some people think - Longsight, Manchester, if anyone knows it! Outsiders may think that everyone there's lowlife, but it's not true.
Anyone out there from Brighton? I used to know Whitehawk and Moulsecoomb estates, as rough as they come, and yet some really great people as well. Respect to all that live in places society treats as rubbish tips, and yet still live with dignity. |
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| The Band – Davy's On The Road Again Lyrics
| 17 years ago
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Wow - no comments!
Obviously it's about a rootless guy, who just can't settle down even among those that love him. Sadly, he just doesn't have enough stake in any community to roll with the punches, he just moves on - again and again - to keep his pride intact. He'd rather be poor and alone than accept charity, but no-one can say he doesn't repay his debts.
He wants Jean to pity him, but it's not really her pity he wants, but her apology. He wants her to be sorry for what she's done, that has in his eyes forced him back on the road. He's a bit self-pitying really.
Whenever I was at the side of the road hitching, feeling sorry for myself as the traffic roared by, or walking in the heat and grit to the next hitching point, and if I was feeling sorry for myself, this song would come to me. |
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| Iggy Pop – The Passenger Lyrics
| 17 years ago
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I used to have a kiosk at a train station - Stockport near Manchester - and I loved when this song came on, looking at the train pulling in and out, just see the silhouettes of the passengers looking out - me in my bubble and them in theirs. We live such self-limited lives, and yet "all of it was made for me and you", we just got to realise an enjoy. |
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| Arctic Monkeys – When the Sun Goes Down Lyrics
| 17 years ago
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I hope everyone takes on the message in the last line "hope you're not involved at all". In the video it's not quite clear if Scummy Man is a pimp or a punter - but either way he's using her and trying to destroy any hope for her. It makes me angry!
Prostitutes are human and need respect, not to be used again and again. |
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| Gloria Gaynor – I Will Survive Lyrics
| 17 years ago
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A song for every woman who's been broken by a man that belittled her - like too many of our mothers. A song to inspire any woman that as crap as your man make you feel, you CAN pick yourself up - save your love for someone that's loving you - and kick anyone that don't respect you right out of your life!
I'm a guy by the way, but I HATE to see women put down! |
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| Meredith Brooks – Bitch Lyrics
| 17 years ago
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Maybe this song can be about any woman - but for me it reminds me of one woman. Imrana (she won't mind me using her name) was someone I knew. She suffered from manic depression. Always going to extremes. She suffered a lot, but you couldn't say she wasn't alive. Her life was sometimes wilfully chaotic, but she really needed someone's love - well I guess we all do. She could really act like a bitch, and some people that was all they could see of her. Just when you thought you had a handle on her, everything'd be turned upside down, and you hadn't even noticed the season was already changing.
If you're out there Imrana, take care. |
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| ABBA – Money, Money, Money Lyrics
| 17 years ago
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The ironic thing is, Abba made huge amounts of money, but did they find happiness? One of them - Frida? - ended up a recluse. |
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| Men at Work – Down Under Lyrics
| 17 years ago
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I was always confused by this song - I couldn't make out the lyrics. I interpreted the end - after the "land of plenty" - as being like the guy from Bombay saying, "oh I come from the Land of Hunger", and then running and taking cover from the thunder was about fleeing from the anger caused by poverty....
Well, I guess I got that one wrong! |
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| The Stranglers – No More Heroes Lyrics
| 17 years ago
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The great Elmyra - Elmyr de Hory, an art forger so good that not only are his works collectible, but people have even tried to forge his forgeries!
Dear old Lenny - I think it's dear old Lenin.
There was something heroic about Lenin and Trotsky, whether or not you agree with them, they were larger than life figures who tried to remake the world through a combination of idealism and ruthlessness. |
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