| of Montreal – Faberge Falls for Shuggie Lyrics | 13 years ago |
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Is it maybe 'those with the golden eggs'? Sounds like it to me, and would match the Fabergé reference. Still no idea what it means though. This song never ever fails to make me grin like a loon. It's so wonderfully mad. |
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| mewithoutYou – Timothy Hay Lyrics | 13 years ago |
| Shepherd's Purse is a common agricultural weed. It has little heart-shaped seed pods that supposedly look like shepherds' purses I guess. | |
| Devendra Banhart – Hey Mama Wolf Lyrics | 14 years ago |
| Oh, and that's totally Bianca of CocoRosie singing at the end right? | |
| Devendra Banhart – Hey Mama Wolf Lyrics | 14 years ago |
| Huh, interesting; I'd never thought about it being metaphorical like that. To me, Mama Wolf is a lover, a woman, who holds for the singer a mystical, spiritual quality akin to his feelings towards nature, and in particular he recognises her as part of nature. Feels kinda like he's giving her this name - a bit like a Native American name - to encapsulate the particular energy she radiates and the quality of her soul. She is, perhaps, a maternal person by nature, but with a deep wildness/fierceness too. DB seems to often talk about lovers with reference to them as mothers as well, nurturing etc, and to take pleasure in women's reproductive capacity as a wondrous thing, quite spiritual in its naturalness - not just an unfortunate side-effect of sexy times! It's unusual and, to me, as a woman, very sexy :) And he sees her most for who she truly is when they are in wild, natural places. | |
| Joanna Newsom – Baby Birch Lyrics | 14 years ago |
| I would love to hear a male cover this song. It could work surprisingly well. | |
| Joanna Newsom – Baby Birch Lyrics | 14 years ago |
| Thank you for this! Just learned something. | |
| mewithoutYou – The King Beetle on a Coconut Estate Lyrics | 14 years ago |
| The flute crescendo at 3:25-3:30 fully punched me in the emotions. I was driving on a country road when I listened to this for the first time, and I just about had to pull over, I was so stunned. Luckily nothing unsafe occurred :) | |
| mewithoutYou – Timothy Hay Lyrics | 14 years ago |
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I know this is stupid and nothing to do with anything, but when I listen to this I *cannot* stop thinking about Tim LaHaye, who wrote all those awful 'Left Behind' books, and the whole way through the "No more timothy hay" bit I just keep giggling to myself about that. Thanks for the info about the protest, wonderful songmeanings peeps. Hopefully now I can start to hear something a little more meaningful :) |
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| mewithoutYou – Goodbye, I! Lyrics | 14 years ago |
| I love all the repeat-lots-of-times lines on this album. So much fun to sing along to. You can just launch yourself on them! And so many of them mean so many things/whatever you want them to mean. Ahh. Such fun. | |
| mewithoutYou – Bullet to Binary (Pt. Two) Lyrics | 14 years ago |
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"So may we old-fashionably suggest The unmarried not undress We well know we're gonna reap what we sow." >>If we cling to old fashioned rules and try to make people ignore their sexuality, well I think we can all predict how successful that's gonna be... :P Probably not what he meant but it amuses me that it could be heard that way. Though I could justify it by saying, the fruits and vegetables in the first part of the song are all different faiths/orthodoxies [which ultimately end up on the same truck in a gloriously multi-flavoured fruit salad], and the reaping and sowing refers to them (continuing the metaphor of plants): what each religion sows it will also reap in kind. One thing that Christianity is sowing and has a long history of sowing is the demonising of sexuality, and that will have predictable consequences. Maybe time to own that mistake, forgive and forget and move on, focussing on love and that which unites us all, not that which divides us. |
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| mewithoutYou – Allah, Allah, Allah Lyrics | 14 years ago |
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My take on the cause-effect part: wrongdoing is an effect that has a cause, and maybe God actually understands that it's a damn hard world to live in sometimes, and sometimes we face impossible choices, and sometimes we're tricked or misled, and sometimes we do wrong as a result of hurts we've received ourselves. To me that fits in with the other lyrics, esp. the bit about your dad hurting you because he'd been hurt himself. I doubt Aaron means to say that this *excuses* wrongdoing or negates its effects on the world; but, in terms of our personal culpability, it feels to me like he's just suggesting that maybe God takes our circumstances into account more than we sometimes imagine. (Anyone remember "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do" ??) That kind of forgiveness - the kind that really understands where you're coming from, rather than just saying 'you did wrong but I in my mercy will ignore it' - is much more powerful/meaningful, for me. Not just turning a blind eye, but extending empathy - the way we should for each other, surely. All the time, everyone, everywhere, everything. This song is such a breath of fresh air after the heaviness of the 'Brother Sister' album, which (while brilliant and amazing) was so bogged down in self-effacement I just wanted to give Aaron a big hug and tell him he didn't have to wear it all so heavily. Looks like he got a hug from God instead, which is nice :) And I appreciate his attempts to break down barriers between different faiths. |
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| Fly My Pretties – King of You All Lyrics | 14 years ago |
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This is such a great song - I wish I could find my way into it! The 'spinning in clock towers' verse makes the song feel allegorical but I can't quite figure out what for. Like, maybe the king is Time, or Death, or Nature, or... ??? Or maybe it is actually about a particular person. Dunno. My only contribution just now is, I work on a farm, and I think a lot about the tension that exists in our power over animals, doing our best (hopefully) to treat them well and protect them in exchange for holding them captive and eventually killing them, even though we ask them (and never can) if they're ok with that deal. Anyhow, I often get this song in my head when I'm going round the sheep. "Imagine you were free once, and the choice had been your own." "Down comes the hammer, and down you all fall." I do not think the writer/s necessarily intended it to be about power over animals, but it's one little shade of its meaning for me. The gentleness of the music and the singing is so powerful in contrast with the sledge-hammer of the subject matter. Lends a sort of naivety to the violence, which is both touching and terrifying. It's like a child playing with puppets, not quite realising or not quite admitting that the puppets are alive. |
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| Fly My Pretties – King of You All Lyrics | 14 years ago |
| meant "even though we DON'T ask them (and never can)". | |
| Fly My Pretties – King of You All Lyrics | 14 years ago |
| Oops, 'Barter in the market' not Banter! Of course! | |
| mewithoutYou – A Stick, a Carrot and String Lyrics | 14 years ago |
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to keep him warm, the sheep drew near so grateful for His coming here come with news of grace come to take my place >>This is so lovely. It bugged me at first coz I was thinking, why should the sheep be grateful for him coming? But then I remembered: according to [modern] Christianity, Jesus' death put an end to the need for the religious sacrifice of animals to attain forgiveness!! The ram replaced Isaac, then Christ replaced the ram. I'm not even a Christian, but I am a shepherd, and I've a great fondness for sheep (highly under-respected animals!), and this little verse makes me smile. Like, cheers Aaron for remembering about the sheep! (even if that's not what he had in mind, it still works) |
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| Sufjan Stevens – The Owl and the Tanager Lyrics | 14 years ago |
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I would just like to advise that a google image search of 'tanager' is a rewarding experience. I had no idea what they were. Now my laptop screen is a riot of colour. (Well it was a moment ago.) Thanks for all the wonderful comments. The song has opened up to me now :) |
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| Dead Can Dance – In Power We Entrust the Love Advocated Lyrics | 14 years ago |
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"I am like thee, O Night, wild and terrible; for my ears are crowded with cries of conquered nations and sighs for forgotten lands." I was just reading Khalil Gibran's 'The Madman' and this couplet immediately made me think of the similar line in this song. I've no particular point to make; just thought it was interesting and lovely. (Lovely writing; fearful content.) Also, my god, that same line (in the song), when listened to today, makes me cry for London. (It's the week of the Tottenham-et-al riots and looting, oh future readers.) Dispossessed children indeed. Gives the line a new dimension of horror. |
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| Joanna Newsom – Have One On Me Lyrics | 15 years ago |
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Scattered thoughts: So, there's a mountain called Mount Lola, not far from Nevada City, named after Lola Montez, who lived in California for a while. [thanks Wikipedia] My guess: hence Joanna's interest in Lola. Because of the mountain, she found out a bit about Lola, and thought her an interesting character, likely to have a rich and complex emotional life, which got her imagination going. Tarantula 'mounting' Lola's brassiere - pun on Mount Lola?? In fact, 'mount Lola' kind of sounds like an activity... one that quite a lot of different men did over the years, it seems. Maybe my mind's in the gutter, but I hear a sexual meaning to the phrase 'have one on me' too - i.e. as a secondary meaning. [which then makes it a curious choice for an album title - though my impression from listening to the album is certainly of a long series of good loves gone bad ("I loved them all, one by one" sounds not so different from Lola), and of sometimes feeling like some kind of harlot, being passed from man to man, though really it's just that she's insatiably generous and takes pleasure in giving herself ("have one on me"). An extended lament by someone who is made of love but can't find where to put it. Whether or not this is Joanna's actual experience I have no idea; it's just the prevailing mood I feel in these songs.] To me, the song doesn't have a particular 'message', and it doesn't matter who's good and who's bad in the story (seems like everyone's a little of both - or maybe a lot of both); it's simply a mindscape, of someone who lived a passionate whirlwind of a life, and hurt just like everyone else. I *love* the line "but there is nothing I adore apart from that whore's black heart". Gives me shivers. |
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| Bert Jansch – Go Your Way My Love Lyrics | 16 years ago |
| Cover of 'Go Your Way' by Anne Briggs. A couple of the verses are different in her version. | |
| Bert Jansch – Go Your Way My Love Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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Drawing water from the well Spilling over on the grass. Walking homeward, my heart is filled with pain. Woe is me Go your way, my love, Go your way, my love, And as I wander through the trees I'm picking up the windy leaves, Thinking where you may be sleeping now. I wanna die. Go your way, my love, Go your way, my love, As I sit mending your clothes That you will never ever wear, Looking daily for you I do prepare But woe is me. Go your way, my love, Go your way, my love. Is there war in some far land And have you gone to lend your hand? And do you lie broken and dying now? I wanna die. Go your way, my love, Go your way, my love. Drawing water from the well Spilling over on the grass. Walking homeward, my heart is filled with pain Woe is me. Go your way, my love, Go your way, my love. |
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| Sufjan Stevens – A Loverless Bed (Without Remission) Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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I hear: (from woman's p.o.v.) Since losing you, the only defense I have against my own pain is to just keep trudging on with life. But damn it's making me crazy. [the feeling I get from the 'axle' line is of mustering up a huge, heavy effort to do this, and then just rolling through life zombie-style because that's all she has strength to do. Making herself get out of bed in the morning and go to work and get through the day.] A full-blown storm ('eye') like the one going on in my heart right now can only last so long; at times like these, when you find yourself alone in the world, you see life in all its stark banality (like Saturn watching its own rings going round and round and round), and you can only look for so long before you just have to curl up and look away. So I'm just gonna curl up for a while and not think about the effect you've had on me - the ways I've changed because of you, and the way you held my heart so tenderly and let me be me. Somehow life has to go on. But...you're gone, and I hurt, and the void you've left is tangible. Sometimes my strength just gives out and I can't keep the memories and emotions out any longer, and the storm rages again. |
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| Bowerbirds – In Our Talons Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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I think it *is* about hippies. That is, about ecological crisis etc. I think it's kind of meant to be a bit ironic/cynical, about how humanity has finally woken up to what we've done to this place, and remembered that we're part of nature and not just in it, but despite giving lip-service to these ideas and getting terribly upset about it, most of us have no intention of doing anything different ('you're in our headlights, frozen, and no, we're not stopping'). We talk sentimentally as if we give a damn about the rest of the world, calling the birds and the bugs our 'cousins', and as if having them 'in our talons (i.e. control)' is meant to be a good thing for everyone, but I feel that the implication is that we still want dominance ('talons' is a loaded word - has negative connotations, I think). The whole last verse I take to mean something like 'don't worry, world, we still know what's best for you. Sorry it hurts so bad but at least we understand, right?' i.e. pretty patronising and arrogant. So the song is implicitly criticizing that attitude. Something like that :) Just my opinion. |
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| Led Zeppelin – Babe I'm Gonna Leave You Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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It's so conflicted - so honest. I love how it contradicts itself and kind of doesn't make sense, how it's just raw emotion, flicking erratically between the different desires that rage inside him, uncontainable. I think of the whole thing as being inside his head, rather than said to the woman. He's almost made up his mind, but not quite, and this is just him wrestling with that primal masculine struggle between the desire for love/sex and the desire for freedom/autonomy. A struggle to which there never really is a complete solution. The song could be distilled down to "AAAAAARRRRGGGGHHH!!!! Life fucking hurts!!!!" Which, you know, it does sometimes. |
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| Yes – The Gates of Delirium Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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The Wikipedia article on this song says it's loosely based on Tolstoy's 'War and Peace'. Which I haven't read so can't comment beyond that :) Phenomenal track. |
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| Joanna Newsom – Three Little Babes Lyrics | 17 years ago |
| I think it's 'clods', not 'clogs' - i.e. clods of dirt, thus bed=grave. | |
| Ben Harper – The Woman In You Lyrics | 17 years ago |
| My take: It's about a man being worn down by a woman who always keeps him guessing about who she is and what she thinks and what's going on, so he never knows where he stands. She's the kind who will never say the wrong thing or cause open conflict, but weilds power through silence, exploiting his need to understand her and creating a vacuum for him to do the work in the relationship and accept the blame for things that go wrong between them. It's a subtle and often distinctively feminine form of manipulation/abuse. (i can say that coz i'm a woman...) | |
| Ben Harper – Fight For Your Mind Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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What I hear is frustration with people who say "oh well I could do X but then I'd miss out on Y, and then what if later I wanted Z? and V and W are worth considering too", and then miss out on life because they won't make a decision. Or people who are half-hearted about their values and haven't the courage to live them out. I think it's about the need to live weightily (to use my father's phrase) and with purpose, instead of faffing around. If you're gonna do something, do it, and own your decisions. To live this way takes immense strength of soul - hence the chorus, 'you got to fight for your mind'. Your reward will be a sound mind. "Happiness is when what you think, what you say and what you do are in harmony." --Gandhi |
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| mewithoutYou – A Glass Can Only Spill What It Contains Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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Hm, I hear something a bit different. To me it's a song about the existence of God, and Aaron's asserting that God is there whether or not you believe it. And he puts it so wonderfully that I'd really like to believe myself... The cat, the peacock and the woman represent 3 different reasons why people might not believe in God. For the cat, it's just ignorance - if I can't see anyone then there's no one there - which is obviously stupid. If the cat stopped to think, it might wonder where the bowl of milk came from. 'A glass can only spill what it contains' might thus be about creation in this case. i.e. the things we enjoy are only there because someone put them there, as a glass is only as full as someone has filled it. The peacock is my favourite. What a perfect metaphor! I think it represents the free thinker. The peacock thinks it's free because it's comparing itself to others who are in cages. It thinks it is in control of its own fate. It can go anywhere, and no one can tell it what to do. But it doesn't realise that the world it knows is only a microcosm - the real world is unthinkably bigger and more complex - and it is only free within that tiny world because the zookeepers choose to indulge it. If they did decide to crack down, the peacock couldn't possibly resist. The glass in this case is the mind. We may take pride in our minds, and show off about the liberality of our ideas, but we can't really take credit for them; we're only capable of what God made us capable of. We can only produce according to what God has given us. The woman is someone who thinks people only believe in God because they want to - because it feels nice to believe that someone's watching over you, who knows you and knows your name. But she won't have that; she's got enough courage to face her aloneness in the world. But what she doesn't see, that the singer does see, is that in fact her aloneness is making her miserable, and that anyhow she's playing with ideas that are too big for her or for anyone ('dressing in our parents' clothes'). They're too big for him too, and he can't persuade her to change her mind, but unlike her, he's prepared to admit his ignorance on the theism question. The 'glass' line here reminds me of Jesus saying in Luke 6:44f that 'Each tree is recognized by its own fruit. People do not pick figs from thornbushes, or grapes from briers...Out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks.' She doesn't 'contain' the peace that the singer has because she's clinging to what she's decided is true, and unhappiness 'spills' out. I think the rest of the song, the parts about Jesus, uses the 'glass' line to show how Jesus leveled the playing field. By showing that no one is anything more than what God made them, he totally disarmed pride ('turned around the praise and blame'). I really like how Aaron acknowledges his own doubts. For him, the extraordinary life of Jesus seems to tilt the balance and woo him into believing in God (rather than reasoning him into it). It's still a mystery, but just as Jesus so bizarrely chose not to answer his accusers at his trial, so God seems to choose not to answer all our questions, and remain a mystery. For some reason s/he seems to like it that way. Awesome song. The philosophy isn't watertight, but it's compelling at a gut level, and that's kind of the point. I think I'm a *little* more inclined towards theism after thinking about this song. Though that might just be because I was stung by the satire, since it's all directed at people just like me... |
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| The Blue Nile – Stay Close Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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At first glance (and given the picture of a double bed in the album cover) it seems fairly obviously a song about the end of a romantic relationship. I think it can also work, though, as a song from a father to an adult child. Coming to terms with his separation from them, seeing the future that lies ahead of them Try it on, see if you like it. |
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| The Blue Nile – Stay Close Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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Corrections: V1: Stand in the light So I can see you Morning makes it right Sun beating low (...) V2: Is the world still at your feet? Did you let somebody love you? (...) V3: The cowboys in the railway station Gave up on the news Comin' home at 3a.m. Sayin' "How'd it go? Yeah how'd it go today?" One day you'll know The end of all days Sons and daughters calling home And you waken up With the radio on (...) |
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| mewithoutYou – Brownish Spider Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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Ok let's not get possessive about him! Hasn't anyone heard of death of the author? mwYFAN and KOinMotion: yeah he's a Christian, but he was raised by a Jewish father and Muslim mother (as I understand it). Anyhow, just because an artist is Christian doesn't mean everything they can only ever sing about God. Even Christians like girls sometimes :) And they are sometimes aware of other religions too! Not giving an opinion on the interpretation of this song here - just saying :p |
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| mewithoutYou – In a Market Dimly Lit Lyrics | 17 years ago |
| Also, just thought I'd point out that the donkey's jaw in verse 2 is probably another ref to Samson. Samson in the bible grabbed a donkey's jaw bone he found on the ground and used it to kill 1000 Philistines (Israel's enemies). Not entirely sure what point he's making, or what it means for him to be the jaw bone. | |
| mewithoutYou – In a Market Dimly Lit Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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Ok, I feel the need to preface this comment by saying that I'm not a Christian myself but I do think this is a song largely about Christianity. Just so you know I'm not pushing an agenda :) I *think* what I see in this song is that the singer is so thoroughly immersed in Christian culture that the power of the message has become hackneyed and he can hardly hear its beauty anymore. 'The bird that plucked the olive leaf' is a powerful symbol of... well all kinds of things. The truce between humanity and God, God's provision, God's power tempered with mercy. But the singer has heard it all so many times that now he has to really concentrate to get his heart engaged. I think the song is about him being troubled by his own complacency, and wondering why God puts up with it. Verse 2 sounds to me like... how can I explain this? The verse comes across as just a string of biblical references with some pronouns thrown in, and it's like he's come to see everything through this one particular lens, and finds himself using the same old metaphors/jargon over and over, till the people in his life become reduced to some symbolic facet of his faith. It's all very neat and tidy, but it's not very... earthy. And God knows that he, like many others, is just going through the motions half the time. The facade is kept up for the sake of everyone around him, but he knows God can see through all that. And yet, it's when all the going-through-the-motions gets interrupted that he seems to glimpse something true - like the cat bumping the record player. The facade gets broken, and it's surprising and momentarily uncomfortable, but there's a beauty in the randomness that is missing when everything's perfectly ordered. Similarly, when he 'collides' with other people, it may break the flow of his picture-perfect life, but it's those moments that *are* real life. Even if they involve making mistakes, hurting people, getting hurt. fif_87 I'm sure you're right. He's saying that if you wait for heaven you'll miss out on earth, and if you obsess about religion you'll miss out on life. Life is not just about biding time till death/Heaven; it is itself Home. Which brings us back to the olive leaf. In the biblical story of the flood, God affirmed the importance of the here and now. If He had only cared about the spiritual and the afterlife He would have just wiped out the material world when it failed to measure up, but He didn't. He allowed it to go on, knowing that it wouldn't be picture perfect. Which is why He's not that troubled by the occasional counterfeit coin. Not quite sure about the last verse. It might be either him applying this realisation to some relationship and allowing himself to experience emotion... or possibly the complete opposite - a failure to do so. Or it might be something else entirely. |
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| Iron & Wine – Freedom Hangs Like Heaven Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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As for the rest of the song, I think I'm inclining towards it being Joseph singing about Mary, and how basically he's hoping like crazy that she's right about everything she believes about her son, because their lives have been turned upside down on account of him. In theme with the 'woman king' concept, I get the impression she's been the one taking the lead between them, because she's so sure about what God's said etc., and he's following her with a mixture of love, awe and terror. This is a really confusing state for him to find himself in. He's supposed to be the man; he thought he'd prepared a good life for himself and his bride, but then this baby happened, and suddenly here they are, political refugees, on the run from place to place, trying to protect this fragile little bundle from murderous soldiers ("hoof-marks hacked up all I had to offer you"). On top of that, their friends and families probably all think she's a liar and is just trying to hide the fact that she's conceived out of wedlock ("carry your shame") - which also makes Joseph look a bit of a fool. If she *is* lying, then he really is a blind Samson to her Delilah, being led towards his doom, all for the sake of a woman. In short, he's staked all he has on this woman and her crazy assertions, and he has to admit he's terrified, but there's something about her that makes him trust her. If she's right about how important this child is going to prove to be, maybe freedom is just around the corner - for them, and maybe for others too. And for his part, he's betting his 'dollar' on it. |
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| Iron & Wine – Freedom Hangs Like Heaven Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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Yes, Samson is a biblical figure - a champion of the Israelite army in the early days of their nationhood after escaping from Egypt. He's a Nazarite, which means he was dedicated to God from birth and, among other ritual symbols of this, wasn't allowed to cut his hair. In return for his devotion, God granted him amazing strength, and he kicked the arses of a bunch of Israel's enemies, the Philistines. However, he falls in love with Delilah, a Philistine woman, and she convinces him to tell her the secret of his strength, i.e., that he never cuts his hair. She then has a servant cut his hair while he's sleeping, and he loses his strength, allowing the Philistines to capture him. They gouge out his eyes and make him a slave. The Philistines then make thanksgiving sacrifices to their god, and call Samson to the temple to 'entertain' them. In the temple, he prays for God to restore his strength one final time. He then knocks down the central pillar of the temple, bringing the roof down and crushing everyone inside, including himself. For the biblical account, go here (chapters 13-17): http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=judges%2013&version=31 |
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| Iron & Wine – Free Until They Cut Me Down Lyrics | 17 years ago |
| Also, if people weren't sure where the 'cross' interpretation was coming from, Christian literature often refers to the cross of Christ as 'the tree'. It's commonly used in a poetic sort of way, though it might be literal - some historians think trees might have actually been used as the vertical part of Roman crosses in some places. Anyway, there is an obvious thematic correlation with the song, i.e. the execution of an innocent person. Hence the 'tree' in the first stanza could potentially be not an actual tree but a metaphor for a gallows, connecting it with the cross. Maybe. Doesn't much matter. | |
| Iron & Wine – Free Until They Cut Me Down Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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Reminds me of 'To Kill a Mockingbird', in which a white woman is attracted to a black man, and tries to seduce him. When he refuses her advances, she's embarassed and frightened by what she's done, and convinces herself and eventually the court that he's raped her. Obviously everyone believes her word over his because he's black. I don't necessarily think that's the story of this song, but it certainly has echoes. The song may or may not have anything to do with racial issues. Anyhow, as someone said above, the point of the song is obviously the emotion and meaning of the moment, whatever the events behind it. I like how, when listening to it, the line 'take me home' could equally be him anticipating heaven. I think the driving rhythm of the music establishes the mood briliantly. It's almost as if he's so disgusted with the unjust world that he can't wait to get out of it - to go home. |
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| Iron & Wine – Evening on the Ground (Lilith's Song) Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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This song just blows me away. It is so powerful. Makes me feel things I didn't know I could feel - rage, defiance, a kind of fierce self-respect as a woman. What a character to have chosen to write about! The woman who would rather be cursed than be dominated by an equal, and the man who restlessly both loved and sought to destroy her fiery spirit. I love what SB's done on this EP, taking a second look at these women who have been typically seen kind of in 2D, as either The Whore or The Virgin, and showing their richness beyond such labels. And here especially he's captured the situation in such a blood-curdling yet stirring way. What a piece of art. He's clearly also intending it, though, as a more universalised statement. 'Adam' is, of course, Hebrew for 'man', and Adam is thus (and for other reasons) representative of all men. This is captured in the line 'hey man', where Lilith addresses Adam by his name, but also all men generally. Which seems to be reflected in the legend also, since Lilith declares war on all his offspring. |
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| Joanna Newsom – Sawdust and Diamonds Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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Page 6 of this interview: http://www.thewire.co.uk/articles/56/?pageno=1 says that she wasn't intending a comment about her experiences as a performer, but about more general social dynamics where people are pulled about by strings (of convention and what's acceptable?), like marionettes, and are being watched by everyone around them, as though they were on a stage. If I'm reading her right. Having read that, my understanding of the song changed. I think it's somewhat piece-meal in terms of the things it talks about, but I think that theme I just described draws it all together. Plus some stuff about mortality. The main 'story' aspect I see in it is of a relationship (whether romantic or not) in which she and the other person experienced some kind of freedom from all these games, and found something real. That's what I think it's about when she makes these sudden shifts in scene from a theatre to a log cabin in the woods or something. There's a lot of nature imagery in relation to this person. e.g. 'long face' section (which blows me away), which I take to be about a sort of transcendent intimacy and devotion they shared - something elemental. But they keep getting pulled back into the theatre scenario, and ultimately their ideals elude them. Partly because everyone around them has something to say, partly because they themselves are full of fears and expectations that get in the way ('praying please, love, you ought not!'), and partly because of the looming threat of death, and forces beyond their control (the gibbering wave). There is so much in this song, but I think mostly it's about someone being conflicted within themself with regard to their ideals, and their inability to fully realise them. |
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| Joanna Newsom – Monkey & Bear Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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Hm, well I've just read an interview that suggests she originally meant it to be the bear's fur, though it seems to me she would be open to any interpretation: "I'm hoping it'll reiterate again the idea of just searching and searching and searching for gratification, in the image of the bear, what's left of the bear after the bear removes itself from itself, dragging its coat through the water trying to catch minnows with its own fur as a net. But it's really meant to be ambiguous, whether it represents death, or rebirth, or a triumph on the part of the bear, or a complete absolute resignment on the part of the bear, it's supposed to be pretty unclear." Sourced at page 5 of this article (very worth a read): http://www.thewire.co.uk/articles/56/?pageno=1 |
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| Iron & Wine – Each Coming Night Lyrics | 17 years ago |
| I would just add that I don't think it's all necessarily about ways he wants or expects to be remembered. Moments of it feel to me more like fear, either of failing to actually live up to the hopes he's expressing in the song, or just of not being enough. Maybe he would like to be remembered for more than just his sturdy arms, but he's not sure if he's been more. "Will you say when I'm gone..." is phrased in a way that leaves it ambiguous. The future is not certain, his understanding of her heart is incomplete. He wonders if she sees the relationship the same way he does, and what will stand out to her in decades to come, and whether it's the same as what he's tried to be and to communicate. | |
| Iron & Wine – Gray Stables Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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Re. possible biblical references: listening to it today it made me think of David and Bathsheba. Go here for the biblical account: http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?book_id=10&chapter=11&version=47&context=chapter The basic story is that King David is walking on the roof of his palace and sees Bathsheba bathing. Captivated by her beauty, he sends for her and sleeps with her, and she becomes pregnant. David sends for her husband Uriah, who is a soldier in David's army, hoping that he will sleep with his wife and it will be assumed that the child is his. But Uriah is too honourable a soldier to enjoy home comforts while his comrades are still fighting, and sleeps outside, refusing to go to his wife. David's only choice then is to marry Bathsheba, so he arranges to have Uriah 'accidentally' killed in battle, and marries Bathsheba (he already has several other wives too). The whole affair eventually becomes known, and is a huge scandal, for which David seeks forgiveness from God. Originally chosen as king for his great piety and devotion to God, the whole episode is seen as his one spectacular downfall. It is frequently alluded to in contemporary religion as an illustration that no one is perfect. The child dies a few days after its birth, which is seen as God's judgement on David's sin. However, Bathsheba has other children by David, including Solomon, whom, he promises Bathsheba, he will eventually select to succeed him as king. The fact that he chooses her son, though he has other, older sons vying for the throne, suggests that she holds a special place in his heart - and, perhaps, that he feels he needs to make amends to her. I imagine the song being David's reflection on all this some years later. He recalls how he was so moved by Bathsheba's beauty on the evening when he first noticed her. She had an innocence about her, an artless beauty, pleasing without effort. Washing in Judaism is, of course, associated with purification, and justification before God ('shameless'). As a pious man, perhaps he's even drawn to her piety. While bathing, she turns her mind to her absent husband Uriah, and prays for his safe return. The biblical account, including the parable told by the prophet Nathan in the next chapter, suggests that Uriah had probably been a loving husband. He is certainly depicted as a righteous man, undeserving of his fate. The line "my lady never told me of her sadness, bones floating in the sound" could be about her mourning first for her husband and then for her son. But she also no doubt mourns for herself, and the incredibly complex pain of someone who has been raped, made the unwilling cause of her husband's death, and snatched into a new life against her will. We're told that David comforted Bathsheba after the death of their son, but maybe the song is suggesting that there are parts of her heart that she keeps hidden from him. He recalls the moment when she realised she was being watched. There was an awakening in her, a terror, paralysis, and a period of waiting, as she wondered what would happen, and what she'd started. He remembers watching all this flash across her face, while he sent a messenger to fetch her. Now, years later, she once again bathes alone, elusive and withdrawn from him. As king, and as a man, he can 'have' her whenever he wants, but he can never gain admission to her inner world, which is hers to guard. What he desired eludes him, and is cheapened by the fact that he has stolen her. The refrain again, and this time it's David's thoughts. Years later, he can never forget what he did to Uriah, and the other innocent men who died because of what he did. I hear the final two lines comparing her to a teacup as a suggestion that in her later life as one of David's queens, she's playing a role and being an ornament to the court, but her heart is silent, hidden. She is described in the song as brave, which matches the biblical account. She later advocates for her son, reminding David of his promise to make him king, though this will put them both in danger from the other ambitious sons. She clearly hasn't just withered away in her sadness, but has applied herself to the cause of those she loves. David admires her strength, but, just as on that first evening, he can only ever admire from afar. |
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| Bright Eyes – Take It Easy (Love Nothing) Lyrics | 17 years ago |
| This song breaks me because I've been that woman. The one in the first half, that is. She had to go where life led her, but she, too, has to live with the aftermath. I can guarantee that she was frightened too, when she wrapped herself in her sheets that night. | |
| Devendra Banhart – Little Boys Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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I like the mindset that anyone, no matter how far beyond 'normal'/'acceptable' they may have strayed, is a fit subject for art, and that it's worth giving their mindscape a serious and compassionate look. Reminds me of Bruce Springsteen's song 'Paradise', which takes on the perspective of a suicide bomber. Though that's a little more serious in mood than I take Devendra to be here. Seems to me that Dev is in a good position to be as daring as he is in this song because of the general wackiness of his previous stuff, and the fact that he often takes on a persona for a song that doesn't necessarily have anything to do with himself, but is just something he found interesting. |
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| Devendra Banhart – Little Boys Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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Time Out New York asks the tough questions to the eccentric folkie... TONY: Your song "Little Boys" is about wanting to marry little boys... Devendra Banhart: Okay, let me explain myself. When we were recording the record, my friend said to me, "You know, man, they're going to play this record in Starbucks." And I said, "Well, I'm going to write a song that will guarantee that will never happen." Then that night we watched the movie Chicken Hawk: Men Who Love Boys, about NAMBLA, the North American Man/Boy Love Association. At the same time, swimming in my head was the idea of a song about a schizophrenic hermaphrodite with the male and female physical characteristics in one body, but also the male and female psychologies in one body. So the first half of the song is from the male perspective, and then it switches, and the second half is from the female perspective. TONY: Aren't you worried about getting a reputation like Michael Jackson's? Devendra Banhart: You mean his reputation as the King of Pop? That would be great! Um, even without the song I don't think Starbucks would play it. Anyway, congrats TONY on being the first to compare DB to MJ. source: http://stereogum.com/archives/devendra-banhart-not-a-pedophile_001793.html |
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| Joanna Newsom – Colleen Lyrics | 17 years ago |
| poweroutage: thanks for your comment - I think you're right on the pulse there. Feel like I'm starting to piece this song together now! Though I rather like that it remains enigmatic as well. | |
| Joanna Newsom – Be a Woman Lyrics | 17 years ago |
| Atagamay41: Indeed. The melody is built on a pentatonic scale, which is used in a lot of Asian music. Guess it maybe adds to the meditative feel? | |
| Iron & Wine – My Lady's House Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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To me, the line 'she is more than her thousand names' evokes a metaphor of divinity. Hindu deities typically have a great many names describing their different aspects, and the essence of who the deity is lies somewhere between them all. Islam has a similar tradition in the 99 most beautiful names for God, e.g. The Merciful, The Kind, The Just. Thus to me the line expresses a spiritual sense of wonder at the beloved, a feeling that words can only hint at the mystery of who she is. See these links for more info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vishnu#Thousand_names_of_Lord_Vishnu http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shiva_Sahasranama http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/99_names |
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| Antony and the Johnsons – Bird Gerhl Lyrics | 17 years ago |
| Can hardly begin to describe what this song does to me. Fortunately it probably does it to you too so you probably know what I'm talking about. Ok most contentless comment ever but I cannot be silent about this song, and words don't work. | |
| Devendra Banhart – The Other Woman Lyrics | 17 years ago |
| I love how he gets inside this character - who pretty clearly isn't him. It's such a great portrait. The whole image of living in a state of quiet desparation, the edges fraying around her life and sanity. Clever clever man. | |
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