| Glasvegas – Geraldine Lyrics | 16 years ago |
| Hmmm... sarcastic? I don't think it is sarcastic. Knowing Glasvegas, they are generally achingly heartfelt. But I do think it is supposed to be... I guess the word is ironic. When we get to the last line and realize that the only person this kid has as a lifeline to survival is their social worker, it is sad. | |
| Fleet Foxes – He Doesn't Know Why Lyrics | 16 years ago |
| I don't know if I'm reading things into this song that aren't there, but to me he is speaking to his older brother who has disappeared for a couple of years and comes home in pretty sorry state. The singer doesn't remember him as he sees him now. It seems the brother is suffering through something, possibly drug addiction or maybe just a unhappy life, and has done this before - come home and relied on his family while he gets himself together. There is a longing on the part of the singer to help, but he realizes there is nothing he can say or do to help his brother. | |
| Fleet Foxes – White Winter Hymnal Lyrics | 16 years ago |
| It just came to me that a few Fleet Foxes songs seem to be written to a brother - Mykonos, He Doesn't Know Why - maybe this is about his brother. It would make an impression on a child if his brother, especially an older brother, was bleeding bright red in the snow. | |
| Fleet Foxes – White Winter Hymnal Lyrics | 16 years ago |
| I think of this song as a little frame of a childhood memory - maybe of a five or six year old. He is with a bunch of children, maybe running after the older kids, who just look like a bunch of coats since they are so bundled up. He thinks in his child's mind that the scarves keep their heads from falling off. Then he looks behind him and his friend has fallen and hurt himself and there is bright red blood in the snow. Sometimes a memory like that sticks with you even though you can't remember anything else about it. | |
| Fleet Foxes – Meadowlarks Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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I think the last line is the arc light on the hillside... Arc lights were used in the 19th century to light up public spaces. I think it brings to mind a bunch of market stalls in an an Appalachian town in maybe 1901. Just the image I see. Beautiful, mournful song. |
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| Tunng – Woodcat Lyrics | 16 years ago |
| The imagery in this song reminds me of Alice in Wonderland. Especially the parts in Alice where the Knave of Hearts is on trial and when Alice shrinks and is swimming with all the animals in a lake of her own tears. Lovely, fantastic, fairy tale song. | |
| Tunng – hands Lyrics | 16 years ago |
| Like so many Tunng songs, this song is a beautiful little story, but it is also about the acceptance of how small and insignificant and mortal we all are and how that is beautiful if we accept that fact and live our lives with... idk... joy? love? | |
| Tunng – hands Lyrics | 16 years ago |
| Like so many Tunng songs, this song is a beautiful little story, but it is also about the acceptance of how small and insignificant and mortal we all are and how that is beautiful if we accept that fact and live our lives with... idk... joy? love? | |
| Fleet Foxes – Tiger Mountain Peasant Song Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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^^ agreed... :) I think this song describes the experience of grief. He sees the wanderers and the birds and the grass, but none of them knows his lost loved one anymore. He stills knows her and feels her with him. He is scared of his own death, but there is really no one close enough to him to bind him to life anymore. Even at the end when he says he is turning himself into a demon. I think it refers to letting himself go mad with grief. |
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| Fleet Foxes – Ragged Wood Lyrics | 16 years ago |
| This song is great!! What, no comments? It is a pretty straightforward love song, but it is so full of the joy, yearning and uncertainity of young love. It makes me happy. :) | |
| Fleet Foxes – Mykonos Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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Oh, and I think the lyric is When OUT walking brother don't you forget. :) |
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| Fleet Foxes – Mykonos Lyrics | 16 years ago |
| I agree with Benjam. Only thing I'd add, I thought this literaly referred to the singer's brother. Especially when you listen to He Doesn't Know why from the album. Both songs sound like he's singing to a family member to me, but maybe that's just from my own life. Of course, it could be a friend or a brother by blood. Either way, the song is beautiful. | |
| The Helio Sequence – Broken Afternoon Lyrics | 16 years ago |
| ^^ | |
| Blitzen Trapper – Sci-Fi Kid Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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Agree with optifree's lyrics, except I think it is: Just an extra part in a kid like me Like he is a robot or some sci-fi creation. God, I love this song. So upbeat and a little bit twisted at the same time. |
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| Tunng – Pioneers Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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Leeds United? Really? That's funny when you think of the words in relation to a football club. I think this song is about modern man and his relationship to the environment. Thinking no matter what we do to the sea, the earth, and the air, we can fix it. Believing we can control nuclear fusion. It seems to be saying that we are ambitious creatures and it is in our nature to want to conquer nature, but we are playing with the devil (so to speak). Probably should post this under Bloc Party, but I listen to the Tunng version more often. |
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| The Mountain Goats – Marduk T-Shirt Men's Room Incident Lyrics | 16 years ago |
| I don't think he is washing his hands in scalding water because he thinks the girl is disgusting. He just let himself imagine that this completely drunk and vulnerable woman that he knows nothing about is his lover... he imagines for a moment being intimate with her cuz she means nothing to him (wieghtless, formless, blameless, nameless) and he feels guilty. Which might be what captainmycaptain meant, too. Anyway... I think this is just one of the most touching and haunting songs on the album. Oh, and one correction... The line is *in* your walking... | |
| Frightened Rabbit – The Modern Leper Lyrics | 16 years ago |
| Yep, what you said... Fantastic song, great album. | |
| Tunng – Bullets Lyrics | 16 years ago |
| I think this song is about how we can sometimes savor emotional pain. Like when we discuss our deepest secrets and feelings or even when a friend dies, there is somthing 'sweet' in that depth of emotion. It is dangerous, like catching bullets in your teeth, and you can even go so far as inflicting pain on yourself to get at your innermost emotions, but there is light in all that darkness that's inside you and we want to get at it, sometimes at any cost. "We're happy, and then again we're not." There is a touch of irony in the song, like the singer isn't sure that they are right in enjoying the pain, so he is trying to justify it. I don't really get the part about 'and now we don't remember'. Maybe just that we don't remember how badly we can hurt, so we do it all over again. | |
| The View – Wasted Little DJs Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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the discobiscuit writes - Well that was a waste of my time! If u live in california why do u listen to The View? Their album has nothing to offer you! It's practically an audio commentary of life in Britain. I am surprised you would think nobody outside of Britain would be interested in Britain. Don't sell yourself short. I do live in California, but I have also lived in several other places. And I am sure I've been listening to British pop music much longer than you have. I don't know how long it took you to read my post, but if I wasted 15 or 16 minutes of your time, I apologize. I was only trying to say what artmaven has said above, although she says it in a much more useful way. :) Oh, and by the way, hasn't anyone in Britain ever listened to, say, The Beach Boys, Springsteen, The Ramones, Neil Young, Muddy Waters, Iron & Wine, REM, Jimi Hendrix, Kanye West, or The Violent Femmes - all of whom are, in their own way, practically an audio commentary on life in the US? |
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| The View – Wasted Little DJs Lyrics | 16 years ago |
| thediscobiscuit writes | |
| Glasvegas – Go Square Go! Lyrics | 16 years ago |
| Hmmm... just found out that a square go in Scotland is a fair fight, so we aren't rooting for a little square. Or maybe we are, but silly American me didn't get the square fight. So I stand corrected. :) | |
| T. Rex – Get It On (Bang A Gong) Lyrics | 16 years ago |
| Great oldie. According to my brother, who knows cars (which I don't), the teeth of the hydra refers to the front grill of the old Oldsmobile Hydromatic. Apparently it was quite toothy chrome spectacular. Who knew? :) Here's a picture of one. http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://dynamic1961.tripod.com/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/dynamicgrill1.gif&imgrefurl=http://dynamic1961.tripod.com/1961Dynamic88/&h=375&w=500&sz=120&hl=en&start=34&um=1&tbnid=XDpT4blFWp3tAM:&tbnh=98&tbnw=130&prev= | |
| Nick Drake – One Of These Things First Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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To me this song is full of tender regret. There are many things he could have been, but he regrets not being there for someone he loves. I could have been a real live lover, as steady as a rock I could be here and now. I would be. I should be, But how? I could have been your pillar, I could have stayed beside you, could have stayed for more Could have been your friend A whole long lilfetime Could have been the end I could be yours so true I would be. I should be Through and through. I could have been a real live giver, Could have been as steady as a rock I could even be here I would be. I should be so near |
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| Franz Ferdinand – Evil and a Heathen Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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This song is about 'forbidden' sex, imho. Gay, infidelity, whatever... it is up to the listener. Here's my take: Words fall from my mouth Like plates from shaking hands Smash upon the silence Of the smooth naked canal Stuttering and sputtering and being struck speechless when confronted with the object of one's lust's naked body. I like how you pretend That the end will be the end So fill up first then Drink a curse To the death of death instead I like that you pretend there is no heaven or hell - no consequences. Let's get drunk and pretend that we'll never die instead. Utrecht led me to the Sacré Coeur Where the smoke curled round Now the ice blows off Lake Michigan When the ice blows, The ice floe knocks you down I've been to church - I know about religion, but in the real world, life is hard. Your teeth are black with wine As you place those lips on mine the moon hangs heavy and forbidden high On the...night of our lives Uh-huh... self-explanatory. :) Or, OMG this feels good. Well I'm evil and a heathen I'm a heathen and evil like you There's not a lot Not a lot I couldn't do I am willing to be 'bad'. And so are you. |
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| Iron & Wine – Resurrection Fern Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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I've given some more thought to this song and I am so blown away by it. The beauty and depth is something I can't even begin to do justice to, but here are some additional thoughts. It repeats some of my post above, but a little more fleshed out. In our days we will live Like our ghosts will live: We are living, but we are ghosts, suggesting that something is happening/has happened that is killing our spirits. Pitching glass at the cornfield crows And folding clothes We’ll continue to do the prosaic things we’ve always done. Like stubborn boys across the road We'll keep everything: We willfully hang on to our traditions. Grandma's gun and the black bear claw That took her dog Grandma’s gun representing the violence and the black bear claw representing the Civil War and then the civil rights movement that tore apart the South. Beam uses the dog as a symbol of moral stewardship. The civil rights movement exposed the immorality of segregation and discrimination; it took Grandma’s dog. When Sister Lowery says, "Amen" We won't hear anything: Evelyn Lowery is a civil rights activist, so that could be who is referred to here. We couldn’t grasp on to the highest ideals of the civil rights movement – the moral calling that we should have taken to heart. The ten-car trains will take that word Perhaps this refers to a need to carry on with commerce or just to the day-to-day machinations of society. That fledgling bird The fledgling bird was our chance to learn to fly, for the beginnings of a better America. There was a moment when we could have aspired to something higher, but we didn’t live up to that promise. And the fallen house across the way The fallen house could be the house of state or simply the place we live – the nation, the South, our own sense of our place in the world – that has fallen into ruin It'll keep everything: There is a history in that house - The baby's breath, our innocence (whether this refers to the flower or the actual breath of a baby), Our bravery wasted and our shame bravery wasted (in defense of things that weren’t worthy of being defended, or perhaps the bravery of those that ‘fought the good fight’ wasted only because we didn’t fulfill the promise), and our shame. The house keeps everything – you can’t acknowledge one part of our history without the other. And we’ll undress beside the ashes of the fire We will strip ourselves of all pretense and prejudice in the ruins of our society Both our tender bellies wound in baling wire In our vulnerable, painful, and shared humanity, put together as best we can with what we have available to us All the more a pair of underwater pearls This naked tenderness reveals the simple and natural beauty of who we are. We are more like a pair of pearls, underwater – that is, in our natural state – small, but beautiful; humble, yet precious - Than the oak tree and its resurrection fern Than we are like the mighty, powerful oak and its dependent fern, that suffers and dies over and over but continues to survive. In our days we will say What our ghosts will say: We gave the world what it saw fit And what'd we get? We have realized that we may have given the culture what it demanded of us, but, in the end, there was no reward. Like stubborn boys with big green eyes We'll see everything: Like obstinate children, we kept at something we knew was wrong. And when it all dissolved into hurt and anger, we were wide-eyed. We understand what we’ve done In the timid shade of the autumn leaves And the buzzard's wing As we reluctantly accept our own mortality. And we'll undress beside the ashes of the fire Our tender bellies all wound around in baling wire All the more a pair of underwater pearls Than the oak tree and its resurrection fern. The imagery here is brilliant. Describing the breakdown of our society as being burned to ashes has particular resonance as the distant echoes of Sherman’s March are part of the collective memory of the South. Baling wire - the ubiquitous fix-all of every rural community. The oak and its resurrection fern - again, a common sight in all of the South. But Beam contrasts these images with a thoroughly non-Southern image – underwater pearls. I think the 'we' in this song can be seen as a couple in a relationship AND/OR the relations between the races, or even between the North and the South. It is ultimately a hopeful song about approaching the world in a new and more honest way. |
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| The Twilight Sad – Mapped By What Surrounded Them Lyrics | 16 years ago |
| This song reminds me of a Gothic horror story. It is so ethereal, in spite of the heavy guitar sound. The combo of the noise and the delicate lyrics just bowls me over. Fantastic song. | |
| The View – Wasted Little DJs Lyrics | 16 years ago |
| All comments above make me smile hugely. This song is great, pig latin is a way of talking double dutch if indeed that means nonsense talking and every kid in the states (well almost) learns to speak pig latin. But carry on... i luv it. oh, and it must be ken, or it could be weekend like the sleeve says, or it might be a play on words, but i don't give a fuck (rhythm slows to a drunken pace) cuz we're all out of our little fucking heads . :) | |
| Iron & Wine – Wolves (Song of the Shepherd's Dog) Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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Great interp, larryniven. And thanks for the lyrics update. This finally makes some sense to me. I think there is another element about the nature of religious faith in this song. I don't know how it all fits, but I'll throw out my random thoughts - maybe somebody can elaborate and/or shoot them down. In the first verse, she makes a pitch in the ear of the lamb. A prayer , or a song, or trying to sell an idea to Jesus? And in the last verse, I think she running toward a vision of Mary and Jesus. (a woman and a baby with a cross to bear). But there is a flea in the oil (like a fly in the ointment?) and you can never change that. Is Beam saying that her wild nature is in conflict with her faith? That she won't find her means of escape via faith? Or that neither sensual pleasure or religious experience is going to really provide any escape? Dunno... Whew.. Beam is hard sometimes. :) |
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| Iron & Wine – Lovesong of the Buzzard Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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I think the reference to the 'solace of a poison fish' is saying that there is comfort in faith in Christianity, but it is corrupt (or maybe corrupting). Sam Beam seems to be one of those who believes in the teachings of Christianity, but not the dogma. I heard James Taylor say on TV the other night that he writes 'gospel music for agnostics'. I thought that was sort of applicable to Sam Beam, too. He uses intense religious symbolism, but always infuses his songs with doubt/skepticism. A tender-hearted heretic. This song is really complex and simple at the same time. Like Beam92, I still am absorbing it. Whatever all Beam's symbolism means, it is truly beautiful. |
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| Glasvegas – Go Square Go! Lyrics | 16 years ago |
| I love the simplicity of this song and how it says volumes about coming of age. I've always had mixed feelings about that part of boy life. As a woman, I wish they didn't have to prove themselves physically. Who wants there little boy to come home with a black eye and a fat lip? But, it seems to be a rite of passage, and no one wants their kid to be bullied either. The little guy taking his dad's words to heart is both heart-breaking and somehow heart-warming. By the time it builds to the anthemic 'here we, here we, here we fucking go' at the end, it has you cheering without reservation for the little square. I can imagine that part being taken up by every footballer in Britain! Go, Glasvegas, go. | |
| Glasvegas – Daddy's Gone Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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OK... :) and how is that not a song of unrequited love? Don't such songs often come with a bucket of resentment? To me, it is clear as can be the boy loves his dad and he feels betrayed and abandoned. Don't mean to be argumentative, but I think that's pretty standard unrequited love song material. The typical formula is - I love you, I'd have made you happy, you done me wrong, i hope you die miserable. But however you categorize it, it really is a great song. If you get a chance, take a listen to it. You can visit the band's webpage for a link to myspace and listen to/download this and a few of their other songs. Swear I am not affilliated with the band! :) I just really love their sound. |
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| Glasvegas – Daddy's Gone Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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I am absolutely crazy about this song. The meaning is clear enough, but two things just bowl me over about this. One is the combo of the doo-wop vocals and the surf/noise/shoegaze music (is that a genre?;) Two, is how does someone write a song that is really an unrequited love song to his father and not come off completely maudlin and ridiculous? Well, like this I guess. Brilliant, top to bottom. |
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| Iron & Wine – Resurrection Fern Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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Wow... I just listened to this twice (in a row, I mean. I've listened to it every day since I downloaded it.) and am dumbstruck. Well, not quite, :) cuz I am going attempt to say what I take away from this song. I may be way out in left field, so let me know what you think. The first two verses We cling to our routines and our traditions. Shooing away crows and folding laundry is a perfect image of a rural scene. Keeping grandma's gun and the black bear claw that took her dog... I think this refers to the civil rights movement. Bear with me here. Beam seems to use the image of the dog as a spriritual gaurdian. Like in the title of the album which is a traditional symbol for a loyal servant of Christ. The gun represents the violence in the South against blacks and the black claw the civil rights movement that tore apart the South and exposed the lack of obedience to true Christian values that segregation was. (took her dog) Sister Lowery is a Civil Rights activist, so that may be what he is saying about not hearing her Amen over the clack of the train. Sort of like not quite believing in the "New South". Fourth verse has me a bit flummoxed. But the imagery seems to fit somehow. A delapitated house, wasted bravery, and shame. Then the chorus... oh my, what a chorus. We'll undress beside the ashes of the fire... Again, the destruction of the old ways Our tender bellies all wound in baling wire... At the end of the day, we are all human, all frail, all wounded. Baling wire is just so brilliant here. Anywhere there is livestock and farming (anywhere there's hay bales) baling wire is ubitquitous. My folks used to say anything that was fixed in a temporary, half-assed way was held together with "Wrigley's and baling wire." More a pair of underwater pearls... Two equals snuggled together, small and beautiful. Than the oak tree and the resurrection fern... Than a stalwart, powerful man and a dependent woman. Or, alternatively, if you look at this as not a man and a woman in a relationship, but as blacks and whites... We come stripped of prejudice (we undress beside the ashes of the fire) We expose our tenderness and and our shared humanity (both our tender bellies wound in baling wire) And in this way we can see each other as equals. (All the more a pair of underwater pearls than the oak tree and its resurrection fern) Last two verses We did what the culture seemed to demand of us, and where did it get us? Not sure about the boys with big green eyes seeing everything. Beam may be saying that they have some enlightenment now. Or maybe not. green eyes bring to mind jealousy... This one is eluding me, too. That's enough for now... so much for being dumbstruck! |
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| Iron & Wine – Flightless Bird, American Mouth Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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I think the lyrics in the first verse are: "All of your street light eyes" I agree with others who said this is about America... It is a lament, really. A sort of broken-hearted love song to America. In any event, it is just strikingly beautiful. |
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| Yeasayer – 2080 Lyrics | 16 years ago |
| Gobsmaked. This song, this album. Astonishing. As to meaning... er... a celebration of life in the face of, well, what we all face. Can't rephrase it any way that does justice to the above. | |
| The National – Brainy Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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Is it just me? I swear the line goes: "I keep your fingerprints in a pink folder in the middle of my tangle." This is one of the first National songs I fell for. This and Start a War. To me this song is about a woman who displays some traditionally masculine attributes. The 'tall kingdom' is a reference from Seamus Haney (sp). In that poem, the tall kingdom is the British Empire and is cast as a 'masculine' power. Also this woman is smart, loves her car! :). He digs her, he's trying to impress her (staying up all night boning up on the dictionary - love that) but she is stringing him along. He is trying to tell her that she may not be as self-sufficient as she might think. And that he might be able to offer her something. I agree with thejlar that the surrounding of the tall kingdom means he wants to protect her, but I don't think it is from a specific threat. I think it just means he wants to be the strong protective male in a relationship with her. Just makes the line so brilliant to me. She is a tall kingdom-what a powerful thing, but he could be the wall to protect her; even tall kingdoms need protection. God, I love this song! The keeping of her fingerprints and following her around do give the idea of obsession, but it doesn't strike me as creepy in this song. I take this more figuratively. Her identity is with him all the time, he wants to be with her and is puppy dogging her - trying to win her over. Trying to prove he could be important to her. |
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| The Decemberists – On the Bus Mall Lyrics | 16 years ago |
| Not much to add here. The song to me is obviously about two runaway boys. I can barely listen to this song. I love it, but for some reason it hits me so much in the heart, it is a little overwhelming. Maybe because I used to live in Portland and the mixture of the tragic/tough story and nostalgia for the old town are more than I can take. The song never mentions Portland, but something about it really captures the feel. | |
| The Decemberists – The Crane Wife 1 and 2 Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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speilmitmir - CW2 is told in retrospect upon her death. 'sound the keening bell' = time to lament her death. CW3 is at some point later, looking back in regret. That's my take. I agree with previous posts that CW is a more mature album. Meloy takes a risk to indy cred here to depart from the Gilbert and Sullivan cleverness of the previous albums to tell a story in the CW songs much more emotionally bare. (that's why half of us, me included, are apparently overcome when we listen) As much as I love the G&Sishness of the Decemberists (and I love it really, really a lot) when the same guy who wrote 'we'll remember this when we are old and ancient, though the specifics might be vague. I'll say your camisole was a sprightly, light magenta when in fact is was a nappy bluish grey' then comes up with the CW - fan-f'ing-tastic. |
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| Handsome Furs – Hearts of Iron Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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I agree with most of your lyrics, mr. doodle. Except, I don't think the second verse starts with a question. I think it is: You thought the sea could make her belly swell In a bad dream... Also, in the repeated lines at the end, the second one sounds to me like: When did we come home in hearts of iron naked? Interesting about the birds who lay eggs in other birds nests. I hadn't thought of that, but it seems right on. I am still contemplating the meaning of this one. Obviously, a couple whose hearts have hardened toward each other. But the references to fertility/pregnancy. Hmmm... still thinking. |
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| Handsome Furs – Dumb Animals Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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Oops... sorry, I typed that wrong. Lemme try that again. :) And I thought of you When the eyes of dumb animals Shone in their lights My hearts so blue And I'm a dumb animal I'm just waiting to die. Should elaborate on my earlier post... I think the 'story' of this song is about cheating on your girlfriend (or at least contemplating it). "Paint my baby's face over your black eye" And doing it in a trashy, desolate kind of place. And feeling less than human, lost, senseless... see above. |
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| Handsome Furs – Dumb Animals Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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I don't think these are quite the correct lyrics - I hear the second stanza as: And I thought of you When the lights of dumb animals Shone in their eyes And I'm a dumb animal I'm just waiting to die Not postive, but that's my take. The feeling you have when nothing makes sense anymore, you're not special - just another dumb animal waiting to die. Longing for your love, lost in the world. Very beautiful. I love the last verse. Imagine searchlights searching the sky for something/someone to rescue you/for you to rescue - but nobody gets found. All you can see are the stars so distant in the sky. Great band, the whole album is a brilliant piece of work. Love it. |
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