| Mclusky – To Hell With Good Intentions Lyrics | 14 years ago |
| The tone of this song had an immediate meaning to me. I think he was referring to a phenomenon you see in every pursuit, from politics to personal relationships to entertainment. You can see it, for example, in nearly every music video on YouTube. There are always posts that say things like "I am so glad I like this kind of music instead of Justin Bieber (or whoever), I wish everyone would stop wallowing in filth and see the light." Also, in many cultural movements that wish to make major changes, but eventually get caught up in seeking validation for what they believe in. These people, blinded by their neediness, fail to realize that their relentless insistence on their own superiority for their adherance to veganism, patriotism, buddhism, capitalism, pacifism, or whatever thing they are into at the moment, serves to completely counteract any possible good that comes with spreading awareness of their particular Thing. Thus, the original intention of "I'm going to spread peace," "I'm going to make people think," "I'm going to make this country strong again," "I'm going to show people something they have never seen before," completely degenerates into pointlessly demanding that those around them find them intelligent and impressive. | |
| Andrew Bird – Fiery Crash Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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Getting ready to fly, you see some people pounding dramamine (for motion sickness- Wikipedia) with irrational fervor. You don't feel like that anymore, but still have jitters come and go throughout the trip. You get on the plane, and a little folding card stares at you a few feet away in your cramped seat. It has little pictures of the worst possible disasters you can experience. Landing in the water, windows shattering in midair, an airliner on fire. "Jesus, I don't need this" Then comes the flight attendant, reciting your obligations in case of emergency. This never really happens, don't worry. It's just a formality. Just make sure you mask yourself quickly or you and your kid will die. But if you sit near the emergency exit, you have it even worse. You have to be the one to open it in time or everyone burns alive. If you can't handle it, switch seats. If we crash, it's all up to you. Make sure you have all the moves down. It's a tough job, but save our lives, you have to envision the fiery crash. But seriously, it's no big deal. Just trying to be safe. Then you take off and cruise- it's really not bad at all. In fact you doze off till just before landing. A voice comes over the speakers, you don't hear everything, but it hardly matters. You made it. You're gonna be fine. I think this is very existential in it's meaning, and needs little interpretation. Bird expertly shows us the intensity of our emotions, and the frailty we can feel, by describing one airline trip. Our fears, our imagination, our superstitions, are a powerful force in our everyday lives, even when we don't see it. |
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| The Black Heart Procession – Waterfront (The Sinking Road) Lyrics | 18 years ago |
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milk and honey's picture is very haunting and mournful. A perfect fit for this song. The songs on this album always makes me think of landscapes, so I thought of desolate places hat had once held life: newly formed deserts with bleached bones, coastlines choked with waste and decay, and forests overwhelmed by thorns, weeds, and frost. ...From a boat or a raft, the singer sees someone holding a lantern, whose flicker grew fainter with the growing distance. He is suprised that this person said little and shows no emotion, just holds the lantern and watches from the shore. Yet he himself doesn't know what to feel- pain and regret are petty indulgences in the face of what they have done, of what is to come. |
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| Metric – The Police and the Private Lyrics | 18 years ago |
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I never knew why this song always reminded me of William Gibson's Mona Lisa Overdrive and Neuromancer. Reading some of the comments, I think I understand now, and see there is a heavy air of distrust and repression in the song. The first thing that struck me in the sparseness of the melody the words were intense isolation and abandonment. The character struggles to make sense of her world as bravely as possible, with noone around to help her. She is a runner of some kind- taking great risks for very little gain- and accepts that she will always be facing these challenges alone (I agree that there is also prostitution of herself and her friends). I think the song is meant to show the insanity of an abandoned child left to live on the streets among supposedly civilized and compassionate people, and to suggest that we all are so damaged ourselves that we are hardly better off except for wealth. I don't really understand the part about the orphanage at the end, though. Something about that last line is confusing, and it really bugs me. |
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