| Fountains of Wayne – Mexican Wine Lyrics | 11 years ago |
| Thanks, by the way. Ha! Your post quoting mine got even more play than mine! I finally got around to writing one for Stacy's Mom too; see it here: http://www.songmeanings.net/songs/view/3530822107858487561/?&specific_com=73016205249#comments | |
| Fountains of Wayne – Stacy's Mom Lyrics | 11 years ago |
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Disappointing how little respect this song gets. People reacting to the old pop play it got, and because they take it at face value. Don't take any FoW songs at face value! This is not a "your mom's hot" song; it's a "I've got problems" song. It begins like a mantra, obsessively: "Stacy's mom has got it goin' on", over and over. In the first verse, the narrator starts off innocuously enough, but his intent (as he soon clumsily betrays) is manipulation. He is forward with Stacy in an attempt to get over to her house, "smoothly" inserting his real intent ("Did your mom get back from her business trip?") before dropping the first, uh, uncomfortable moment: "Is she there or is she trying to give me the slip?" The mom is on a business trip; there's no reason to believe she would be trying to "give the slip" to her teenage beau. (And even if she were, the narrator seems to have no problem disrespect that wish.) The pre-chorus "I'm not the little boy I used to be" indicates some background: the narrator likely has a long-term history with Stacy and her family, from when he was a "little boy". Sounds like he's developed some sort of attachment from afar. He uses the childish self-assertion of maturity to assure that he's "grown-up" enough to be a suitable mate for Stacy's mom, even in the face of adversity. (Seeing "adversity" in every aspect of life strikes me, personally, as a very "teenage" and immature mindset. "I know it might be wrong but" would win no points for me.) The next verse is really the narrator making a case for why Stacy's mom, in his mind, is mutually returning his interest. He's out there, mowing the lawn, the mom comes out (in admittedly compromising attire) and suddenly he's on cloud 9 because she seems to be really studying him. Then she says, "You missed a spot over there." For any normal person, this would be the realization that they're being silly. She wasn't "staring" at him. She was noticing a patch of grass that he missed and bringing it to his attention. And still, this is the "reason" why he can "tell she liked [him]". Finally we get to the big, albeit subtle, reveal: "I know that you think it's just a fantasy / but since your dad walked out your mom could use a guy like me". There we have it! The event! His half-assed acknowledgement that this must appear to other people as a fantasy, but in actuality, he intends to fill the role left empty by the absence of Stacy's father. This happened early, it would seem, and likely the impetus for the narrator's obsessive attachment to Stacy's family. He's clearly had an adoring relationship with her family since he was a boy, and I submit that, in the wake of the father's retreat -- he constructed a sexualized, fantasy scenario wherein he saves the family (the mom, specifically) from this betrayal. That final reveal builds in a discordant crescendo and ... then silence. It drops flat. The narrator is too far lost in his reverie, however, and, the secret out, he explodes into the final chorus of declarations of his intent; manic, obsessive declaration of his love; and unanswered assertions that, sorry Stacy, even though (as he seems to indicate) you love me, I'm tied inextricably to your mother. The narrator is nuts. He's living in a potentially dangerous, neurotic, fantasy world. This song, like the rest of the album, exists within this veil of suburban mundanity and, as such, sounds light-hearted and harmless. The whole thing is much darker than it seems, and you're stunting your appreciation of this art if you don't read between the lines! |
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| The Decemberists – I Was Meant for the Stage Lyrics | 11 years ago |
| Colin is a firm atheist by my understanding. And aside from that I .. don't know how the song could be about Jesus Christ in such a literal way if you also agree that the character is deluded, pathetic, and narcissistic. This song is about a weenie -- a mortal weenie! -- and his pompous self-aggrandizing. | |
| Arcade Fire – Deep Blue Lyrics | 11 years ago |
| Yeah I wouldn't be so confident about that. | |
| The Decemberists – I Was Meant for the Stage Lyrics | 12 years ago |
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The narrator of this song is deluded. He is a pathetic, narcissistic character who, seemingly in reaction to some criticism, derision, or perceived slight, is bombastically reaffirming his greatness. The song is entirely from his own point of view -- we don't get to hear an external opinion. What we do get is a litany of affirmations about the narrator's own heaven-declared greatness, without any discussion of merit or background on why these things are true. Within that litany, the things that he chooses to mention (and affirm) are specific and, as such, give us insight into what the narrator feels necessary to rebut. "Mother please be proud / Father be forgiven" tells us that he's expecting pushback or friction from his family. In his self-aggrandizing way, he dismisses them melodramatically gently, as if they could not possibly be privy to the information he is privy to. He even goes so far as to paraphrase (or bastardize) the quote of Jesus on the cross ("Father forgive them, they know not what they do") in comic inversion. In fact, there are other examples of self-delusion wherein the narrator visualizes himself messianically: rays of light shining down on him; the heavens at his birth; the complete non sequitur of "all [his] sins being pardoned". Within his mind, at "the end" he believes his detractors will likely receive their cosmic comeuppance -- "And as I take my final bow / Was there ever any doubt?" -- following it up with a pointed jab at the philistines that ostensibly could never understand him: "And you're escorted through the foyer / You will resume your callow ways". The song ends gradually with the narrator's reverie crashing down around him amidst what sounds like the jeering shouts and abuse of .. other schoolchildren (?) around him. No wonder he'd want a fantasy world. I feel a little bad for the people talking about how this song defines them. Yikes. |
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| The Decemberists – The Bagman's Gambit Lyrics | 12 years ago |
| "On the ten o'clock" refers to the 10 o'clock news? He saw her on the 10:00 news. | |
| Simon and Garfunkel – A Poem On The Underground Wall Lyrics | 12 years ago |
| It was "fuck." | |
| Bishop Allen – Corazon Lyrics | 14 years ago |
| You must be right. "I swear I felt a pulse beneath your keys" is a pretty clear heart metaphor. "Until your first chord struck" is another one. | |
| Visage – In The Year 2525 Lyrics | 16 years ago |
| That's a good point. But think about the technology all the other Earths have!! | |
| Jackson Browne – In The Shape Of A Heart Lyrics | 16 years ago |
| I believe it is about his first wife, who committed suicide. Not Daryl Hannah. | |
| Paul Simon – A Simple Desultory Philippic (Or How I Was Lyndon Johnson'd to Death) Lyrics | 16 years ago |
| Isn't the second part of the title "How I Was Robert McNamara'd Into Submission"? | |
| Simon and Garfunkel – Save The Life Of My Child Lyrics | 16 years ago |
| He totally jumps (although I didn't get it at first). I don't think it was his intention at the beginning, though. I think he felt forced into it. "I got no hiding place" is his monologue as he careens toward the ground. | |
| Fountains of Wayne – Mexican Wine Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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I'm a little surprised that no one has suggested this yet (and I'd also like to put a vote in for 'wheels of PROmotion', which is what he clearly sings), but this song is certainly not a positive "everything will be all right" message. The premise, as in most of the songs from this album, (and, really, most every FoW song in general) is of suburban desperation. It's the same idea as Hackensack, Fire Island, Bright Future in Sales, and even Stacy's Mom. The most important thing to realize is that you have an untrustworthy narrator here. Listen to what he's saying in the chorus: "I tried to change but I changed my mind." When you put that together with "The sun still shines in the summertime / I'll be yours if you'll be mine" you've got a pretty solid presentation of the societal ills associated with the wealthy, suburban upper-middle class in America. (Specifically the New York metropolitan area, if you'd like. Long Island, if you wanna go deeper.) It's a testament to the new post Gen-Y descriptor as the "Me Generation" - morally ambiguous [unbridled] selfishness in everything we do. Having the physical capability to change, but being so emotionally incapable and lazy that you just give up and use the excuse of "I could've, but I changed my mind." Even "I'll be yours if you'll be mine" is a barter, to pass the responsibility off on another. Everything else here is just a painting of banality. It's the theme for the whole album. |
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