| Vampire Weekend – Hudson Lyrics | 11 years ago |
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Lots of New York City history in this song. Henry Hudson did indeed die in Hudson Bay, cast adrift on a small boat after a mutiny, never to be heard from again. The Hudson River is named for him. The shore of the Hudson River runs parallel to what is now Riverside Drive. The "99 year lease" lyric might refer to the Lenape tribe, the Native Americans who lived on the island of Manhattan and believed that they were merely leasing the land to the Dutch colonists. The island of Manhattan changed its stripes many times in colonial times (the natives, the Dutch, the English, the Americans all claimed it) and it's been host to immigrants from all over the world. "Pre-war" apartments are sought after in the city for having more architectural detail and charm and may command higher prices. It's implied that it means the building was built before WW2, but since there is always a war going on somewhere in the world, maybe all apartments are pre-war? |
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| Sheryl Crow – The Book Lyrics | 13 years ago |
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"You're a voyeur The worst kind of thief" For the longest time I thought she was saying "You're a lawyer, the worst kind of thief." |
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| Lady GaGa – Americano Lyrics | 13 years ago |
| There's a lot of culture clash going on here. The beginning sounds nearly identical to "Mambo Italiano," then it sounds almost like a Russian dance (with mariachi influences?) with lyrics in Spanglish, and the end sounds like something from ABBA. | |
| Johnny Cash – Cocaine Blues Lyrics | 13 years ago |
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This song was influenced by a song called "Little Sadie," a folk ballad which can be traced back to the early 1920s. The original song was also about a man who kills his girlfriend without remorse and is sentenced by a judge. "Little Sadie" includes the lyric: "I made a good run just a little too slow/ They overtook me in Jericho." Johnny definitely made a nod to that lyric. All props to Johnny, though. They melody is totally distinct and the lyrics are all new (who else but the man in black?) |
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| Ray Charles – Hide Nor Hair Lyrics | 13 years ago |
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Dr. Foster was Ray Charles's real doctor, and this song was a kind of tribute to him. Foster delivered one of Ray's children and helped repair his hand after he seriously injured it. You can read Dr. Foster's life story in the book "The Warmth of Other Suns". |
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| Lady GaGa – Alejandro Lyrics | 14 years ago |
| This song reminds me so much of traveling in Latin America. I've been to cities where I couldn't walk down a street without being whistled at or shouted at or followed. One man literally jumped into traffic. A police officer stopped me on the street just to grope me. All this attention was flattering at first, but it got annoying real fast and I just wanted to be left alone. | |
| The Raveonettes – The Christmas Song Lyrics | 14 years ago |
| This tune is really really similar to the 1962 Shirelles song "Soldier Boy." An interesting update! | |
| Bob Dylan – I Shall Be Free Lyrics | 14 years ago |
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I figured out where the 'greasy kid stuff' line comes from. When Ted Kennedy got elected to the US senate for the first time in 1962, his older brother President Kennedy joked with him. Ted recalled: "I was down at the White House this afternoon with some suggestions for the State of the Union address, but all I got from him was, "Are you still using that greasy kid stuff on your hair?" |
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| Bob Dylan – Things Have Changed Lyrics | 15 years ago |
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"Don't get up gentlemen, I'm only passing through" I believe this line is lifted from "A Streetcar Named Desire." Blanche says it at the end of the film as she is leaving. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W-bEa9Z0byM |
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| Alanis Morissette – You Oughta Know Lyrics | 15 years ago |
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It's official- It's about Dave Coulier. Here's a clip of an interview of Coulier from US magazine: "Coulier best known as goofy Uncle Joey on ABC's Full House is the inspiration behind Morrisette's 1995 angst-ridden anthem "You Oughta Know." He says he was driving when he first heard the tune. "I said, 'Wow, this girl is angry.' And then I said, 'Oh man, I think it's Alanis,'" Coulier tells the Calgary Herald. "I listened to the song over and over again, and I said, 'I think I have really hurt this person.'" He says they are now on good terms. |
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| The Animals – San Franciscan Nights Lyrics | 15 years ago |
| I'm told that a lot of hippies heard this song and migrated to San Francisco under the impression that the nights there are warm. In truth, the city is perpetually covered in fog, and according to the old saying attributed (incorrectly) to Mark Twain, "The coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco." | |
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