| Jason Isbell – In a Razor Town Lyrics | 13 years ago |
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The town: The song is set in an uncomfortably common place: the dying small town. Once the backbone of this country, small towns have fallen victim to the economic advantages of cities, which have exploded in growth fueled by small town refugees. Most relevant to this song, those who leave tend to be the skilled, mobile, and economically advantaged, leaving the disadvantaged to fend for themselves. What's left is a community without the economic engine it needs to thrive or even subsist. And so it dies. Evidence from this permeates the song. It "used to be the avenue of changing dreams," suggesting the town was once a much greater force than it is now. The "big machine" that was the town is now only "echoes" that permeate the town, reinforcing the lost glory of the town and a revealing a forlorn consciousness of that loss by those who remain. The girl: Jason is a 3rd person narrator describing a relationship between a guy and girl and giving advice to the guy. The girl has a sketchy past who was "saved" by the guy Jason is singing to ("you're the only reason she's alive today"). The guy once had a bright future, and could still escape, but for the time being, he's rooted in a bad town with a bad girl. Their relationship is deteriorating ("and now it seems to me/ both of you are suffering"). The question that juts out is simply this: do you stand with the girl and the dying town out of a sense of duty or obligation, or leave it behind? If you leave, you reawaken your bright future and freedom, but feel guilt for leaving the girl and town behind knowing they both need you to survive. If you stay, you stay knowing the "razor" that is the town will bleed you dry, and further, that the relationship with the girl effectively ends your future ("ain't not way for you to fly/with her hanging on your feet"). So what's the answer? Jason ends with ambivalence. The bluntness of "cause a razor ain't no good for you" is tempered by Jason's poignant advice: you can stay with the girl, but it'll come at great cost to you ("don't take sorry for an answer [forgive her fatal faults], 'less you really want what's left). And while the possibility of "barreling through" is raised, there really is no way around the consequences of staying. Staying lets the girl and town live a little longer, but kills you. ____________________________________________________________________________________________________ I came from a dying small town and chose to leave. I worked in a second and left that one too. The choice wasn't too hard in either case because I knew what the bleak futures those towns hold. But every small-towner knows the guilt that cuts into you when you up and leave everyone behind. This song does a better job capturing that than any other I've ever heard. |
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| The Weeknd – High for This Lyrics | 14 years ago |
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Possible, but "take a glass" could just be a glass of water to take the ecstasy pill. "Open your head" is a brilliant line that I think reflects this: open your mouth (to physically take the pill), open your mind (to the experience you're about to take in, or to clear off the obvious fear signals and anxiety). I also doubt he's referring to marijuana simply because how benign marijuana is. The song, as others have noted, is dark and terrifying. He's reassuring her everything will be fine throughout the song. That seems something darker than just weed to me--hard drugs would seem to make sense. |
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| Drive-By Truckers – The Righteous Path Lyrics | 14 years ago |
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One more thing I failed to notice back in my original post: What do all the lines in the beginning of the song begin with? "I got..." He's talking about what he HAS. It's the American dream--"Look at this stuff I've accumulated. Look at these material possessions and other signs of a successful life I own." Nice little dig there at the American dream. The other interesting things about "I got..." is the way it disappears by the end of the song. It appears in nearly every line of the first verse, and a few more times in the second verse, but is totally absent from the last few verses as he becomes much more introspective. The obvious question arising from this whole song is: If you know this lifestyle is so wrong, why do you refuse to change it? Hood leaves the answer open--as he should. |
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| Drive-By Truckers – The Purgatory Line Lyrics | 14 years ago |
| This is one of those strange songs where the music and the lyrics don't seem to mesh, and in your confusion you wonder if that apparent inconsistency is supposed to shed light on the song's meaning. The narrator alternates expressions of discontent and impatience with an "well shucks, guess I'll just have to wait this thing out" kind of acceptance of her condition. If this juxtaposition of "I want change" with "I'm good for now" wasn't confusing enough, these feelings are layered through plentiful Christian references and the narrator seeming to cast herself as a Penelope character. All that mishmashing isn't reflected in the music, though, which is peaceful, predictable, and utterly consonant. Maybe it's just about sucking up and persisting through a less-than-ideal, but not horrible situation. | |
| Drive-By Truckers – The Righteous Path Lyrics | 14 years ago |
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Interesting little song. At first blush, it seems like "American Beauty," illustrating suburban ennui by telling a story of the inevitable dissatisfaction that comes from a life spent vigorously keeping up with the Joneses. But there's a major departure between those stories and these: rather than getting so fed up with this modern excuse of the American Dream and doing something drastic, our narrator simply holds steady to it. He's perfectly aware that it's screwed up ("these messed up times,") and that not everyone can deal with it (references to his friend), but for whatever reason he thinks it's beyond his role in society to challenge them ("Ain't bitching bout things that aren't in my grasp"). Unlike the other comments on here, I don't see anything to indicate that Hood is passing any kind of moral judgment on the character, all I see is a great character illustration. Nor do I see any developed class struggle or, God forbid, fascist theocracy (where did that come from?). I think it's a simple character story. |
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| Drive-By Truckers – When the Pin Hits the Shell Lyrics | 14 years ago |
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Jose Garcia got it right, but I figured I'd provide a little more detail. The lyrics are straightforward, but there are a few interesting twists thrown in by Cooley that are worth checking out. -The most interesting aspect is the distance the narrator puts between himself and the decedent. Indeed, despite the fact that they were obviously good friends who shared good times in the past, he shows no sympathy, no frustration, indeed no discernable emotion at all. He talks about the good times they shared drinking, drugging, and driving fast ("racing trains from Second Street to Avalon"). The times were inevitably replaced by serious trouble for both of them ("...damn near killed me too."). The decedent kills himself, and the narrator is surprisingly unmoved as he matter-of-factly tells his dead friend that he's going to hell for committing suicide. But this heavy moral judgment isn't brought about by the narrator's anger, desperation, or confusion at the event. The narrator admits he's in no position to pass judgment ("I gonna get up on no high horse") and even more amazingly, doesn't even feel the need to defend the friend against criticism ("If you were my brother man I'd probably stand by you/But you ain't man so I gotta go my way"). Most strikingly, he doesn't even seem moved by the death, as he states that he's not going to mourn his friend. This is all complicated by the fact that no explanation is given as to why one guy killed himself and the other didn't. There's enough of a tease from Cooley about the characters' past to make the audience's mind bristle with questions. What made the good times turn bad? Most importantly, why did the two characters go in two different directions? Why does he not care at all that his friend kill himself? The lack of answers is haunting. |
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| Billy Idol – Rebel Yell Lyrics | 15 years ago |
| nice history of the Rebel Yell. I have read that Idol stated the song came from Rebel Yell bourbon, which of course came from the Confederate rebel yell. | |
| Genesis – Invisible Touch Lyrics | 15 years ago |
| Make an argument to support your first two sentences. Blunt assertions don't contribute much on a site dedicated to interpretation. Statements like "This song is about x" and "you people are obviously wrong when you think it's about y" don't carry any persuasive force if not supported by at least a little something. And the latter is very mildly insulting. If someone does work to figure something out, either give reasoning to support your rejection or keep it to yourself. | |
| Josh Ritter – Monster Ballads Lyrics | 15 years ago |
| I've seen more great analysis on this song than on any other song I've looked at on songmeanings.net. Well done everyone! | |
| Alison Krauss – The Lucky One Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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Some people are just born with that certain "it"- a collection of talents and gifts that allow them to move slowly through life, seemingly never struggling and always happy. Being that way, there's no reason for worry- you're blessed enough the life will float you on down the river without your concern, and it won't ensnare you at any point. I guess we all wish we were that person. I don't see any evidence in the song to indicate anything more than that. |
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| Alison Krauss – Forget About It Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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Pretty straightforward. The song is basically one ex admonishing the other to not dwell on what they used to have. That dwelling, even if pleasant, won't help matters, and will only cloud the mind and slow the healing process. We've all been there, and if you're the one being admonished (usually the one broken up with), it's easy to feel that way. |
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| Jackson Browne – Sky Blue and Black Lyrics | 16 years ago |
| I-vi-ii-V and vi-IV-I-V you mean? ;) | |
| Lynyrd Skynyrd – The Last Rebel Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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The song doesn't necessarily need to be historical. A more existential approach might suggest a broader meaning, that of man's isolation in the face of his culture and traditions dying (or being killed) around him. Walker Percy-esque. For us Southerners, the song expresses some of the frustrations we feel when witnessing the death of the culture that we love and that defines us. There's a definite, deliberate connection between past and present established in this song. In the beginning, the character is on a horse, in the rain, and images of cannons are evoked, seemingly implying the Civil War era. But in the last verse that really develops the story, the character is on a highway, going very fast on something that "rolls." Sounds like a car, which would be closer to the present. Fucking yankees. |
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| William Fitzsimmons – When You Were Young Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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Think y'all nailed it. Song wrenches me every time I hear it. I've been drug free for almost a month, and I'm in a lonely transition away from the days of fun and parties and then drugs and isolation but comfort and now...just sort of empty I guess. The song feels appropriate for that time. |
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| Genesis – Invisible Touch Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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"then you need to get out more." Wow, powerful argument. If you want to make a persuasive argument, get your head out of your ass and address the lyrics. Think a little! If you want to write a song whining about a manipulative female, why would you use language that so boringly obvious? When the lyrics are consistently non-literal, I think we ought to give the author the benefit of the doubt and take the far more elegant creation. Taking drug addiction and masquerading it as a manipulative woman, with no lyrics in the entire song suggesting the latter's accuracy over the former? Take the prettier one. |
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| Josh Ritter – Good Man Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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No, it can't be interpreted which ever way the listener wants, if we want to ascribe any meaning to songs whatsoever. An example of the stupidity of this mantra (which is repeated a lot on this site, strangely)? This song is about doing PCP while robbing a pharmacy while playing soccer and making a 3.823 GPA at a second-tier medical school while water-skiing off the coast of bermuda and choking on spaghetti. If we're going to give everyone's interpretations equal value, then the baseless paragraph I just wrote is as astute as any interpretation that's...say...founded on reality. |
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| Genesis – Invisible Touch Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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This song is pretty clearly about drug addiction. "She" refers solely to drug addiction, anthropomorphized as a temptress female. Note the actions she does--none of them are literally true (a bad girlfriend does not literally tear you apart). For evidence of that, look at some of "her" characteristics and actions. -Her "touch" is invisible. You can't see drug addiction. -She will "tear you apart" and "mess up your life". Drug addiction can screw your life up bad. -She "crawls under your skin." Once you internalize her as a part of your life, you're changed forever, as any drug will do to you. I could go on but it's pretty clear in its own right. |
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| Genesis – Invisible Touch Lyrics | 16 years ago |
| This song is not about God at all. Unless God will "mess up your life," "tear you apart," and treat life like a "game." Your only shot at all of going down the God path and avoiding debilitating inconsistencies is to make the song's female an anthropomorphized version of disbelief. It's consistent enough to hold up, but it's a stretch with no evidence to support it. | |
| Jackson Browne – Sky Blue and Black Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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Everyone else has already touched on how great the portrayal of love and love lost is, so I'll focus on something else. A common theme in Browne's lyrics is to juxtapose the physical and real to the mental/emotional/spiritual and unreal, and to leave it to the reader to put them together. That's most apparent in the song's title. Sky blue suggests warmth, happiness, sunshine, ideals. But the world is never really like that. You can't reach out and touch the sky. Life doesn't fit the storybooks, which is where the black comes in. Notice the way the song begins and ends. Both focus on very physical imagery, and relate them to nonphysical notions of love. Beautiful. |
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| Jackson Browne – The Naked Ride Home Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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There are three questions to answer regarding this song. They all come in its last two lines: "Like the truth that would eventually dawn" (what truth?) "Forcing me to decide" (between what? and what do we think he will decide?) Using what we know of both characters from the earlier lyrics gets us at an answer. The truth is this: "I need to break up with this girl." He's already living with her, so we know they're already in a relationship (notice they share a house). But it's just not working. This truth is bitter; he's reluctant to break up with her, but deep down, he knows its the only way. Why is he reluctant? He's strongly attracted to her beauty (and possibly her happiness and carefree attitude). But he is also aware that the relationship cannot succeed, for at least two reasons. One is that she has some flaw in her character. Her beauty is "so misleading," suggesting that her external beauty is not reflective of her inner self. The second reason is that she is not attracted to him as he is to her. She turns aside his caress, his heart beats alone, and she seems to doubt his potential ("as if I was the doubting one who would have to be shown"). The profoundness of his struggle is evidenced by the song's construction. It leaves on a point of tension, rather than resolution--he hasn't made a decision, but he is being pressed into one. It's also shown by the verse's construction. It starts with a "but," as if it contrasts from the rest of what the song presents. You can almost hear the struggle in his head when he starts to reflect on how he needs to break up with her...but then he remembers the night on the freeway. It's also significant that the song's final words are from this conflicted chorus, even when the last we hear of him is his being forced into a decision because of a truth that's dawning on him. The last point I'd like to make is that Browne does an awesome job illustrating these characters by keeping her focus on the present and the physical (naked beauty, running, etc) and his on the past and future and mental (metaphors, images, ideas of paradise). |
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