| Death Cab for Cutie – What Sarah Said Lyrics | 15 years ago |
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Amazing song, and really hits me in dealing with Dad's recently diagnosed terminal cancer. Even acts of love can be ranked, and the act of being with a loved one in their last days is right there at the top of the love intensity scale. The song intimates that Sarah is a lover, but I'm experiencing it more from a "loved ones" scope, no doubt because I'm (unhappily) single. Two themes in here. Part One is about the pre-grieving process, and the emotional introspection that is inevitably triggered, both individually and about the dieing relationship. Part Two is the outgoing echo of "who's gonna watch you die", naturally spawning from Part One's introspection. It's perfectly healthy and important that survivors think of their own future, and the song validates that impulse by making (dieing) Sarah the one posing the question. Not to mention, Sarah is mirroring his love to her, with hers to him from the lens of losing her own life. Contemplating "the watcher" makes me think about the people who love me enough to hold my space in my most terrifying, lonely moments, and facing death. Also, who in my life thinks about me as one of their "watchers". Thank you Ben Gibbard for helping me stay conscious of both. |
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| Conor Oberst – To All the Lights in the Windows Lyrics | 15 years ago |
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A beautiful song with the integration of biblical and historic storytelling and interpretation. The narrator may be talking to a former lover. Or, he may be a disenchanted lone wolf singing to the human spirit (do what I can for you), as it exists today, and how it manifests itself in today's religion (charisma), politics (footsteps/enemies), and culture (vanity/misery). "There is nothing impossible when I'm with you and when you're with me I got a sad sinking feeling, that that could never be" This is about a loving spirit, like Lennon saying "give peace a chance", but "wisdom is fickle, and chance is God's retort", so it ain't likely to happen. Love the poetic flow of this song! |
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| Echo and the Bunnymen – Ocean Rain Lyrics | 15 years ago |
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This could all be about a breakup, but I'm drawn to a different interpretation. Amazing imagery, and the interchanging of pronouns ("all" "I'm" "my" "your") in otherwise identical verses makes it feel very dream like. "MY tender frame" screaming from beneath "the (or your) waves" exhibits an intense emotional need, like a newborn wailing when separated from it's mother, needing to be heard but feeling muted. Leaving "your" port, which harbors "the blackest thoughts", for "sadder shores" feels very twisted, like he's escaping to upgrade his world to sadness, from something much darker. It presents his varied mental states (all hands on deck) relating to one another in his head. For example, he may be ruminating on some public humiliation he endured (blackest thoughts), so distracting himself with sad songs may transition him away from that anxiety to a more palatable place (sadder shores). Meanwhile, beneath the anxiety and depression, his true identity (tender frame) is screaming to be nourished. He's stuck under water, under the noise. The emotional rhythms of anxiety and depression won't allow his purest self to flourish. Smells like the ocean, tastes salty, feels misty.... sounds soothing! |
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| Elliott Smith – Angeles Lyrics | 15 years ago |
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The beautiful, haunting Elliott sonic and lyrical textures are in full swing in "Angeles", with the theme encapsulated by "what's a game of chance to you, to him is one of real skill". The piece is a comment on the relationship between artist and industry scene. The artist's creations are about his expression of self and those to whom he's expressing, whether it's someone writing poems in their private journal for their own catharsis, never to be shared, or U2 creating music for the masses. Here, we get a snapshot of what it's like for an authentic artist to grapple with how much to allow his expression to be packaged by the "experts". It's like the legend of Robert Johnson selling his soul at the Crossroads--in this case, LA is the devil ("sign up with evil"). In Elliott self-loathing style, the artist is hapless victim being preyed upon by the industry. For me, it's related any time I feel manipulated, like times I share something personal with a friend and they trample the trust, using it for their own selfish interests through gossip or otherwise. Work related issues also apply since I take everything personally, such as dealing with my boss's criticism of something I present. Awesome dueling acoustic guitars on this, as well as Elliott's trademark layered voice delivery. |
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| Steely Dan – Deacon Blues Lyrics | 15 years ago |
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Great posts here! Reading through some of the interpretations, my experience of the song is different (shocker!) than Fagan and Becker intended. It appears they meant for the narrator to be a naive kid fantasizing about the musicians lifestyle. I happen to hear him as a fully realized jazz man musician. "at ramblers, wild gamblers, that's all in the past" He used to look at the musician lifestyle like the "responsible" people in his life did. But he's crossed that fine line, and has bought the dream. I write what I feel. (Trite...) And it touches the chords of ambition and liberation in my chest... of risk-taking and breaking free from the perceived judgments of others... and from the self-criticisms in my head. Feels like the theme from "Rocky"... but much cooler. Rocky Balboa might as well have been Deacon Blues. Yah, I'm a loser, but call me a fighter. Virtually dead behind the wheel after going the distance with Apollo: "Adrian!..Adrian!" translates to "this brother is free". Gotta love Rocky. Sue me if I wrote too long, it means what it means to me!! |
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| Radiohead – Paranoid Android Lyrics | 15 years ago |
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A brilliant sonic adventure in ultimate revenge. The song reminds me of Steven King's "Carrie", especially the endings. The protagonist in "Paranoid Android" is out for righting the wrongs in the world as he sees them, and will settle the score. He takes it all personally, hinting that he grew up in society as an ostracized vulnerable misfit who was mercilessly bullied. Too bad for the yuppies, as he's the world's supernatural heir apparent. Unfortunately, I haven't read or seen H2G2, so I've made a non-Marvin interpretation of "I may be paranoid but not an android". The protagonist is insane, even though, yes, he's an android, and has somehow always known he was one, but has voices in his head trying to deny it. The denials are attempting to justify his human-like bitter feelings of betrayal from his human peers. "I guess he does", refers to the yuppies' OH SHIT moment, and the start of their attempts to seek forgiveness and make it right. In "rain down", they are panicked and begging "God" to protect them from the beat down that's ready for launch. The "rain down" scene has also transformed the protagonist into his full supernatural adulthood, and is the closest thing to God that the yuppies could now know. On a personal level, the song connects me with my own fantasies about being in positions of power to settle scores (noisy upstairs neighbor get ready for panic and vomit!!). And somewhat outside of the theme, "rain down" gets me resonating with the sky and the extended universe, and wraps me in a humbling vibe. |
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| Nick Drake – From The Morning Lyrics | 15 years ago |
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"go play the game that you learnt from the morning" The song to me is about valuing the different levels of consciousness we can access with these human brains of ours, and nurturing balance in our perspective. Have moments where you know and sense the beauty of the world, but also, flourish in your human activity, even if it's not always cute and cuddly. "Playing the game" has so many layers for me, and the game's not always "beautiful" as we think of the word. The rules of nature's game require we do certain things to survive as a species, and the rules of western culture mapped onto our community upbringings make us feel valued by scoring points in particular areas. "The morning" is about nature and about the social imprinting we "learnt" growing up. I haven't been playing much of the game lately. Here, Nick is encouraging me to "rise" and compete, without being so worried about my (mostly delusional) negative impact on others, or about my (mostly delusional) perception of other's negative view of me. |
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| Coldplay – Violet Hill Lyrics | 15 years ago |
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This song is about a soldier questioning his identity, preparing to die, losing faith in the world, and feeling betrayed by love. "My nerves are poles, that unfroze" As if his military brainwashed frozen heart thawed out, enabling him to see the world more clearly, and to know with more focus that which is important to him. "Bury me in armor When I'm dead and hit the ground My nerves are poles, that unfroze" The armor, has two meanings. One, to signify his coming death in war. And two, more importantly, to say that he's not sure what's going to happen to him in the afterlife. He had previously been faithful in the destiny of his soul, but he no longer identifies with his former selves. He's shaken. "I took my love down to Violet Hill There we sat in snow All that time she was silent still So if you love me Won't you let me know?" He's there physically alone, but all wrapped up in thoughts of his loved ones. He's lost faith in just about everything, including love. He's searching his memory and environment for any signs of love from family, friends, and girlfriend. I like to try to take meaning from songs, and give them the power to impact my worldly view. I'm going to try to use this song to relate more to war veterans when I meet them, and hopefully add a little bit more empathy for what they went through. |
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| Pink Floyd – Nobody Home Lyrics | 15 years ago |
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As to Waters intended expression, it's all been said well, and I'm not studied enough on Pink Floyd and The Wall to supplement that angle. However, the song personally resonates with me on the subject of depression. The act of listing the physical objects and attributes of the current environment, can feel like it's working on the problem, by taking stock of the situation. In a way, the list is also building a case for self abuse. Inevitably, in depression, the list has negative emotional charge, leading in this case to the overt branding of loneliness. There are moments of enthusiastic energy ("urge to fly"), but it's not sustained enough to follow through, or to have a life that provides people "to fly to". With a final contrast ("fading roots"), the tune ends by more explicitly acknowledging the growing distance between himself and the loving relationships he used to be able to engage with. I get chills at "amazing powers of observation", with the dramatic hinting of hope, only to resolve into the theme of disconnected love. For me, it's strangely validating. |
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| The Shins – Red Rabbits Lyrics | 15 years ago |
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This song is such a fun puzzle. Here are some reflections for now, though my experience of this song is majorly fluid. It's about the watershed event, which is the disclosure of their shared betrayal of her boyfriend and his best friend. The couple are dealing with the anxiety of disclosure, negotiation, disconnection and guilt. Since reading that Mercer said it's about broken relationships, I've been listening to the song from that perspective. (Ruttyx: James Mercer said in the Dutch magazine Oor, that Red Rabbits was about broken relationships and the nasty things that often happen when relationships are broken.) The man and woman are trading off as narrators, and then possibly sharing narration of the chorus. She seems to be "the shore" and him the "orphan". I wonder if the sprites even narrate parts ("we can't make it easy on you"). The balloon is a broken condom (corpse), insinuating a pending abortion, which has ramped up the anxiety, guilt and evidence. The red rabbits are dieing life--symbolism for their relationship with each other, and the baby to be aborted. The sprites are used to explain the energy of their situation. Basically, the shit hit the fan and the sprites are going to make sure we know it. The lesson: don't pee on sprites! |
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| U2 – I'll Go Crazy If I Don't Go Crazy Tonight Lyrics | 15 years ago |
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"Crazy" is about being uninhibited, unleashed, unguarded, non-pc, and even hypocritical, enabling a physiological liberation of the heart, releasing energy to continue the climb up to the light. Even the rainbow acknowledges the need for "crazy". "Everybody needs to cry or needs to spit" sends the message. In other words, allow moments of free form ridiculous expression as a means of exposing your spirit to the full range of human experience. The light is love--romantic love, family and friends love, community love, love for humanity, love for non-human life, love for earth, love for the universe... love for self. Personally, I tend to be quiet in the chaos, and could really use a shot crazy tonight! |
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