| Nathaniel Rateliff and the Night Sweats – Hey Mama Lyrics | 5 years ago |
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Very strong soulful song. Always tough in these “conversation” songs to be sure who is saying what. I see a mother calling her son over to talk to her. She sees that he’s down and ready to give up on his dream. It’s a dream she’s told him to give up on in the past, but now she realizes just how much this means to him. So she gives him the “tough” talk: he thinks he’s tried all he can but she knows he can do more. She goes back on what she’s said before, telling him he has picked a bad time to finally agree with the negative things she’s said. He’s gone too far now to give up; he can give more. In short - suck it up and keep going! |
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| Rupert Holmes – Terminal Lyrics | 5 years ago |
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Sorry to disappoint folks, but the words are not “could have held up budding the rest of my life”, which shows up everywhere on the net. It’s just “could have held her body the rest of my life”, which makes a lot more sense, I think you’ll agree. Can’t believe I’ve been looking for this song since 1974!!! It stuck in my head because of the “terminal/terminal” wordplay, and because I really thought the character in the song was dying. Then it disappeared, and I was left wondering. It’s just a song about a man who took a chance on a fling with a woman he met on a bus, but couldn’t bring himself to run away with her. She made him feel alive, but now he feels dead again - hence the “terminal phase.” I also thought at one time that Barry Manilow did this. Hearing it again, I can see why. You almost expect this to transition into “Mandy”. Funny! |
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| Hozier – Nina Cried Power Lyrics | 5 years ago |
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Power to the people - that's the meaning I read. All of the names checked either sang political songs, or at least sang songs of great passion and power. One possible correction: Seeger, not Seager. No attempts at identifying all the names yet? I'd like to try for most of them: Nina Simone Billie Holliday Mavis Staples (Three great female African American singers) Curtis Mayfield Patti Smith ("People Have the Power") Nina Simone Nina Simone John Lennon James Brown James Brown Pete Seeger Woman James (Brown, again?) Millie Kenny Billie Holliday Bob Dylan Woody Guthrie Nina Simone I don't know that all of the other names above are correct, but if they are, perhaps somebody could help with "Millie" and "Kenny"? |
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| Arcade Fire – Ready to Start Lyrics | 13 years ago |
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Skybox has it right; I'll go a little farther. First, I respect Arcade Fire for writing this song to sound, on the surface, like a song about a romantic break up. It's only when you listen more closely that you realize it's not. It's about a band or musician that has been burned by their management/record label, and is striking out on their own. The facts: It's about a relationship with an authority figure: "All the kids have always known That the emperor wears new clothes But to bow to down to them anyway Is better than to be alone" The "kids in art school" predict that signing up with a record label means that "businessmen will drink my blood" None of these lyrics make sense in terms of a song about a romantic relationship. The record label tries to keep the band/musician from leaving, saying that, despite whatever it was that the label did to betray or sell out the musician: "we can still be friends", or they send invites to record label parties: "please come out tonight". To which the singer replies: "If I was scared I would And if I was pure You know I would And if I was yours But I'm not" This is the most romantic-sounding part of the song, but in reality, the singer is saying that, if he was scared of leaving the label, he would cave in. Or if he was "pure" - i.e., didn't hold a grudge, he would forgive them. But he's not either of these things, and he refuses to "live in the shadows of your song" i.e., conform to the record label's "creative views" - he's ready to start on his own. |
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