| Chetes – Completamente Lyrics | 12 years ago |
| I have loved this song for so long. Part of this love stems from the person who introduced me to Chetes, a professor I was enamored with in college. But for me, this song appears to be written for a girl who he believes "todo lo tiene, completamente." She has everything, completely - meaning she is more than he could ask for, but somehow "parezca todo ser muy poco." She doesn't think much of what she has. Chetes paints a portrait of this "dream girl" who he can't erase from him mind and would only be able to be with if "el mundo fuera diferente." (If the world were different.) And because the world is different, a relationship between the two of them appears to have not worked as he is trying to remove her from his mind. He says that in their story, they never arrive at the end, which can be taken to mean several things, including they never get to marriage, they never had a fair ending, they never got to see where they could take each other, or they never really broke up to begin with given that she may have not felt the same way. He admits later in the song that if luck is with her, she only has to hope that everything will be put in it's place, if she's the person he wants to know, or the person he thinks she is. Basically he is looking at this girl and seeing everything, and you get the feeling that it may not be reciprocated. The reciprocation is unclear in that he mentions "if she's the person he wants to know." So he may have some belief or hope that his affections will be returned, but when he looks back, he notices that all of a sudden, everything stops but she keeps dreaming. The notion of dreaming is also unclear and could mean that her dreams take her elsewhere and that place becomes the reality, or that her dreams make them as a pair a reality. | |
| Nicole Atkins – The Way it Is Lyrics | 12 years ago |
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i LOVE this song. When I first heard it, I was a little surprised with the lyrics, specifically the opening lyrics. They seemed a bit sophomoric and plain. "Don't tell me my love's not the one that I want, that he's not the one that I need." Even "I'd rather find out for myself" is very childish in style. After additional listens, now I see the arrangement and diction as cleverly chosen. The juvenile opening was purposeful to give the idea of "a little girl in a big house," as is illustrated by the music video. She's drawing a parallel between the childish, but universally human, wants that can be as simple a wanting ice cream, but not being able to have it because it's not good for you, or it's not available, or somebody is stopping you - to the much more mature idea of wanting someone so badly but for whatever reason, not being able to be with them. It's that same frustration of yearning for something you can't have, something that haunts you with desire, but on grander level. She warns herself with logic that "If I were smart I'd never call you, call you, ever again" because she knows better. But that doesn't mean she feels better. The line "just to think this could be the last time I hold you, hold you, ever again" even draws references to a little girl holding on to a doll that she doesn't want to give away. And here, it's a much more advanced, mature, and developed feeling that overwhelms the mind of holding a person. There's an overarching frustration, even in the way it's sung, of the feeling of "oh come on, why can't I just have it/him." She arrives at the simple conclusion, that works both for the child and for the ultra-sophisticated, that "I suppose that's just the way it is." Her voice is somewhat haunting in that it fills you with that feeling of frustration and calamity and sadness for wanting something so badly that "in [your] ears [your] blood is just roaring." The song, and her voice, just build and build and swing and swing and then come back down to the conclusion that it's just the way it is. Juvenile, profound, and unequivocally true, all at the same time. |
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| Nicole Atkins – Maybe Tonight Lyrics | 12 years ago |
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GREAT song. I really don't think this song is about a long lost family member. At all. She simply compares foreseeing their first encounter to a "ghost story from a family tree that was handed down to [her]." Plus, it would be kind of creepy to be repeating "you were meant to be mine" and "I know we'll meet again, maybe tonight" to a random family member. To me, this song is about a guy she met once who beamed with mystery - which is why she would compare their encounter to a ghost story. Mystery that entrances and draws you in a desire to know the unknown. But like with many relationships not all can last, and she seems to acknowledge that by referring to him as a "siren song," a warning for what would become of a relationship between the two of them. Despite having "been informed" that he "could be the death of [her]", she rebuts that "patience" in waiting for him "pounds on the time that [she stole]" with him since he is "meant to be [hers]." Referring back to mystery and the acknowledgment that not all relationships can last, she admits that "the sky whispers in a baritone that the mystery always beats what [she] is shown." It's fitting too that the sky whispers in a baritone, and baritone is the most common male voice - common being juxtaposed to the mystery that will soon diminish when she does see him again. Despite knowing that, mystery still entices her to know and "see [him] again, maybe tonight." The song also has a sort of adorable feel to it. Like a little girl in a big house (similar to the idea she utilized when creating The Way It Is video). She's been warned, she knows they won't work, she'll likely be disappointed as mystery is often more alluring than reality, but we all still want to understand the mystery. She's so hopeful with the "maybe tonight" idea, like a little girl wishing on a star and really believing it will happen ("i KNOW we'll meet again"), as it fate exists. She insists, after what was clearly a brief encounter considering all this mystery remains, that "you were meant to be mine." And again, that idea is completely juxtaposed against the very sophisticated styling and syntax of the lyrics. |
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| Nicole Atkins – Heavy Boots Lyrics | 12 years ago |
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I adore this song. This song is set as her relationship is ending, or has ended. The demise appears to be linked to some troubles that her boyfriend was experiencing. These troubles or "heavy boots" are likely a combination of inner battles and outward struggles. She wants so badly to fix anything she can, and as a result, she offers to wear the boots and "retrace every mile." Although she repeats that the boots "are no match for me," this repetition feels just as much a truth as an attempt to convince herself that it's true - that his battles are no match for her. She yearns to make it better. The sea represents the world around them, a consuming world that tires its swimmers and "waits for you to drown." But she again insists that these troubles are no match for her, and she would give anything to wear his "heavy boots" to alleviate the pain and to show even those with "scorpions in their smiles" that they "are no match for [her]." |
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| Angus and Julia Stone – Paper Aeroplane Lyrics | 12 years ago |
| The way I like to interpret this song is that he wanted to tell this girl he loved her, but he got in his own way when he "spilled the ink across the page trying to spell [her] name." From there he follows the potential route of the message feeling despite a lack of control for how the message will reach her. The lack of control signifies the idea that he may never be good enough for her, not good enough to give the letter the force it needs to "cross the seven seas" to get to her. However, he hopes that someday, in some way, it lands in her hands. At this point, it's unclear whether she'll know it's from him, or whether the message he's trying to convey is assigned to the "someone else" who hands it to her. | |
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