| Freelance Whales – Ghosting Lyrics | 7 years ago |
| When I think of broken molars, I remember my family's old collie, who basically chaperoned us growing up. The lyrics about "running with him in the morning, jumping the back fence" to me refers to the time she had a litter, though we lived too far from any other dogs for any reasonable explanation. I always imagined that she was 'ghosting' some lupine life, howling at the moon and free, if not for her obligation to us kids. | |
| Talking Heads – Once In A Lifetime Lyrics | 9 years ago |
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Like most, I see this song as a midlife crisis. Some go through life thinking only one moment to the next, without looking forward or back, and then realize all at once that they don't know what they're doing any more. Simple enough. But on top of that, (and I realize this is your standard-fare cheesy, sentimental songmeanings interpretation), I think the song tries to link that feeling of epiphany to the nearsightedness of politics. I've heard many ecological interpretations of this song, which makes sense with an ever-growing population and finite amount of water. I mean, look at California; have they not encountered their once-in-a-lifetime epiphany about resource abuse? Additionally, I adore the line "Into the blue again after the money's gone", money being an arbitrary concept assigning value to resources which continues to inflate despite all resources being limited to Earth. Quite a universally apt song, I think most could relate to it at some point in their lives. Here's to having your epiphany early and holding onto it tightly. |
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| Gorillaz – Don't Get Lost in Heaven Lyrics | 10 years ago |
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I was surprised by the number of interpretations assuming he meant Heaven literally, or which interpreted the song as being just about drugs. The Heaven he's referring to represents short-term pleasure, recreational drugs being AN example. It could also refer to any number of things; sex, games, television, anything that allows you to escape reality. Basically, don't lose yourself in pleasure or life will pass you by, e.g. the partner leaving. Demon Days does refer specifically to our own impact on Earth, as stated by Jamie in an interview posted on the album's wikipedia page. It was inspired by his trip across China, where he saw acres of scablands, and saw it as the direction all Earth would end up going. The fire coming out of a monkey's head "came from a very naive idea, which is: what is going to happen when they've taken all of the oil out of the earth? Aren't there going to be these vast holes?" A really interesting album about neglect leading to catastrophe, and this is definitely my favourite song and the easiest to relate to. |
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| Led Zeppelin – Going to California Lyrics | 10 years ago |
| @[MadTom:3294] Best comment so far. To add, Robert Plant and Jimmy Page had crushes on Joni Mitchell, and she's the "queen without a king" mentioned (referencing her song "I Had a King"). Additionally, the song itself was intended to be about earthquakes, and was originally titled "Guide to California". | |
| San Cisco – Beach Lyrics | 10 years ago |
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Seems like a "love lost" kind of song, but I don't relate to it as such. Sure it's corny and just a personal take, but the second stanza really gets to me. I felt pretty bad for myself and I didn't know why. Now I realize we /were/ great friends, and you're gone and out of contact. I wish you had felt as bad as I did about leaving, but you seem so unfazed by anything. To get over losing a friendship...you made it seem easy. But you keep haunting me, and if you suddenly reappeared I'd forgive everything just like that. |
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| Tori Amos – Pretty Good Year Lyrics | 10 years ago |
| If anybody can confirm what happens when you burn a CD that'd be cool. | |
| The Cranberries – Zombie Lyrics | 10 years ago |
| I used to think this song was about PTSD. You know, someone who fought in the World Wars and was scarred by the brutality of trench warfare. "It's the same old thing since 1916 / In your head / In your head / They are fighting." Sort of how veterans can come back from the war, and everyone thinks they're the same people, or heroes, and nobody can understand how much the war still haunts them. Not the original intention of the singer, but I find it pretty fitting, and certainly a unique theme. | |
| Billy Joel – My Life Lyrics | 11 years ago |
| @[sirrahsara:1515] This is the only post that I think actually fits with the lyrics. Perhaps it's not the original intention of the song though, Billy Joel wrote a lot of self-righteous songs that fit the same mold ("Don't get me wrong / I still belong"). I just can't help but feel the chorus is in response to a friend badgering you with a truth you don't want to acknowledge. | |
| AlunaGeorge – Watching Over You Lyrics | 11 years ago |
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The way I interpret it, the singer is really into this guy, but too afraid to come out and say it ("Staying undercover / till you find me") even as he is getting into other girls. Perhaps the song has a slightly creepier tone; the singer repeats the phrases "watching over you" and "I'll be the one" perhaps once too often to not consider it. I'd love to hear some other interpretations. The lines "You can't say no if you don't know / and he can't hurt you if you don't know" really stand out to me. |
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| Hollerado – Juliette Lyrics | 11 years ago |
| I agree with Dylan. I think it's likely that the eponymous Juliette is actually some familial relation, he's simply gotten to know her more on a friend-to-friend level than mother-to-child or what have you. He goes to visit her for the last time, and they both know it. I think that's what's the most sad about the song - the loss of a loved one, even if they've come to peace with it, can sometimes be hard to bear. | |
| Studio Killers – Jenny Lyrics | 11 years ago |
| The singer is secretly in love with her best friend Jenny. She's too afraid to tell Jenny her feelings, but confesses to doing "bad things" just to feel closer to her friend; stealing lipstick, keeping her shirts, etc. Pretty straightforward. The line "forget those amigos" refers to Jenny's past and future boyfriends, or perhaps her entourage. Her fear of destroying the friendship or being shunned prevent her from confessing to Jenny herself. | |
| Sufjan Stevens – Casimir Pulaski Day Lyrics | 11 years ago |
| Casimir Pulaski was a Polish soldier and commander who helped fight in the American Revolution. His holiday is celebrated on the first Monday of March. The girl in the song dies on the titular Monday morning, thus "Tuesday night at the Bible study / We lift our hands and pray over your body / But nothing ever happens" refers to mourning on the following day. A bird on the windowsill is an obscure symbol for death, the fact that a cardinal hits her window is particularly important as a play on words. The singer says he sees "His face" in the same window on the morning she dies, comparing the vivid symbolism of a bird hitting a window to the doubt cast on faith by death. This theme is present throughout the song, as in "And He takes and He takes and He takes". The father of the girl consequently kills himself ("Drove his car into the navy yard."). To the singer, Casimir Pulaski comes to represent a resentment for a cold, militant deity who just takes and takes without remorse or explanation. | |
| Bastille – Pompeii Lyrics | 11 years ago |
| I like how the song takes both a present and past-tense look at the disaster: "We were caught up and lost in all of our vices/In your pose as the dust settles around us." refers to the years after the eruption of Vesuvius (or the parallel catastrophe the song symbolizes) and the enduring memory created by the eruption. "If you close your eyes/Does it almost feel like / Nothing changed at all? [...] like / You've been here before?" takes it a step further to the excavation of Pompeii; it's so easy to see the city as it was before, with many foundations and bodies still intact, almost in repose. As they say, hindsight is 20/20, and it's quite easy for us to remember how great something was 'before the disaster'. The way I interpret the song, the singer is looking back on the destruction, aware now of his willing ignorance to warnings and the resultant consequence. He's not even sure where to begin putting the pieces back together ("The rubble or our sins?"). You could argue that the song is cyclical - though Pompeii is a monument to a preventable disaster, we will continue to make the same mistakes, despite all history. | |
| A Great Big World – Say Something Lyrics | 11 years ago |
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Just finished reading Cloud Atlas, and this song reminds me painfully of the Letters from Zedelghem. Sixsmith's tracking down of Frobisher can be extrapolated from the chorus, "Anywhere I would have followed you." He's giving up - Frobisher repeats over and over that he has and will always love Sixsmith, but discloses every encounter and liaison in the letters. "Say something...I'm sorry that I couldn't get to you." could reflect him arriving too late to Frobisher's suicide. The main stanzas (not chorus) could easily refer to Frobisher's tryst with Jocasta and delusional romance with Eva, as in "It was over my head, I know nothing at all." If Sixsmith were the chorus, Frobisher would be these stanzas between. Altogether, a dark, dark interpretation of an already bleak song. |
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| Walk the Moon – I Can Lift A Car Lyrics | 12 years ago |
| Going along with the other comments, I think it's about a guy dealing with a rough breakup he went through, probably a while ago. ("So you kissed me / On the futon / Oh I hope you like it in Chicago") The repeated phrases "I won't lose it" and "hold it steady" refer to him trying to hold it together emotionally. He copes by interposing physical strength over his apparent weakness, and declaring this to his former girlfriend. The whole song is framed as a message to her, where he tries to make himself feel bigger and better by declaring the titular feat of strength, and later in a rationalization that there are 'other fish in the sea'. ("Well I met someone who wears your glasses / She kissed me on / My new futon / Oh I'm clumsy cause she finds me attractive") Throughout it all he tries to bolster his self-confidence by repeating to himself "All by myself, I can lift a car up all by myself", when he likely still feels this is a childish justification and he still misses her. I like how the last repeat of the "all by myself" is dropped much lower, it really feels like he's saying with all the pride of a little kid shouting a challenge, but simultaneously feeling a little waver of doubt. | |
| Freelance Whales – Aeolus Lyrics | 12 years ago |
| Thank you for not getting too biblical in the only comment here. I really like your interpretations of different words, I was getting carbon from the second stanza, but kelp was quite a revelation. Not sure I'm totally sold on the last two, but it's a really interesting perspective. I like to think the song is a social commentary, as "Power down the wind farms" is the only reference to winds, and "My fluorescent gods I've waited for this" is the only reference to a god; it's as if to say they've moved on from a deification of nature and now worship technology and science. Just a little creepy...still an amazing song. | |
| Mumm-ra – She's Got You High Lyrics | 12 years ago |
| I agree with the lyrics correction, but I definitely go for the 500 Days meaning, namely this is a song about unrequited love. He loves her, but she doesn't really love him. For her, it's a casual, "in-the-meantime" relationship, and he can't see that, and doesn't want to. | |
| Tune-Yards – Bizness Lyrics | 12 years ago |
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On a general level, I see this song as an argument between two people. One who is trying to resolve a conflict and the other who is resistant to the last. The singer has come to represent the cause of every problem in the life of the other, but in the first stanza they try to break away from that association, "If I represent the one that did this to you, then can away the part that represents the thing that scarred you." The resistant person cannot see the singer beyond what they represent, and had they overcome this association, "Yessir, I am no longer who you thought this one would be." In the second stanza, the singer is trying to escape the unforgiving anger in the other, by figuratively climbing a mountain to get away. With nowhere left to run and every appeal unheard ("I said, ask me but all my wisdom departed. Tell me but all my wisdom departed"), they ask, "What's the business yeah?" Finally in the last stanza, they try to get the other to see their position and at least see where they're coming from, "If you just press your fingers down under my skin." "I'll bleed if you ask me" refers to the pain inflicted by specific, barbed questions in the argument. Ultimately, the singer is unable to assuage or mitigate the other's anger, and "That's when he, that's when he, he said no." This interpretation is really personal, because I had an intense argument where I was the angry and resistant one, and I've not seen my friend since. So, take the song however you please, there's all sorts of interpretations out there about drugs and politics and the music business, but for me the song will always have the above meaning. |
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| Jim's Big Ego – Love What's Gone Lyrics | 12 years ago |
| Oh man, this song hits so hard without explicitly stating anything. Most of the song, he reflects on various things that remind him of her. It's easy to mistake his longing as having been dumped, but I interpret it that she died from some nonspecific sickness ("...before you got sick you would ink in those lines in ten minutes."). She seems to have left all her belongings, which wouldn't be the case if they'd broken up. And that's why the first line, when repeated at the end, really floors me. "Softball shirt. In the picture you were pitching you were younger than...me." He's referring to her age in the picture the first time he says it, but the second time, I think he's saying 'you were younger than me when you passed away'. The feels are unlike any other. | |
| Ra Ra Riot – Dance With Me Lyrics | 12 years ago |
| A little taste of BDSM? That's what I get out of it. "I mostly wish I had a bad way" sounds to me like he's referencing a kink, and then the obvious "I wanna be your toy". Beyond that though you could take it as quite a clean song. "Come and dance with me...I wanna be your toy" could really just be about clean fun dancing. | |
| Coldplay – Shiver Lyrics | 13 years ago |
| Thank you for being awesome. I love people's interpretations, but the artist's own meaning is always a rare treat. | |
| Imagine Dragons – Amsterdam Lyrics | 13 years ago |
| I think he sings "Congratulations, you're all alone" instead of "You were all alone"...but maybe that's just what I'm hearin... | |
| Imagine Dragons – Amsterdam Lyrics | 13 years ago |
| A beautiful, straightforward song for when your life seems to be coming up short and crashing down. | |
| Tokyo Police Club – Centennial Lyrics | 13 years ago |
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I see this song as a letter from a guy to his ex. She comes home, picks up her mail - a letter from a familiar address is in her box...she puts it away with all the others he sent her after she left for college. She never reads them...why should she? She already knows what they say, because it's been playing in her head constantly...("But the letters are unread, she's heard it on cassette.") Some dopey thing about how he loves her and misses her and wants her back, something cheesy like that. They never really broke up, but after graduation, they didn't see each other so much, and their relationship had never developed enough to withstand that separation - she's moved on already. But he hasn't. Letters, all the time, and she can never read them. She likes to think it's by choice, but, she's afraid that reading them will overwhelm her with thoughts about her past, and she needs to move on. Life for her needs to keep going, but for him, he's still running behind, trying to catch back up ("Passenger still...I'm running to catch up, to that old VW. They're leaning out the back..." In this case, the old VW van is a metaphor for life - she's still passenging leaving him in the dust.) He knows what she thinks about this, about how she's moved on from him and how he's still stuck on her. But, he also realizes that her moving on is cold and shallow, and that if she actually wants to get anywhere in life she can't forget about her past. (Taught to read and write at such an early age...[but] she's got books on tape.") Additionally, he points out her naivete; even though she's trying to be forward-thinking and mature, she's still making a huge mistake. ("You've never heard of fiction, you've never heard of fact.") Still, he's not much better where he is now, and he continues writing to her. But someday...something overcomes her and she opens the letter, as though her hands are moving for her and she's not even thinking to stop them. Unfolding it, she reads... "I'm writing to catch up." She is washed in a wave of nostalgia. How could she will herself to forget something like this? How they met, because their parents knew each other, and from then on they were best friends. How they'd explore roofs of houses intrepidly, fearlessly going through life hand in hand. Yes, he does want her back, but he's not going to beg her. Back when they separated, they were so naive ("We were small when we last met"). They're still both tenderfoots, but now, they're both wise enough to realize they had something special and now it's gone. As she nears the bottom of the page, "I'm running out of space, so let me sum this up for you. I'm only wishing well. Although you won't believe me, this coming Thursday evening is our centennial." Those words hit home, echoing all of his lost love, all of the things she tried to forget. No, she wouldn't have believed him before reading the letter, but only because she denied and contradicted him in an attempt to 'move on'. Now she realizes how much their relationship meant for both of them, and how she gave up on that. It's late now...it seems like almost a hundred years too late...but they will still celebrate, miles away, without even talking - to acknowledge what they had, and keep those memories alive. The entire last stanza for me really stands out. The way the singer sings it feels like it's actually what he means: I'm only wishing well, I know you won't believe me but it's our anniversary next Thursday. When he sings "Centennial ~" and the music drops to that echo-y bit at the end, it gets me right there... An excellent song by an excellent band. The lyrics are the perfect combination of abstract and literal. Brilliant. |
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| Bert Jansch – Blackwater Side Lyrics | 14 years ago |
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I love this song immensely. I was lead to it from Led Zeppelin, which is the most obvious connection I think. Best video I can find is here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hkX7Q2J7k48 I doubt anyone else will ever comment here, ever again, but if you read this comment I want you to know that I think this song is beautiful. I've had it on repeat for a while now, ahaha... I dunno. Without getting all weird and emotional, I just want to say that I'm glad someone else has found their way here, and you're not alone. Folk music forever! |
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| Bert Jansch – Blackwater Side Lyrics | 14 years ago |
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One morning fair I took the air Down by Blackwater side 'Twas gazing all, all around me The Irish lad I spied All through the fore part of the night We lay in sport and play 'Till this young man arose and gathered his clothes Saying 'Fare thee well today' That's not the promise that you gave to me When first you lay on my breast You could make me believe with your lying tongue That the sun rose in the West Well then go home to your father's garden Go home and weep your fill And think on your own misfortune That you've brought with your wanton will One morning fair I took the air Down by Blackwater side 'Twas gazing all, all around me The Irish lad I'd spied |
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| T. Rex – Scenescof Lyrics | 14 years ago |
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Smile your smile Mister Scenescof Its not hard to have run off On a physical ride With my babe by your side Smile your smile for a while It was grand to have known her It was grand to have shown her I don't need anyone To dictate all my fun Smile your smile and then run |
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| Big Country – In A Big Country Lyrics | 14 years ago |
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Oh, and about the suicide of Stuart Adamson: I'm sure that when he wrote and performed this song, Adamson believed the lyrics. He may have not followed their message during a troubling time in his life, but I like to think he wrote those lyrics as much as for an anonymous or un-designated friend as to himself. I don't think he just made up an entire song without actually feeling the emotion and beliefs presented in the song, even if he did take his life. His suicide and this song aren't mutually exclusive. Sometimes, I like to hope that this very song has saved the lives of a significant number of people who otherwise would have given up on life. Perhaps Adamson is responsible for protecting more years than he gave up on? |
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| Big Country – In A Big Country Lyrics | 14 years ago |
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I just discovered this song the other day, and considering the age of the song and the popularity of the band, not many people will read this comment. And yet, I feel obliged to post a ridiculously overlong commentary...this song is just so addicting. The first few lines, "Shout!" and "Come up screaming!" remind me of the inspiration for "Shout" by Tears for Fears. Apparently, there's a kind of therapy called Primal Therapy (more here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Primal_Therapy). Of course, only a small part of the song brings this to mind, but I feel it's worth a small mention... As for the song as a whole, I see it as a testament to life. The first stanza mentions previous failures of the singer's friend after a more recent disaster ("Never seen you look like this without a reason"). The friend feels as though their life is just one mistake after another, as though it's passing him by (lines four and five). The singer sympathizes, but slightly reprimands the friend for being depressed and nihilistic. The singer uses himself as an example, and goes on to explain why one should be optimistic and joyful. The chorus begins with a rather blatant title drop, which is most likely intended to highlight the line's importance. "In a big country" is, for me, a metaphor for life; whether your glass is half full or half empty, and even if it feels like it's darn near empty, you can never stop having dreams, hopes, and aspirations. I interpret the second line pretty literally; sometimes when you're feeling down, a single voice can be enough to turn your attitude around. Now that I think about it, it could be a personification of sunrise: the lover's voice is that beautiful red, yellow, and orange color of the morning sun, visually setting fire to nearby mountains. The third line is a frank, direct message to the singer's same friend, telling him that life is worth living. The second stanza is really my favorite...the singer talks about how he once used to think the way most people do ("I thought that pain and truth were things that really mattered..."), only to have all his hopes crushed by the things happening around him completely beyond his own control (line 2). He even says "...you can't stay here..." if your life truly isn't worth it. But then he stands up ("I'm not expecting to grow flowers in a desert,") and gives his reasons for living ("But I can live and breathe | and see the sun in winter time."). The singer already went through his depression, but discovered reasons for living all around himself. Now, he's trying to show all of this to his friend, simultaneously accepting that the friend may have lost all his hopes and feels like his life isn't worth it, while showing him reasons TO live. At the same time, the song sounds as though the singer is trying to convince the friend to not kill himself in the most blunt request, "Stay alive" repeated ad infinitum. Generally, the rest of the song is made up of refrains, so I'll focus on the last "new" lines, lines one through four of the third stanza. The singer concludes his talk by telling the friend to stop being depressed, as it's out of place ("So take that look out of here, it doesn't fit you."). The second line basically says you can't keep dwelling on the past. The third and fourth lines once again remind me of primal therapy...if it's a little too weird for you (heck, it's weird to me) you can take them as a call to rise up against angst and be happy. If you'd rather make a different connection, "Do Not Go Gentle Into that Good Night" by Dylan Thomas has a lot of similarity; both song and poem try to convince the audience that life is worth living through powerful lyrics and refrain. Anyways, yeah. |
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