| Elbow – The Birds Lyrics | 11 years ago |
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This song links in very closely to Newborn, from Elbow's first album. Newborn, for those who don't know, is about an old woman with Dimentia who is begging her husband to love her regardless of it and let him know that she wants him to be her's for the rest of her days. The title refers to that same vulnerability and neediness of a newborn child. This song is continuing the story in my opinion. Except, this time, it's from the perspective of the surviving partner who now lives in a care home. This man is in fact a lonely old man but is stuck in the memory of his beloved, now passed on. The lyrics highlight some very strong ties between the two songs. For example, the man says, "Though I wore you glacial patience to a smudge of bitter dust." This smudge of bitter dust could be the Dimentia and its effects on the relationship, result in death. "On the last day you embraced me with a glistening sapling trust." Perhaps referring to the kick at the end of Newborn which talks of their last embrace, "Holding me, shaking, awake in the dark." "Did they sing a million blessings as they watched us slowly part?" Are the birds wishing luck and blessings unto this man as they witness him lose his lover for the first and last time? "Do they keep those final kisses in their tiny racing hearts?" Those final kisses referring to, once again, the kick at the end of Newborn, "Press your lips to my eyes." This is an extraordinarily sad song despite its upbeat drive. The patronising of the carers. The loneliness of the man who has only 'the birds' as his keepsake and witnesses of their marriage. I hope this man is okay. |
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| Simon and Garfunkel – America Lyrics | 11 years ago |
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To me, Kathy is not with Paul in this song. Paul mentions Kathy and, whilst it might seem like the way he is talking sounds like he's with her, if we delve deeper we could see that she isn't. Kathy is Paul's lover who he met in England. However, she didn't want to know him when he was famous. In fact, she refused to talk to the media about him and refused to attend the re-opening of the train stop where Simon wrote Homeward Bound. She didn't want to be anything extraordinary. She was ordinary Kathy from round the corner. Simon, on the other hand, wanted bigger things. He was going back to America (perhaps with Art as it mentions two people in the song) on a train. We can tell he missed Kathy who wasn't with him by the desperate phrases he uses - "Kathy, I'm lost," for example. Back to my point: Kathy is not with him. This song is in the form of a letter. "Kathy, I sit" is him recounting his travels to her, action by action, in hope that she will respond and be interested. "I looked at the scenery, she read her magazine." Whilst Simon is on his travels and all the way to America, she is at home, minding her own business, reading a magazine. Nothing special. "Though I knew she was sleeping," is, to me, the most obvious. Whilst it might seem that she has merely become tired on this trip, what is actually happening (in my head, anyway), is Simon is yearning for her but, due to the time difference, she is sleeping. It is night time in ordinary England for ordinary Kathy but on the way to exciting Michigan, the day is nowhere near over for the thoughtful and almost desperate Paul Simon. Anyway, that's my interpretation. If you have no idea who Kathy is (I Googled her because she features rather prominently in Simon's writings), then this is a beautiful love song. If you do, I hope you can understand the method to my madness. Even if we don't agree with each other, let's be honest: this is one of the best songs of all time, and we should admire it instead of bickering. |
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| Elbow – Picky Bugger Lyrics | 11 years ago |
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Guy has said in an interview that the song is a warning to cocaine users. He says he was working in a night club and one of his colleagues told him to take this rock of cocaine as it makes your shift go faster. He says it sat on his mantlepiece at home for months and eventually he tried it. He wrote down 25 pages of rubbish in his diary that night after trying it and one line he always repeated in the diary was "little fish, you count for nothing; do your thing until you die". There you go :) |
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| Elbow – Fallen Angel Lyrics | 12 years ago |
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I have a friend and upon asking him if he likes Elbow (because you have to like Elbow to pass in my books ;)), he told me "Yeah, they wrote a song about my godfather". Turns out it was this song... I'm yet to confirm if this is true or not but I thought perhaps it could clear up some 'rumours'. Oh, and when I asked him why they wrote the song, he said "Because he had an awesome life". I haven't read that much in to the lyrics yet to decide whether this song is about him, but it could well be. I suppose the lines "You don't need to sleep alone You bring the house down" would explain the 'awesomeness' of his life. I don't know. It could all be bullcrap, but this is how I'm going to think of it. |
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