| Bobby Darin – Mack the Knife Lyrics | 2 months ago |
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Interesting name-check on Lotte Lenya. She was married to the Threepenny composer Kurt Weill (twice, after being divorced for a bit...) She also played the key role of Jenny in the first-ever performance of Threepenny in 1928. So I'm guessing her name wasn't in the original lyrics. (which are by Bertholt Brecht.) Ah here we go, the web tells me Louis Armstrong was the first to put her name in, in 1956, and Bobby Darin kept the words the way Louis sang it. Fun fact, Weill and Brecht also wrote Alabama Song, probably best known for the 1966 version by The Doors. ("show me the way to the next whisky bar...") A pretty wacky choice of songs to cover, to perform for rock music fans. A German cabaret song from 1927? Lotte had a long career, was nominated for an Oscar in '61 and played a Bond villain in '63. Singer/songwriter Donovan has said that his 1968 song Lalenya was "inspired" by Lotte. |
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| Rubblebucket – Carousel Ride Lyrics | 3 months ago |
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Missing lyrics? I only know this song from their Tiny Desk Concert, which is hauntingly beautiful and I keep coming back to it. In that version there's another verse, something like: when all the strongest winds are blowin' my way and the Reaper comes to take my breath away yeah I'll go and I'll dance in the fire and then I'll do it again! <chorus> Do they use those lines in other performances? It's kind of the climax to the whole song, in that Tiny Desk. |
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| The Zutons – Valerie Lyrics | 1 year ago |
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Love this song! (every version) What does "catch a tan" mean? English slang? And does "dizzy" have any other meaning other than literal, the head-spinning sensation? Thanks all. |
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| Lucinda Williams – Lake Charles Lyrics | 2 years ago |
| The Austin Chronicle article linked to by @[freaktet:41818] describes how an angel (Margaret Moser) really did whisper in his ear and all that! Thanks for the article link, it was beautiful.\n\nI don\'t know if Lu was specifically referring to Maggie in the song, but it sounds that way to me. | |
| Rubblebucket – Sound of Erasing Lyrics | 4 years ago |
| @[lose311:33677] I forget she said that, thanks for the reminder. I love that Tiny Desk Concert. Best Rubblebucket concert I have found on the web so far, really great performance, and sound mixing that lets you hear her singing. | |
| The English Beat – Twist and Crawl Lyrics | 4 years ago |
| What does "You could be in Mayfair" mean? | |
| Eartha Kitt – I Want To Be Evil Lyrics | 4 years ago |
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@[qzl:31222] Thanks I bet you're right. "Cry" by Johnnie Ray & The Four Lads (1951) Sample lyric: "So let your hair down and go on baby and cry (cry, and cry)" "I Want to Be Evil" was released in '53, so that Johnnie Ray hit would have been familiar to the people hearing Eartha's song. Though there's nothing evil about "Cry", so I think that line might be there mostly because it rhymes... Or am I still missing something? (It's been known to happen.) |
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| Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds – Red Right Hand Lyrics | 6 years ago |
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@[warmPhase:25031] wrote: "No one mentioned that 'Red Right Hand' is from John Milton's 'Paradise Lost'." Milton got it from some ode by Horace (Quintus Horatius Flaccus), where it referred to the hand of Jupiter, the king of the Roman pantheon. The character in the song does seem more like the Roman god than the Christian one. |
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| Julee Cruise – Rockin' Back Inside My Heart Lyrics | 6 years ago |
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Any ideas on what Lynch meant with the line "She'll never go to Hollywood"? I know it could just be meaningless filler. It does sound nice sung by Julee Cruise, and maybe doesn't need any justification beyond that. I just wondered if it was anything like an inside joke, or Easter egg? Ironic since it was probably filmed in Hollywood, so the singer and all the characters were in Hollywood as she sang that line. Theories? |
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| Kate Micucci – Walking in Los Angeles Lyrics | 7 years ago |
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I'm guessing most people (like me) found her music after seeing her acting and wanting to know more about her. Now as much as I love her acting, I think I might appreciate her music even more, especially this song, which is damn near perfect IMHO. Check out the music video if you haven't, it is so sweet, super charming. |
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| The Rascals – Groovin Lyrics | 8 years ago |
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Pretty sure the name of the band was "The Young Rascals". My wife says she always thought the lyric went "Life would be ecstasy, you and me and Leslie" lol! I guess that's a Mondegreen. |
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| Shovels and Rope – Birmingham Lyrics | 9 years ago |
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In the second Rock of Ages chorus, it seems clear as a bell to me that they sing "Forget of thee", not "Forget a beat". I'm listening to the recording on O' Be Joyful, haven't seen them live yet ("terrible pity"!) Anyone else hear it that way? I tried the Edit page but I don't think it "took". Love this song so much I had tears in my eyes just now listening again. Thank you SongMeanings! |
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| Eartha Kitt – I Want To Be Evil Lyrics | 9 years ago |
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Anyone know what this line is talking about? "I want to sing songs like the guy who cries" Sounds like a topical reference, but it would be something from the early 50s at the latest. I don't think it's about John Boehner! |
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| Eartha Kitt – I Want To Be Evil Lyrics | 9 years ago |
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Science wrote " It's hard to tell if Eartha is being facetious here" I'm not a mindreader but I think it is very clear that it was a joke (and a really good one). She is so nice and pure that even when she tries to imagine being evil, this is the worst she can come up with. I love this song so much. |
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| The Hollies – Long Cool Woman In A Black Dress Lyrics | 10 years ago |
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Love this song, wish I'd never looked up the lyrics. Liked it better when I had no idea what it was about! So, he's actually just a dumb narc who "wants to spend his living" with a woman he just saw 10 minutes ago, just because she's tall and beautiful and has gigantic knockers ("pair of 45s"). The only other thing we know about her is that she hangs out with "bad men" and "people who are doing wrong". And he "spares" her from being arrested, because he figgers he'll get lucky, because she's so loose? Nice. I know, it's just pop music, best not to think about it too much! Still has a great sound, and one of my fave intros of all time. |
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| The Beatles – Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds Lyrics | 10 years ago |
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Sorry if this has been mentioned before (I tried searching the comments but there are just too many!). But if you haven't heard it, you must imeediately go and listen to William Shatner's "interpretation" of this song. The guy is such a self-parody, if you tried to parody him doing this song you could never match the over-the-top awfulness of it. Finding it on YouTube or wherever is left as an excersise for the reader. ;) |
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| The Beatles – You Can't Do That Lyrics | 10 years ago |
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When listening to pop music with a story like this, I often imagine what the other person's response would be. In this case it had to be something like this: "You pompous ass, don't flatter yourself. Here's a clue -- you say 'I told you before' -- and how's that working out for ya? You say 'everybody's green' with envy that you scored such a hottie. So how long do you think I'll be crying on my own? How 'flat' do you think you're really going to leave me? As if. 'Wanna stay mine'? Didn't know I ever was your property. 'I'm gonna let you down' -- Oh yeah? Know what, I'll save you the trouble. I'm gonna DTMFA as Dan Savage likes to say... Buh-bye." Forgive the anachronisms, like John's girlfriend in the 60s quoting Dan Savage, but the song is "timeless", right? Twaddle and tripe can be timeless too. That said, the song IS impossibly catchy, a well-crafted pop song from one of the top geniuses of the genre. |
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| Garbage – Special Lyrics | 11 years ago |
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I was loving the song, thinking it sounded a lot like Chrissie Hynde and The Pretenders. Plus there were seeming references to Pretenders songs, like the title of the song (reference to "I'm special, so special", from "Brass in Pocket"?) and that line "the talk of the town" which is a Pretenders song title. So I googled a bit and found this excellent quote from Shirley Manson: "On one of the songs, called 'Special,' I took a line out of Chrissie Hynde's 'Talk of the Town,' and it was meant as an homage to her, because the song itself is a little Beatlesque and Pretendersy. I just thought it was a nod to her. But our lawyers were like, 'You have to take it out. You're going to get sued. They'll come after you for hundreds of thousands of dollars. It has to come out.' And I was like, 'I'm not, I want it in there!' So I called her up and she took our call immediately and she was like, 'Are you kidding? I want it in there. That's fantastic!' So the next day, we came into the studio and there was this fax from her lying on our desks, and it said, 'I, Chrissie Hynde, do hereby allow Garbage, the rock band, to sample any of my sounds, my voice, or indeed my very ass.' And it was so cool. She never asked for any money. She didn't ask for any credit. Nothing. She just sent us this great fax." How cool is that!? |
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