| R.E.M. – Harborcoat Lyrics | 10 years ago |
|
I believe this song is about every day people in Bolshevik controlled Russia. I could be completely wrong, but is any one really right when it comes to REM lyrics? anyways, here is the breakdown: "They crowded up to Lenin with their noses worn off" is referring to the revolutionaries who made the Russian revolution possible, being so sick of the old conditions. "A handshake is worthy if it's all that you've got" In Soviet Russia, the poor were given preferential treatment when it came to being admitted to schools, and employment opportunities. People with wealth were seen as class enemies and persecuted, meaning that if all you have is a handshake, then you are accepted, but if you have any more than that you would have to prove yourself someway to the Party. "Metal shivs on wood they push through our back" A reference to backstabbing. It was common for neighbors, friends, and even son's and daughters to report someone as a class enemy, which could lead to imprisonment and/or execution. "There's a splinter in your eye it reads react" The splinter here being the fault in the utopian visions of Lenin and Stalin. It's this flaw that is telling people to react, and do something about the oppressive methods of the regime. "They shifted the statutes for harboring ghosts" Ghost's referring to the Bourgeois, the oppressed, the ghosts of a Communist society. "Reddened their necks, and collared their clothes" Soviet citizens tended to shift their outward appearance and backgrounds to fit Communist ideals, hence "reddened their necks" means becoming more Communist. "Then we danced the dance till the menace got out" Citizens played the game to survive until the Soviet Union, red menace, fell in 1991. I don't understand the last line however, nor do I know what a Harborcoat is and why Michael Stipe needs it so badly. |
|
* This information can be up to 15 minutes delayed.