| Lush – Desire Lines Lyrics | 10 months ago |
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This song is quite challenging to take in. From one angle, the tempo, vocal style, and rhythm guitar seem quite relaxed, as if this would be a good song to help sleep at night. But the lead guitar line is so sad and haunting. Taking it together, it is bleak. Now the relaxed vocals come off as introspective and somewhat dejected. But it is not bleak in a Joy Division sort of way. The lead guitar is more meandering and takes unexpected turns. It is beautiful and melodic. But it still gives me a slight sense of anxiety. . The arrangement seems to tell a story. It starts out sort of atmospheric and with solo vocals until 1:27. This fits with the atmospheric setting of the lyrics, "It is raining in this room, and it's so hot outside this room. I don't know no one here." She is singing by herself. Then at 1:28, she suddenly changes from "I" to "we". That immediately introduces backing vocals. The backing vocals are ethereal and vague. Initially distinct from the lead vocals, the two vocals blend together, and it's hard to distinguish two voices. As the sound remains pretty sad, and it seems the "we" is imaginary. She says, "we hold parties in our sleep..." She is alone and dreaming of having a friend. . The line "I will heal you when you're ill, though it's hard keeping still..." seems to refer to her desire to give herself to a friend but not unable to clam her own anxieties. And that line ends "...in our sleep", which is a pretty cool word play. Just as there's tension between desire to make a friend and her own anxieties, that same tension disrupts the only realm she's able to experience friendship - "in our sleep". . This recalls my initial thought about the song - that it would be nice to play to prepare to sleep. But there's a tension that and anxiety that doesn't lend itself for that. . That leads into beautiful, long guitar solo starting from about 2:23. It builds up dramatically with a full instrumental arrangement around 3:44. The arrangement gets more complex, and it gets more exciting. What is going on here in her life? Is she making friends? Exploring? Having vivid dreams? There are no lyrical cues to answer that. . Turning to the video, there's a dreamy video of an empty pool with a few people standing around the walls. Their images are vague, like you only see their silhouettes, and they do not interact with the main character. But she's running around with a smile on her face. The video speeds up so she's moving around faster. Then she's jumping on a trampoline in the pool by herself, people moving around in the background. After that, either she's changed clothes or there is a different character jumping alone on the trampoline. What does this represent? If there's a pool, why isn't there water in it? Why isn't she swimming in it? Maybe it's more of a pit than a pool. When she's running around in circles and jumping on the trampoline, what's going on? Is she just trying to stay healthy in her solitude? Or is she trying to escape and can't get out? Or maybe the two things are more related than we think. Vain efforts are better than no effort. The fact of exerting effort makes one healthier -- even if completely alone. . Building off the guitar solo, the instrumental section remains pretty powerful, almost orchestral then transitions back into the original tempo around 4:45, with a suspenseful cello replacing the sad guitar. The vocals come back and poof... . The video changes to a meta scene at 4:55 in clear image, full color, with the videographers and staff in the shot -- maybe representing the transition from her lonely beginning to quasi-independent rocker stardom. Looking back, that vain, lonely effort somehow actually turned into something. . Maybe that's not it, but either way, she's finally not alone. And we find out around 5:22 there were actually two characters in the pool scenes, just not at the same time. And for the first time, they interact together. They're jumping together. . The vocals at this point use "we", and this time it seems real. There's nothing about dreaming or sleep. But the scene still isn't ideal. The couple is now alone together. Together, they are alone and misunderstood, "don't ask them to understand, why they cover up their hands, and their mouths". . The sad guitar line comes back, but the sound is stronger than before, a little less bleak... And that solo carries us out for another minute. Very beautiful. . I read that Miki wrote this song when she moved to London from Bristol. The feelings of loneliness moving to a large metropolis very much fit everything about this song - the arrangement, lyrics, and video. . The title "Desire Lines" seems ironic. Desire lines are paths carved out by a heavy flow of foot traffic as people seek a more direct route... A path of grass worn out by foot traffic. This idea of traffic evokes people, on one hand, which sounds social, but movement on the other hand. People are just passing by. So it could be related to a sense of feeling alone in a crowd. In the video, she runs in circles in the pool, maybe driven by desire to make friends in her new city. And so those are the lines of her own frenzied footprints. |
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| Catherine Wheel – Black Metallic Lyrics | 1 year ago |
| @[bugo:45806] umm, no. a love song to a car? lol. the black metallic car symbolizes something about a person. | |
| Catherine Wheel – Black Metallic Lyrics | 1 year ago |
| @[Layindownpoot:45805] Obviously it's metaphorical. I hope "flat out" does not imply you think it's literally only about a car. The first line of the song is "I've never seen you when you're smiling". It also continues, "I think of you when you're sleeping, Of all the secrets that you're keeping, You can't stay all day under the covers 'Cause under there you'll discover." Someone would have to be quite confused to make such a complex analysis of a car's persona! Art is all about connection between the signifier and the signified, and here is the car signifies something about a person. | |
| The Psychedelic Furs – Pretty in Pink Lyrics | 4 years ago |
| @[catchingmuses:33704] I didn't fully express the Caroline fantasy could represent a shared dabbling with the effeminate side, not just his own individual alter-ego. The "joke" is basically he and his effeminate-dabbling friends walk into this world with their coats, change into a dress, and under the pressures of society, re-enter the world with their male clothing. | |
| The Psychedelic Furs – Pretty in Pink Lyrics | 4 years ago |
| @[NMA:33703] Yes, but that doesn't explain Richard Butler's specific idea of "being naked". The quote itself is still a metaphor and doesn't connect the dots of the lyrics to what they represent. I added to a post to explain them. | |
| The Psychedelic Furs – Pretty in Pink Lyrics | 4 years ago |
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I will connect all the dots -- While this song uses some imagery of promiscuity or prostitution ("all of her lovers", "he was first in the line"), it would be quite pointess as a song about that topic itself. Almost every line points to a metaphor beyond that. Viewing it in chiasmic structure may help: a..... Caroline laughs, and it's raining all day b........ Loves to be one of the girls c............ She lives in the place in the side of our lives d............... Where nothing is ever put straight e..................... She turns herself 'round And she smiles and she says "This is it, that's the end of the joke" f.......................... Dreaming and sleep, and her Lovers walk through in their coats g.............................. All of her lovers all talk of her notes and the flowers they never sent. f.......................... He's walking around in this Dress that she wore e..................... She is gone, but the Joke's the same d............... She waves, She buttons your shirt c............ The traffic is waiting outside b........ She hands you this coat, She give you her clothes a.... These cars collide a. Rain - traffic accidents. Chaos of reality, every day life that pulls him away from the Caroline alter-ego. b. Effeminate feelings, fantasies, and short-term experiences of the male writer. c. The two parts sound disconnected, but they're easily quite connected. This effeminate side -- or Caroline alter-ego -- really appeals to him. But he's only able to dabble with it, i.e., pay Caroline short-term visits because normal life awaits. Every day life beckons him ("traffic is waiting outside"). So Caroline "lives in the place in the side of our lives". The alter-ego never takes center stage. d. The line "nothing is ever put straight' may sound like a gay reference (and it may be a double entendre). But the point and connection between "nothing is ever put straight" and "she waves, she buttons your shirt" is this: The writer dabbles with this effeminate Caroline fanstasy. But he never fully identifies with it. He lacks the opportunity he would like to fully embrace and experience the Caroline alter-ego. Instead, his alter-ego, Caroline "buttons him up" and sends him off back into normality after he dabbles with this feminine side. e. Joke theme in both verses. The joke is the situations described above. He really identifies with the Caroline alter-ego in his fantasies but pops back into the normal world as a male minutes after dabbling with this fantasy. f. Lovers (i.e., he) walks in with his coat (as a male) and out with the dress (female). This speaks of entering the fantasy world of this alter-ego. It's the converse of the previously-described verses of exiting the fantasy to re-enter normal life. g. Here's the chiasmic peak. This is the tension he feels about the appeal of this effeminate alter-ago. It could speak of his own frustration with being unable to fully embrace this feminine side. Or it could speak to this effeminate side bringing only short-term appeal to male suitors. Isn't she pretty in pink invites admiration for his effeminate side -- though nobody seems to fully embrace it. Richard Butler explained in slightly coded language, "The idea of the song was, 'Pretty In Pink' as a metaphor for being naked. The song, to me, was actually about a girl who sleeps around a lot and thinks that she's wanted and in demand and clever and beautiful, but people are talking about her behind her back. That was the idea of the song." (Quietus interview) Richard Butler didn't come out and flatly say, "the song is about my effeminate side". There are lots of reasons for that. But it's easy to understand how his idea of "being naked" relates to "a girl". The rest of the quote easily relates to tension surrounding his own perceived feminine sexiness and the fact nobody fully embraces it. If anyone doesn't think Richard Butler is effeminate AF, just watch the video for Angels Fall. That will put this to rest. There's no doubt that Caroline is him. |
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| Cigarettes After Sex – Apocalypse Lyrics | 4 years ago |
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It’s a beautiful song, but the lyrics are quite troubling as implied in the title. The Greek meaning of Apocalypse is “revelation” or literally to uncover something hidden. But in English it normally refers to prophetic, eschatological destruction of the earth associated with Christ’s return. This English meaning is due to the connection of these themes in book of Revelation (“Apocalypse” in Greek). We’ll see that both basic meanings (revelation and final destruction are likely implied). The song starts out with this destructive, apocalyptic scene of crumbling bridges, city scapes turning to dust, and helicopters falling from the sky. What causes this destruction? “Your lips, my lips, apocalypse”. It could signify the destructive nature of words, but it quite obviously signifies destruction ensuing from the revelation of forbidden love expressed in a kiss. This kiss allows us to tease out this double meaning of Apocalypse because it not only causes destruction but uncovers something hidden a long time. Now things are going to get interesting... and frankly, a little disturbing. Apparently this passionate moment exploded after many years of mutual, pent up sensual desire. This long-lasting tension is signified in phrases like, “since you were kids”, “locked in here forever”, and “haunt me”... not even death itself will solve this dilemma. This line is particularly artistic because “haunt me” is quite paradoxical. Who makes such an invitation? And now we can start to uncover the secret... The apocalypse is the destruction of their world, their environment, their home... their mutual home. Mostly likely, they are step-siblings. The boy’s mother married the girl’s father after the girl’s mother died. The artist has to change some pronouns to keep things relatively hidden, but this is implied in the verse, “Sharing all your secrets with each other since you were kids. Sleeping soundly with the locket that she gave you clutched in your fist...” The boy and girl grew up together, and they were extremely intimate. He knows her secrets, he knows her sleeping habits, he knows her psychology, he knows her soul. Apparently they had a lifelong crush which was finally uncovered and destroyed everything. The “filming helicopters” may symbolize the fact people are watching, even during such a turbulent scene. The girl leaping from the bridge may signify her bailing on the relationship once it was uncovered. But he knows she still wants him. Not only is this directly stated, “I know you want me” but also “you got the music in you baby, tell me why!” He thinks she still wants her. Meanwhile, she’s putting lovers in a “hallowed piano” — something with a semblance of an instrument but actually a dark, physical and emotional space, devoid of “the music” which is the part of him she carries inside her. And in a last artistic maneuver, the song ends... and then returns with this last verse. He’s not giving up, even after the death of their relationship, even after the Apocalypse. He’s waiting for his chance. Wow, hopefully we’ll hear what happens next! |
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