| Vance Joy – Riptide Lyrics | 9 years ago |
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This song is every manic pixie dream girl movie ever made, set to music. I mean, come on: Pretty girl with no discernible characteristics other than looking like Michelle Pfeiffer (what a weirdly dated reference, by the way!) and messing up song lyrics loves awkward neurotic boy, thereby saving him from awkwardness and neuroses. Am I watching Garden State, or what? Don't get me wrong--this song is catchy as hell, and gets stuck in my head for days, and I can't seem to stop myself from singing along (correctly, I hope!) when I hear it. But it really doesn't stand up to any sort of deep analysis. Pure bubble gum pop. |
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| Barenaked Ladies – Adrift Lyrics | 12 years ago |
| I just broke up with a guy who's really into puns. I think maybe I need to go listen to this song 28947324 times on repeat now... | |
| Soltero – Poughkeepsie's Always Proud Lyrics | 12 years ago |
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I think this is your basic big-fish-in-a-small-pond story. This person is huge in Poughkeepsie--but who cares; it's Poughkeepsie! And yet they've got attitude like they're really important. I don't know...a few years ago I escaped, at approximately the same time, from both my hometown (guess where!) and from a toxic "friendship" with someone who was more interested in having a sidekick to validate her than in having an actual two-way friendship. This song sums up both those breakups, all in one. (And for whatever it's worth, Poughkeepsie's only paper will print anything about ANYBODY.) |
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| Sleater-Kinney – Light-Rail Coyote Lyrics | 12 years ago |
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I just found out that there's a statue of Joan of Arc in Coe Circle, ie the traffic circle at NE Glisan and 39th! I've only driven/bussed/walked past it a million times; of course I needed Wikipedia to point that out to me. "Where the poor and the hipsters meet" is pretty much a perfect description of the Hollywood District, just a few blocks up 39th from that statue. So, yes, Portland. I don't have tons to add that hasn't already been said. I do like the line about "the grid that divides us all." Portlanders are so obsessed with neighborhoods! And stereotyping people based on which neighborhood they live in. (See previous paragraph. ;) ) I've lived here for 4 years now, and a statement like, "If you wanna be a friend of mine, cross the river to the East Side," seems perfectly rational. I mean, I'm not going to hang out with those West Side people! |
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| Sleater-Kinney – Light-Rail Coyote Lyrics | 12 years ago |
| Just curious, are you in North East, NY? I grew up in Dutchess County, but I live in Portland now...which is of course why this song intrigues me as much as it does. :) | |
| The Wallflowers – Bleeders Lyrics | 12 years ago |
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A long time ago, I used to cut. It's a part of my life that I'm usually able to forget about, more or less, but recently someone noticed and asked about my scars and that got me thinking about it. And that made me think about this song. Is it what the song is about? Unlikely. Am I being too literal? Probably. (Yes, yes, cutting, bleeding, bleeder...it's far too obvious, really.)But still, it's how I feel, now, this week, with all this bleeding crap from the past suddenly coming back to bite me. "I guess I should be ashamed/but I forget to be vain" is doing a nice job summing up where I'm currently at with the scars: Should I be ashamed and keep them covered so things like this don't happen again? Maybe, but I can't be bothered. And of course, "They say you're only/sad and lonely/and no one is impressed," is a pretty good summary of most of the world's views on cutting. |
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| Mumford & Sons – The Cave Lyrics | 13 years ago |
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The line that got me thinking this song was about addiction/recovery was "So make your siren's call, and sing all you want, I will not hear what you have to say. 'Cause I need freedom now..." It's that bit about not giving into temptation that first pointed me in that direction. Once that piece of the puzzle had fallen into place, the rest of the song made a lot of sense in that context. Oh, and I take that "widows and orphans" line to mean, in effect, some people have real problems so get over yourself. Which can also fit with the drug thing. What's interesting is that I've never struggled with substance abuse, yet I think that's what this song is about, yet I can still relate perfectly. How does that make any sense?? |
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| The Avett Brothers – Kick Drum Heart Lyrics | 13 years ago |
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This is my favorite song on the album, too. I really like Dupy's analysis, but I want to elaborate on it: I think the winter imagery--snow, f-f-f-freezin'--at the beginning is symbolic. Winter usually represents something bleak, lonely, like life without love. "End of the season": That's all over now; he's got her. In the next verse, it's raining; rain=spring=new awakenings now that he's found love. Ugh, it sounds so cheesy when I say it. I like the song's expression so much better! |
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| The Vanity Project – Overjoy Lyrics | 13 years ago |
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This is not the YouTube link I was thinking of--he manages to remember all the lyrics in that one (ha ha, there are few things I love more than Steven Page live!)--but it's similar enough for you to get the idea, in case anyone was wondering: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pgnAdA-wwgs |
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| The Vanity Project – Overjoy Lyrics | 13 years ago |
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So there's an acoustic performance of this song--just Steve and a guitar--on YouTube somewhere. I was completely obsessed with it for several years--really being all emo and cliched about it--and it drove me nuts that it was available only on YouTube and wasn't recorded. Well, guess what? It's on his new album (which, incidentally, is under Steven Page, not TVP, so maybe this is miscategorized?), and I think I like the old YouTube acoustic version better. The recorded version sounds so...happy. A la old-school BNL, when you'd listen to a nice cheerful poppy song and not realize until you really studied the lyrics that it's actually about suicide, or accidentally having shot your friend in the face as a child, or something. And that's a fun little trick and all, but I'd love to hear some NEW tricks from Page. (And we do, on this album, but not so much on this particular song.) Not so much lyric analysis here, and I'm sorry for that, but I think they're pretty straightforward: His depression is messing up his relationship. |
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| Barenaked Ladies – You Run Away Lyrics | 14 years ago |
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Maybe if Steve had been involved with this song the lyrics wouldn't sound like they were written by a sixth-grader. Except if Steve had been involved with this song, there wouldn't BE a song. Did I just blow your mind, or what? Sorry. I'm missing Steve's presence on this album. A lot. :( |
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| Barenaked Ladies – Golden Boy Lyrics | 14 years ago |
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No kidding, Browns! I'm actually finding this song a bit difficult to listen to, just because of the blatant animosity. Too bad, because I think I could really love it if I didn't know the story (or enough of the story to piece the rest together, at least...). |
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| Okkervil River – Calling and Not Calling My Ex Lyrics | 15 years ago |
| IDK what the song is about. I just want to say thanks to those of you who posted your ranked lists of favorite albums. I DL'ed Stand Ins this weekend, listened to it tonight, fell in love after about 4 notes, and was wondering which album to get next. Black Sheep Boy is currently downloading. So thanks for the tip! | |
| Guster – (Nothing But) Flowers (Talking Heads cover) Lyrics | 15 years ago |
| Originally by Talking Heads. Guster did a cover. | |
| Barenaked Ladies – This Is Where It Ends Lyrics | 15 years ago |
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That line about "call the police and call the press..." really speaks to me. I started cutting in college, awhile before anyone was talked much about it. And that's exactly how I felt: I need help!!! And, why don't people know about this? People should know about it! Except I'll die if anyone I know finds out. That line just sums it all up perfectly. I agree with the majority here that this song is about depression (any alcohol involved might be self-medicating the depression, but I don't think anything in the lyrics really indicates alcoholism), but I don't think it's really about suicide. To me it's more just a sense that something needs to change, NOW. |
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| Barenaked Ladies – Pollywog in a Bog Lyrics | 15 years ago |
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^ Me? To be honest, I hadn't really thought about that (the contrast in voices). But now that you mention it, yeah, the transition from Jim's earnest part to Ed's reggae thing is pretty amusing! By the way, this isn't really about frogs. It was inspired by Jim's seeing his daughter on an ultrasound when she was still little enough to look like a pollywog. |
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| Guster – I'm Through Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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I agree with the interpretation above. Also filtered through my recent experience: I recently picked up and left my hometown and took off for a new city on the other side of the country where I knew no one. C'mon was one of my big motivating songs before I left; I'd play it whenever I started getting cold feet. To me this song sort of picks up where that one left off: I left, don't look back, don't look back, etc...and now here I am, someplace new, someone different...but what now? I love the hopefulness and the determination: I'm alone now, but it will get better... |
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| Guster – (Nothing But) Flowers (Talking Heads cover) Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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The irony of this song is especially rich when Guster does it, since they're big environmentalists and Adam Gardner and his wife founded Reverb and everything. Random semi-relevant story: While I was driving up to a Guster show with a friend, the Counting Crows cover of "Big Yellow Taxi" came on the radio. My friend started talking about how there's some song that's kind of the opposite: instead of "they paved paradise and put up a parking lot," all the construction, etc. has been torn down and reverted back to nature. I had no idea what she was talking about and figured she was just being weird. And then Guster played this song. |
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| Harvey Danger – Pike St./Park Slope Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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In a nutshell: Life's not going the way he'd hoped, but everything will be perfect once he gets to NY (Park Slope)! And then he gets there and it turns out the problem wasn't with Seattle (Pike St.) after all. And meanwhile, the same character flaws that are keeping his career from taking off are destroying his relationship. Ie., his arrogance--later mentioned in the bridge--and the sense of entitlement that manifests in the opinion that he should have made it already, damnit! I LOVE the irony about that towards the beginning, the refusal to "blame it on the fundamental fact that no one owes you something;" and the claim that he wants to pay his dues while asking who to make the check out to--if it were easy, it wouldn't be dues-paying! So now he's in New York and still having trouble getting the career going, plus he can't make friends because he's surrounded by backstabbing hipsters and superficial socialites. And the girlfriend who's starting to lose patience suggests--ironically--moving to LA. Because the geographic cure worked out so well last time. And through all this he's refusing to take any responsibility for his career failures. It all falls apart at the end, when she suggests the movie house (notice, it's her who says that in the last verse) and he takes it as an indictment ("...assigning blame"), even though he'd been jokingly saying the same thing all along. |
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| The Lemonheads – Poughkeepsie Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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This song is definitive proof that Evan Dando has never been to Poughkeepsie. I assure you, there are things happening in Spanish Harlem that aren't happening there! Beyond that, I'm not quite sure what's going on here and would love to hear people's thoughts. |
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| The Vanity Project – Baby Loves The Radio Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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Last fall I drove from eastern NY to Portland, OR. For most of the trip I just kept my iPod on random shuffle, but every once in awhile I decided I didn't like feeling so cut off from the outside world, and I'd switch to the radio just to see what people were listening to in Ohio, or Iowa, or Wyoming. Every single time I did that, I heard "Hey There, Delilah." First song. Every time. So after a few tries I gave up and played this song on the iPod instead, because that experience is what it's about. (But...sorry, but I can't help wondering if Steve felt differently when that one song was One Week!) |
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| Guster – All The Way Up To Heaven Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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So as an atheist/agnostic, sometimes I'll get into a conversation with, or read something written by, a devout Christian. And it will just strike me that it must be really, really nice to be that absolutely certain of everything, and to just know that you're right, period. And for a little while I'll be a little jealous, and wish that I could be that sure, too. And maybe I'll even think, "Hey, why not? I could convert, join them..." And then I remember that I kind of like having free thought, and the whole idea goes out the window. This song kind of reminds me of those situations and that train of thought. |
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| Barenaked Ladies – Something You'll Never Find Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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FYI, bananas are actually a pretty good source of vitamin C. :p But anyway. This is another bad relationship song. The girl's got her mental image of the perfect boyfriend, and she's trying to get her actual boyfriend to fit that mold. Actual boyfriend knows perfectly well that he'll never be that guy, and would rather she go find him elsewhere than keep trying to make him into something he's not. "You're looking for someone that I'll never be;" "...it's fine if it's not in me." |
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| Barenaked Ladies – Wind It Up Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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Interesting theory, Andrewxc. But I don't think Kevin's ever been married. I also get the impression that, despite a great deal of lyrical evidence to the contrary, the other 4 band members' marriages are really doing pretty well, especially by famous-people standards. Actually by any standards...non-famous people have a pretty appalling divorce rate too. But anyway, all that's irrelevant because I really don't think this song is about a marriage. I think it's about a fling. They dove headfirst into this relationship much too fast and without thinking, and now they've discovered that they don't actually like each other much. "Hearts on fire" implies the going too fast, sudden early passion; "heartburn" obviously indicates that it's not going too well. And there are all these little clues that they don't even really know each other: disguises, lying, faking...even the bit about eloping kind of makes me think of impulsiveness and generally going too far, too fast. |
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| Barenaked Ladies – Running Out Of Ink Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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I'm going to be a little less literal than the above...I think "running out of ink" is a metaphor for writer's block. And the writer's block is caused or compounded by fame, and all the expectations that go with it, and the pressure to live up to those expectations, and maybe the knowledge that people will actually hear what you're saying, so you'd better be careful. (Because when you're not it can do serious damage to a relationship!) I think there's a bit of nostalgia for the days of being new and unestablished and "the next big thing" like the band in the first verse. |
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| Barenaked Ladies – Angry People Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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First off, you MUST see this song performed live. Seriously, go buy your tickets right now! And now that that's out of the way: The more I listen to this song, the more I think maybe it's about politics and, specifically, the band's having been criticized for "getting too political." Along the same lines as "Maybe You're Right" and "take it Back," in other words. There are some POV changes that I can't pin down. Some of the verses are in the POV of those being criticized, trying to invalidate the protesters--and the band writing protest songs--by writing them off as "angry people" trying to drag you down, etc. Others are from the band's perspective: "just trying to lend a hand," and trying to burst the happy people's little bubbles regarding things like the disaster in Iraq, global warming, etc. Or maybe I'm wrong and it's just a silly song. |
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| Barenaked Ladies – Bull In A China Shop Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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Check out all the allusions to advertising, commercials, buying and selling stuff (because Lukasa is right about that line), etc. I think it's about commercialism. And maybe about having to sell yourself, ie, to market your album/concert tour/t-shirts/cruise: "I'm the product this song's about, and I'm the product this song's about to be." And--this one's a stretch--maybe there's a little bit of regret about having sold rights to so many BnL songs for commercials. (Everyone I know knows $1,000,000, but about 4 of them know that it was a BnL song before it was that NY Lottery jingle. And I've told 3 of those 4 myself.) |
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| Barenaked Ladies – Rule the World with Love Lyrics | 17 years ago |
| ^ Thanks for posting the political rant that I self-censored out of my first post. It needed to be said. :D | |
| Barenaked Ladies – Peterborough And The Kawarthas Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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So the dumb American Googled "The Kawarthas" in an attempt to figure out what this song is about and got...a weather report! LOL, I thought that was rather appropriate. (If anyone else was wondering, it seems to be a region in Ontario. Peterborough is a town there.) Anyway, now that I've worked that out, I think this is actually a pretty straightforward song about leaving his baby behind (to tour?), missing the baby, hoping he's well taken care of. |
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| Guster – Manifest Destiny/Sorority Tears Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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It's "the leaders have the lead," not "believers." Although if this IS a political song you could start an argument about how they're kind of the same thing atm... And I'm leaning towards thinking it is political/Mideast-related. I like that interpretation. Stoolhardy, I've also been wondering about Sorority Tears. Does that song actually exist, or what? |
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| Barenaked Ladies – Break Your Heart Lyrics | 17 years ago |
| I wonder if this song is the sequel to "Intermittently." | |
| Barenaked Ladies – Everything Had Changed Lyrics | 17 years ago |
| Wow, Geckat, maybe I'm way off but I'm pretty much seeing this in the opposite way as you. This song seems to me to be about the redemptive power of love: He's made a giant mess of his life, depressed, alone, closed off, etc.--and then he meets "the one" and everything changes. ("Then one day, I was not alone, everything had changed," etc.) | |
| Barenaked Ladies – Rule the World with Love Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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I think this is another (I've counted 3 so far on the new album, and I haven't listened to it very carefully yet) political, anti-Bush, anti-war song. I love "I need to love you with an iron fist;" it so captures all Bush's scary Orwellian double-speak. |
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| Guster – The Captain Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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I'm thinking this might be political, anti-Bush. I can't think of any politics having come from Guster ever before (unless I missed it, always possible), but a lot of people who don't normally care much are getting worked up over recent events. The oversimplification of a problem in the first verse, "marching forward with no doubt in his head" in the second. I'm thinking maybe captain=Bush. |
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| Guster – Empire State Lyrics | 17 years ago |
| I agree with scatogrl, there's a 9/11 allusion in here that I can't put my finger on. The last verse, 10 miles tall in an empty space, fallen walls, and New York's nickname is the Empire State. But I haven't put it together yet. | |
| Ted Leo and the Pharmacists – Me and Mia Lyrics | 18 years ago |
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I agree with most of the ED interpretations that have already been posted. But I still need to add my $0.02: "...what's eating you alive, might help you to survive." I'm kind of surprised that no one's said this yet, really, but ED's are a coping mechanism. They are a way to deal with stress, with difficult life situations, with whatever. People wouldn't have them, and wouldn't find them so difficult to recover from, if they didn't serve some sort of purpose. So it can be simultaneously killing you/eating you alive and saving your life by giving you an avenue for dealing with...whatever. Just a minor point: I think the "smallest goal" isn't a value judgement, but a description of the goal itself: to be small, smaller, smallest. And the bit about the bourgeois social angels, I'd think that means the models, TV stars, and just society in general. Societal expectations are so complicated and fucked up--go to the grocery store and scan the magazine covers at the check-out; I almost guarantee you'll find the latest celeb who's gotten too thin, at least 2 perfect diets, and a recipe for some fabulous dessert your family will love! What other logical conclusion is there than to eat the dessert and then throw it up again? |
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| The Vanity Project – Wilted Rose Lyrics | 19 years ago |
| So Pierre Trudeau used to be PM of Canada. And Steven Page isn't happy about what's happened since he left? That's about as far as I've gotten. Can someone who understands Canadian politics explain, please? | |
| Garbage – Bleed Like Me Lyrics | 19 years ago |
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Ditto to errky39. Really, I can and HAVE bled like most of these people. I don't think it makes me particularly cool. And I'd rather people NOT see my scars, thanks. |
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| Dar Williams – Southern California Wants to Be Western New York Lyrics | 19 years ago |
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First of all, why would WESTERN NY have a Hudson River clean-up? Somebody please buy the woman an atlas! Sorry, stuff like that bugs me. :P But anyway, I think the "grass is always greener" thing is a part of it, but I also think this song is about glamor and surface beauty vs. history (all those references to ghosts and haunted houses!) and a sort of authenticity. The song opens with SoCal in danger of falling into the ocean; for all the Hollywood mythology, all the perceived fabulousness, it's all so transient and unstable. And phony: in the last verse SoCal tries to compensate by setting up an ersatz "theme park" of WNY! Whereas Western NY is solid, weighted down by "heavy snows" and a deep sense of history...even if that history is so romanticized because it's better than the present, as with all those rust-belt towns that have "hit the skids." This song is pointing out the value of all that history and the sense of community, even though our culture doesn't always recognize it: "Sometimes the stakes are bogus, sometimes the fast lane hits a fork..." Sometimes what we think we want isn't as satisfying as we expected it to be. |
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| Guster – Fa Fa Lyrics | 19 years ago |
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"One of my least favorite parts about the reviews on this site are the people who automatically think that the band members are talking about THEM specifically when the song is general. " __________________________________________________ Erm, at the risk of sounding self-absorbed and/or paranoid, I'm wondering if that wasn't directed at me. If so, please note the line in my first comment: "Personally I don't think that's the band's intended meaning..." Everyone finds their own meaning in music, and it only makes sense that that meaning relates to people's own experiences. And identifying with a specific aspect of a song doesn't automatically rule out being able to see the bigger picture, either. One of MY least favorite things about the reviews on this site is when people state definitively what the song is about, period, everyone else is wrong. You're entitled to your opinion, but so am I. (And, whether either of us likes it or not, so is the moron whose post reads, in its entirety, "ThIs SoNg RaWkS!!!!!!1111 GuStEr Is KeWl!!!!!!!!!!!!!11111111111) |
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| Guster – Jesus On The Radio Lyrics | 19 years ago |
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aayers, "half Jewish" is a very common expression. If you're sincerely curious about my religious beliefs and family background, feel free to email me (it's in my profile) so we can discuss it without boring all these people who are trying to talk about music. If, as I suspect, you're just being an asshole, then bite me. :) |
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| Barenaked Ladies – I'll Be That Girl Lyrics | 19 years ago |
| I've always gone with the "self-absorbed girl" theory, but I came across a quote in which Steven Page says it's about autoerotic asphyziation. I was kinda traumatized, but it does make sense: "...to make myself turn blue," "tie my pantyhose around my neck..." | |
| Guster – Happy Frappy Lyrics | 19 years ago |
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Not much of this song makes sense to me, but here's a theory, anyway: Maybe it's about growing up and figuring out what to do with your life. I think the summer--as in "because I can see the summer's done"--is a metaphor for childhood. Both are thought of as fun, happy, carefree times. When you grow up, you have to start narrowing down the possibilities for your future that once seemed "as endless as the sky." But maybe he doesn't know exactly what he wants to do now, or he's acknowledging that life doesn't always work out the way you plan, hence "and pray I float the way I think I want." I'm not just talking about career choices, by the way, but in the larger scheme of things: what sort of life do I want? What will make me happy? I admit that this interpretation works better on the first verse than on the second, but I think it could fit there, too. And it makes a lot of sense when you consider the fact that they were juniors (?) in college when they wrote it...this is the sort of thing you think a lot about when you're 20. |
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| Guster – Jesus On The Radio Lyrics | 19 years ago |
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Most Jews (and probaly plenty of other non-Christians as well) believe that Jesus existed. They just don't believe that he was the son of God and all that. Anyway, regardless of one's personal beliefs, the idea of Jesus obviously plays a huge role in shaping the society and the culture that we ALL live in. And according to your logic, no one over the age of 6 or so should be writing songs about Santa Claus. |
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| Barenaked Ladies – She's On Time Lyrics | 19 years ago |
| Does anyone else find it a little disconcerting to hear this song at the end of Stunt, right after the Ode to a New Baby that is "When You Dream?" | |
| Barenaked Ladies – War On Drugs Lyrics | 19 years ago |
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^^^ Except Steven Page actually has been (is?) on antidepressants. He has faith in medication, he believes in the Prozac nation. I think you need to go re-read "Brave New World." |
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| Guster – What You Wish For Lyrics | 19 years ago |
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Diggit18, you know that scene where Dorothy crashes down in Oz and opens the door and it's not black and white but in color? That's what they're talking about. (Metaphorically, of course.) If you don't know what I'm talking about, you are in desperate need of a trip to Blockbuster. |
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| Counting Crows – Perfect Blue Buildings Lyrics | 19 years ago |
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*shrug* I know that Adam Duritz has said that this song is not about drugs, but I don't quite get that. I mean, he wrote it and I believe him, but it sure SOUNDS like it's about drugs to me. And this despite the fact that I have lots and lots and lots of experience with depression and very little with drugs. |
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| Counting Crows – Black And Blue Lyrics | 19 years ago |
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I've always thought this song was an acknowledgment that the girl needs to get stuff--SI, suicide threats--out of her system, and he accepts that as long as she doens't actually go through with it ("but fall asleep next to me"). Beautiful song, but depressing as hell. |
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| John Mayer – Daughters Lyrics | 19 years ago |
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Millionaire, I'm waiting to be convinced that the poor treatment of women in Muslim countries has anything whatsoever to do with this song. Of COURSE plenty of women need to be treated better. My argument is that this song is *evidence* of that. |
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