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Led Zeppelin – Stairway to Heaven Lyrics
| 21 years ago
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Just like Ramble On, the LotR references are just cultural referents. Consider the biblical allusions, and the use of the piper image. The song is really a melange of images used to convey a message of hope and overarching faith in the forward progress of man. There are echoes of the Enlightenment (why else would the piper lead us to Reason?) and an interesting cross between naturism and Christianity. Altogether a fine song, if overplayed. |
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Led Zeppelin – Ramble On Lyrics
| 21 years ago
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The reference to Gollum is just that, a reference. It's a cultural referent; Gollum is the threat of loss, and just in case you didn't get it (like all the people who think this actually refers to a particular episode in Tolkien), they let us know that Gollum and the Evil One crept up and slipped away with her. Gollum is a thief and murderer who lurks in the shadows, but is never far away. Think of him as malevolence, either in fate or in another person. |
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Led Zeppelin – When the Levee Breaks Lyrics
| 21 years ago
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If you are interested in the history behind this song, I would recommend Lanterns on the Levee or Rising Tide, both excellent accounts of floods in the Mississippi Delta country. |
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Eric Clapton – Layla Lyrics
| 21 years ago
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A great song. It describes how the problems of being in love in high school don't change as you get older. A real catalogue of bathos, but musically unchallengeable. |
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The Clash – London Calling Lyrics
| 21 years ago
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Has this song been ruined by its inclusion in a Jaguar commercial, or has its meaning been expanded? You decide! |
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Mark Knopfler – What It Is Lyrics
| 22 years ago
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This song, I must conclude, is about Edinburgh. Numerous references (Tollgate, Caledonian Blues, Charlotte Street, the parapet [which refers to the Castle]). Also, nice Dickens reference (Dirty Dick in search of Little Nell). I think it's brilliantly atmospheric. |
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U2 – With or Without You Lyrics
| 22 years ago
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Hmm. I would like to posit a more sinister meaning. This a man trapped between two loves; the "good woman," to whom he addresses the song, and the "dark lady" (freely stolen from Shakespeare's sonnets) who keeps him hanging, no doubt laughing all the while. One person who loves him and who he loves, the other he also loves but is merely using him. |
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U2 – Van Diemen's Land Lyrics
| 22 years ago
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Van Diemen's land was the first not wholly inhospitable area of Australia that the convicts whose sentences were commuted to "transport" settled in. Read Morgan's Run by Colleen McCullough for an insight into this brutal period of Australian/UK history. |
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U2 – Sunday Bloody Sunday Lyrics
| 22 years ago
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And here I thought this was about the riots in Russia in 1905. Cause that was called Bloody Sunday, too. |
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U2 – Running To Stand Still Lyrics
| 22 years ago
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Is there anyone here who believes this song has absolutely nothing to do with heroin? Raise your hands, please. Morons. |
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U2 – One Lyrics
| 22 years ago
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Johnny Cash's cover is great, but awfully depressing. If you buy the whole brotherhood of man thing, which I do (I mean, as the meaning of the song), then the feeling I get from hearing Cash sing the song is that something is desperately wrong with the world if this old man is lauding something so basic and yet unachieved. |
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U2 – Love Rescue Me Lyrics
| 22 years ago
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Dylan and Bono together. A great song. Has almost a western feel, for some reason. |
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U2 – In A Little While Lyrics
| 22 years ago
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Maybe he was a kid when he saw the little girl being pushed by in the pram. There is no reason to suppose a disgusting interpretation where none is warranted, especially given U2's very public displays of their collective moral compass. Sheesh. Dirty minds. |
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U2 – Hawkmoon 269 Lyrics
| 22 years ago
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I've wondered since I learned the title if U2 are fans of Michael Moorcock's works. Hawkmoon is a major character in the Eternal Champion series, who falls in love and then loses his love in a most confounding manner. He learns a harsh lesson in the consequences of changing the past. |
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U2 – All I Want Is You Lyrics
| 22 years ago
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I used to think of this as a generic love song, but now I find it deeply sad, almost paranoid. Not as paranoid as Every Breath You Take, but definitely as obsessive. |
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U2 – Elevation Lyrics
| 22 years ago
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Hey, guys, buy a sense of humor. It's called CAMP. I think it's hilarious that this song won a grammy. That's some silly shit, but it is a fun listen. |
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Soundgarden – Rusty Cage Lyrics
| 22 years ago
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Great song. Johnny Cash's cover is wicked. I don't think this is one of those incredibly subtle songs that need serious explication. This puppy rears up on its hind legs and puts the bite on you fierce, which is why Cash covered it (he says in his liner notes that he's been this angry before). |
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Cake – Long Line Of Cars Lyrics
| 22 years ago
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I think this song is about blame. Traffic and road rage are merely metaphors; no one ever thinks that they're an asshole driver. |
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The Police – Be My Girl - Sally Lyrics
| 22 years ago
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Who else could do a song about an inflatable doll? Let's hand it to the Police, who sing about prostitutes, lolitas, and all other kinds of exploitation- HUZZAH! |
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The Push Stars – Bad Sneakers Lyrics
| 22 years ago
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This is a Steely Dan song, folks. It means to me that people haven't any idea who Steely Dan are, and only know their songs from the Me, Myself, and Irene soundtrack. |
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The Beatles – Revolution 1 Lyrics
| 22 years ago
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I dig both versions, but my preference is for the single. The slower version is great, and the riff sounds a lot more distorted, but it lacks the urgency of the single. |
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The Beatles – I'm So Tired Lyrics
| 22 years ago
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I love this song. It's all about love gone wrong, or perhaps obsession. A girl tells ya she don't like ya that way, and for some reason you can't get over her. Heavy. |
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The Beatles – Happiness Is a Warm Gun Lyrics
| 22 years ago
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Like all residents of the South, I am quite proud that the Beatles chose to enshrine our love of hunting and fear of nuns in a pop song. ;) Somehow, there's sex involved here, and perhaps infidelity- can't get it up with his wife, so he nips down to the local curry shop to pick up some bint or other... |
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The Beatles – Drive My Car Lyrics
| 22 years ago
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Best song on Rubber Soul. One of the damn best songs they ever wrote. Has a bluesy flavor, it's very conversational, anecdotal- just the sort of thing you'd talk about down at the pub with the fellas. |
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The Beatles – Across the Universe Lyrics
| 22 years ago
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I only grew to like this song after hearing Rufus Wainwright's cover. Upon reappraisal, it is rapidly becoming a favorite (not quite up there with I'm So Tired, Dear Prudence, or Revolution, but...) |
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Jimmy Eat World – The Middle Lyrics
| 22 years ago
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Screw the lyrics. Dig the chicks in the video. Thank you very much.
The song was a lot better when I didn't know the lyrics. |
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Eagles – Take It To The Limit Lyrics
| 22 years ago
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It's a great song, but the Etta James cover is superior. Take my word for it. The lyrics are phenomenal, in the sort of late-night road tripping style that is quintessential Eagles. |
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Eagles – Doolin-Dalton Lyrics
| 22 years ago
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Law books ain't no help in a lawless land, buckaroo... If they ever made a movie of Blood Meridian, this would be a perfect song for the credits. |
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Eagles – Desperado Lyrics
| 22 years ago
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This song is kind of like Kenny Rogers's The Gambler, where card games are a metaphor for life. Here, we have the same wise man of the world using cards (and the country/frontier life) as a metaphor for love. I think the metaphor is built on a contrast; the card player is always a guarded individual, emotionally, and thus successful (the poker face). Come down from your fences/open the gate is a recommendation from the older man (who has clearly loved and lost) to the younger man to reveal his feelings. |
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Bruce Springsteen – Thunder Road Lyrics
| 22 years ago
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This song is perhaps the best from Springsteen's best album, IMHO. The lyrics are sincere, and untinged by naivete (You ain't a beauty, but hey, you're all right). How often do you get lines like that? Never. |
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Bruce Springsteen – Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out Lyrics
| 22 years ago
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This is just a good-time song, with a wicked little tune. The lyrics are trademark city-clever Springsteen, but quite thin on meaning- I get the feel that they are a giant inside joke, and I enjoy it. |
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Cake – Pretty Pink Ribbon Lyrics
| 22 years ago
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I assume this is some kind of twisted love song; obviously, the girl's got a great ass, and it's about her only positive point (tight little denim). Perhaps she's a kept woman, or whatever the appropriate term for that is these days. Freud would love this song. |
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Cake – Sad Songs And Waltzes Lyrics
| 22 years ago
|
I suspect that Willie Nelson appreciates this cover a great deal. As the last song on Fashion Nugget, it really caps off the album with a nice, self-mocking tone. The spare musical style of Cake highlights the lyrics. |
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Cake – Italian Leather Sofa Lyrics
| 22 years ago
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I love this song, even though it reminds me of all the eurotrash bastards I hated in undergrad. They had the money and the women, and I had a beer gut and all the charm of an open sewer. I also like the American Psycho-esque imagery. |
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Cake – Comfort Eagle Lyrics
| 22 years ago
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Salesmanship is become an essential part of American life, from religion to family life. As all things Cake, leavened with a healthy bit of self-deprecating humor. |
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Marc Cohn – Walking In Memphis Lyrics
| 22 years ago
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As someone who's spent the past three years of his life in the shadow of the Bluff City (Memphis), I can say that this song captures the kitschy, slightly grimy feel of the city. |
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