This song was originally written by a guy called Peter Gutteridge. He was one of the founders of the "Dunedin Sound" a musical scene in the south of New Zealand in the early 80s. From there it was covered by "The Clean" one of the early bands of that scene (he had originally been a member of in it's early days, writing a couple of their best early songs). The Dunedin sound, and the Clean became popular on american college radio in the mid to late 80s. I guess Yo La Tengo heard that version.
Great version of a great song,
We sail through endless skies
stars shine like eyes
the black night sighs
The moon in silver trees
falls down in tears
light of the night
The earth, a purple blaze
of sapphire haze
in orbit always
While down below the trees
bathed in cool breeze
silver starlight breaks down the night
And so we pass on by the crimson eye
of great god Mars
as we travel the universe
stars shine like eyes
the black night sighs
The moon in silver trees
falls down in tears
light of the night
The earth, a purple blaze
of sapphire haze
in orbit always
While down below the trees
bathed in cool breeze
silver starlight breaks down the night
And so we pass on by the crimson eye
of great god Mars
as we travel the universe
Lyrics submitted by spolojack
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Gentle Hour
Yo La Tengo
Yo La Tengo
Midnight
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
“Midnight” is a song about finding a love that is so true that it provides a calming feeling through every storm. Ed Sheeran reflects on his good fortunes in landing someone with such peace and support and speaks of not fearing the dark days because he knows they’ll all end in the safety nets of her arms.
“Well, good morning there / What a way to start the day / With everything laid bare,” Ed Sheeran sings in the first verse, enthusiastic to be waking up beside his woman. He apologizes for missing her calls in the second verse and promises to return them because for him, speaking to her is the most important thing. “Well, I get lost inside my head / In this chaos, you’re my calm / And I will find my feet again / ‘Cause еven the worst days of my life will always еnd / At midnight in your arms,” sings Ed Sheeran in the chorus, revelling in his good luck.
Another Love
Tom Odell
Tom Odell
I think the meaning is pretty clear. This person got really burned in a previous relationship, and because of this is unable to love and show care in his present one, even though he so badly wants to. It's lovely song, and very sad. You can really feel how defeated and frustrated he is with himself.
Somewhere Only We Know
Keane
Keane
Per the FAQ on Keane's website, Keane's drummer Richard Hughes, stated the following:
"We've been asked whether "Somewhere Only We Know" is about a specific place, and Tim has been saying that, for him, or us as individuals, it might be about a geographical space, or a feeling; it can mean something individual to each person, and they can interpret it to a memory of theirs... It's perhaps more of a theme rather than a specific message... Feelings that may be universal, without necessarily being totally specific to us, or a place, or a time..."
With the nostalgic sentiment and the overall tone of the song, I think Keane is attempting to express a Portuguese term known as 'saudade', which does not have a direct English translation but roughly means "that which we remember because it is gone."
Zombie
Cranberries, The
Cranberries, The
"Zombie" is about the ethno-political conflict in Ireland. This is obvious if you know anything of the singer (Dolores O'Riordan)'s Irish heritage and understood the "1916" Easter Rising reference.
"Another head hangs lowly
Child is slowly taken
And the violence caused such silence
Who are we mistaken
-
Another mother's breaking
Heart is taking over"
Laments the Warrington bomb attacks in which two children were fatally injured on March 23rd, 1993. Twelve year old Tim Parry was taken off life support with permission from his mother after five days in the hospital, virtually braindead.
"But you see it's not me
It's not my family"
References how people who are not directly involved with the violence feel about it. They are "zombies" without sympathy who refuse to take action while others suffer.
First off, I want to say to those who find the lyrics hard to make out: that is intentional. The nature of the vocals is meant to invoke the speech of aliens. The song is about a fleet of alien ships that travel through the universe, looking for others who are ready to do the same. The song explains that they have just discovered Earth, but they bypass it. Why? There a couple of hints as to why: first, the moonlight is describes as falling down like tears, invoking sorrow. The second and most important clue comes from the lines, "And so we pass on by the crimson eye - Of great god mars". Mars is described not as a planet but as a god, and if you know your Roman mythology, you will know that Mars was the god of war. Hence, humanity, which is still embroiled in war, is not yet ready to receive the amazing gift of advanced technology which would allow them to join the fleet of universal explorers, the planet caravan. The aliens are saddened by this, because of the distance they've traveled, only to find a species not yet evolved enough to join them. It is a sad, chilling and beautiful anti-war song.
AGH, I was trying to vote up. -___- I LIKE THIS.
Reading your commentary while listening to the music is simply awesome. It's touching because it's a cold, unfortunate true. But oh, well, let's enjoy the nice, traveling part of this.
@Starwatcher23 Hopefully some day the we can get our planet re-classified and finally be apart of the universe and all the unimaginable great things that it holds. hopefully soon before our time runs out.. I think you very much nailed the meaning of the lyrics to this song. Thank you
@Starwatcher23 Just heard this song for the first time...read your explanation...Well written Starwatcher23...Very deep understanding of the song, and great way of explaining it. That's some deep shit they are singing about, and makes complete sense to why other beings wouldn't even bother with us. I appreciate the time and explanation you put into this. Thank you for sharing!
Since I view Paranoid as a concept album, this is a bit different from other views. War Pigs sets the scene of war and corruption, Paranoid is a descent into madness of a soldier, and I think this is a sort of cosmic journey after death.
I love songs like this that put an awesome image in your head. Makes you want to go paint a giant mural or something.
hands down best song to get stoned to
@whiterabbit420 Only song that I have ever thought, "If I make it to 60, when I have nothing left to do in my life, I will take one hit of LSD and listen to this song. It will be amazing."
space travel
theres more to black sabbath than being stoned
@ULlilLady But not this song XD. Hand of Doom is a song about something else - it is a warning to those doing drugs, or who are considering doing drugs. War Pigs is about the terror of war, and how the war pigs who cause it will NOT be rewarded for their actions. But this is definitely a drug-fueled, drug-inspired masterpiece.
This song is the reason I love Black Sabbath! The first three albums have a perfect combination of rock and blues that I can't stop listening to them.
@nxtz12 They WERE a blues band at first... Which is responsible for their bluesy, scruffy musical style.
PRECIOUSDEATH'S OPINION IS WORTH ABOUT AS MUCH AS CASTRATED DONKEY BALLS
COLA might be right War Pigs is about the generals/presidents who are responsible of wars, Paranoid is about a guy whos lost his feelings(it could be about a soldier who expirienced war and ends up killing himself or got killed in war), in Planet Caravan the guy/soldier was expiriencing life after death, Iron Man(if Paranoid was about a soldier) is about a warrior/soldier who ends up bieng a statue as honor for hes duties and for years the statue was bieng ignored so the staue/soldier came to life and kill the people he once saved. its just a maybe conclusion i made up after reading COLA's post
I love these lyrics. They are so beautiful.
@Songmeaningsuser The picture of psychedelia.