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Light and Magic Lyrics
The kids are freed, now all they need is a gift from their mum and dad
They heard the tones, of Spanish phones stranded in the sand.
You left on the lights, is there somebody home
You left on the lights, is there somebody home
Left on the lights, is there somebody home, light and magic
You cut your hair and made a friend, now they're falling into you
This is the closest that you will get to them, how do you do?
You left on the lights, is there somebody home
Switched off your voicemail and left it alone
Left on the lights, is there somebody home, light and magic
Then lost some time in someone’s line, might just've caught the show
This is not real, but it will deal with this thing between tonight and
tomorrow...
By the beach in a one-storey building, you're lucky if the light's not out
But, baby, now you look like a Xerox of yourself.
The kids are free, now all they need is a gift from their mum and dad
They heard the tones, of Spanish phones stranded in the sand.
You left on the lights, is there somebody home
Left on the lights, is there somebody home, light and magic
This is the closest that you will get to them, how do you do?
Switched off your voicemail and left it alone
Left on the lights, is there somebody home, light and magic
This is not real, but it will deal with this thing between tonight and
tomorrow...
But, baby, now you look like a Xerox of yourself.
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am i the only one who sees a theme running thru this album? not a story per say, but all the songs seem to be about the ways that people cover up the imperfections in their life; 'light and magic' per say. examples i can think of:
seventeen--people who think youth will solve all their problems, along with those who pursue such people's youth after their own fades
fire--a girl escaping in the attention of others using her charisma as a lure
cracked LCD--a man using 'light and magic' to control his lover's perception of him
startup chime--a woman who blocks out life with technology, arguably 'light and magic' in a sense
this song is different in that it seems to be the opposite of that. instead of escaping thru illusions, the protagonist has discarded them and finds life to be boring, nay depressing without them. so, in the end, they end up returning to all the false glitz, or at least severely missing what they know they didn't really have.
Its talking about feeling uncomfortable and needing someone around to help you adapt.
Kind of reminds me of the Cure's "Jumping Someone Else's Train". As bad as this probably sounds, it seems almost like a song about conforming.
The subject of the song made him/herself an Average Joe, instead of keeping what was unique about them, to get them well liked. But in the back of their minds, they know that they're being kinda stupid (Left on the lights, is there somebody home), and so an observer is wondering if the real them is still there.
i think the album is about technology, consumerism + materialism, how city life is consumed by it. Most of the titles reflect that: 17, blue jeans, black plastic, cracked lcd. Light + Magic reflects how we rely on technology at the flick of a switch, as if it's magic. Ladytron also seem to add a little nature for ironic effect, eg. the sound of ringtones stranded in the sand.
This is difficult. hmm.. I think it's supposed to be lights are a show, and magic is something easy. Might not really fit but that's my view. "The kids are freed, now all they need is a gift from their mom and dad" means that the kids are out of highschool now all they go to their parents for is money. Maybe the parents are missing the kids though, is somebody home? what's their life now? I love the feel to this. Any thoughts on this theory?
Of the above responses, I guess the one I agree with the most is Linalka's. I was disappointed when I first read the words to this song...it sounds so haunting and mysterious, but the meaning is less so. But I think Ladytron is one of those bands that enjoys exploring artifice...mocking it at times, embracing it at others. I love them, and this is my favorite song by them.
Of the above responses, I guess the one I agree with the most is Linalka's. I was disappointed when I first read the words to this song...it sounds so haunting and mysterious, but the meaning is less so. But I think Ladytron is one of those bands that enjoys exploring artifice...mocking it at times, embracing it at others. I love them, and this is my favorite song by them.
I am not particularly sure of what this song is literally about, but to me it is talking about how people rely on technology and become friends with those who appear to be plastic. I don't know what the term "light & magic" means, either, but if I had to take a guess, I'd say that it's referring to the society that we live on - if you have the 'glitz' you are fitting enough to be associated with today's day and age. People will accept you no matter how phony you are - but your only friends are the plastics, and your only true self is mundane (and addiction) - hence the line 'xerox of yourself' - (regardless of you being lucky if the light's not out and you can take a fine day at the beach to show yourself) because your actions are so predictable they're laughable.
'You cut your hair and made a friend, now they are falling into you' talks about how some people in society are so based on what other people think of them; they cut their hair and try to be fashionable and make friendships for the wrong reason - plastics attract plastics. This isn't saying everybody who likes fashion is plastic or whatever, it's saying the plastic people who like fashion attract other plastics and when one plastic follows, the rest follow. And... when you come in terms with understanding of loss, you begin to see the 'show' as something very fake, an illusion that stings in both today and tomorrow... you don't miss out on much even if you 'lost the line'