This is a hauntingly beautiful song about introspection, specifically about looking back at a relationship that started bad and ended so poorly, that the narrator wants to go back to the very beginning and tell himself to not even travel down that road. I believe that the relationship started poorly because of the lines:
"Take me back to the night we met:When the night was full of terrors: And your eyes were filled with tears: When you had not touched me yet"
So, the first night was not a great start, but the narrator pursued the relationship and eventually both overcame the rough start to fall in love with each other:
"I had all and then most of you"
Like many relationships that turn sour, it was not a quick decline, but a gradual one where the narrator and their partner fall out of love and gradually grow apart
"Some and now none of you"
Losing someone who was once everything in your world, who you could confide in, tell your secrets to, share all the most intimate parts of your life, to being strangers with that person is probably one of the most painful experiences a person can go through. So Painful, the narrator wants to go back in time and tell himself to not even pursue the relationship.
This was the perfect song for "13 Reasons Why"
I saw the railway master and I looked him in the eye
I said, "Would you go much faster if you thought that you would die?"
He said, "Not me sir, I could not care, in fact, I would not try.
For protest would not take me far.
It's different, me not being a star."
I lock my feelings in a jar until another day
Oh, comfort me, dear brother, won't you tell me what you know?
For somewhere in this paper world is a place where I can go
Oh, long awaiting mother, is it time to make a show?
And take your babies to your breast
No, we never passed the test
And all our sins should be confessed before we carry on
Oh, don't refuse me
If you choose me, you'll follow my shame
No, don't confuse me
For I know it's the name of the game
I got up off my pillow and I looked up at the sun
I said, "You can see quite clearly, now, the things that we have done
We burned your sacred willow and our battles we have won.
But did we get so very far?
It's different, me not being a star."
I lock my feelings in a jar until we go away
I said, "Would you go much faster if you thought that you would die?"
He said, "Not me sir, I could not care, in fact, I would not try.
For protest would not take me far.
It's different, me not being a star."
I lock my feelings in a jar until another day
Oh, comfort me, dear brother, won't you tell me what you know?
For somewhere in this paper world is a place where I can go
Oh, long awaiting mother, is it time to make a show?
And take your babies to your breast
No, we never passed the test
And all our sins should be confessed before we carry on
Oh, don't refuse me
If you choose me, you'll follow my shame
No, don't confuse me
For I know it's the name of the game
I got up off my pillow and I looked up at the sun
I said, "You can see quite clearly, now, the things that we have done
We burned your sacred willow and our battles we have won.
But did we get so very far?
It's different, me not being a star."
I lock my feelings in a jar until we go away
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The Night We Met
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Overall about difficult moments of disappointment and vulnerability. Having hope and longing, while remaining optimistic for the future. Encourages the belief that with each new morning there is a chance for things to improve.
The chorus offers a glimmer of optimism and a chance at a resolution and redemption in the future.
Captures the rollercoaster of emotions of feeling lost while loving someone who is not there for you, feeling let down and abandoned while waiting for a lover. Lost with no direction, "Now I'm up in the air with the rain in my hair, Nowhere to go, I can go anywhere"
The bridge shows signs of longing and a plea for companionship. The Lyrics express a desire for authentic connection and the importance of Loving someone just as they are. "Just in passing, I'm not asking. That you be anyone but you”
Mountain Song
Jane's Addiction
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Jane's Addiction vocalist Perry Farrell gives Adam Reader some heartfelt insight into Jane’s Addiction's hard rock manifesto "Mountain Song", which was the second single from their revolutionary album Nothing's Shocking. Mountain song was first recorded in 1986 and appeared on the soundtrack to the film Dudes starring Jon Cryer. The version on Nothing's Shocking was re-recorded in 1988.
"'Mountain Song' was actually about... I hate to say it but... drugs. Climbing this mountain and getting as high as you can, and then coming down that mountain," reveals Farrell. "What it feels to descend from the mountain top... not easy at all. The ascension is tough but exhilarating. Getting down is... it's a real bummer. Drugs is not for everybody obviously. For me, I wanted to experience the heights, and the lows come along with it."
"There's a part - 'Cash in now honey, cash in Miss Smith.' Miss Smith is my Mother; our last name was Smith. Cashing in when she cashed in her life. So... she decided that, to her... at that time, she was desperate. Life wasn't worth it for her, that was her opinion. Some people think, never take your life, and some people find that their life isn't worth living. She was in love with my Dad, and my Dad was not faithful to her, and it broke her heart. She was very desperate and she did something that I know she regrets."
Gentle Hour
Yo La Tengo
Yo La Tengo
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,
Head > Heels
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
“Head > Heels” is a track that aims to capture what it feels like to experience romance that exceeds expectations. Ed Sheeran dedicates his album outro to a lover who has blessed him with a unique experience that he seeks to describe through the song’s nuanced lyrics.
Stick to your beliefs. We all mistakes in life. If you're a star, you're not immune to having feelings of regret. Get off your pedestal and be a real person and take those feelings out of that jar and wear them on your sleeve and be a real person. Otherwise, living a lie will get you no where.
This is really a great song that should be more widely known.
It starts with the famous rock star having a conversation with a common working man, showing the contrast as to how their actions are looked upon by society. The worker doesn't benefit from going out on a limb to express himself by standing up to "the man" like someone in the performing arts would. He keeps his feelings and views to himself, as he will only do himself harm should he buck the system while doing his job. The rocker, on the other hand, is free to express himself however he sees fit to the adoration of his fans. But this doesn't seem right. Shouldn't we all be free to express ourselves? Would we not have a better world if we took the time to understand one another instead of bottling up our frustrations?
The second verse is a lament about the condition of the modern world, which questions the intelligence of propagating our species in light of our sinful nature and our failures. We are not only destroying the planet, we haven't learned to live peacefully amongst ourselves... yet it doesn't stop us from introducing new humans into this heartless, painful world every second of every day. Perhaps we should fix what humanity has destroyed before making it worse by mindless reproduction.
Finally, it ends with the rock star looking up at another star, the sun. In an attempt to receive forgiveness for the problems expressed in the earlier verse, he confesses to the heavens that any victories won on any battlefield haven't solved anything - they've only scorched the earth. He feels insignificant, powerless and small compared to the master of the solar system - so really, what's the point of it all? The game of life is a paradox. We want to live, to speak our minds, to have others understand and agree with us. But ultimately each one of us, no matter what we've accomplished or solved, will encounter the great leveler of death. Every one of us, good or bad in life, will decompose is the same manner, succumbing to Mother Nature. And this my friends, is the name of the game.
It almost sounds like he was reading the last couple chapters of Ecclesiastes.
nice take on the song lennonmccartney. you really know your stuff and it's pretty neat you're taking a second to dissect so many great songs from badfinger
Too bad Pete Hamm isn't around to explain this one. I believe it describes Pete's problems with how his manager and record company were handling the financial affairs of the group. These guys worked themselves to death and recived next to no financial compensation. When they attempted to get these issues worked out they were essentially advised to live with it. So, as he looks around and sees all other music personalities doing well from his perception he realizes that he will be treated differently because he is a 'star'. So, once again they work and work and were actually getting quite the following in the early 70s on both sides of the ocean. Yet, they continued to not reap financial rewards. They also had disputes about how their product should be handled and ended up finding that they weren't going to get any say-so there either. The final straw came when their last actual group record was ready for distribution and it was found that their escrow account had somehow lost a couple of hundred thousand dollars. Then the brakes caused the distribution of this record to a grinding halt until this could be resolved. As far as I know - it never was. The record never came out and in a fit of total depression Pete ended his life. (Of course there is the conspiracy that Pete actaully went to present an ultimatum to his manager who apparently had organized crime ties - and because they didn't like what Pete had to say decide that they had made plenty of money off of him already and helped him die.)
First of all, Peter Ham and Tommy Evans will ALWAYS be missed by everyone!
I MET Tommy twice, in 1982 and then in 1983 a few months prior to his death!! It was so sad to hear of his passing later that year in November 1983!
Anyway, I've always loved this song of theirs for years and years but I never really understood it's meaning, not until very recently prior to coming back to this great website! It's been way too many years since I've been signed in here!! I understand the comments posted here and it's appreciated!! Thanks all -CHEERS!
I'm not going to try and interpret--the song says what it says. I just want to say, what a great song!