He reuses the verse melody from the previous album's "Dirty Little Religion", the topics of the verses are all over the place, and he packs too many words into one line (goes to show...) and too few in another (it's pretty hard to find), and rhymes "Henley Regatta" with "Persona non grata", but gets away with it all as only he could.
I'm heavy handed
To say the least
My mother thinks
I'll be an awful clutcher
'Cause I spill things from stirring 'em too quickly
I'm far too loud
It's like, as soon as I've got an opinion
It just has to come out
I laugh at stupid things
Just 'cause they tickle me
And, sometimes I wish
Sometimes I wish I was like Mariella
She got some prittstick
And she glued her lips together
So she never had to speak
Never had to speak
Never had to speak
People used to say she's as quiet as a mouse
She just doesn't make a peep
She marched to her wardrobe
And she threw away the colour
Because wearing black looks mysterious
But it didn't impress her mother
She wanted to dress her baby
In patterns and flowers
But Mariella just crossed her arms
And so she cried for hours
Mariella, Mariella
My pretty baby girl
Unglue your lips from being together and
And wear some pink and pearls
You can have your friends 'round
And they can stay for tea
Won't you just try to fit in please
Do this for me
But Mariella just crossed her arms
As she walked up the stairs
And she went into her bedroom
And she sat on her bed
And she looked in the mirror
And she thought to herself
"If I wanna play, I can play with me
If I wanna think, I'll think in my head"
At school, Mariella didn't have many friends
Yeah, the girls they all looked at her
And they thought she was quite strange
And the boys they're not really into girls at that age
And the teachers, they thought Mariella was just going through a phase.
But Mariella just smiled as she skipped down the road
Because she knew all the secrets in her world
Yes, she always got the crossword puzzles right everyday
And she could do the alphabet backwards
Without making any mistakes
Mariella, Mariella
Pretty, pretty girl
Mariella, Mariella
Happy in your own little world
Happy in her own little world
And she said
Yeah, I'm never ever ever ever ever ever
Ever ever ever ever ever ever ever
Yeah, I'm never ever ever ever ever ever
Ever ever ever ever ever ever ever
Yeah, I'm never ever ever ever ever ever
Ever ever ever ever ever ever ever
Gonna unglue my lips from being together
She said I'm never ever ever ever ever ever
Ever ever ever ever ever ever ever
Yeah, I'm never ever ever ever ever ever
Ever ever ever ever ever ever ever
Ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever
Gonna unglue my lips from being together
To say the least
My mother thinks
I'll be an awful clutcher
'Cause I spill things from stirring 'em too quickly
I'm far too loud
It's like, as soon as I've got an opinion
It just has to come out
I laugh at stupid things
Just 'cause they tickle me
And, sometimes I wish
Sometimes I wish I was like Mariella
She got some prittstick
And she glued her lips together
So she never had to speak
Never had to speak
Never had to speak
People used to say she's as quiet as a mouse
She just doesn't make a peep
She marched to her wardrobe
And she threw away the colour
Because wearing black looks mysterious
But it didn't impress her mother
She wanted to dress her baby
In patterns and flowers
But Mariella just crossed her arms
And so she cried for hours
Mariella, Mariella
My pretty baby girl
Unglue your lips from being together and
And wear some pink and pearls
You can have your friends 'round
And they can stay for tea
Won't you just try to fit in please
Do this for me
But Mariella just crossed her arms
As she walked up the stairs
And she went into her bedroom
And she sat on her bed
And she looked in the mirror
And she thought to herself
"If I wanna play, I can play with me
If I wanna think, I'll think in my head"
At school, Mariella didn't have many friends
Yeah, the girls they all looked at her
And they thought she was quite strange
And the boys they're not really into girls at that age
And the teachers, they thought Mariella was just going through a phase.
But Mariella just smiled as she skipped down the road
Because she knew all the secrets in her world
Yes, she always got the crossword puzzles right everyday
And she could do the alphabet backwards
Without making any mistakes
Mariella, Mariella
Pretty, pretty girl
Mariella, Mariella
Happy in your own little world
Happy in her own little world
And she said
Yeah, I'm never ever ever ever ever ever
Ever ever ever ever ever ever ever
Yeah, I'm never ever ever ever ever ever
Ever ever ever ever ever ever ever
Yeah, I'm never ever ever ever ever ever
Ever ever ever ever ever ever ever
Gonna unglue my lips from being together
She said I'm never ever ever ever ever ever
Ever ever ever ever ever ever ever
Yeah, I'm never ever ever ever ever ever
Ever ever ever ever ever ever ever
Ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever
Gonna unglue my lips from being together
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This song is def a twin to "Unfair" (a song she has been quoted as saying is about falling in love with someone who is already in a relationship) so it is presumably about the same person. Given the references to buying an apartment and not being able to see her love interest "after tonight," it's most likely that she's moving away and she'll "wait a day to break the bad news" (i.e. notifying him that she's leaving once she's already gone).
And, of course, the fact that she sees in him a fellow "idealist" and "dreamer" (terms commonly given to people with the INFP personality on the Myers–Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI)) portends that she'll always be left wondering if they would've been perfect together.
Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
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"Fast car" is kind of a continuation of Bruce Springsteen's "Born to Run." It has all the clawing your way to a better life, but in this case the protagonist never makes it with her love; in fact she is dragged back down by him.
There is still an amazing amount of hope and will in the lyrics; and the lyrics themselve rank and easy five. If only music was stronger it would be one of those great radio songs that you hear once a week 20 years after it was released. The imagery is almost tear-jerking ("City lights lay out before us", "Speeds so fast felt like I was drunk"), and the idea of starting from nothing and just driving and working and denigrating yourself for a chance at being just above poverty, then losing in the end is just painful and inspiring at the same time.
Dreamwalker
Silent Planet
Silent Planet
I think much like another song “Anti-Matter” (that's also on the same album as this song), this one is also is inspired by a horrifying van crash the band experienced on Nov 3, 2022. This, much like the other track, sounds like it's an extension what they shared while huddled in the wreckage, as they helped frontman Garrett Russell stem the bleeding from his head wound while he was under the temporary effects of a concussion. The track speaks of where the mind goes at the most desperate & desolate of times, when it just about slips away to all but disconnect itself, and the aftermath.
Mountain Song
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction
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."
Love this song! It' so quirky - and sometimes totally nuts (esp the end!) it makes me wnat to dance in circles...hahaha....
Its about conforming, and not conforming...