So this has been.my favorite song of OTEP's since it came out in 2004, and I always thought it was a song about a child's narrative of suffering in an abusive Christian home. But now that I am revisiting the lyrics, I am seeing something totally new.
This song could be gospel of John but from the perspective of Jesus.
Jesus was NOT having a good time up to and during the crucifixion. Everyone in the known world at the time looked to him with fear, admiration or disgust and he was constantly being asked questions. He spoke in "verses, prophesies and curses". He had made an enemy of the state, and believed the world was increasingly wicked and fallen from grace, or that he was in the "mouth of madness".
The spine of atlas is the structure that allows the titan to hold the world up. Jesus challenged the state and in doing so became a celebrated resistance figure. It also made him public enemy #1.
All of this happened simply because he was doing his thing, not because of any agenda he had or strategy.
And then he gets scourged (storm of thorns)
There are some plot holes here but I think it's an interesting interpretation.
Yeah
I like it when the girls stop by in the summer
Do you remember? Do you remember?
When we met that summer?
New Kids On The Block had a bunch of hits
Chinese food makes me sick
And I think it's fly when girls stop by
For the summer, for the summer
I like girls that wear Abercrombie & Fitch
I'd take her if I had one wish
But she's been gone since that summer
Since that summer
Hip Hop, marmalade, spic and span
Met you one summer and it all began
You're the best girl that I ever did see
The great Larry Bird, jersey 33
When you take a sip, you buzz like a hornet
Billy Shakespeare wrote a whole bunch of sonnets
Call me Willy Whistle 'cause I can't speak, baby
Something in your eyes went and drove me crazy
Now I can't forget you and it makes me mad
Left one day and never came back
Stayed all summer then went back home
Macauly Culkin wasn't Home Alone
Fell deep in love but now we ain't speaking
Michael J. Fox was Alex P. Keaton
When I met you, I said my name was Rich
You look like a girl from Abercrombie & Fitch
New Kids On The Block had a bunch of hits
Chinese food makes me sick
And I think it's fly when girls stop by
For the summer, for the summer
I like girls that wear Abercrombie & Fitch
I'd take her if I had one wish
But she's been gone since that summer
Since that summer
Cherry Pez, Coke Crush, Rock Stud, Boogie
Used to hate school, so I had to play hookie
Always been hip to the B-boy style
Known to act wild and make a girl smile
Love New Edition and the Candy Girl
Remind me of you because you rock my world
You come from Georgia where the peaches grow
They drink lemonade and speak real slow
You love hip hop and rock and roll
Dad took off when you were four years old
There was a good man named Paul Revere
I feel much better, baby, when you're near
You love Dun Dip and cherry Coke
I like the way you laugh when I tell a joke
When I met you, I said my name was Rich
You look like a girl from Abercrombie & Fitch
New Kids On The Block had a bunch of hits
Chinese food makes me sick
And I think it's fly when girls stop by
For the summer, for the summer
I like girls that wear Abercrombie & Fitch
I'd take her if I had one wish
But she's been gone since that summer
Since that summer
In the summertime, girls got it going on
Shake and wiggle to a hip hop song
Summertime girls are the kind I like
I'll steal your honey like I stole your bike
Boogaloo Shrimp and Pogo sticks
My mind takes me back there oh so quick
Let you off the hook like my man Mr. Limpet
Think about that summer and I bug 'cause I miss it
Like The Color Purple, macaroni and cheese
Ruby red slippers and a bunch of trees
Call you up but what's the use?
I like Kevin Bacon but I hate Footloose
Came in the door, I said it before
Think I'm over you but I'm really not sure
When I met you, I said my name was Rich
You look like a girl from Abercrombie & Fitch
New Kids On The Block had a bunch of hits
Chinese food makes me sick
And I think it's fly when girls stop by
For the summer, for the summer
I like girls that wear Abercrombie & Fitch
I'd take her if I had one wish
But she's been gone since that summer
Since that summer
In the summer girls come and summer girls go
Some are worthwhile and some are so-so
Summer girls come and summer girls go
Some are worthwhile and some are so-so
Summertime girls got it going on
Shake and wiggle to a hip hop song
Summertime girls are the kind I like
I'll steal your honey like I stole your bike
New Kids On The Block had a bunch of hits
Chinese food makes me sick
And I think it's fly when girls stop by
For the summer, for the summer
I like girls that wear Abercrombie & Fitch
I'd take her if I had one wish
But she's been gone since that summer
Since that summer
I like it when the girls stop by in the summer
Do you remember? Do you remember?
When we met that summer?
New Kids On The Block had a bunch of hits
Chinese food makes me sick
And I think it's fly when girls stop by
For the summer, for the summer
I like girls that wear Abercrombie & Fitch
I'd take her if I had one wish
But she's been gone since that summer
Since that summer
Hip Hop, marmalade, spic and span
Met you one summer and it all began
You're the best girl that I ever did see
The great Larry Bird, jersey 33
When you take a sip, you buzz like a hornet
Billy Shakespeare wrote a whole bunch of sonnets
Call me Willy Whistle 'cause I can't speak, baby
Something in your eyes went and drove me crazy
Now I can't forget you and it makes me mad
Left one day and never came back
Stayed all summer then went back home
Macauly Culkin wasn't Home Alone
Fell deep in love but now we ain't speaking
Michael J. Fox was Alex P. Keaton
When I met you, I said my name was Rich
You look like a girl from Abercrombie & Fitch
New Kids On The Block had a bunch of hits
Chinese food makes me sick
And I think it's fly when girls stop by
For the summer, for the summer
I like girls that wear Abercrombie & Fitch
I'd take her if I had one wish
But she's been gone since that summer
Since that summer
Cherry Pez, Coke Crush, Rock Stud, Boogie
Used to hate school, so I had to play hookie
Always been hip to the B-boy style
Known to act wild and make a girl smile
Love New Edition and the Candy Girl
Remind me of you because you rock my world
You come from Georgia where the peaches grow
They drink lemonade and speak real slow
You love hip hop and rock and roll
Dad took off when you were four years old
There was a good man named Paul Revere
I feel much better, baby, when you're near
You love Dun Dip and cherry Coke
I like the way you laugh when I tell a joke
When I met you, I said my name was Rich
You look like a girl from Abercrombie & Fitch
New Kids On The Block had a bunch of hits
Chinese food makes me sick
And I think it's fly when girls stop by
For the summer, for the summer
I like girls that wear Abercrombie & Fitch
I'd take her if I had one wish
But she's been gone since that summer
Since that summer
In the summertime, girls got it going on
Shake and wiggle to a hip hop song
Summertime girls are the kind I like
I'll steal your honey like I stole your bike
Boogaloo Shrimp and Pogo sticks
My mind takes me back there oh so quick
Let you off the hook like my man Mr. Limpet
Think about that summer and I bug 'cause I miss it
Like The Color Purple, macaroni and cheese
Ruby red slippers and a bunch of trees
Call you up but what's the use?
I like Kevin Bacon but I hate Footloose
Came in the door, I said it before
Think I'm over you but I'm really not sure
When I met you, I said my name was Rich
You look like a girl from Abercrombie & Fitch
New Kids On The Block had a bunch of hits
Chinese food makes me sick
And I think it's fly when girls stop by
For the summer, for the summer
I like girls that wear Abercrombie & Fitch
I'd take her if I had one wish
But she's been gone since that summer
Since that summer
In the summer girls come and summer girls go
Some are worthwhile and some are so-so
Summer girls come and summer girls go
Some are worthwhile and some are so-so
Summertime girls got it going on
Shake and wiggle to a hip hop song
Summertime girls are the kind I like
I'll steal your honey like I stole your bike
New Kids On The Block had a bunch of hits
Chinese food makes me sick
And I think it's fly when girls stop by
For the summer, for the summer
I like girls that wear Abercrombie & Fitch
I'd take her if I had one wish
But she's been gone since that summer
Since that summer
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Ave Grave
Thee More Shallows
Thee More Shallows
Love in a Vacuum
'Til Tuesday
'Til Tuesday
Well, in my opinion this song is about being a young & maybe a little naive &/or introverted girl and finding yourself loving a man who is at first very charming, carefree & outgoing, and seems at first to be without limits, as in
"There was a time
you opened up every doorway
you didn't mind if everything
wasn't your way"
then that man starts to gradually become more introverted & shows their more possessive/obsessive side to you as the relationship progresses, even while they keep up the appearance of being carefree & outgoing to everyone else,
"Don't pull away
that goes against what you told me
I look in your eyes
I realize what you've sold me
is love in a vacuum"
so you confront them about the way they're acting and of course they deny it,
"I think you've changed
but you insist that
that's not true"
quite possibly they are an addict of some sort, my guess would be cocaine, &/or showing very obsessive behavior towards you (early on in the video for this song we see the man hanging a picture up, it is a very large portrait of Aimee & it is prominently displayed in his/their apartment for the duration of the song), thus their "love in a vacuum",
"You look so strange, so distant
that you're hardly you
Now I can see
how you have been acting different
You say it's me
but I know
that it isn't
it's love in a vacuum"
but still you are in love with them and don't want to leave them and you know that they are truly in love with you and they don't want you to leave them either, maybe they are convinced you can save them from themself, maybe they are so broken that the possibility of an overdose &/or suicide attempt is very real and you want to get through to them that their behavior not only dangerous but it is also just pissing you off and if they don't wise up they run the risk of loosing you, as in the lines
"You will be lonely
if you leave me alone", so you want to save them but can't get through to them due to the addiction &/or emotional problems they have,
"Love in a vacuum
and that's not enough
love in a vacuum
You will be lonely
you'll be the only one who feels this way
You will be lonely
if you leave me alone
You will be lonely
you'll be the only one who feels this way
it's just not enough"
you want them to understand that the love they are giving you is not enough when it is filtered through the vacuum of their drug addiction &/or emotional impairment,
"You will be lonely
you'll be the only one who feels this way
it's just not enough
and just wait
you will be lonely
Love in a vacuum
Love in a vacuum
and that's not enough
Love in a vacuum".
'Love In A Vacuum' for me is a hauntingly truthful acute argument on the loneliness of obsession and almost inevitable loss of love that follows people who are broken in some way or another; the obsessives, the coke heads, the drunks, addicts or the just-plain-old emotionally broken; a razor sharp, lyrically driven, deceptively poppy, yet ultimately-depressing-in-the-best-way song.
Quintessential Aimee Mann.
Spirit Within
Bertoldi Brothers
Bertoldi Brothers
Warren wanted a Beach Boys thing for this one, and Carl Wilson and Billy Hinsche came in, with Carl arranging the vocal parts. The other harmony vocalists (credited as the "Gentlemen Boys") were Jackson Browne, J.D. Souther, Zevon's longtime backers Waddy Wachtel and Jorge Calderon, and Linda Rondstadt/Stone Poneys guitarist Kenny Edwards.
Corpse I Fell In Love With
Gadjits, The
Gadjits, The
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.
Techno Ted
Audioslave
Audioslave
Techno Ted may be a person who caused Chris incredible emotional pain & trepidation as well as moments of peace & happiness but now is removed and awaiting his fate. Darling may be a different person who is also free of him and can live her life free of Ted's tyranny. "In between all the laughing, and daydreams ... lies: a desert of truth" Lies are like a desert or the omission of Truth: Where there were Lies then Truth was absent. The song, "Techno Ted", may be a cathartic celebration of the downfall of this person.
hahahahahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh why didn't this win a grammy