This is about bronies. They communicate by stomping.
The future teaches you to be alone
The present to be afraid and cold
"So if I can shoot rabbits then I can shoot fascists"
Bullets for your brain today
But we'll forget it all again
Monuments put from pen to paper
Turns me into a gutless wonder
And if you tolerate this then your children will be next
And if you tolerate this then your children will be next
Will be next, will be next, will be next
Gravity keeps my head down
Or is it maybe shame
At being so young and being so vain
Holes in your head today
But I'm a pacifist
I've walked La Ramblas but not with real intent
And if you tolerate this then your children will be next
And if you tolerate this then your children will be next
Will be next, will be next, will be next, yeah will be next
And on the street tonight
An old man plays with newspaper cuttings of his glory days
And if you tolerate this then your children will be next
And if you tolerate this then your children will be next
Will be next, will be next, will be next
The present to be afraid and cold
"So if I can shoot rabbits then I can shoot fascists"
Bullets for your brain today
But we'll forget it all again
Monuments put from pen to paper
Turns me into a gutless wonder
And if you tolerate this then your children will be next
And if you tolerate this then your children will be next
Will be next, will be next, will be next
Gravity keeps my head down
Or is it maybe shame
At being so young and being so vain
Holes in your head today
But I'm a pacifist
I've walked La Ramblas but not with real intent
And if you tolerate this then your children will be next
And if you tolerate this then your children will be next
Will be next, will be next, will be next, yeah will be next
And on the street tonight
An old man plays with newspaper cuttings of his glory days
And if you tolerate this then your children will be next
And if you tolerate this then your children will be next
Will be next, will be next, will be next
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More Featured Meanings
Bron-Y-Aur Stomp
Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin
Holiday
Bee Gees
Bee Gees
@[Diderik:33655] "Your a holiday!" Was a popular term used in the 50s/60s to compliment someone on their all around. For example, not only are they beautiful, but they are fun and kind too ... just an all around "holiday".
I think your first comment is closer to being accurate. The singer/song writers state "Millions of eyes can see, yet why am i so blind!? When the someone else is me, its unkind its unkind". I believe hes referring to the girl toying with him and using him. He wants something deeper with her, thats why he allows himself to be as a puppet (even though for her fun and games) as long as it makes her happy. But he knows deep down that she doesnt really want to be serious with him and thats what makes him.
Just A Little Lovin'
Dusty Springfield
Dusty Springfield
I don't think it's necessarily about sex. It's about wanting to start the day with some love and affection. Maybe a warm cuddle. I'm not alone in interpreting it that way! For example:
"'Just a Little Lovin’ is a timeless country song originally recorded by Eddy Arnold in 1954. The song, written by Eddie Miller and Jimmy Campbell, explores the delicate nuances of love and showcases Arnold’s emotive vocals. It delves into the universal theme of love and how even the smallest gesture of affection can have a profound impact on our lives." https://oldtimemusic.com/the-meaning-behind-the-song-just-a-little-lovin-by-eddy-arnold/
Amazing
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran tells a story of unsuccessfully trying to feel “Amazing.” This track is about the being weighed down by emotional stress despite valiant attempts to find some positivity in the situation. This track was written by Ed Sheeran from the perspective of his friend. From the track, we see this person fall deeper into the negative thoughts and slide further down the path of mental torment with every lyric.
Plastic Bag
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
“Plastic Bag” is a song about searching for an escape from personal problems and hoping to find it in the lively atmosphere of a Saturday night party. Ed Sheeran tells the story of his friend and the myriad of troubles he is going through. Unable to find any solutions, this friend seeks a last resort in a party and the vanity that comes with it.
“I overthink and have trouble sleepin’ / All purpose gone and don’t have a reason / And there’s no doctor to stop this bleedin’ / So I left home and jumped in the deep end,” Ed Sheeran sings in verse one. He continues by adding that this person is feeling the weight of having disappointed his father and doesn’t have any friends to rely on in this difficult moment. In the second verse, Ed sings about the role of grief in his friend’s plight and his dwindling faith in prayer. “Saturday night is givin’ me a reason to rely on the strobe lights / The lifeline of a promise in a shot glass, and I’ll take that / If you’re givin’ out love from a plastic bag,” Ed sings on the chorus, as his friend turns to new vices in hopes of feeling better.
I think the song meaning has 2 sides, 1 about the civil war. The other is a more general message about: "If you don't step up for your ideal's and fight the wrongs in the world you will just pass away and the wrongs will move on to the next generation without change" So it's about finding the courage to change the world around you to make a beter future
@entropy125 Definitely the true meaning of the song is how our apathy allows the "wrongs" in the world happen evetually coming back to us and our descendents.
Before WWII communism was very popular with the left leaning intellectual elite. They saw fascism as a huge threat and thought that by joining the communists in the Spain civil war they could prevent fascism from spreading, help the world, build a utopia, etc.
Needless to say, they were fairly naive. Many went to fight the fascists without any concept of how horrible it would be. So you had these left leaning university grad intellectuals (like Austin) who had only fired rifles when hunting, enlisting to be fighters and ambulance drivers in Spain. Hence the "if I can shoot rabbits then I can shoot fascists".
Only once they got there did they start to realize that the communists were just as much puppets controlled by Russia as the fascists were controlled by Germany & Italy (in fact maybe even more so).
They were young and vain and thought they could win. The fascists were much better equipped and organized and probably had more local support. Many returned to England and America broken men. Hence the line "Gravity keeps my head down Or is it maybe shame At being so young and being so vain". Notice how they had to keep their heads down to avoid being shot.
Many had been pacifists in college, they were idealistic and unprepared. The war wasn't real to them, until they arrived and saw their friends killed. Hence, "Holes in your head today But I'm a pacifist I've walked La Ramblas But not with real intent"
The war became a prelude to World War II, in which oddly enough, the victorious Spanish fascists remained neutral. “Bullets for your brain today But we'll forget it all again”
Brilliant analogy!<br /> Regardless of the songs true meaning, to me it makes me think of trying to do better in my own life in order to protect the next generation (or my children) from experiencing any hardship or undue pain.<br /> Not as deep but still as poignant :-)<br />
A few things that are a bit off the mark there, firstly the majority of volunteers from wales were not part of the 'intellectual elite' or 'left leaning students'. <br /> They tended to be from strong working class unions, often miners. the line "if I can shoot rabbits I can shoot facists" was origionally from the book Miners Against Fascism. <br /> <br /> The facists did not have more local support than the republican/communist/anarchist side, most of franco's troops were nonlocal mercinarys brought in from outside spain and when the facist troops launched their coup it wasnt an organised army that stopped them in their tracks it was ordinary people rising up across spain.<br /> <br /> Whilst some people who went to spain thought of themselves as communist, many were socialist, socialdemocratic, anarchist, or just commited to anti-facism and pro working class struggle. The majority of the spainish replublican side at the start of the war were not communists. It was only later that the communists took power over the reblican side (nearly leading to all out streetwarfare between the stalinists and the trotskyist/anarchists in 'La Ramblas' -which has a lot to do with the meaning of that line imo). The reason for there power was due to the fact that whilst hitler and Mussolini aided the facists, the democratic powers in europe refused to aid the rebllicans leaving russia as their only real source of weapons and munitions. <br /> <br /> It's fair to say that the revolution in spain was defeated twice, firstly by the stalinist communists and then after by franco's facists.<br /> <br />
@gongozolo What an excellent analysis. Spot on, it explains and clarifies everything in this hermetic text. Thanx, gonzolo!
DarKEther is right, the Civil War is a lot more complex than it seems. THe only reason communists took over was because of the Nationalists being supported by Germany and Italy.<br /> <br /> I think that the message of the song is that everyone looked aside when the war started except for the brigadist. If the majority of people included governments (Britain, France etc.) had helped the Republicans who were elected by the people then it would have been a different story.<br /> <br /> There is a special place in hell for those who remain aside as Dante said.
@gongozolo ... like a true fascist twisting the words<br /> The song is against fascism. Unlike those idealists who went to Spain to fight the evil of fascism despite "only hunting rabbits" without any military experience, many stayed at home thinking fascism will not come to their home and their children will not be next. Hitler and Mussolini came few years later and made british children "the next". <br /> As for "Gravity keeps my head down, Or is it maybe shame", G.Britain was secretly supporting Spanish fascists against "lefties" as a mean of keeping the british business interests in Europe (against rising socialism and communism).
@gongozolo <br /> this beautiful song is dedicate to INTERNATIONAL BRIGADISTS, young common people who changed shooting rabbits at the country side for shooting fascists in the battlefields of Spain
@gongozolo Our local Veterans for Peace Chapter is named after Clarence Kailin who was a young man who went to Spain to fight the fascists with his friends. <br /> <br /> isthmus.com/archive/from-the-archives/unrepentant-red-clarence-kailin-looks-back-on-a-lifetime-of-fighting-the-good-fight/
@gongozolo Our local Veterans for Peace Chapter is named after Clarence Kailin who was a young man who went to Spain to fight the fascists with his friends. <br /> <br /> isthmus.com/archive/from-the-archives/unrepentant-red-clarence-kailin-looks-back-on-a-lifetime-of-fighting-the-good-fight/
"If you tolerate this your children will be next" is a phrase applicable to many events in history. The British government effectively supported Franco by pretending there was a "blockade" of Spain and no arms could be provided "to either side". The Fascists got arms, the opponents did not. Who cares it was only Spanish peasants who were being killed and only Spanish communists who were being tortured...and then within three years it was our turn. You can interpret this any way you life of course, but we used to criticise other countries for imprisoning people without trial. We never thought our own allies would torture people and our government would applaud them. When you look at Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo the phrase "if you tolerate this your children could be next" should inform our response. When I mentioned this song to an American friend she responded "we have plenty of manic street preachers over here!"
@user1951 Absolutely right.
We done this song when we were learning about the Spanish Civil War in History It's about a farmer joining the International Brigades, which were set up by the Russians and fighting the Nationalists "so if i can shoot rabbits then i can shoot facists" The title is from a Republican poster at the time calling for people from other countries to volunteer to fight Franco and the Nationalists. But in the end the British government secretly helped the Nationalists and turned Spain Facists just to protect buisness interests and to stop the war spreading.
I think this is lamenting how idle and weak people today have become. I don't think it's actually about the Spanish Civil War, but simply references it to get the point across, since many people who volunteered to fight back then gave up comfortable lives to do so.
'Bullets for your brain today But we'll forget it all again Monuments put from pen to paper Turns me into a gutless wonder'
This is saying how easily past wars become irrelevant. People in countries all over the world have fought against tyranny in many different forms, but once it's all over, we usually just put up a monument or two as a reminder of the sacrifices made and move on. It's little more than lip service, because few of us today would be willing to make the same sacrifices if it were inconvenient for us.
'Gravity keeps my head down Or is it maybe shame At being so young and being so vain'
This is saying how the majority of the younger generations today are far too superficial and materialistic. Maybe it's because we're so privileged now, but things like civil rights, freedom, justice, etc. are really not that high on our agendas anymore.
'Holes in your head today But I'm a pacifist I've walked La Ramblas But not with real intent'
I guess this is saying that even though you're being shot at and having to dodge bullets, the singer does nothing because he claims to be a pacifist. He's walked La Ramblas as a tourist rather than a fighter.
'And on the street tonight an old man plays With newspaper cuttings of his glory days'
Probably about how the older people who fought in past wars are now taken for granted.
'And if you tolerate this Then your children will be next And if you tolerate this Then your children will be next Will be next, will be next, will be next'
If we tolerate the bad things that happen around us, which we generally do, our children will be the ones that suffer.
I found out that the phrase "if you tollerate this then your children will be next" was used by the communists during the spanish cival war about the blitzkrieg tactics that the nazi's and mussolini used.
I came across a Manic Street Preachers website that included a track-by-track description. This song was described as "a tribute to not only to one of George Orwell's short stories, but a song about honoring the past and hope for the future." I do believe this to be true. It does seem that way to me.
I have to disagree with gongozolo on a couple of points. The International Brigades actually did have a lot of popular support in Spain, as they were the side that was democratically elected fighting Fascist rebels. As further evidence of this, it has been remarked that were it not for foreign intervention, the Republicans would have won. Also, I disagree on the fact that they were "puppets" of the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union did not send any soldiers, only military advisors, and thus had no solid influence in Spain. The fascists, on the other had, were given troops and supplies by Hitler and Mussolini.
Revolution, or at least overthrowing opression in the form of war, using spain as an example. This kinda is shown in the awesome guitar, how the sound gets bigger, then smaller, like someone rising up, but then being crushed maybe.
'And on the street tonight an old man plays With newspaper cuttings of his glory days'
i love this lyric. these guys are so hopeless.