| Belle & Sebastian – Piazza, New York Catcher Lyrics | 4 years ago |
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@[thoughts3:32597] I love this interpretation - it's very clever, but I don't think it's likely what was intended from Murdoch's perspective (or that it's completely supported by the text). I believe Murdoch has said the song is about his wife (Marisa Privitera), which is why the narrator refers to the second character as "Miss Private" - a play on her name. They weren't married yet and she was living in America while he was a touring musician, hence the references to baseball, American cities and traveling. I think the references to "eloping", "talking in hotel rooms", "virginal" bedrooms etc. are more likely to be, as others have noted, some evidence that they're sneaking around a bit because one, or both, of them are not entirely single. (I don't know if this lines up with what happened in real life between Murdoch and his wife. It wouldn't be shocking, but it could also just be a bit of romantic flair.) I think the clandestine relationship reading is further supported though by the reference in the last stanza referencing "Walk Away Renee," which is a song by the Left Banke about one of the band members secretly being in love with the bass player's girlfriend. But, again, I love this interpretation and it's the sign of a brilliant writer to be able to craft lyrics deep enough to inspire several plausible readings. |
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| Bright Eyes – I'll Be Your Friend Lyrics | 8 years ago |
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The refrain of "I'll be your friend - you just haven't made me yet" is a play on the term "making friends" with someone, but I think it's also probably a play on the idea of literally creating a friend, "making" one, and also using "make" in the sense of "force" - "I'll be your friend - you just haven't forced me to yet." I that sense, I think the idea that they aren't friends "yet" (seemingly, predicting that they "will" be someday) is probably kind of cynical. The verses of the song don't exactly describe what sounds like a healthy relationship between two people and I think it should be presumed that it isn't very realistic to "make" a friend, or make someone be your friend, in such circumstances, even if you might want them to be. |
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| Rilo Kiley – Does He Love You? Lyrics | 9 years ago |
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I think all three characters lived in California at one time. (Let's call them "narrator," "husband" and "friend" for clarity.) We don't know exactly what happened, but we can intuit that the narrator and her friend were quite close and that both of them were sort of "free spirits" who wouldn't have anticipated getting tied down to a man. But then the friend and her future husband move across the country (to New York, I suppose?) to start these new, more "adult", lives, and the narrator is left alone in California. The narrator evidently remains in contact with the husband and it seems possible that this is a continuation of some sort of relationship that had started in California. It also seems like the narrator spends a lot of time trying to justify what a bad friend she's being by both questioning whether the husband actually loves her friend (the name of the song IS "Does He Love You?") and also questioning her friend's intentions, (notice how she says "and now you love him," suggesting she didn't before she had his baby, and also how she sort of sardonically says: "I guess it all worked out" and "at last, you are complete.") Interestingly, we don't really know what might have happened if the friend hadn't found out about the long-distance, secret relationship between the narrator and her husband. The husband has definitely at least said that he's planning on leaving her friend and moving back to California and, toward the beginning of the song anyway, the narrator does seem to at least think this is possible and that he really does love her. (Though I think we're probably supposed to assume that the husband is a cad and the narrator was being willfully naive.) Regardless, the situation is blown up when the friend overhears her husband on the phone with the narrator and pieces together that his "distance" can be attributed to his feelings for the narrator. (I think we can presume that the friend has pretty immediately put the pieces together about who her husband was talking to and why.) The friend then calls the narrator and their conversation takes up the last section of the song. Interestingly, the friend doesn't start with accusing the narrator of betraying her. Instead, she starts with admitting that maybe her intentions for her husband weren't entirely pure to begin with and then tries to convince the narrator that, even if they weren't, they are now. (Though this might still be a bit unreliable and we can presume the investment in the child has something to do with this.) After making her case to the narrator that, basically, this is all more important to her than it is to the narrator, she then reveals the evidence about the overheard phone conversation that lets the narrator know she's been found out. The narrator knows she's been caught in the worst situation possible, and her friend has her over a barrel about the whole child thing, so she basically concedes, but she's seething beneath the surface. The "good friend" line is clearly bitter in this context and "I am flawed if I'm not free" is a thinly-veiled insult about how her friend used to describe herself. She then ends the conversation by, at first, appearing to re-assure her friend that her husband will never leave her, because that's what a "good friend" would do in that situation. But then she delivers what I think might be the most important, and cutting, line of the song by taking that "re-assurance" and spinning it into both self-pity and a subtle accusation about what the future probably holds for this couple: actually, he might leave you, he's just never going to leave you "for me." |
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| The National – Pink Rabbits Lyrics | 11 years ago |
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I think the action of the song might not actually take place in LA. The fact that he "only thinks about LA" when the sound kicks out seems to indicate that he isn't there anymore, but used to be. Also, the song that immediately precedes this one on the album, "Humiliation," indicates that he lost a job "fishing LA women out of pools" and contemplates the "little life" he'll be leaving, suggesting that he's leaving California. The song immediately after "Pink Rabbits," "Hard to Find," then starts by saying that the "glowing lights" are "really not that far away, I could be there in a day," indicating that the narrator might be in New York for at least the last two songs on the album. (I believe Matt Berninger does keep homes in both LA and New York.) This would also make more sense for "Pink Rabbits" as, though it does rain in LA, it's far more likely for rain to be "coming down so fast its frightening" in New York. With that said, I think this song is part of a larger story being told on the album about a narrator who drives his partner away while in Los Angeles looking for "trouble." (See: "Jenny I am in trouble" on "This is the Last Time" and then "I'm in the city you hated" while his partner is "back in the South" on "Slipped".) "Pink Rabbits" is the reunion song. He's thinking about her when he turns around and "there she is." He's pretty self-deprecating about how he felt in her absence and then makes reference to a voodoo doll to explain how he was still able to "feel pain over a distance." She said their separation would be relatively painless. It wasn't that at all. |
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| Jens Lekman – Every Little Hair Knows Your Name Lyrics | 11 years ago |
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The meaning of this song, by itself, is pretty apparent. I think where it gets interesting is the song's placement on the album and its context. The album opens with a piano reprise of this song, though it's not truly a reprise, because you haven't actually heard the song yet. You hear this sparse, pretty melody, but don't know what it means yet. You then go through the rest of the album and hear Jens struggling with his break up, trying to make sense of love, and by the end of it, maybe coming around to finding some peace with it all. But then the last song comes up, and it's this one. You hear that melody again, but now it's accompanied by lyrics telling you that no matter what came before, it was all futile. No matter what he does or thinks or sings, it makes no difference. He can't forget the person that broke his heart. The next time you listen to the album and it starts with the piano melody, you understand. By teasing the song at the beginning of the album, he's basically letting you know: this is a foregone conclusion. Like secretly telling the reader on the first page how the story is going to end. He's going to work through this and try to figure it out, but by the end of the album he still won't be able to forget this person, because they have, literally, become a part of his body. They are with him through the entire album. |
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| Father John Misty – Now I'm Learning to Love the War Lyrics | 12 years ago |
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I think the title is probably a loose reference to "How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb." I think the song is calling out other musicians, especially those on the west coast, Seattle, etc., who might consider themselves very liberal with respect to issues like the environment. There is a huge amount of hypocrisy there and he's saying, in rather mocking and satirical tones, "try not to think about it how much it's hurting the environment for you to make music about things like saving the environment." Kind of the same thing with the painter in the second verse. Another profession where the practitioners tend to think of themselves as rather liberal and environmentally conscious but are actually doing more than their fair share to damage the earth just like everyone else. The irony, of course, is that he's doing the same thing. You can buy this song on the very vinyl he's talking about. He's admitting that he's part of that process... that he's jealous and vain and wasteful, but trying to at least be humble enough to recognize that he's just this ephemeral cog that's going to be decaying in the ground some day. |
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| The National – Gospel Lyrics | 12 years ago |
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I had always thought he was saying "and we'll play G.I. Blues" as in the Elvis Presley movie, and album/song of the same name. "G.I. Blues" is basically about how Elvis, playing, of course, a singer stuck with the US army in Germany, just wants to go back to America and sing. It's worth noting that Presley's character, like Presley, was stationed in "peace-time" Germany in the late 50's and was, therefore, not in much "real" danger. I had thought the narrator of the song was saying he wanted to play "G.I. Blues," as in play the movie, the album, or the song... or maybe that he wants to play at the action that takes place in the movie, where the narrator, as a "fighter" with no one to "fight" would rather be a "singer" and pursue a girl instead. The rest of the song seems to support that the narrator is trying to get away from the "fight" and that he just wants to spend time with his girl in a summer garden with magazines, lights, and icy drinks. The "can you tie my string" line seems to be him asking her to keep him safe... like tying a little kid's shoe string. Making it safe and secure. She needs to do this because the "killers" are calling on him to bring him back to the fight.... which would make him less "angelic"... less innocent. In the context of the album this seems to indicate that the narrator might act like a fighter or a "boxer," but that in reality he's just looking for a sanctuary to spend time with the woman he loves. This reading depends a lot on the line actually being "G.I. Blues," so if it's not, then I guess this is all just a rather larger coincidence. |
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| The Walkmen – We Can't Be Beat Lyrics | 12 years ago |
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I think this song is about changing your perception of the world, and your standards, as you get older. The narrator is clearly dismissing "perfection" and "golden dreams" (like being the Duke of Earl or the Pony Express) as unreasonable and unobtainable. Youthful wishes. Trying to achieve things you can't will only leave you lonely and unhappy. It seems to take the narrator "so long" to finally learn that the more important things in life are truth and love and that's when the song breaks into its upbeat outro. The narrator can't be beat at this point, because he isn't trying to obtain anything that he doesn't already have. He's happy and content. The reason he can't be beat isn't because he's invincible. It's because he isn't competing anymore. |
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| First Aid Kit – New Year's Eve Lyrics | 12 years ago |
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Yeah, I agree. That's the way I wrote it, but the site isn't actually using the lyrics I submitted. As you'll see at the bottom it says "Lyrics powered by LyricFind." So I'm not even sure why it's crediting me. I agree with your interpretation too. There is definitely an element of recognizing that we sometimes fool ourselves into thinking certain things will symbolically serve as our salvation... the thing that will "save us." (New Year's Eve possibly being the ultimate false symbol of hope for change.) It's comforting to think that something in your life can serve in that role. But by the end of the song there is a recognition that it's only false pretense as she flips the line from "that's" what's going to save me to "what's" going to save me. |
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| Okkervil River – Solo (Sandy Denny) Lyrics | 12 years ago |
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Solo, and sometimes, "so low" I think. A song about being a alone, and as a result, being "so low." |
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| Okkervil River – Show Yourself Lyrics | 12 years ago |
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I think "show yourself" might have double meaning in this song. The first would be what someone might yell out in a dark forest when they hear a sound and think someone is there: "show yourself!" The second would be what someone might recommend to another person in order to teach them how to do something: "I don't know, show yourself how to do it." As such, I think the song might be saying to both "show" (reveal) your true identity and to "show" (teach) yourself how to do things. Be proud and independent? |
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| Women – Eyesore Lyrics | 12 years ago |
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I think the first two lines might be: "spill and heat consumed both of the lights they were flashing white and ecru pale" A "spill" is a small stick or piece of paper used to light a candle (or anything else) from a fire. The first line is saying that two lights were lit using a spill. The second is saying one of the lights was flashing white and the other was flashing pale ecru. A couple other lines are bugging me, but on the whole you guys did a great job. This song is tough. |
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| Okkervil River – We Need a Myth Lyrics | 12 years ago |
| I'm really only looking at it from the point of view of the song's narrator. I don't think there is much disputing that the song analogizes religion and mythology. If anything, you might argue that the narrator has a bias against religion, but even there I'd disagree. He might not have the same reverence for it that others may, but I think ultimately he thinks it is a necessary part of humanity. | |
| Okkervil River – We Need a Myth Lyrics | 12 years ago |
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I believe the “we” in this song is humanity, and the song is generally about humanity’s requirement for “myths,” both fictional and religious in nature. The first movement starts off with the first types of “myths” most humans are introduced to as children: fairy tales. I don’t think there is a reference to any particular tale, just obstacles (bridges, cliffs, paths) that are typical in fantastical children’s stories. This shows from our earliest age, we’re looking for something more than what reality has to offer us. The next movement gets slightly more up-tempo and the narrator seems to have grown up and is looking to re-live the escapism that his childhood myths provided by looking for it in classical mythology (references to prophets, goddesses, and people brought back to life.) The narrator wants to see the world as it was when he was a child when he still “believed” something more than reality could exist and he was not inundated with “truth.” The narrator then makes reference to a traditional children’s story sometimes called the “The Red Velvet Ribbon” or the “The Red Thread” in which a lady’s head is only kept on by a red ribbon around her throat. Her husband unties the ribbon and her head falls off. At this point, the narrator knows that these myths are impossible and he is longing for the time when he still believed they could be true. (Likely why he tells the story in reverse. He wants to reconnect her head to her neck and forget her throat was slit, ie, innocence.) The narrator then seems to rue the current state of mythology, believing that all stories now are only re-hashed from older stories. They “steal some old reflections for their light.” He goes on further to give his observation of humanity as being overly disenchanted and needing more than ever to be uplifted by some new type of empowering fiction. The tempo of the song picks up even more as the narrator begins to discuss religion; sort of the ultimate “myth” that people believe in to escape reality. First he mentions Greek mythology by referencing the twins, Apollo and Artemis, the God and Goddess of the sun and moon, and then the River Lethe, one of the rivers surrounding the Greek underworld, which would cause those who entered it to forget everything they’ve ever known. The narrator then moves on to Christianity by referencing Jesus, who is about to walk into the Lethe, (thus, “before I forget”), who briefly touches upon peace, sacrifice, and forgiveness. The narrator then delivers his closing statement, which is that even though we as humans know the “truth” and have reality all around us, we need new mythology, via fiction or religion, now more than ever. It’s necessary, probably to protect ourselves from becoming overwhelmed by how harsh the world actually is. If we forget this, and become too obsessed with truth and reality, we’ll become less human. Thus, “we need a myth.” |
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| The National – City Middle Lyrics | 12 years ago |
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I saw the National play live in a small setting a couple years ago and someone yelled out for them to play City Middle. Matt (who had been drinking red wine out of a bottle the entire night) said, "that's a really beautiful song and these guys play it really, really well, but I just can't because... it makes me too fucking sad." So take that for what you will. |
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| Okkervil River – Blanket and Crib Lyrics | 12 years ago |
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I get the sense that the narrator is talking to a friend rather than a son... only because of the tone and other small things like the way he says "my mother," rather than "your grandmother." I think the friend has gotten in over his head in some kind of situation... I'm not sure that it's a relationship, it actually seems to be more like he's gotten himself into a social circle that may easily turn on him. ("Handshakes all around"... lots of references to "they" and "them" betraying him.) The narrator evidently thinks Phillip is being a bit naive and failing to see that they've "already traced a line across his throat" and are waiting outside his door with "sharpened knives." I also get the impression that the narrator's warning comes after Phillip has slighted him in some way... perhaps he's excluded the narrator from this potentially treacherous social circle. I get this mostly from the line "no matter what someone did"... which is followed by the story of his mother reminding him to remember the innocence in people. He then ends that story by saying, "so I thought that I would." This seems to me to be the whole reason for the warning, and for the song's existence. That rather than just being mad at Phillip, he tries to remember that everyone has this innate innocence, which you should try to help protect even when they don't particularly deserve it. |
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| The National – Conversation 16 Lyrics | 14 years ago |
| Nice reading of the silver city/silver girls line. I didn't know quite what to make of it, but that makes sense to me. | |
| The National – Conversation 16 Lyrics | 14 years ago |
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The zombie reference is metaphorical. He's afraid that he'll become a "zombie" in life. The verses (and a lot of the album) describes these really mundane, everyday rituals of family life and moving on into middle age. The narrator is just going with the flow: doing what is expected of him, not disappointing anyone, reading the script of his movie, keeping his shitty thoughts to himself and only telling his wife about them after she's asleep. It's making him turn into a "zombie" though... he's becoming less enthused about life, he's unable to express himself, going through the motions, becoming a "confident liar," etc. In the last verse he states all of the anti-zombie things he wants: to be romantic, to believe, to be safe, to continue loving his wife... but he's ultimately afraid he'll "eat her brains". He's afraid that the ritual of everyday life will strip him of his appealing aspects until he's unable to feel emotion (like a zombie) and cause him to do harm to the person he loves and wants the most (eat her brains). Because he's evil. |
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| Local Natives – Cubism Dream Lyrics | 14 years ago |
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I would actually think the opposite. Talking to a current girlfriend on skype... seems like she has gone abroad, likely Australia from the name drop. Realizes he doesn't love her anymore. First verse is kind of the initial phase, oh we'll keep up, we'll joke around, I really miss you. Second verse, time has gone on, things are becoming strained. I think you're really supposed to pay attentiont to the difference in the lines "we joked at how they talked so differently" (referring to Australians/indicating they're still on good terms) and "we spoke of how we talked so differently" (referring to themselves/the relationship becoming more strined). The last stanza seems to lead to the conclusion that he surprised her in Austalia by visiting, but I think it could just as easily be read that that's the day he actually broke her heart. One way or another it "proved what their love meant to him." |
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| Wolf Parade – Kissing The Beehive Lyrics | 14 years ago |
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I think there are two different things going on here, tied into a common theme. Both are singing about a "captain" figure. I think Dan is probably referring to God and his devotees and Spencer is more often referring to husbands and their wives. (I'm surprised that so much focus has been placed on God in prior discussions. I don't think the overt references to marriage should be dismissed as metaphorical.) When the devotees/wives turn their backs/cheat on God/their husbands, they're kissing the beehive. They're doing something they know will hurt them, but are doing it anyway, seemingly out of spite. There seems to be a general feeling that this cheating is sort of expected as those kissing the beehives are justifiably bitter for having been subjugated. It's not going to stop them from getting stung though, and the stinging seems to result in a kind of inevitable cultural decline. The fire in the hole seems to signal that the situation has come to a head, and that years of religious and domestic domineering has created an explosive cultural situation. |
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| M. Ward – Stars of Leo Lyrics | 15 years ago |
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There's something going on here with contrasts. Highs/lows. City/country. December/When the Stars of Leo are shining (which I assume mean's July). Sometimes he's high/happy/surrounded in love, like in the middle of July in the city. But it's only a matter of time until he slips back into where he's more comfortable, the first of December, the water from the wells back home, "the blue". |
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| Animal Collective – Brother Sport Lyrics | 15 years ago |
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I agree. Sounds to me like they are playing around with the way these lines meld in and out of eachother. your brother, sport your brother, sport your brother, support your brother support your brother support your brother |
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| The Walkmen – The Blue Route Lyrics | 15 years ago |
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I see self-reflection. Written in the second person, but I think the "you" is the narrator. In that sense I don't think of "what happened to you" as a positive or negative question. More of a sudden realization question. As if one day the narrator woke up, looked in the mirror, and said "man, what happened to you." |
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