| Sufjan Stevens – Sister Winter Lyrics | 6 years ago |
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I don't know if anyone's covered on this possibility, but as I listen to it again, I can't help thinking maybe this song is a story about what it's like being in an abusive relationship. The friends know *something* is wrong, but can't understand why the narrator would keep returning to his partner if so. They wonder what happened to his past warmth as it disappears in the emotional blizzard of a relationship with this "sister winter." Perhaps over Xmas his heart is about to burst from holding back all this time and pretending everything is okay. "Your strange imagination" could be the bizarre made-up accusations the abusive woman keeps concocting. And she threw away all his "gifts" because nothing he does for her will ever be good enough. Those of you who know what it's like to be the target of any kind of emotionally abusive person (not just a partner), maybe you get what I mean? |
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| Radiohead – No Surprises Lyrics | 10 years ago |
| Same interpretation here. The method is even touched on near the beginning of the song, where the "narrator" is more coherent before beginning to drift away. | |
| Stars – Dead Hearts Lyrics | 10 years ago |
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My view on this is similar to Avantan's, but a little different. To me, the song sounds like what I've imagined a therapy session might feel like. The therapist (?) is asking the patient to recount a dream she had ("Tell me everything that happened / Tell me everything you saw"). The dream has very simple symbolism to it. Symbolically in her dream, all the "kids" she once knew (people she grew up with in childhood, and perhaps kept growing with during early adulthood) are moving on with "lights in their eyes," leaving behind the one whose heart "died." (I don't know if it's intentional, but having a "dead heart" can be a rather apt description of Depression, depending on severity.) The 'therapist' (typically) asks her as a sort of reality check "Did you see the closing window? / Did you hear the slamming door?", meaning have they really exited your life completely? Are you truly sure you can't get back in touch? He also asks if they seemed "afraid" of her in the dream, but interestingly, she doesn't address the question. The people who moved on have probably done absolutely nothing wrong. They likely think the 'patient' fell out of touch for the same old reasons people usually do. But of course from her perspective they're still as dear to her as ever-- still "cares." Now, the 'therapist' gets candid and says (paraphrase this time): "I know you won't believe me but there are so many people like you out there" ("dead hearts are everywhere). He asks if she (in the dream, perhaps) "touched" or "held" them but she says they make her feel she's "falling down" (sounds to me like Depression again). He asks if her dream was especially vivid then ("Was there one you saw too clearly? / Did they seem too real to you?"), and she replies that they're all dead hearts. I wonder about the line "Now they're all dead hearts to you" though. I can't hear it in the song, so I don't know who's saying it... |
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| Stars – Dead Hearts Lyrics | 10 years ago |
| Your interpretation is very similar to mine, though I don't have APD. (I have Depression and Anxiety.) Maybe I'll do a separate post about it... | |
| Ducktails – Killin the Vibe Lyrics | 10 years ago |
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Doesn't look like I can edit, so I'll do a reply... I found an interview from 2009 in which Mondanile says the following: "I try to do more song-y things live; it's a hard balance. It's tough for me to figure out because my recordings are like, "Okay, I'm gonna record a few jams" and then go through them and make songs and then try to make them appear like songs, whereas I'm not really planning anything out in advance. I want it to be similar live but even more improvised. But yeah, there are people who are really into noise and this dark sort of attitude, or this thing where my name is kind of really lame I think -- I'm sure a lot of people think that. At the same time, it's kind of this little kid-type thing, and it reminds people of a cartoon, but it's like I don't want to play under my own name, and I think it's catchy and people will remember it. That's one of the reasons why I like it, but it's not like my favorite band name or anything. But I'm gonna stick with it and keep putting stuff out under that." http://www.tinymixtapes.com/features/ducktails Judging from this, I think I'm probably right. The "lame style" thing might even be about his band name. |
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| Ducktails – Killin the Vibe Lyrics | 10 years ago |
| Only just heard of this song, and now I can't decide if the lyrics are meant seriously, or if they're being repeated sarcastically. Perhaps as a complaint about being told to suppress one's feelings. (I'm leaning toward the latter but I don't really know the artist that well, so...) Any thoughts, people? | |
| Passion Pit – Carried Away Lyrics | 10 years ago |
| That's pretty much the impression I've got... | |
| Bruno Mars – Grenade Lyrics | 11 years ago |
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Whether the song is intended to give the perspective of a mentally disturbed stalker or not, the lyrics creep heck out of me, and I find the imagery nightmarish. Just my opinion here but it's one thing to feel you might endure all sorts of pain if it might in some way benefit your romantic interest, or keep you in a happy partnership. In a purely *metaphorical* sense, we're all willing to do that to some extent, and it might be reasonable to expect some minimum level of devotion from your partner, but grenade-catching? Head-knifing? A bullet through the brain? D: To be prepared to literally *mutilate* yourself is not healthy (unless it's in the heat of a life-or-death situation perhaps, but even then I probably wouldn't blame a person for not going so far). To *expect* that same kind of willingness from your partner is disturbingly unhinged. To try to send a *guilt trip* over the failure to share these gleeful inclinations to self-harm is ample cause to put a lot of distance between oneself and such a person, imo. |
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| Bruno Mars – Grenade Lyrics | 11 years ago |
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It sounds just plain unhealthy to me. As soon as I heard the lyrics I was thinking the same thing as you. Also, I don't think it's right to demand that kind of devotion from someone. He's acting as if her (reported) lack of a natural inclination to endure physical harm for him is a conscious choice, and she's essentially somehow "unfaithful" because of it. Also, you say she might have kissed him or said she "loved" him to appease him, but maybe she wasn't even trying to appease. Maybe she was cornered by the guy? Also, there are all sorts of ways someone can mean "I love you," and in addition, feelings can change or wane. I might say I "love" someone if s/he makes me laugh a lot or something. That certainly doesn't mean I'm *in love* with him/her. Alternatively, what if she loved him once but no longer does and Mr. Creepy Stalker can't get that through his head? I think that's the reading more cool-headed listeners are getting out of it... I don't care how charming he might be-- if a guy started saying stuff like that to me (and seriously meant it), my first inclination would be to run far, far away. |
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| Bruno Mars – Grenade Lyrics | 11 years ago |
| Wow. Sounds about accurate. Two *equally* creepy readings of a creepy song. (Note I'm not calling you creepy shyla-- just the song itself. If Mars was doing some kind of exposé of unhealthy ways of thinking about love it would be nice if he made that a little more clear...) | |
| Macklemore – Same Love Lyrics | 11 years ago |
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Being a religious individual I can see why you'd take offence to the lyrics of this song. Macklemore is unquestionably quite critical of religion in general and Christianity in particular. But I think you're reading too much into the section of the lyrics you quote there. He says he was taught that alternative viewpoint *in church.* I seems he's speaking from experience in that particular lyric, from what I can tell. Your church may not teach such ideals but evidently his *did,* so it hardly makes sense to say he's wrong when he's simply recounting what he was specifically told at a time when he, too, attended church. You claim he "preaches" lies but I'm not seeing anything one might fairly consider a "lie." I only see numerous instances where his opinion, life experience, or interpretation of historical events would differ from yours (and may be critical of yours). It's hardly fair to call someone a liar just because s/he doesn't share your worldview. Not sure why you bring up being "pro life." That's hardly relevant. The reference to holy water appears *symbolic* (of all Christianity) to me, but I suppose it could also be argued it's a reference specifically to Catholicism.** Again, I can understand you'd be offended by the reference (and the rest of the song in general), but he is not exactly singling out the Catholic church alone in his criticism just because he happens to use a symbol mostly associated with it at one point in the song. He also makes references to those religious reprogramming camps that attempt to "cure" gayness. Such institutions tend to be associated with *Evangelical* Christians. Aside from that, he questions/shows skepticism of modern interpretations of the Bible (the 3500 year old book bit), which I think most would agree is a reference to *all* Christians; and he talks about wars related to religion. That's not even referring exclusively to Christianity. **(Holy water is not only used in Catholic rituals, by the way. Eastern Orthodox traditions of Christianity employ it as well. Sort of like how incense might be found in all sorts of religious institutions, and particularly in Asian religions. On top of that, I wouldn't be surprised if there were emergent Christians out there nowadays that employed the concept in their practices as well.) I'm glad you can tolerate the presence of gays and enjoy their company, but based in my own experience with numerous gay friends and associates (ranging all across the spectrum from politically conscious and active to politically "unconscious" and tuned out) I find it very difficult to believe all that many would share your view that they are "cursed," or oppose gay marriage like you do. (Of course there are certainly gays who oppose same sex marriage for various reasons of their own, but they tend to be a tiny minority within the minority, in my experience.) Under the tenets of your religion, gay marriage may not "exist," but as you're surely aware, the US (going by where Macklemore is from) government determines law on a secular basis for *all* citizens and is not at all involved in trying to determine what doctrines Catholics (or any other religious grouping) should believe. Wherever same sex marriage is sanctioned by law, there are always exemptions in accordance with religious belief and practice. Just as legal interpretation of marriage has no bearing on religious views, religious views have no bearing on law. Remember, I don't say this to diminish your beliefs but simply to point out they are two different things. Proverbial apples and oranges, coexisting but not defining each other. In other words, legal marriage and church/temple/synagogue/mosque/etc. marriage (even for those sects that *do* have doctrines permitting same sex marriage) are two completely separate things. They really shouldn't be conflated. So your religious views are your own prerogative, but the criteria involved in determining *law* generally include equal rights for all, and an assessment of harm that may be caused by legal action taken (or not taken). As such, there is no harm brought to society at large by same sex marriage, but harm *is* inflicted on same sex couples and families by the failure to recognize their marriages as equal under the eyes of the law. You don't have to like it but these are basic, simple facts. And I may be rusty here, but I'm pretty sure that distinction exists even in the Bible itself, as I recall there being a passage containing an admonishment to respect the laws of the land. I don't recall a part where it says to go on crusades prescribing what the law should be, *outside of* the religion itself. Not saying you're doing that, but I'm pretty sure that's what Macklemore is mainly talking about in the part about marriage equality. A large chunk of this song is Macklemore is rapping about anti-gay verbal abuse (I trust you have no problem with those parts), and attempts to impose the various *religious* views of marriage upon defining the *legal* definition of marriage. If you're going to criticize his support of gay marriage you should be looking at the same institution of marriage as he is-- i.e. the legal institution and not the religious ones. Alternatively you could try to explain why certain religions' view(s) of marriage should be enforced by *law* on everyone else as well, but if you did, that's what *I* would call prejudiced and ignorant. Finally, on what basis do you question Macklemore's intelligence? Someone not agreeing with you on something, or criticizing you, or even saying something not-so-nice about you does not equate to them (either lying or) displaying a lack of intelligence. This fallacious idea that only people who agree with you or who don't criticize you are intelligent seems to recur in your post. On top of that, IF you're the type who believes the law should reflect your particular religious views on marriage, I'd find it rather hypocritical for you to be calling *him* prejudiced. It's not like Christians are not the only ones under attack by others, so it's rather unbecoming and disingenuous to play the victim here. It really doesn't win anyone over to complain about things plenty of other people have to deal with *as if you're the only one affected*, especially when so many have it much, *much* worse than just some harsh words being thrown their way. |
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| Frank Ocean – Bad Religion Lyrics | 11 years ago |
| I agree with gumbercules. I upvoted both of your comments, though, as I feel that there's always room for a richness/depth of meanings within a song. Why can't it be about *both* a god and a human being who (he feels) don't return his love. | |
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