submissions
| Rodríguez – Sugar Man Lyrics
| 1 year ago
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@[c:47771]-ro He only made two, and the second one probably wasn't quite as stunning and the first, so I guess you're correct. A total mystery how this singer didn't catch on in his homeland. |
submissions
| The Jam – Smithers-Jones Lyrics
| 2 years ago
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@[trolololo:45820] My guess is its the billboards he's looking at on the train. or maybe something in the Times that he just bought. |
submissions
| The Divinyls – I Touch Myself Lyrics
| 3 years ago
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mira_love Obviously depends on the market. Divinyls had many hits in their homeland. This was used for a breast cancer campaign, to encourage women to examine their own breasts, made more poignsant because the singer was a victim of the disease.The meaning is pretty succinctly summed up in the line "When I think about you I touch myself". The person being addresed turns her on, not much to it but certainly a great song and a well deserved international hit. |
submissions
| XTC – Dear God Lyrics
| 3 years ago
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Pretty obvious what this is about. Andy Partridge sending hate mail to someone he doesn\'t believe in. A cloying lyric, but it made XTC an unexpected windfall in the US and helped the excellent Skylarking (which was altered to include this song in that market) move some units, so it is an ill wind that blows no good. |
submissions
| Frank Zappa & the Mothers – Magdalena Lyrics
| 3 years ago
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Absolutely no need to spell out what this is about but since I\'m here I will anyway. The Canadian genleman wants to fuck his teenage daughter, whose age is sensibly not revealed. Back when this was recorded you could make songs like this, and certainly there are movies along similar lines, notably two versions of Lolita (1962 and 1997), neither of which are as descriptive as this, although the original makes it perfectly clear that sex took place between Lolita and much older men. This song sits in a mostly comedic live album but is deadly serious. It has to be said that Howard Kaylan\'s frenzied narrative is quite superb, and honestly the song is a belter, putting aside the sordid subject matter. He seems to be masturbating at the end and gets his release. Zappa would pretty much abandon the song after performing it live a few times, I suppose you can hardly blame him. This is an artform that was barely acceptable in song 50 years ago, but you aren\'t allowed to talk about now. |
submissions
| Paul Kelly – The Ballroom Lyrics
| 3 years ago
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Kelly often sings of lost lovers. This one keeps appearing in his life with a new man by her side, and Paul doesn't know what to say. Might be the same girl he refers to in Same Old Walk, he admits he still loves her in that song. |
submissions
| Paul Kelly – Going About My Father's Business Lyrics
| 3 years ago
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His father's business is in fact going in to look upon his sleeping son. He recalls that his own father did this to him. Suggestions of broken marriages in the song, perhaps his father wasn't around for long and the cycle has repeated. He treats his son in the same way his father treated him. Nice sax at the end. |
submissions
| Paul Kelly – Maralinga (Rainy Land) Lyrics
| 3 years ago
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One of Paul Kelly's most poignant songs. It describes how the indigenous community recalled the British nuclear tests at Maralinga in the 1950's, and the effects thereof. Finally the story of Millipuddy, who is pregnant and whose unborn child dies. Her partner is picked up by authorities, who ask if he can speak English. His reply is the only English he knows, the poem taught by missionaries. |
submissions
| Paul Kelly – Bradman Lyrics
| 3 years ago
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@[DaleC:37737] Murice Tate, a bowler said this of Bradman. Whitey was one of his team mates. In cricker a rabbit (or bunny) is a batsman who is easy to get out. It was a taunt at an opponent who he'd dismissed. Bradman would exact revenge in later matches. |
submissions
| Paul Kelly & the Coloured Girls – Bradman Lyrics
| 3 years ago
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A tribute to the great Australian batsman of the late 1920s to late 1940s. Pretty much outlines his career up to the Bodyline series, and how he turned the Australian team from England's bitches to their conquerors. Americans won't have a clue what this is about, but Bradman is considered the greatest batsman the game of cricket has ever known, from any land. |
submissions
| Paul Kelly – How To Make Gravy Lyrics
| 3 years ago
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A great Australian Christmas song. I especially like the reference to Junior Murvin, a reggae singer whose principal claim to fame was Police and Thieves, |
submissions
| XTC – Dear God Lyrics
| 3 years ago
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@[telerion:37458] He not only addresses a letter to God, whom he doesn't believe in, but he blames God, who he believes doesn't exist, for all that is wrong in the world as well. Not Andy Partridge's finest moment by a long shot, in fact one of XTC's few real clunkers. |
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| XTC – Frivolous Tonight Lyrics
| 3 years ago
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Colin settling into middle age. Both Moulding songs on this album appear to come from the same place. |
submissions
| Cocteau Twins – Heaven or Las Vegas Lyrics
| 4 years ago
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It's not about the words with Liz Fraser. The vocal is just another instrument. This album is reputed to be concerned with her recent childbirth but I wouldn't have a clue really. It's about the sound. I'd be astounded if Fraser were not influenced by Dancing Queen in this song. |
submissions
| The Animals – Year of the Guru Lyrics
| 4 years ago
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Great unheralded song. Outstanding scatting at the end. Smoking rock band. Burdon is some singer. Meaning: Be a leader not a follower. |
submissions
| The Clash – The Equaliser Lyrics
| 4 years ago
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@[The:35841] Dog That Ate... Many Clash fans who came in on the band's punk/thrash period would have been dismayed by almost all of Sandinista. |
submissions
| The Clash – Version City Lyrics
| 4 years ago
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@[Flyersfan:35840] The opening of the song was done on an Optigan, which was a machine that played pre-recorded snippets of music which you could gradually speed up. You could buy it in the shops. They probably still exist in the hands of collectors. |
submissions
| Roxy Music – Ladytron Lyrics
| 4 years ago
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@[webmasterdee:35838] Bryan asked Brian to musically depict a soft lunar landing. Eno should really have received a songwriting credit for this song. |
submissions
| Roxy Music – Eight Miles High Lyrics
| 4 years ago
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The only cover on eight Roxy Music albums, although Jealous Guy was a single. Neither really sets the world on fire. They must have been a song short. |
submissions
| Roxy Music – A Song for Europe Lyrics
| 4 years ago
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@[steveosgood:35836] The love affair was with Europe itself, which is what the protagonist has fallen out of love with. Delivered in the style of a French dramatic ballad, including breaking into French at the end. |
submissions
| Jethro Tull – A Passion Play Lyrics
| 4 years ago
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@[Stefan021:35833] It was probably a strategic mistake to release this on the back of TAAB, He should have held on to it for a couple of years. |
submissions
| Jethro Tull – A Passion Play Lyrics
| 4 years ago
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@[inpraiseoffolly:35832] It's a Passion Play. Passion Plays have silly stories in the middle to break up the heaviness. |
submissions
| Jethro Tull – A Passion Play Lyrics
| 4 years ago
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@[JacksHeadphones:35829] It's serious, stop-start and you cannot dance to it. That is why some don't like it. It's far easier to understad than Thick as a Brick, which is pretty much impenetrable. |
submissions
| T. Rex – Desdemona Lyrics
| 4 years ago
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@[jama269:35827] A couple of different versions exist. The Johns Children one has Andy Ellison singing lead and Bolan on backing vocals, another has Marc singing lead. It's Marc's song though, so no reason it should not be here, |
submissions
| T. Rex – Rabbit Fighter Lyrics
| 4 years ago
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I don't think it has a meaning. It doesn't need one. It is still a damn fine song, one of his very best. |
submissions
| T. Rex – Telegram Sam Lyrics
| 4 years ago
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@[HearMeWhisper:35825] Funny that someone would love this song, but not know the original. The Bauhaus cover is tougher, the T.Rex original is light on its feet,. Marc would use this template many times in his career. |
submissions
| T. Rex – 20th Century Boy Lyrics
| 4 years ago
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This took a long time to take off really. In his homeland it was his first single since Ride a White Swan to not make No 1, and in Australia it didn't even make the charts. I could never understand, I loved it in 1973 but Marc's star was waning. It's one of his staples these days though, no doubt about it. Like Cosmic Dancer which is nothing like it, it has gained in stature with time. |
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