"Zombie" is about the ethno-political conflict in Ireland. This is obvious if you know anything of the singer (Dolores O'Riordan)'s Irish heritage and understood the "1916" Easter Rising reference.
"Another head hangs lowly
Child is slowly taken
And the violence caused such silence
Who are we mistaken
-
Another mother's breaking
Heart is taking over"
Laments the Warrington bomb attacks in which two children were fatally injured on March 23rd, 1993. Twelve year old Tim Parry was taken off life support with permission from his mother after five days in the hospital, virtually braindead.
"But you see it's not me
It's not my family"
References how people who are not directly involved with the violence feel about it. They are "zombies" without sympathy who refuse to take action while others suffer.
I'm taking a ride with my best friend
I hope he never lets me down again
He knows where he's taking me
Taking me where I want to be
I'm taking a ride with my best friend
We're flying high
We're watching the world pass us by
Never want to come down
Never want to put my feet back down on the ground
I'm taking a ride with my best friend
I hope he never lets me down again
Promises me I'm as safe as houses
As long as I remember who's wearing the trousers
I hope he never lets me down again
We're flying high
We're watching the world pass us by
Never want to come down
Never want to put my feet back down on the ground
We're flying high
We're watching the world pass us by
Never want to come down
Never want to put my feet back down on the ground
Never let me down
Never let me down
Never let me down
Never let me down
See the stars, they're shining bright (never let me down)
Everything's alright tonight (never let me down)
See the stars, they're shining bright (never let me down)
Everything's alright tonight (never let me down)
See the stars, they're shining bright (never let me down)
Everything's alright tonight (never let me down)
See the stars, they're shining bright (never let me down)
Everything's alright tonight (never let me down)
I hope he never lets me down again
He knows where he's taking me
Taking me where I want to be
I'm taking a ride with my best friend
We're flying high
We're watching the world pass us by
Never want to come down
Never want to put my feet back down on the ground
I'm taking a ride with my best friend
I hope he never lets me down again
Promises me I'm as safe as houses
As long as I remember who's wearing the trousers
I hope he never lets me down again
We're flying high
We're watching the world pass us by
Never want to come down
Never want to put my feet back down on the ground
We're flying high
We're watching the world pass us by
Never want to come down
Never want to put my feet back down on the ground
Never let me down
Never let me down
Never let me down
Never let me down
See the stars, they're shining bright (never let me down)
Everything's alright tonight (never let me down)
See the stars, they're shining bright (never let me down)
Everything's alright tonight (never let me down)
See the stars, they're shining bright (never let me down)
Everything's alright tonight (never let me down)
See the stars, they're shining bright (never let me down)
Everything's alright tonight (never let me down)
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Sunglasses at Night
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In the 1980s, sunglasses were a common fashion for people who wanted to adopt a "tough guy" persona (note all the cop shows from that era -- Simon & Simon, Miami Vice, etc. -- where the lead characters wore shades). So I think this song is about a guy who wears shades as a way of hiding his insecurity after learning that his girlfriend is cheating on him. He's trying to pretend that he's a "tough guy" to hide the fact that his girlfriend's affair is disturbing him.
Alma Matters
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Morrissey
The man has pseudo-friends who constantly criticize his actions. They moralize him, "teach" him and advise him to make a significant change in his life, because the way he is and what he does is not what they say it should be. They may find his life lame or immoral. They hold themselves up as role models. The man replies that he will make his own choices and decisions and he does not agree to unconditionally make himself under the influence of questionable quality advice. He justifies this by saying that there is always someone for whom he will be important, no matter what he does and no matter what he is. Although it is not said directly, I read it as meaning that he will always be important to himself in every way and he will always have his own support.
"Everyone is different and maybe that's a good thing, but you exceeded that mark 1000 times" - I remember very well how sad the words I once heard (from my peers and it was in negative context) at school made me feel.
High On Life
Viyaa
Viyaa
This track marks the first collaboration between the artists. It was produced in its entirety by Datbeatgod and released for public consumption on January 1, 2021.
Real Groove
Kylie Minogue
Kylie Minogue
This standalone single marks the latest collaboration between the artists. It was produced by Nico Stadi & Teemu Brunila and released on December 31, 2020.
I agree. On the Paris DVD, you can see Dave tapping is bicep as if to bring up a vein for the needle.
I was reading yours and RueArsins posts and I think you hit a lot of things right on the nose, and it was really interesting to see you personifying what I know as Heroin addiction. (I know in so far as it's exactly what the lyrics say to me.)Heroin always takes you to this perfect place where maybe your feet aren't
on the ground, the world is blissfully passing you by, exactly where you want to be. Mr. Brown is driving the figurative car and he is all you care about, your best friend.
When you talked about hating the city etc. that's kinda right in this scenario, only most times much bigger and more personal problems lead to using. His life is noisy and confusing and Heroin drives slow and reassuringly,never too fast,away from all that craziness and he is an excellent driver!
"Promises me I'm as safe as houses"
"As long as I remember who's wearing the trousers."
Oh man what awesome and concise symbolism. Those 2 lines cemented the meaning and the importance of this song to me. I suffer from some crippling mental problems that 20+ years of proper medical attention and was sober for almost all my 20's. Think of what houses, our own houses mean. Ideally it's the ultimate place of safety. For me it was that relief from normal life, but as I soon learned, it's the addiction you need to be safe from. So now in the song he has scored, taking that ride, the little baggy is promising you that shelter. As long as you know who wears the pants in this relationship. Like you said "Wearing pants like a boss. 'Nuff said" Haha and yea from experience he is a very good driver! Yea that is the problem. It can control everything and whisper in your ear to do things that you spent your whole life knowing not to do.
To me this is the hope to "Never Let Me Down Again" For me the end came when I started stealing money to never be down again. You make it ok in your mind that no one minds, it's just this once, no one will notice the missing 70inch plasma TV...
But as the song states as it closes out:
"Never let me down"
See the stars they're shining bright
Everything's alright tonight."
Tomorrow is another day...
So the funny thing is that the fact that it's the outlaw of it that seems to be the cause of it. If it was safe and easier to obtain, and you were smart enough to be a little responsible about it, you could smoke it everyday and be relatively ok. Maybe lung cancer down the line and definitely some constipation, but otherwise you can function pretty well. I don't know, I don't know all the answers but I do have my personal trials. Using really helped me, it probably saved me from suicide. I slept regularly for the first time in almost 33 years. So I take legal Paxil among others and it's just as addictive. No I don;t crave it but I stopped for a week and became violently ill. Found tons of of similar stories online. So is it the drug that's letting him down?
Thanks for reading and letting me get some shit out. I was going to write something similar but saw your ideas and I know I'm assuming but it seems like you haven't been addicted. Your observations seemed like a good jumping off point because you said right at the beginning: I found a best friend to get me away from that place and even though it was scary I, he reassured me and got me out of that bad place.
thanks again-A