submissions
| Joni Mitchell – The Arrangement Lyrics
| 6 years ago
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Another prescient song by Joni. Released in 1970, it foretold the change from the cultural idealism of 1960s and early 1070s to the decade of greed in the 1980s, the song warns that consumerism funded by over-leveraging credit is not good. She implores the person who she wrote the song for to find a better life and do something meaningful (and I think Joni would have preferred if he did it without his wife) :-) I hear this song, look around me and see the lyrics as an epitaph for some baby boomers. |
submissions
| Liz Phair – You Should Know Me Lyrics
| 9 years ago
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One of Liz's better written songs. Love the references to water throughout and the lines
But you're building a dam where our lives should be and you're lying on top of the beauty. |
submissions
| Fiona Apple – Left Alone Lyrics
| 11 years ago
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When I heard this line "it hurt more than it ought to hurt, I went to work
to cultivate a callous", I thought it was so much more nuanced than this one:
That which does not kill you makes you stronger. (Neitzsche). It desensitizes, which is not necessarily making one stronger. Beautiful thought from Fiona. |
submissions
| Fiona Apple – Left Alone Lyrics
| 11 years ago
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Orotund also means pompous. I like that meaning in the context of this song. Leave it to Fiona to make learning vocabulary so much fun. |
submissions
| Laura Veirs – Lost at Seaflower Cove Lyrics
| 12 years ago
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Short and sweet. Musically, IMO, it borrows from Yes/All Good People/Your Move. That musical chorus is evident through several songs in the album giving it an interesting coherency. |
submissions
| Michelle Branch – Stewart's Coat Lyrics
| 14 years ago
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It is a cover. Rickie Lee Jones wrote it, purportedly for her newborn daughter. You should see it on You Tube or, better yet, listen to it on one of four CDs of hers. |
submissions
| Liz Phair – Support System Lyrics
| 14 years ago
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My favorite song on Whipsmart, a highly under-rated effort (I consider the combination of Exile and Whipsmart to be about as good a pair of first and second releases as anything out there). The last part of the song sums it up as a relationship that Liz was felt had the promise to be serious and that was not reciprocal. It runs so honest and counter to most of the her work on Exile that is stands out for that reason, plus the production and the clever crafting of the lyrics, e.g., prop position vs. proposition. If you have ever seen Liz's guitar work when playing Support System, it reminds me of a jazz musician working the fingerboard of a bass. |
submissions
| Rilo Kiley – Pictures of Success Lyrics
| 15 years ago
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Has anyone considered that "dead" could mean not physically dead, but mentally dead, exhausted by being in the the fast track? That is possible in the line "When you're dead, in hospitals and freeways". It is not as clear in the following line. In the second chorus, when you're dead refers to lots of materialistic items "When you're dead, in dress shirts and neck ties
When you're dead, in apartments and on beaches".
The song has a beautiful syncopated opening with the guitar work. |
submissions
| James Taylor – Suite for 20 G Lyrics
| 16 years ago
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A great but schizophrenic song, like two songs merged ogether (before "When I catch a common cold..." and after that). I wonder if Mary jane is a person or a drug? |
submissions
| Joanna Newsom – Monkey & Bear Lyrics
| 17 years ago
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>Regarding the bit about 'baring her teeth'
The song is full of bear the animal, bear as in put up with, bare as in show, bare in not much there, etc. Lots of wordplay as in so many other songs on Ys.
Question: if the transcription is correct, does anyone have a theory why Bear appears uppercase in some places and lowercase in others? |
submissions
| Joanna Newsom – Monkey & Bear Lyrics
| 17 years ago
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>Treat the whole 'constellation' part of the >interpretation as a Postmodern kind of reading: after >hearing what other people have written I actually >don't think that's the meaning Joanna had in mind.
Why are the two mutually exclusive? Most of us agree that Joanna uses classical elements in her writing in a different (in this song, fanciful) manner. I'm not sure why that excludes any particular interpretation. If you explain, I'm all ears. |
submissions
| Joanna Newsom – Monkey & Bear Lyrics
| 17 years ago
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Upon listening to this off and on for several months now, it seems to be a general metaphor for abusive relationships. There is an inequity of power. I think the monkey represents man and Ursula woman in this story (though I like Tina's interpretation as mother earth) . Monkey lies to Ursula constantly throughout the song, debasing her for short term gain and the lines preceding the one when he says he'll tell her she smells, are typical of abusive relationships. My favorite line is at the end where what befalls Bear is explained as "Bear had been mending suspending that baseness". It is a hopeful sign for anyone in that situation (or perhaps the planet). The song is really powerful. |
submissions
| Joanna Newsom – Monkey & Bear Lyrics
| 17 years ago
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ps: Monkey & Bear performed live is wonderful, beyond words. I could barely stay in my seat. You can dance to it, seriously. |
submissions
| Joanna Newsom – Monkey & Bear Lyrics
| 17 years ago
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Anneliese, you outdid yourself on this one.
My take is that if you are on the lam, pick the right partner. Reminds me of those placemats in the Chinese restaurants with the 12 zodiac signs...if you are a rat, do not marry a cat. |
submissions
| Joanna Newsom – Emily Lyrics
| 17 years ago
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Emily and everything else on Ys is lovely and complex. The growth from MEM to Ys is astounding. Have you tried listening to most popular music after Ys; it seems like listening to sentence fragments. I shudder to think about her 3rd effort. If you get a chance to see it performed live, go. It's worth a long drive or road trip. Joanna plays the whole album straight through, accompanied on Emily, Monkey & Bear, Only Skin and Cosmia. This is not a dig at Van Dyke Parks but, Emily is much more at home with the Appalachian instrumentation in the sextet. Monkey & Bear is so much more powerful live - it reminded me of the buildup in Bolero near the end. Only Skin is better live too. The album is terrific, but I would rather have a high quality live CD. I'm in my post-concert withdrawal stage. |
submissions
| Joanna Newsom – Cosmia Lyrics
| 17 years ago
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There is a real growth seen in this song from the musical side. The construction is classical with a great melody starting with "dreid rose petals" and ending with "from coming in" and repeated later in the song. The lyrics are a paean to nature - a favorite theme but, in this case, it is so visually appealing and forward that it is easy to picture a young Joanna the midst of moths. Then, on another level, it serves as a metaphor. |
submissions
| Joanna Newsom – Peach, Plum, Pear Lyrics
| 19 years ago
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Ironic reading comments asking us not to analyze lyrics on "songmeanings.net". I think the beauty of poetry is that is means something different to everyone. It is that ability to vary from the original intent of the poet that gives it more power.
Reading the analysis of this song, floosies would be consistent with whore and bold. The floozies flock to the guy while the person in the song gets shy. She wants to be bold. If that is true, combine it with the word whore, which has a negative connotation. Interesting moral commentary. Then again, I could be way off base.
Also, I think there could be a typo in the lyrics. I hear "water runs from snow". Snow is frigid and solid, water may not be cold and flows. |
submissions
| Joanna Newsom – Peach, Plum, Pear Lyrics
| 19 years ago
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Could be that peach is the young girl, plum is a little older lady and pear is even older (as in pear shaped). Anyone else see the song as a time sequence? The song screams of empowerment to me...turning the tables...in both directions...i was riding its back
when it used to ride me... |
submissions
| Joanna Newsom – En Gallop Lyrics
| 19 years ago
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My take on this is that it is autobiographical. Joanna quit school to write songs. And can she ever write. Her rhyme schemes are really unique and complex. When I listen to her songs, I have to parse it at the level of syllables at most. The visual image in the first few lines of En Gallop is incredible. Place yourself in a damp and ghostly hall watching the wings fall from, perhaps, angels. Would you gasp at that sight? [I would] But in this place, they fall, gasplessly. However, it is optimistic too as there is the hope that it will all come together, in quietness and in time. I sigh in admiration of her lyrical prowess. |
submissions
| Joanna Newsom – Bridges and Balloons Lyrics
| 19 years ago
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Great opening song. Cair Parvel is a great C.S. Lewis reference and I image a cold rainy winter day being in the house curled up with the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, mentally sailing away on the Eatsern Sea to the castle Cair Paravel. It seems to portend much of the rest of the music with talking animals, fauns and magic.
Eagerly awaiting Joanna's next work. |
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