submissions
| Wilco – Passenger Side Lyrics
| 9 years ago
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He's gotten his driver's license suspended after a DUI. Either the girl he's interested in has rejected him, or he doesn't have the nerve to ask her out, because he feels frustrated/ashamed at being dependent on others to drive him around. I think the "should've been the driver" part is intended to sound ironically similar to people regretting drunk driving accidents, but is in fact just referring to his lack of success with the girl (because of the DUI). There's definitely some immaturity here. |
submissions
| Elliott Smith – Angeles Lyrics
| 10 years ago
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Since no one's said it, the literal gambling meaning of "Picking up the ticket shows there's money to be made" is that people throw their losing tickets on the ground at the racetrack, and people who are desperate for money will pick them up to see if someone's accidentally discarded a winning one. |
submissions
| The Mountain Goats – Dilaudid Lyrics
| 10 years ago
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Dilaudid is an opiate known for being intense and short. I always took it as metaphorical in this song. I believe it's about a short, intense love affair. They're both young but they know the relationship is doomed, so they're doing their best to let go and enjoy it. Love the last line. |
submissions
| Sinead Lohan – No Mermaid Lyrics
| 11 years ago
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To me it's about freedom and willingness to take risks, and possibly also about not wanting to be tied down to a relationship. |
submissions
| Patty Griffin – Trapeze Lyrics
| 11 years ago
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I don't think it's really about reaching for your dreams. More like doing risky things because your heart is broken and you want to feel something. |
submissions
| Kings of Convenience – Misread Lyrics
| 11 years ago
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This song reminds me of a play by Henrik Ibsen (also from Norway) called An Enemy of the People. "You see, the point is that the strongest man in the world is he who stands most alone." |
submissions
| Vienna Teng – Eric's Song Lyrics
| 13 years ago
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Thanks for the quote, papiertigers.
I would say it's about falling in love from the perspective of someone who's been cynical about love. The typical "first love" story is from someone who's young and expects everything to be like a fairy tale. This view (a bit older, both people have pain in their past, in total wonder that love really works like they say it does) is much more affecting. |
submissions
| Warren Zevon – Carmelita Lyrics
| 14 years ago
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Maybe this is obvious, but since no one has mentioned it, I just wanted to note that Carmelita seems to have two meanings: a Mexican girlfriend, and black tar heroin (generally the type found in the western U.S., produced in Mexico, and less refined than the powder heroin from Afghanistan that the northeast has).
I like this from Wikipedia: "it might be more accurate to say that it is about Los Angeles than about the character in question." |
submissions
| Elliott Smith – Pictures of Me Lyrics
| 16 years ago
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I think the "completely wrong/totally wrong" is not only saying that the media's portrayals of him are inaccurate (the obvious interpretation), but also that he just hates seeing pictures of himself... he's fucked up and doesn't like all the attention on him when he's still so unfinished and vulnerable... Not just that the pictures are wrong but that HE'S all wrong and hates seeing it reflected back at him.
I think "everybody's dying just to get the disease" is saying it's weird for him to be so popular when his songs are all about horrible crippling depression... something people should never wish to know.
"Who'd like to see me down on my fucking knees" -- I think this means he knows the media would just love more ways to show how depressed he is, it's almost like they want him to get worse...
How fucked up is it that his whole fame was based on his being miserable, and that that kind of became "cool"? That's what I think this song is about... But he also gave a lot of people who were already depressed the comfort of knowing that they weren't alone. RIP Elliott. |
submissions
| Elliott Smith – Everybody Cares, Everybody Understands Lyrics
| 16 years ago
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I agree that it's about a psychiatric hospital or just generally people who want to help you, as somebody said earlier, "because they think they should"...
I think the "chemical embrace that kicks you in the head" is talking about psychiatric drugs that make you feel calm, but not right... And the "pencil full of poison lead" (and the lines that come before it about being chased upstairs)... I picture a nurse chasing him with a syringe. They want to see him happy, but the way they're going about it would just make him sedated, stupid... a "sickened smile"...
I think even "here I lay dreaming, looking at the brilliant sun, raining its guiding light upon everyone" may be him sarcastically talking about lying in a hospital bed staring up at the bright fluorescent lights.
I definitely don't think it's about heroin, heh. |
submissions
| Nirvana – Pennyroyal Tea Lyrics
| 17 years ago
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Opiates (like heroin) cause constipation and nausea while you're using them, not when you're in withdrawal. Withdrawal actually causes diarrhea. Just wanted to clear that up. And pregnancy causes constipation and nausea too...
I agree that this song uses abortion as a metaphor for Kurt's stomach pain (though I haven't seen evidence that he used pennyroyal tea for his stomach or that it is used for that at all, I think it's more metaphorical, maybe referring to heroin), and that it also has messages of depression and suicide. |
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