| The Boomtown Rats – Nice 'n' Neat Lyrics | 1 year ago |
| It's not about a con man. It's about a Catholic priest questioning his calling. The line "But listen closely to this closed confessional" is a dead giveaway for this recovering Catholic. | |
| The Church – Reptile Lyrics | 3 years ago |
| A love letter from the controlling ex-boyfriend to the lass that learned to be as awful as him, and left him for that. Beautiful song. | |
| The Church – Reptile Lyrics | 3 years ago |
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@[ogami1972:35668] Haha, played this 6x so far, and yeah, every time, I still hear "feeble", 'til I got here. Which makes more sense he says "evil", right?. But I still hear "rattle your scales" after the fifth play. And there's just one snake I know of that rattles their tail. But the ladies do it better. |
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| Jefferson Airplane – White Rabbit Lyrics | 3 years ago |
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It's about the hypocrisy of being anti-drug. I heard an interview on a radio show in the 80's, from Grace Slick: The Jefferson Airplane were addressing the fact that a Lewis Carroll fantasy, evoking high-powered drugs that come from hookahs and surreal landscapes, is fine for grade-school reading, but not fine for unsanctioned hallucinogens. Hypocritical, that. And with the bass, the regimented drum march evoked, then throw at it Jourma's guitar, and Grace's Slick, you get a classic. Know better. Feed your head. |
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| Jefferson Airplane – White Rabbit Lyrics | 3 years ago |
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@[just4fun:34683] No it's not. It was about the hypocrisy of being anti-drug. I heard an interview on a radio show in the 80's: The Jefferson Airplane were addressing the fact that a Lewis Carroll fantasy, evoking high-powered drugs that come from hookahs and surreal landscapes, is fine for school reading, but not fine for unsanctioned hallucinogens. Go to "Volunteers" for that, the JA is not a one-note band, like your assessment is. |
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| The Cars – I'm In Touch With Your World Lyrics | 3 years ago |
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I see it as simply a fun little headf*** from the brilliant Ric Ocasek. Psilocybin, aka magic mushrooms, is a powerful hallucinogen, and if you've ever done that or LSD, you may have experience how the drugs have a way of either being your own personal circus show, or the slaver of your consciousness; sometimes both at the same time, as you experience indescribable head-trip. By design, it's an illusion instilled into your brain and being; thus the "I'm a psilocybin pony" line. But at the same time, it's just a show, an illusion to our known reality, thus, the response is the insightful take on the experience: 'You're a flick fandango phony". You're full of malarkie. Take that. I see this song as a take on a psychedelic trip that is far removed from the hippie groove, but no less powerful or less meaningful. It is, as I see it, wizard Ric's take on the psychedelic realm beyond mere being ... here in reality, where awesome Cars songs exist. |
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| Van Morrison – Ballerina Lyrics | 4 years ago |
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@[WeezeRing:32172] And makes a bit more sense than "Grab the ketchup" which is what I thought he was saying. Poets, go figure, I thought. |
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| Queen – Under Pressure Lyrics | 5 years ago |
| Wow, scrolling through the first two pages of this beloved song, I'm very surprised that there's no one interpreting this classic is - okay, like, maybe - about dealing with being gay. It's from the early 80's of course, and made by gay icon Freddie and bi icon Bowie. With lines like "Splits a family in two / Puts people on streets" (coming out to some families meant being disowned) "Sat on a fence" (trying to be true to one's self in a society that rejects it) "Watching some good friends/Screaming let me out" (empathy for gay friends still "in the closet") It seems to be the most probable candidate. As for the rest... I think "Um ba ba de" just sounded right. | |
| The Carpenters – Calling Occupants of Interplanetary Craft Lyrics | 5 years ago |
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AND the custom-made Carpenters video - !!! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=teBV0EoJJY8&fbclid=IwAR3u1FpSjHS5BmSCU1WsV4eKEycNR8Oaj_of7EwgDZyDtqMLZym1oJqEBPA |
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| Suzanne Vega – Marlene On The Wall Lyrics | 7 years ago |
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I agree with those that interpret an male-dominated abusive relationship. Not speaking for you ladies, or Ms. Vega, but... I also read it as a song about a woman getting past all the bullshit rationalizations that makes an abused woman get owned by her man. Fighting things. One of the cryptic elements is that the song is sung "mar-LEH-nah", but the song title is "Marlene" as in mar-LEEN as in Marlene Deitrich, olde-timey German B&W screen siren actress ("Blue Angel", anyone?), And I don't doubt a young lass like Suzanne finding herself would put a poster of Marlene Deitrich on the wall. Deitrich was mentioned in "Freeze Tag", the song before this on her debut album. "And of why I should be leaving", is that she didn't.... but was... er... seduced? Ravished?? Date raped without the rufi?? Because he held her with his handsome fist. And then there is thing I called rationalization wherein this popped cherry goes by the local butcher shop (where sawdust was dropped, not for the FDA, but for the tradition wherein it would absorb the blood drippings of the meat). Suzanne walks by the matron of the shop, old lady can tell that the young lady has been --well, given away "the goods too soon" ie taken advantage of. This song was written looooong.... loooooong before mansplaining was a thing. But it's a great song. |
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| Suzanne Vega – Marlene On The Wall Lyrics | 7 years ago |
| @[jenpage50:16769] I think you've kind of nailed it, I'm about to deliver my male take on it. I'll bring up "Freeeze Tag". | |
| The B-52's – Dirty Back Road Lyrics | 9 years ago |
| It's not "Ricky Wilson"... it's "reckless..." | |
| Echo and the Bunnymen – The Cutter Lyrics | 9 years ago |
| I Googled "Seven Knives" and came up with something that bored rich dumbasses do, if they're down for something that's SMish. Seems to fit. The pain, the pain. | |
| Monty Python – Knights Of The Round Table (Camelot Song) Lyrics | 14 years ago |
| Song Meanings is it's own Holy Grail, to your quest to understand incomprehensible lyrics. | |
| Jimmy Buffett – Margaritaville Lyrics | 14 years ago |
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What makes it a classic is 1) that it's played all the time, 2) it mentions something that doesn't exist anymore, like way back when soda and beer cans had pop-tops: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Beverage_pull_tab.jpg Those things had a way of cutting skin pretty good, which is why we have the new design. And it's "Margaritaville", not "Cocaineville". It's not the kind song that wants you to find hidden meanings. |
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| The Pretenders – Mystery Achievement Lyrics | 14 years ago |
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Adding to cystermisterie, it seems like the song is about being on the cusp of fame - that she hasn't "made it" yet, but she can practically sense gold-record albums in her unseen future. The Pretenders did make it, so the third stanza could be playing both sides to this unknown future, success or failure. It also seems to suggest that she knows she'll have unrealized expectations, either way it goes. "No tears in my ice cream" is like crying over spilt milk, and maybe a play on words inside it, just like "pretending". "Cuban Slide" was single form a vinyl EP release on the heels of their successful debut album. It stands to reason that that song was written or in the works when "Mystery Achievement" was written. And the tune is one of the greats, one of those that just gets better the more you platy loud. |
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| Cheap Trick – Surrender Lyrics | 14 years ago |
| Thanks, Jackzeronine! That makes sense! | |
| Concrete Blonde – Joey Lyrics | 15 years ago |
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I had read into it more than a screwed-up relationship with a drunk; it's been also complicated by an unwanted/unexpected pregnancy. I inferred 'I got some the money" as saying that she could pay for the abortion, or you could even infer that she's saying that she can afford to raise the kid; "If you said I scared you..." and "We got lucky once before" I took as an earlier incident where they had a pregnancy scare, but this time it's for real. So Joey goes off and gets drunk as ever before, unable to rise to the occasion. You might not agree with my take on it, but it adds something to the song for me. |
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| Fleetwood Mac – Gypsy Lyrics | 15 years ago |
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Thank you for providing the interview bites, marquicrise. As a fan of the Velvet Underground, the band, that opening line made me wonder. The seminal NY band got their name off a pulp novel found on a sidewalk. Quite a different meaning from Stevie's. Anyone remember the music video? MTV just broke through, and it was one of the first $1 million dollar music videos (Thriller being the first, but might be wrong). Not bad. A Gypsy is fleeting, mysterious, seductive, and thus romantic... certainly nothing you can count on... and a lot like life. |
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| Massive Attack – Protection Lyrics | 15 years ago |
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I'm a boy hearing a girl. I take the "You're a girl and I'm a boy" stanza as a female who reminds our gender as to how useless we ultimately are; but I'm probably wrong. That "girl she knows" is her. She knows she is irrational, but is more powerfully swept by her emotions, and that decides her actions. This girl will die for her lover. Take the force of the blow. And sees that that man has gone on, brushed her off, and what better evidence that another woman's child? That man is as needy as her, but doesn't have her to fall back on. Yet he can, perhaps because he knows (as she does) he has her where he wants her. But I am probably wrong. Love. |
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| Grateful Dead – Franklin's Tower Lyrics | 15 years ago |
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Mr. Hunter, in his own words on the meaning of this song: http://arts.ucsc.edu/GDEAD/AGDL/fauthrep.html |
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| Grateful Dead – Brokedown Palace Lyrics | 15 years ago |
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This beautiful song has one line that in many ways define the Dead and Deadheads: Mama, mama many worlds I've come since I first left home. |
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| David Bowie – Under Pressure Lyrics | 15 years ago |
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When the song first came out, I'd heard it was about realizing & dealing with being gay. That still makes sense. You have two outspoken gays singing about it -mind you they didn't pair up for other songs - and in the 80's being gay was more of a stigma than it is these days. So watching your good friends scream 'let me out" (of the closet), splitting a family in two (if the family can't accept the orientation), and looking at "people on the streets" suggest that they look like everyone else, but are diffferent inside.... if you look at the lyrics and the tone of the song this way, it makes sense. But either way, a great song. |
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| Grateful Dead – Liberty Lyrics | 15 years ago |
| My favorite Dead song from their later days. Needs no interpretation, but feel free to do so. | |
| Page and Plant – The Battle of Evermore (Led Zeppelin cover) Lyrics | 15 years ago |
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I agree with CMarty01, in that it's basically its own mythology, placing many classic mythic icons like apples - coming from the Garden of Eden and the Judgement of Paris, which led to the Trojan War. Avalon is the King Arthur story. And runes are most closely associated with the Norse mythology, which Zep refers to in "No Quarter", and probably others. So, my point is that while this song has (LOTR) Middle Earth elements, it is not specifically derived from that epic. LOTR itself is built on stories and icons that were well-established long before JRR cranked out his story. And I doubt Plant and Page ever intended any kind of Christian analogy in this song. It's more pagan than anything. I'm a Christian, and quickly able to point out that the many mythologies we know were once called a religion in their day. Maybe Christianity and the others in fashion today will be better known as a mythology, one day, as well. |
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| Talking Heads – The Great Curve Lyrics | 16 years ago |
| I really like scatterbrain's take on it. It's a great interpretation that wouldn't've crossed my mind. At to what that Head David meant by it, we don't yet know. But this is why I love this site. | |
| Echo and the Bunnymen – The Cutter Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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Thank you, OneTwo, for valuable insights that make me believe I GET this song to some extent. I agree with what you say, but would like to add additional elements for anyone's interpretation: A "cutter" is slang for a film or TV editor. It's done differently in this century, but originally it comes from cutting 35mm film reels. "Cutting" also applies to audiotape, and when this song was made, physically cutting Cello tape was probably still done. Great musical stuff, best-riff-ever stuff which was recorded was literally cut out. Spare us. I take note that Major Valor pointed out that 'Couldn't cut the mustard" line. I'm American, it's a common US term, and the fact that it's not "Major Valour" tells me the Major is also American. A quick run on the web indicates it's an American idiom. Thus, I read that line as Ian's take on some American A&R guy's bullsh*t line to the band. "Yeah, that band, couldn't cut the mustard, but you, boy, have a cigar, you're gonna go far" Hope that makes sense. ANYWAY. And I always heard it as "We will escape with our lives", curiously enough. Hey maybe that "with" was cut, eh? But "We will escape our lives..." That's bliss. Bliss. Buddhism teaches it. Sit on a rock and meditate it. Or get yourself from it. But "We will escape /with/ our lives" could be referring to EATB's six-foot sound mixer (their Cutter?) or the Bunnymen. A six-foot tall guy has a leg up on life, many inches on most, won't get beat up as much, if our singer and his six-foot bandmates don't make it as a Bunnymen, it's onto another part of life, right? Sell shoes, or whatever. "watch the fingers close when the hands are cold" - to me, this is suggestion the body's death, and the rigor mortis that happens, wherein muscles tense, and fingers can curl into a fist. The next step is to be buried in the dirt, and Then comes the question of whether the mere mortal has shed the mortal coil, and is either cleansed or dirtied -in body and soul - with the achievements of the life here on this Earthen rock. I like OneTwo's interpretation of (worthy cross / will i still be soiled / when the dirt is off), but I read it differently. I'm not plugging a certain faith, but the Christian story of Jesus's Ascension is what i first read into it. Such a reference is not surprising, considering -I must guess - Ian is likely a traditional-born Scot. The glorious elements of the bagpipes in the music near the end seem to support the lyrics. Hey, and, gnuorder, yeah, it's about struggling. Fighting self and doubt and life and all that stuff that makes it interesting. You are gauging, and this is not a measurable opinion pull. You found a great song. Don't just read stuff. Talk and tell whatever friends, strangers, maybe even jerks like a doctor about it. Give it a full-on year. It is a song about struggle. Spare us. The Cutter. Wonderful song. Let's hear more. |
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| The Clash – Clampdown Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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the nearly indecipherable bit at the beginning of the song? deciphered! "The kingdom is ransacked, the jewels all taken back And the chopper descends They're hidden in the back, with a message on a half-baked tape With the spool going round, saying I'm back here in this place And I could cry And there's smoke you could click on" courtesy of Ade Marks (not me!) |
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| The Clash – Clampdown Lyrics | 16 years ago |
| Hey, does anyone know what's being growled during that fantastic OPENING of the song???? Before the first line "What are we gonna do now?" | |
| Cheap Trick – Surrender Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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First, Oompa, it's lame to name-call. Secondly, your poor manner matches your clear ignorance, as AIDS was not a known disease for a full decade after this classic tune was cut. I attribute 'Indonesian junk" as being an STD, however. It supports the "Stay away, you never know what you'll catch." I don't agree that it's from a female perspective, but told from a teenage boy's angle "...I'd meet girls like you...". But the "Mommy" and "Daddy", rather than 'Mom" and "Dad" are there to suggest a certain kind of youngishness, and naivete on the part of the narrator. I never really got the "Whatever happened to all this season's losers of the year? Ev'ry time I got to thinking, where'd they disappear?" line either. It almost seems like it was plucked from another song. Until I looked at this site, I always thought thy say "...rolling numbers [joints], got my KIDS' records out"--!! so I always put the narrator as a strait-laced parent & son of partying parents! Doesn't change the meaning of the song too much, but one thing that can be said - one of the Best Rock Tunes Ever. PLAY LOUD. |
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| Simon and Garfunkel – Mrs. Robinson Lyrics | 18 years ago |
| I mentioned that "Mrs. Robinson" was originally intended to be titled "Mrs Roosevelt", as in First Lady Elanor. In this day and age, Joe Di is best known for dating Marylyn Mnoroe and hawking Mr. Coffee in the 70's. However, he also had a legendary hitting streak in 1941, putting him right smack into the Roosevelt era. But he didn't exactly "leave and go away" after that, of course. | |
| Talking Heads – The Great Curve Lyrics | 18 years ago |
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It almost sounds like a Earth Mother/Creation myth made up by Byrne. You have Mother Nature, Father Time, and the basic male/female duality that is both a symbol and the fact of our very existence. Whereas men seek to understand Nature via science and hard facts, the essence of women can be described as Intuitive. You could also see it as meaning Mother Earth, the planet, this living being with a 4.5 billion year-old spirit. the Great Curve could then be the spherical surface of the earth, or possibly the edge where the Earth falls into shadow and then back into sunlight. (day/night being another fundamental duality). In this context, the first stanza suggests mortals' "connecting" with the spirit of the Earth, "but can't hang on". "She shakes them up..." refers to the moving crustal plates, and the earthquakes that result. I think it's a bit of both. |
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| Talking Heads – Swamp Lyrics | 18 years ago |
| This song makes me think of a schitzophrenic street bum- you know the kind, definitely in thier own world/worlds, but still able subsist in this one, and pass by you uttering random things that seem to have no connection to anything - except they do. | |
| Simon and Garfunkel – Mrs. Robinson Lyrics | 18 years ago |
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I've heard that the original title was "Mrs. Roosevelt", -as in First Lady Elanor Roosevelt, wife of President Franklin D Roosevelt. The lyrics like "Going to the candidates' debate" make a lot more sense that way. The second stanza could be referring to moving into the White House, and the "it's a little secret / hide it from the kids" could refer FDR's long-term affair with his mistress, (in fact, he died with her, not Elanor) which was kept from the general public. Baseball hero Joe DiMaggio came a full decade later, I don't see any connection to the Roosevelt part, but maybe Simon was referring to a loss of innocence. Maybe the original lines were different? But this song seems a little more coherent when you lookat it as a song to Elanor Roosevelt. |
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