| Hole – Burn Black Lyrics | 5 years ago |
| The correct lyric is "It's all hoarse, it's all pain," not "all whores" | |
| Queen Adreena – A Heavenly Surrender Lyrics | 5 years ago |
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Amazing song. It seems crass on the surface, but I think the lyrics evoke a sexual metaphor in place of death, or becoming one with that which binds us all--God, the universe, the energy that runs through us all. It feels like she is making a statement that she will settle for nothing less than absolute oneness, wholeness with the metaphysical, separate from the body. "I am so human so small so debased, jealously and darkness rule over this place" is clearly about the failures and imperfections of life on earth, if one believes in original sin. It's ultimately about wanting to be one with the divine, and she uses sex as a rather twisted metaphor, since sex is one of the few transcendent experiences we can have as humans. |
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| Hole – Clouds Lyrics | 7 years ago |
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I love this rendition--it's a totally morbid, nihilistic spin on a classic folk song. Courtney clearly rewrote parts of the lyrics to give the song a darker edge than what Mitchell's lyrics imply. Mitchell's original song always seemed to me to be more about reflection and coming to peace with the fact that you will never figure it all out—that life is a mystery, and you don't know it any better even after having lived it. Hole's version is the same thematically speaking, but instead of treating it as a peaceful surrender, it's presenting it as an instance of resentment, chaos, and utter confusion. It's more about an experience of absolute terror at the moment of one's death. It's an extremely powerful cover. The stripped down chord progression and Courtney's pained vocals on it are chilling. |
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| Hole – Pretty On The Inside Lyrics | 7 years ago |
| Has anyone ever deduced the molasses reference in this song? It's such a weird reference and doesn't really have any apparent connection to the rest of the lyrics, but I feel like it has to be important. My immediate thought given the "smack" reference is that "blackstrap molasses = heroin," but I don't really know. It's a strange image, but it makes the song even more compelling IMO—it works really well. | |
| Chromatics – Kill for Love Lyrics | 7 years ago |
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I don't necessarily think this song is about love in the romantic sense—the references to pills, keeping bottles by the bed, putting the pillow over the head, all read like references to substance abuse, and possibly even suicide given that they are in past tense. They "killed" for love, or something like it, but they killed themselves. In either case, it seems to me to be a reflection on some sort of self-abuse. |
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| Hole – Violet Lyrics | 7 years ago |
| I hate that the publishing companies have taken control over the lyrics on this site, as half of the time they have them fucking wrong. The second verse is NOT "I wanna give the violent more violets"—it's "I want it again, but violent, more violent." Her handwritten lyrics to this song are in her 'Dirty Blonde' book. It's somewhat hard to understand the line in the album recording, though in the live versions it's quite clear she's saying "I want it again, but violent, more violent." | |
| Joanna Newsom – Clam, Crab, Cockle, Cowrie Lyrics | 7 years ago |
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The general impression I've always gotten from this song is that it's about being shy and admiring someone from afar but having that person be inaccessible to you. You could liken it to having a crush on someone, but the situation she seems to be describing is more cerebral than mere lustfulness. This person is on her mind all the time; she stirs them into her tea and she's always "watching" them from a distance, scratching her noise and chewing her lips because she's uncomfortable in their presence. The bit about thanking the lord, the sky looking like a road, and the dragons seems to be a kind of exemplification of the fantasies she builds in her head. The reference to the seashells is intriguing--it could have something to do with being walled up inside yourself, like a sea creature, but the truth is that you just want this person to notice you ("will you just look at me?"). A heartbreaking song. I empathize with the situation to a vast extent, and based on the comments here, it seems many others do too. |
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| Sia – Breathe Me Lyrics | 7 years ago |
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I remember first hearing this song in high school in 2007ish. Still as beautiful now as it was then. The song is obviously about doing some sort of damage to yourself, but more than that, I think it's about feeling absolutely helpless and at the mercy of nobody but yourself. It's about being psychologically and emotionally isolated and desperately wanting contact but being unable/unsure of how to make it. You've imprisoned yourself and aren't even sure how or why, and you alone are the one who is responsible. You are your own worst enemy, your own roadblock—it's a catch 22. The helplessness/hopelessness that such a situation breeds in a person leads one turn their frustrations against themselves, thus the self-harming (which could be a variety of things; the lyrics leave it intentionally ambiguous). It's a gorgeous song, but an extremely upsetting one, and one that I very much relate to on a significant level. |
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| Hole – Mrs. Jones Lyrics | 7 years ago |
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As most have said, it's a song about a prostitute's botched abortion, but it's so surreal and layered that it's difficult to make sense of it. The key to understanding the song I think is to realize that there's not really a narrative; it's all dialogue coming from several people in different contexts, and Courtney "plays" the roles of each of them. She uses her voice differently from stanza to stanza and sometimes even between lines—sometimes she whispers, other times she screams as though in excruciating pain; even the musical arrangements themselves shift accordingly. The primary context is an operating room where the woman is receiving the abortion, probably under some sort of sedation, which accounts for the blurred and confusing trajectory of the song. "Sorry man, sorry, sorry, I've got a bad eye, I shouldn't have looked at it," --The woman reacting to the overhead medical lamp as she lies on the operating table. "You want her on the bed with her legs wide open and eyes all spread" --Omniscient narrator describing the scene, in which the doctor wants the woman "Sorry man, I got a gut, slit me. Fuckin' ran away with my abortionist. My little wry black demonologist, the knife they used to, to gut my face in, has been out stabbing baby angels in" --Obvious references to being pregnant, and the woman going to the abortionist. "The knife they used to gut my face in has been out stabbing baby angels in" could be from the perspective of the unborn child whose face was "gutted" during the procedure; the same knife is being used to stab other "baby angels." "The sky is narcotic with blackjack bones, oh, Mrs. Jones, Mrs. Jones, my virus is raging and it's breaking my bones" --The perspective of the woman on the operating table experiencing the narcotizing effects of sedatives to dull the pain that is "breaking her bones." Mrs. Jones is ostensibly the nurse. "Die, survive, I will follow you down the sick drain when I lean on the sink" --Referring to the flushing of the fetus down a drain. This is again from the perspective of the woman, who possibly feels guilt and wants to "follow" her unborn child as it is flushed down the sink. "Your night-blooming sickle cell, your night-blooming sickle cell" --The doctor referring to the fetus, which resembles the curve of a sickle cell "Carry it away, get it away, get it away" --The woman, begging the doctor to get it out of her sight "Look into the bloodroot, you suicide bitch, it takes an hour like you to make me wanna live" --Omniscient narrator commenting on the scene, suggesting the woman look at her unborn child (the "bloodroot" is another fetus reference) "Sister ectoplasma, she's incredulous. Just like a pro, she takes off her dress, and she kicks you down in her snow white pumps. But just remember that it was me who found the lump" --A flashback to the conception of the child. The woman, a prostitute, taking off her clothes and kicking the man down in her "snow white pumps." The finding of the "lump" is another obvious reference to her discovering she was pregnant. "Aaay, aaay, aaaay, aaayayyayyayy, shit! Shit! Shit!" --Screams from the woman as she pulled back to the reality of the current situation, experiencing the agonizing pain of the abortion. "East is east and west is west and mine was you and mine was the best" --Not sure what this exactly means, but it's a Rudyard Kipling reference. "Breathe..." --The nurse and/or doctor asking the ostensibly dying woman to breathe Panting, then: "I really, don't ask me again..." --The woman, struggling to breathe "Don't ever talk to me like that again" --The nurse or doctor, sternly admonishing her screams and language |
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| Lana Del Rey – Terrence Loves You Lyrics | 8 years ago |
| This song is about David Bowie's older brother, Terrence (they called him Terry), who was schizophrenic and committed suicide in 1985. Terry loved his brother's music, and they became close toward the end of his life before he killed himself. | |
| Cat Power – Metal Heart Lyrics | 8 years ago |
| Sounds like a jaded person realizing they have legitimate feelings for someone; that's the way I've always interpreted this song. | |
| Hole – Die with Me Lyrics | 8 years ago |
| What the fuck??? These are NOT the lyrics. This site is shit for porting over all these incorrect and fucked up lyrics. You guys suck | |
| Cat Power – Wealthy Man Lyrics | 8 years ago |
| Song meanings has been taken over by shitty fuckin lyric generators that replaced all the edited lyrics. To correct jocularjosh, I think the word is "knight" in the second verse, as in the hand of a knightly man. | |
| Hole – Softer, Softest Lyrics | 8 years ago |
| GOD, why the fuck are they reverting all these lyrics to shitty interpretations from LyricFind?? These lyrics are SOOOO WRONG | |
| Hole – Your Empathy Lyrics | 8 years ago |
| There are uploads of this on YouTube, it appears to be a live recording from a show in 1993 in Portland, OR, when Hole opened for the Lemonheads. I think the song is pretty obviously about her feeling like an ancillary object in comparison to Kurt, and how they got targeted by people. She sings "Tell your bitch to just shut up" at the end, which is a direct quote from Axl Rose when he told Kurt to "tell his bitch to shut up" when they were at the VMAs the year before. | |
| Daisy Chainsaw – Lovely Ugly Brutal World Lyrics | 8 years ago |
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Lyrics are wrong here, way wrong: I've got a new dress With large breasts And I look funny in it My beautiful boy has brown eyes And we both smell immensely We live in our dreams He hears himself with open eyes And now he bashes his head Again and again On my bed and on my knees He's an odd boy Lucky boy Makes big noise With big bottle Lovely ugly cruel world Lovely ugly cruel world Lovely ugly cruel world I wear a nice blue hat Just to keep in with swing of things I go to church, go to church Church fills my face Hey, hey We're in the middle of this Says I I see a pile of soot on my head |
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| Lana Del Rey – Swan Song Lyrics | 8 years ago |
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I think it's pretty clear that she's singing about leaving her career behind— she's also talking about running away with someone as she leaves it behind. "Leave the world for the ones who change everything" implies she doesn't feel she's making a difference in society, as opposed to the "ones who do everything" while she sings and writes songs. She's not sure if her career is fulfilling enough long-term. "I will never sing again, and you won't work another day"— it's a song about departure, from careers, maybe even from life itself. This song makes me wonder about her future as a musician, as she's said many times that she may never write another album, but she always does. Her duplicitous interviews make it even more puzzling as she references feeling trapped in the industry and saying dramatically that she wants to die. It's hard to tell if what she's done made of herself is what she really wants in her life. |
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| Hole – Whose Porno You Burn Black Lyrics | 8 years ago |
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Also the "I know whose porno that you burn" is a clear reference to heroin; the "porno" is the substance, and the "burning" is the heating of it. Basically, in this song, porno = drugs, and masturbating= using drugs. |
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| Hole – Whose Porno You Burn Black Lyrics | 8 years ago |
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This song is about drugs and suicide, probably inspired by Kurt since they came up with it during live gigs right after he died. "Who is the needle? Who is the gun?" are pretty obvious references, and her screaming "I am" after the intro verse is commenting on the blame she got for his death-- a great deal of the public looked at her as his killer, both figuratively and literally. At the end she's equating masturbation with drug use, as both are self-indulgent. "Masturbate your life away" is basically a metaphor for "Go on, keep on using your life away." |
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| Lana Del Rey – Off to the Races Lyrics | 9 years ago |
| It's not "Krystal," it's "Cristal," the drink. | |
| Bikini Kill – R.I.P. Lyrics | 9 years ago |
| This is NOT about Kurt Cobain for fuck's sake. It's about her losing one of her gay male friends to AIDS, and how unfair it is that such an important person has been taken out of her life. | |
| Jewel – Hands Lyrics | 9 years ago |
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The people who think this song is about "leaving everything up to God" are SO misguided. Read the lyrics; she's saying the exact opposite. "We are God's eyes, hands, mind." In other words, irrespective of any creator, we have free will and we have it for a reason. It is up to us, and only us, to shape our lives and the world at large. I know far too many people who foolishly mistake faith for a belief in divine providence, and they end up spending all their lives being reactive instead of proactive, because they essentially believe God is in control of everything, and that they are mere puppets in his hands. This is a gorgeous song. I've loved Jewel ever since I was a kid, but songs like this take on much larger meaning as I grow older. |
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| Lana Del Rey – This Is What Makes Us Girls Lyrics | 9 years ago |
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These lyrics are so wrong, especially at the end. Wtf. This is what I hear: Remember how we used to party up all night Sneaking out and looking for a taste of real life Drinking in the small town firelight (Pabst Blue Ribbon on ice) Sweet sixteen and we had arrived Walking down the street as they whistle, "Hi, hi!" Stealin' police cars with the senior guys Teachers said we'd never make it out alive There she was my new best friend High heels in her hands, swayin' in the wind While she starts to cry, mascara runnin' down her little bambi eyes "Lana, how I hate those guys." This is what makes us girls We don't look for heaven and we put our love first Somethin' that we'd die for it's a curse Don't cry about it, don't cry about it This is what makes us girls We don't stick together 'cause we put our love first Don't cry about him, don't cry about him It's all gonna happen And that's where the beginning of the end begun Everybody knew that we had too much fun We were skippin' school and drinkin' on the job (With the boss) Sweet sixteen and we had arrived Baby's table dancin' at the local dive Cheerin' our names in the pink spotlight Drinkin' cherry schnapps in the velvet night Yo, we used to go break in Through hotel, glimmering we'd swim Runnin' from the cops in our black bikini tops Screaming, "Get us while we're hot," "Get us while we're hot" (Come on, take a shot) This is what makes us girls We don't look for heaven and we put our love first Somethin' that we'd die for it's a curse Don't cry about it, don't cry about it This is what makes us girls We don't stick together 'cause we put our love first Don't cry about him, don't cry about him It's all gonna happen The prettiest crowd that you had ever seen Ribbons in our hair and our eyes gleamed mean A freshmen generation of degenerate beauty queens And you know something? They were the only friends I ever had We got into trouble and when stuff got bad I got sent away, I was waving on the train platform Crying 'cause I know I'm never comin' back. This is what makes us girls We don't look for heaven and we put our love first Somethin' that we'd die for, it's a curse Don't cry about it, don't cry about it It's all gonna happen This is what makes us girls We don't look for heaven and we put our love first Somethin' that we'd die for, it's a curse Don't cry about him, don't cry about him It's all gonna happen |
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| Cat Power – 3 Times Lyrics | 9 years ago |
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This is the beauty of discussing this stuff, because I never in a million years would have pulled your interpretation from it, but that's super interesting. I think we'd both agree that she's acknowledging the fact that she is mocking someone here (a woman, the "Chinese"); I just see the reason for it being that this woman replaced her in a relationship or something. The vision I've always had in my head when I hear this song is that a relationship has ended, and now she's seeing her ex-lover with another woman (I've seen you a couple of times), and she's so raw that her experience of it is almost as if they are taunting her (Walking circles around me, I'll look away / She looks impressive when she's dancing her little home dance on me). Maybe the other woman broke up the relationship? (She comes around you and me). I really don't think we'll ever know what it's about unless she discusses it, which I doubt will ever happen. Your interpretation is fascinating though; definitely an entirely different vision of what the lyrics mean. I like the idea a lot. |
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| Sky Ferreira – Kristine Lyrics | 10 years ago |
| This is a clear commentary on capitalism, wealth distribution, and social mobility. It's about how the rich elite have coerced the rest of the country into feeding their fortunes and fawning over this opulence that is only attainable by the select few who propagate it for benefits which only they are able to reap. Surprisingly profound lyrics here in comparison with some of the other songs on this album. | |
| Hole – 20 Years In The Dakota Lyrics | 10 years ago |
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This song is ostensibly about Yoko Ono, and the fact that people would think anything else is beyond me. There are at least three Beatles references in it and several references to Ono, and all that is aside from the fact that Courtney publicly said what she had in mind when writing it: "People hate her [Yoko Ono], they really do. Did you know that to 'Yoko someone' is a verb in America? It is something that boys say if they’re hanging out with you too much and they’re going to school or they have a band. It’s almost a myth that’s used to suppress women. Y’know, ‘You’re gonna Yoko me. You’re gonna destroy me.’ And this woman put up with racial inequality from Fleet Street, she put up with being accused of breaking up the best band in the world [The Beatles], she put up with people’s idea that she castrated this man and then, worst of all, she had her best friend, her husband, the person she lived for, die in her arms in front of a fortress that she’d hidden herself in for twenty years. And I just feel that the world media should apologize to her because she handled it with so much dignity." There you have it folks. It's a song about Yoko, Nancy, Courtney, and all the other infamous female counterparts to male cultural icons. |
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| Hole – Mrs. Jones Lyrics | 10 years ago |
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This song is twisted beyond words. Obviously surrealistic and has to do with a back-alley abortion. I feel like it's relaying a woman's guilt in the moments before she dies from the operation ("I will follow you down the sick drain" signifies either her guilt or acquiescence to the fact that she, like her unborn child, is going to die as well and follow them "down the sick drain"), but it's all so frenetic and disturbing that it's difficult to make clear sense of it all. Maybe the abortionist deliberately murders her? "Look into the bloodroot you suicide bitch" (the bloodroot being the fetus after its removal) sounds like it's coming from the abortionist maybe, or it could be from her directed at herself perhaps. Such disturbing imagery in this song though— the knife they used to "gut her face in" has been "out stabbing baby angels in". Fucking crazy writing here. Incredible I think, but the subject matter is just so grotesque, and her voice is so scary in it. I still don't know who "Mrs. Jones" is or represents, and I doubt Courtney Love does either, but it can definitely be agreed upon that abortion and horrible death live in this song. |
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| Scout Niblett – Lullaby for Scout in Ten Years Lyrics | 10 years ago |
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I love this song, it's so intense. I think it's basically an inner monologue, in which she's speaking to her future self. What makes the song particularly rattling is the way she repeats "Honey, if you're still around," escalating into screaming it toward the end of the song. That basically tells me that she's uncertain of even being alive ten years from then, and all of that inner monologue is conditional to whether or not she's "still around" ten years in the future. Brilliant song. The alternating tempo amps up the intensity of the words too. It's like one second she's cradling the listener in her arms, and the next she's beating them to death with her guitar. Love her. |
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| Scout Niblett – Hide And Seek Lyrics | 10 years ago |
| I think this song is about the absence of God, or the absence of being able to perceive God. God "plays hide and seek", and you cannot see him or hear him. The song sounds like anger toward the transparence of a higher being and the frustration of affirmation. "The silence that you serve is the loudest thing I've heard"– on other words, this higher power does not make itself known. | |
| Hole – Violet Lyrics | 11 years ago |
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While Courtney is an incredible writer and artist, I take a lot of what she says publicly with a grain of salt; in other words, I don't think her claiming she wrote this about Billy Corgan before a few live performance necessarily makes it wholly true. Even if it is in part true, I don't think it should necessarily color the way the song is interpreted. Anyway, here's my shot at interpreting this. I don't necessarily think this is JUST a song about women being used by men in general; that theme is there, but I think it's more specific and personal than that. I think it's about a troubled and insecure woman (probably Courtney, since she's said herself that all of her songs are about a part of her) who is left by a man because of her unreluctant sexuality– her willingness, even eagerness to give herself to him out of insecurity. This lack of resistance is disturbing to him, and he leaves her soon after. The majority of the song (specifically the chorus) is her lashing out and blaming herself. To break it down: "And the sky was made of amethyst / And all the stars look just like little fish" tells me that the speaker here is seeing the sky– perhaps on her back outside at night, probably having sex. The link between "amethyst" and "little fish" is too distinct for me to ignore– it's a direct reference to a Pisces, whose birthstone is amethyst and whose symbol is a fish. A lot of people have speculated that this could be Kurt, since he was a Pisces. Personally, I think it's impossible to know whether or not that's whom she was alluding to. They were just getting acquainted when she wrote this song, so it's hard to tell. Notice that the chord progression here sounds whimsical and pretty– no distortion. This is an exciting moment for her; it's their first time having sex. The following lines: "You should learn when to go / You should learn how to say no" are her chastising herself for giving in to this man. She knows better, she knows she should just "say no", but she can't, for compulsive reasons. The "saying no" is a play with words on the notion of female consent. She should learn how to say no– not to him, though, but to herself. She's aware of this sexual compulsion and the danger she puts herself in when giving into it. Note that at this point the guitar goes from clean to heavily distorted. "Might last a day / Mine is forever" is a juxtaposition between the brief duration of their relationship and the profound effect it has on her. He left her basically because he perceived her to be a slut, and it didn't take long. Their relationship was short, and she compares it to maybe "lasting a day". "Mine is forever" is her recognizing that this issue and this pain is something that she continues to live with, and perhaps will forever. She will continue this cycle of behavior, and men will continue to leave her by the wayside, deeming her a slut who is worth little else besides a few good screws, and she doesn't know how to consciously stop it. "When they get what they want, they never want it again" is her confirming to herself that so willingly handing over her sexuality will destroy the relationship. If she gives too much of herself, they (men) will be done with her, and this is the problem she grapples with. "Go on, take everything, take everything, I want you to" expresses her anger toward him, but has a very sexual connotation to it– she, essentially, is expressing her desire to be ravaged here. He can take everything from her and she's willing to give it up– she invites it, it's self-destructive and she knows it's self-destructive, but she can't stop. "And the sky was all violet / I want it again, but violent, more violent" goes back to the images of the first verse, where she is having sex with the man for the first time outside. The sky turning violet could be representative of an orgasm (it also seems to be a Patti Smith reference– listen to "Kimberly" by her, there's a similar line). But, of course, the orgasm isn't enough, and she wants more– she wants it again, but violent, more violent. This goes back her yearning to be ravaged, and be completely taken sexually, so completely and so aggressively that it's actually violent. Again, this yearning is a result of insecurity. "And I'm the one with no soul / One above and one below" represents the way she questions her own identity. Is she soulless? Why else does she willingly and consciously do this to herself? "One above and one below" is toying with the idea of power in a relationship– who is above, and who is below. Who is submissive, who is dominant. You could argue where she places herself in this equation, but I think she embodies both in that she's sexually aggressive, but at the same time submissive to the man by the mere nature of using him to bandage her own insecurity. "When I get what I want, I never want it again" is just a subversion of the corresponding verse, which puts the power in her hands. Maybe, after all, her using these relationships to validate herself is a tool for empowerment. Maybe she's not at the mercy of them, but they are actually at the mercy of her. Anyway, to sum it up– it's about a promiscuous woman who hands over her sexuality to men as a means of self-validation. Her lack of resistance leads the men to soon leave her, deeming her a slut, and this cycle perpetuates itself. What's interesting though is that she poses the question of whether or not the men are actually at the mercy of her, and that maybe she's actually the one in power in these relationships– if she's using these sexual encounters to learn about herself or somehow empower herself, and the men are merely using them as a means of getting off, then who is in fact that in power in that situation? Assuming that to be the case, the men are being exploited like horny dogs while she uses them as a means of empowering and strengthening herself. It's an extremely controversial notion, but since it's Courtney Love, it may not be too far off the mark. |
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| Hole – Softer, Softest Lyrics | 11 years ago |
| Some songs are never meant to be understood, and this is one of them. Part of me has always thought, like most people, that "pee girl" is Courtney referring to herself (probably as a child), but all of the other imagery is pure abstraction– the milk turning to cream, the milk crying, having a dye, having a dick... I honestly still have no clue what this song is about after years of speculation, but I do know this much: it's sorrowful and expresses some sort of seething, desperate pain– it's very, very sad, and very, very beautiful. | |
| Hole – Mrs. Jones Lyrics | 11 years ago |
| My thoughts exactly. This tops my "most disturbing songs" list for sure. Scary as all hell. | |
| Hole – Rock Star Lyrics | 11 years ago |
| Actually, she didn't go there at all. This song is about the riot grrrls in Olympia and is basically her making fun of their hip conformity. Courtney went to Portland State and San Francisco State, and apparently attended Trinity College in Ireland, all of which were fairly short stints I believe. She never graduated or anything. | |
| Hole – Petals Lyrics | 11 years ago |
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This is a beautiful song, but I think that it's written with more in mind than just a loss of innocence. I've always read it as a reflection of the losses she experienced in the past several years before they recorded this album involving drug overdoses (Kurt, her bass player, etc). A lot of people in that circle of musicians and people in this band were hardcore addicts (Courtney, Patty, and Kristen; I think Eric was the only sober one). Courtney said in a '94 interview that she had around 10 dead friends, not counting boyfriends or husbands, and I'm assuming it was all due to drugs and general self-destructiveness. The idea of "tearing the petals off" is like peeling away all of your outer layers and making you vulnerable and unable to protect yourself, which is a pit that drug addicts find themselves in. Conversely, this could be read as her saying that she's going to "tear the petals" off of these people and try to illuminate their inner darkness so they can break free of their addiction. "Make them tell the truth" and really see themselves and their circumstances for what they are. This could be a stretch, but in the little bridge portion where she sings about "all the darling buds of May", she could possibly be referencing Kristen Pfaff, her bassist who died of a heroin overdose– Pfaff's birthday was in May. She could be using the month as a representation of Kristen's life and death and that of all these other people who were succumbing to drug addiction. "Never knew what I could be", which she says before this, is pretty self-explanatory. Drugs will destroy your sense of self worth. "They fall with no sound, they carry you down"– basically, all of these people who are dying around her are carrying her down with them and she's resorting to drugs herself to numb the pain and shock. "They fall without sound" because everyone around them is in denial of their own dependency and mutes out the deaths of these people by getting obliterated even more. Basically, it's about someone possibly coming to the full realization of their own addiction by witnessing it destroy everyone around them. |
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| Lana Del Rey – Serial Killer Lyrics | 11 years ago |
| I think it's pretty clear that she's comparing her sexual conquests to serial killings. As a serial killer would get off on murdering someone, she's getting the same kind of satisfaction over these encounters with men. Pretty good song. | |
| Hole – Doll Parts Lyrics | 11 years ago |
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Taking into consideration what I know about Courtney Love's life, I've always took this song as being about yearning for love and not getting it (or at least not thinking you are going to get it). It encapsulates that romantic hopelessness that I've felt my whole life, so it really resonates with me personally. Throughout the whole song you get the sense that she's attacking herself because she feels unworthy and empty (like a doll), hence the "bad skin", "big veins", and other bodily criticisms. She takes it a step further by blaming herself for wanting and expecting too much ("I want to be the girl with the most cake"), and although she can pretend all she wants ("I fake it so real I am beyond fake"), there's still that inner turmoil and loneliness seething inside her. The "someday you will ache like I ache" is kind of like wishful thinking, like she's telling herself that her emptiness and pain will someday be felt by those who in the current moment are fulfilled. It's really, really sad, and I think the reason that it remains one of Hole's most popular songs is because it perfectly describes an almost-universal feeling: the feeling of being alone, and desperately wanting someone by your side. |
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| Cat Power – Moonshiner Lyrics | 11 years ago |
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It's definitely based on the old folk song, but it's pretty clearly her take on it and she's added lyrics that were never part of the original version. It sounds like she is singing the song from the point of view of herself and her alcohol problems, which she's publicly talked about several times. She used to be so drunk during concerts that she sometimes couldn't finish or would bail out on shows. I remember reading a quote from her where she said she hadn't performed a concert sober for basically her whole career (up until the mid-2000s when she cleaned up). "See if women and men would come to follow To see what I might spend God bless them handsome men I wish they was mine" That verse in particular paints a picture to me of her getting drunk in a bar and offering to pay for rounds of drinks for people around her ("To see what I might spend"). "God bless them handsome men" is her lamenting the fact that there are all these men around her who are only giving her attention because she's drunk and paying for their drinks, and that after the night is over they will want nothing more to do with her ("I wish they was mine"). The whole song is basically about finding companionship in alcohol and the act of drinking with people, and how neither of those are fulfilling and are ultimately self-destructive. |
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| Morrissey – Alsatian Cousin Lyrics | 12 years ago |
| I don't know about anyone else, but I always took "tent flap" as a reference to a guy having a hard-on underneath his pants. You know, the "tent" created by the guy's dick, and the flap being the zipper/opening to his pants. It seems to go with the general thread of homosexuality in Morrissey's songs. "Tent flap / Open wide".... the "open wide" part can be taken one of two ways. Lol. | |
| Hole – She's Lost Control Lyrics | 12 years ago |
| Whoa there, chill out you psychopaths. It was performed in 1995 at a concert in Nottingham, according to the YouTube video. It may have been played live again other times. There's a recording of it up on there and a high-quality audio track of it circulated on some Hole bootlegs. It's actually not a bad cover at all, but the tempo is slower. Joy Division were great, but that doesn't give you any right to thrash her for appreciating and covering their work. She's said herself that Joy Division (along with a bunch of other '80s new wave and post punk bands) were big influences on her. Calm the fuck down. | |
| Cat Power – Headlights Lyrics | 12 years ago |
| I did and always have interpreted this song as being a first-person narrative about someone's experience of dying in a car accident. "Last thing I remember.....", then the "headlights are getting too close to me" and "cutting me" sound like an oncoming car and then feeling the pain of being cut up in the collision. The narrator sees their friend "weeping" and "singing over them" and "lifting their arms up to the sky"; the friend is probably crying and try to flag down help, but the dying narrator interprets it as their friend singing and lifting up their arms to the sky. The talk about getting up at 8, making coffee and getting stoned is probably the last thing this person heard before the crash happened– the other people in the car simply making a plan for the next morning; "we'll play a record or two". If you hear the original version of this song on the 10" single there is an additional verse at the end where the narrator describes dried flowers that are hung around a home and that they are now lying above her (much like how they lie flowers on a casket), and that "they are saying I'm okay", then the refrain "I'm alone, it's cold as hell". So, essentially it's a first-person perspective of someone dying in a car accident and witnessing their own burial as they are being put into the ground. Really haunting song. | |
| Hole – Babydoll Lyrics | 12 years ago |
| It sounds like another song about female rivalry; or some sort of succubus, "all waste and void" who manipulates and abuses those around her using her sexuality. "Here she comes, her pants undone", "there you go in your Nazi car, oh, babydoll, what a whore you are". Sounds pretty self-explanatory. Vicious, though. | |
| Hole – Asking For It Lyrics | 12 years ago |
| As other commentators have said, this was written about Courtney having her clothes torn off of her by the crowd after she stage-dove. It's happened multiple times to her I believe. What's more important though is the way she presents the song's content; like a lot of good art, she's asking a question and not thrusting an answer at you. It's another example of how strong she is as a lyricist. She may be limited as a musician, but songs like this are proof of her strength with words. The lyrics are implicit enough to make a statement, but she's begging for answer from the people who are listening to her story here. If a woman dives into an audience in a dress, more than likely that dress is coming off, and she's asking you what that says about us as people and as a society as a whole. She's not saying it's right or wrong or "it should be THIS way, not that way". She's pointing to something intangible inside of us that makes us do these things. Is it right? Is it wrong? Should she expect that? If she should, why? If she shouldn't, why not? Is it nature? Was she really asking for it? Notice that by the end of the song she still hasn't given us an answer because I don't know if she herself has one, but she's certainly making sure that we think about it. People don't give Love enough credit as an artist and this song alone shows what a firm grasp she has on cultural concepts and on language in general. | |
| Cat Power – 3 Times Lyrics | 12 years ago |
| I take this as she is chastising an ex-lover who has left her for someone else; maybe a boyfriend who is with a new woman and now she is seeing them together. "She's like a little Chinese / She is Chinese" – that says to me that she is attacking the other woman, possibly making fun of the way she looks as a defense mechanism ("maybe it would be nicer if I said Japanese"). It also sounds like she is seeing them together now ("she comes around you and me" ), but doesn't want to look at it because it hurts her ("I will, I will, I will look away"). | |
| The Pop Group – She Is Beyond Good And Evil Lyrics | 12 years ago |
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For whatever reason there are no lyrics posted here, so here they are: "My little girl was born on a ray of sound My little girl was born on a ray of sound Sleeps on water, walks on ice Sleeps on water, walks on ice Got no father, immortal wife I'd exchange my soul for her There's no antidote for her I'd exchange my soul for her There's no antidote for her My little girl was born on a ray of sound My little girl was born on a ray of sound Like a dancing flame on a bed of nails She is one thing that you cannot buy With zero reasons for living With zero reasons for living My little girl was born on a ray of sound My little girl was born on a ray of sound Our only defense is together as an army I'll hold you like a gun Our only defense is together as an army I'll hold you like a gun My little girl was born on a ray of sound My little girl was born on a ray of sound Western values mean nothing to her, nothing to her Western values mean nothing to her She's the girl of my dreams She's the girl of my dreams She is beyond good and evil She is beyond good and evil She is beyond good and evil She is beyond" |
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| Hole – Use Once And Destroy Lyrics | 13 years ago |
| I think she wrote this song about the public witch hunt that she went through in the early '90s. I mean, she's always been the subject of a witch hunt her entire career. The whole Vanity Fair thing, and then everything that happened with people's reactions to Kurt and her being blamed (and in some cases outright accused of murder)– and really everything that people perceive of her and hate her for, all for simply being herself. She gets a lot of flack and she always has. The "off with her head" verses make it obvious to me, and the line, "It's the awful truth, you'd fight for your life" is kind of like her saying, "Hey, if you were in my position, you'd be just as mean right back". The last line of the song echoes the same sentiments– when they come for you, just say that you don't care. In all truth, people have been horribly, disgustingly mean to her; fans, the public, the media, and ESPECIALLY that entire group of the public who believe she murdered Kurt. She's always had to prove herself and people are extremely polarized on her, and I think that's what this song is about– her having to respond to all of that. | |
| Hole – Asking For It Lyrics | 13 years ago |
| Love this song, and it looks like these lyrics were interpreted from the MTV Unplugged session (?), because the album version doesn't tack on those last few verses. Nonetheless, I think there is one lyric mistake: I'm 99% positive that "Wild eye gut rot, do me in" is actually "Wild-eyed rocker, do me in", because, first off, "wild eye gut rot" makes absolutely no sense and doesn't seem to flow in the song's context, and secondly, "wild-eyed rocker" would make A LOT more sense considering the song is about being molested by a bunch of crazy guys in a mosh pit. | |
| Hole – Pretty On The Inside Lyrics | 13 years ago |
| *when Courtney lived in Portland. | |
| Hole – Pretty On The Inside Lyrics | 13 years ago |
| I've since listened to live versions and the album version, and in most live versions, she most definitely says "dead moon girl, molasses rot blackstrap" as opposed to "slutkiss girls, molasses rot blackstrap". No idea what the blackstrap molasses is supposed to symbolize, but I think that the "dead moon" could be a reference to the band Dead Moon; they were an underground rock band from Portland, Oregon, and they were popular in the mid-late 1980s, when time Courtney lived in Portland. | |
| Hole – Northern Star Lyrics | 13 years ago |
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This song is MOST DEFINITELY about Kurt– I know everyone says every song Courtney has ever written was about him, but this is the only song that wholly is about him. She said it herself in an interview with Clash this past year: "No - that was [the song that became] ‘Nobody’s Daughter’. But ‘Honey’ did have a vibe that was very different - but now it’s straight up about Kurt. It’s the first song I can say that about, ever. Other than [‘Celebrity Skin’’s] ‘Northern Star’." Here's the whole interview: http://www.clashmusic.com/feature/clash-magazine-courtney-love-interview |
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| Hole – Why Do Feminists Give Blow Jobs? Lyrics | 13 years ago |
| It was never officially recorded, but here's a link to a live recording of the song; it's been uploaded on YouTube. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aY9v1IT38UI | |
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