| LCD Soundsystem – Someone Great Lyrics | 11 years ago |
| that was my interpretation of the song, whether or not murphy really went through that. | |
| The Mighty Mighty Bosstones – The Impression That I Get Lyrics | 11 years ago |
| i could never make sense of the placement of that "knock on wood" line. that makes all of the sense. | |
| Flogging Molly – The Lightning Storm Lyrics | 11 years ago |
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This is almost definitely about the wars in the Middle East, and each verse represents an evolving view of the war as time progresses. The first verse is America's initial reaction. 9/11 hurt us at our height, and got our blood boiling. We wanted to go take out the devil in the Middle east. "and the years do go" The second verse is a few years into the war when we realized we had entered into the Iraq War under false pretenses, and that it was going to be a lot longer and messier than we ever expected. But "ignorance is bliss" and we just "stayed the course". Meanwhile men were dying by the thousands. "and the years do go" The third verse is sort of a warning. This war is dragging on and on interminably. It is nothing but destruction now and if we keep it up we will lose everything. |
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| Devotchka – How It Ends Lyrics | 11 years ago |
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To me, this song is about MLK "They all depend on you" - as a leader of the Civil Rights movement "You know how this will end" - he knew he would end up getting killed "And you know that there's a place in the sun For all that you've done For you and your children" - things will get better for future generations. It all seems to make sense and it gives me the chills every time. |
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| The Decemberists – The Tain (Parts I, II, III, IV, V) Lyrics | 11 years ago |
| I think I remember hearing/reading an interview where Colin Meloy said the Tain wasn't so much about the story itself, but about the characters in and around the main action. So some of it is a direct reference to the story (Medb trying to steal the bull, Cuchulain being chased by dogs) but some of it is in reference just to the soldiers involved with the fighting (Part IV) and the victims of the fighting (Part V) | |
| The Shins – Australia Lyrics | 12 years ago |
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I think the line is, "the selfLESS fool who hoped he'd save us all never dreamt of such sterile hands". To me this line says the sames thing as the Thermal's lyric "we were born to sin". Here the 'selfless fool' is Jesus. And though he 'died for our sins', even he knew it was impossible to live life without sinning. Which goes along with the theme of the song as not living your life to the fullest. All you're doing with your "sterile" [sinless] hands is keeping them "folded in your lap, and raise them up to beg for scraps". And that just leads to a life of being "damned to pining through the windowpanes." |
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| The Mountain Goats – Home Again Garden Grove Lyrics | 12 years ago |
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"Let's go where the jackals are breeding" could refer to the imagery of Egyptian mythology where jackals lead souls to the afterlife, which would tie into the self-destructive recklessness of the song ("Shoving our heads straight into the guts of the stove"). More likely perhaps it's just a reference the line from Mole, "Out in the desert we'll live carefree", especially if you consider the subjects in the songs are the same. I also like how Garden Grove is painted as a place of danger and destruction, given the irony of the peaceful name. The line "wrap this bandana around your head, don't let anyone see that you're bleeding" always makes me think of the author David Foster Wallace who wore a bandana that became kind of a trademark look for him. He killed himself in 2008 after battling depression for a really long time, and Darnielle actually wrote a song about him in The Life of the World to Come. There's no way it could be reference in this song but it fits perfectly. |
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| The Decemberists – Cocoon Lyrics | 13 years ago |
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This song is about the shock in the aftermath of 9/11, metaphorically feeling as if you're in a cocoon. "Caught in Vesuvias' shadow/only the ashes remain" making a parallel between the destruction of that historical eruption and the destruction of 9/11. "Here we lie waiting for something to startle/To shake us from gravity’s pull"...trying to come out of that shock. "The sorry conclusion/the low dirty war/it happened before you came to...". The government rushed into the war before the people were even aware of what was going on and it was a bad solution for the attack. "this quiet serves only to hide you/provide you/what I knew It'd come back to you". The "you" being the Bush administration. The American people are quiet, so you're able to get away with rushing into the war, but it'll back to haunt you. "the tainted election" -- the controversy over the 2000 election. "the hole in the sky" -- the absence of the twin towers. "Command what is tried, what is true...So loosen your shoulder blades/This is your hour to make due." a call to action. we were so shocked and scared after 9/11 we let the government take over but now we need to "command what is tried was is true" and stand up for what's right. |
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