| Tool – Forty Six & 2 Lyrics | 10 years ago |
| Yohan, I agree that the song is inextricably tied to Buddhist concepts, but that does not preclude the same ideas from being present in Jungian psychology. I don't know which school of Buddhism you have studied, but I am not aware of a single teaching which advocates condescension (mana/nga rygal) and anger (dosa/zhe sdang) towards fellow prisoners of samsara/'khor ba. I have fallen prey to the same error many times, and I can tell you that it does no good for anyone. Though your message is over two years old, I will think of you during tonglen today. May we meet again in peace and unity. | |
| Deadsy – Babes in Abyss Lyrics | 11 years ago |
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Seems like this song is (at least superficially) about Hell and selling your soul. "You think you're cunning, but you haven't a soul." -You don't have a soul because you sold it. "Cause down south there's a number of heroes/It makes you want it just a little bit more" -Seeing the famous and powerful who have sold their souls to attain glory gave you motivation to do it as well. "Stuck in his mouth there's a terrible trio." -This one was what made me notice the theme. In Dante's Inferno, Satan constantly devours Judas, Brutus, and Cassius inside of his three mouths. Those three are famous betrayers, thus the "terrible trio" phrase. There's a lot more, but my fingers are getting tired. If you don't buy my explanation, try looking for all the words the song uses to indicate things going down, "e.g. look down and see the underworld begin to arise" or "I've been to the bottom. . . I've descended into deeper depths than you" and so on. |
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| My Bloody Valentine – Sometimes Lyrics | 11 years ago |
| Don't hate me, but I lived your dream. For what it's worth you were totally right about it. I didn't even realize the lyrical implications until now, kinda blowing my mind. I just put it the album on because it's got a lush soundscape without distracting lyrics/singing (as in, I can't understand what the fuck they're saying 99% of the time unless I'm reading along with the lyrics). | |
| My Bloody Valentine – Sometimes Lyrics | 11 years ago |
| Probably, man. I have it on good authority that MBV didn't sell a single copy of Loveless from its release in 1991 to when you picked it up in the early 2000s. | |
| Type O Negative – Black no. 1 (Little Miss Scare-All) Lyrics | 11 years ago |
| I believe he's saying "sacrebleu" albeit in an exaggerated growl. | |
| Aesop Rock – Zero Dark Thirty (feat. Rob Sonic) Lyrics | 11 years ago |
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I agree with the general theme but I think the Rumplestiltskin reference is aimed at the industry executives because the line goes "NEVERMIND straw to gold, spin hearts in sleeves into heads on poles." To me that indicates they don't care about helping the artist who is putting themselves out for everyone to see (hearts on sleeves), but just want to add the artist to their collection of gruesome trophies (heads on poles). This is idea is supported by the line "A-alike androids dreaming of carbon applause get stuffed with cartoon cigars." In cartoons cigars are often smoked by sleazy businessmen holding them in their teeth with a smug grin; the artists are "androids" dreaming of fame but get stuffed with the ideals of the businessmen who promote them. They get sick of this ("cold pack, neti-pot, home to roost" being a reference to physical sickness) and try to distance themselves, but the people they know are all similar "folk backed into what they most lampoon" which in rap culture tends to be selling out/commercialism. So many rappers start out bashing the commercial rap of the day but jump when they get a chance to be a part of it. Continuing the interpretation, "shook to the fevered brow and broke ankles, daisy, declawed pound, no thank you, fade me" would refer to the artist realizing the hypocrisy that surrounds them, how they can't get out because of how much they've worked to get where they are (broke ankles), how their label association has taken away their ability to say what they want (declawed pound), and finally how they give up to the allure of drugs in light of this (no thank you, fade me). The use of the word "daisy" might be a reference to the 2006 Korean movie of the same name; one of the protagonists is shot in the throat which leaves them voiceless for their entire life. I believe it's easy to see how this ties in if my interpretation is correct, and while this may seem tenuous it wouldn't be the first time Aesop made an oblique reference to an obscure work. I liked your interpretation of the Minotaur reference; I took it at face value (since a Minotaur *would* be ugly) but that makes a lot of sense. |
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| Rush – BU2B Lyrics | 11 years ago |
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I'm seeing some comments about Neil being "progressively more" anti-religious, to which I say: have you actually been listening to his lyrics for the past 30 years? He's not just "raging at god" because of what happened to him; he was writing songs of a similar bent long before this. Remember that little ditty called "Freewill"? Read those lyrics and tell me he's not openly mocking the concepts of religion in a very similar way as he is here. I'll concede that he's being more blunt and confrontational, but that sort of thing comes with age for most people. The basic message is the same as it was 30 years ago, just filtered through the lens of experience (and probably far more interactions with people who still don't get what he's been saying for most of his life). |
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| The Mountain Goats – Standard Bitter Love Song #1 Lyrics | 12 years ago |
| Pretty sure it's SBLS#1, I've got a live recording from 2007 and it's labelled as #1. | |
| The Mountain Goats – Letter from a Motel Lyrics | 12 years ago |
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Gives me chills every time I hear it. Seems like part of the alpha series of songs, what with the metaphors of a decaying house and the couple who are clearly at odds. When I heard the first line I immediately came here for the lyrics because I was sure it was another alpha song and wanted some confirmation, but nobody's written about it which is a shame. I read elsewhere that it was originally titled "Letter from the Alpha Motel" but I've also seen people call it "Letter from the Alpha Privative Motel"--I don't know which, if either, of these is correct but it certainly seems tied to the alpha series. I think it's the alpha male recognizing that the marriage is a total failure ("the beams we used to build our house are breaking at last/the building will not hold together very much longer") and there's nothing he can do to actually fix it--only prevent it from falling apart for a little longer ("my arms are young, and they can do the work if called upon to do so, but the house itself has weakened and it's tilting on its axis") The alpha female sends him a picture to entice him to return, but it has the opposite effect ("in the picture that you sent I could see the windows getting soft. . . .i knew that none of this is what you'd been meaning to send along") and reminds him of how they have no chance to reconcile things. This realization prompts him to finally admit that he was wrong or deluding himself about their marriage but realizes she may not come to the same conclusion ("the house itself is weak, very weak/though you and our three daughters believe in what you want to believe"). The first time he says "from where I stand, stability is everything" seems to relate to the previous statement about their relationship: the fact that their relationship was so unstable is what made it fall apart. But then the statement seems to take a less metaphorical, darker turn when he specifically relates it to the room he's standing in. In my opinion these sound like the words of a man standing on a chair who is about to hang himself--stability is now *literally* everything that is keeping him alive. There is no resolution to this tension in the song itself, but I think the fact that it's called "a letter from a motel" indicates that he does hang himself, and it also explains why he'd be willing to finally admit his errors after avoiding them for so long--he knows that he won't have to deal with yet another confrontation because he'll be dead by the time she reads it. |
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| The Mountain Goats – The Best Ever Death Metal Band in Denton Lyrics | 12 years ago |
| I love how John changes the lyrics for some live performances: "but the top three contenders, which have since been ripped off" since there's now at least one band under each of the names he lists. | |
| City Light – Apologies Lyrics | 12 years ago |
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This song seems pretty straightforward to me. The singer got into a relationship he enjoyed but knew wouldn't last ("But there were times/When everything was good/Those times have passed/I always knew they would") and is feeling guilty about breaking his partner's heart ("This is the story of/Your broken heart/And how it feels/To know it's all my fault" + "This is the story of/Our sunken ship/And how it feels/To live in regret"). Now he's apologizing (the song title) but trying to make it clear that his apology doesn't mean he's ever going to fix things ("Don't wait for me/Don't think of me/Don't call me/Cause I'm gone, long gone"). Even though it's pretty simple in its execution, it's an elegant description of how it feels to know you'll completely break someone's heart by being with them, but doing it anyway. |
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| City Light – Evil Twin Lyrics | 12 years ago |
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I think the posted lyrics have messed up parts of the chorus. This is what I'm hearing (corrections *ed): "No more drunken phone calls No more *pleading* messages Now that I'm on to you *I know* you're bent on destroying me" That said, great song. I stumbled on this band while watching a SuicideGirls video about faking an orgasm and I was immediately more interested in the music than the writhing nearly naked girl on the bedspread, which is saying something ;o |
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