| Steely Dan – Dont Take Me Alive Lyrics | 10 years ago |
| Interesting. I think that personal interpretations are just fine. I really like a lot of their music, but some of their lyrics are very perplexing. I think some of the lyrics are personal to them and unknown. Also, there seems to be a lot of obscure literary or cultural references and other cryptic stuff. When they are like that I just enjoy the music. Your interpretation seems as good as any. This is a great old song. From the same recording "Kid Charlemagne" - those words are more obvious. One of my favorite songs by them is Aja. I haven't a clue what the lyrics are about. There used to be some web site(s) that were dedicated to deciphering their lyrics, but I'm not sure they are still around. | |
| Tears for Fears – Shout Lyrics | 11 years ago |
| I don't use this site enough. I guess you can't edit replies. Sorry about the bad prose in my reply. I often go out and walk and run - anything to burn off this intensity I have inside me. And going to a place where you can sing along with songs like this (where you won't disturb others) is sometimes incredibly helpful. To me, selling my soul is to be a person who Plots and manipulates, and will use the anger someone else expresses against them - this happens frequently in a context such as litigation, or employment. Anger isn't acceptable, but it's much more genuine.. In general, I trust people who are emotional a lot more than people who are quiet and "conventional". I'm genuinely frustrated I can't write more clearly and don't have patience with that now. | |
| Tears for Fears – Shout Lyrics | 11 years ago |
| I haven't had time to read all the other interpretations and think about them, and I may not get to that soon. I like yours, though, from a personal view. For me, it's a way to purge out all the anger and violence we all have the seeds of in us. That way, you won't act on them. Get it all out - These are the things I can do without. Repressing emotion isn't good at all. In some kinds of meditation it's called "purifying". I only know a couple of their songs, but I really like them. Joni Mitchell (who's music I really love) said she really liked Tears of Fears I once read. A LOT of her music expresses tremendous anger, and outrage. It's been too intense for me and took me a long time before I could process it, but it really helped. Good examples are "Ethiopia", and that whole "Turbulent Indigo" recording. I really do care about the larger issues and have always been involved in constructive things. But everything starts with the personal side of it. So, I'll read the others when I have time, but I like yours a lot. | |
| Stevie Wonder – Higher Ground Lyrics | 11 years ago |
|
Thank you for such a thorough and detailed analysis. I'd say that I'm "non religious", meaning I'm more non-ideological, but these belief systems have much wisdom and meaning. I'm in the USA and though I wasn't raised as religious, genetically and culturally, I've been very influenced by Christianity, when viewed that way. I'm going to look at what you wrote carefully now. The Taoist/Buddhist viewpoint always made more sense to me, and I like the practices it offers, but there's a lot to be learned from comparative religions. It's really a shame that in the USA mainstream media, we hear about Christianity mostly as a political demographic, or an interaction with government or some scandal (of course - that applies to anything). And even more troubling is that we seem to hear about Islam as related to radical terrorist groups and interactions with governments. I think it's such a powerful influence on us. Thanks again, so much. I really can relate to this song in my own way, but I'm looking forward to reading what you wrote and certainly learning something that's more in depth. |
|
| Joni Mitchell – Ethiopia Lyrics | 12 years ago |
|
What it means to me...I'll wait until I feel more lucid to answer that, and I have some discretion issues as well. I'll just say I can relate to people "strolling through my tragic trials" and exploitation. Here are her comments from jonimitchell.com... "This was my reaction to all those "We Can Save You" songs which raised so much money for corrupt Ethiopian leadership. I was begged to take this off the record. A friend of mine said, "I hate it. All those parallel 2nds, they're wrong!" Even Wayne Shorter said, "What are these chords? They're not piano chords, they're not guitar chords. What are they?" I said, "Well look, these women are bone thin, their babies are dying in their arms. They're walking along with nothing but the rags on their backs. They're coming to a crossroads; one road leads to slavery; the other leads to death by the side of the trail...It's not like they have any good place to go. You think they're gonna be walking along to an Everly Brothers triad?" |
|
* This information can be up to 15 minutes delayed.