| The 1975 – She's American Lyrics | 6 years ago |
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There's lots in here, but the line that really resonates with me is "Don't fall in love with the moment And think you're in love with the girl." As a fellow Brit who's foolishly/naively fallen in love with a couple of American girls, it resonates. Maybe the things you love about her are facets of her geography, and not her personality. And maybe you forgive too many things you wouldn't do otherwise - "You know I'm in love with this city, But the green is turning brown And I just look pathetic now". And maybe she seems to give him the attention he craves, but that's because he's "socially relevant". He's the British guy she can impress her friends with. But, "Oh, she's dancing enthralling, I guess I gotta wait my turn". All us naive yankophiles want the romantic transatlantic relationship that 90s films pretended is possible (see Notting Hill, The Holiday, Serendipity). In reality, she's just a girl - American or not, she has all the imperfections of a human being. Just because she's American doesn't mean she's right for you. If she is right, she will genuinely care about you as a person, and not just use you as a social accessory, a shoulder to cry on, or both. The lesson is: see who she is underneath her cultural norms, before you fall in love with America instead of the girl. |
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| Bruce Springsteen – We Take Care Of Our Own Lyrics | 6 years ago |
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This is a song about the platitudes and the reality of American exceptionalism. The Platitude: "We take care of our own, wherever this flag is flown." This is the idea that Americans will be looked after by other Americans, that all matter in a democracy, and that Americans always look after their fellow citizens. The Reality: "From Chicago to New Orleans From the muscle to the bone From the shotgun shack to the Superdome There ain't no help the cavalry's stayed home There ain't no-one hearing the bugle blown" "The shotgun shack to the superdome". - This is two references, the "shotgun shack" is a tiny house, presumably lived in by a poor person. The superdome is a reference to the evacuees of hurricane Katrina, trapped in the Louisina Superdome for weeks, while the federal agencies tripped over each other failing to help. The then FEMA chief, claimed they had plenty of food. "There ain't no help the cavalry's stayed home" - a reference to the widely considered, poor federal reaction, to the aftermath of hurricane Katrina. "There ain't no-one hearing the bugle blown" - No one's paying any attention to the call to arms, or people who need helping - they are too busy thinking about themselves, and their own tax dollars. The song is about how great America claims to be as a nation - but won't lift a finger or spare a dollar of taxpayers money when the chips are really down. This was written in 2012, but if it was written today, I'm sure he would have added a line about the current president throwing paper towels at Puerto Ricans after the recent violent hurricane and how they aren't real Americans either. |
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| Death Cab for Cutie – I Will Follow You Into the Dark Lyrics | 6 years ago |
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I listened to this song again today and got something new out of it. I always knew it was a song about coping with the inevitability of death and supporting someone you love through that. I also thought it hints at suicide following the death of a loved one, though it's hard to be sure of that, and can be interpreted in different ways. But then l realised it's got quite a humanist perspective to it. I know a lot of people will say it's about purgatory, the Catholic notion of the place you go if you've only committed temporal, and not cardinal sins, but that doesn't fit. The lines: No blinding light Or tunnels, to gates of white Just our hands clasped so tight Waiting for the hint of a spark Those are specifically dealing with what happens when you don't go to heaven. This is just him and his true love, "hands clasped tight, hoping for the hope of a spark" - of life, I presume. And: If Heaven and Hell decide that they both are satisfied Illuminate the no's on their vacancy signs If there's no one beside you when your soul embarks Then I'll follow you into the dark To me, this reads as that you don't need God's permission to embark to the dark nothingness - I will support you whatever, and I'll be there with you. Catholics would say that even you go to purgatory to be cleansed of your sins, you die in "god's grace", and the song specifically implies that there is no one beside this person when they die - so if God is not there, then who is? Well he is, and he cares, no matter if God does or not. Ben did have a Catholic upbringing, but is a lapsed Catholic, and I would say his thoughts are very humanist - "I believe in a human sense of right and wrong" and that sort of thing. So now this song is even more meaningful to me, in that it tells me that you don't need to believe in heaven or hell to know that that human beings have "soul" and meaning. Even if the place you go when you die is just the dark endless nothingness, you still mean something to the people who loved you, and that's really all that matters. Source: https://relevantmagazine.com/culture/music/features/26737-death-cab-for-cutie |
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| Radiohead – No Surprises Lyrics | 7 years ago |
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@[Imani110:17020] I like your interpretation. Some have said it might not be relevant to English society, but it is from my perspective as a middle-england suburbanite. The idea of the "American dream" or indeed, the suburban dream in any western nation can be intoxicating, and often where we direct our search for happiness. Maybe we have a "job that slowly kills you" instead of the job you really wanted to do in life, because it was stable and less risky. Maybe we have "such a pretty house and such a pretty garden" but feel empty inside. Maybe "no alarms and no surprises" is the way to reconcile the lying to yourself about what actually makes you happy. Any time someone shakes anything up, it intrudes into that imaginary version of what life should be like. And it stops the numbness to the pain that you were otherwise feeling. The pain becomes real again. I've got to say, at 35, I interpret differently than I first did at 17. I think maybe "no surprises" is how I have tried to live my life sometimes. |
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