submissions
| Jason Isbell – Streetlights Lyrics
| 4 years ago
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A drunkard has been stood up by his girlfriend so he orders more drinks at an empty bar and calls friends to try to get some/any human connection. As he stumbles home after last call, he laments how his girlfriend “disappeared” on him. He can’t rely on anyone (or anything) to provide relief, even the “barely alive” streetlights only “help a little.” The last verse is in stark contrast to the earlier ones. Instead of bemoaning this lonely drunken night, he celebrates it and recognizes that “even times that don’t seem like much” - like tonight - will be his “only crutch” later on. “Time moves slow when you’re 17 and then it picks up steam at 21” is a telling line. The character in the song used to be a kid desperate to get out of his small “slow” town but now finds himself spiraling out of control - and yearns for a slower more centered existence. If he doesn’t find one he’s going to look back on this time as an older man and “remember when he loved someone” as the best memory of his life. |
submissions
| Wilco – Impossible Germany Lyrics
| 4 years ago
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In my humble opinion, Tweedy wrote this while on a European tour with Wilco - and it’s a heady time for him. It’s “impossible” they’re playing shows in Germany and even more “unlikely” they’re headed to Japan next - this milestone, to have a real foreign audience, is “important” to him - as an artist and person. He’s trying to express this to over the phone to his wife - who is back home in the states. He’s trying “to say what this means to me” but they’re separated, by time/space/headspace/etc and she can’t appreciate how happy and proud he is at the moment. She not listening. The song is about how hard it is to share your successes, even with those who love you most. Tweedy understands why this is, saying if having his music this well received “was still new to me I wouldn’t understand.” But it’s not new, so he does. He goes one step further, saying this lack of communication is not a flaw in their relationship but in fact its core. “This is what love is for.” It not just the emotions and experiences you share with your partner that make your bond so strong, but also the ones that are impossible to. Just to know someone is listening, even if they can’t understand what you’re expressing - there’s nothing more important than that. |
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