submissions
| Lou Reed – Andy's Chest Lyrics
| 22 years ago
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This is an old Velvets song that Lou decided to resurrect for his second solo album. Apparently after Andy Warhol was shot, (hence the film I Shot Andy Warhol) Lou decided to cheer him up by writing a song based around dadaist wordplay. That's why it's called Andy's Chest. |
submissions
| Joy Division – Shadowplay Lyrics
| 22 years ago
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I don't know exactly what the words mean, but the image it creates for me is of walking through a north-west England town in Winter at around 6 or 7pm. I can't believe it's changed much around here since Curtis wrote Shadowplay, having seen photos of Joy Division around Macclesfield and Manchester. When you're walking alone down the empty streets of concrete and steel, the sky and the surroundings grey and dirty, this song will come into your head. |
submissions
| Lou Reed – Perfect Day Lyrics
| 22 years ago
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I have a friend who goes on and on about this song being about heroin. I disagree. It might have been written whilst *on* heroin, hence the blissed-out nature of the lyrics, but Lou was very straightforward about his substance abuse and would not have tried to subtly 'conceal' an alternative druggie meaning to any of his songs IMO. Also, as the previous poster said, the imagery doesn't fit in with any of Lou's other drugs songs. Even Heroin, with its clean guitars and lapses into dreamlike imagery, was full of needles and corpses. |
submissions
| The Velvet Underground – The Gift Lyrics
| 22 years ago
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It's funny, just before I heard this song for the first time I'd said to myself (having heard The Velvet Underground & Nico several times) "the Velvets sound like a really New York band, you'd forget that they had a Welshman in their midst" and then The Gift starts up, followed by Lady Godiva's Operation, two songs which showcase the brilliantly Welsh vocals of John Cale. How many times I practised reading these lyrics in a thick Welsh accent! And Cale played piano on the last Super Furry Animals album (if you didn't know, they are, with the Manic Street Preachers, Wales' biggest & best band).
I'm not actually Welsh BTW, but I live not too far away from there. |
submissions
| Joy Division – She's Lost Control Lyrics
| 22 years ago
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I always thought it was about having sudden severe anxiety attacks, but apparently it's about epilepsy. Ian Curtis had extremely bad epilepsy, and this fuelled the misery which led to his suicide in May 1980. |
submissions
| The Velvet Underground – Venus in Furs Lyrics
| 22 years ago
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Venus in Furs was, off the top of my head, a book written by Baron Sadler-Masoch about his unusual relationship with a girl that eventually gave birth to the term 'Masochism', i.e., to gain sexual enjoyment from being hurt. I think 'Severin' might have been the name of a character from the book. Anyway, it's about S & M isn't it? |
submissions
| The Velvet Underground – Pale Blue Eyes Lyrics
| 22 years ago
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I have a theory that this song is about Maureen 'Mo' Tucker, the Velvets' drummer. I don't think it's necessarily a love song, or at least a romantic-type love song. It always felt to me like 'I love you as a friend' kind of thing - "The fact that you are married / Only proves, you're my best friend" so Lou is still in touch with the girl from the song. I know that Mo was having a baby at the time of Loaded (fourth album, this was from the third) and I think she was actually married.
I originally had the idea watching the Velvet Redux video, and noticing how the camera lingered on Mo during this song. The meaning seemed to fit the lyrics, and more importantly the tone. I like the extra layer my theory adds too. |
submissions
| The Velvet Underground – I'm Waiting for the Man Lyrics
| 22 years ago
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I feel a bit guilty (and stupid) by pointing out all the really, really obvious ones, but... another Lou Reed song about heroin. I'm Lou Reed, I'm standing on Lexington 125, waiting for my dealer. People pester me, but I'm only here for one reason. He arrives eventually, fixes me up and I return home. My girlfriend is upset that I'm all loaded, but what the hell, I feel good. |
submissions
| The Velvet Underground – Heroin Lyrics
| 22 years ago
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I think this is quite interesting, as songs about heroin usually tend to cover them with some sort of allegory/second meaning/whatever, so that (in my cynical opinion) if they become hits then the authors can try and deny the link with narcotics, which would presumably put off punters. "No, I assure you, it really *is* about a horse with no name...". Heroin also has a bit of a mad song structure to it - you probably won't notice by listening to it, but try playing it on the guitar (two chords: D and G) and it's impossible to remember all the words... |
submissions
| Joy Division – Atmosphere Lyrics
| 22 years ago
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I've never understood this song. "Walk in silence, *don't* walk away in silence...". It's hard to analyse Joy Division songs anyway, as it's tempting to think that they're all about Ian Curtis's brewing suicidal tendencies and nothing else. |
submissions
| The Velvet Underground – Sister Ray Lyrics
| 22 years ago
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I have no idea why, but I always envisioned this story taking place in a To Kill a Mockinbird-esque town (and without the transsexuals). There's a long but interesting article floating around the internet BTW which describes how the actual music of Sister Ray reflects the themes of the lyrics.
Oh, and I know Lou sings "Duck and Sally", but I've heard that it's supposed to be "Doc and Sally". |
submissions
| Sixpence None the Richer – There She Goes Lyrics
| 22 years ago
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I can't believe no-one told Sixpence None the Richer that this La's classic is really about smack! It's one of the most well-known indie facts ever, so I feel quite smug getting the chance post it here... |
submissions
| Sex Pistols – My Way Lyrics
| 22 years ago
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I thought it was John Beverly (which is how he signs his name in The Filth & The Fury). |
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| Sex Pistols – EMI Lyrics
| 22 years ago
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My Pistols history is a bit rough, but I think that they were first signed by EMI, who dropped them after a ridiculously short amount of time (like a day or something). Then they were signed by A & M, who kept them long enough to record a version of God Save the Queen, but they were again shortly dropped. I might have got the two labels mixed up though. Finally Virgin Records signed them, and released their classic debut album and the famous 'drawing pin' picture sleeve version of God Save the Queen. So this song is taunting EMI for signing the Pistols because of their celebrity alone, and then dropping them when they actually discovered what they were like. |
submissions
| Sex Pistols – Holidays In The Sun Lyrics
| 22 years ago
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It starts off about package holidays (presumably Rotten thinks that the working class are being cheated by being shoved into these rubbish resort holidays), but I have no idea what all that Communism stuff is about... |
submissions
| Simon and Garfunkel – So Long, Frank Lloyd Wright Lyrics
| 22 years ago
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I heard somewhere, I can't remember exactly where though, that this song is about Art Garfunkel (who trained as an architect) rather than Frank Lloyd Wright. Looking at the lyrics, it's pretty obvious, it's not even really a double-meaning: "all of the nights we'd harmonize till dawn". Or was this a reference to the as-yet unreleased Frank Lloyd Wright & Paul Simon duets album? :-) |
submissions
| Leonard Cohen – Tower of Song Lyrics
| 22 years ago
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This song was the last on the I'm Your Man album. Cohen would have been about fifty-ish at the time he recorded it, he was trying out a new style of singing and as the cover picture showed, his hair was definitely grey... |
submissions
| The Clash – (White Man) In Hammersmith Palais Lyrics
| 22 years ago
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Brilliant, brilliant song. The Clash are just having a moan at everyone who isn't as sincere as they are - the sell-out ex-punks, stupid violence junkies, idealistic socialists, Conservative voters and of course people who aren't *really* into reggae. |
submissions
| The Clash – Career Opportunities Lyrics
| 22 years ago
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Late '70s, massive unemployment in Britain. Of course that's not enough to persuade Joe Strummer to sell out and sign up for some *government* job, especially one where he has to put his life on the line. Watch the film The Filth & The Fury for background. |
submissions
| The Clash – I Fought the Law (The Crickets cover) Lyrics
| 22 years ago
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The song, which of course the Clash didn't write, seems to be about someone regretting their life of crime because (among other reasons) they lost their girlfriend. However, what with the Clash's supposedly suspect past, in their hands it seems more like a wry criticism of the unfairness of the police, with the stuff about armed robbery is played for laughs. |
submissions
| Echo and the Bunnymen – Do It Clean Lyrics
| 22 years ago
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Hmm, what is it that Mac is doing clean? Not drugs, bearing in mind this was an early song, around 1980... if you've ever seen the Bunnymen live though, you'll know that it's traditional for people to 'point' their shirts at the band during this song. Because "washing your clothes" is as good a meaning for this song as any! |
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