submissions
| XTC – Dear God Lyrics
| 19 years ago
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Once again, another thread has fell victim to the old "right" and "wrong" trap. The form says "what does this song mean to you?" not "what is the only way this song could possibly be interpreted?" The songwriter has explained his meaning behind the song, that much has been made clear by a few of the contributors here. That doesn't make alternate theories "wrong", it's about our personal interps. Here's what the song is saying to me:
Dear God, I know you're up there, or out there, or there somewhere. Things I see and experience all the time indicate that there's something there, some "higher power", but every religion I've encountered has turned you into a cartoon character, an invisible man in the sky with the face of Ted Nugent and the powers of Santa Claus. I can't believe in you, at least not the version of you that I've been spoon-fed. These silly humans handed me this book and said that you wrote it, but so many things that the book claims you said just don't sound like what you'd really say. Heck some of the things this book claims you said flat out contradict other things it claims you also said. If I'm supposed to believe that you just made me, the world, everything, from dust, or from nothingness, doesn't that mean I have to believe that you also created hate and disease and discontent? It would all be so easy if you'd just come down and give us some plain answers instead of wrapping everything in mystery and myth. I don't know what I believe, but I'm starting to figure out what I don't believe. |
submissions
| No Doubt – Staring Problem Lyrics
| 19 years ago
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First, I know this is probably a case of my imagination seeing things that aren't there. Second, I don't believe this is how Gwen actually feels, but how the character in the song feels. Now that that's out of the way, I think another possibility of this song is that the narrator is realizing subconsciously that she has lesbian (or bisexual) tendancies, and this "cute girl" is really stirring up those feelings. Since she still hasn't come to terms with this, she interprets her feelings of the stereotypical bitchy jealousy discussed in the other interps. I'm not saying that's definitely what's happening, but it's possible (and I'm sure it's happened in real life more than a few times). |
submissions
| They Might Be Giants – Kiss Me, Son Of God Lyrics
| 19 years ago
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While I'm all in favour of intelligent debates talking about the problem with mainstream religions, I think this song is more specifically about an individual with power, whether it be religious or political (JFK was revered as a "man of God", but was not a priest). This person is loving the power he has, and is building his empire (possibly profits) from the hard work of those beneath him.
By the way, the song was written years before GWB was in office. It was on the album Lincoln, which was released in 1989, which I think was shortly before Dubya's Daddy took office, so the song was likely written when Regan (RIP) was in charge. |
submissions
| They Might Be Giants – I Palindrome I Lyrics
| 19 years ago
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Just a note for those people saying "It doesn't mean that, you're looking too deep into the song, TMBG aren't presenting hidden messages"... keep in mind that the heading above the text box which we all type these comments says "What does this song mean to you?" By definition, we're talking about opinions and personal interpretations, not right and wrong. |
submissions
| They Might Be Giants – Hey, Mr. DJ, I Thought You Said We Had a Deal Lyrics
| 19 years ago
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One line in this song that slightly confuses some people is "you scratch my back and I'll scratch your record". Some people assume that the scratching of the record refers to the scratching method of turntablism that hip-hop DJs employ, but there's another possible interpretation. I learned when I worked at a high-school radio station that some DJs will put physical scratches deep into a record to cause a specific song to be impossible to play. This is usually done when there is a level of profanity in the song so bad that they don't even want anyone at the station to be tempted to play it just to be rebelious (or to play it by accident). So I think what's happening here is that, not only is the DJ scamming the poor sap by skipping town with his payola money, but before he took off he added insult to injury by damaging the record in question so it won't get played at all. |
submissions
| They Might Be Giants – Spiraling Shape Lyrics
| 19 years ago
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I've heard a lot of different interpretations for this song, it's one of TMBG's most-discussed. Here's a summary of what I thought when I first heard it.
The narrator is speaking to someone who was a "newbie" in a religion (probably Christianity, but nearly any religion could work), and it seemed like a good thing at first, but they soon dioocvered things about the religion which disturbed them. This resulted in a major disillusionment, and the poor sap "spiralled" back into the state they were before they found the religion, perhaps a bit worse.
"Go ahead, wreck your life, that might be good" could mean that, even though people in the church are telling you that you'll have nothing but hardship if you leave, when you emerge from this hardship, you'll be stronger because of it.
I might make another post interpreting more of the individual lines later. |
submissions
| They Might Be Giants – Birdhouse in Your Soul Lyrics
| 19 years ago
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"Tho I respect that a lot, I'd be fired if that were my job after killing Jason off and countless screaming Argonauts."
In other words, I have a lot of admiration for the work that the lighthouse does, but I'm just a little night-light, my light isn't powerful enough for that task. If it had been me on that shore when Jason and the Argonauts arrived, they would have crashed and died because of my shortcomings, and I would have beem fired as a result.
Is that clear enough? |
submissions
| MC Frontalot – Special Delivery Lyrics
| 19 years ago
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This one's a rarity, an MC Frontalot song with almost no tongue-in-cheek, self-mocking or irony. A basic anti-Dubya, anti-war, anti-stupidity polticial statement. The "Mission Accomplished" remix of this reminds me a lot of Eminem (and I mean that in a good way) |
submissions
| MC Frontalot – Braggadocio Lyrics
| 19 years ago
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This is probably stating the obvious, but to me this song is a general mocking of the stereotypical "I'm so great" style of lyrics that have been a staple in rap music since the early days. And the trademark Frontalot paradox is that the name "MC Frontalot" itself suggests "I'm not so great, I just pretend to be", yet this song is saying the opposite. |
submissions
| MC Frontalot – Rewind That Back Lyrics
| 19 years ago
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In usualy Frontalot style, we're left with a bit of a paradox. The song itself is basically saying that we all have regrets in our lives, things we wish we could fix by going back in time, yet at the very end of the song he sneaks in a suggestion that he's never regretted anything, and closes with "hope you don't think I'm frontin'", while we're left to wonder if he's being sarcastic, and if so, about which part?
By the way, TheEvilOne, the song is called both "Rewind" and "Rewind That Back" on Front's official website, so the title given isn't really "wrong". |
submissions
| MC Frontalot – Message No. 419 Lyrics
| 19 years ago
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Initially it sounds like somone just falling for a common spam scam. But as we progress through the story, it seems like one of two things is happening. Either the narrator is intentionally giving the spammer bogus information to stall their progress, or he actually is an idiot, trying to get away with using bogus info to cash in on the scheme. Knowing the way that Front presents his stories, I think the "idiot" interp is probably the more intended idea. |
submissions
| Devo – Freedom Of Choice Lyrics
| 19 years ago
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As well as the idea of the American Consumerist version of "choice" being no choice at all, I think "freedom from choice is what you want" could also mean that a lot of people (again, typically Americans) would rather let "The Man" do their thinking for them, it's easier.
And by the way, I think the french fry going into the donut was in the video for "That's Good" or "Time Out for Fun", but definitely not "Freedom of Choice" |
submissions
| Devo – (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction Lyrics
| 19 years ago
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This song serves to explain, without explaining in plain language, what Devo is. They took a song, a legendary rock song, and broke it down into a basic, quirky skeleton of a song, thereby "de-evolving" it, and creating something totally new and somewhat disturbing. That's Devo. |
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