| Alison Moyet – Whispering Your Name Lyrics | 3 months ago |
|
@[Joyet:49551] Alternately, all three parties could be female, which was always my take when I heard Alison Moyet cover this song. Hers was the first time hearing it for me, so I was then unaware that it had been written by a male with the same gender pronouns in the lyrics. Either way, her voice is just dripping with emotion as always. I love a female vocalist with a lot on the low end of their range. |
|
| Alison Moyet – Whispering Your Name Lyrics | 3 months ago |
|
As someone mentioned, it might have differing dynamics relative to gender. The song was written by Jules Shear, who happens to be male. Alison Moyet just didn't bother to change the gender pronouns, which works just fine. -but, pretty much, yeah, a straightforward love-triangle lament that the one you love still holds feelings for another. Made all the more haunting when that person remains _with_ you while plainly pining for another. Bonus trivia: Jules Shear is also the author of "All Through The Night", popularized in a beautiful cover by Cyndi Lauper. ; ) |
|
| The Pogues – Thousands Are Sailing Lyrics | 5 months ago |
|
I’m not an immigrant. Neither were my parents or theirs. But this song has always moved me. It expresses exactly the paradox of fleeing one horrible place, finding another horrible place, but still managing to hold each in one’s heart in a place of respect and sometimes even endearment. RIP Shane McGowan, who passed today at age 65. I know he didn’t write this one, but I went to revisit the Pogues’ catalogue just now and needed to say farewell. |
|
| Pet Shop Boys – Rent Lyrics | 3 years ago |
|
@[nicolas101:34463], I am impressed with your thoughts because it leaves the interpretation as vague as a good poet intends. The audience will project their own experiences and ideas into it, giving it a life unique to each listener. The non-specificity in the term 'currency' (though the refrain specifically references a financial tie) also stands out to me. |
|
| St. Vincent – Birth in Reverse Lyrics | 5 years ago |
|
This, from over on Genius... "Clark has stated in an interview with Salon magazine that “Birth in Reverse” actually means death, an idea that was first put forth by her producer." I like abstraction in lyrics, it opens them up to a more varied and individual interpretation as the listener is forced to project meaning into them. |
|
| Leonard Cohen – Treaty Lyrics | 6 years ago |
|
I'm confident that "aerial" in this sense is a metaphor that goes along with the reference to "static" (signal interference of electromagnetic waves). In the US, we would almost always call it an "antenna", but it is "aerial" to many, if not most, other English-speaking locales. Whomever is being referenced is, obviously, someone who helps the speaker to hear invisible signals more clearly. |
|
| Pete Townshend – The Sea Refuses No River Lyrics | 6 years ago |
| I'm partial to @[angryrobot:22422] 's interpretation. It's the feeling the song gave to me and is more universal than the very specific concepts that are posted here to-date. Those sound personal to the people posting them, of course. No less valid. Poetic Interpretation, much like the sea in question, truly refuses no river. | |
| Rain Tree Crow – Blackwater Lyrics | 7 years ago |
| One of the most wistful and beautiful songs I know of. It feels like resignation, submission to the inevitable, as prepared for death, but with peace, joy, and reverence. A homecoming, which is how I like to view my own death. | |
| St. Vincent – Marrow Lyrics | 7 years ago |
|
Though I know iron comes up in another lyric, I always wanted "ire" to be "iron". I just like the flow and significance of "iron in the marrow", this element being critical in the blood and function of our bodies but also an elemental metal of great strength. |
|
| St. Vincent – Prince Johnny Lyrics | 8 years ago |
|
St. VIncent speaks about the song here, a video titled "3voor12 Song Stories: St. Vincent - Prince Johnny". She says more about composition than meaning, but everything informs art and it's infinite interpretations. https://youtu.be/_-B2QYXa4Bs |
|
| Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark – She's Leaving Lyrics | 8 years ago |
| @[xcentric:6016] I'd say a friend, an outside observer who -might- inquire about the intrigue in her life, but realizes that the knowledge would gain him nothing. I do wonder about "returning" "home", though. Is she going back to the same situation / relationship? or is it a more physical homecoming to, say, her home land or town? Both? | |
| Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds – Darker with the Day Lyrics | 9 years ago |
|
One more try... I think the site may be stripping out the colon from the URL If this doesn't work, add a colon ( : ) after "http": http://soundcloud.com/chooboorah/01-nick-cave-the-secret-life-of-the-love-song |
|
| Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds – Darker with the Day Lyrics | 9 years ago |
|
woops: bad link: here it is: https://soundcloud.com/chooboorah/01-nick-cave-the-secret-life-of-the-love-song |
|
| Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds – Darker with the Day Lyrics | 9 years ago |
|
The interpretations are all interesting. Having heard interviews with Cave makes me think his own inspirations are usually something simple and not too heavy with direct symbolic meaning. He seems to prefer to evoke a mood through otherwise ordinary narratives. The father slumped in the snow really really hearkens to his own father being below ground in the grave. He has talked very specifically about the tremendous impact that the early and sudden loss of his father caused. He was 17 when his father passed. Listen to his lecture "the Secret Life of the Love Song". currently, it still lives, in the wild, here: https://soundcloud.com/chooboorah/01-nick-cave-the-secret-life-of-the-love-song |
|
| Leonard Cohen – You Know Who I Am Lyrics | 9 years ago |
|
Regarding, "I need you to carry my children in And I need you to kill a child" The first part always made me think of the obvious gestation of an infant for human reproduction, but what is this other line about child murder? The child in question may be a metaphor for the emotional maturity of the speaker. The object may have some influence in changing him from someone less responsible to something more so, maybe by the advent of parenthood itself. "Murdering" the "child" that might remain within. Can you tell I'm a parent? |
|
| Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds – Brother, My Cup Is Empty Lyrics | 9 years ago |
|
Story song, no t really interpretable but full of incredibly wretched darkness. The woman who loved the speaker became something hateful in his eyes, probably due to opposing his self-destructive life or habits. She was his tiny blessing, he sees only too late. She loved him enough to challenge him. His inability to change only increased his self-loathing until his rage encompassed all and he murders her. Now he is lamenting at the bar, a man with nothing to lose and awaiting his fate, hoping that he might beg enough from a stranger to buy one last drink. Beautiful stuff. |
|
| Tricky – Overcome Lyrics | 9 years ago |
|
First heard this on the soundtrack of the film "Strange Days". I just heard Massive Attack's "karmacoma" for the first time. The lyric is definitely "funk" in their track. Chances are good Tricky's intention was the same, though I always heard it as "fuck" in my mind since fuck is much more a verb and also, hey- much sexier. I also hear "monopoly in 'properly kissed' ", the very clear lyric in MA's "Karmacoma". Meaning expressing a desire to not settle refusing to let anything stand as the monopolizing leader in intimacy. That said, I really really like "phenomenally", it works even better. |
|
| Leonard Cohen – Darkness Lyrics | 9 years ago |
|
CMOS has a colorful interpretation but wildly far afield from my own imaginings. I think it's much more mundane than an exotic sexual lifestyle. The whole album seems to be reflections from the experience of advanced years if not just simple and ongoing maturity. Basically, the speaker first began to grow a more cynical outlook, for better or for worse, after meeting this other person. I feel like the cynicism might just as easily be the extra cautions taken as one matures, a necessary evil. I see the darkness as representing those simple tendencies towards cynicism from the ideals of younger, carefree days. The present being less pleasant from "a lot of things to do" is simply increased responsibilities that come with maturity and accomplishment. In maturity you take on more happily, but, perhaps simultaneously allow a kind of cynicism to creep in and it colors your outlook, for better or worse. The cup belonged to another, possibly more experienced, "mature" friend or lover. She demonstrates the inevitability of this transition. He partakes of her attitude, drinking from that same "cup", wondering if he might adopt the same views himself once he learns of them. |
|
| Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds – Hard On for Love Lyrics | 9 years ago |
|
Thanks! So right. It only took me four years to see your reply. catch me in another four and I'll buy you a beer. : ) |
|
| Yoko Kanno – Gotta Knock A Little Harder Lyrics | 9 years ago |
|
I just realized that I said the speaker was "breaking down" and asking for help in "breaking down" the door... christamighty. See? multiple meanings pursue me like a pack of black hounds. I can not shake them. |
|
| Yoko Kanno – Gotta Knock A Little Harder Lyrics | 9 years ago |
|
A friend shared this with me today and I gave it another listen tonight. I like that the speaker's success or failure is left open-ended, a nice touch for story's sake. I hear the repetition at the tail and interpret the call to "break down the door" as having double meaning ( my forte ). In one case the speaker is addressing his or her self (or others in similar circumstances) to break down their own barriers. It is a mandate of self-determination. The other interpretation is that it is a plea to others. The speaker has reached out for the first time and is asking for help from outside,only now realizing that the task is impossible on their own. They are asking others to not give up on them, even in the face of the enormity of the task ( breaking through to that long sealed room behind the door ). Perhaps the change in the final verse is the breaking point, turning that energy from within to without, breaking down and asking for help from outside. "break through" is repeated, but eh single "break down the door"? "Breaking down" a door is a violent act, a measure of last resort in an emergency (which this certainly is). In this aspect, in this potential interpretation, the vocalist's urgency serves to make this plea all the more heartbreaking. Powerful stuff, especially if you've ever found yourself isolated and discovered that you were the one who had locked the door. I'm reminded of the titular idea in Pink Floyd's concept album, "The Wall". But, hoo-boy, that's another book. |
|
| Sting – Mad About You Lyrics | 10 years ago |
| I know this is an eight year old post, but the interpretation is really well thought out. I'd be curious to know if the (now) 25 year old original poster thinks of the song. | |
| Lady GaGa – Poker Face Lyrics | 10 years ago |
| Truly, from the first listen. The mix betrays nothing on the first "pokerface" in the chorus, but the second? I can hear nothing BUT "fuck her face". It's perfect, too, somehow. It fits, so to speak. | |
| Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds – Higgs Boson Blues Lyrics | 11 years ago |
| A really well thought interpretation! Thanks for this. I'm still at the "impression only" phase with this song. It has a delirious feeling to it. It also gives me the impression that it is ahead of it's time, anticipating a future where we might make quantum leaps in discovery of the natural world that shake human cosmological views in time. | |
| Roy Harper – Another Day Lyrics | 11 years ago |
| I first heard this song in 1990, covered by "This Mortal Coil'. They picked a few songs of his, I learned much later. Yeah, so evocative, touching the unspoken that will appear in every life, the things that persist in memory throughout our lives as we try to play them out, find the truth or the meaning. | |
| Leonard Cohen – Here It Is Lyrics | 13 years ago |
|
A haunting and beautiful song. I can't properly give it an interpretation based on anything but gut, emotional response. I hear the following two words differently: "Here, you are *hurt, And here, you are gone..." as if pointing out time periods of change and/or death or change in a life. ...reminds me of Hitchcock's "Vertigo" where Madeleine observes her history in the cross-section of a sequoia, saying "Here, I was born and here, I died..." " And here is the love That *lives where it will" As if love were something fickle that may or may not enter into a life, despite our actions. |
|
| Leonard Cohen – Alexandra Leaving Lyrics | 14 years ago |
|
No interpretation is wrong. Do you really think that a song has only one meaning? Open people's mind for possibilities instead of closing them with limitations. This isn't mathematics class; It's literature, now. I like your summary, by the way. Very succinctly put. |
|
| Leonard Cohen – Alexandra Leaving Lyrics | 14 years ago |
|
The song, un-researched, really stood out to me. I appreciated the stark look into those things difficult to accept like a deep loss through either abandonment or something less malign. I recalled having to let go of a lover who seemed to be choosing another (or "others"! hah), though the song is much more meaningful than merely that. I was intrigued that she would be carried away by a "god", but figured that love itself (so to speak), is a divine force in the author's view. Losing her to love meant that he knew his role: accept the whims of love and be glad for her. I appreciate hearing about the poem, which so obviously forms the foundational inspiration. That gives lots of new angles to study about Cohen's process and imagine what moved him to re-tool it so beautifully into his own verse. -Phase |
|
| Leonard Cohen – Alexandra Leaving Lyrics | 14 years ago |
|
The song, un-researched, really stood out to me. I appreciated the stark look into those things difficult to accept like a deep loss through either abandonment or something less malign. I recalled having to let go of a lover who seemed to be choosing another (or "others"! hah), though the song is much more meaningful than merely that. I was intrigued that she would be carried away by a "god", but figured that love itself (so to speak), is a divine force in the author's view. Losing her to love meant that he knew his role: accept the whims of love and be glad for her. I appreciate hearing about the poem, which so obviously forms the foundational inspiration. That gives lots of new angles to study about Cohen's process and imagine what moved him to re-tool it so beautifully into his own verse. By the way, _no interpretation is "wrong", as some state, since interpretation, by definition, can not _be_ wrong, only subjective. It's inspiring to see the differing meaning projected onto a piece of verse. That's the beautiful thing about a work: It can mean something unique to _each listener. -Phase |
|
| Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds – The Carnival Is Over Lyrics | 15 years ago |
|
The song took an unusual road for me. The surface includes a bittersweet parting, but this is only what happens. What it means is the beauty of interpretation, unique to each listener. The song made me think of the transition in life and relationships from heat to light, possibly back again, if only in memory. The root of "carnival" lent fuel to this concept and I grew it in my mind as a reminiscence from old age back to the fires of lust that burned loud and insistent in the speaker's younger days. Lovingly, he recounts how the core of love persisted: "Though the carnival is over, I will love you `til I die" The cloak of night, in my interpretation, fit well with the thought of someone in Autumn years, even. Of course, there is a parting mentioned: This tangles my whole "end of flesh and youthful things", but the meaning still appeals to me. Could the parting be a death? of the speaker, or a beloved life-mate? Perhaps there is a literal fling between a traveling performer and a resident (a literal carnival suits me just fine, with a parting required once "the carnival is over") Here, I could tie in my light/heat concept as the one left behind likens him/herself to Pierrot, losing the only object of their affection to something else ( the literal carnival itself, or finding passion/heat with another, forsaking their dedicated, unrequited love/light. ) A great song, I'd be interested to hear the original. -Phase |
|
| Roger Waters – Amused To Death Lyrics | 15 years ago |
|
Since it's a refrain, I'm drawn back to the questions about the "western woman". The doctor seems to be addressed by the same woman, who feels that something is "wrong" with her and the life she has made. "what is wrong with me?" This part may point to gender roles, though only off-handedly. The "teenage-queen" is destined for a "supermarket life"; that role of a generation ago, when women made the home and men brought home the income almost exclusively. I particularly like her having a "shelf-life", since it can have double-meaning. It references supermarkets, where something must be thrown out once it passes a certain date, and reminds us of the sickening habit of thinking that a woman is somehow useless after a certain age, driving poor young females to panic about time running out to be useful/wanted/meaningful. so much going on in this song, I could ramble way too much. ramble off for now. -Phase |
|
| Laurie Anderson – Strange Angels Lyrics | 15 years ago |
|
'nuff said! ( ever-lovin' angels... ) -Phase |
|
| Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds – As I Sat Sadly by Her Side Lyrics | 15 years ago |
|
You have all started me thinking about your various interpretations (including, of course, the quotes from Cave himself about the song). Some have suggested a divine dialogue. I like the flavour of that very much, since Cave often speaks to the divine. I never had a solid explanation about the smile on the speaker's face, but I'm entertaining the idea that the speaker's smile comes from realizing that the woman is correct, bringing a conflicting flood of shame and revelation as well as maybe love for the one who holds such passion for his happiness and betterment. I used to simply dismiss the smile as an arrogant mockery of her idealism, but there could be much deeper and subtle meanings.. thanks for sharing! -Phase |
|
| Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds – Hard On for Love Lyrics | 15 years ago |
|
I tend tot hink: not just rape, not just sex... I didn't like this song at first, or pretty much any of "Your Funeral..." It freaking grew on me, damnit, with that heartbeat rhythm and candor so typical of our dear poet Nick. I wouldn't say that rape is central to the song, though the first verses seem to spell out something dark and non-concensual (non-"conSensual"? heh..) The speaker "steals" this blood and milk. I might translate that as a lover's feeling _as if_ it were theft, in the heat of passion and personal, _shared eros which can include mutual rape fantasies, like bondage or situational role play. The obvious biblical references have all been turned into highly erotic suggestions and underscore the otherworldly nature of our human views of love and sex. Cave revels in this arena. Smudging the edges between friendly love, romantic/erotic love, and divine love. I particularly get a literary kick out of "He leadeth me like lamb to the Lips of the Mouth of the valley of the shadow of death..." I think we all know where that valley is... It's a playful and candid way of describing the helplessness felt in the throes of passion where woman's sex is some geography in a valley formed by softly curving calves and mountain-peak knees. Led there by the divine, like a lamb, with no choice in the matter. Again, playful and serious in the same mix. It's also parodying from the Lord's Prayer which may offend some, but I believe no disrespect was intended. As usual, go Nick... -Phase |
|
| The B-52's – Roam Lyrics | 16 years ago |
|
as usual, clever, capricious fun probably best not interpreted too deeply. Most of their songs only seem to be about life and joy; frequently sexual joy. case in point: - "Roam, if you want to..." a lovely and poetic invitation to explore anywhere one may like on the geography; the terrain of the physical body, visiting all it's best landmarks and leaving no stone unturned. - "Take it hip to hip... Rock it through the wilderness" My hat is _off_ to them now for starting so poetically and getting to this intent-laden description. the erogenous spaces between the hips, the very specific "wilderness" therein, - "trip begins with a kiss" usually, yes. :) Oh, I stop here: you can find the rest, :) (apologies in advance for analyzing such an exuberant, unapologetic song!) -Phase |
|
| Devo – Mongoloid Lyrics | 16 years ago |
|
I second the thought about humanity routing natural selection; It would seem a very DEVO-like observation indeed. I disagree with the notion that the mongoloid here is an object for ridicule. I don't get that judgment from the song at all. I always read it, personally, as a humble reminder that we are _all_ incapacitated/enabled to varying extents and it matters not. We still "bring home the bacon", etc and no one around us is the wiser. shhhhhh! -Phase -goloid |
|
| Devo – The Day My Baby Gave Me a Surprise Lyrics | 16 years ago |
|
My first impression matched Dubios Merit's: That the baby in question was in an "accident" that left her incapacitated, but is coming round, enough to write a note and "get up" after recovery. Sweet, indeed! Thanks for the reference that pretty much confirms the source! Either that, or amazing coincidence. (goes off to Google "Saint James Infirmary Blues")... -Phase |
|
| Devo – Clockout Lyrics | 16 years ago |
|
Going to forego any research and dive onto it... This song made me chuckle at first. There's all this exuberance about the end of the work-day, seemingly from the point of view of the employer, who seems to be doing well for himself. meaning? Ha! meaning in a DeVo song: that's rich. But considering the forum, I may as well give my own impressions. Damn... see what I mean? I just like the song. It amuses me. Is the speaker happy? Does he care about his clock-punchers, or are they merely cogs to make him more money? Does it matter? what kind of future could be described metaphorically as "maintennance free"? ( A great phrase choice in terms of the salesmanship and business-mentality put forth here). Great stuff. monkey Men all: beware! beware! a cautionary tale from Devo? listen if you are able. -Phase |
|
| Jane Siberry – Hockey Lyrics | 16 years ago |
|
Impressions here, since I know the imagery is laid out already, setting a scene for child-hood memories of playing hockey and reminding the listener of the weight and import of something binding and meaningful to a culture. I didn't grow up in a place remotely connected to Hockey, yet she did such a great job with this poetry that it makes me feel an empathic nostalgia for someone else's memories. She's struck a chord of recognition in the space between us and that is the hallmark of a really successful storyteller. The naive, youthful righteousness over the autographed stick; the puck-stealing dog; tying in the seriousness with which a whole population take their sport; their cultural centers, memories, and loves. I feel a heart-tug on the line speculating that a future girlfriend will be asking about a scar on his chin: a reminder of days of youth he carries with him and in having to explain it, re-visiting those places and people again and again. -Phase |
|
| Sting – Desert Rose Lyrics | 16 years ago |
|
disclaimer: Before listening _too_ closely to the lyrics, or reading others thoughts on it, I had my own creative personal impressions: Sting repeats something to his vocal part which hit my half-listening ear first. It planted the sound in my head which manifested as "L.A.". Even though I _knew that was not the lyric. the thing was now stuck in there. Let's proceed. As the lyrics emerged to me, I painted them _all into the imagery and dreams and hopes and despair of a city that could easily be called a "Desert Rose": Los Angeles. (I still contend that a film set against that backdrop could successfully use this song in it's soundtrack, for the desert references alone.) Far from destroying the obvious meanings in the song, I found my southern California musings to fit fairly well as additional meanings. I thought of Hollywood "dreams" tied to the "horse" of the entertainment industry. "Her veils" and "torture" the drama of millions who try hard to make it there. One of the first phrases that became clear to me was "Shadows play in the shape of a man's desire". My mind fit this into the Hollywood scheme as a metaphor for cinema: peoples' creations in light and shadow made of and by their desires, flickering on the moviehouse walls. Again, I nurtured these metaphors knowing that they were miles from intended meanings. Whatever the creative interpretations, it is a wistful and beautiful tune by one of my favorites. -Phase |
|
| Boards of Canada – Julie and Candy Lyrics | 17 years ago |
|
Standard disclaimer: BoC wanted fans to have their own subjective projections onto the music that they make. That said, I'll comment on impressions that tracks gave me personally. Julie and Candy was eerie and omenous when I first heard it. Those flutes or whistles mixed with all those percussive samples was like some huge, mad, steam-driven contraption, larger than the mind can comprehend. The rhythm was very appealing to me, although I couldn't explain it in musical terms. Seeing the title made it even eerier, since I had a Julie and candy memory standing out from my past, all formative and enduring; spooky, the way old memories can be. go, Boards! -Phase |
|
| Boards of Canada – 1969 Lyrics | 17 years ago |
|
IMPRESSIONS only, for me, since that's how the lads would like it! :) Sinister, this one always seemed, yes, but with some bright gilded edge of 'sunshine'. never noticed the allusions in samples to Branch Davidians, so it didn't enter my mind (until now, maybe it conjures something up for me later now that I know). Note: The 666MB quantity probably refers to the Compact Disc Audio data, not arbitrary .MP3 filesizes. This was a published _record album. Remember those? -Phase |
|
| Boards of Canada – Music Is Math Lyrics | 17 years ago |
|
Standard disclaimer: The lads from BoC prefer for listeners to project their own impressions into their music. Of course, curiosity and a desire to see more in their great soundscapes compels many of us to dig a little. Resources on the 'net attribute "past inside the present" to the socialist playwright Bertolt Brecht. Without researching any further, I pondered if the sound clip could be Brecht himself. (anyone?) Regardless, learning more about Brecht was inspiring for me, and strengthened my already great love of this track. It's hard to do traditional interpretation on such a track, but the authors would probably hate that, anyway. :) IMPRESSIONS, yes! I guessed that there was alot of thought behind this and other tracks on Geogaddi. There's a somber feeling to this one for me. Lots of peril and a little hope, too, maybe. The title set off a firestorm of questions, since such is the nature of the human brain. The music, on first impression, appealed to me right away. The rhythm compelled me first, with that great, insistent thumping, which is constant. The audio bite intrigued me, and led me to the research that educated me on Brecht. It's kind of like an un-naturally heavy rainstorm, with a weird kind of non-stop thunder. You'd be frightened of it, but you're too intrigued or even awed with the surreality of the event. Love it. -Phase |
|
| Nik Kershaw – Wouldn't It Be Good Lyrics | 17 years ago |
|
It's purely about "the grass" being "greener" on the other side. How we imagine things would be better "if only..." instead of loving what we have and who we already are. I always loved this song and the video from the eighties. Now, I hear something that I didn't at a younger age. It's a two-sided dialogue. One party is telling how they are struggling and unhappy: restless. The other party is the chorus: Those who think it would "be good" to be the first party. The former tries to explain their eror, but the chorus remains unchanged each time. I imagine a celebrity and their fans. Artists make their work look easy, and fans imagine that it truly would be all "good" if they could live their imagined perceptions of a celebrity's life. The video was always eerie and omenous to me, and now I see a bit more... The character constantly reflects and carries the experiences of others right within his person. It's not something he can control, and yet it is what drives him. Others wish they could be in his place, though he tells them that it's not all that they imagine it to be. He lives, like an alien, among others and eventually must return to from wherever he came, possibly as only energy when he finds a device that can take him home. It's a pretty somber theme to me. -Phase |
|
| Macy Gray – Sexual Revolution Lyrics | 17 years ago |
|
This song speaks so well for itself, there's little poetry for re-interpretation. Personal meaning, maybe, but the message is pretty clear. I like that the song is about sexual liberty, but it is presented in a playful and exploratory way, not some drunken-lust-fest. This is creative, loving and calculated debauch, not just random animal hedonism, or some attempt to "be cool" by making bold sexual statements. The adventure of a self-proclaimed freak. She's different and she knows it. She also wants _everyone to know that they are freaks, too, in the sense that we all bring something unique to the world around us and we should never forget that! Rather, we should elevate and celebrate it, never hide it away from fear of traditions or taboos rapidly diminishing in relevance among human cultures. There's love in this song of life that is not spelled out, but still felt. Of course, that's alot more thought than this song needs. It reminds us not to be ashamed of our individual expression of sexuality and not to be cowed by mainstream opinions. Celebrate life and joy of being a sexually-reproducing critter on planet Earth. go Macy! |
|
| Placebo – Commercial For Levi Lyrics | 17 years ago |
|
No interp to add, since the artist himself has laid out his original intent and I get no differing impressions. I, too, had a good friend ruin their lives with Heroin and wish I had taken them "by the scruff" and made a difference. Two Thomas Dolby songs on a similar theme (to me) seems to be: "the White City" from "the Flat Earth" album. and "Neon Sisters" from "Astronauts and Heretics". "...City" describes "Keith", who lives in his own world, and the latter is a lament for someone that the narrator used to "run" with who has died. I smell a theme compilation... -Phase |
|
| Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds – Deanna Lyrics | 17 years ago |
|
( re:D2D: the above interp: I like the comparison to a disturbing story of murder. (Natural Born Killers) My take differs in that I see the two at the _beginning_ of their atrocities.) Deanna is being instructed in the ways of some massive evil undertaking by a vile presence (likely masculine) in a manic and excited tone; If I'm reading the lyrics accurately here after a re-listen, "he" "cums a death's head" on her frock; an unsettling image of semen staining girls clothing in the form of a skull (death's head) as they "discuss murder". the intersections between love, sex, violence, and death are never far apart in much of his poetry. I'll leave it to another to plumb those depths more precisely. I only point them out casually now. These things are being introduced to her; she's new to this undertaking; perhaps new to evil itself. She's introduced to the car and the gun, and "this is day number one"; makes me imagine it's the start of training. Further that with the almost childish instructions on the use of a gun: "point it like a finger and" "Squeeze it's little thing...", and so on... The refrain does drive home "down here", though I see that as simply "here from somewhere else", as in "Hey, come on down for the weekend". Or, if he's otherworldly, the implication could be that this being is from "beyond" or "above", though not from the traditional Christian expectation of "above" : ) He may not be literal, either, only the voice of madness that so plainly tells her how to kill without remorse. A man might pursue a woman for "love or money", but this one makes no pretense: He's here to consume all that is bright or constructive in her, swallowing it whole. Nick Cave paints the best portraits of the worst in the human zoo. -Phase |
|
| Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds – Cannibal's Hymn Lyrics | 17 years ago |
|
This song turned my head right away with it's sound; it's craft, but we're here to talk about what we see and what moves us in the poetry: File this under intentionally mis-heard lyrics: I always liked to hear the word "animus" instead of "animals". It might imply more. Google Jung for the skinny on anima and animus. I'm hoping Cave would approve of my alteration. :) Sex? why, naturally, but not to my ears this time. Some say all songs are about sex; Some hint at it while Cave revels in it, often wallowing in great gulps of pain and pleasure. I don't see that in this song per sè. meaning? urgh, still working on a clear meaning. I think [funnysmartname] said alot in their interp: The poet cautions another but is as dangerous as those that are warned against. A sinister sounding tune in 3/4 time. I love this tune. -Phase I'll return when somethign new reveals itself about this fantastic song. |
|
| Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds – Oh My Lord Lyrics | 17 years ago |
|
I like precip's interpretation. My impressions are similar, but with different details: I like poetry which can be interpreted in many different ways, and why I appreciate Cave so much. I sense in this person also a kind of isolation that they weren't expecting. Their "ladder of life" turned over and perhaps the person has found celebrity to be a place foreign to their nature. I particularly like the grim panic around, "The plot! The plot!" and the call to "home". (shiver, indeed) -Phase |
|
| Yello – Tremendous Pain Lyrics | 17 years ago |
|
Love is awesome. Love is Divine. Love also stinks and is a rotten human contrivance, bound to ruin us eventually. This paradox is great fodder for poets and Yello give it a sexy once-over in this enticing tune. The suites make me imagine a clasy Hotel for a romantic rendezvous. Perhaps there are remembered encounters which took place in the various rooms of this same place. Even memory of the best of times can be a source of trememndous pain; the pain of detachment from our past, but living it in our memory as real as if being there again. It makes me think of the weight of our early sexual explorations; the way the joy was intense; the sorrow was intense; the passions were so much higher and almost unbearable at times. -phase |
|
* This information can be up to 15 minutes delayed.