| Bob Dylan – All Along the Watchtower Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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The joker is the contemporary social critic. In the king’s court, he is the only one who can get away with telling the truth about the state of the king’s affairs, because he does it through comedy. In this poem, the joker is criticizing those who would receive the fruits of the earth’s bounty, but receive it in a manner of ignorance. They take from the earth but don’t give back, and for them it’s all for profit and instant gratification. Civilization doesn’t respect the earth the way the natives did, and ego-tripping allows some humans to think that they own nature or can control it. So the joker must be desperately crying out to his companion, the thief, from the perspective of the earth. The thief tries to calm down the joker by telling him how the two of them, who once thought along the lines of the aforementioned businessmen and plowmen, now have a matured and responsible outlook on life. They are no longer greedy and self-indulgent when it comes to taking into account the needs of our planet, though he acknowledges they once were like everyone else. But the thief adds a new element into the picture by saying how everyone else thinks life is not only a goodie bag but something not worth fighting for. On some level, I think life can be a joke; I mean, not only do we take ourselves too seriously oftentimes, but life can be full of paradoxes and coincidences that can only be laughed at; ideally, life is a playground for those virtuous enough to perceive it that way. But I don’t think that’s what the message of the poem is; I think the thief is referring to those who waste their lives and don’t grow up. I don’t mean “grow up” as in ceasing all silliness, I mean “growing up” as in being responsible and mature, which would entail not harming the earth or any of its creatures, and not giving back to society. So on some level, life is a joke, because people need to lighten up. On the other hand, some people are fun to laugh at but not much fun to be around; other jokers are those who aspire to live a self-centered life, living carelessly, recklessly, irresponsibly, and sadistically all their life. This paradox may be the source of the joker’s confusion. “Let’s stop talking falsely now,”—this could mean, “let’s grow up by stop being hypocrites. Let’s stop pretending we knew everything as teenagers. Let’s stop believing the lies society has fed us. Let’s stop thinking it’s okay to do what we used to do, because it’s time for us to rise above a second childhood—let us learn to stop kidding around.” I know it’s fun to say mean jokes, even off-color jokes that poke fun at groups of people, but be better people. Let’ s be role models. Let’s rise above the B.S. and raise the standards of living. Let’s get active in the system, doing our social responsibility to Mother Earth and our fellow man, no matter how small a part we appear play, it is still necessary; it isn’t really small at all. I think the fact that the line about businessmen and plowmen are stealing from the earth—and by doing so making themselves thieves—is directed at “the thief” is meant to be ironic. This may be true because the parallel is the thief says to the joker, “there are many here among us who feel that life is but a joke.” The key is a joker is complaining to a thief about thievery and a thief is complaining to a joker about jokers, and they seem to be fed up with their lot and realizing they need to change- hence, “the hour is getting late.” The second part of the poem remains cryptic to me. Why would princes keep a view along the watchtower? Why wouldn’t he have his hired men to do that for him? Has he come to some conclusion that he needs to be responsible for watching out for his security, rather than depend on others to do it for him? Could this be a metaphor that applies to you and me, to society as a whole, or to the political regime? The women and the barefoot servants give more credence to the latter idea that it has to deal with a political regime, since the lyrics present the hierarchy of nobility. Is he proclaiming that lovers come and go, and those who serve you (friends?) come and go, so don’t let your guard down because it’s only a passing alliance? I don’t think he’s that cynical, but he could be. Given the global turmoil of the sixties and seventies, and the fact Dylan is using a political hierarchy in his lyrics, it seems reasonable to interpret these lyrics on a grander scale, and less offensive to hope and individual human nature. Besides, the first half of the song was evidentially aimed at giving a message to society as a whole, so why should the second half all of a sudden break from that audience? He could be giving his comments on politics, that collective human nature that emphasizes security and foreign relations due to resource dependency. This song was released in 1967, so the Vietnam War was in full effect. His message could be interpreted as “don’t get caught up in other countries’ agendas. They may seem to be as friendly as a lover and as giving as a servant today, but we can’t act as of it will last, or put all our eggs in one basket, in the same way it’s wise to not get into a personal relationship with someone and have it be imbalanced. We need to gaze on all countries, no matter what alliances we may have made with them, with a cool, impersonal eye. This was also a time of minority struggle, so this same message might be applied to blacks, hippies, women, gays, farmers; anyone who has come together to make sure their interests are protected in the face of civilization. “Outside in the distance a wildcat did growl, Two riders were approaching, the wind began to howl.” Are the two riders the joker and the thief, come to tell the prince their newfound perspective on life? Does the growl symbolize a primal scream for a change, perhaps through violent means? Does the howling wind mean that the pressure has come on, and the time is now to resist the urge to revert back to immature thinking, or the thinking of previous generations before us? These two lines are especially ominous. I think they’re saying that we need to act on, and not just think about, about what we need to do. Planning is all good, but look outside the window, folks. There’s race riots, there’s a war based on reasons we don’t even think are worth fighting for, there’s police beating hippies in the streets…the struggle is here, waiting for us to resist and adapt and do all we can so come out on top in order for society to progress. The paradigm shift in consciousness is near at hand, the world is ready to wake up! We need you NOW! |
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| The Clash – Jimmy Jazz Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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My personal classification of this songs genre: R&B Jazz March. It sounds like a second line funeral song from New Orleans almost, starting off all depressing and then becoming joyous. It’s too light to be a rock song, it’s kind of slow and groovy in the Isley Brothers style. younglust- actually I take that back, this song is definitly about death and it would make more sense if Jimmy Jazz was Jimmy Dread because if the police are looking for Jazz and Jazz is dead, then the narrator doesnt have to worry no more |
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| RJD2 – One Day Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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“One Day” by RJD2 Sex? No Drugs? Addiction…to a person! Rock and Roll? No, this is what I like to call “background music”. Electronic Smooth Jazz What it tells me: Smooth jazz doesn't suck if you make it soulful, bluesy, modern, urban, and moody What it reminds me of: “The Thrill Is Gone” by B.B. King; the color gray; street corner hip-hop musicians in dark suits and fedoras shouting “gamble!”; rain The build up before the song wasn’t necessary; I think it would’ve sounded better if the vocals came immediately. The B.B. King like guitar strumming and jazzy piano are nice, but the inevitable fault of the song is that it starts off rather corny. You don’t realize the beauty of the layers until much later, but at first you're confused and feeling like your CD is over and you ended up on a smooth jazz station on FM radio. The voice gets more soulful as it repeats the word “I’ll”, but otherwise the song sounds kind of standard in structure for a jazz song, you know, a genre defined by its improvisation. I’m not knocking the voice though, it’s very pretty and sounds hurt, but would’ve gained more from the suffering if it was used properly. This is a manly sounding woman that could easily be a group of teenage boys singing high notes, which adds to the universality of the song. The echo effect is really well-used, it isn’t overly put to use. At around 1:08, after the words “as soon as I try, something takes over me inside”, a funky drum beat comes in and makes the beat more tribal. Weirder sounds that recall UFO landings come in later that make you feel like you're floating through space, powerless on a journey through the universe. The lyrics are your average “I can’t quit you though you ain't no good to me” fare, but everything really comes into place at 3:18 with some spacey music that leads up to “I’ve been a fool”, the theme of the song, being pronounced in a heartbreaking manner. It’s an epiphany that the narrator’s been denying the whole song until then, and what’s worse is that it doesn't sound like, even though the narrator realizes he/she is a fool, that he/she will leave their lover and take their own advice. The electronic blips that cover the word “fool” show doubt that this realization of being wrong will be expressed. More likely it will stay hidden and the narrator will go on suffering and denying. In the end it’s worth the wait, as the whole three minutes 18 seconds prior have been leading up to this moment where teardrops are safe to fall only because they will be downplayed later. Music, lyrics, or feel?: Music. The feel would have been entirely different and probably not as good if there were no yearning B.B. King like jazz guitar or that funky build-up. These lyrics are replaceable and depend on the feel, not the other way around. The words are the least important part of the song. Other than that they particularly provide the singer to let out their feelings, for me at least there are different words which elicit those same feelings. Though “I’ve been a fool” is something we can all relate to, it wouldn’t sound as nice if the music hadn’t been done properly. Quoteables: “I’ve been a fool” It’s heartbreaking to have a thought like this and actually believe it. I mean, we don’t want to regret our past, but we have to realize our mistakes. It’s sad when judgments you’ve based a large part of your life on turn out to be false, but it can only help you grow if correct these mistakes. It’s even sadder when someone knows what they do is wrong but feels compelled to do it anyway. |
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| The Beatles – I've Got a Feeling Lyrics | 17 years ago |
| Music, lyrics, or feel?: The feel of the song carries this one. It could be sung a cappella in gibberish and still sound beautiful. Even John's part would sound epic if it were sung by a chorus of wookies. | |
| The Beatles – I've Got a Feeling Lyrics | 17 years ago |
| how can you call smackbomb.com reliable? They perpetuate the mysterious Paul is Dead conspiracy and don't list Billy Preston with Brian Epstein and Yoko Ono as friends of the Beatles - Preston was the sixith Beatle for a while! There's no reference to an interview or source for the information, either. | |
| The Beatles – I've Got a Feeling Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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The Beatles “I’ve Got A Feeling” Sex? “Everybody had a wet dream”…dances triumphantly on the line of sex, because we can’t control our dreams, and if our dreams force us to dream about sex, it’s not our fault we’re being morally depraved! Sorry I’m in a Stephen Colbert mood… Drugs? No, unless “everybody saw the sunshine” is some vaguely coded reference to dropping acid, which I doubt. I think that means they saw “the light”- found God or happiness or whatever gives them hope. Rock and Roll? No, this isn’t a rock song. This has got soul, thanks in large part to Billy Preston on keys, and is sung by Paul with soul-tastic outbursts. It’s got its blues rock riffs, but it is slow and reflecting, whereas rock and roll is more “in-the-moment”. It’s hard to classify this- it’s kind of like Canned Heat meets Ray Charles at a press conference to sum up the hippie movement as if it were a respectable sex partner. What It Tells Me: To look at my experiences here on earth as if it’s part of a relationship. I’ve got to have a hard time balancing out my easy ones or else I’m not going to appreciate life as much. And fate is a partner that will never get old, because something new and exciting is always in store; it’s the passion of love that never dies that is life- you fight like mortal enemies but at the end of the day you're in bed together and you always find something to enjoy. Whereas much songs about life can fall into clichés, this one uses the old metaphor of life as a give and take relationship and turns it into a gospel that defines a state of mind- the free love, peace and human rights state of mind that was the sixties. What It Reminds Me Of: “On The Road Again” by Canned Heat; “Hard Times” by Ray Charles; Woodstock; hippies; nostalgia that leads to hope The opening chord progression is fuzzy bliss with an epic tone, followed shortly by the words “I’ve got a feeling”, letting us know this is going to be a song of intuition and not rational thought, a sacred experience with no room for second-guessing. By the end of the first couple lines there is joyous shouting- “oh yeah!” – that sounds orgasmic and embodies the spirit of rock and roll, that Devil’s music. The drums, electric guitar and shouting that kick off the chorus – “I’ve got a feeling!” – are soon followed by sensual keyboard that clarifies the fact this is a love song; a spiritual one no doubt with its almost abrupt stopping of the melody for a joyous hallelujah. The stuff about hating to miss the train and “if you leave me, I won’t be late again” are ambiguous- the former line might be about the train about the next counter-culture revolution, and the latter may be about how the sixties counterculture was so intensely in-the-moment that the narrator was often late for things he should've attended. That may be because of the immense drugs and pit stops of sex with groupies, I don’t know, or maybe he was just so caught up in his own music that he missed out on important events. This speculation is bolstered by the next line where the narrator sings about “wandering around” for so many years, aimlessly, until he realized he was looking for a girl who “looks like you”. Another ambiguous line, but it also suggests wasted time, and the girl could be the counter-culture that was right there the whole time but may have been ignored in a haze of sex, drugs and rock and roll. This might be John’s line, since he was soon to become political-minded and focus on human rights. Human rights were a huge part of the hippie movement, but the politics of the hippies were, some say, overshadowed by free love, drugs, and a type of soul-searching that was completely selfish, though it was important for the people at the time to partake in such experimentation to grasp a better understanding of their own nature. One of my favorite parts of the song is Lennon recapping the year, and I think the year might mean the hippy era in general. I’ve found two ways of expressing the definition of the idiom “pull your socks up” – one is the more polite “if you're not satisfied with someone and want them to do better, you tell them to pull their socks up”; and the other an “obscene call to readiness- drop your balls and pull up your socks”. This line and “everybody put their foot down” could refer to the civil rights movement while the wet dream and sunshine could be free love and soul searching through drugs, meditation or other means. And “everybody let their hair down” – if that’s not about the hippy trademark of growing out your hair, than I don’t know anymore, man. The merging of this verse with the first one makes the song sound complete – props to whoever thought of that one. The song ends with a kind of marching beat that may signify marching into the future. The whole notion that this song is not just about society but also about a love interest – like Yoko or something – would make me lose respect for the song because though it may feel like things are really coming together for, say, John, and both the feeling of hope he got from the hippy movement and his love for a woman get mixed together may have been a culminating inspiration for the song, but I don’t think the two belong together in the song’s meaning. It may be wishful thinking, but I don’t think Lennon and McCartney would argue with me. Favorite lines: “Everybody had a hard year / everybody had a good time” “Everybody had a wet dream / everybody saw the sunshine” “Everybody let their hair down” “Everybody pulled their socks up / everybody put their foot down” weezerific:cutlery - so it is about Linda, huh? I dont know if i trust smackbomb.com...how could the lyrics make any sense if there were towards a girl - "if you leave me, I won't be late again"? Unless he's saying "better late than never"...fuck maybe that is what he's saying. delon85 - I think that's the Naked version you're listening to |
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| The Black Keys – 10 A.M. Automatic Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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I admit I used to think he was saying: "youve got pains like an addict Telling me I'm gonna marry you" Even though the song is called 10 AM Automatic and my line about marriage seems out of place I seriously couldnt connect the dots and never had any idea why the song was called 10 Am automatic |
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| The Black Keys – 10 A.M. Automatic Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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“10 A.M. Automatic” by The Black Keys Sex? No Drugs? No Rock and Roll? Yes! What does it tell me? That rock music can be funky without a bass! Reminds me of: Driving around in my mom’s minivan as a senior and then a high school graduate high as a motherfucker; a fight scene; dancing while smoking a cigarette and looking like a greaser in blue jeans, a white undershirt, a black leather jacket, greasy gelled dark hair and a dark pair of shades From the opening riff, this is a hard driving song with a stressed beat and even more stressed out vocals. Lyrics like “What about the night makes you change/ All from sweet to deranged” and “You’ve got pains like an addict/ I’m leaving you” are powerful, disturbing, and surprisingly danceable. We are encouraged to shake our tail-feather every damn time we hear an “uh” or “yeah” in between lyrics. The song is three minutes long but goes by in one fell swoop, like a tornado coming out of nowhere and disappearing minutes later, leaving a trail of destruction in its wake. The trippy guitar work at the end of the song brings in a cool stoner vibe into an already cool straightforward blues number. I haven't heard this much energy and excitement in a modern blues band since the White Stripes, whose name alone compliments the Black Keys perfectly. But this is something funkier than the White Stripes could ever do; even funkier than the “My Doorbell”, this is a barnburner on cocaine. The singing is moaning verging on shouting, and while the lyrics are good in their own right, both commanding and inquisitive, and the music could make a mighty instrumental, the singing is what ties the two together. These words are expressed in a way that a whistle-blower might express dissatisfaction with the way his employers handle business, leaving the vocal chord in shreds in a soulful barrage of questions and revelations. When he shouts “10 A.M. automatic”, I’m not sure what he’s referring to, but I know it’s the cause of so much pain, and therefore am right along with the narrator in being against it. Some of the lines I ignore because I don’t get them- “what about my voice tells you / Who’s been wrong to you” – I guess he’s saying he’s been wrong to her? I thought she was the deranged one and wronging him? I guess it’s the fault of both of them the relationship isn’t working, but this isn’t clearly put. The meaning of the song being cryptic, knowing only it’s about a dysfunctional relationship that isn’t going anywhere, I can place it subjectively into parts of my life that make this song mine. The parts of the song with lyrics I don’t apply to myself, well, I can still rock out to them. And that’s what a great song will let me do. Quoteables: “What about the night makes you change / All from sweet to deranged” Appealing to the night owl in me, this is an ambiguous line that puts to words how I feel by not explaining too much, just observing the basic facts. “You’ve got pains/ Like an addict” Another ambiguous line that I can take to heart while not thinking too deep into it; I just feel it to understand it. Not sure what he’s saying but either way it’s awesome: “What about my weight makes you down” A play on words that suggests I could just naturally be too heavy for some people, and it brings them down “What about my ways makes you doubt / All these words from my mouth” The nervousness you get when you listen to someone say something as they show you the opposite…is it a lie? A contradiction? Are you bullshitting me or bullshitting yourself? It’s heavy stuff. But it turns me on. moik- Free rocks- "The Stealer" is a great song Okiesar- you're funny, like, High Fidelity funny Pure Guava 7- you're funny in an honest way. Unnecessairly taking it to the next level, I now have this image of someone literally nutting themselves while listening to the Black Keys. It's weird and I love it. |
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| The Clash – Jimmy Jazz Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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The Clash “Jimmy Jazz” Sex? No Drugs? No Rock and Roll? No, Rock Jazz March What Does It Tell Me: One scene in a crime novel is enough to write a joyous song about. It’s sung almost like a praise to God in underworld vernacular; it doesn't need to mention God to get the feeling of joy but it sounds like an affirmation of life the moment the saxophone signals the crescendo. In the world of crime you win some, you lose some – and when you're down you think you'll never be up again and when you're up you can’t imagine being back at rock bottom. Such is life, in a way. But in the criminal world, where enemies are made, you can dodge a proverbial bullet one day just to get shot down the next. Reminds me of: “Fortune Son” mixed with “Long As I Can See The Light”, both by Creedence Clearwater Revival; the color light blue; Gary Oldman playing Drexl in the movie True Romance; Mafioso; graphic private detective novel 100 Bullets; “Sweet Virginia” by The Rolling Stones The song starts out with a starry-night campfire vibe, with electric chords for some pretty leisurely whistling to lean against. The shaky vocals and pounding bass that simultaneously come in make the sound of a junkie singing a lite disco song destined to fill trashy 1970’s/80’s roller rinks. But the instant lyrics on police and criminals make it obvious the singer is playing the narrating role of a criminal. The lyrics aren’t the highlight of the song: The narrator has to answer the cops on the whereabouts of his friend with the criminal sounding name that is the title of the song, and talks about murder (about Jimmy Dread- “cut off his ears and chop off his head”), so we can deduce that these guys- the narrator, Jimmy Jazz, and Jimmy Dread, are all criminals. The narrator probably has something to hide so he doesn't tell the cops the whole truth about Jimmy Jazz, who may or may not be the same person as Jimmy Dread, because if Jimmy Dread is dead, and this whole situation is “such a relief!” to the narrator, and the cops are going to try to interrogate Jimmy Jazz, then if Jimmy Jazz is dead he won’t rat out the narrator, and that would certainly be a load off our guy’s shoulders. And I didn't know what “Satta massagana” meant until today (it means “give thanks”), which only complicates things further by being ironic. Whatever cryptic mob story is unfolding, let me tell you again, it’s not what makes the song good. It’s the music, which plays like a New Orleans march that starts off with slow worry than, as the pieces fall into place, the guitar solo signals the hope, and then the sax solo provides standard joy for this listener, and as the two intertwine not even halfway through the song, it only gets better. The first verse is repeated, this time with intense relief instead of end-of-the-world worry, and as the words “what a relief” and the second sax solo simultaneously are expressed, the ultimate joy comes in, the crescendo comes into full effect. Now the narrator is rambling curiously like he’s putting the finishing touches on a well-done puzzle and pleads, “Don't you bother me, not anymore/ I can't take this tale, oh, no more”, as if he’s putting this whole mess behind him and then humorously plays on the word “jazz”, making scatting sound like he’s so bored he’s got nothing better to do. By the end of the song, he’s confidently declaring to the cops, “So go look all around, you can try your luck, brother/ And see what you found/ But I guarantee that it ain't your day/ Chop! Chop!”. Quoteables: “I feel like a soldier/ Look like a thief” A criminal would think this, especially if they worked as a soldier for a criminal enterprise. Younglust: You may be on to something Drumhead: I think you're way off, but I think we could both agree - If only punk rock and jazz merged more often... |
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| Bob Marley and the Wailers – Kinky Reggae Lyrics | 17 years ago |
| I don’t think this sex songs really work for Marley. His image is the voice of the working class who have been victimized, he is their self-medicating religious symbol of a spirit that cannot be crushed. I’m sure Marley got around but I don’t think he wanted the whole world to know about the current state of his sex drive, because I think he wanted people to take him seriously. This song, I think, his record company wanted him to do so they could make more money off the album seeing as how it was going to have a sex song on it. But Marley doesn't sell out, he makes this song is own by rising above the promiscuity he sees because he has a reputation, which he hints at. The pressure Marley had to do a light, funky, sexual song must have been high due to Marley’s often serious spiritual songs, but Marley realized he had to chose between civil rights activist or pop star, and that trying to be both would be like putting out an Martin Luther King Jr. album with the “I Have A Dream” speech followed by sex tapes of King cheating on his wife. This song no doubt flirts with promiscuity by checking it out from top to bottom, but as Marley recognizes a part of himself in the innocent play of sex, he can’t build his legacy on the reputation of being a man whore, no matter how tempting it is and no matter how he can redeem himself by countering every wet dream with “A Dream” (in the King sense). | |
| Bob Marley and the Wailers – Kinky Reggae Lyrics | 17 years ago |
| An effective use of voice as instrument. His voice is like honey and his words hover around like hummingbirds in the summertime. He sounds like what a teenage Sinatra on pot would sound like had he recorded an album after spending a year or two in Jamaica. | |
| Tom Waits – Top of the Hill Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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Quoteables: “New corn yellow and slaughterhouse red The birds keep singing baby after you're dead” A realistic and new way of saying “life goes on”, but said in a way that sounds like Waits is trying to convince someone that they aren’t the center of the universe. “Have all the lights burned out on heaven again I’ll never roll the number seven again” I never knew what Waits was saying in the first line until now, and wow! It sounds like something a cynical religious person would say whenever there is a tragedy in the world. And to follow up that line with a problem gambler’s lament? Such a small tragedy! It’s a parallel of comedic proportions - at first, I think the narrator has something profound to say about the world and then to find out he’s just being over-dramatic in the wake of his own gambling problem – to think he’d ask for such pity is insulting! “What’s your throttle made of, is it money or bone? Don’t you doddle or you'll never get home” I don’t even know what the first line means – is he asking what my thrill is? Am I looking to put a price on my thrills and profit in a financial stance or looking for thrills of the flesh? These are both material thrills, and since they are my only options, my spiritual and mental thrills are denied, which totally debases my humanity, man. The second line is just cute, like something Waits’d say to his son. Oh and my heavens these two lines work so well together, what with the rhyme scheme and all – “throttle” goes with “doddle” and “bone” with “home” – it looks like Waits is a good a rapper as any of ‘em. “If I had it all to do all over again I’d rise above the laws of man” How much regret can we take? First he’s a gambler sad because he’s down on his luck and now he’s an old man, or at least a settled down one, reflecting on his life, saying “If I had to do it all over again, I’d change one thing: I’d be more of an asshole” and break the law whenever it suited him, no matter how much trouble he got into or how much he hurt his family. Just kidding. He’s saying to “rise above” the laws of man, which indicates something holier than just being a rebel hippie up to his Birkenstocks in situational morality. He wishes he was a man values, principles and convictions, and stood by them no matter how much trouble he got into. Like Sir Thomas More getting on the wrong end of the guillotine of the king because he would not bend his Godly morals to the whim of his country’s laws. Waits feels like sacrificed divine law for earthly laws, I can only speculate. He’s into Jesus, so I can assume “rise above” means to replace the earthly, worldly city of man with the city of God and all its permanent grace, which puts earthly objects to shame. “Turn a Rolls Royce into a chicken coop” I know the lyrics on his web site say “Chicken Coup” referring to a kind of car by some crackpot drag strip racer who named car a “Chicken Coupe”, but how in the hell was I supposed to know that, I already got the image of a car magically poofing into a stationary house for birds in my head and I love it and I’m not gonna change it. Plus when I listened to this I thought how clever I was when I came up with a “chicken coup”, you know, ousting the leader chicken party and replacing it with another because it has a stronger militia. Of chickens. I was going to make a movie out of it. How bout the whole Iran conflict is filmed in a barnyard with footage of roosters and hens lazing around and fucking and roosters fighting and we get George Clooney and Brad Pitt to dub the voices of all the major players. |
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| Tom Waits – Top of the Hill Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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Tom Waits “Top Of The Hill” Sex? No Drugs? He lists “opium, fireworks, vodka and meat” seemingly out of the blue and follows it up with “scoot over and save me a seat”. Maybe these four items are elements to a show, the kind of show that Tom Waits would attend… Rock and Roll? Yes! What does it tell me? This is somehow reinventing rock and roll, by adding beatboxing and a hip-hop beat, Waits made what could have been straight dirty rock and roll, and turns it into something new. The abstract poetry rapped in a guttery voice is interesting enough, but the funkyness added to it makes it randomness you can dance to. Reminds me of: Hobos rapping at Gambler’s Anonymous; a cartoon farmhouse; driving a cherry red Rolls Royce that turns into red chicken coop; riding with my 55-year old dad as we tap our hands and get close to home for the summer after driving three hours from my last day as a sophomore from college From the get-go, you can tell this is something monumental. “Can I get a little more on my voice?”, asks Waits, knowing his voice is an instrument crucial to the song. And it is. It revs like a chainsaw immediately after the spacey futuristic music that opens the track, making it sound like a radio transmission from an alien world. Wait’s voice slurs and sounds more stretched and painful than ever. The beatboxing sounds like a shocked dog with an electric collar yelping as it runs past it’s invisible boundaries. “I seen a mattress on the freeway” and “ocean of wine” are the kind of dream-like images you get throughout this song. The static horn that breaks up the song gives a frantic “step right up!” feeling of listening to a ranting old man at a circus who should not be missed do to his obscure fantasies he boasts as his non-fiction past. Sometimes the song feels like just a bunch of random sentences that sound good together but are really like a miscellaneous pile of rhymes Waits complied together because he didn't know what else to do with them. But that’s the beauty of the song, how it feels like Freud’s unconscious seeping out random information and memories into dreams; putting things together on the same stage in some sequence of “chance encounters”, blurring fantasy and reality. The menacing laughter at the end of the track comes on as both sincere and appropriate, as if Waits is amused by the absurdities of his own unconscious dream world as a kind of inside-joke, and all the pride and frustration that comes with such moments of esoteric euphoria. |
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| Bob Marley and the Wailers – Kinky Reggae Lyrics | 17 years ago |
| By the way, he's saying "oh, darlin', please don't PLAY". | |
| Bob Marley and the Wailers – Kinky Reggae Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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Bob Marley “Kinky Reggae” Sex? Yes, “she had brown sugar all over her booga-wooga / …he had candy tar all over his chocolate bar, I think I might join the fun” Drugs? No Rock and Roll? No, reggae jam (a slow reggae song) What does it tell me? Music can somehow be described as sticky and Bob Marley’s sex drive is kept under control (“But I had to hit and run/ You see I just can’t settle down/ in a kinky part of town”) Reminds me of: Jamaica; sweaty, sticky sex involving African-Americans; my stoned ass as a freshmen in college; “My Lover’s Prayer” by Otis Redding It has kind of a lazy feel to it, like it’s a soundtrack to a day of leisure. It’s not easy to make out what Bob Marley is observing in this song – has he stumbled upon two pairs of lovers having sex in public, or are they masturbating? The sugar, candy, chocolate, and mysterious “booga-wooga” help keep things PG (13?), and though our narrator has to “ride on”, he finds this sexually open town interesting enough to write a song about. This song though depends more on feeling than lyrics and has a basic reggae framework. By the end of the song, Marley is telling of how he met a girl, or possibly girls. “‘Nice one!’ they say” indicates that there is more than one person favorably commenting on Marley, specifically complimenting his package I assume. This has to be the most sexual song I’ve heard by Marley. to Peter!!!: I dont see how this has anything to do with cannabis. Unless brown sugar and candy tar are slang for marijuana, but if anything, they sound like code for herion. I guess what you're saying is he went out to buy weed and found "festivities" going on instead... |
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| The Jimi Hendrix Experience – Mannish Boy Lyrics | 17 years ago |
| A funky reworking of Muddy Waters' "Mannish Boy" and Bo Diddley's "I'm a Man". I love it when Jimi is mimicking the guitar on his awesome solos. This is electric blues at its best, although the lyrics dont make much sense. | |
| Elmore James – Dust My Broom Lyrics | 17 years ago |
| Amazing guitar that inspired Jimi Hendrix. This is an underrated classic. The guitar and voice are so powerful they knock you back. | |
| The Rolling Stones – All Down The Line Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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This song, ventilator blues, stop breaking down, all remind me of the summers I worked on railroad tracks and scrap metal yards for my dad when I was in high school. They have a blue collar feel. I was doing a lot of coke at that time and listening to Exile on Main St. Listen to me, if youre going to dabble in the white lady, this is the album to do it with. also have a pot brownie to chill you out. |
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| The Rolling Stones – Can't You Hear Me Knocking Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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I always thought it was "nasty boobs" not "fancy boots" haha just kidding But seriously I think he's saying "plastic boots" and "I've got MIGHTY feet", not flattened This song is not just what the Stones are about, it's what rock and roll is, or at least should be about. Stay true to the old blues legends but do your own thing. This song has SOUL |
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| Tom Waits – Way Down in the Hole Lyrics | 17 years ago |
| I first heard Tom Waits thanks to The Wire...and all I have to say is I thought he was black | |
| Charles Wright – Express Yourself Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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"It’s not what you look like, when you’re doin´ what you’re doin´ It’s what you’re doin´ when you’re doin´ what you look like you’re doin´!" It took me a while to make sense of that, but now I understand! I love this song, especially the horn imitations, which I called scatting. |
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| Raekwon – Ice Cream Lyrics | 17 years ago |
| Impulse? Nimrod? Thunder? Can anyone clue me i as to what these guys are making references to? | |
| Mad Caddies – I'm So Alone Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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"nicknames like fanny or lenny"? I think he's saying "tell the ones you love to just stop, that life just aint worth living" this song reminds me what I dont like about pot, how when you quit its like you went from having all the friends in the world to none because you just surrounded yourself with stoners so you wouldnt have to worry |
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| Kinky – Five Rooms Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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Anybody speak Spanish? This is good chase music. When I listened to it high and closed my eyes I wrote this: A stampede of elephants An escape from the zoo Chaos all around me Skeleton bone blues Running through the office Ducking deterrents of my destination Getting hung up on the loose nails of my coffin Exposed holes of old sensations Feeling anxious because I’m under obligation To what makes me forget I’m a vicious cyclist without a helmet |
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| Jedi Mind Tricks – Genghis Khan Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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Disciples who walk on glass and rose petals... what a ill line |
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| The Black Keys – Just Couldn't Tie Me Down Lyrics | 17 years ago |
| true that man this song gets me wigglin and jigglin. I dont get the lyrics but I dont think they need to make much sense for such an awesome song and a powerful chorus ("just couldnt tie me down!"). | |
| Nas – Life's A Bitch Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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What the hell is "schwepervesence"?! Besides that, this is AZ's best verse And the laid back jazz of the song chills out the depressing theme of the chorus, the trumpet at the end played by Nas' father kind of lifts the spirits as Nas effectivley plays his birthday and recent adulthood into an autobiographical narrative. His verse isnt as good as his stuff on the rest of the CD, but considering this is a lyrical classic, it beats the pants off of most other rap artists' best work. |
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| The Dust Brothers – Marla Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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What this song means to me: Aliens on the beach that look like gumby, a giant chained horn sticking out of the sand, and sex in a haunted building |
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| The Cure – Killing an Arab Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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Oh shit Zodin youre right. At 2:07 he says that. Mordachai's interpretation was nice and Dan Sharkey's background info was too. This is a cool song. Cool music and lyrics. The first verse sets the scene, the second puts forth the dilemma, and the third seems to just bring the conclusion, but like Mordachai said, it is really the lack of distinction between the dead Arab and the killer. I didnt catch that myself. |
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| Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five – White Lines (Don't Do It) Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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(High Fry)??? He's saying High Price. This song kicks ass. It makes me want to dance and do coke |
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| Desmond Dekker – 007 (Shanty Town) Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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Nice relaxing reggae song with lyrics about not nice and unrelaxed people. At first when I heard this song I thought he was saying "and the rudeboys are for real" instead of "a go wail" and "rudeboys cannot feel" instead of "fail", and "mamma loot, mamma shoot, mamma wheel". Great song, heard it off The Harder They Come soundtrack. RIP Desmond Dekker. There would be no Clash if it werent for this guy. |
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| M.O.P. – Robbin' Hoodz Lyrics | 17 years ago |
| This song always gets me pumped. Probably because I am a skinny white kid from the burbs and dont know what a black person would think if they saw me listening to it. But thanks to this song I know what "yap" and "Old Gold" means. | |
| Lightnin Slim – It's Mighty Crazy Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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Heard this on Songs the Cramps Taught Us vol. 2. This is classic swamp blues, whatever the hell that means. Sexy lyrics meet a deep, throaty voice over rooster-crow harmonica. Short and rockin' old blues tune from 1960 |
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| Northern State – Last Night Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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Oh, she said "Hesta Prynn" not "Haster Bren" cause her name is Hesta Prynn. Reminds me of early Beastie Boys- with the hot beat and real hip hop lyrics. Though they're not nearly as good, I like this song. |
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| Nas – The World Is Yours Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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it should be "picturin' my peeps NOT EATIN' COULD MAKE my heartbeat skip" This is classic, with chill jazz to contrast the dark lyrics. Hell yeah it's an anthem. Nas sounds like a motivator, a teacher, the fucking savior of rap on this track. |
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| Three Dog Night – Mama Told Me (Not to Come) (Eric Burdon cover) Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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I thought it was "that ain't THE way to have fun". I can hear it more clearly than I can hear "NO way"... And I don't think anyone can tell what he's saying when its "that cigarette your smokin', [blank] scare me half to death" cause it sounds like he was cut off. He definitly said "scare" without an "s", so I think "don't" makes more sense. It was great how this song was playing when I had sex with a 16 year old and my mom was like "don't do anything with her until she's 17!". It was ironic. Great, timeless party song. Who says "sucker" anymore, much less a white guy? Must've been from the ghetto. |
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| Nada Surf – Inside Of Love Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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I think Quailmann7 is right, about how "the last page" is heartbreak. Y2jollie, if you think of "The last page" is the "inside of love", or as you said, "happily ever after", how can he "know it so well" when he says he's never been there? I can see how you'd think that, though. If he sees so many other people in love, he might think it's so easy he can skip over the first page and just go right to the love. Yet I still think it's incompatable with the song, I think it's more reffering to "making out with people I hardly know or like", as if he can always tell in the beginning when he's hooking up it won't end well. This song is so beautiful, it gives me the chills. It reminds me of what it reminds Tagtraeumerin of, times when I loved someone who doesn't love me or someone loves me and I don't love them. Turquoiseumbrella has the correct word we're all looking for- "mutual". What makes this song even more personal to me is that I discovered it from the person I was obsessed with and saw their eyes light up when they heard it. Or maybe this song is from the point of view of a virgin's penis, and "love" is the vagina. Any takers? |
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| Moby – Everloving Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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Trying to recall times that seemed so easy So pleasing The tree's leaves were shorn and faces emerged Gigantic human heads opened their gigantic eyes for the first time Their roots their vertebre, they learned to move and strolled along underground And when they learned to speak, winds would sound While some roots tangled with others in passion The clouds grew dark and incomptabilities arose to sever heads with the violent winds and lightning of arguments gone out of control This is what was going on in my head when I closed my eyes and listened to this song. It's the musical equivalent to reaching a summit or having sex, something natural, though that contrasts the song itself, which is electronic (synthetic) and chopped up (unnatural). It's amazing how Moby can pull of this synthesis. |
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| Devin the Dude – Come On and Come Lyrics | 17 years ago |
| Nice sensual R&B rap, really chill shit. Some of the jokes are a little juvenile ("it's not hard- oh wait, yeah it is", spelling out "Dick") but it's really funny when he's like "that's absurd, obscene, profound; i know but it's just a verb, or is it a noun?". It's just a fun sex track. | |
| Merry Clayton – Poor White Hound Dog Lyrics | 17 years ago |
| I think that's what she says. I'm pretty sure she was jamming and made up the lyrics as she went along. Must've been high. | |
| Merry Clayton – Performance Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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Heard it off the Performance soundtrack. Good ol fashioned psychedelic soul When I close my eyes and listen to this song, this is what I see: It’s the late sixties and at the same an Apollo rocket is circling the moon, a group of teens arrive at a cabin in the woods where there are dead bodies inside. These images are interrupted by other strange images of babies being born, sex, a roller coaster ride from the rider’s point of view; Dorothy, Toto, the Tin Man, the Cowardly Lion and the Scarecrow approaching the Emerald City and psychedelic images of what looks like giant insect legs (minus the insect) being firmly planted into the ground. |
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| Dave Matthews Band – Too Much Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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MiguelTeja is right, the first verse is cocaine 100% (though I did consider blow jobs) and trippinbtm is right the rest is about oil I love how this song fuses funk and bluegrass- not something you see every day! Fun, wild and rollicking, everything a good rock song should be. This is a great song. |
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| My Morning Jacket – Golden Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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My God this is one of the most beautiful things I've ever heard. I'm happy to say the first time I had sex this song was playing. It is love, it is beauty, it is that first time feeling. I feel sorry for anyone who hasn't heard this song. Hell, I remember where I was the first time I heard this song, it's that good. Musically, lyrically, presentation/performance-wise, it is stunning. I remember the golden sunlight breaking through the bright green trees, her golden hair, the first time I saw the sun... |
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| The Hold Steady – Sketchy Metal Lyrics | 17 years ago |
| This is top notch poetry! Funny yet traumatizing as hell, just like our teen years... | |
| Muddy Waters – All Night Long Lyrics | 17 years ago |
| Heard this on the Rollin' Stone double album compilation. Great slow-burner with a raunchy harmonica | |
| Wu-Tang Clan – Protect Ya Neck (The Jump Off) Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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The funkiest track off the W, this is such a hot beat, and the GZA gives a noteworthy verse while each member gives a sample of classic flow. Ghostface makes me crack a smile whenever I hear him rapping about talking socks. Points to Inspectah Deck for "swing like Pete Sampras", a truly original metaphor The only incorrect lyrics here is "Snow White SNIFF" not "stiff" |
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| KoЯn – Got The Life Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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Fuzz4769, where do you see lyrics on Korn's official site? You sure you're not making that up? I agree with your corrections of light to lie, though As for what it all means, I think it is about robbing yourself of what you really want ("feeling ripped off again now"), feeling empty inside ("hollow)" because of it. I think he's saying "God pays me", which could either be a bribe to keep his mouth shut about the lie that being rich is trouble-free, or it is a reference to "In God we trust" that is written on money which leaves him betrayed by his own choices. "That wants to see"- a reference to the eye on the pyramid on money? In all, I think it's about making mistakes and paying for them, yet he shouldn't complain cause everyone else has got the same story- "got the life" |
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| Mogwai – Hunted by a Freak Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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A bullet of sunlight pierces the clouds; golden heaven touches ground I see that childhood toy that hangs above the crib and spins around Except it is suspended from a golden yellow sky With paper mache animals and gargoyles hoisted from it The golden Porsche makes its way up a Great Plains highway Glaring sunlight from its grill We never get a glimpse but there is the suspense Of being hunted by a freak |
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| The Black Keys – The Lengths Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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The moonlight, the clockwork, the lengths: He'd follow the distance of the sun for her He's carefully trained himself so as to be faithful But in the end, what did he really lose? Did he lose her, or was she never there in the first place? That last line of the song threw me off at first listen I think he's saying what he said when the relationship started: "you got nothing to lose", indicating he threw himself into something he wasn't sure about, so it must not have been love the whole time they were together. "The care he took, the lengths to which he'd go" I think that means he tried to build love with her, since with love you're usually sure from the moment you meet. But it was all in vain and very painful to realize the truth, which apparently was before she realized it: "I felt you leavin' before you'd even gone". Poor guy didn't want to be the first to break up cause he terrified of being blamed breaking up something he worked so hard for. It is a beautiful song, the guitar sounds like heartstrings being tugged at and ripped apart in a slow, painful method. I can imagine this song playing in a movie when the person is very depressed. |
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| Broken Social Scene – Shampoo Suicide Lyrics | 18 years ago |
| Hahaha, Bandwitch, the mere thought of someone beatboxing to this trips me out. | |
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