| Regina Spektor – Laughing With Lyrics | 11 years ago |
| And despite all the praying, almost no one will rely solely on God... everybody relies on science, doctors, logic, medicine. Atheists or theists live in a very similar manner in daily life, independently of the existence of a God... | |
| Regina Spektor – Laughing With Lyrics | 11 years ago |
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As an atheist I joke that if God exists, he's really mean, for all the tragedies and suffering that people go through while he, supposedly, could stop them. So I would be a "crazy who says that he hates us". I take the blame, no problem, which makes me think this is a religious song... But it could also refer to extremists, as some religious people here identified with that line too. By the way, I'm not open to discussion about the reason why would possibly a good God allow bad things to happen. Thanks. |
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| Regina Spektor – Laughing With Lyrics | 11 years ago |
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I think you are not getting the meaning, if you didn't understand the last sentence. The last sentence is everything in the song! It means "God does exist, whatever you believe" and it makes all disbelief (people laughing at God) unimportant. So people are right in saying that the song is "live and let die", but because it is a theistic song. As an atheist I usually say the opposite, believe in whatever you want, whatever God, pray, don't pray, because he doesn't exist anyway. Same idea. |
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| Regina Spektor – Laughing With Lyrics | 11 years ago |
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Ticy, wrong assumption again. Actually I am an atheist and this time I wrote God with capital G... sometimes I do, sometimes I don't, depends on the context. This time I just went with the lyrics. |
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| Regina Spektor – Laughing With Lyrics | 11 years ago |
| Regina Spektor – Laughing With Lyrics | 11 years ago |
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So in your interpretation, "we are laughing with God" does imply that God exist! Just what I said. You seem to agree that she ended the discussion with that last sentence, implying that God does exist. The ongoing discussion is whether the song is theistic or not, your interpretation, like mine, is that it is. |
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| Regina Spektor – Laughing With Lyrics | 11 years ago |
| This song is religious, she ends the song saying that we're ALL laughing WITH God. To me, it means that regardless of people's beliefs, God exists anyway. How is this not religious? | |
| Regina Spektor – Laughing With Lyrics | 11 years ago |
| Funny, to me the crazies are atheists who make jokes about God. To me this is a theistic song, by the way. | |
| Regina Spektor – Laughing With Lyrics | 11 years ago |
| It kinda says in the last sentence, if we're laughing with God despite of all she sang, then it means "God exists regardless of what you believe". | |
| Regina Spektor – Laughing With Lyrics | 11 years ago |
| Not really, her last sentence clearly states that "we're laughing with God", meaning, God exists. | |
| Regina Spektor – Laughing With Lyrics | 11 years ago |
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This song is not neutral like some people are saying here. As an atheist, I don't think of God, or stop "laughing at God", if things are bad. Quite the contrary, when things are bad, then I realize even more that there is no such thing as God (or if there is, he's an asshole). By stating that "we're all laughing WITH God", it's safe to say the song says that we all will resort to God when things are bad and that the "truth" is that God does exist. Maybe without that sentence it would be more neutral. As an atheist, I'd say that we're laughing alone. This song does not represent me. |
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| Joanna Newsom – This Side of the Blue Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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I've traveled a lot and don't really see how it's about immigration... where does she say it, exactly? It might be about one special trip she made or something, but immigration??? I think that the song is way too personal for other people other than Jamie and JN to understand (or even Jamie...). BTW, interpretation is alright, over-interpretation should be considered a crime under the Geneva convention!! I'm afraid JN would laugh to death if she saw these funny interpretations you guys do... |
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| Joanna Newsom – Sadie Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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C'mon, it's just a song lyric, not profound philosophy! She got the events she namely describes here http://www.tinymixtapes.com/interviews/joanna_newsom.htm (you don't need to wonder if she speaks about a dog or not, just read what she says), mixed them up, put nice words to form beautiful sentences, that sound good, in counterpoint with the melody, and that's it! No further interpretations, no big philosophies, just a mixture of events that happened in her life, glued with well chosen words. If the words sound good, but happen to not mean anything at all, well, OK, it's just a song lyric about a dead dog and her dead friend! This might be surprising, but sometimes, song lyrics ARE meaningless... "Those who know that they are profound strive for clarity. Those who would like to seem profound to the crowd strive for obscurity." -Friedrich Nietzsche |
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| Joanna Newsom – Inflammatory Writ Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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About a relationship? It could be, at most, both about a writer's block and a relationship. But it is certainly about writer's block. If it isn't, then I'll have to say she's incapable of transmitting an idea with clarity! I have writer's block and it resembles a lot what she describes. Not all great american novels bring characters who are losers, specially because this is not what makes a great american novel. Her reference to them is a reference to a great piece of writing that stands in a place of glory, whereas she has to "hand the pen over". She's saying: I suck, they're great and stand there to remind me of that. The loose lines are, IMO, just loose lines. I think that many times she writes beautiful sentences that mean nothing, they just sound good. Somewhere else she said that her lyrics and her music are one single thing (as counterpoint should be, BTW. But it might also be meaningless...) and I feel that many of her songs do have meaningless lines, or at least very obscure ones. IMO again, if a line is too obscure to be understood, and can only be understood by the author or his/her friends, then it's meaningless. Occam's razor is also a good rule of thumb here (keep the simplest alternative). Sometimes it's better not to over-interpret things. Sometimes things are beautiful, but meaningless... "Those who know that they are profound strive for clarity. Those who would like to seem profound to the crowd strive for obscurity." -Friedrich Nietzsche |
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| Cat Power – Lived in Bars Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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Absolutely about her overcoming alcoholism. What does the back vocal say in the last stanza, when Cat Power sings "out of here"? |
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| Madredeus – O Segredo Do Futuro Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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Universal love. I like the existentialist-nihilist component in the song, nonetheless full of hope, when she says: "A chave do futuro é dar de novo amor A todo o "outro"... O "outro" que és tu, e ele, e eu, A sós neste mundo" A sós neste mundo, (everybody is) alone in this world, but love should prevail nonetheless. |
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| Neko Case – Tightly Lyrics | 17 years ago |
| This songs makes me imagine myself roaming in a quiet empty street at night (under stars, lonely houses) with this feeling that everything is possible. Walking at night alone, hopeful about the future, eager for what is to come (doesn't the Velvet Underground sing "what comes is better than what came before", in I found the reason?). I think the song describes those moments when we're full of the feeling of wanting to start new things (new moons in the alley and its madness calls to me), of a certain joyful impatience for devoting ourselves to things that we consider important. The song is about one moment (tonight, tonight, tonight) when we rediscover in us the ability to covet things, to be passionate. And no one can take that feeling from us (don't you try and stop me, I cling tightly to this life). The best song in Blacklisted, in my opinion, and very well sung by Neko Case. | |
| Joanna Newsom – Clam, Crab, Cockle, Cowrie Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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waltzing with the open sea clam, crab, cockle, cowrie will you just look at me? Does she mean she's shy, metaphorically closed as a shell: clam, cockle, cowrie? And she feels she's awckward as a crab? |
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| Joanna Newsom – Swansea Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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Hey, samshipstone, very nice reasoning on the journey idea! I am with you on this. But I guess there's something underneath the journey, the gnawing white bones, watching the freight trains, chewing, is about memories of Sadie (her dog). I am afraid that some of her songs, entirely or part of them, are not understandable at all. They are very personal memories translated to a lyrical expression, so they are so cryptic that even for her they are symbols. In my opinion, though I do love the ethereal way she makes scenarios, sometimes I regret the lack of clarity. I know many songs as ingenious as hers but clear. To me, that is how ingenious art is, sophisticated, but clear. Unless she is just trying to create an atmosphere, than the meaning doesn't really matter. But then, it is a pity to waste so many beautiful words in something meaningless for the listener. |
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| Joanna Newsom – Inflammatory Writ Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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The inflammatory writ is the rush of inspiration for writing. I think she is mocking how difficult it is to write something good (maybe she is being self-critical and the poetaster is herself?): (she got inspired and begun writing) And all at once it came to me, and i wrote and hunched 'till four-thirty (but could not produce anything worth) But that vestal light, it burns out with the night in spite of all the time that we spent on it: one bedraggled ghost of a sonnet! (in comparison to others that do produce a lot. How do they do it?) While outside, the wild boars root without bending a bough underfoot- O it breaks my heart; I don't know how they do't. I can't see any criticism on "modern writing", though |
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| Joanna Newsom – Bridges and Balloons Lyrics | 17 years ago |
| OK, but what does the lyrics mean??? | |
| Joanna Newsom – This Side of the Blue Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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First of all, I do love Joanna Newsom. But sometimes I think she lacks clarity. Songs like En gallop and Peach, plum, pear are difficult to grasp the meaning but in the end they are beautifully written ideas. But I'm not sure it applies to all her songs. I've googled a lot on "Bridges and balloons" and apart from compliments to her impressive vocabulary, I haven't found good analyses on what she meant. It's like people are stunned by her skills with words, and they take the meaning for granted as if it was a sin to question what the hell she meant. I see people commenting on this song, but no one can really point out what she is specifically talking about. Alright, it is a critics on semiotics, there are references about existentialism, and so what? Perhaps I lack the culture to understand what she is saying, but then, can anybody explain me? When I have to spend hours to understand a song meaning I always remember this Nietzsche's quote: "Those who know that they are profound strive for clarity. Those who would like to seem profound strive for obscurity" (The Gay Science, sec. 173) Maybe one should value her words as beautiful indeed, but just as part of the song, with no further meaning (only for her, I guess). |
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| Marlango – Architecture of lies Lyrics | 17 years ago |
| Cool "nihilist" song, love the metaphors she used (the founce around my life, woodsheds to hide the dreams we give up on). The fact is, one takes a long time in this life to understand there's nothing to be understood... and to live with that. | |
| Joanna Newsom – Sadie Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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Here she explains the song lyrics: http://www.tinymixtapes.com/interviews/joanna_newsom.htm |
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| Tegan and Sara – Frozen Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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Yeah, I agree with WhiteIron, they are certainly speaking of a pool in their garden, with very very cold water... but I also think they were arguing, splitting or something like that: "there's not much said that I don't know" (what you blamed me) "you come right out and you ask me nobody ever asks me" (maybe she feels excluded) But one of them is taking responsibilities: "it looks a lot worse than it seems but you know baby that's just me we can only hope that it might be me" And waiting for the other one to settle: "looking for a laugh wanna stop back when you're done whining and taking things back" And willing to be friends again: "but if I was you just call my name call my name and I'll be there if you call my name you know I'll be there" Though I see the freezing pool as an analogy to a sort of (self) punishment of isolation, I don't see the meaning of " it's not far to go it's not far at all" |
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| Fiona Apple – Criminal Lyrics | 18 years ago |
| C'MON, girls do have the power to play with a man's heart, and NOT ALL OF THEM, but some of them will. I've been a victim of a couple, so the lyrics do sound as a girl saying 'I need to be redeemed'. It is not uncommon for a young girl who plays with someone's heart to finally find what love is (sometimes too late). I don't think she's been sarcastic. | |
| Fiona Apple – Better Version of Me Lyrics | 18 years ago |
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I am confused about this section: "I am likely to miss the main event If I stop to cry and complain again So I will keep a deliberate pace Let the damn breeze dry my face" Does she mean that she will continue suffering in order not to miss the 'main event' (to learn something), she'll not do anything to stop suffering (rather, keep a deliberate pace), but she'll let the breeze (time) do it for her? |
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| Emiliana Torrini – Heartstopper Lyrics | 18 years ago |
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Yeah, number 3. I think it's about those combos in McDonald's and other fast-food houses. She asked for a meal and can't eat it, cos she's heartbroken. What about the video? In the end the 'evil spirit' is the girl herself, and she is the master of puppets? Did she mean that in the end she is on top of the thing? |
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