| Big Head Todd and the Monsters – Bittersweet Lyrics | 15 years ago |
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This song is about marriage or at least a long-term relationship. The first verse was when he first knew her before they were even together, and speaks about catching a glimpse of her dancing where she did not know he was watching. He implies that she is far away in the sense that they have no relationship, but he wishes for more. He was falling in love, and had visions of them being together in the future happy in the sunset/meadow/breeze. Then he fast forwards in his life (I'm older now), talks of living in the city (implicating that in the past they lived in the suburbs, maybe she was his neighbor even?) and that they live together. At some point between verse 1 and 2, they came together. But things are different than he had originally dreamed. He wakes up in the morning and she pretends to be sleeping. I can relate to this, because my wife and I met when we were very young (16 years ago) and we have been married for 10 years now, with 3 children. I wake up in the mornings early to go to work, and although she hears me rise, she isn't jumping out of bed to see me off to work like she once did when our relationship was still new (she even used to make breakfast for me). Reality has set in, and life and marriage is more bittersweet now. With jobs, and children, you can sometimes become more like business partners than two people madly in love. |
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| Toad the Wet Sprocket – All She Said Lyrics | 15 years ago |
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Another buried treasure among Toad songs. Such a sobering and melancholy song. This song can be taken several different ways. One read into it might be that he cheated on her, she found out, and they "worked it out" ... but it will never be the same now, and she'll go through because she's married - while dreaming of that pure love. Another read into this is that he truly loves her (as per the line "I wait for her"), but she only loves him as a husband and friend, and not a lover. Very common between married couples after the initial romantic aspect wears off. Finally, as Davkay suggested, could be about two people who don't love each other anymore completely - both married, both dreaming of other scenarios. As a guy who has been married for 10 years now, this song is really sad to me. The idea of my wife dreaming of another is pretty depressing, yet we're all human, and I can't say that it's unnatural for anyone in a marriage to envision other options at times. |
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| Guster – Grin Lyrics | 15 years ago |
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Like many of the earlier Guster songs, the lyrics are vague enough where the meaning of the song can vary. For example, this song can simply be about someone who learned about the secrets of diet/nutrition and the benefits. Read the lyrics over and think about it. "Peel their skin rotten underneath" "Swallowed poison keeps them well" "Should I tell the mindless stumbling through that I have found it". I don't really think it's about that, it was just an example of how this song can be applied to anything where someone feels they know the secrets and the masses don't. When I first heard this song and Guster was on the rise, I actually wondered if it was about the music industry, and how they finally had the clarity to know how the business works and how to manipulate it. The lyrics apply there as well. It could also be about religion with the faith references, either for or against: "Peel away their faith, their fears, have led them towards the worse one See the way their minds have glazed they're looking for the worst one But I have found it" Great song, very ambiguous. Classic Guster. |
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| Guster – (Nothing But) Flowers (Talking Heads cover) Lyrics | 15 years ago |
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This was originally talking heads, many years ago (to answer the last poster). The way I interpret this song is actually along the lines of "be careful what you wish for". It starts with your typical person with good intentions, trying to get away from the evils of industrialization and technology ... but once the wish is granted and they are returned to "paradise" (Adam and Eve reference), they begin to realize that it sucks. They have to catch their own dinner, and in this case, it's a (deadly) rattlesnake. "I miss the Honky-Tonks Dairy Queens and 7-11s" "I wish I had a lawn mower" "I dream of cherry pies, Candy bars and chocolate chip cookies" "Don't leave me standing here, I can't get used to this lifestyle" All signs of a person realizing they miss and want the luxuries they once had and lost. The other potential interpretation is that this is some post-fallout scenario, since back when the Talking Heads wrote this, the Cold War was still on people's minds. |
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| Toad the Wet Sprocket – Come Back Down Lyrics | 15 years ago |
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This song is definitely about drug addiction, and the things people will do for a hit. By the sounds of the lyrics, this is probably a fairly hardcore drug - not something like booze or weed. More like pain killers, heroin, or even crack. Something that will come back in 2 hours is usually pretty hardcore. Finally, it's possible that the author isn't the singer, but this might be the story of someone the guys in the band knew that did have a drug problem. |
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| Toad the Wet Sprocket – I Think About Lyrics | 15 years ago |
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How could no one have written yet on this little beauty? I find that staggering ... While this is a very short set of lyrics, they are amazing and hit home with me personally. The author (not sure which of them actually wrote it) is sitting around thinking detailed and deep thoughts about the smallest little things ... and then comes to grips with the fact that when he dies, all of his constant thinking and musing will suddenly cease - and that scares him to death. "watching me, a bird upon a roof with coal-black feathers cocks his head, to catch my eye" "wandering and unfocused i cannot meet his stare, he takes to wing, silhouette against the sun surrounded by the glare" This is the author trying to express how something as simple as a bird flying away can be quite deep, beautiful and poignant. The real gem in the lyrics is the second verse ... where he explains how the more a person knows, the more they realize they don't know much at all: "i believe in so many things, i know that none of them are true" "and my feet, firm upon a pathway i am far too blind to see, leading me" Great song, one of my favorite Toad tunes. |
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| Beck – Timebomb Lyrics | 15 years ago |
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I'm pretty sure he says "Now fuck a headphone" or "Ah fuck a headphone". The droning beat beep/beat in this song is great ... It's for sure a song sun for fun (especially with the random girls background vocals), but it works. I also thought he said "Cruisin' like an Alligator" until I read this, and then when I listened again, I could hear it sounded more like "Cold just like an alligator". Good work. |
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| Bruce Springsteen – Girls In Their Summer Clothes Lyrics | 15 years ago |
| Forgot to mention, that the key is that the girls are going to pass him by ... which implies any of the following: (A) They aren't going to be interested. (B) He's older and they are too young to be interested. (C) That he's not interested, he's just going to let them pass by. My guess? All three :) | |
| Bruce Springsteen – Girls In Their Summer Clothes Lyrics | 15 years ago |
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This song isn't about Bruce at all, in fact, it's about your typical down-on-his-luck American guy. In this song, Shaniqua actually calls the guy "Bill". Also, we know it's not Bruce because he makes reference about financial struggles "things are tight" and about his girl having left him ("She went away, she cut me like a knife") - and we know he's currently married. The guy he is singing about is a blue collared anywhere-in-America guy, he's down on his luck, without too much money and depressed about a woman leaving him. In fact, Shaniqua showing him any kind of human courtesy "might have saved his life" ... meaning thoughts of suicide were creeping in (although he could just be exagerrating). As for girls in their Summer clothes ... i'm not so sure he's implying that he's old and they are young. It doesn't say anything about the girls being young. Since this is about "Bill", for all we know, Bill could be 25, 35, 45 or 55. The key is probably that the girls in their Summer clothes imply that there are always other fish in the ocean. |
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| Gin Blossoms – Until I Fall Away Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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Currently 32, and when this album was about to blow up I was in college (Freshman year). Lots of drinking, and probably too much ... and this album fit perfectly considering the number of songs that speak about drinking and parties, etc. My take on this song was always different than some of the earlier discussion. Until I fall away is a reference to the fact that the relationship is destined to fail. The fact that he says "Until I fall away" implies that it's just a matter of time until he falls out of love and the relationship ends. He also explains that it doesn't take him very long to blow his relationships (I wont keep us waiting long) Think of a guy who realizes that the relationship he's in, once again, isn't going to be permanent. Re-read the lyrics (or listen to this amazing song) with that in mind and see what you think. |
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| Cheap Trick – Surrender Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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I feel compelled to finally spell some of this out for people: "Mother told me, yes, she told me I'd meet girls like you. She also told me, "Stay away, you'll never know what you'll catch." Just the other day I heard a soldier falling off Some Indonesian junk that's going round." -- This is the about the mother warning her son about loose girls because they are trouble. She also tells him that she has heard that some soldier's you-know-what actually fell off from an Indonesian V.D. "Father says, "Your mother's right, she's really up on things." "Before we married, Mommy served in the WACS in the Philippines." Now, I had heard the WACS recruited old maids for the war. But mommy isn't one of those, I've known her all these years." -- This is the father telling the son that the mother is really up on things because she used to server in the WACs (Womens Army Core) in the Phillipines. The kid doesn't buy it. I'm not certain but it sounds like the father is actually being sarcastic poking fun at her for trying to claim she knows about soldiers and VDs. "Whatever happened to all this season's losers of the year? Ev'ry time I got to thinking, where'd they disappear?" -- Never really understood this one, more information is needed. "When I woke up, Mom and Dad are rolling on the couch. Rolling numbers, rock and rolling, got my Kiss records out." -- Mom & Dad smoking some weed, making out on the couch, playing their kids "hip" music while they thought their kids were in bed. Any parent understand this one ... parents have two faces, the one they show their kids, and the real one they show each other after they think the kids are in bed. "Surrender, surrender, but don't give yourself away, ay, ay, ay." -- Not 100% sure on the actual meaning of Surrender ... but I have always assumed it meant that you have to give in and realize that your parents, like you, are strange and quirky and unique. It also could mean that as parents you surrender to being parents, without fully revealing your secrets/dark side, etc. |
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| Five for Fighting – The Riddle Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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This song is wonderful, especially to a new father dad me. I believe that the answer to the riddle is in the song. I also believe he has two different answers. Riddle: What is the reason for the world: Answer: You and I (for many parents -- and children, the meaning of life is all based on the loving relationship between parent and child. Free love without strings attached.) Riddle: What is the reason for the world: Answer: Who am I? (i.e. for many the meaning of life is simply finding out who we are) |
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