| Saul Williams – NiggyTardust Lyrics | 15 years ago |
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Saw Saul Williams at Lollapalooza on Sunday, and after he performed this song, he mentioned that it was meant to demonstrate the schizophrenia that discussions about race seem to evoke in people, and that race is a social construct. His set was excellent, by the way. If you get a chance to see Saul Williams live, don't pass it up. |
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| Barenaked Ladies – Helicopters Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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I'm surprised no one's mentioned the last few lines -- they completely change the meaning of the song. The narrator keeps mentioning that he'll be leaving (presumably the country) soon. He hates the journalists because they don't really care or understand what happened. At the end, though, the chorus is used in a very different context: "A world that loves it's irony must hate the protest singer... so I'll be leaving soon." Leaving, not the country, but the WORLD. At the end of the song he decides to kill himself because he can't escape the memory of what he saw, and because the world seems completely blind to it. |
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| R.E.M. – Supernatural Superserious Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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Found this quote on songfacts.com. It's supposedly Michael Stipe's take on the song, but I can't verify it, as there's no original source credited: "The song inhabits an almost more internal humiliation, something that happens to all of us because we were all kids and we all have insecurities on some level or the other. This one, I kind of particularly wrote it around a séance gone horribly wrong at a summer camp that then manifested itself later in life as kind of a sexual deviance, but a fun one." As a side note, I'll be playing this (solo, guitar and singing) at my high school senior year commemorative assembly. Woo! (look for the inevitable embarrassing YouTube vid soon) |
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| System of a Down – Mr. Jack Lyrics | 16 years ago |
| I'm not sure I agree with everyone's characterization of "Jack" as a drug dealer or pedophile. It seems to me that the song actually presents him as a sympathetic character. We're never told what he's on the run for -- which could be an indication that whatever it is, it's not that important. The song clearly switches narrators a few times, but the theme is clear: the people looking for Jack sound cold, calculating, and frightening ("Is that the trick of your disguise?", "YOUR PROSPECT OF LIVING GONE"). The fugitive (whom we assume to be Jack himself), seems almost defenseless. My guess is that between the whispered "7AM, morning" section and the next lines "YOUR PROSPECT OF LIVING GONE", "Jack" escapes from his pursuers (probably cops, since they refer to themselves as "authority") and is recaptured in the dramatic showdown on the highway that ends the song. Jack only becomes belligerent when he's being captured. Like a caged animal he fights back in rage, even though he knows that it will do no good -- he'll be captured or killed, a faceless victim of "justice". His outrage comes (I think) from a sense that he really is innocent, and he's being wrongly victimized by the police. I can imagine the cop's lyrics near the end actually being in response to Jack's plea of innocence: Jack tries to appeal to the cop's sympathy, and the cop responds coldly, reassuring himself that Jack is a criminal -- "nothing like me". | |
| Arcade Fire – No Cars Go Lyrics | 16 years ago |
| rockkiall/ryan has an interesting idea, but it doesn't hold up in the context of the album (Neon Bible, that is, I don't have the EP). The album as a whole is highly critical of religion, especially Christianity. On "Antichrist Television Blues", the narrator refers to himself as a "good Christian man" but seems bewildered as to why his religion doesn't help him find meaning in a cookie-cutter, corporate lifestyle. During "Intervention", the lyrics speak bitterly of someone "working for the church while [their] family dies". Someone else mentioned that the band said that the song was intended to be a teenagers description of a utopia. I would imagine (and perhaps it's just my own bias showing) that in this utopia the narrator would be free of religion, which he sees as just as demoralizing and inhibiting as the rest of the trappings of American culture (cars/ships/airplanes). | |
| Regina Spektor – Lady Lyrics | 16 years ago |
| I always thought the song was from the perspective of someone in the audience (I didn't know about the Billie Holiday connection). My interpretation was that the narrator was a poor person who happened to see a singer performing in a bar. They hear her sing about sadness and pain "as if she mean it", but they resent her because they're convinced that she's faking it. The narrator thinks of her own life (I figured the narrator's also a woman because she has a child) and knows that the singer will never know real pain, even though she puts on this tough, tragic act ("Lady lights a cigarette, puffs away, no regrets..."). | |
| Regina Spektor – Après Moi Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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I'm very impressed that you guys were able to dig up so much of the historical context for the poem and the phrase -- I had no idea where either of them came from. As to the meaning of the song, I'm pretty sure it's ambiguous deliberately. There are lots of good interpretations here, though. What I personally found intriguing was the linguistics of the lyrics. At first I assumed the narrator was speaking to another person in the opening lines ("You can't break that which isn't yours"). However, after hearing the line "I'm not my own, it's not my choice", I changed my mind. I agree that the chorus is a mantra, and so, I'm fairly certain she's actually talking to HERSELF. That is to say, she's not saying, "I don't belong to you, so you can't break me." but rather, "I don't belong to myself, so I can't break me". The narrator believes that she DOES actually belong to someone else, and so it would be wrong to "break" (give in). The "you" is herself, the line "You can't break that which isn't yours" is a command, like a rule remembered from childhood (e.g. "Thou shalt not steal."). Maybe I'm reading into it too much, but it just seems that Regina's command of English is amazing. |
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| Regina Spektor – Chemo Limo Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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Theory about the last line: When Regina sings "Oh my God, Barbara... she looks just like my mom...", anyone think she's worried that the cancer might be genetic? Like, I hear that and imagine that the narrator's mother also had cancer and the narrator is thinking that if the looks were passed down then maybe so could the cancer. |
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| Fountains of Wayne – California Sex Lawyer Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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It is a great song. It's what I use to convince my friends that FOW is more than "Stacy's Mom". As for the lyrics, this is the explanation from the Out Of State Plates album insert: Adam Schlesinger: Our attorney Josh Grier works at a big fancy law firm with a big fancy waiting room. One day, we were sitting there, waiting, and there was a magazine called California Lawyer on the coffee table facing us. Chris said, apropos of nothing, "California sex lawyer." Perhaps it was only because we were sitting in a quiet office, but at the time it seemed like the funniest thing in the world. Why it needed to be turned into a song, I'm still not sure. Chris Collingwood: Me neither, but I blame you. |
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| Five for Fighting – Freedom Never Cries Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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I think that Ondrasik is trying to be cynical in the first verse, but oddly enough, I agree with the narrator: A flag is nothing more than a piece of cloth. It's a symbol, and I don't have much use for symbols. A guitar, though, I have use for. Even a broken one -- you could fix it, and then use it to play a song. What's a flag good for? All you can do is stare at it. So the narrator's right (or at least, that's what I'd have done): "I got me that guitar/ What's a flag in a pawn shop to me?" |
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| Modest Mouse – Dashboard Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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I'm not sure why people think this song isn't "dark", just because it's more upbeat than some things from MM's earlier catalog. The way I see it, the singer is unrealistically trying to pull some good out of a situation that is frantic, chaotic, and sure to end very, very badly. Try to picture the song, extrapolating a little: You're going down an almost empty highway in an old car, broken windshield, accelerator stuck to the floor, the brakes don't work, there's smoke coming from the engine, you can't see the dashboard. The car's doing 90 and getting faster. The one thing that still works? The shitty ancient car radio, and there's some pop song blasting and you just try to focus on the music and scream along, pretending that you're not about to careen off the road. I can see it as a metaphor for a really fucked up situation/relationship that's ending badly in a hurry. Seems dark enough for me. |
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| MC Lars – If I Had a Time Machine, That Would Be Fresh Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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Can't believe no one has commented on this song yet... This is one of my favorite Lars songs: short, sweet, and really clever. By and large I don't like rap or hip-hop, but you just can't argue with a folk guitar rap song about a time machine. P.S. I'm going to see him in 1 week! I'm pumped! |
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| O.A.R. – Love and Memories Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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The person who said that the song was about the movie "Eternal Sunshine of The Spotless Mind" is correct. Here's the direct quote, Marc Roberge himself explaining the song: "When writing music I think it is important to take your headspace and relocate now and again. This song is done in character. Put yourself in the movie" Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" as you watch yourself rapidly being erased from someones memory. That is what this song is about. It is intended to be a first person account as this man watches the love of his life dwindle away in front of his eyes. Or is he dwindling away as she pleads with him to stay with her? " from: http://oarsa.org/features/viewsong.php?songID=143 (the O.A.R. setlist archive) |
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| Five for Fighting – Michael Jordan Lyrics | 17 years ago |
| I think this song is actually the opposite of "Superman". "Superman" is a song from the celebrity's point of view -- reminding you that they are just people (like everyone else). This song is from the point of view of an obsessive fan, who would sacrifice anything to BE that person. While the song is written to Michael Jordan, it's obvious it could be about anyone who is worshiped obsessively, including possibly the singer himself, or rock stars in general. I think the point here is to show how dangerous it is for us to define our celebrities as symbols. Jordan is the symbol of the ultimate success in your chosen field. We become less human when we worship other people as though they themselves were beyond. | |
| Counting Crows – A Murder Of One Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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I agree that the narrator is trying to get someone out of a relationship, though I don't think it's necissarily an abusive one. The lyrics seem deliberately ambiguous as to WHY she's unhappy with the person she's with right now, and it could be that she simply doesn't love him. Some parts of this song seem clear: "We can talk a while...." etc. is the singer trying to entice the girl out of her relationship. In the chorus, he tries to convince her that where she is now is somehow wrong and fake, and his appeals become more desparate as the song moves on. The chorus gets longer ("Flames, flames flames...") and then he begins to almost rant: "You don't wanna waste your life! Change! Change! Change!" He becomes very passionate. The song doesn't really explain whether she is swayed by his appeal. The other portion of the song that really fascinates me is the abstract imagery, especially in verse three and the bridge/coda section. I'm not really sure what the crows represent, though people here have had some good suggestions. It's interesting how she (in this dream) seems to be mapping all aspects of life to the individual birds, and the singer insists that there's one she's missed -- inside her. Perhaps he is suggesting that she is a fundamental part of everything around her, and reminding her of her ability to change it. During the bridge, he looks ahead, mentioning how he "will walk" "in the summer". Something about it seems to suggest optimism, but he talks as though he's walking alone -- 'I' instead of 'We'. It's possible that he is saying that while he'd like the girl, he'll go on either with or without her. Or maybe I'm totally off-base in analyzing the hell out of it. And yeah, CC rocks. |
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| Modest Mouse – Alone Down There Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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I always thought that the song was being sung by someone who had just died. A loved one has just learned of his death, probably by findingh the body (the flies gather around him AND the person he's singing to). He regrets his death (quite possibly by suicide), but now he's unable to change it. Now a spirit of some kind, he worries about the person he left behind being "alone down there" on Earth. For all his rage, he can't communicate with the person, despite being right there beside them. Just my two cents. |
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| Gym Class Heroes – New Friend Request Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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This is hilarious, Gym Class Heroes are now on my very short list of rap bands that don't suck. WOW. Favorite line: "On a scale of 1 to awesome, I'm the shit." ROFL. |
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| Cute Is What We Aim For – The Fourth Drink Instinct Lyrics | 17 years ago |
| So, I'm confused: everything except the chorus would imply that he takes advantage of her (and even admits he's taking advantage of her at the time, but she's too fucked up to notice) and then ditches her in the morning. But the chorus says he "COULDN'T find the door in the morning". So, does that mean that he was actually still there? Did he really stay for some reason. It sort of makes me think that he stayed and didn't mean to, and made the situation more complicated because now he has to explain himself to her. | |
| Cute Is What We Aim For – Risque Lyrics | 17 years ago |
| I thing screamo's exactly right -- that's certainly what the lyrics made me think of. The chorus establishes that he has this crush on her. Then we hit the verses, and you get, "and from what I hear, you're quite affordable": he knows that she's not only a whore, but a cheap whore. He tries to pretend she's actually his girlfriend by finding excuses to spend a lot of money on her when he hires her. He even tries to write her love letters (verse 2) and he takes her out to a club and dances with her (bridge, "I turn on a dime, spin me around... we'll even have a crowd"), but despite all this, he "can't get through", and she still just thinks of him as a client. Really, she's just racking up all of this money he's spending on her and she doesn't even have to pretend she's really interested in him, because he's so completely taken with her. | |
| Harvey Danger – War Buddies Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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It's eerie beyond belief. The sex metaphors at the beginning make you think it's going to turn out to be a sort of smartass love song, and then at the end it really begins to seem violent/disturbing... in the best possible way. Two moments that give me a HUGE emotional impact: "If you got guns, well, now's the time for sticking Resistance is already forming The second shot won't be a warning." and the whole outro, "when the tanks roll into Warsaw...." it's almost as if they're using war as a metaphor for love as a metaphor for war. Looping back on itself, lyrically. Great tune. By the way, a webcomic, Inhuman, set a short segment of their comic to the lyrics of War Buddies. You can see it here: http://inhuman-comic.com/warb1.php I think it's a really cool visual representation of the song... you guys like it? |
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| Harvey Danger – Wine, Women, and Song Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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So here's my take: The title is Wine, Women and Song, but it's really all about allowing other people to dictate your behavior and attitudes (most of the song focuses on Women). First Verse: The singer says that he thought "Wine, women and song" were "the key to happiness." Second part, we can see that really, this is all about relationships: He starts talking about "baggage", and saying he was "walking on eggshells", which is a metaphor used typically for an awkward situation with another person. He says that he hasn't "gotten any closer" to happiness. A good lead in to... Chorus 1: So he dates this poet, someone who's into the whole bohemian, artsy thing. This girl is trying to live a life of passion, caring more about her art and the things she loves to do than making ends meet. He realizes that this just isn't his scene and breaks up with her, deciding he's really more happy trying to work to succeed. His regret over the whole thing to me epitomizes what the song is about: "changing the cat box and baking the bread/ I should've been paying the bills instead/ Paid an homage to an image drawn from somebody else's head" The lifestyle he tried to live was someone else's ideal, not his own. The message is that whatever seems to be cool or hip won't necessarily make you happy. You shouldn't trust other people to tell you how to live. |
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| Secret Machines – First Wave Intact Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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I think DeBurgo's right -- It's at least supposed to allude to the "waves" of enemies in old video games. The first thing I thought of when I heard the title was the old galaga style games "Wave 1, Wave 2, etc..." instead of levels. The lyrics combined with the style of the music make me think of a futuristic war setting (something I hear in a lot of the other tracks on NHIN as well). Here's sort of how I see it: In the first verse, the soldiers are moving and talking on radios when they get ambushed. They kill the people ambushing them, but capture one for interrogation. The second verse is the interrogation. Someone asks these wierd questions in frustration, getting more and more oblique because the prisoner won't respond. Then in a sudden flash of understanding the interrogator asks, "when they're coming back." The prisoner finally says something, "First Wave Intact," knowing it's too late for them to escape, and more troops emerge to attack the soldiers. Many are killed and the bodies fall ("as leaves from modern trees"). The rest scatter, and the rest of the lyrics are the panicked thoughts of some of the soldiers as they run. Just my own crazy interpretation. |
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