| Brand New – Guernica Lyrics | 15 years ago |
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Don't really listen to the band as a whole, but this song is nice. (I listen to a lot of stuff like that... Love a song or two while not really caring about the rest. :P) Anyway, one of the interpretations I had about this song was someone dying. Glad to know that was right! But I also made up a little story about it recently (I do that a lot with songs), just for something to think about. In this interpretation, the lyrics actually come from two points of view. It's about two childhood friends, a more stable and "normal" one, and an extremely intelligent but spacey and unstable one. The verses come from the former, and the chorus comes from the latter. But the watch/batteries part is split. Obviously, it's the less stable one who feels like their batteries are running dry. And I always thought that the watch was a real object. Like the more normal friend is comparing themselves to a watch their friend never bothered to set because they were both always there, or something. The way I saw it, friend #2 has a breakdown of some kind every few years and calls friend #1. I'm thinking that he's (I'll just go with male pronouns, to make it easier) the only person from his youth that he's still in contact with, because everyone else went on to have really normal lives and sort of fall away from him. ("The best part of what has happened was the part I must have missed" made me think this. Like he feels like he missed some stage of development and can't get it together.) I imagine that he called his friend, spouted some short but rambling message, and hung up. Now he's sitting alone in the middle of the night waiting for a call back or for his friend to drive to his place to see if he's alright. But he's not a danger to himself, just confused and a little panicky. Friend #1's role is more complicated and involves more backstory. It seems like he sort of looked up to his friend and admired his intelligence, while at the same time pitying him a bit because it was obvious even early on that he wasn't all there. As time went on, what envy there was vanished, for obvious reasons. And the sympathy only increases as the rest of their group drifts away from friend #2. So he's the one who always has to get the calls in the middle of the night and deal with him when these things happen. Thus, he has to worry and take time out of his life for this person. ("Worry and wake the ones you love") Even though he know it isn't intentional, and no more fun for him that it is for anyone else, he feels that his friend is a troublemaker and is frankly exhausted by having to deal with him. But there's also an obvious sense of compassion, affection, and nostalgia. You can tell that he genuinely cares about his friend, thinks of their times together fondly, still respects his intelligence, and would do anything to make him ok. Even though it isn't really the case, he thinks his friend is going to do something stupid and rushes to go see him. I think the song does cover them finally meeting up. There's a little break in the song that makes me imagine the story flashing forward a few hours. By this time, friend #1 has arrived, and friend #2 has finally calmed down, probably after the two of them struggle for a while to get to that point. At this part, I imagine that the lights are off, #2 is lying quietly on the floor, and #1 is sitting behind him, talking in a soft voice, telling stories about their childhood that both of them already remember, saying anything he thinks will make his friend feel better, etc. I think "Does anybody remember back when you were very young? Did you ever think that you would be this blessed?" is a little snippet of this. The phrasing and tone of voice really smack of someone nervously, but gently and sincerely, trying to talk someone down from something. Like #2 isn't responding to anything, so #1 is just rambling on to him to keep both of them calm. I think the meaning in this case would be something like "Hey, remember when we were little? Man, you were messed up back then. But you turned out great. I know you'll be just fine." It doesn't really have a defined ending. It just stops with the two of them in the dark room together, like it probably has many times before. ...You know, I just realized that they could just as easily be brothers. But I always imagined them as friends who ended up with a similar kind of closeness to what brothers would have, if that makes sense. (Does anyone else make up long stories to go with songs? Because I do that all the time. There are some songs where picking something to listen to is more like choosing a movie to pop in to my head.) |
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| Finch – Daylight Lyrics | 15 years ago |
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They're great lyrics, very pretty and interesting, but I don't think there's any deep, hidden meaning behind them. It just seems like images to me. Anyway, the imagery of the song combined with the intense and energetic, yet vaguely melancholy feel to it makes me think of a duel with high stakes, like the final battle with the main enemy at the end of a movie/book/show/game whatever. I like imagining it to be about a hero (or more like an anti-hero type, but the main character all the same), who has to live in the dark because his enemies somehow cursed him so sunlight would hurt him for the rest of his life. Near the end of the story, he's standing on a hill in the middle of some kind of reddish-brown wasteland at dusk, and when just a little bit of sun is left on the horizon, he removed his cloak and a cloth that was covering his head and eyes. Then he looks over the land, and sees his enemy standing on a hill in the near distance. And I guess that's when the battle will begin. (But I kind of like the idea of the story ending there, it's interesting and open-ended.) If it did have a proper ending the hero would win (barely, plus I keep imagining that he was already injured when the scene began), but the curse would never be lifted, and he would live the rest of his days wandering under cover of darkness. (...What's that? I have an overactive imagination? Well, you'd be right, then!) |
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| The Smashing Pumpkins – Tonight, Tonight Lyrics | 15 years ago |
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I think it's about not blunting your edges, not becoming complacent, and not ever thinking you're stuck doing what you're doing at any point in life. You don't have to be like other people, you don't have to settle down and mellow out as you get older, and in fact, you should strive for the opposite effect. Live hard, stay fluid, and realize that "growing up" isn't something that ends during a single human lifetime. Live by those rules, and your life will be fulfilling down to the very last second. (Also, the part about the city by the lake always reminded me of when I saw my best friend's old hometown for the first time. Sure, he wasn't born there, but I always feel something there that I don't feel anywhere else.) |
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| The Smashing Pumpkins – Geek U.S.A. Lyrics | 15 years ago |
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Am I crazy, or does this remind anyone else of a really close online relationship? The idea of two people being "siamese twins at the wrist" seems to fit in really well. Two people who've never even met face to face pouring everything out to each other over thousands of miles via a constant stream of communication and connectedness through the hands. The first part of the song is them imagining finally meeting and forgetting the world together and being happy. The second part deals with them losing societal approval because they're considered strange for choosing a reclusive life communicating electronically with each other. But it doesn't matter to them, because it's all they need. I don't know if they do meet in the physical world in the end, but it does suggest that their story ends happily. "We really love the USA." Sort of embracing everything within the space that separates them as their common ground, because they sent messages over it to one another for so long. |
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| The Smashing Pumpkins – Today Lyrics | 15 years ago |
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I think it's about living every day with the awareness that you could die at any time. Which is something that everybody "knows" on an intellectual level, but most of us have defense mechanisms in our minds that don't let it fully sink in. Because it would be a terrible burden to be fully aware of that, wouldn't it? Not entirely. When you know that, at any moment, you could be dead, it makes you grateful that for now, you aren't. In this moment, you are a living, breathing human being. The past doesn't exist anymore, and the future is just an idea, and one that could be ripped away from you in a second at that. Right now is all you have, and the only thing you can count on, thus, every day that you can open your eyes and take a breath is the "greatest day," no matter what is happening to you. It's the only day you really have, after all, and it would be a shame to waste it. Note the line at the end: "that I have ever REALLY known." Finally realizing the true value of another day of life. It sounds like the speaker in this song spent a lot of their life hesitating. Until they were a better person, until their life was better, until they were "sure" about everything... Always worrying and never satisfied. But that isn't any way to live, is it? No matter how flawed you or your life is, your time to be happy is NOW. Because you might not get another chance. I don't think it's really a "cheerful" song or a "dark" song. I think it has a bittersweet sense of urgency, with all the happiness, fear, and sadness that go along with it. Sure, you might not get another tomorrow. But you have today. |
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| The Smashing Pumpkins – Muzzle Lyrics | 15 years ago |
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It starts with the person worrying that they're an unremarkable person. But then they think of all that's happened in their lives, good and bad, and realize that they're one in a million. As opposed to just wanting your life to have been "happy," the ideal is to have had all kinds of intense feelings and experiences, both good and bad, because that's the only way to feel fulfilled when it's all said and done. How it's not right to just "get over" anything, because a person who has truly lived will leave this world both damaged and enriched. Really an honest portrayal of life. It's messy and beautiful. There are things you'll love about living in the world and things you'll absolutely hate. But it's all about just diving in and growing and learning. I think that "the emptiness of youth" refers to this idea. It's not about the typical "being a teenager and feeling bad" cliche shit, it's about being young and relatively untouched by the world, and how life slowly fills you up and affects your personality. I've kind of claimed this as "my" song. It makes me think of how colorful these first 20 years of my life have been (even though I'm still so young!), and how, even though it's been unbearably hard at times, I'm still glad that I got to see and live in this beautiful world. I've always been intense, and it's a double-edged sword. But I'm glad I got to live life as that kind of person. |
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| The Smashing Pumpkins – Jellybelly Lyrics | 15 years ago |
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I think it's about being disgusted with the people around you/humans in general. Maybe with a particular focus on people who always say they're bored but never seem to want to step out of the confines of their narrow lives. It's kind of evident here: there's nothing left to do there's nothing left to feel doesn't matter what you want, so to make yourself feel better you make it so you'll never give in to your forevers People who never step off track because they're afraid of what might happen, even when they're unsatisfied or even flat-out miserable in their current lives. It sounds like the narrator of the song is tired of living in a society that perpetuates its own misery by encouraging a one-size-fits-all life. Kind of a cross between feeling cramped and marginalized and disgusted at the kind of people who keep it going even though they'd rather things be different. |
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| The Smashing Pumpkins – Disarm Lyrics | 15 years ago |
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I always thought it was about a someone who's significantly above average intelligence and/or an "old soul" and how they reflect back on their lives. Even though they weren't like the other kids and couldn't relate to them well, it's still only possible to age upwards, and even though they were lonely and having thoughts they couldn't deal with emotionally yet, and it wasn't the "carefree childhood" people think of, it was still the closest thing to innocence they've ever known. And even though society always tells you to "grow up" and "put away childish things," it's still turning away (or rather "cutting" yourself off from) from a time in your life that made you who you are. In the end, it's about how living as a "loner" isn't a good or a bad thing, it just IS. You get the impression that, upon growing up, this person realized that, even though they spent their youth longing to be enfolded in the world of "normal" people, it turned out to be nothing they really wanted anyway. Anyway, nothing in this song ever really suggested mistreatment or being forced to grow up too fast by any outside source. To me, it just seems to be about a smart, lonely kid who grows up to be a somewhat damaged but decent person. There's also an alternate interpretation, about how pretty much everyone seems pretty fucked-up and unloveable on some level or another, but we all used to be kids once, and how that played out determined the kind of adult we'd become, so there are no bad people, just people, and we all have a story. |
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| Bush – Little Things Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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Has anyone else noticed that "Dead Meat" relates back to this song? Because in this song, it says "I kill you once, I kill you again." In Dead Meat, there's a line that goes "I've killed you twice, I will again." I don't know if it was intentional, but it makes it kind of interesting. I was sort of stunned when I noticed it. I wouldn't think anything of it if they had just used a similar line in two different songs, but this actually goes from "once" to "twice." It makes me wonder if the two songs have some kind of meaning that relates to each other. |
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| Red Hot Chili Peppers – Soul to Squeeze Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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I get this sense that it's at least partly about having trouble expressing yourself. Along with that, I think it's about wanting to save people from the world and themselves, but first you have to save yourself, and how does a person go about doing that? It seems more bittersweet than exactly sad. Like you get a feeling of both contentment and bewilderment from it. It seems fitting for a happy but damaged person taking life as it comes to them. Bliss in hard times, I guess. |
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| Bush – Jesus Online Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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I really like the internet addiction interpretation of this song. It makes me think of this person who's trying and failing to keep a stranglehold on functionality. Hiding behind this illusion of stability and happiness all day, when in reality the only time when they feel alright is when they're alone at their computer, talking to people all over the world and feeling like this is the only place where they can be seen as a good person. A lot of the lines seem to speak of the role technology would have for this person. "Jesus online" is how they see it as a sort of savior for them. "Computer, car, and girl" -In addition to just being a useful machine like it would be for anyone else, their computer is a way to see the outside world and a source of companionship (both through talking to people online and by interacting with the machine itself). Sort of speaking from experience here. :P I'm not as far gone as the person in the song is, but I know that feeling well. I'm very shy in the "real world," but I have a conflicting desire to be part of the world. The internet is my way of reconciling that. The song sort of captures the numbing feeling of those long hours online in the darkest hours of night. |
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| Bush – Letting The Cables Sleep Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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This song gives me a mental image of someone sitting on a desk chair, alone in a room with a bunch of computers and electronic stuff, but everything is unplugged, and the room is really dim. Anyway, I think the actual lyrics are about how you can't spend your whole life being scared of the fact that you're going to die someday, because that's a waste of the very life you're afraid of losing. "If heaven is on the way, we'll wrap the world around it" -yes, we all die, and there's nothing we can do about it. But let's not focus about that and think about now instead. |
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| Bush – Dead Meat Lyrics | 16 years ago |
| It makes me think of a scientist who creates multiple prototypes for some sort of artificial human, and keeps killing them when they "fail" in some way. | |
| Bush – Altered States Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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I think "altered states" is a complex worplay, of sorts. When you hear that phrase, you think of a hallucinatory experience. But aside from a mindset, what else does the word "state" mean? It can mean the condition of anything. Or it can mean actual states, as in places. So this song makes me think of someone driving around to places they went to in their childhood/youth, and seeing how nothing there is the same. Thus, the state of things in the states they've visited has been altered. :P And seeing that sort of thing gives you that unreal feeling that feels like you're in an altered state. |
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| Bush – Prizefighter Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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I think it's about someone who tried to live by the book and realized how unnatural it was for them, so they decided to live on their own terms and go with their instincts, because life isn't going to last forever and you better do what you want while you can. Naturally, people tend to frown on this sort of thing. So this person tries to show them the way and they refuse. So they realize that they're just wasting their time trying to open their minds, and it's their loss. But it's too bad, because there's so much learning and doing and seeing to be done out there. Sure, "living off the rails" is harder, but you have to fight your way through it, and if you can do that, you're going to be an amazing person. |
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| Bush – Warm Machine Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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I always thought of a space shuttle landing when I heard this song, because objects that come through the atmosphere get heated up. Hence, "warm machine." In fact, I like the thought of this being about astronauts coming back to Earth after a successful mission and stepping out of the shuttle and greeting their loved ones. "This is the life, this is the ground." Almost forgetting what something is like until you're back, and noticing all over again how wonderful everything is. There also seems to be a robotics/transhumanism dimension to it. Like we're on our way to making machines that think and feel like us, so we better be prepared for the way we see and define things to be turned on its head. |
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| Bush – Machinehead Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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This is another one of their songs with a whole bunch of grim, futuristic imagery thrown in. I can see imagining it as some kind of prequil to "40 Miles from the Sun." I think the environment was rendered unlivable after a nuclear war ("green to red"). In fact, there's a lot of war imagery in this song, you just have to know where to look (blood is "flowing like wine," "rise against the years and years and years," etc.). I think this song is supposed to be about technology and miserable living conditions in the future. |
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| Bush – Alien Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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I think it's about two people who don't really have any attachments aside from each other. There's also something about it that reminds me of that first night in a hotel room/other place with a different bed, and you can't sleep because the ticking of the clock, feel of the bed, and light coming in the window are different from the ones at home and you're having trouble getting used to them. It captures that feeling of homesickness... Maybe like an alien would feel? :P |
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| Bush – 40 Miles From The Sun Lyrics | 16 years ago |
| Also: I just realized that the "pets we never named" could be animals taken in by the people in the song who died before they could be named because they were sick or injured from radiation. Eventually. they stop running in to any other living things and stop trying to do anything because the world is irreparably wrecked, and that proves it. | |
| Arcade Fire – Neighborhood #2 (Laika) Lyrics | 16 years ago |
| Wow, Aelad, you said exactly what I thought, only better. Kudos. | |
| The Smashing Pumpkins – Here Is No Why Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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A lot of it seems to be about finding freedom. Like doing things other people will frown upon and not caring because you're following your heart. And how you wish other people would do the same thing, and mourning the fact that you can't do anything to change them and break them out of the rut they're in now because they thought they had no choice. Also, in a way, it seems to be about moving on. Not getting over things, but moving past them. Things from your past will still hurt, no matter what people tell you about "letting go," but you can still go on living and live happily anyway. Reality doesn't have happy endings or even resolutions most of the time, and we're all destined to become damaged goods, if not sooner then later. That's a given. What matters is, knowing that, what will you do? |
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| Bush – 40 Miles From The Sun Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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I'm glad that some other people thought this song could be about the world ending. Usually, when I read something like that in to a song, I'm alone in it. I don't think this song relates to just the aftermath of a disaster, I think it's about a situation where things will never go back to zero. I always imagined the last two people in the world just lying together and waiting to die, maybe after trying everything they could to save other people. It seems like they're just worn out and kind of lying there accepting their fate. I also like to take the title literally, sometimes, and think of an abandoned space shuttle or something about to drift in to the sun. I don't really, know, though. I can see a lot of different stories in it. That's what's great about it. |
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| Chevelle – One Lonely Visitor Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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Even though it has nothing to do with the lyrics, I keep imagining some failed space mission when I hear this song. (Probably because I'm going to be writing a story about one, and the mood is kind of similar to this song.) Have any of you thought that the "sister" in the song could be the girl's, and not the narrator's? Because I always imagined that the girl snapped and wandered off and her boyfriend and sister went to bring her back. |
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| Straylight Run – Another Word For Desperate Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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"Too very long" actually is a valid phrase. It's just more common in older writing. I remember reading it in some book from the 1900's once. Anyway... Am I the only one who notices what a violent song this is? It's veiled, but there's a really visceral feel to it. Of course, that's a big part of why I love it. I actually think the whole song, aside from the first part, is a flashback. It actually sounds like the narrator dies during the first part of the song. It's pretty obvious that he's having trouble breathing. Anyway, for the main part of the song, it sounds like it's about the two characters fighting against something, but it's left to the imagination what exactly it is. And it sounds like the narrator got exposed to something during the time they were fighting and is dealing with some sort of infection or toxin. He's still trying to keep afloat, even though he now has to take some sort of medication to hopefully prolong his life. And from the sound of it, "prolonging" is all it can do, because it's obvious that he knows he's doomed. ("I won't be around here for too very long.") It sounds like his friend is telling him to keep taking his medicine and not to push himself too hard, because he needs to try and maintain the stamina to fight and survive. I think it snaps back to the present in the last part of the song. I think "why did I care? How did it go?" was what he was thinking to himself as he was dying, and it was about his life, like he dies with no feeling of hope whatsoever, and then realls asks himself what he thought of life. Then it goes in to repeating that "I won't be around..." line. I guess he's accepting what's happening to him. I dunno... The only way I could ever see this song was as some sort of dark, hopeless sci-fi epic. (Once again, that's why I like it!) |
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| Straylight Run – Existentialism on Prom Night Lyrics | 16 years ago |
| I think it's about finding your happiness and looking towards the future. | |
| Tool – Lateralus Lyrics | 16 years ago |
| It's about wanting to learn and to be fearless. Just a pretty way to convey a really simple meaning. | |
| Arcade Fire – Neighborhood #2 (Laika) Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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Also, is it me, or does it seem like the younger siblings are actually being supportive of him? I always saw the "Alex" character as a much-older sibling who didn't fit in with the rest of the family, let alone the world, and gets discouraged. But his younger siblings love him and want him to keep on being himself, even though everyone else thinks he's weird/nuts. Maybe it's just me being weird, but I think the thing that's "for his own good" is toughing it out and not getting beaten down by people, which will make him a better person in the end. And you also get a sense that maybe it's this kid's odd ways that keep the neighborhood together. |
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| Arcade Fire – Neighborhood #2 (Laika) Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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I don't think it's about a kid who makes trouble, I just think it's about a kid who wanders off. It makes me imagine this sort of spaced-out kid who's always taking off on these long, weird adventures on foot and not returning until late at night. I think the part about the police lights probably refers to him being brought home by the cops who found him wandering around in the wee hours. And it doesn't seem like anyone can get through to him and he just keeps it up. Eventually, he becomes the sibling who the rest of the family thinks is missing a few screws. So the kid narrating the song eventually tells him that their mom might as well have named him Laika, because he keeps drifting away from the rest of the world and no one can stop it. |
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| Garbage – So Like A Rose Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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I always thought it was about a family with a child (of any age, from small to young adult) who was sick, and no one could figure out what it was, so the mom was crying because she was worried and the dad had to pick up a lot of hours at work to pay for medical expenses. And the kid is worried that it's all in their head because no one can find what's wrong, but they still feel bad and worry that they're going to die before they can be cured. I think it's about being chronically sick and feeling guilty because everyone is worried and has to pay for it. |
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| Bush – Glycerine Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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I've always thought it was about the passage of time and how it changes things. When you think about it, there are a lot of opposite lines placed next to each other in this song (I'm never alone/I'm alone all the time, now you're here/now you're away, etc.). I think the narrator of the song wants time to stop so they can slow down and feel that the world is dependable for once. But there's also a sense that it's going to be ok, because if generations of people have gone through life, then you can do it too. I think I actually know how the chemical glycerine might fit in. Glycerine itself absorbs water from the surrounding environment, and it can be made in to nitroglycerin, which is used in both explosives and heart medication. So we have something that absorbs, combusts, and fixes the heart. Or something with different effects. Or something that can either heal or destroy. I think it ends on a sort of sad note, where in the end, the person loses the abiltiy to connect with others and lives for their nostagia and old memories ("I could not kiss, just regress), and they know that they need people more than ever to bring them out of it, but they accept that, in the end, their inability to cope with time/change/aging will overtake them and destroy them. (Which is sort of scary for me, because I sometimes feel like that could happen to me, since I'm afraid of change and the passage of time and tend to brand certain periods of my life as my Halcyon days while feeling like the present just gets more and more confusing and unpleasant.) |
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| The Killers – Tranquilize Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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I really like the mood of this song, for one thing. It's just so... Dramatic. You sort of get a sense of abandonment from the imagery and atmosphere of it. It's a very cryptic song, so it's hard to get a meaning out of it, but after listening to it and looking over the lyrics, I sort of have an idea. I think it might be about how the human race has the power to either save or destroy itself. Especially the verse right after the childrens' chorus. The mention of acid rain might be about us facing up to the fact that we're starting to erode and ruin our environment. There seems to be a general theme of realizing our duel nature in that verse (seeing humanity as both Cain and Abel, and thus as the potential destroyer of itself). "A hurried high from pestilence, pills, and pride" is the state of the world now- we're starting to see stronger germs because we artificially selected for them, we're profoundly overmedicated for every unpleasant feeling, and we tend towards arrogance. As an earlier commenter said, I think the "bushes" in this song might refer to the burning bush. I think our knowledge of the world is "the bushes and the bombs," because we can either be guided by it or destroyed by it. I think it's about mourning for what we failed to become ("it's a shame, we could have gone sailng"), fear for what we're becoming, and hope for what it still isn't too late for us to become. |
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| Garbage – Medication Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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What kmk up there said is really cool, because I always imagined this song to be in a medical context, not some kind of overdramatic "I has speshul disorder!" thing. Anyway, it makes me imagine someone alone in a quiet hospital waiting for someone to come but it seems like they never will. It really recalls how you feel when you have a fever and aren't quite percieving things normally. |
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| Garbage – Happy Home Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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I like this song a lot. For some reason, it brings back familiar feelings for me, but I can't figure out why. Anyway, I don't think the lyrics are supposed to be ironic. I think the narrator is completely sincere about how she feels, but there's still a sad element to it. I think it's about a person who had to go through hell in back to end up with a wonderful and contented life and is still having trouble letting her guard down, for fear of it all being taken from her, even though her struggles are over. Anyway, the people who said it's coming from the perspective of a dead or dying person bring up some interesting ideas, and I have two ways of seeing that interpretation: The first is the soul a person who died several months/years ago going back to their childhood home and looking around while they remember growing up there. Some of the lines make me think that they regret not being able to cry no matter how much they miss living, and others make me think that they feel bad for leaving people to grieve, even though their death was beyond their control (I'm not imagining a self-inflicted death, more like a sudden illness or freak accident). The second idea is just someone who's been clinging to life for a long time finally just letting go and dying. Or someone injured in a battle just giving up. I like the first version of this conecept better, because it just seems to fit with someone dying of a terminal illness of some kind. |
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| 30 Seconds to Mars – End of the Beginning Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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I always saw it as a story, like most of their songs. They work on their own, but sometimes, it seems like the album has an overarching story to it. Especially since so many of the songs borrow lines from each other. I actually agree with Hackstar on this as well. I always thought it was about someone trying to uncover something. That really fits in with the "plot" of their songs. If not part of the same story, I always imagined their songs as taking place in the same fictional universe. I always imagined a world that had advanced space travel but wasn't very futuristic otherwise, and full of secret societies, corruption, desperate people, conspiracies, hidden/lost technology... Just a very dark, esoteric, violent world. (Pretty much what you said, Unsound!) My favorite part is when he repeats "another time, another place." The mood of a short story I intend to write was actually somewhat inspired by the emotion in that line. (And the plot flashed before my eyes in a half-dream I had while waking up from a nap in a planetarium...) |
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| 30 Seconds to Mars – Welcome to the Universe Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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It's about mankind making its first ventures in to space. Even though it seems like we've been at it for a while, space travel and astronomy with instruments that aren't Earth-based are still in their early stages. When we study deep space, we have no idea what could be out there, because we've only scratched the surface. Thus, the observers have to pick through every single thing, because something previously unknown could go undiscovered just because they didn't know to keep an eye out for it. Thus, people who study space are "in constant search for everything." (And that is my favorite line in the song!) The point is that we need to get used to the idea that we are no longer truly "Earthlings." Now that we've taken the plunge, the events that will let us go, or even live, anywhere, have been set in to motion. With these first steps in to space, we have claimed our place as citizens of the universe as a whole. This is probably my favorite 30 Seconds to Mars song. The sound and atmosphere are great, the imagery is stunning, and, being a space nerd ever since I learned to read at age three, the meaning I see in it really enthralls me. |
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| 30 Seconds to Mars – Oblivion Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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This is one of their sadder-seeming songs. At least it seems that way to me. Something about the way it's sung gives it a really nostalgic and slightly tragic mood. I tend to see most 30 Seconds to Mars songs as short fiction in song form (which is really, REALLY creative and just awesome), so I take this song mostly literally. It's a sci-fi story, albiet a cryptic one. But listening to it again, really thinking about it, I found another meaning in it. I think it's about someone daydreaming about an apocalyptic event, and imagining if it happened right then ("under the burning sun, I take a look around, imagine if this all came down"). Now, thinking about that would probably scare most people, but the narrator of the song actually, in a deep, dark, visceral part of the mind, secretly looks forward to it, if and when it happens ("I'm waiting for the day to come"). Just look at the tone, especially in the middle part of the song. Doesn't it make it seem like it would be almost exciting for humankind to be taken down a few notches and return to fighting and running for our lives every day? S/he probably notices that, in society as it exists now, people tend to be subtly combative with one another, and show little care for others. But imagine what would happen if we had to help each other search for food and water, or protect our group from others? We would probably feel a lot more solidarity ("unity divides, division will unite"). Given that meaning, it's a very interesting song. I know I'm one of the people who sometimes think it would be a huge load off if a drastic change in the world would pull me out of my mundane life and launch me in to a fight for survival. |
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| 30 Seconds to Mars – Occam's Razor Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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Neat song. I don't think it's exactly anti-religion, but I guess a lot of heavily religious people do what they song is truly refering to. A few things need to be taken in to consideration together. As some of you noticed, it was named after the idea of making few assumptions when trying to find what is or isn't correct. And a lot of the lyrics seem to be calling someone out on being blind to what's around them, not to mention themselves. This is really about people who assume they are in the right, without sin, justified in their actions, etc. if you're willing to say that of yourself, you need to truly look at your own actions. Basically, at heart, we're all pretty twisted, but that doesn't mean we're bad, just that we're normal. Also, keep in mind that a lot of their songs are like little self-contained stories, so I usually like to see this one as one of those. |
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| Garbage – Androgyny Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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I think it's about how people put way too much meaning on gender. Male or female, you should do what you want, be what you want, and love who you want. Love people for who they are inside, and don't shut yourself off from falling in love because you assume you prefer one gender ("don't let a soulmate pass you by"). We should all be open to love and be loved by people of both genders. (Heh, this coming from an asexual... But even though I don't have a sex drive, I tend to pretty much ignore gender when someone's aura pulls me in. The personality is the fun part! :D) |
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| Garbage – Only Happy When It Rains Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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I like this song. It's funny and has neat imagery in it. It think it's about laughing at others' expence, and then taking it a step forward and being amused when bad things happen to you, too. It basically describes the type of person who uses humor to cope with things they couldn't handle otherwise. |
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| Garbage – When I Grow Up Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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I think it's about how some people think in their 20's and late teens, like they're still kids and aren't sure when exactly this "adulthood" people speak of is actually supposed to happen. (Take it from me, because I for one know that I feel like I'm a child in a 19 year old body.) These people, who are insecure, ditzy, bad-tempered, awkward, or otherwise maladjusted in some way may feel like they're lost causes, but they know that when they finally mature and get their act together, they'll be great! I mean, just think of all the amazing people who were space cases when they were younger, and the legacy many of them left behind. Also, "watch my temper, I'll go mental, I'll try to be gentle..." makes me think of a certain character type, known as a "tsundere." It's a term that mostly relates to Japanese works and refers to an agressive girl who actually has a loving heart. |
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| Garbage – Bleed Like Me Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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I like the tune of the song, and I think "try to comprehend that which you'll never comprehend" has a really nice sound to it. But I find the lyrics as a whole really offputting. Not much imagery and very little left to the imagination, which makes the listening experience too passive for my tastes (I like songs that let me interpret them for myself or give me neat daydreams). And the people's names get on my nerves. I dunno. The characters seem cliched and forced to me. :/ |
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| Garbage – Metal Heart Lyrics | 16 years ago |
| It's about wanting to be brave. And how people make the world out to be more benign than it really is. | |
| The Smashing Pumpkins – Doomsday Clock Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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It think the meaning of the song is supposed to be literal. It's about a group of people surviving after a massive global disaster. The narrator of the song is trying to appreciate the time they have, since they don't know how long or short that will be ("I love life every day, in each and every way"). Thus, they have a "doomsday clock" in their heart, which counts the moments that they manage to survive. Even if living is dangerous, the narrator thinks that people who are too scared to keep on living should be ashamed of themselves, and that if everyone gives up and stops living, they'll be all alone and lose their will to press on as well. For some reason, it makes me think of chaos and destruction brought on by chemical weapons in particular. Maybe because they were putting on gasmasks. |
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| The Smashing Pumpkins – Doomsday Clock Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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It think the meaning of the song is supposed to be literal. It's about a group of people surviving after a massive global disaster. The narrator of the song is trying to appreciate the time they have, since they don't know how long or short that will be ("I love life every day, in each and every way"). Thus, they have a "doomsday clock" in their heart, which counts the moments that they manage to survive. Even if living is dangerous, the narrator thinks that people who are too scared to keep on living should be ashamed of themselves, and that if everyone gives up and stops living, they'll be all alone and lose their will to press on as well. For some reason, it makes me think of chaos and destruction brought on by chemical weapons in particular. Maybe because they were putting on gasmasks. |
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| Joanna Newsom – Only Skin Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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Also, I think this song might be about a mother remembering her younger days, from childhood to meeting the father of her child. Some of the lines of the song have the tone of a child watching the world, some have the tone of a teenage girl or young adult speaking to or about her lover, and some have the tone of a mother thinking fondly of her child, especially since the narrator refers to a son throughout the song. She remembers her life and how it lead up to her having a child, and thinks, as mothers tend to do, that even just being with him and cutting his hair out on the porch makes her "the happiest woman among all women." I always smile at that part of the song, because it reminds me of something my own mom would say. Also, I think it might take place in an alternate world, where some places have a lot more technology than most. Since most of the song has nature-centric imagery and engines are seen as a "plague." And there seems to be destroyed or barely functional cites around, so it just seems different than our world. It would be a nice setting for a movie or novel. In fact, I want to write a short story inspired by the setting of the song. |
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| Finch – Awake Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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It's about learning the hard way about knowing who you are and what you want in life. Going through something hard, or just realizing you've been acting blind and stupid, and coming out on the other side with more vitality and determination than you had before. I can relate to that, because I went through a period last year where I acted very out of character to please others and gain a false feeling of success. Now that I'm out of that, I appreciate my personal strength and they joy of living as I wish more than ever. |
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| Finch – Worms Of The Earth Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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I think it's about how cut-throat our society can be and how that makes it so gentler people get chewed up and spat out ("another lonely pacifist dying in the sun"). I really like the last verse in that context. It basically says that people who are still young have to be careful about acting the way society expects them to, because they might lose positive childlike qualities along the way and become hollow and vicious, which, sadly, are qualities society rewards, even if most people don't admit or even realize it. I think "Absence of heart makes a boy, a man, a monster" sums it up well. What people think of as "adult" qualities can also be what corrupts a person. You know, there seems to be a theme in Finch's work about rejecting conventional ideas of maturity and choosing between fitting in with society and feeling alive. It's easy to see in "Miro," especially ("frame by frame, we begin to change, skeletons and robot brains"). |
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| Finch – Reduced To Teeth Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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I think it might be about medical testing on humans going terribly wrong. Either way, I like the images this song puts in my head. It gives me visuals of a pretty night sky, dark hospital scenes, abandoned laboratories, and random bloodstains. I think "a starry night, a vengeful wish" is my favorite line. |
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| Finch – Fireflies Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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This song has a really epic feel to it, which I just love! It makes me imagine someone taking a secret journey under cover of night. And sometimes vampires. Or astronauts. ...None of those things fit together at all. XD Anyway, I think this song is the kind that isn't really about anything in particular and focuses more on putting striking images into the listener's head. I like that it leaves it up to the listener to make associations. And I personally think the imagery in this song is spectacular. |
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| Air – Biological Lyrics | 16 years ago |
| I think it's like saying "I love every molecule of DNA in your body." Which is really very sweet. | |
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