submissions

Josh Ritter – Mind's Eye Lyrics	16 years ago
i'm not sure because i can't find the lyrics sheet, but i think it's "i'm putting up with you lightweights." but yeah, this song is probably josh ritter's most badass song yet, i love it.

submissions

Josh Ritter – Rumors Lyrics	16 years ago
interesting fact, twinextralong--josh ritter doesn't play the piano. but he decided to write a lot of the songs on the new album on the piano instead of on the guitar because, he said, if you don't know the rules of an instrument you're not limited by them. so, he very well could be just pounding on the piano with his fists in this song (and probably at the beginning of 'long distance call' too)

submissions

Josh Ritter – To the Dogs or Whoever Lyrics

16 years ago

i think it's all about people who follow their inner voices, even if it makes them do monumental things that seem more than a little crazy--joan of arc, florence nightingale, calamity jane, george washington (or bush?), casey at the bat. that's why the chorus is "in the dark/ i thought i heard somebody call"--it's about hearing a call to arms and following that voice either to success, or failure. it's about taking a risk.

submissions

Josh Ritter – Monster Ballads Lyrics

16 years ago

some things i was thinking about this song: 1. "i was thinking about my river days, i was thinking about me and jim" probably a reference to huck finn, which fits right into the journey motif. 2. "ones and zeroes" the two numbers of binary code, which make up computer programming. could be josh is saying that to him the music on the radio has become reduced to some static formula that makes him empty more than moves him like music is supposed to. 3. "i was thinking about what katy done, i was thinking about what katy did" i bet just a cute reference to the bugs called katydids. he probably couldn't resist after writing "what katy done." 4. this song, as well as many others on the cd, has a ton of references to Egypt. i don't know why, just bringing it up. this song is so lovely.

submissions

Josh Ritter – Lillian, Egypt Lyrics

16 years ago

Lillian Gish was one of the most famous silent movie actresses of all time. For instance, she was in Birth of a Nation and was rumored to be having an affair with the legendary D.W. Griffith. The details of the song don't match her life-- she was born in Ohio, not Illinois, and her father abandoned the family. So it's more likely that Josh uses her as a silent movie actress as a symbol for a woman who pretends to love him but is really just "mouthing the words." I love this song, especially the piano solo in the middle.

submissions

Bishop Allen – Rain Lyrics	16 years ago
this song is genius. it's so catchy, upbeat and melodic, you can't help singing along, although all the verses are so depressing lyrics-wise, teh chorus is irrepressibly hopeful and sweet. i especially like the image of drowning but hanging onto your guitar and paddling as a flotation device.

submissions

The Hold Steady – Hot Soft Light Lyrics

17 years ago

i think this is one of, if not the best song on the album. it starts out as told by a guy being interrogated by the police for a robbery that he denies being involved in, but he plainly was (he knows where it took place then hurries to say "i didn't even know that's where it happened"). probably to get drug money. then he recounts how he started using drugs for fun but it became a necessity, like medicine. i loooooove the line "it started hot and soft and then it tightened up its tentacles." that's brilliant.

submissions

Wilco – Poor Places Lyrics

17 years ago

I always thought this song might be about a soldier who had just returned from a war in a "poor place"--some third world country where it's very hot and wartorn. The soldier is suffering from some kind of post-traumatic stress disorder. Even though he tries to re-embrace life in America, like pop-culture and family ("the singer you love so much") and people are trying to help him get through it, like the person who ties one of those yellow ribbons around a tree in his backyard, he still feels really isolated and alone. That's where what mark36 said about the radio comes in.

submissions

Wilco – Poor Places Lyrics

17 years ago

I always thought this song might be about a soldier who had just returned from a war in a "poor place"--some third world country where it's very hot and wartorn. The soldier is suffering from some kind of post-traumatic stress disorder. Even though he tries to re-embrace life in America, like pop-culture and family ("the singer you love so much") and people are trying to help him get through it, like the person who ties one of those yellow ribbons around a tree in his backyard, he still feels really isolated and alone. That's where what mark36 said about the radio comes in.

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