| Regina Spektor – Chemo Limo Lyrics | 14 years ago |
| Well, here it says "Im-a gonna go out in style" but I always thought it was "Mama gonna go out in style", so that's why I assumed. | |
| Beck – Farewell Ride Lyrics | 14 years ago |
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A reworking of/response to "See That My Grave Is Kept Clean" by Blind Lemon Jefferson!! LINK to song: http://tinyurl.com/see-that-my-grave (there's a chance that may only be a 30-second clip, but if that link doesn't work, just Google "See That My Grave is Kept Clean Blind Lemon Jefferson" and the iLike link should show up at the top of the search results) LYRICS (from tinycatpants.wordpress.com): Well there’s one kind of favor I’ll ask of you Well there’s one kind of favor I’ll ask of you There’s just one kind of favor I’ll ask for you You can see that my grave is kept clean It’s a long lane that’s got no end. It’s a long lane that’s got no end. It’s a long lane that’s got no end, There’s a bad wind [...] the Devil gave/brang/Devil’s gate. There’s two white horses in a line Well, there’s two white horses in a line Well, it’s two white horses in a line What take me to my burying ground My heart stopped beating and my hands turned cold My heart stopped beating and my hands turned cold Well, my heart stopped beating and my hands turned cold It was long [something something] what the Bible told Have you ever heard a coffin sound Have you ever heard a coffin sound Have you ever heard a coffin sound Then you know that the poor boy is in the ground. Dig my grave with a silver spade Dig my grave with a silver spade Well, dig my grave with a silver spade You may leave [lay] me down with a golden chain. Did you ever hear a church bell toll? Have you ever hear a church bell toll? Have you ever hear a church bell toll? Then you know ‘nother poor boy is dead and gone ----- Then at this site, you can see the lyrics for the various remixes, one of which includes the repeated line, "Have you ever heard a coffin sound?" http://whiskeyclone.net/ghost/songinfo.php?songID=526 "You may lead me down with a golden chain" = chain sound effect "See that my grave is kept clean" = "I don't see the face of kindness" (and perhaps "I don't smell the morning roses" ... someone bringing flowers to be grave?) "Have you ever heard a church bell toll?" = "I don't hear the mission bell" It's sort of the opposite of the orignal song. He doesn't need any of that stuff, all he needs is to be buried and left alone. Although it doesn't fully explain "Some may say this might be your last farewell ride"... how many farewell rides does a person get? And why is it speculative? Why isn't it, "ALL WILL say this IS his farewell ride?" Anyway, to figure this out all the way, we might have to figure out Blind Lemon Jefferson's deeper meaning... though it seems pretty self explanatory. |
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| Regina Spektor – Human of the Year Lyrics | 14 years ago |
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I was thinking the same thing too, and it was actually the name that reminded me of it because Pope John Paul II's birth name was Karol Wojtyla. The guy in this song is Carl Projecterinski. Karol and Karl sound very similar, and -ski is a very Polish ending to a surname, and JPII was Polish. But icons are more of an eastern tradition, not so big (as far as I know) in Roman Catholic tradition. Also, there is a yearly winner of Human of the Year. A new pope only comes in when the old pope dies. But other than that, it totally makes sense. My other interpretation is the funeral interpretation that has been mentioned here several times. Maybe it's the Pope's funeral. |
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| Regina Spektor – Dog and Pony Lyrics | 16 years ago |
| Where do these songs come from?! Share the love, people! | |
| Regina Spektor – Oedipus Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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Ummm... postpartum depression that lasts a lifetime? Orphans? Children who were conceived through rape? Attention-starved child developing some kind of complex/plan? The abandoned 32nd flavor of Baskin-Robbins ice cream? So many interpretations! |
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| Regina Spektor – Begin to Hope Lyrics | 16 years ago |
| Where have you guys found all these non-album songs? I must hear them! | |
| Regina Spektor – Aching to Pupate Lyrics | 16 years ago |
| Working on a butterfly farm is so Regina. | |
| Regina Spektor – Samson Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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Luvbug12321 on p 7 says that in an interview Regina said it was about someone with cancer. At first, after searching Regina Spektor interviews, I was like, "BS-- how come I can't find that 'interview'?" Then I thought about it more and more and it really does make a lot of sense. And I am having trouble believing that "I was 19 and drunk and Regina took me to her big studio apartment and we did it" story. (First of all... "big" and "studio apartment in New York City" in the same story??) Her English seems to be phenomenal, at least from her lyrics, and "Samsonsanssky", that would be Eastern European anyway, wouldn't it? So... I dunno, it's gotta be some kind of fanfic based on the lyrics. Lol anyway, back to the meaning of the song... I can definitely see the cancer situation going on. Which makes it really quite a sad song. I was wondering your preferences, though: "Songs" version, or "Begin to Hope"version? I'm with the "Begin to Hope" one. I dunno why. It seems more "right", though. |
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| Regina Spektor – Lady Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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Hahaha I totally thought this song was about a drag performer! With the nondescript "Lady" as "her" name. And the "but on this stage..." part to me was like, how he finally found himself in "her". Yeah. I thought basically this was about Lady being free to be herself. Billie Holiday makes so much more sense, though, since all the pieces fit. I don't particularly love the saxophone part, but I do love how you can hear the saxophone valves clicking. |
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| Regina Spektor – Back of a Truck Lyrics | 16 years ago |
| I don't know what this song means. I think it is fabulous though. So I'm not even going to bother putting it together. I'll stick with my segmented little mental images, lol | |
| Regina Spektor – Your Honor Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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"Your Honor" = How you address a judge in a court of law. She is calling him that in a sarcastic way. Like, who is he to judge whether or not her "honor" is a.) worth fighting for or b.) honorable at all? I used to hate this song and the prelude but they've grown on me. Btw, does anyone know who "the whisperer" is? lol |
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| Regina Spektor – Prisoners Lyrics | 16 years ago |
| Gosh that was long. Sorry. Most of it was lyrics, I swear! | |
| Regina Spektor – Prisoners Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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I like to start at the literal level and then go deeper if need be, because I feel like a lot of"_____ is a symbol for this, _____ is a symbol for that, and everything is a symbol". I'm not saying that that's necessarily a bad way to interpret things, but I just prefer my way. So, with that said... "all of the prisoners serving life sentences wait for the earth to suddenly shake for the walls to somehow suddenly come crumbling, tumbling and for the bars to somehow magically break" Prisoners don't want to be in prison. "oh there's nothing wrong with them that a thousand books can't fix that a thousand arms can't hold down" Our law books, our psychology books will set them straight, and if they don't, then all our cops and guards and their arms (both body parts and guns) will have to do the job. "on the ground they're tattooing the stones with cusses like cavemen your momma was here" That stereotypical image of a prison... out in the yard breaking the stones, and instead of just chipping away at them, they graffiti them. I've never been to prison so I'm not sure if that actually goes down, but you always see it in the movies; it's a common image. "but they wanna run through the air with no barriers or obstacles gunmen or guard dogs or priests and to rise from the mud and start over and over with the people all DEAD" This is such a hopeful part until the last word. To me this whole part, with the lighter music and the images of running freely --with the people all dead!-- is like a tongue-in-cheek way of saying that this is some f'ed up shit that these life-sentencers are thinking... or maybe it's some f'ed up shit we're thinking the life-sentencers are thinking. "uh uh uh uh uh if hans christian anderson could have had his way with me then none of this shit would have ever gone down" I don't know. I'm kind of following the "goodness and morality" argument here. Especially since it has to do with childhood (HCA and his fairy tales commonly read to children, I mean). But I'm still unsure. "in my cell i'm tattooing myself with mermaids and swallows and though i do swallow my momma thinks i'm grown but i'm really just little" I do swallow -- hello, male inmate prison behaviour? This doesn't seem like there should be much of an issue on interpretation. The other parts that evoke images of childhood ("mermaid and swallows", "i'm really just little") just mean, to me, that "I'm" just misguided, not a bad person. "and someday i will remember someday i will remember someday i will remember" Again, not sure. But I do like when she chops the words up into a million pieces! Oh, I should have mentioned, I see Regina as singing from a male perspective in this song. But the rest of the song... I've pretty much got it down in my head. Even if it's all wrong, that's how I like to see it. |
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| Regina Spektor – Ne Me Quitte Pas Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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(The descriptions of the NYC places are stereotypes... if you hang out in the Bowery or walk down Lexington Ave or live in the Bronx then don't take offense.) Bowery is a street/area in downtown NYC... where the punks and stranger alternative artistic types hang out. Lexington, I'm pretty sure, refers to Lexington Ave, one of the posher streets in Manhattan. Where the women who live there would be more likely to get botox than in other parts of the city, so are more worried about aging than others. The Bronx is not as city-like as Manhattan. (Clarification: Manhattan is the part of New York City that people automatically think of [Broadway, skyscrapers, etc], the Bronx is another borough but still part of the city.) It doesn't have the skyscrapers and isn't really a tourist attraction. It is much more residential (think kids playing stick-ball in the street). I swear, I thought this was a simple Regina song to figure out. Everyone is looking for/missing something: Bowery people want something to believe in since they're so jaded, Lexington ladies want their youth back since they can't stand being "old", Bronx kids want other kids to play with -- Regina is in a beautiful and romantic city but misses New York! |
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| Regina Spektor – Samson Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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luvbug12321, would you mind providing the interview you say Regina explained this song? Or at least the source of the interview? Because it seems plausible, but I'm not sure that I trust the fact that so many Regina fans have commented on this song and not a single one of them has read that interview. And I'm pretty sure that everyone here knows that there was no Wonderbread in the Bible. |
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| Regina Spektor – Oedipus Lyrics | 16 years ago |
| It makes*, sorry. | |
| Regina Spektor – Oedipus Lyrics | 16 years ago |
| I really like Eithne_pathfinder's one-word interpretation. I amkes perfect sense to me. | |
| Regina Spektor – Marry Ann Lyrics | 16 years ago |
| Why is the title "Marry Ann" with two r's? I always thought it was a mistake on my iTunes but now I see it here... that's the actual name, then? | |
| Regina Spektor – Carbon Monoxide Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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Lol comixkid08, I was listening to this song in the car with my boyfriend and when that part came on I told him it was a song about Fozzie Bear, and he was all like ,"Are you serious?!" Hahaha, I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks of Muppets during this song. And that's my contribution to this discussion, lol. |
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| Regina Spektor – 2.99 Cent Blues Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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I love this song. I find it interesting that the places where she usually roams are the most bizarre, while "in the furthest place [she's] ever known" lives a young, shell-shocked war veteran, obviously the most real of all these images. And the only character who is not concerned with money is the "caterpillar cousin" who doesn't pay rent. I read Ethan Frome in 9th grade or something, and I hated it. But now that I think of it, I don't feel much love for it, but it is depressing. But depressing in a kind of pathetic way. For some reason, I always picture Regina (not a character of hers) singing this song, and to picture her getting a carriage ride from Ethan Frome is just a weird image. Bottom line, I do not know what this song means. |
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| Regina Spektor – Chemo Limo Lyrics | 16 years ago |
| But I'm not sure to what extent the song is about living life to the fullest. I can defenitely see how it is involved, but since, like I said, the limo ride is so pathetic to me (Sophie wants to listen to the radio, not talk to her mom or siblings, Jacqueline is drinking tea [I never realized they had tea supplies in limos...] and looking out of the window rather that talking to anyone, Michael is talking about things that negatively affect him, and we don't know what Barbara is doing other than evoking some sort of emotional response in the woman, but it doesn't seem that Babs is being too active) that I can't find any sort of "carpe diem" joy in this song. | |
| Regina Spektor – Chemo Limo Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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I was listening to this song a lot today because I was transcribing it for piano, and I got a bunch of different ideas. I'm not even going to bother to put most of them down here because they're ridiculous. The beginning part, with crispy benjamin Franklin and the doctor and her boss is pretty self-explanitory to me, for the most part. The trouble I'm having with this song comes after that. I'm not sure how to interpret the actual limousine ride. The doctor is driving, she tells him to go west, her kids are listening to Radio BBC and drinking tea--it doesn't make perfect sense to me. Her daughters are acting like grown-ups might act in the waiting room of a hospital or at a funeral or just generally. But Michael throws me. Michael sitting on her lap talking about meanies, bullies. Which, if the woman is in a hospital bed or has already died, is not possible. So I'm thinking, is it her "life flashing before her eyes", so to speak, in any way? Usually limos are reserved for happy occasions (with the exception of funerals). She could be thinking about a happy day, like her wedding or something, when she used a limo. And then Michael could represent when her children were young, and Sophie and Jacqueline could be representative of her children as adults, while Barbara could remind her of her own childhood and the lack of her future--while all her other kids give off some personality of their own, Barbara does absolutely nothing in this song except look like the woman's mother. But, in all honesty, I really don't know what Regina was thinking or what her intentions were. My interpretation of this song will probably change by tomorrow, anyway. But anyhow. I think it's the most depressing limousine ride in the history of music. |
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| Regina Spektor – Love Affair Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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In response to newsies234's comment, I don't think that the affair was necessarily a happy one. It wasn't that the building wanted the affair as a legend, but it was obligated to have it as a legend. And the term "respectable" (as in "every respectable building") is kind of in quotes to me. Like it doesn't make the building respectable, it just makes it home to juicy gossip. And since it's called a "love affair", it has something of an illicit connotation (to me, at least). Anyway, all I know about this song is that there was a love affair in a building, and people are talking, and he's a good looking man, and someone's mother has some sort of role or opinion. I like this song because it's leaves so many holes. The song itself represents gossip to me. Albeit in a very catchy manner. And I always thought it was "an innocent by-the-wayer", a by-the-wayer being someone who happened to say "by the way" a lot. Then the by-the-wayer is saying, "Have you heard?..." So perhaps it would be more appropriate to call the by-the-wayer a have-you-hearder. Um... |
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