submissions
| Bonnie Raitt – Blender Blues Lyrics
| 13 years ago
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Wow, I was surprised to see this song on the list -- I didn't think she ever recorded it. Bonnie performed at my college in, I think, 1971. She was singing only blues then, it was probably before she even had any records out. She talked about the way blues singers write songs about what's around them in their lives, like trains, hard living, and so on. She didn't really have a life like that. She looked around her for inspiration, noticed a blender in her kitchen, and that's where this song came from. Very funny and raunchy. |
submissions
| Sting – La Belle Dame Sans Regrets Lyrics
| 13 years ago
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Your interpretation cracks me up!
("Hath thee in thrall" means "Has a hold on you." "Enthralled" originally meant not fascinated, but magically imprisoned.) |
submissions
| Sting – Island Of Souls Lyrics
| 13 years ago
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A comment on the phrase "A Newcastle ship without coals." Sting comes from Newcastle (so does Mark Knopfler of Dire Straits.) It is a city where ships are built and shipping is a major industry. And through history, coal was a major export. There is an old expression, "Carrying coals to Newcastle," meaning to do something that is foolish or pointless, because there were LOTs of coals already in Newcastle. So here we have a ship built in Newcastle, but not carrying coals, or other commercial cargo, but instead carrying Billy and his father to a spiritual destination.
This is one of my favorite songs on my favorite of Sting's albums. I like the melancholy mood. |
submissions
| James Taylor – Handy Man Lyrics
| 13 years ago
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Nothing to do with Carly Simon's friends. Taylor didn't write this song. It was written by a singer named Jimmy Jones in 1960. In 1964 it was recorded again by Del Shannon, who had a solid hit with it. Taylor covered quite a few songs from that era, like "How Sweet it Is", "Wonderful World," and "Mockingbird." |
submissions
| Judy Collins – Albatross Lyrics
| 13 years ago
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I always loved this one. It makes me picture a young woman attending someone else's wedding, feeling stifled by the restrictions of her dull life, and dreaming of a mysterious lover who will call her away to a wild new existence.
Lyric correction: "Isinglass," not "icing glass." Isinglass is a sheet of semi-transparent mica, that was used long ago to make lanterns. |
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