| Lionel Richie – Say You, Say Me [Live] Lyrics | 1 year ago |
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The cleverest bit about this catchy song is the “Say you, say me” refrain. It sounds like Tarzan trying to speak English. In fact its sheer vagueness forces us to imagine what the singer is trying to say. “Say you…” — love me? - you are my friend? - you trust me? - you believe in me? etc. “Say me” - means I’ll say the same thing to you. It can’t be anything nasty because the music and the voice quality fills in the gaps for us — very daring song writing! |
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| Lionel Richie – Say You, Say Me Lyrics | 1 year ago |
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The cleverest bit about this catchy song is the “Say you, say me” refrain. It sounds like Tarzan trying to speak English. In fact its sheer vagueness forces us to imagine what the singer is trying to say. “Say you…” love me? - you are my friend - you trust me - you believe in me etc. “Say me” - means I’ll same the same thing to you. It can’t be anything nasty because the music and the voice quality fills in the gaps for us — very daring song writing! |
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| The Who – Love Ain't For Keeping Lyrics | 3 years ago |
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I was first attracted by the title of this song “Love Ain’t for Keeping” because it sounded different from most pop songs. I Interpreted it as, you can’t imprison love, hold on to it as if it’s a possession. Love, when it appears to exist, is something intangible, wispy, ephemeral, transient, like all feelings. A sentiment that seems to correspond to reality more than the excessively romantic and unrealistic idea that love is forever, something that you find in most pop songs. However, something didn’t make sense in the song. So being curious about other people’s experiences, words and ideas, I looked carefully at the lyrics especially the main refrain “lay down beside me, love ain’t for keeping”. I then realised that the singer means that love is not meant to be kept hidden inside your heart or head, but should be expressed to the other person. Very true, if the feeling is reciprocal... |
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| Cat Stevens – Moonshadow Lyrics | 3 years ago |
| @[Ser:35426] Took the words out of my mouth! | |
| Fats Waller & His Rhythm – Everybody Loves My Baby Lyrics | 5 years ago |
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The exact lyrics are these: Everybody loves my baby but my baby don't love nobody but me nobody but me Everybody wants my baby but my baby don't want nobody but me that's plain to see! She's got a form like Venus Honest, I ain't talking Greek No one can come between us She's my Sheba, I'm her sheilk, ha ha! That's why everybody loves my baby but my baby don't love nobody but me nobody but me That's it, serenade my baby Then when my baby kisses me upon my rosy cheeks I just let those kisses be To wash my face for weeks! That's why everybody loves my baby But my baby don't love nobody but me Nobody but me She better not! |
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| Fats Waller & His Rhythm – Everybody Loves My Baby Lyrics | 5 years ago |
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One of Fats Waller's many great songs. The meaning seems pretty straight forward: he is declaring his love for his girl who so attractive that everyone else loves her too. However, she only loves him. Like with many Fats Waller songs I have the distinct feeling that it is all facetious, ironic and insincere in other words, tongue-in-cheek. He doesn't really believe any of it. What niggles me though is the second verse. I would really like to know what he's singing and it's certainly not what is officially written everywhere as the purported lyrics. It sounds like: "She's got a palm like Venus On a tiny talking green No one can come between us She's my Sheba Abba she, ha ha" But that doesn't make much sense. If anyone has better hearing than me, it would be great to know what you think. |
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| Cat Stevens – Moonshadow Lyrics | 5 years ago |
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An amazingly spiritual, stoic, philosophical, dauntless song for a 22 year old to write. To call it a pop song would be to totally underestimate its depth and not to fully understand its purport and wisdom. Here Cat Stevens is taking a hard, fearless look at the misfortunes that can befall us, that life can bring and does bring, perhaps in the form of illnesses, impairments, disabilities etc and he is saying: "so what, I know we are mortal, somehow I will still try and enjoy life and live the moment to the full with whatever I have." He does it in such a poetic way that we hardly realise what he is in fact saying. However, when the message finally fully hits you, it is so powerful that the song should make anyone human choke up and break down in tears! He fell ill with tuberculosis at the age of 21, one year before writing this song and this could well explain the inspiration for the words. The text is one of the strangest mixtures of downbeat and upbeat I have ever come across. But the positive power of a brave spirit comes across strongest. |
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| R.E.M. – The One I Love Lyrics | 5 years ago |
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Strange how a song with a limited number of words, that seem relatively simple, can in fact be extremely complicated. I am one of the many who thought the song was about deep, sincere love that had to be abandoned. However, We have to believe Stipe when he says that he intended it to be ironic. It becomes even more interesting to interpret it this way. On a physical level it becomes about promiscuity. Moving from one lover to another to satisfy hormonal urges. On a spiritual level it is about filling our lonely, aimless emptiness with pumped up, artificial passion. "The one I love" turns out to be no one that special, a mere "prop" ie someone used as a simple support for our physical, emotional needs. And this person is discarded or "left behind" without too many qualms. The words "another prop" in the fourth verse indicates that there is a series of lovers. The word "fire" and the way it sung by Stipe is very intriguing. Has there ever been a refrain that is so short, so intense'? It is after all a one syllable, four-letter word. But what does it mean? Fire can of course refer to arousal, ardor, a passionate craving or yearning usually of a sexual, erotic nature. In slang usage it can also mean something or someone that is very attractive. So either meaning fits well. Stipe sings it with extreme forcefulness, extending it into two syllables, with his voice breaking in the middle of the long, drawn out voicing which gives it extra intensity or perhaps a sense of dismay, pain and anguish. The phrase "she's comin' down on her own, now" is cryptic and ambiguous. It is unexplained and seems out of place. In drug jargon it means sobering up after using a drug. In a sexual context to "come down on somebody" means to engage in oral sex. However doing it on your own is a major challenge to anybody's imagination. It could also mean that the woman is getting over the infatuation, the initial passion without the need for explanations or long discussions. Whatever the explanation, it is a very strange aside (or come down!) after Stipe's intense cry of "fire". Maybe it's worth adding that Stipe regretted writing a song about using other people so selfishly and said he was glad that people didn't properly understand it. |
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| Melanie Safka – Look What They've Done to My Song Lyrics | 5 years ago |
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Very intriguing that the song could be a crypto comment about the insanely horrific Mai Lai massacre of 16 March 1968 where the US army raped and slaughtered 500 villagers made up almost entirely of defenceless women and children. One of the tiny villages was indeed called "Song My". Part of the song's appeal is that it has the tone of a cry from the heart. However, if the song really does refer to the Mai Lai massacre, it is no where near hard or desolate enough. Generally I like allusive lyrics, but in this case, this historic fact is so abhorent and so ghastly that it deserves a more direct reference and more consistency in the text. Maybe I'm being too blunt, but for a start, how about calling it, "Look What They've Done to Mai Lai". |
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| Mick Jagger – Let's work Lyrics | 6 years ago |
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I like the enthusiasm and driving rhythm of this unusual Jagger song. For a change it's not about heroin, prostitutes, Satan or getting one's rocks off. I don't think it's about spring cleaning the house, weeding the garden or washing the car either. No, I think Mick may actually be urging humanity to get up off its arse and get down to solving its problems, not least of them apathy, petty rancor, despondency, and very concrete poverty. A refugee immigrant working in a self-run agricultural cooperative was asked by a TV journalist if he thought this kind of work was useful for immigrants like himself. The immigrant replied: "Work is useful for the whole world". I like to think that is the spirit of this song. Well done Mick! |
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| Bob Dylan – All Along the Watchtower Lyrics | 7 years ago |
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One of the the truly great songs which produced amazing interpretations especially Hendrix's. It's about life and us and is on the edge all the time. It has great symbolism, great rhymes! My interpretation is here on this site. |
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| Bob Dylan – All Along the Watchtower Lyrics | 7 years ago |
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MY INTERPRETATION Commentators have suggested that Dylan mixed up the chronology in this song perhaps to make the beginning more dramatic and attention grabbing. The temporal beginning of the song is really the third and fourth verse, followed by the first and second verse. The "Watchtower" is life or even consciousness. "Princes" could be a symbol for those in power but also people like philosophers, thinkers or poets because they are the ones looking out upon life and existence. They "keep the view". "The women coming and going" is seeing women from a cynical heterosexual male perspective. "They come and go". It is just in the nature of things. "The barefoot servants, too" - could be a symbolic reference to ordinary people who work, do their jobs and carry on with life without asking too many questions about existence. They are encountered "they come and go" but are irrelevant as to investigating the meaning of life. The "wildcat growling in the distance" is a reference to the feeling of menace, trepidation and foreboding that anyone really alive can feel. The "two riders" are the joker and the thief. They symbolise two of societies outsiders who can see things from a very different perspective and are in a good position to comment on existence. The "joker" realises there is an urgent quandary to existence and wonders if there is a way to do away with the extreme discomfort that life can induce much as someone like Kafka, Schopenhauer, Nietzsche and countless others did. He considers his way of seeing life as relentlessly confusing and without answers. The "joker" goes on to complain about all the exploitation, injustice, ignorance, lack of understanding of true values around him and in the world. The "thief" consoles him, advising him to keep cool. After all there are many, including himself, who consider existence just a meaningless, mocking piece of mummery. He says that these are recurring arguments between them. They both know about the absurdities of existence and all they can do is stay true to their vision of things. Time passes and extinction approaches. |
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| Nirvana – Plateau Lyrics | 7 years ago |
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PLATEAU - my interpretation I'm going to take the approach of understanding poetry which uses four categories or lenses, if you like, for interpretation: Plain sense, tone, feeling, and intention. PLAIN SENSE: Beginning with the title "Plateau", a plateau is not a mountain peak nor is it necessarily that high. It is quite high. It also means a state of little or no change. This meaning is more negative. However, it is possible that the writer, having grown up in Phoenix, Arizona, may have had the spectacular rocks and plateaus in Monument Valley in mind. Verse 1: The use of "hand" instead of person is intriguing. A hand can mean a low level worker, i.e. Not someone important but an ordinary Joe like you or me. "has scaled", obviously means has climbed. It has an added meaning of has weighed or measured. I can not help recalling the land surveyor, K. in Kafka's "The Castle" and his arduous and unsuccessful attempts to scale The Castle and meet the mysterious, authoritative, pre-eminent but unreachable official, Klamm, which in Czech significantly means illusion. "The grand old face of the plateau" is clearly positive and expresses admiration and sounds like a challenge. The similarities with Kafka's unfinished novel are considerable and very interesting. The other references e.g. "Holy ghosts and talk show hosts are planted in the sand / to beautify the foothills and shake the many hands", must all be referential, all symbolic, and refer to the illusions of religion, and television. These illusions are unstable (you can't build on sand), temporal (sands of time), shallow (not much grows in sand), cosmetic, decorative, entertaining, distracting but also gratifying. Verse 2 and chorus: "A bucket and a mop" are clearly for cleaning, but for cleaning what? And why is there nothing else on the top? Again, this must be symbolic, so cleansing might be a more appropriate interpretation and that might be connected to the idea of the soul. The "Illustrated book about birds" might be some kind of guide (like for example a bible) to help understand the world maybe as it is. But why "don't be scared? Hitchcock's film "The Birds" comes to mind but it does not make sense here, especially if we are talking emblematically. It might refer to there being too much information which is too complex and we will never understand what we are doing here. Birds are the largest living tetrapod species numbering about ten thousand. However, birds are also a symbol of the souls of the dead. In this case, "don't be scared" might be a very oblique reference to the fear of death. "Who needs action when you got words". What is this? Is it an observation or a criticism. A reference to complacency, a reference to freedom or ideals etc all being a dead letter? The state of being so caught up in discussions, thoughts and talk that we do not act any more? There seems to be strong irony here. It might refer to personal life, society or even politics. More in general, who can deny that some important things are just never done. Verse 3: "finished with the mop then you can stop... and the work it was fun", refers to rest and satisfaction from some kind of useful action, however simple, however commonplace and unglamorous. Nothing is hard if done willingly, it can even be enjoyable to do something that is useful. Verse 4 (last verse): again, "many a hand scanning around looking for the next plateau". Sense of restlessness of dissatisfaction, a search for new challenges, other avenues of research or perhaps, a wish to colonise new places. "However, others decided it was nowhere except for where they stood". Some people prefer to look into themselves, look at consciousness for the answers and consider agitation and change useless or counter productive. "Those were all just guesses, wouldn't help you if they could" seems to refer to the impossibility of really getting to the bottom of the sense of things. TONE Here this is conveyed by the music, especially the beat, which is plodding and hypnotic. This gives a sense of relentlessness, labour, hard work, drudgery. FEELING is communicated perhaps more by Kurt Cobain's voice which becomes very emotional, intense, desperate almost hysterical in the chorus. The feeling conveyed by his singing of the words is existential, surreal, agonised, heart-wrenching. It would be almost absurd unless he is singing about something of vital importance, a question of life or death. Cobain's voice with its high-pitched intensity in the chorus conveys disbelief and anguish. That is, after all the hard work of scaling the plateau what is found on top is so banal, so confusing, so unsatisfying. The voice returns to its normal pitch in the following verse when the work has been done and satisfaction is expressed. INTENTION: Given the amount of symbolism in the words, the intention of the song must be to wish to explain reality and interpret life. Is it a search for inner peace, salvation, knowledge, ideals, understanding, meaning, or perhaps even just a wish to get high? The latter is extremely unlikely because there are just too many symbols. The Plateau of the title now perhaps symbolises ideals, or at least something higher and more meaningful than the surrounding desert or foothills, something beyond the everyday, the mundane. Is all we can expect from life practical work, the need and the chance to maintain some order and cleanliness in our personal lives, in society? Is that all there is in the end, practicalities and some management? Is that life's lesson looking down at things from up above? Probably! Sergio Savioli |
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| Bob Dylan – You Ain't Goin' Nowhere Lyrics | 7 years ago |
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YOU AIN'T GOIN' NOWHERE Dylan has a way with words that's for sure. Just as Patti Smith will sound poetic even when she says good morning, or Michael Sripe will sound existential and profound whatever he says and sings so Dylan when he writes his songs somehow make the words emblematic and full of meaning. The title starts off well with it's defeatist, downbeat, deflating double negative. It immediately hints at hopelessness, nihilism and world weariness. The first words quickly express how effimeral and transient things are with symbolic references to the speed of time passing "clouds so swift" and the he confirms his dismal view with the gloomy "the rain fallin' in". Anyone in such a state would need diversion, some entertainment, so he goes and sees a movie. Being intelligent and humorous he throws in a little barbed comment directed at Roger McGuinn lead singer of the Byrds who fully tapped into Dylan's talents to achieve success. The next verse seems to be a change of tone. "Ride me high" is a phrase invented by Dylan to mean perhaps make me feel successful, lucky, a winner because his bride is going to come the next day and then they are really going to be ecstatic, "we gonna fly". But then he continues with "down in the easy chair" to let us know what he suspects marital bliss is all about i.e. a succumbing to torpor. The last verse is full of amusing paradoxes. A "gun that sings" and "a flute that toots"could be the idea of making the best of living with someone and putting on a happy face. A "sky that cries" and "a bird that flies" might refer to foreseeable moments of unhappiness or even abandonment. A "dog that talks and a fish that walks" could be the absurd things that he thinks he might have to endure. Of course it could all be about imagining what it's like to get married and sung with a very liberal dose of irony and humour. More than having actual meaning the song is conjecturing an attitude. |
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| David Byrne – Glass, Concrete & Stone Lyrics | 9 years ago |
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One would have to be mad to try to pinpoint the meaning of a David Byrne song. By his own admission he is borderline Asperger's. His songs are famous for being paradigms of the paradoxical and being ultra cryptic. Still, I am going to try to give an interpretation because I am perhaps just as playful and emotionally stunted as he is. Like most artists he wants to reveal himself even if he does this quite secretly and emblematically. I was at first intrigued by the main refrain "its glass and concrete and stone, it's just a house not a home". And my own imagination led me to believe it had something to do with architecture and the coldness of a building without love and affection. A building without a hearth or a heart. I imagined the theme of separation, divorce, breakup of a relationship etc. However, there are too many other references in the song. He talks about travel, money, a rendezvous with a certain Harriet Hendershot. There is a lot of personal imagery, and he is communicating a sense of hopefulness, a pursuit of happiness, in his playful, quirky way. The tone of his voice is positive but wry and the percussions provide a driving beat which conveys a sense of cheeriness. When the cello comes in there is also strong emotion. I think he is reflecting on a particular stage of his life and on a fundamental part of himself - a realisation that he enjoys the transitory and sensual delights of the body and that this keeps his "flavour fresh" while willingly denying, suppressing deeper feelings and commitment (home) and that he is prepared to fool himself and perhaps others too. He admits that he prefers to follow his instincts rather than logic, conditioning or conventions in the phrase "let my body and soul be my guide." |
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| Meat Puppets – Plateau Lyrics | 9 years ago |
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I'm going to take the approach of understanding poetry which uses four categories. Plain sense, tone, feeling, and intention. Beginning with the title "Plateau". A plateau is not a peak nor is it mega high. It is quite high. It also means a state of little or no change. This meaning is more negative. The use of "hand" instead of people is interesting. A hand can a mean a worker. "has scaled", obviously means has climbed. It has an added meaning of has weighed or measured. "The grand old face of the plateau" is clearly positive and sounds like admiration and a challenge. The other references e.g. "Holy ghosts and talk show hosts are planted in the sand / to beautify the foothills and shake the many hands", must all be referential, all symbolic. The illusions of religion, television, which are also unstable, temporal (sands of time), shallow (not much grows in sand), cosmetic, decorative, entertaining, distracting but also gratifying. "A bucket and mop" are clearly for cleaning, but again, must be symbolic. Cleaning what? Illustrated book about birds. Some kind of guide to help understand the world maybe as it is. Why scared? Too much information. Birds are also a symbol of souls, of the dead. Who needs action when you got words. What is this? A reference to complacency a reference to freedom or ideals etc being a dead letter. The state of being so caught up in discussions, thoughts and talk that we do not act any more. There is strong irony here. It might refer to personal life or to society. Some important things are just never done. Third verse: finished with the mop then you can stop etc. Refers to satisfaction from some kind of useful action, however simple, however commonplace and unglamorous. Nothing is hard if done willingly, it can even be enjoyable to do something that is useful. Last verse: again, "many a hand scanning around looking for the next plateau". Sense of restlessness of dissatisfaction. "However, others decided it was nowhere except for where they stood". Some people prefer to look into themselves. "Those were all just guesses wouldn't help you if they could". The impossibility of really getting to the bottom of the sense of things. Tone (that is the music) is plodding and hypnotic. This gives a sense of labour, hard work drudgery. Felling is communicated perhaps more by Kurt Cobain's voice which becomes very emotional and intense almost hysterical in the chorus. The feeling conveyed by the words is surreal almost absurd and of course enigmatic and obscure. The voice's intensity in the chorus conveys disbelief and anguish. That is, after all the hard work of scaling the plateau what is found on top is so banal, so confusing, so unsatisfying. The voice returns to its normal pitch in the following verse when the work has been done and satisfaction is expressed. Given the amount of symbolism in the words, the intention of the song seems to be to wish to explain reality and interpret life. Is it a search for inner peace, salvation, knowledge, ideals, meaning, or perhaps even just a wish to get high? The latter is unlikely because there are just too many other symbols. Is all we can expect from life practical work, the need and the chance to maintain some order and cleanliness in our personal lives, in society? i.e. practicalities and some management? Probably! |
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| Nirvana – Plateau Lyrics | 9 years ago |
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I'm going to take the approach of understanding poetry which uses four categories. Plain sense, tone, feeling, and intention. Beginning with the title "Plateau". A plateau is not a peak nor is it mega high. It is quite high. It also means a state of little or no change. This meaning is more negative. The use of "hand" instead of people is interesting. A hand can a mean a worker. "has scaled", obviously means has climbed. It has an added meaning of has weighed or measured. "The grand old face of the plateau" is clearly positive and sounds like admiration and a challenge. The other references e.g. "Holy ghosts and talk show hosts are planted in the sand / to beautify the foothills and shake the many hands", must all be referential, all symbolic. The illusions of religion, television, which are also unstable, temporal (sands of time), shallow (not much grows in sand), cosmetic, decorative, entertaining, distracting but also gratifying. "A bucket and mop" are clearly for cleaning, but again, must be symbolic. Cleaning what? Illustrated book about birds. Some kind of guide to help understand the world maybe as it is. Why scared? Too much information. Birds are also a symbol of souls, of the dead. Who needs action when you got words. What is this? A reference to complacency a reference to freedom or ideals etc being a dead letter. The state of being so caught up in discussions, thoughts and talk that we do not act any more. There is strong irony here. It might refer to personal life or to society. Some important things are just never done. Third verse: finished with the mop then you can stop etc. Refers to satisfaction from some kind of useful action, however simple, however commonplace and unglamorous. Nothing is hard if done willingly, it can even be enjoyable to do something that is useful. Last verse: again, "many a hand scanning around looking for the next plateau". Sense of restlessness of dissatisfaction. "However, others decided it was nowhere except for where they stood". Some people prefer to look into themselves. "Those were all just guesses wouldn't help you if they could". The impossibility of really getting to the bottom of the sense of things. Tone (that is the music) is plodding and hypnotic. This gives a sense of labour, hard work drudgery. Felling is communicated perhaps more by Kurt Cobain's voice which becomes very emotional and intense almost hysterical in the chorus. The feeling conveyed by the words is surreal almost absurd and of course enigmatic and obscure. The voice's intensity in the chorus conveys disbelief and anguish. That is, after all the hard work of scaling the plateau what is found on top is so banal, so confusing, so unsatisfying. The voice returns to its normal pitch in the following verse when the work has been done and satisfaction is expressed. Given the amount of symbolism in the words, the intention of the song seems to be to wish to explain reality and interpret life. Is it a search for inner peace, salvation, knowledge, ideals, meaning, or perhaps even just a wish to get high? The latter is unlikely because there are just too many other symbols. Is all we can expect from life practical work, the need and the chance to maintain some order and cleanliness in our personal lives, in society? i.e. practicalities and some management? Probably! |
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