| Portugal. The Man – People Say Lyrics | 6 years ago |
|
@[brkn:25860] Good works, John! I'm a Portugal. The Man admirer for these past 10 years or so, as introduction, and I particularly enjoyed your Edgefield show with GroupLove a few years back (even though it was like 102 degrees!). I was psyched to find your old 2009 comment here on this site (to which I now reply). After learning some of the band's (and your personal) history related to Alaska, I often listen to the newer albums with that in mind. But I can't read "People Say" lyrics without thinking the main theme encompasses the subtle divides between different elements of 21st century American society. The "people" represented in the song seem to under-appreciate the "soldiers" in a foolishly optimistic, insulated way. They feel safe from the simple public presentation of victory: "what a lovely day, yeah, we won the war"; yet they fail to afford proper dignity in recognition of the costs: "may have lost a million men, but we got a million more." I see that as representative of dangerous ignorance within America. And I think many other intelligent people would support my sentiments, whether you acknowledge that intent in your message or not. Regardless, "People Say" was one of the first 3 or 4 Portugal. The Man songs I was exposed to and, thus, it contributed to turning me into a collector of your albums. I also wanted to specifically respond that those "bookend" lines/phrases you cite are the kind that can convey broad meaning to listeners when not recognized in the context you have provided. That's one of the things I like about P-The Man songs: I can generally keep my original interpretations in mind without major conflict even after I hear explanatory comments from the author (i.e., you, John Gourmley). David Bowie was pretty good at presenting poignant poetry without demanding some tunnel-vision interpretation of meaning. As a philosopher, I tend to take a broad view, so it's nice when artists don't take offense if I imbue meaning periphery to the true inspiration. I also consider myself a poet and sometimes my friends tell me things about my own work that I had not consciously considered. So I hope that you will be more pleased than annoyed should I ever suggest an interpretation of any of your songs that you did not specifically have in mind. 3/25/2018 - expect to see more comments from me, as I look up other of my favorite songs -- P.S. sorry I couldn't make the Pioneer Square gig you had yesterday, too |
|
| Radiohead – Creep Lyrics | 6 years ago |
|
@[gurr57:25859] I feel for you and hope you get through it with a strong sense of self like I did many years ago when I was in a comparable situation. And I hope you keep loving this song. But I don't think the poetry here is quite what you suggest. Instead, I think it's telling people to consider how the social world you live in can create seemingly enormous barriers of status that are not appropriate. Why can't you end up (despite your melancholy back then) happy and successful (to your own standards)? Why do overt things like nice skin, popularity, good hair, family connections, money, etc. lead to such considerable social gaps? What about things like honesty, work-ethic, and general acceptance of others? This song very clearly exaggerates the things that lead to admiration and high social status ("skin makes me cry", "float like a feather (in a beautiful world)") yet also suggests those exaggerations are presented sarcastically ("you're so fucking special") to show how (poorly managed) societies might belittle people into thinking are a "creep." But it's the society of alienation that is the problem; nobody should have to silently sit on the outskirts and be dismissed, if they are earnest. Why does anyone need to feel like a "creep" because "I want you to notice when I'm not around"? -- that's just an honest sentiment: everyone wants that sort of thing from their friends and/or lovers! |
|
| Radiohead – Creep Lyrics | 6 years ago |
|
@[thebirdie:25858] I agree with most of your statements; however, I would guess (maybe even bet $$) that Radiohead intended a more broad exposure of "the society" in which such "creeps" might be created than to tell the (somewhat more mundane) story of how a person of lower status in such a society would respond. To me, the suggestion of sadness inherent in the narrator's apparent self-loathing is less important than the consistently exaggerated (and likely sarcastically portrayed) heights of high level members of the narrator's society. There is nothing specifically making a romantic connection, so I think it's valid to suggest that the problem being stated is that the "society" involved has ostracized and alienated the narrator. Why? Apparently, the narrator believes, "I don't belong here." But is that because the narrator really is self-denigrating? Or because the society leading to his/her situation is actually the accused? Personally, I think it's the latter. The "creep" is just stuck because he/she lives in a stupid world that fails to value things properly, causing inappropriately dramatic social barriers that confound natural human responses (like love and appreciation of beauty), and may even sometimes twist them into ugly anti-social responses. |
|
| Radiohead – Creep Lyrics | 6 years ago |
|
@[katyana:25856] I can certainly appreciate your generalization and I think the song can be seen that way. I'd like to think that most people could take it that way, but without any personal research into what Radiohead said about the song, I can't help taking it in a somewhat darker sense. To me, these lyrics are haunting in how they seem to poignantly suggest two sides of the same coin: while the self-proclaimed "creep" admires people of higher social circles, there is an understated, sarcastic tone to it that suggests he/she laments more the society that places some advantaged folks above him/her than his unjust position within that context. In fact, the narrator never denigrates himself specifically beyond the label of "creep" and "I don't belong here." Meanwhile, there is consistently a tone of exaggeration in the descriptions of those deemed of higher status: 1) "you're just like an angel; 2) your skin makes me cry; 3) you float like a feather (in a beautiful world, no less!) But despite wanting "a perfect body" and "perfect soul," the narrator has no out because those are things only attributed to people of certain social status so all that is left is questioning such a society with statements like "you're so fucking special" (accusatory) and "I wish I was special" (sarcastic, because the problem is in the society, not the narrator. |
|
| Social Distortion – Ball and Chain Lyrics | 6 years ago |
|
@[roleki:25855] Very good point about the song's relation to "country music" themes but with music in a context both more like modern rock/new wave and more happy in tone than a typical moody country song of similar theme. It's a great song, in my opinion; but I don't necessarily agree with some of the comments that suggest a plea for salvation or something like that. I like it more as a simple guilty confession/admission of where the narrator ended up after years of the same mistakes: 80% in favor of getting struck by lightning (i.e., "waking up dead" after his latest binge) to end his/her seemingly unconquerable misery, rather than have to live again the next day/week, etc. |
|
| Social Distortion – Ball and Chain Lyrics | 6 years ago |
|
@[ZTrance:25854] Yes. I think your straightforward interpretation is in line with the straightforward intent of these lyrics. It's a very solid song in my opinion, but not one seeking high ideals. It is like a country western confessional song, where the confessor has no pretension of redemption and is left to seek simple relief from the painful cycle (i.e., death) Also, I want to emphasize that I think the beauty and poignancy of the lyrics are enhanced by embracing the hopeless, desperate tone over anything suggesting a plea for salvation. I would admit to signs of hope in verse #1, where "I sit and I pray, there's got to be a better way" -- but I think even verse #1 works best in the overall suggestion of self-admitted defeat. After all, how could accepting yourself to be incapable of self-control be something hopeful? It can be redemptive, as any profound self-recognition should be; but, heroes are heroes and losers are losers. If any salvation awaits, the confessor in this story does not feel deserving of it; rather, the desperation throughout is more suggestive of a call for some final pronouncement of sentence. |
|
| Social Distortion – Ball and Chain Lyrics | 6 years ago |
|
@[ZTrance:25853] Yes. I think your straightforward interpretation is in line with the straightforward intent of these lyrics. It's a very solid song in my opinion, but not one seeking high ideals. It is like a country western confessional song, where the confessor has no pretension of redemption and is left to seek simple relief from the painful cycle (i.e., death) |
|
| Social Distortion – Ball and Chain Lyrics | 6 years ago |
|
@[duhaast:25852] I agree with the basics of what you say here. But I also think the lyrics of this song do very specifically express alcohol as the "demon" of the tale. I do not think this is any deep nuanced tale, but rather more a typically sad country/western song where the narrator feels guilty (because he/she is guilty, in this case) and, in this guilt, he/she does not so much seek any kind of redemption or even imagine the potential for it, but rather, looks to have his/her (suggestively, self-imposed) pain taken away (which is typically achieved by death and there is some suggestion that is the narrator's desire here, such as with "never to return" and "born to lose/destined to fail") So, while I agree with your statement that God (or at least, the more decent sort of God) would listen to this person's woe story and be moved more than by the inherent deceit of the priesthood's prayer, even so, I don't think the lyrics speaks in that direction. And the author is also on record sufficiently to conclude that was not part of the intent. |
|
| Fastball – The Way Lyrics | 6 years ago |
|
Hey, this post was well to point and tight. But I think there's more going on here poetically in terms of human mythic value for people than I found expressed in the 6 or 7 comments I just read tonight. So I posted one tonight that says the below: I've read authenticated comments from the author of the lyrics that tie the song to the story of the elderly couple who drove off and disappeared to later be found dead in an auto accident (possibly dementia-related). But even if not consciously intended, I think this song deserves high praise for its transcendent lyrics. Compare it to the recent hit song by Portugal. The Man "Feel it Still" and tell me you don't see how it could relate very well to some themes that band's latest album (entitled "Woodstock") expresses. For example, the chaotic social landscape of 1960's and 1970's America certainly included examples of parents leaving children behind. Sometimes it was young women or couples on their way to Woodstock who might ditch their kids with moms & pops for way too long. In that respect, the story of "The Way" can be compared to "Feel it Still." In the latter, "Leave her for the babystitter, momma, call the grave digger" carries a similar suggestion to the former's "The children woke up and they couldn't find them; they left before the sun came up that day." I'm suggesting that The Way conveys very well a different story than that of two old senile people driving off the road. It has always led me to think of the things that might make adults (proper citizens, perhaps) abscond from even their children in favor of living as wandering shadows (vs. the life they seem to face otherwise). And not all the ideas I have about why people might do that are dark or terrible. Sometimes maybe it's just 1971 and too much of what you were told has recently been proven BULLSHIT. For some people that might just be enough to make them bail for "a weekend to themselves" and then maybe never end up coming back. |
|
| Fastball – The Way Lyrics | 6 years ago |
| @[kittymom:25850] | |
| Fastball – The Way Lyrics | 6 years ago |
|
I've read authenticated comments from the author of the lyrics that tie the song to the story of the elderly couple who drove off and disappeared to later be found dead in an auto accident (possibly dementia-related). But even if not consciously intended, I think this song deserves high praise for its transcendent lyrics. Compare it to the recent hit song by Portugal. The Man "Feel it Still" and tell me you don't see how it could relate very well to some themes that band's latest album (entitled "Woodstock") expresses. For example, the chaotic social landscape of 1960's and 1970's America certainly included examples of parents leaving children behind. Sometimes it was young women or couples on their way to Woodstock who might ditch their kids with moms & pops for way too long. In that respect, the story of "The Way" can be compared to "Feel it Still." In the latter, "Leave her for the babystitter, momma, call the grave digger" carries a similar suggestion to the former's "The children woke up and they couldn't find them; they left before the sun came up that day." I'm suggesting that The Way conveys very well a different story than that of two old senile people driving off the road. It has always led me to think of the things that might make adults (proper citizens, perhaps) abscond from even their children in favor of living as wandering shadows (vs. the life they seem to face otherwise). And not all the ideas I have about why people might do that are dark or terrible. Sometimes maybe it's just 1971 and too much of what you were told has recently been proven BULLSHIT. For some people that might just be enough to make them bail for "a weekend to themselves" and then maybe never end up coming back. |
|
* This information can be up to 15 minutes delayed.