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Paul Simon – Kodachrome Lyrics

4 years ago

First, as some of the listeners seem to know, Kodachrome was a color transparency film (not a camera, as one commenter says) that had a highly saturated color quality. So it essentially enhanced the color of whatever was captured, though it was also a tricky film to use because of its low ISO rating that is harder to get proper exposures with, especially in low light. Simon may not have known much about it but clearly understood its way of enhancing the look of the world. As others have said, this plays into the theme of the song, referring to how our memory and nostalgic recollections tend to inflate or enhance the reality of the situation as it was. The first stanza, though, has a further commentary. School and imposed values tend to rob us of imagination and create uniformity. The camera can capture and enhance memory, but it can also reduce the moment to a flat and cheapened experience. It's the quality of the specific Kodachrome film to enhance the scene. The song is NOT about a drug experience; that's reading into it what is not in the lyrics, though like certain drugs imagination can bring increased vivid experience. The jaunty, upbeat quality of the music is like the quality of Kodachrome, boosting the quality of the experience while somewhat disguising the undercurrent of depression caused by the world as is (without imagination) and the singer imploring "mama" not to take away his means for making life a bit more cheerful. So it's a playful song at one level, but a more thoughtful and meaningful song under the surface of its fun, upbeat musical quality.

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Nick Drake – Fly Lyrics

5 years ago

There are a few lines in the printed lyric that I believe are obviously incorrect, such as "Now it's time FOR recompense for what's done" and "And the sea she will sigh". As for the key line containing the song title and important meaning, I believe it should be "For it's really too hard for to fly", meaning in this somewhat archaic phrasing (extraneous "for" is there because another beat is needed, but also because it has a more old English sound to it) that the singer can't take wing or escape the sorrow he feels. As others have suggested, there's a plaintive quality to the words and the vocal quality. It's a rare case of Nick Drake raising the tone of his voice to a bit higher register, giving it a somewhat strained sound to fit the pleading of his words. The viola and harpsichord, too, lend a more traditional English quality to the music. I think Nick was harkening back to the English poetry of an earlier epoch.

submissions

Sun Kil Moon – Glenn Tipton Lyrics	5 years ago
@[TedPikul:26865] You're right. All the talk of a metaphor ignores the straightforward or plain-spoken quality of the lyrics leading up to the introduction of this killing of a first victim. See my further thoughts on the song here.

submissions

Sun Kil Moon – Glenn Tipton Lyrics	5 years ago
@[TedPikul:26864] You're right. All the talk of a metaphor ignores the straightforward or plain-spoken quality of the lyrics leading up to the introduction of this killing of a first victim. See my further thoughts on the song here.

submissions

Sun Kil Moon – Glenn Tipton Lyrics

5 years ago

There's a lot of debate in comments here about whether the final verses refer to an actual murder or a metaphorical description of loss. It's literal, folks--so deal with it. The song prepares for this jarring revelation by introducing a man with simple, banal pleasures that have steadied his life--watching movies with his dad, favoring all kinds of music, liking a friendly woman who owns a donut shop. But clearly something has gone wrong and thrown him completely off that peaceful existence. His father is dead, the lady Eleanor at the donut shop dies (after which "place ain't the same no more...Man, how things change"). And then we're hit with the straightforward statement that he buried his first victim when he was 19, and the details about how this girl had hurt him emotionally. The speaker is a serial killer who recalls the first victim that set him on this psychopathic trail, after a simple and peaceful life in his earlier years. The specific details he gives of rummaging through the girl's bedroom and jeans, finding letters that wound him, etc.--these are too exact and straightforward to be taken as anything but literal accounts of the event. He also refers to the fact that he "never heard her calls again," meaning her cries for help during the murder. This sudden turn in the song is very jarring and disturbing. But such is the banality of madness in this very disturbed psychopath. So what begins as a pleasant account by a man of his early years and simple pleasures turns sharply into the unnerving tale of a serial killer recalling his first murder. The music lulls us with a lovely melody and touching sentiments before shocking us with the revelation that this is from the mind of a deranged killer. It's definitely one of Kozalek's best songs for its musical qualities and its meaningful lyrics that take such a surprising turn at the end.

submissions

Love – Live And Let Live Lyrics	5 years ago
The chorus in which Arthur Lee sings "Served my time/Served it well" is actually followed by "You made my soul a cell" (as in prison cell) It's not entirely clear as he sings it, but that's pretty definite as the correct wording, not what is shown in this lyrics version where it says "You made my soul ascend" which is not what he sings.

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