Meaning Behind The Words

[mow]

Its quite amusing how everyone has a different interpitation of a songs words. I've met many pl whose thought of a certtain line in a were completely different from what I had originally in mind. So I though that makign a thread such as this would be entertaining and enlightening. The concept is quite simple. Post the lyrics of a song, and anazlyze it and what it means. When someone wants to post a remark about that song, you just have to enter "RE: title of the song you want to makea remark on". This should make us apperciate song writing even more than we already do.

Im listening to DEATH CAB FOR CUTIE - TITLE TRACK, here are the lyrics :-

"Left uninspired by the crust of railroad earth that touched the lead to the pages of your manuscript.
I took my thumb off the concrete and saved up all my strength to hammer pillars for a picket fence.
It wasn't quiet what it seemed... a lack of pleasantries (my able body isn't what it used to be).
I must admist i was charmed by your advances... your advantage left me helplessly into you.
Talking how the group had begun to splinter and i could taste your lipstick on the filter...
I tried my best to keep my distance from your dress but call-response overturns conviction every time.
My memory cannot recall... a wave of alcohol we shared a cigarette and shaved the hours off.
Lushing with the hallway concregation, my best judgement signed its resignation.
I rushed this.
We moved too fast, and tripped into the guestroom."

===
Im going to italic the lines as i anlayze them.
===

In my opinion, this song is clearly about having a (soon regreted) One night stand. The girl is most likely a writer ( your manscript) holding a pencil ( crust of railroad earth ie graphite and wood) in her head the moment he saw her. Ben is most probabily leaning against a wall (humb off the concrete), the moment he saw the girl he instantly had thoughs , thinking she is the one ( hammer pillars for a picket fence.
-ie marrying her and living the american dream, in which the white fence and house is alwats portarid) The woman is extremely charming , intellegent and senusally attractive,Ben is obivoulsy enchanted by her glance ( your advantage left me helplessly into you) .He walks up to her, asking for a smoke , this one of the SEXIST lines in a song EVER, dont even think of arguing that with me okay? :P, (i could taste your lipstick on the filter ie everyone in the party began to leave and it was just them making out)
Ben is obivoulsy drunk and this is shown in my fav line in the song, this is where Ben really shines as a briliant songwriter, he sings (my best judgement signed its resignation.)

Yet it all feel apart, in his haste (I rushed this.
We moved too fast, and tripped into the guestroom.)

So begin if you have a different interpritation of the song post or if you have another song that you want tot talk about post right ahead :amuse

[mow]

bumpy bumpy
=============

Iron & wine - Upward over the Mountain

mother don't worry, i killed the last snake that lived in the creek bed
mother don't worry, i've got some money i save for the weekend
mother remember being so stern with that girl who was with me?
mother remember the blink of an eye when i breathed through your body?

so may the sunrise bring hope where it once was forgotten
sons are like birds flying upward over the mountain

mother i made it up from the bruise of a floor of this prison
mother i lost it, all of the fear of the Lord i was given
mother forget me now that the creek drank the cradle you sang to
mother forgive me, i sold your car for the shoes that i gave you

so may the sunrise bring hope where it once was forgotten
sons are like birds flying upward over the mountain

mother don't worry, i've got a coat & some friends on the corner
mother don't worry, she's got a garden we're planting together
mother remember the night that the dog had her pups in the pantry?
blood on the floor & the fleas on their paws
and you cried 'til the morning

so may the sunrise bring hope where it once was forgotten
sons are like birds flying upward over the mountain
====

This song is simply talking about the relationship of a son and his mother as he grows up. The mother is worrying about her son and how he is trying to reassure her that he will always be safe explaining that he has it all under control , that he might hurt himself doing drugs ( mother don't worry, i killed the last snake that lived in the creek bed), girls (mother remember being so stern with that girl who was with me?) and money ( mother don't worry, i've got some money i save for the weekend )

It such a simple lovely song. The smooth, soft and sweeping guitar solo is simply heart warming. Samuel Beam (Iron & wine) is a masterful song-writer, I highly recommend getting his 2 albums "Cradle Drank The Creek", the 5 single EP"On the Balcony" and his latest album "Our Endless Numbered Days".

Now all of you be good boys and gals and go tell Mommy how much you love her :P

[mow]

Sufjan Stevens - Romoulus

Once when our mother called,
She had a voice of last year's cough.
We passed around the phone,
Sharing a word about Oregon.
When my turn came, I was ashamed.
When my turn came, I was ashamed.

Once when we moved away,
She came to Romulus for a day.
Her Chevrolet broke down.
We prayed it'd never be fixed or found.
We touched her hair, we touched her hair.
We touched her hair, we touched her hair.

When she had her last child, Once when she had some boyfriends, some wild.
She moved away quite far.
Our grandpa bought us a new VCR.
We watched it all night, but grew up in spite of it.
We watched it all night, but grew up in spite of it.

We saw her once last fall.
Our grandpa died in a hospital gown.
She didn't seem to care.
She smoked in her room and colored her hair.
And I was ashamed of her.
=====

This song is beyond anything ive heard before, just so remarkably moving and heart breaking. Its most obvious talks about the relatioship of a child wanting affection from a distant relative, most likely a mother who left her childern with her father to run off with a boyfriend
When she had her last child, Once when she had some boyfriends, some wild.
She moved away quite far.

Sufjan sings the song so quietly yet there's such a powerful delivery of the last line 'I was ashamed of her'.
Im simply in love with the line
"Our grandpa bought us a new VCR.
We watched it all night, but grew up in spite of it.",
the way its sung , so moving. Bueatiful, so beautifully heartbreaking. Sufjan's voice is that of an angel, his combination of solo Banjo and shaky vocals makes for the most rewarding experince Ive ever had, I doubt sex can even come close to how good this is.

[komrade_smith]

Right, this might have been done before, and i'm (possibly) breaking copyright laws here, but what the hell. The mods can bin this if I am.
Post lyrics here from any song you like - even your own if you're so inclined. It can be the whole song, or just small extracts, whatever you want.
I know there is already a similar topic (fav lyrics) to this, but this is more a place for commenting on lyrics and evaluating them, rather than simply giving your favourites.

There are rules though:
1. most importantly, GIVE A REASON FOR POSTING; explain why you have posted these lyrics, or comment on them, otherwise, whats the point?
2. dont needlessly double post - if you want to comment on a song someone else has posted, don't repost the song or quote it (unless its just a little extract)
3. Include name of artist and song (and links to audio if you want)
Thats pretty much it - enjoy :thumbs

I'll start off with an example: Time - Pink Floyd

'Ticking away the moments that make up a dull day
You fritter and waste the hours in an offhand way
Digging around on a piece of ground in your home town
Waiting for someone or something to show you the way

Tired of lying in the sunshine staying home to watch the rain
And you are young and life is long and there is time to kill today
And then one day you find ten years have got behind you
No one told you when to run, you missed the starting gun

And you run and you run to catch up with the sun, but it's sinking
Racing around to come up behind you again
The sun is the same in a relative way, but you're older
Shorter of breath and one day closer to death

Every year is getting shorter, never seem to find the time
Plans that either come to naught or half a page of scribbled lines
Hanging on in a quiet desperation is the English way
The time is gone, the song is over, thought I'd something more to say'

This is a great song, from a great album (dark side of the moon, my favourite song on this album). The great ryhmes, which are also really insightful and intelligent, and the way the song is structured out, fast slow fast slow makes it one of my favourite songs, lyrics wise. The often quoted 'english way' line is pure genius. I worship you Roger Waters :clap

you get the idea, so get posting :thumbs

[mow]

Your not breaking any copyright laws by posting lyrics =]. I made thread discussing the lyrics actually, in which I break down some of my fav songs and ponder and evaluate their meanings, Meaning Behind The Words (http://forums.narutofan.com/showthread.php?t=20210&highlight=words)

I'm going to merge this with the pre-existing thread. It always good to find people who anazlyze the lyrics as I do

and btw, you get a rep for mentioning the word pink floyd :thumbs

[Meijin]

The Mars Volta - Cassandra Gemini(BACKWARDS)

Now I'd list the lyrics backward, but I've tried it about 4 times now, and I kept screwing up. Now just read these lyrics from the bottom up.

I think I’ve become like one of the others
I think I’ve become like one of the others
I think I’ve become like one of the others
There was a frail syrup dripping off
His lap danced lapel, punctuated by her
Decrepit prowl she washed down the hatching
Gizzard soft as a mane of needles
His orifice icicles hemorrhaged
By combing her torso to a pile
Perspired the trophy shelves made room for his collapse
She was a mink handjob in sarcophagus heels

Bring me to my knees
Read the sharpened lines
All my arms, bled me blind
Faucet leaks in shadows
Spilling from morgue lancet
Caressed your fontanelle
I’ve sworn to kill every last one
Every last one
Panic in the shakes of the wounded
Panic in the worms
Onto the floor
And out of your mouth
Out of your eyelids
No there’s no light, in the darkest
Of your furthest reaches
No there’s no light, in the darkest
Of your furthest reaches
All your dreams, splintered off
Leech by leech on this catafalque
Anyone will tell you, yes anyone
Chance had me setting a trip wire alarm
Your mother flirted with disease
When she skinned that costume by it’s navel strings
Panic in the shakes of the wounded
Panic in the worms, onto the floor
And out of your mouth out of your eyelids
No there’s no light, in the darkest
Of your furthest reaches
No there’s no light, in the darkest
Of your furthest reaches
No there’s no light, in the darkest
Of your furthest reaches
Shock lest shackles free you
Volt face cons
abandon you again
I won’t feel not this time
Brick by brick, the night eclipsed
Pricked by cuticle thorns
Dried the sleep on nursery slits
Into this life I’m born
Heaven’s just a scab away
I’d like to see you after just one taste
Sink your teeth into the flesh of midnight
Night forever more, let them see it has begun
The others I’ve become
If you should see the dice, charmed with
It’s snaked choked eyes
You’ll wear the widows weeds
Because they’re just your size
Behind the snail secretion, leaves a dry heave that absorbs
A limbless procreation, let the infant crawled deformed
A bag replaced the breath of these suffocating sheets
And now when the craving calls
I’ll scratch my itchy teeth
Come on and sing it now
Sink your teeth
Into the flesh of midnight, night forever more
Sink your teeth
Into the flesh of midnight, night forever more
She fell for the whispers, sister flooded deaf tears
That night tore a river, in her baron womb mirror
And his multiple sons with their mandible tongues
Set crucified fires to petrified homes…let it burn
And the owls they were watching
And the owls didn’t care
Then the owls came a knocking, placenta in their stares
They will feed on all the carnage, leftover from the flood
And in the corner of their eyes, fled sister L’ Via
Now the pieces went floating, reflecting all at dusk
Conceived from the stabbing, was Vismund Cygnus
Twenty five wives in the lake tonight
Raw bark in the water of the marble shrine
Twenty five snakes pour out your eyes
Yeah the icepicks cumming on the marble shrine
Twenty five snakes are drowning
You can’t bend your crooked arms or fold your punctured proof
The air is growing cold and there’s nothing you can do
Soon there’ll be no gauze, inside the confessional
Only rows of crows, defrocking every breath
And one day you’ll remember
Behind the melting cones, you always had a family
In the burial of your home.
I’ll peel back all of my skin
Peel back and let it all run
Brick by brick, the night eclipsed
Pricked by the cuticle thorns, dried the sleep
On nursery slits into this life I’m born
Havens just a scab away, I’d like to see you
After just one taste
Sink your teeth into the flesh of midnight
Night forever more, let them see it has begun
The others I’ve become
No there’s no light, in the darkest
Of your furthest reaches
No there’s no light, no there’s no time
You ain’t got nothing, your life was just a lie.





I've had this theory for a bit now, but never said anything about it because I wasn't sure if anyone said anything about it, but here goes.

I think that the album is supposed to be listened to BACKWARDS. Like going from track 12 -> 11 -> 10 and on and on. I know it sounds crazy but I tried it and it got me thinking, maybe thats why Cassandra was cut in THOSE specific spots. So if you play it backwards it would still mesh together. Track 12 starts off with the Sarcophagi movement. I think its Frances who is narrating Sarcophagi. Then in track 11 Frances is being told by ''Cassandra'' that no matter where she goes, she will be captured and killed. The saxophone in 10 that sounds like swans is when Frances is supposedely being killed by the ''owls'' . So then once Cygnus is ripped from the womb his mother is being told ''heaven's just a scab away'' . Cassandra is once again telling Frances something, and this time she's telling her she is going to die. Then Cygnus is finally ripped from the womb, trigger ''let them see it has begun The others I’ve become'' from Frances saying that she has become dead. Then IV is when Cygnus is being told he is nothing. That he can't do anything. Then Cygnus talks back to Cassandra saying one day she'll remember something behind the melting cones. Then Cassandra replies telling him where his family has been all along. His only family is his mother Frances, who's been buried near Cygnus' house after being killed. Cygnus then replies telling Cassandra it wont be because he doesnt think Frances is his real family. Cygnus says he'll be peeling his skin back because he wants to feel the pain and forget everything. Part III is when Cassandra narrates about the 25 other wives she's killed through sexual torture. Then Cygnus relives the killing of his mother, ''dreaming'' about what happened. He's not sure what to believe. Cygnus is trying to reject everything through masturbating ; or ''when the craving calls, I'll scratch my itchy teeth'' ; .Then the scene cuts back to BEFORE Frances is murdered. ''She fell for the whispers'' is saying she couldn't take the gossip anymore. ''Sister flooded deaf tears'' means all her life she was lied to. ''That night tore a river in her baron womb mirror'' means she had to know the truth, or else it'd take her to the edge. ''And his multiple sons...'' is referring to Cassandra. I think by this point Cassandra Gemini is not a woman, but a man. So ''his'' sons burn the homes of the 25 wives who were murdered (who will be thrown into the lake later on) . The henchman of Cassandra ; the owls watched Frances' moves and everything she did. They didnt do anything until they found out Frances was pregnant. They broke into her home looking for her ; ''they will feed on all the carnage leftover from the flood''. Her sister L'Via was watching the owls the whole time while they broke into her house. Then she fled to go tell Frances what happened, and the owls caught her watching. Then the scene comes back to the present time for a bit, while Cygnus was found raping woman ; ''concieved from the stabbing was Vismund Cygnus'' . Back to the past when the 25 wives killed by Cassandra were found in the lake. Then Frances keeps yelling about how she is dead ; ''I think I've become one of the others (x3) '' . Then Cassandra describes the night he had sex with Frances (the night he made her pregnant) . Then Frances is telling Cassandra to fuck her more and more ''Bring me to my knees...All my arms...'' . He fucks her until he cums inside her ; ''faucet leaks in shadows/spilling from morgue lancet/caressed your fontanelle'' . Cassandra responds yelling ''I've sworn to kill/Every last one/Every last one'' . Cassandra is telling Frances how she feels ''Panic in the worms/Onto the flood/Out of your mouth/Out of your eyelids'' . Cassandra tells Frances she'll die soon for the first time (this is the past, remember!) . Cassandra tells Frances all the hopes she had are gone know because she'll never make them true. Cassandra says to Frances' that if she asks anyone they'll tell her she is going to die. Back to when Cassandra meets Cygnus and Cassandra is talking to Cygnus again. Telling her she almost had a disease from the night they had sex. ''When she skinned the costume/By its navel strings'' is when she took the sex raw (without a condom) . Back to the night they had sex and Cassandra repeats the same things to Frances about how she will die. '"Shockless shackles free you'' means shes being freed by nothing, which means she is NOT being freed from the clutches and watch of Cassandra and his Owls. Frances replies saying she wont be owned by Cassandra, not this time.

[Kaki]

I got something to say
I killed your baby today
And it doesnt matter much to me
As long as its dead

Well I got something to say
I raped your mother today
And it doesnt matter much to me
As long as she spread

Sweet lovely death
I am waiting for your breath
Come sweet death, one last caress

Go

Sweet lovely death
I am waiting for your breath
Come sweet death, one last caress

Well, I got something to say
I killed your baby today
And it doesnt matter much to me
As long as its dead

Sweet lovely death
I am waiting for your breath
Come sweet death
One last caress

One last caress, sweet death
One last caress, sweet death

Oh oh oh oh oh
Oh oh oh oh oh oh oh
Oh oh
Oh oh oh oh oh

What does this mean?

[Kaki]

I got something to say
I killed your baby today
And it doesnt matter much to me
As long as its dead

Well I got something to say
I raped your mother today
And it doesnt matter much to me
As long as she spread

Sweet lovely death
I am waiting for your breath
Come sweet death, one last caress

Go

Sweet lovely death
I am waiting for your breath
Come sweet death, one last caress

Well, I got something to say
I killed your baby today
And it doesnt matter much to me
As long as its dead

Sweet lovely death
I am waiting for your breath
Come sweet death
One last caress

One last caress, sweet death
One last caress, sweet death

Oh oh oh oh oh
Oh oh oh oh oh oh oh
Oh oh
Oh oh oh oh oh

What does this mean?

[Brother Wayne Kramer]

Let me in, the voice cried softly,
from outside the wooden door.
Scattered remnants of the ship could be seen in the distance,
Blood stained the icy wall of the shore.

I'm the only one left. The storm, took them all,
He managed as he tried to stand.
The tears ran down his face.
Please, it's cold.

When he woke, there was no trace of the ship.
Only the dawn was left behind by the storm.
He felt the creaking of the stairs beneath him.
That rose, from the sea, to the door.

There was a sound at the window then.
The captain started, his breath was still.
Slowly, he turned.

From behind the edge of the windowsill,
There appeared the delicate hand of a child.
His face was flush and timid.
He stared at the captain through frightened eyes.

The captain reached for something to hold on to,
Help me, he whispered, as he rose slowly to his feet.
The boy's face went pale,
He recognized the sound.

Silently, he pulled down the shade against the shadow.
Lost in the doorstep of the empty house.

I'm trying to find my way home.

I'm sorry...
...and I miss you.

I miss you.
I've grown taller now.
I want the police to be notified.
I'll make it up to you,
I swear, I'll make it up to you.

I miss you.

I've been trying to disect this song for ages.
I'm thinking that maybe the narrator, the mariner as it were, is already dead. this would explain the lack of help he receives from the people living in the cabin (i've always seen it as a cabin in my head, not a house). perhaps the innocent child is an image of his past, or a deceased friend. this would explain why he says "he recognized the sound". The most challenging line in this song to comprehend is "That rose, from the sea, to the door." I guess this could be used to reinforce the idea of the child being a deceased friend that went down in the ship, but in his child form? "I'm sorry... and i miss you." Probably the most haunting lyrics ever. It makes me shiver just thinking about it. The regret of the mariner may explain why he is a ghost trapped in a nightmare of sorts.
Moe, help me. I know you've listened to this song as many times as i have. I also know that it's a sort of reinterpretation of the Rhime of the Ancient Mariner, but I'm hoping it's more than that.

[mow]

Pretty much how I feel about it. At times tho I think the mariner is stil alive after the death of all his loved ones (the storm took them all). And he's washed up now, haunted in a nightmare. the kid is the captain himself, his younger more innocent self. He wants to simply die (the door might represent the beyond, the afterlife) and join his loved ones, but the child in him is just horrifed at what his older self has become. The captian wants redemption, for what he has done, what he did, he wants to be more pure, to return to his past self. But the child wont let him, and the captain is now stuck with his memories, finally going insane.

in any case, best song ever written, best moment in music and probabily the best album of all time. Slint owns everyone.

[Brother Wayne Kramer]

in any case, best song ever written, best moment in music and probabily the best album of all time. Slint owns everyone.

i think i'm actually in love

[Efraim Longstocking]

Lyrics are boring. My swedish teacher forced me to interpret lyrics...