Sometimes lyrics to songs are kinda obvious, but others can be ambiguous, and I've always thought those were fun to try and decipher what they were about. There's also times where it'll be metaphorical, like alot of '80s songs about sex try to make it sound like it was about something else. Lots of those I didn't pick up on until some years later, and I suddenly realized they weren't as innocent as I thought, lol.


"Missing You" by John Waite - Alot of time I've seen this classified as a love song, even though it's kinda upbeat arena rockish and even though he says he's not missing her. This used to confuse me, but I think I understand now why they classify it that way. It seems to be about someone a long distance away that he's trying to deny that he misses, to keep his own sanity, but in reality he does. He does say "I can lie to myself."

"Don't You Want Me" by Human League - This couple who met when they worked together, and from the guys' perspective, she's surpassed him to the point of where he doesn't think she appreciates him anymore for what he is. Even if he knows deep down that's not true. The girl pretty much reaffirms their 5-year relationship was good, but wants to move beyond it onto bigger and better things.

"Boys of Summer" by Don Henley - I've seen tons of interpretations, but from the lyrics and seeing the video, I think it's a combination of two things. One is thinking back about someone you were with for awhile, and imagining where they are now (the title could refer to a shortlived fling). The second is just the general passing of time associated with this, like when he says "Out on the road today I saw a Deadhead sticker on a Cadillac", it's the awkwardness of the rebellious '60s people settling down and becoming the establishment by the early-mid '80s. What ties them both together is regret, but at the same time realizing you can't go back as much as you want to.

"Boys of Summer" was an old name for pro-Baseball.

^ I actually didn't realize that. Do you think that's what Henley might've been referring to, or not? It always seemed like more of an introspective pop/classic rock song about a past relationship in some form.

*BUMP*

Another one I thought of is "Kyrie" by Mr. Mister. For a long time I thought it was about a girl with the title name, then I thought it was about reflecting on where you wanted life to go when you were younger. That might be true, but I never really realized the religious undertones until recently:

The wind blows hard against this mountainside
Across the sea into my soul.
It reaches into where I cannot hide
Setting my feet upon the road.

My heart is old it holds my memories
My body burns a gemlike flame.
Somewhere between the soul and soft machine
Is where I find myself again.

Kyrie eleison - down the road that I must travel
Kyrie eleison - through the darkness of the night
Kyrie eleison - where I'm going will you follow
Kyrie eleison - on a highway in the light.

When I was young I thought of growing old
Of what my life would mean to me.
Would I have followed down my chosen road
Or only wished what I could be?

Kyrie eleison - down the road that I must travel
Kyrie eleison - through the darkness of the night
Kyrie eleison - where I'm going will you follow
Kyrie eleison - on a highway in the light.

(Repeat chorus)

I never quite knew what Kyrie meant... But I do see what you're talking about.

Peter Gabriel- Shock the Monkey
How far can I go into this one?!
How shocked does he want that monkey?
Shock/Surprised.............
Yeah sure it is all really about Jealousy! I believe that.

This is as good a place as any to mention that Beastie Boys Annotated hosts a line-by-line analysis of six of their albums.

As far back as the Beasties have existed, their lyrics have been peppered with references that are only decipherable to New Yorkers.

not necessarily! Others can make a mind f**k out of just about anything. Including yours truly!

And after one more than too many beers, I've fixed the URL to my first stab at Intaferon's Get Out Of London.  Can any Brits help me out?

I KNEW sooner or later, someone would start a thread like this!

Thus, my initial analysis is of Stakka Bo's "Living It Up".

If you listen to the lyrics, you will see that it's all about water pollution, and how we need to take steps to prevent it.

"Everything I got, you know that I'd rather give it all up for a fresh glass of water!"

BUMP


Just thought of another one of my alltime faves - "Lawyers in Love" by Jackson Browne. It sounds like it's humorously decrying materialism of the Reagan era. That's such a bouncy pop song (with slight dance and arena rock influences), that I never realized how deep and political it was until a few years ago.

It's also a pre-1991 time capsule since it mentions the USSR!


I can't keep up with what's been going on
I think my heart must just be slowing down
Among the human beings in their designer jeans
Am I the only one who hears the screams
And the strangled cries of lawyers in love

God sends his spaceships to America, the beautiful
They land at six o'clock and there we are, the dutiful
Eating from TV trays, tuned into to Happy Days
Waiting for World War III while Jesus slaves
To the mating calls of lawyers in love

Last night I watched the news from Washington, the capitol
The Russians escaped while we weren't watching them, like Russians will
Now we've got all this room, we've even got the moon
And I hear the U.S.S.R. will be open soon
As vacation land for lawyers in love

Jeff Lynne "Video", from the 1984 Together in Electric Dreams soundtrack...

First off, I know I've played the video game that's sampled at 0:12-0:14, but I can't narrow it down to Exidy's Mouse Trap or Venture, which used the same audio hardware.  I don't remember the movie well enough to remember if any Exidy games ever showed up in the background of the scenes.

But the song wasn't so much about arcades, but about being able to record TV.  In 1984, being able to record and playback video was so new that the lyrics sing about a "VTR" - a Video Tape Recorder - not a "VCR". 

Still, I can't help but sing it at midnight in the middle of nowhere when my only link to the outside world is a GPS and my only music is coming either from XM or from random downloads. What's surprising is that if you change the three syllables "VTR" to "2-syllable adjective" and "car", the song means the same thing in 2008 as it did 24 years ago:  technology is simultaneously a force for isolation and empowerment, and nobody in 1984 (or 2008) is entirely sure whether it's a bug or a feature.  I lean to the notion that it's a feature, but it's the hallmark of good music that it makes the listener question his or her assumptions.

"The satellites that search the night, they twinkle like a star,
The send their love from up above, down to my VTR.
The world is at my fingers - under control...
Aaaw... video!
Play it one more time now!
Video!
Got the world on my TV!"

I see that rock and roll, and all those old-time movie scenes.
They beam across the sky, together in electric dreams,
I'll just sit here all night and - I'll have it all (all... all..)
Aaaw- video!
Play it one more time now!
Video!
Got the world on video-ohh, oh, oh, oh...

(piano solo, sampled phone ringing, bells, bleeps, streams, etc)

I see the shadows in the twilight as they dance (all night long?)
Video madness comes upon me like a trance in the dark,
So I just stay right here - the world is OK...
Aaaw- video!
Play it one more time now!
Video!
Got the world on video-ohh, oh, oh, oh...

Look at me now!  I'm burnin' up the steel?in?the?wires... (video!) (repeat)"

- Jeff Lynne, Video, 1984, Electric Dreams soundtrack.

*BUMP*

Another one I thought of is "Kyrie" by Mr. Mister. For a long time I thought it was about a girl with the title name, then I thought it was about reflecting on where you wanted life to go when you were younger. That might be true, but I never really realized the religious undertones until recently:

The wind blows hard against this mountainside
Across the sea into my soul.
It reaches into where I cannot hide
Setting my feet upon the road.

My heart is old it holds my memories
My body burns a gemlike flame.
Somewhere between the soul and soft machine
Is where I find myself again.

Kyrie eleison - down the road that I must travel
Kyrie eleison - through the darkness of the night
Kyrie eleison - where I'm going will you follow
Kyrie eleison - on a highway in the light.

When I was young I thought of growing old
Of what my life would mean to me.
Would I have followed down my chosen road
Or only wished what I could be?

Kyrie eleison - down the road that I must travel
Kyrie eleison - through the darkness of the night
Kyrie eleison - where I'm going will you follow
Kyrie eleison - on a highway in the light.

(Repeat chorus)


If I remember correctly, the song was written as a big "thank you" to God, for saving someone's life. No wonder it has a religious ring to you ("Kyrie Eleison" meaning: God have mercy).

If I remember correctly, the song was written as a big "thank you" to God, for saving someone's life. No wonder it has a religious ring to you ("Kyrie Eleison" meaning: God have mercy).



wow Henk...that makes TOTAL sense now...I never thought of it like that...but put that translation in there...and yes, it totally fits! :)

Not to mention that "Kyrie eleison" was used in many Medieval Christian ceremonies, including the wedding of King Arthur, and the Mass Conversion of many Norns dwelling in Ireland, before the Battle Of Clontarf.

wow Henk...that makes TOTAL sense now...I never thought of it like that...but put that translation in there...and yes, it totally fits! :)


It would make total sense...if it was true. Alas! it turns out to be an urban legend. From wikipedia:

There is an urban legend that singer Richard Page wrote this song while lying in a hospital bed following an unprovoked attack. John Lang has stated that he was the one who was attacked, three years before "Kyrie" was written, and that the incident has nothing to do with the song.

All there is to know about this song can be found here. There's also a link to a letter by John Lang that confirms the above.

I like the direct, straight-talking theme of P.I.L.'s "Your Body".

The topic, medium & message is this:
Don't screw around with unsafe sex!

It would make total sense...if it was true. Alas! it turns out to be an urban legend. From wikipedia:

There is an urban legend that singer Richard Page wrote this song while lying in a hospital bed following an unprovoked attack. John Lang has stated that he was the one who was attacked, three years before "Kyrie" was written, and that the incident has nothing to do with the song.

All there is to know about this song can be found here. There's also a link to a letter by John Lang that confirms the above.



oh wow...it would have fit so well. :-\\