Ok here goes - There are some songs in this world that cleary have one meaning. I mean take a song like Dierks Bentley's "my Last Name" and listen to the lyrics and obviously you can tell the song is about taking pride in who he is and where he came from and what his name means.

Not all songs are that obvious. Some songs...yeah the writer of the song had his own meaning to the song, or in some cases like that of the Band's "The Weight" the song writer, Robbie Robertson said he had no meaning to the song, he just wrote down lyrics that rhymed.

Now my intention of this Topic is not to have people google the internet to find out what the song writer meant by his or her song. My intention is not a trivia quiz to who know's that American Pie was Don McClean's Symbolization of Buddy Holly dying in a plane crash near Clear Lake, Iowa.


I hope I defined the game, or not really a game but a philosophical approach towards songs.


The Song we will be starting on is "Name"  By the Goo Doll's. After 5 or so post I'll post a new song to dicuss the meaning of.

Name by the Goo Goo Dolls - To me the song is implying someone that wanted to be known, wanted to be famous in some way shape or form.  "I saw the Dreams you never though you'd lose tossed along the way" to me are dreams of being something or doing something that was of great importance. Dreams that died out because of circumstances, or tragedies, failures, other obsticles.  "Letter's that you never meant to send lost or thrown away" These letters to me are letters that were never actually written on paper with a pen or a pencil or typed, but letters that were imagined of the person after they had became famous writing to mom and dad of how they did it, of how they made it."The Past is never a far" combined with "You could hide beside me for a while" and  "Did you loose yourself somewhere out their did you get to be a star"    Say's to me that the person doesn't want to be known as what they are, because what they are isn't who they wanted to be, not what they wanted to be. "It's sad to know that life, is more than who we are" is another big indicator to me of how the people struggle to accept that they aren't famous.

I have strong feelings of what this song means to me and I shared them with you.  WOuld you do the same for me?   

This is an interesting concept, Harmonica, well done.  :)

'Turn back the clock' by Johnny Hates Jazz evokes deep nostalgic memories of riding my bike with friends and the community of the avenue while I was in Wolverhampton. It reminds me of why looking back at the past is so poignantly inevitable, the innocence which is so easily lost and the lack of worry being a child.

"The World at Large" by Modest Mouse. Yeah, I know I talk about them a lot, but I really like them that much. The World at Large is one of my favorite songs, and I play it a lot during my periods of depression, because I can relate to it so much.

The song talks about a man who can't understand: If the world is at it's peak, why is he so restless and unhappy? He keeps going to new places and trying to find happiness, but never does. Looking back, he can't understand what was he running from? Did he want love, knowledge, or to just escape his own misery? He knows that life isn't about second chances, but he was being driven insane by his curiousity. It raises the question: Is there really something better out there?


"Trailer Trash" by Modest Mouse

A song written from firsthand experience. The singer understands how it is to live in a no-class lifestyle, to have troubles, to want to change but not be given the chance. People assume he's a lost cause, just old trailer trash, so they don't give him the chance to change.


"Bukowski" by Modest Mouse

A GREAT ONE FOR PEOPLE WHO HAVE KNOWN LOSS. The lead singer says that if God gives life, why does he take it back? Why does he build us up, only to knock us down? Why is he "such a control freak?" If he's really so loving, why use the power to take so much so often? I relate to this one a lot, especially back when my love was in the hospital.

I have more, I'll post later.

I always thought it was about someone who'd been a child celeb and just wanted to put all that behind him/her and have a real life, real friends who know the person behind the persona attached to the name, etc.

BUT... when the song was in heavy rotation on the radio, I was going through a rough patch of life...  I was leaving behind an unpleasant "known" to venture into the unknown.  So, even though I was pretty sure the song was supposed to be about a "name" wanting to be a regular Joe/Jane, I related to the lyric, personally, on another level... the things I wanted and needed -- I had been isolated from other people for a decade, so all anyone knew of me was my name and my looks.  I wanted to be invisible and for someone to want to get to know *me,* as a person... and for that someone to like me, for me.  I had major trust issues (among other major issues,) so while I desperately wanted friends, I could not trust that any relationship was genuine and not based on looks.   But, during this time, I started making many new friends on the 'net.  They had no clue what I looked like and didn't care.   I remain close friends with many of them and they are very dear to me, especially my very best friend, the one I married... I will never doubt that his love for me is for *me,* because he knew me before he saw me.   :)  So, despite the fact that I'm generally not very sappy or sentimental, I have to admit that I am still quite fond of this song (and a few others from that time) for sappy sentimental reasons.   


That's the response I was looking for in this Post. Thank you very much.


Bobby and Apricot thank you for sharing your feelings on different songs, I was glad to read them and your opinion on the song, but the topic was supposed to take 1 song and see people's different approach to it's meaning.

I'll have a few more for the song "Name" by the Goo Goo Doll's then I'll post a new song.

Bobby and Apricot thank you for sharing your feelings on different songs, I was glad to read them and your opinion on the song, but the topic was supposed to take 1 song and see people's different approach to it's meaning.

I'll have a few more for the song "Name" by the Goo Goo Doll's then I'll post a new song.


Ah! I apologise Harmonica, lol. I don't know the song 'Name' by the Goo Goo Doll's but I do know the other song by The Band. I never saw much significance in it apart from the song recalling a kind of struggle or journey.

You will have to give us a song a lot of us know.  ;)

Good Idea Bobby, but that's rather hard to do. I'll try.


"Far Behind" by Candlebox -
This song represents to me a life of someone that lived a life of dissapointment, failure, pathos, and tragedy. That person seems to me like the person that even though their life was sad, they did what they could to make it better.  "Some would say your life was sad, but you lived it anyway."  The "I didn't mean to treat you oh so bad but I did it anyway" and "Friends stand around to watch you crumble as you fall into the ground " Is a representation of how when people feel bad we don't do much to help them. "then someday friends will stand beside as your flying oh so high" represents how we only stand beside our friends when they're on top.  "Friends watch you suffer" another indicator of how they weren't their.  However the "You left me far behind" and "you couldn't share the pain" say's to me that the person may of not wanted help, maybe told the friend to not help them.

I'd add more to it but it seems to me a person that has given up on being happy on life because of things gone wrong and a friend that wanted to help but was pushed away.

?  :o

Ok people - I thought this was a good idea - and I STILL think it's a good idea.

perhaps no one knew that song?


Out of these songs pick one and tell me your story

Have you Ever seen the Rain by Creedence Clearwater Revival
Black Velvet from Alynnah Miles
Blue on Black by Kenny Wayne Shepard
Dancing in the Dark by Bruce Springstein


or if you can think of a song that doesn't have a real meaning to it.....write it down and tell me your thoughts.  Don't go off listing 10's of thousands, please just list one, I want controversy, agreement, and arguement, about the same songs if at all possible.

"Wild Pack of Family Dogs" by Modest Mouse


This really speaks to me. It makes me feel... weird. Undescribable. Can't tell if I should cry or laugh.

Anyway, listen to some of the lyrics:

A wild pack of family dogs,
Came running through the yard one day,
My Daddy got his gun,
Shot it up, they ran away, Okay...

I believe the dogs at this point are conflict or sadness. His father uses scare tactics to get rid of them and they leave for the moment. But then...

A wild pack of family dogs,
Came running through the yard one day,
And as my own dog ran with them,
I didn't say much of anything at all...

The problems are hitting home. I believe the dogs represent death now, because of the next verse:

A wild pack of family dogs,
Came running through the yard one day,
And as my sister played,
The dogs came up and took her away,
And I guess she was eaten, that's okay,
My mother's crying, the blood stains...

This man just sits idly by while everything around him falls apart. I assume his sister died, or "was taken away". His mother then killed herself. I love the last verse...

My daddy quit his job today,
Well, he was fired, but that's okay,
Now I'm sitting by the mud,
Waitin for the dogs to take me away,
And right after I die,
The dogs start floating towards the sky,
Now they will recieve their reward, now they will recieve their reward....

His apathy takes over and he dies.

"Wild Pack of Family Dogs" by Modest Mouse


This really speaks to me. It makes me feel... weird. Undescribable. Can't tell if I should cry or laugh.

Anyway, listen to some of the lyrics:

A wild pack of family dogs,
Came running through the yard one day,
My Daddy got his gun,
Shot it up, they ran away, Okay...

I believe the dogs at this point are conflict or sadness. His father uses scare tactics to get rid of them and they leave for the moment. But then...

A wild pack of family dogs,
Came running through the yard one day,
And as my own dog ran with them,
I didn't say much of anything at all...

The problems are hitting home. I believe the dogs represent death now, because of the next verse:

A wild pack of family dogs,
Came running through the yard one day,
And as my sister played,
The dogs came up and took her away,
And I guess she was eaten, that's okay,
My mother's crying, the blood stains...

This man just sits idly by while everything around him falls apart. I assume his sister died, or "was taken away". His mother then killed herself. I love the last verse...

My daddy quit his job today,
Well, he was fired, but that's okay,
Now I'm sitting by the mud,
Waitin for the dogs to take me away,
And right after I die,
The dogs start floating towards the sky,
Now they will recieve their reward, now they will recieve their reward....

His apathy takes over and he dies.


Thanks for the Reply, if I only knew the lyrics, I'd compare and contrast.

Seems like no one on here listens to the same type of stuff unfortunately.

Thanks for replying though.

Anytime, Harmonica.

"Talking S*it About a Pretty Sunset" by Modest Mouse

Oh noose tied myself in, tied myself too tight
Looking kind of anxious in your cross armed stance
Like a bad tempered prom queen at a homecoming dance
And I claim I’m not excited with my life any more
So I blame this town, this job, these friends
The truth is it’s myself
And I’m trying to understand myself
And pinpoint where I am
By the time I get things figured out
I’ve change the whole d*mn plan
Oh noose tied myself in, tied myself too tight
Talking s*it about a pretty sunset
Blanketing opinions that I’ll probably reget soon
I’ve changed my mind so much I cant even trust it
My mind changed me so much I cant even trust myself...



It's about high school. He talks about the prom queen, who was most likely bitter in Isaac's day. The writer's songs show a lot of issues with high school. It's clear that the author is talking about suicide in the beginning. He can't really trust his own decisions because he changes his mind. In high school, people change their mind; what with relationships, their future, many things. He's gotten to the point he can't take it and kills himself. There's another one, more later.