So this has been.my favorite song of OTEP's since it came out in 2004, and I always thought it was a song about a child's narrative of suffering in an abusive Christian home. But now that I am revisiting the lyrics, I am seeing something totally new.
This song could be gospel of John but from the perspective of Jesus.
Jesus was NOT having a good time up to and during the crucifixion. Everyone in the known world at the time looked to him with fear, admiration or disgust and he was constantly being asked questions. He spoke in "verses, prophesies and curses". He had made an enemy of the state, and believed the world was increasingly wicked and fallen from grace, or that he was in the "mouth of madness".
The spine of atlas is the structure that allows the titan to hold the world up. Jesus challenged the state and in doing so became a celebrated resistance figure. It also made him public enemy #1.
All of this happened simply because he was doing his thing, not because of any agenda he had or strategy.
And then he gets scourged (storm of thorns)
There are some plot holes here but I think it's an interesting interpretation.
Excuse me
Is it true what they say?
About guys who go out by themselves?
Is that they go home by themselves
You've seen me dance here alone before
Is it tough to watch
Friday after Friday?
Is it true what they say?
About guys who go out by themselves?
Is that they go home by themselves
You've seen me dance here alone before
Is it tough to watch
Friday after Friday?
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Both as a standalone and as part of the DSOTS album, you can take this lyric as read. As a matter of public record, Jourgensen's drug intake was legendary even in the 1980s. By the late 90s, in his own words, he was grappling with massive addiction issues and had lost almost everything: friends, spouse, money and had nearly died more than once. "Dark Side of the Spoon" is a both funny & sad title for an album made by a musical genius who was losing the plot; and this song is a message to his fans & friends saying he knows it. It's painful to listen to so I'm glad the "Keith Richards of industrial metals" wised up and cleaned up. Well done sir.
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In regards to the meaning of this song:
Before a live performance on the EP Five Stories Falling, Geoff states “It’s about the last time I went to visit my grandmother in Columbus, and I saw that she was dying and it was the last time I was going to see her. It is about realizing how young you are, but how quickly you can go.”
That’s the thing about Geoff and his sublime poetry, you think it’s about one thing, but really it’s about something entirely different. But the lyrics are still universal and omnipresent, ubiquitous, even. So relatable. That’s one thing I love about this band. I also love their live performances, raw energy and Geoff’s beautiful, imperfectly perfect vocals. His voice soothes my aching soul.
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"Fast car" is kind of a continuation of Bruce Springsteen's "Born to Run." It has all the clawing your way to a better life, but in this case the protagonist never makes it with her love; in fact she is dragged back down by him.
There is still an amazing amount of hope and will in the lyrics; and the lyrics themselve rank and easy five. If only music was stronger it would be one of those great radio songs that you hear once a week 20 years after it was released. The imagery is almost tear-jerking ("City lights lay out before us", "Speeds so fast felt like I was drunk"), and the idea of starting from nothing and just driving and working and denigrating yourself for a chance at being just above poverty, then losing in the end is just painful and inspiring at the same time.
i just spent my friday night sitting around and playing video games... im glad i had this song to listen to.
i think you're both right.
i actually think i identify with jamie for giving the song this title.
ive actually always thought that jennifer lopez is a pretty tragic example of someone who is an entertainer and dancer and goes on stage and puts on the guise of being happy, but on a more personal level is kind of lost and unhappy and... keeps marrying people...desperately making unsucessful efforts to find someone to take away her loneliness, that always end in divorce
"you've seen me dance here alone before is it tough to watch friday after friday? "
I think the meaning of the title is more straight forward. Jamie said that Xiu Xiu came about after he came home one night from a gay club in San Jose. He has obviuosly gone out alone to gay clubs, and Jennifer Lopez's songs are frequently played at gay dance clubs.
The lyrics themselves are pretty self explanatory, but Im not too sure how the title fits. Maybe the speaker of the song is singing to Jennifer Lopez, who is basically an image of the screen - it heightens the sense of alienation you empathetically feel for the speaker.
One of my favourite Xiu Xiu songs.
I think the title is in there just to be funny/ironic.
I personally think it's the artists way of having this song titled "jennifer lopez" just because he saw her on television right after he wrote this song he could have spent nights alone to strip clubs in L.A. reminding him of these latina women performing here while he's alone on a friday night.
this is one of their best songs to me. the intro is amazing. what's that instrument? sounds like a saw to me...i think jamie goes out by himself and people watch him funny...and he doesnt like that pretty much...those people are like jennifer lopez which he doesn't really like i think...
that instrument is a cello. Read interviews, as many as you can. itll help you get the song/title
the cello at the begining reminds me of the dont be fooled by the rocks that i got song that jlo has. i dont know the title. im not ht ebiggest fan.
The lyrics reminds me of How Soon Is Now? by the smiths, the part "there's a club, if you'd like to go..you could meet somebody who really loves you. So you go, and you stand on your own, and you leave on your own, and you go home, and you cry and you want to die."
same kinda concept..