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Songs and song interpretations
Aug. 17th, 2012 09:45 pmDo you ever interpret songs in ways which aren't quite what the musicians intended, and in fact might be quite wrong about it?
Here are mine.
Spoonman, by Soundgarden. http://youtu.be/b0mYZswIU5M - between the general militant/rhythmic nature of the instrumentals, calling out for aid from an external (divine?) entity, and the verse "All my friends are Indians/All my friends are brown and red, spoonman!/All my friends are skeletons/They beat the rhythm with their bones" I've always thought it was, very specifically, about Wovoka's Great Ghost Dance.
Cuyahoga, by REM. http://youtu.be/7ehgIhnlEtU - another song I kinda think is about the way the Amerindians were kicked off their land. Most sources suggest REM was actually on about pollution.
Orange Crush, also by REM. http://youtu.be/6PXC574lzHA - this is pretty obviously about Vietnam, but I've thought it might also be about roadtripping, big cross-country motorcycle trips, that sort of thing. With the idea that the biker is a veteran, probably someone with PTSD ("and I was remembering and I was in a different country), so that the roadtrip he's on now, parallels some of what he saw overseas (the "chopper comin' soon, you hope" could be a bike as well as a helicopter).
The Hanging Garden, by The Cure. http://youtu.be/R_9WSnnBmS0 - I always thought this was about shamanism ("walking into the dream" "jump jump out of time" "in the hanging garden, wearing furs and masks") and environmental devastation ("cover my face as the animals die"), and in this case I know I'm quite wrong. Smith is on record as saying the song's about animals having sex.
Under the Bridge by the Red Hot Chili Peppers. http://youtu.be/O9TunCtR3dQ - I used to think it was about a suicide, or suicide attempt ("I don't ever want to feel like I did that day", "under the bridge some day is where I drew some blood" and "gave my life away"). I think I prefer the idea that he's on about being in love with SoCal.
Pretty Penny by Stone Temple Pilots. http://youtu.be/c3z0W81xTMA - a recent favorite, the vaguely British Isles folk style to the instrumentals and some of the lyrics (the mother and sister being "gone when you wake in the morning," finding nobody sleeping) actually made me think it's a song about a selkie (selchie). Which is admittedly folklore I find very appealing. The song actually came out of an impromptu jam session, and reflects all sorts of things Scott Weiland was thinking about his drug addiction.
Here are mine.
Spoonman, by Soundgarden. http://youtu.be/b0mYZswIU5M - between the general militant/rhythmic nature of the instrumentals, calling out for aid from an external (divine?) entity, and the verse "All my friends are Indians/All my friends are brown and red, spoonman!/All my friends are skeletons/They beat the rhythm with their bones" I've always thought it was, very specifically, about Wovoka's Great Ghost Dance.
Cuyahoga, by REM. http://youtu.be/7ehgIhnlEtU - another song I kinda think is about the way the Amerindians were kicked off their land. Most sources suggest REM was actually on about pollution.
Orange Crush, also by REM. http://youtu.be/6PXC574lzHA - this is pretty obviously about Vietnam, but I've thought it might also be about roadtripping, big cross-country motorcycle trips, that sort of thing. With the idea that the biker is a veteran, probably someone with PTSD ("and I was remembering and I was in a different country), so that the roadtrip he's on now, parallels some of what he saw overseas (the "chopper comin' soon, you hope" could be a bike as well as a helicopter).
The Hanging Garden, by The Cure. http://youtu.be/R_9WSnnBmS0 - I always thought this was about shamanism ("walking into the dream" "jump jump out of time" "in the hanging garden, wearing furs and masks") and environmental devastation ("cover my face as the animals die"), and in this case I know I'm quite wrong. Smith is on record as saying the song's about animals having sex.
Under the Bridge by the Red Hot Chili Peppers. http://youtu.be/O9TunCtR3dQ - I used to think it was about a suicide, or suicide attempt ("I don't ever want to feel like I did that day", "under the bridge some day is where I drew some blood" and "gave my life away"). I think I prefer the idea that he's on about being in love with SoCal.
Pretty Penny by Stone Temple Pilots. http://youtu.be/c3z0W81xTMA - a recent favorite, the vaguely British Isles folk style to the instrumentals and some of the lyrics (the mother and sister being "gone when you wake in the morning," finding nobody sleeping) actually made me think it's a song about a selkie (selchie). Which is admittedly folklore I find very appealing. The song actually came out of an impromptu jam session, and reflects all sorts of things Scott Weiland was thinking about his drug addiction.