Lyrics?

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nghst
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Lyrics?

Post by nghst »

Maybe I'm the only one who would like to hear Jason talk about his lyrics. If his songs were just about having a good time then it would be safe to say it was all about the music, but I think his songs go deeper than that. The songs I would most like to hear him discuss right now are Borrowed Your Gun and Poppy, So Long. Maybe they are too personal to talk about. I think from his albums up through AG two lyrics could sum up his feelings: "All I want in life is a little bit of love to take the pain away," and "If I am good I could add years to my life, I would rather add some life to my years." It seems to me a bit of a schizophrenic outlook on life with Lay Back in the Sun, Electricity, On Fire, Twelve Steps, This Little Life of Mine going at breakneck speed looking for a high on one side and Ladies and Gentlemen, Cool Waves, I didn't mean to hurt you, Stop your crying, Oh Baby, Lay it Down Slow looking for love on the other side. Maybe this good and bad added to the allure of Spiritualized, which would help explain his demon and angel on the cover of LGM and when he sings "I'm not bad in life, I'm not good as well" on Let It Come Down. But now I'm thinking and hoping that on Songs in A and E and Sweet Heart, Sweet Light the direction he seems to be heading towards is the more measured and careful half of his personality and away from the high speed, reckless half of his personality. Some of his best songs are the ones that are out of control and wild, but I don't think I should like listening to the sound of a man running himself into the ground and yet those songs are still classics for their honesty and frenetic pace. I would feel much better knowing that he is now "Heading for the Top" and edging closer to "The Straight and Narrow." Maybe I'm looking to deep into the lyrics.

Is anyone else curious about his lyrics or is really just all about the music?
redcloud
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Re: Lyrics?

Post by redcloud »

nghst wrote: Some of his best songs are the ones that are out of control and wild,
This is often the case with a lot of masterful art, dance, literature and music. It's the sense of emotional vulnerability, weakness, pain, numbness, profound higher consciousness or spiritual awakening & awareness that speaks to us all. It doesn't matter if you live in America, Europe, Asia or Africa...this is the human condition and we can all relate to it.
somakoma
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Re: Lyrics?

Post by somakoma »

redcloud wrote:emotional vulnerability, weakness, pain, numbness, profound higher consciousness or spiritual awakening & awareness that speaks to us all. It doesn't matter if you live in America, Europe, Asia or Africa...this is the human condition and we can all relate to it.
and then we also have those ballsy Australasians who listen exclusively to AC/DC!
I say we let them become at least honorary humans?
redcloud
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Re: Lyrics?

Post by redcloud »

Australia had The Master's Apprentices and Coloured Balls (and New Zealand had The Human Instinct). They may not have sold anywhere near as many albums as AC/DC but they left worthy legacies in the history of rock music.

8)
nghst
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Re: Lyrics?

Post by nghst »

I just have to add something because I've rethought what I think on this. Seeing this quote from a Vanity Fair interview with J. Spaceman made me change my mind:

"you can buy an excerpt from a book in a magazine, or you can buy a postcard of the two fingers touching from the Sistine Chapel, but you can’t deny that it’s from a larger piece. Even though you can take things in small doses, they’re still a part. No one’s writing like that. I mean people write pop singles, but generally people write albums collected from a time frame… The thing about albums is they were put together as complete works; they weren’t a collection of tracks. I don’t write like that. I still write albums. I write songs that lean on each other and have parts that reference other parts of other songs on the same album."

I had been thinking in terms of tracks rather than in terms of albums. In this case songs from Let It Come Down like The Twelve Steps and Straight and Narrow aren't a statement of where he's at. Instead they are a statement of where he maybe was at one time. Won't Get to Heaven and Lord Can You Hear Me are more where he gets to on that album. That's why I disagree with this point of view from NME:

"It's been billed (by NME as well as others) as his rehab record largely on the strength of titles like 'The Straight And The Narrow' and 'The Twelve Steps'. Actually, it's nothing of the sort. Just check out the lyrics to 'The Twelve Steps' ("(i)I know I'm never going to find Jesus Christ/So I'd rather spend my cash on vice(i)") or 'Out Of Sight' ("(i)If I am good I could add years to my life/I would rather add some life to my years(i)"), and you'll realise this isn't the sound of a man on the wagon."

I think it very well could be a rehab album if you listen to the whole thing instead of picking out two or three songs. I of course could be wrong. Spaceman is a guy that can be easily misinterpreted because he's a bit mysterious. I want to believe that he is listening to the better angels of his nature.

I agree with this sentiment:
redcloud wrote:this is the human condition and we can all relate to it.
I think Spaceman looks for ways to transcend the human condition through music, drugs, love and ultimately spirituality. LAGWAFIS and Let It Come Down end with existential despair. In Cop Shoot Cop Jesus and his friends die for no reason at all. In Lord Can You Hear Me he wonders if there is a disconnect between God and humanity. In Amazing Grace he ends with Lay It Down Slow seemingly seeking romantic love as a way to transcend when spirituality seems empty. Songs in A and E is tough to decipher with Borrowed Your Gun and Good night, goodnight. Finally in Sweet Heart, Sweet Light he again turns to spirituality with Life Is A Problem and Poppy, So Long, but this time there seems to be a ray of light rather than the despair of Cop Shoot Cop and Lord Can You Hear Me. This review from Beats Per Minute sums up the more positive ending:

“Life’s A Problem” is a blatant tug at the heart strings as Pierce sings that he “won’t get to Heaven,” and as we move into the final song Pierce continues his slow departure, begging “help me Lord, help me Jesus,” as his soul slips away. The song then takes a miraculous turn for its second half as Pierce’s soul leaves his body and starts ascending Heavenward. Everyone’s shown up for the send-off; the strings, the horns, and the gospel singers all rise up to together to previously unscaled heights honor his passing, as Pierce joyously repeats his sign off “So long you pretty things, God save your little souls!”

I have two feelings on his musical odyssey from LGM to SH, SL one negative and one positive. The negative one is that if there is a God, God is an angry God and would strike Jason with lightning and me along with him for questioning his presence. The positive one is that if there is a God, God is Love and would give Jason a medal for working so hard to transcend the despair that life deals us. My hope is that the second feeling is closer to the truth and Love is the most powerful force. Of course a third option is that there is no God and we just have to make the best that we can of life. In Walking With Jesus Jason goes from the Sound of Confusion to the Sound of Love. Hopefully this world can go from a world of confusion to a world filled with love. I know this is all grandiose thinking, but I think it is better to have a great hope than to be stuck with doubts and confusion.
nghst
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Re: Lyrics?

Post by nghst »

At the risk of beating a dead horse, I'll add another post to this topic.

What are your favorite lyrics from Spiritualized and other artists?

One of my favorites from Sweet Heart Sweet Light from Heading for the Top is: "I keep forgetting all the time I shouldn't photograph my mind."

Here's another one from Mazzy Star from I'm Sailin off their first record: "If I could holler, yeah holler, if I could scream and cry, it hurts so much when I look up in the sky, cause my friends turn their heads when I'm passing by."

I'm looking forward to the new Mazzy Star album if it ever comes out, although I was disappointed they let the video game Gears of War use the song Into Dust on one of their ads. I'm sure artistically it fit well, but I'm against anything that makes war seem fun or entertaining.
solarflarez
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Re: Lyrics?

Post by solarflarez »

Im a simple city boy with simple country tastes,
Smoke wild grown mari-joo-ana keeps that smile on my face

:)
solarflarez
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Re: Lyrics?

Post by solarflarez »

A little more seriously.....this i have always thought is beautiful, from The Doors' Touch Me, not (in my opinion) their greatest song but i love these lines

I'm gonna love you
Till the heavens stop the rain
I'm gonna love you
Till the stars fall from the sky for you and I


"till the stars....fall from the sky......for you and i"
fuckin devastating
nghst
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Re: Lyrics?

Post by nghst »

My favorite lyrics from the Doors is from Horse Latitudes. From memory I think it went like this:

When the still sea conspires an armor
and her sullen and aborted currents breed tiny monsters
true sailing is dead
and the first animal is jettisoned
legs furiously pumping
their stiff green gallop
heads bob up poise, delicate
in mute nostril agony
carefully refined and sealed over!
nghst
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Re: Lyrics?

Post by nghst »

Sticking with the themes of horses and The Doors from The Soft Parade: "When all else fails we can whip the horse's eyes and make them sleep and cry."
nghst
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Re: Lyrics?

Post by nghst »

I've got two from Spiritualized that have stuck in my mind lately.

From Cheapster: Sometimes you kick the devil out, the angels smash your face and you can lay the law down baby, but I don't think I'll behave!

From Anything More: Though my body gets tired my mind does it no favors at all.

As someone who has struggled with mental illness these lyrics hit home.
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