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I’m not the hugest fan of KoRn, but I really like this song. I think I like it more because it’s an actual song as opposed to a series of odd sounds (KoRn–in my opinion–have some great moments in their songs, but they rarely add up to a great song). There’s a verse, a bridge, a chorus–it’s a classically composed pop song really.

As regards the song’s meaning, from Wikipedia:

“That’s a song baggin’ on myself. How everything’s always handed to me. How I look up to God and don’t want this anymore. Like I want something more out of life than all this. And I’ve got everything I really need but I sometimes don’t like. I don’t know how to explain it. I have to let it sit through the songs more to actually get into what I write. I truly know, really, the meanings of the songs almost. That’s what I’m getting out of it right now.” – Jonathan Davis

Here’s a link to the video:

And of course, the lyrics:

Hate, something, sometime, someway, something kicked on the front floor…
Mine? Something, inside.
I’ll never ever follow.
So give.. me.. some.. thing.. that.. is.. for.. real.
I’ll never ever follow.

Got… the… life.

—————-
Now playing: The Clash - If Music Could Talk
via FoxyTunes

I’ve generally wondered what all the fuss was about regarding Pearl Jam. There’s maybe two songs of their’s that I like. One is Jeremy. This is the other one.

I like this song for many reasons. I think one of my major reasons for liking it is that it doesn’t sound like a Pearl Jam song. In fact, Eddie Vedder’s voice on this song reminds me much more of Neil Young than anything else. Another reason is that I just feel it has a lot of depth. Plus, it does rock.

For once, I’ve got some concrete information on the song’s meaning, specifically from Wikipedia:

When speaking about the song, Eddie Vedder stated, “That song is all about someone who’s drunk with technology, who thinks they’re the controlling living being on this planet. It’s another one I’m not singing as myself.” Pearl Jam has stated that the novel Ishmael influenced the writing of Yield, and according to the novel’s writer, Daniel Quinn, this song comes the closest to expressing the ideas of the book. Vedder stated:

This Daniel Quinn book, Ishmael…I’ve never recommended a book before, but I would actually, in an interview, recommend it to everyone….But this book, it’s kind of the book of my … My whole year has been kind of with these thoughts in mind. And on an evolutionary level, that man has been on this planet for 3 million years, so that you have this number line that goes like this [hands wide apart]. And that we’re about to celebrate the year 2000, which is this [holds hands less than one inch apart]. So here’s this number line; here’s what we know and celebrate. This book is a conversation with a man and an ape. And the ape really has it all together. He kinda knows the differences between him and the man, and points out how slight they are, and it creates an easy analogy for what man has done, thinking that they were the end-all. That man is the end-all thing on this earth. That the earth was around even so much longer before the 3 million years. Fifty million years of sharks and all these living things. Then man comes out of the muck, and 3 million years later he’s standing, and now he’s controlling everything and killing it. Just in the last hundred! Which is just a speck on this line. So what are we doin’ here? This is just a good reminder…And I’m anxious to see what happens. You know, I’ve got a good seat for whatever happens next. It’ll be interesting.

Here’s a link to the video

And of course, the lyrics:

Woo..
I’m ahead, I’m a man
I’m the first mammal to wear pants, yeah
I’m at peace with my lust
I can kill ’cause in God I trust, yeah
It’s evolution, baby

I am ahead, I am advanced
I am the first mammal to make plans, yeah
I crawled the earth, but now I’m higher
2010, watch it go to fire
It’s evolution, baby
It’s evolution, baby
Let’s do the evolution
Come on, come on, come on

Waitress is a funny song,but also a bit of a warning about letting your work define you. The song is about a woman who’s become obsessed with her job, so much so that she can no longer enjoy parties, has nightmares about her job, and possibly offers extra favors to regulars who are “nice” to her. Of course, I could be completely off base here as well, as it could just be a cute little song.

The song has a nice quirky, slightly jazzy feel, and it flows nicely within itself. It’s a fun listen, and you can check it out below:

And of course, the lyrics:

I have to clear your table
I wipe it
It’s right to keep it clean
So I clean
Yes — I clean
Do you clean?
Yes — I clean it

… And I’d probably
Be famous now
If I wasn’t
Such a good waitress…

This is just your basic, fun little toe-tapping, booty-wagging swing daddy rockers. It’s very straightforward, but it also has some really cool lyrics courtesy of Difford and Tilbrook. It’s a sad tale of a poor girl who’s had bad luck with a man once again, and everything just keeps going wrong. Still, you can’t help smiling while the song plays.

There’s a really nice honky tonk piano solo as well, followed by a neat guitar solo. Just a good old fun song, and I love it.

Here’s a link to a live performance

And of course, the lyrics:

She wants to give up love for good
She kicks the fence and splits the wood,
She cries her eyes out in the rain
She swears aloud and so again,
She feels messed around.
She takes her coat off as it pours
The passing daytime she ignores,
Sits with a problem on a bench
And with her heel she digs a trench,
She feels messed around.
She rips her skirt and tears her dress
Climbing over his garden fence,
Mud on her mourning as tears still fall
She’s in no mood for his love at all,

She left herself open for him all the time
But always kept off of his cloud,
All the king’s horses and all the king’s men
Have come to mess her around

This is just a great song, possibly my favorite Primus song.

Tommy The Cat isn’t the deepest song in the world–essentially it’s the tale of an alleycat looking for love and boasting about his adventures–but it’s certainly fun. Tom Waits handles the voice of Tommy adroitly, giving the feeling of a top cat telling a story to a group of captivated younger cats, wishing to bask in his experience.

However, what really makes this song work for me is Les Claypool’s bass playing. I truly believe this is his peak, as he goes from outright funky to delivering a solo that might make John Entwistle roll in his grave with envy. Definitely the high point for me.

Here’s a link to the video

And of course, the lyrics:

“I remember as it were a meal ago”

“Say baby do you wanna lay down by me”

Once again, the Plastics entertain.

Diamond Head is actually kind of a funny song. On one hand, you have the deep thinking boyfriend, and on the other side the girlfriend who really just wants to have some fun with her boyfriend.

I personally love the back and forth banter, the cool guitar stylings, and that crazy quirky beat. Just a great fun song.

You can listen to the song below:

And of course, the lyrics:

Oh Well! After all!
Westernize is modernize
It’s the positive insecure
In this modern world
Formalism to Bauhaus
From Russian Avant-Garde
Picabia to Manlay
Problems of human race

Oh you bastard
Come here by my side
Listen to the new age
Uhh…it’s comin’

Sorry about the downtime everyone…just a technical glitch. We’re all better now.

List of Demands is a powerfully energetic song with some great lyrics. At the same time, it’s also a little confusing.

The song is about reparations for slavery, yet the entire second verse–lyrically fantastic, by the way–is essentially a declaration of love and seems to have nothing to do with verses one and three.

Williams voice is strong and energetic, exhorting the listener into a frenzy, and the lyrics are really, really good. I also think it’s a great choice sometimes for singers to repeat lines of importance as it really drives the point home.

Here’s a link to the video

And of course, the lyrics:

I want my money back.
I’m down here drowning in your fat.
You got me on my knees praying for everything you lack.
I ain’t afraid of you.
I’m just a victim of your fears.
You cower in your tower praying that I’ll disappear,
I got another plan, one that requires me to stand.
On the stage or in the street, don’t need no microphone or beat.
And when you hear this song, if you ain’t dead then sing along.
Bang and strum to these here drums til you get where you belong.

I got a list of demands written on the palm of my hands.
I ball my fist and you’re gonna know where I stand.
We’re living hand to mouth!
You wanna be somebody?
See somebody?
Try and free somebody?
I gotta list of demands written on the palm of my hands.
I ball my fist and you’re gonna know where I stand.
We’re living hand to mouth!
Hand to mouth!

I am in love with that song.

Alex Chilton is one of those songs that tends to elevate my mood whenever I hear it. It’s an exceptionally well-crafted song for all of its seeming rough edges.

The song is, of course, a tribute to former Box Tops member and power pop pioneer Alex Chilton. Some of the lyrics refer to Paul Westerberg’s meetings with Chilton, and Chilton was at one time going to produce one of their records.

Anyway, it’s just a gorgeous song.

Here’s a link to a fan video

And of course, the lyrics:

If he was from Venus, would he feed us with a spoon?
If he was from Mars, wouldn’t that be cool?
Standing right on campus, would he stamp us in a file?
Hangin’ down in Memphis all the while.

(chorus)

Heroin was a song that scared me the first time I heard it. It seemed very spooky and gloomy, and it sort of gave me the shivers as well. Still, today it’s one of my favorite songs.

A song that was meant to be a sort of anti-drug warning, it was generally misinterpreted as being actually the opposite. From Wikipedia:

“Heroin”, (along with songs like “I’m Waiting for the Man” which dealt with similar subject matter), was chiefly one of the reasons The Velvet Underground were tied to drug use in the media. Some critics declared the band were glorifying the use of drugs such as heroin. However, members of the band (Lou Reed, in particular) frequently denied any claims that the song was advocating use of the drug; in fact, it was quite the opposite. Lou Reed’s lyrics, such as they are on the majority of The Velvet Underground and Nico, were more meant to focus on providing an objective description of the topic without taking a moral stance in the matter.

and

“I meant those songs to sort of exorcise the darkness, or the self-destrutive element in me, and hoped other people would take them the same way. But when I saw how people were responding to them it was disturbing. Because like people would come up and say, ‘I shot up to “Heroin,’” things like that. For a while, I was even thinking that some of my songs might have contributed formatively to the consciousness of all these addictions and things going down with the kids today. But I don’t think that anymore; it’s really too awful a thing to consider. (Lou Reed)”

For me, what makes the song is the changes in tempo, the fatalistic lyrics, Lou Reed’s voice–he never had a great voice, but he used what he had to good effect–and the steady droning beat. Great, compelling stuff.

Here’s a link to a fan video

And of course, the lyrics:

I don’t know just where I’m going
But I’m gonna try for the kingdom, if I can
‘Cause it makes me feel like I’m a man
When I put a spike into my vein
And I’ll tell ya, things aren’t quite the same
When I’m rushing on my run
And I feel just like Jesus’ son
And I guess that I just don’t know
And I guess that I just don’t know
I have made the big decision
I’m gonna try to nullify my life
‘Cause when the blood begins to flow
When it shoots up the dropper’s neck
When I’m closing in on death
And you can’t help me now, you guys
And all you sweet girls with all your sweet talk
You can all go take a walk
And I guess that I just don’t know
And I guess that I just don’t know

Heroin, be the death of me
Heroin, it’s my wife and it’s my life
Because a mainer to my vein
Leads to a center in my head
And then I’m better off and dead
Because when the smack begins to flow
I really don’t care anymore
About all the Jim-Jim’s in this town
And all the politicians makin’ busy sounds
And everybody puttin’ everybody else down
And all the dead bodies piled up in mounds
‘Cause when the smack begins to flow
Then I really don’t care anymore
Ah, when the heroin is in my blood
And that blood is in my head
Then thank God that I’m as good as dead
Then thank your God that I’m not aware
And thank God that I just don’t care
And I guess I just don’t know
And I guess I just don’t know