Questions tagged [song-lyrics]
Questions about the literary meaning or significance of the lyrics of a song or the literary devices used in them. Should be used with either the song-writer or the band in lieu of the author tag.
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What is the "Neon god" in "The Sound of Silence" by Simon and Garfunkel?
In Simon and Garfunkel's song The Sound of Silence1, there is the following passage in lyrics:
And the people bowed and prayed
To the neon god they made
What is this neon god?
Obviously, they ...
- 8,365
17
votes
2
answers
4k
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Who is the speaker in Leonard Cohen's song, "Avalanche"?
I understand that some of Cohen's songs have religious context, so when I heard the lyrics of this song that stated, "You strike my side by accident," I thought it could be symbolism of Jesus being ...
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4
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Explanation of the line 'But you don't really care for music, do you' in "Hallelujah"
In the first verse of Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah", there are these lines:
Now, I've heard there was a secret chord
That David played and it pleased the Lord
But you don't really care for music,...
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15
votes
4
answers
16k
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Why is the king 'baffled' in "Hallelujah"?
At the end of the first verse of "Hallelujah"...
It goes like this
The fourth, the fifth
The minor fall, the major lift
The baffled king composing Hallelujah
I take it the king is referring ...
- 23.3k
12
votes
1
answer
244
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When was young Cosette's bedtime?
While the song "Come to Me" was probably not intended as a treatise on astronomical timekeeping or 19th-century French child-rearing, some of Fantine's lines (taken at face value) fit together for a ...
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10
votes
1
answer
19k
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Origin and significance of E-I-E-I-O in the Old MacDonald song
The well-known children's song "Old MacDonald had a Farm" has lyrics in the following format:
Old MacDonald had a farm
E-I-E-I-O !
And on that farm he had {article} {singular or plural ...
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9
votes
3
answers
5k
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How does the line 'your faith was strong but you needed proof' match the rest of the verse in "Hallelujah"?
The second verse of "Hallelujah" by Leonard Cohen goes like:
Your faith was strong but you needed proof
You saw her bathing on the roof
Her beauty and the moonlight overthrew you
She tied you ...
- 23.3k
9
votes
2
answers
7k
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What is the Myth of Fingerprints?
In Paul Simon's album Graceland there is a song, "All Around the World". This song has a repeating theme in its verses, always some variation of:
There was no doubt about it,
It was the ...
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9
votes
4
answers
2k
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What are the 'holy' and 'broken' Hallelujahs?
The third verse of "Hallelujah" by Leonard Cohen goes like this:
You say I took the name in vain
I don't even know the name
But if I did well really what's it to you
There's a blaze of light ...
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8
votes
5
answers
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What is the significance of the words of the prophets being written on the subway wall?
The fifth verse of "The Sound of Silence" runs thusly:
And the people bowed and prayed
To the neon god they made
And the sign flashed out its warning
In the words that it was forming
And ...
- 23.3k
8
votes
1
answer
2k
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What words sung by Gloria Gaynor correspond to the line written in the lyrics of I Will Survive as "It took all the strength I had not to fall apart"?
The lyrics of Gloria Gaynor's song "I Will Survive" include the line "It took all the strength I had not to fall apart".
You can hear here what she actually sings. With what words ...
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8
votes
3
answers
942
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Does Rush's "Tom Sawyer" promote an anti-religious view?
Rush's Tom Sawyer includes the following line:
No, his mind is not for rent
To any God or government
Always hopeful yet discontent
He knows changes aren't permanent
But change is
Is this ...
8
votes
1
answer
874
views
Is the song "Mabel Grey" by Brown Bird an allusion to a real ship?
The song Mabel Grey, by Brown Bird contains peculiar lyrics.
The lyrics are awfully specific about what happened to this ship, which is a common pattern I see when a song is referent to a real-life ...
user80
8
votes
2
answers
969
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What does Nuvoletta's disappearance signify in Finnegans Wake?
I am studying Samuel Barber's art song "Nuvoletta", whose text is adapted from James Joyce's Finnegans Wake. I have not studied Finnegans Wake. The music is very beautiful.
As I understand it, ...
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0
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In "Bullet the Blue Sky", what is the symbolism of Jacob and the angel?
U2's song "Bullet the Blue Sky" was inspired by Bono's trip to El Salvadore in 1986, and America's role on the Salvadoran Civil War. As Bono said in an interview,
And it upset me as a person who ...
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7
votes
3
answers
871
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What is the nature of the friendship in Don Henley's "My Thanksgiving"?
The first verse My Thanksgiving by Don Henley (from Inside Job) reads as follows:
A lot of things have happened
Since the last time we spoke
Some of them are funny
Some of 'em ain't no joke
...
7
votes
1
answer
254
views
Is "Here we come a-wassailing" supposed to be sung at Christmas?
Here we come a-wassailing is a traditional Christmas tune but it has almost no mention of the traditional Christmas subjects. The only one I can see in the entire version printed in Wikipedia is in a ...
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7
votes
1
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In the song "Ja is Playing Jazz" (Джа играет джаз), who is Ja?
While listening to Splean's last album Ключ к шифру (The Key to the Cipher) again, I've wondered about a particular line from the song "Джа играет джаз" ("Ja is Playing Jazz"):
Сегодня Джа играет ...
- 8,365
7
votes
3
answers
2k
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What is the "color of boom"?
In Imagine Dragon's song Polaroid, there's a certain line that gets repeated throughout the song:
I am the color of boom
What is the meaning of this line? Does it mean like an explosion of color, or ...
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votes
3
answers
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The meaning of the line "and from your lips she drew the Hallelujah" in "Hallelujah"
"Hallelujah" contains a mix of Biblical themes. The first stanza mentions (King) David by name, and the first three lines of the second seem to refer to one of King David's stories (II Samuel 11). The ...
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1
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403
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What's the symbolism in The Twelve Days of Christmas?
The popular Christmas song "The Twelve Days of Christmas" has many different versions, but they're usually something along the lines of the following (final verse, which includes all the others):
...
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7
votes
1
answer
2k
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In "Close Every Door", why does 'for I know I shall find' change to the plural the second time?
In perhaps the most famous song of the Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, "Close Every Door", we see these lyrics:
Close every door to me
Keep those I love from me
Children of Israel ...
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6
votes
2
answers
3k
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Why is the Star of the County Down referred to as Colleen?
While listening to the Irish Rovers version of the traditional Irish song "Star of the County Down", I noticed an apparent discrepancy in her name:
Near Banbridge town, in the County Down
...
- 71k
6
votes
2
answers
180
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What does "I'm with the Switzerland wolves we bout to spit some jewels" mean?
In Snowgoons "Get Off the Ground" there's the following line:
I'm with the Switzerland wolves we bout to spit some jewels
What does that mean?
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6
votes
1
answer
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How does this song lyric "Simple and Clean" scan?
From the English version of "Simple and Clean" by Utada Hikaru:
When you walk away
You don't hear me say
Please, O baby, don't go
Simple and clean is the way that you're making me feel ...
- 573
6
votes
2
answers
317
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What's the meaning of "a knife in your throat held after dark" in the Silly Walk Song?
The so-called Silly Walk Song by the Monty Python troupe (lyrics and video here, lyrics in text form here) is mostly a lament of the tedium and futility of a life of money-induced drudgery. But there ...
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6
votes
3
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Does this phrase deliberately sound like "blackjack"?
The third verse and chorus of "Do It Again" by Steely Dan is as follows:
Now you swear and kick and beg us that you're not a gamblin' man;
Then you find you're back in Vegas with a handle in your ...
6
votes
2
answers
4k
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What's the meaning of a pink carnation, as mentioned in these songs?
Several songs mention pink carnations.
"A White Sport Coat (and a Pink Carnation)" by Marty Robbins
A white sport coat and a pink carnation
I'm all dressed up for the dance
A white sport coat ...
- 553
6
votes
1
answer
657
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Meaning of "trente-six à soixante-huit chandelles" in Jean Ferrat's Ma France
The French singer-songwriter Jean Ferrat (1930 – 2010) wrote a number of controversial songs. One of his most beautiful songs, Ma France (1969), was banned from the radio for two years. It's last ...
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5
votes
1
answer
2k
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Why does the Phantom call both Christina and himself "Angel of Music?"
In the 1986 musical The Phantom of the Opera by Andrew Lloyd Webber, the Phantom seems to frequently refer to both himself and Christina as "Angel of Music". For example, in "The Mirror/Angel of Music ...
- 2,216
5
votes
2
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Is Bob Dylan's "A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall" supposed to be uplifting or mournful?
I've become interested in Bob Dylan's song "A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall", which I find perplexing and hard to make sense of. Looking at the lyrics, it seems that there is quite a bit of ambiguity as to ...
user111
5
votes
1
answer
170
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Why does the painter make the shawl red in "Chadariya Jhini re Jhini"?
What does the poet want to convey with these lines?
जब मोरी चादर बन घर आई
रंगरेज़ को दीन्ही
ऐसा रंग रँगा रँग रे ले
लाल-ओ-लाल कर दीन्ही ।
jab mori chaadar, ban ghaar ayie,
rang-rej ko dinhi.
Aisa rang,...
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5
votes
1
answer
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What are the "garment thin" and the "prize" in the song "The Ballad of the Shape of Things to Come"?
From the song "The Ballad of the Shape of Things to Come" (lyrics link):
Triangular is the piece of pie I eat to ease my sorrow
Triangular is the hatchet blade I plan to hide tomorrow
...
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5
votes
1
answer
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Is "and if I'm flying solo" a pun in "Defying Gravity"?
In the song "Defying Gravity", part of the musical Wicked, there's this section:
So if you care to find me
Look to the western sky
As someone told me lately
"Everyone deserves the ...
- 23.3k
5
votes
1
answer
159
views
Why is the folk song Cutty Wren included in Arnold Wesker's play Chips With Everything?
Arnold Wesker's play Chips with Everything is an examination of class attitudes in Britain through the window of the armed forces.
In one scene a group of conscripts sing the peculiar English folk ...
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5
votes
1
answer
191
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Meaning of “rose” and “bleu” in Alain Bashung's “Résidents de la république ”
Alain Bashung's song “Résidents de la république” (part of the album Bleu pétrole, 2008) contains the following lines:
Résidents, résidents de la république
Où le rose a des reflets bleus
The ...
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5
votes
3
answers
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What does "I struggle with some demons, they were middle class and tame" have to do with the rest of the verse?
There's a stanza in Leonard Cohen's "You Want It Darker" that goes like this:
They're lining up to prisoners
And the guards are taking aim
I struggle with some demons
They were middle class ...
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5
votes
0
answers
3k
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Why is the introduction different for the video and streaming versions of Lamar's Humble?
The video version of Kendrick Lamar's single Humble begins with the following three lines:
Wicked or weakness
You gotta see this
Waaaaay (yeah, yeah!)
However, the version of the song on ...
user111
5
votes
0
answers
76
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Did Timrod inspire Dylan before 'Modern Times'?
Bob Dylan's album Modern Times has many passages famously inspired by (some say plagiarised from) the poetry of Henry Timrod. Do any of Dylan's earlier works also clearly reflect the influence of ...
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4
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3
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"I've seen your flag on the marble arch"
From Leonard Cohen's "Halleluj'ah":
Baby, I've been here before --
I know this room, I've walked this floor:
I used to live alone before I knew you.
I've seen your flag on the ...
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1
answer
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Meaning of "sheer hulk" in the poem/song "Tom Bowling" by Charles Dibdin = "just a hulk of a ship" or "a floating crane"?
From the poem/song "Tom Bowling" by Charles Dibdin:
Here a sheer hulk lies poor Tom Bowling,
The darling of our crew;
No more he'll hear the tempest howling,
For death has broach'd him to:
...
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4
votes
1
answer
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Name of this lyrical device comparing oneself to something that's described by the same word, but in another sense of the word?
Warning: The examples contain some offensive words, but I believe that is not against the rules here?
Lately I've been listening a lot to a certain hip-hop album, in which almost every track uses a ...
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4
votes
1
answer
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What was the "cyclops' smoky band" to which Ewan MacColl's father belonged?
Ewan MacColl's song "My Old Man" contains the lyrics:
My old man was a good old man
Skilled in the moulding trade
In the stinking heat of the iron foundry
My old man was made
Down on his ...
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4
votes
1
answer
801
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What does "steal my crown" mean in Kacey Musgraves's Butterflies?
I was enjoying a song "Butterflies" by Kacey Musgraves and in the lyrics there is "Stealing my heart 'stead of stealing my crown".
What does "steal my crown" mean? I am ...
huanah
4
votes
1
answer
289
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Who classified Rabindranath Tagore's lyrics into the six standard categories?
The standard edition of Rabindranath Tagore's song lyrics, গীতবিতান / giitabitaan, "A Canopy of Songs", classifies the lyrics under six headings:
পূজা / puujaa, "Worship"
স্বদেশ / ...
- 21.8k
4
votes
2
answers
12k
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What is the meaning of the Gaelic lines in the song "Tír na nÓg"?
The song "Tír na nÓg", like many of the Celtic Woman songs, is partly in English and partly in Irish Gaelic. Unlike many of those Celtic Woman songs, this one doesn't seem to be based on a ...
- 71k
4
votes
4
answers
6k
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Why does Cat Stevens's Moonshadow talk about losing legs and eyes?
Cat Stevens's Moonshadow talks about losing body parts:
And if I ever lose my hands, lose my plough, lose my land
Oh if I ever lose my hands, oh if.... I won’t have to work no more
And if ...
4
votes
8
answers
14k
views
What does Jack do again in the Steely Dan song?
"Do it again" by Steely Dan starts with the following verse:
In the mornin' you go gunnin' for the man who stole your water
And you fire till he is done in but they catch you at the border
And ...
4
votes
1
answer
254
views
What is the meaning of this phrase in the "Battle Hymn of the Republic"?
The "Battle Hymn of the Republic" contains the following lines:
I have read a fiery gospel writ in burnished rows of steel:
"As ye deal with my contemners, so my grace shall with you ...
- 808
4
votes
2
answers
179
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What's the significance of Emilia's song at the end of Day 1 of the Decameron?
At the end of Day 1 of the Decameron, after the "crown" has been transferred from Pampinea to Filomena, they all have dinner together and then play music and dance. Emilia sings the ...
- 71k