shut up and listen
matthew yglesias way over-analyzes a postal service song:
Also, frankly, it's nice that this guy's "finally seeing why [he] was the one worth leaving," but he doesn't really explain it to the audience very well.UPDATE: My friend Kriston writing in comments proffers a reasonable explanation of the Postal Service lyric:
It's a great story. He comes to visit her in DC and she's moved on from college hipster days ("you seem so out of context / in this gaudy apartment complex") and started her career track ("I'll wear my badge: a vinyl sticker with big block letters adherent to my chest / that tells your new friends I am a visitor here: I am not permanent"). He's just some bum musician, but it sounds like she does some VIP stuff. I'd leave him too.
That's reasonable, but from an aesthetic point of view I think it's still problematic because it dependds on a lot of extra-textual material. There are, after all, any number of reasons why a person might seem "out of context" in a "gaudy apartment complex" besides having left her "college hipster days" behind. I think a problem with most popular music is an inability to respect the speaker/author distinction. The song makes sense as long as you assume that the speaker just is the singer, but art shouldn't work like this. One of the things that I think is great about Eminem is that you get a real sense from him that the speaker in his songs should be understood as a character, even though much of the content is obviously somewhat autobiographical in nature.
i don't know why he thinks it's required that any songwriter explain the full background or intentions of the song, or clarify the lyrics to the listener. isn't that part of the fun of music, especially mopey emo-ish music--being able to make up half interpretations to the lyrics? or even not being able to fully penetrate the meaning of the lyrics at all. yeah. of course it depends on extra-textual material, which the listener then provides for himself, at least in my case. it's a great interaction between musicians and fans. hell, i probably wouldn't have made it through half of my adolescence if thom yorke had sat me down and explained exactly what he meant on "the bends," or in which songs he wanted the speaker in his songs to be seen as a character and not a literal version of himself singing. is paranoid android ACTUALLY THOM???
i mean, who wants to listen to a song that goes, "i'm sad because my girlfriend left me and has got a new job and a new apartment and i'm still a lame unsuccessful musician and that's why she dumped me." not nearly as catchy.
also, i think the meaning of "the district sleeps alone tonight" (as kriston nicely explains it) is fairly obvious through the lyrics, and i don't understand why MY didn't get the gist.
anyway, i'm over-analyzing an over-analyzation. and so it goes.
p.s.: this reminds of a radiohead website that used to exist when i was 17 or 18 called my iron duck. it posted misinterpretations of radiohead lyrics. for example, someone had gone through listening to the song 'the bends' for several months, seriously thinking that thom yorke was singing, "my baby's got depends, oh no." 'my iron lung' had the most misinterpretations, especially in that fuzzy chorus that repeats a few times throughout the song. i quickly learned the right words so i could be cool and in the know, and i still remember them: the headshrinkers/they want everything/my uncle bill/my belisha beacon.
now those lyrics -- i have no idea what the fuck thom means there. but as far as fairly straightforward narrative lyrics a la the postal service, it seems more or less clear.
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also, i'm not sure of what the requirements are for the singer/character distinction to be clear. i don't see that much of a difference between the eminem songs that i know and the postal service cd (as far as that aspect goes). in fact, it seemed pretty clear to me that the postal service cd was sung from the pov of a fictional character who was distinct from ben gibbard.
yeah. i dunno. whatever, mr. yglesias. YOU CAN'T PRONOUNCE BRUSCHETTA.
First of all, MY seems like kind of a tool to understate the situation vastly based on what I've read of your links, and I don't understand why you keep giving him so much publicity. Incidentally, I think Ben gibbard is speaking autobiographically on that song and there seems to be a similar theme in DCC's Lack of Color, where he talks about being alone, "reaching for the phone / to call a 703" and finally admitting the truth for the first time ever. Sop, basically, I'm convinced that some girl in DC ditched him and now the District sleeps alone.
oh, he doesn't need my 'publicity' since something like 5 billion people read his site a day. i just like to comment on the things i think he's wrong about. cause he's very insightful about politics, but not so much about music or the pronunciation of italian words--the only two things i know anything about.
i told this guy i liked him and he told me to go listen to this song but im not sure if he's saying i should leave my current bf or if he ment he was like the visitor in the song, is that ALL u can tell me about what this song means?
smeared black ink – Rorschach Ink blot test, which psychoanalytic therapists use on patients. Palms are sweaty...He's nervous, and barely paying attention to last demands. It is common practice for therapists to assign "homework" at the end of the therapy session. He's staring at the asphalt... his mind is wandering. He wears a visitor name tag... Some therapists run therapy sessions out of mental hospitals (especially for patients that are former residents of the mental hospital) The only thing keeping me dry is where I am. This line leads me to believe that he was in an alcoholics in-patient program, and that he is still seeing a therapist/group sessions regarding the issue. the line, tells your new friends... I'd guess that the girl is in the hospital during this portion of the story, and her friends are other patients. He may have met the girl and developed the relationship with her in the mental hospital. You seem so out of context in this gaudy apartment complex... may refer to a later part of the story, when she has left the hospital and he is visiting her. Like most relationships beginning in a mental hospital, it obviously ended and he's seeing why he was the one worth leaving.
Again he references Alcohol in the lines about bars turn out their lights and send the autos swerving...and I am finally seeing why I was the one worth leaving. The fact that he ends with this line immediately after the line about drunk driving, furthers my belief that he has a drinking problem and that's the reason he's the one worth leaving.
hey i'm never been to this site before... i was trying to figure out why in death cab's "lack of color" he refers to wanting a to call a "703". i live in northern VA, just outside DC, and my area code is 703 and i was trying to figure out if they were a local band. but all signs pointed to them being from washington state and i couldn't figure out what was going on. thoughts?
don't you think it might just refer to wanting to call a phone number in the area code?
(I'm not familiar with the song specifically)
my roommate knows gibbard - i guess he went through quite a bit in DC so that would explain the 703. as for 'the district sleeps alone tonight', i don't think it involves a girl, just something that happened to him.
As with all music, what the artist means, and what you experience can often be very different things, and I think this is the way music is supposed to be. True musicians make music for themselves, not out of ambition or for fans. In turn you should take what you need from music and not worry about what the "true" meaning is. With all that being said, to me what this song is talking about is a recovering Alcholic. this gentlean who is visiting a girl he was once with, probably also a heavy drinker, but who has moved on. What i get from the "badge" that he is putting on is something in regards to an AA meeting or something along those lines. Anyway take it for what its worth, but that is what I get from the song. Keeping me Dry, The district sleeps alone tonight after the Bar's turn out there lights, etc. Regardless this is a beautiful song.
Hey, obviously jumpin on this a little late, but just happened upon here, and well, needed to put in my two cents. Something happened, it wasnt the best, it inspired a song, and it was good. Really guys, (girls), Ive listened to this song probably four hundred times, and have no idea what it means, all I do know is that I am a 28 year old guy that practically cries everytime I hear it, it just evokes so much emotion. Isnt that a good enough meaning,
peace out
Hey, obviously jumpin on this a little late, but just happened upon here, and well, needed to put in my two cents. Something happened, it wasnt the best, it inspired a song, and it was good. Really guys, (girls), Ive listened to this song probably four hundred times, and have no idea what it means, all I do know is that I am a 28 year old guy that practically cries everytime I hear it, it just evokes so much emotion. Isnt that a good enough meaning,
peace out
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