43
The moon revolves around the Earth at the exact same speed at which it rotates, due to a phenomenon having to do with the uneven weight distribution of the moon itself. Because of this, on Earth, we only can ever see one side of the moon. The other side of the moon is sometimes referred to as the dark side of the moon, as it is never visible to us. There is ...
36
This is quite certainly intentional. While the double negative used as an intensified negative is considered ungrammatical in "standard" English, it is very common in many English dialects, particularly those associated with lower socioeconomic class levels (see my answer to a similar question in ELU).
Song lyrics are typically written in conversational ...
16
The way I heard it, one of the guys on their road crew, who was Latino, told Henley and Frey that "colitas" meant "little buds" in Spanish. As in, marijuana buds. So, in that lyric they're describing driving down the highway smoking weed.
16
"Speculation that the song's lyrics are drug related has been largely dismissed. Lamm himself says that the title is "just a reference to the time of day" and that "the song is about writing a song. It's not mystical." The time of day in reference is 3:35 AM (or 3:34 AM), which would then be 25 (or 26) minutes to 4 AM."
From the Wikipedia entry
16
I've been unable to find any comments directly from Roger Waters (writer of the music and lyrics of the song) on the meaning of those lines. Looking at the lyrics on Genius.com, the annotation for the first line says that if you read it as a double negative, it could mean two different things
"We do need education"—A call for education
"We don't need this ...
16
It's an intentional play on words.
When we hear the opening lyrics:
Du
Du hast
Du hast mich
It's unclear if they're saying "Du hast mich" ("You have me") or "Du hasst mich" ("You hate me").
It's not until the later text:
Du hast mich gefragt
Du hast mich gefragt
Du hast mich gefragt und ich hab nichts gesagt
That we actually get the real meaning: "You ...
15
This song is an example of what one might call "effectively instrumental" in that the song has no lyrics that are particularly meaningful. The vocal elements are, for the most part, just another instrument. Such songs are happy, often danceable songs meant to be fun and entertaining.
The line that you were interested in "Uptown funk you up" is mostly a pun, ...
13
Here's something from the Def Leppard FAQ:
These four words that you hear at the start of "Rock of Ages", mean
nothing, though the band sometimes jokingly claims it means "running
through the forest silently". It's actually just German sounding
gibberish, said by producer Mutt Lange during one of the later takes
of the song. Lange was a ...
12
And if the cloud bursts, thunder in your ear
You shout and no one seems to hear
And if the band you're in starts playing different tunes
I'll see you on the dark side of the moon
During the moon explorations and moon landings - the first landing only occurred four years prior to this album's release - viewers of these historic events came ...
11
"Big-legged" was the original celebratory code phrase for the female backside. Obviously, if you had big legs then they must culminate in an upper thigh/backside of similar proportions. The term "Big-Legged" was used in many songs, from Jerry Lee Lewis to Albert King. Eventually it just became the style to use the more obvious/crass description, which ...
10
The "numbers" were indeed the lottery, but this was back before the government decided to get in on the action, so it was an illegal lottery run by gangsters.
Basically, it was a common, but illegal activity, so it has a slightly naughty feel to it, like drinking during prohibition. Many, many grandmas did in fact play the numbers.
There's a fairly ...
10
It's about space, plain and simple. It's literally just a description of space - its colors, planets, stars, supernovas scaring Dan Dare.
It's typical Barrett - something very, very simple wrapped in fantastical storytelling. That aspect of his songwriting really didn't change much in the 'aftertime'. Though his depression is showing through, the tunes ...
10
It's to refer to his lover. The whole section is actually:
If I'm a pagan of the good times
My lover's the sunlight
To keep the Goddess on my side
She demands a sacrifice
It can be viewed as him saying the care for his lover is outside the typical church values, and could be considered "worshipping false idols" in the context of the church....
8
The literal meaning of uptown is usually the more northward part of the center city, but it has connotations (via New York City) of an urban area that is more "upscale", wealthy, classy and sophisticated. Funk is a style of music pioneered by black American artists such as James Brown and George Clinton, it was most popular in the 1970's and features a ...
8
25 Or 6 To 4
should be interpreted as:
Twenty five or [twenty] six [minutes until] four [o'clock, AM]
8
Below I've listed out the different people you see, with the corresponded line in the song in parenthesis. I don't know everyone, but I think this is at least a good start. Everyone who might be a politician, military officer, or public figure and whom I don't know is bolded.
Starts with shots from wars
Former U.S. President George H.W. Bush and Former U.K. ...
8
Billboard seems to have a summary of each of her (sometimes just rumored) relationships, and the songs that sprang from their fall-outs. I also found additional songs from a Suggest.com listicle, the List of Taylor Swift's ex-boyfriends page on the Taylor Swift Wikia, and I'm not sure how accurate any of these sources are, but they each seem to provide at ...
7
Wikipedia is rather vague:
Guns N' Roses' lead guitarist, Slash, states that the song was written
in the back of a rental van as they were on their way back from
playing a gig in San Francisco with the band Rock N Riders. He says
that the band was in the back of the van, drinking and playing
acoustic guitars, when he came up with the intro. Duff ...
7
The meaning of Brain Damage can only really be guessed from inferences in the actual lyrics..as no one but Roger Waters truly knows what it means. I'm not sure he has publicly stated that meaning either.
However, the inferences suggest it is about some form of mental illness or psychosis; perhaps schizophrenia or other mental disorder. That pretense helps ...
7
This is one of my favorite songs, it means so much to me.
The meaning is this:
It has to do with being neglected, mistreated, overlooked and taken for granted by people you care about. They might mean much to you but you get the feeling that you don't mean as much to them. So the chorus says that:
''I am not your rolling wheels I am the highway'' I am not ...
7
There are multiple possible interpretations according to contributors on Genius:
The metaphorical x’s (hugs) and o’s (kisses) of the relationships
haunt her, symbolizing her running away from any actually feelings
developed in the process. “XO” is a common way to sign off in love
letters, or if you’re gossip girl.
Her ex’s and oh’s spark ...
7
You're asking about current popular music, but this question was a famous discussion in and around the 19th century in terms of "classical" music.
Program music attempts to "tell a story" of some kind. Typically this music doesn't have words, but the composer can provide a type of background story to help get your imagination going and to match musical ...
7
It looks like a reference to Superman's line "Up, Up and Away!"
In the song, the narrators ex-girlfriend is sleeping with a new guy Trevor, and our narrator is still seemingly attracted to his ex. However, there is a level of ambiguity with whom Superman actually is. The narrator either perceives Trevor as Superman; thus, wants him gone from this new ...
6
It means that you have gone mad. Most, if not all, of the album is about the onset of madness. Here is a detailed analysis of the lyrics.
Those lyrics are actually from Brain Damage, which fades into Eclipse.
6
It appears to be a personal story, as stated in the first published interview 'The Age of Aquarius' of the band, conducted by The Cosmic Crofter.
... Some titles are personal stories, such as 'Everything You Do Is A
Balloon', which was a realization made long ago in the forest".
6
Buckminster Fuller (1895-1983).
This assertion (without accredation) shows up in a variety of places: wikipedia, a thesis (pg 16), a sermon (pg 7).
More authoritatively is this anthology (pg 152-153) about Fuller, and this article from people magazine in 1980 on occasion of Denver performing the song for Fuller:
...Denver proposed "my toast to Bucky." ...
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