Log in

View Full Version : Songs you interpret as part of the struggle



Landsharks eat metal
20th June 2011, 14:45
I don't know if anyone else does this, but when I listen to songs, I always try to figure out how to make them about the revolution, left politics, etc. These songs come to have this meaning for me. even if I have to force things to make it work.

Weezer: "This is Such a Pity" (http://www.sing365.com/music/lyric.nsf/This-is-Such-a-Pity-lyrics-Weezer/11E7FE2FF7A1BBF648256FD4002E695D)
This song reminds me of the sectarianism that shatters the left into incoherent shards. Ignoring the parts that are very clearly referring to a bad romantic relationship, this reminds me that unless we can work together, we will be completely self-defeating. The line "You think I'm a fascist pig" seems particularly appropriate.

Foo Fighters: "Long Road to Ruin" (http://www.sing365.com/music/lyric.nsf/Long-Road-to-Ruin-lyrics-Foo-Fighters/26F188036B19CEE14825736100256E07)
This song makes me think of the revolution and the aftermath, and how things might have to get worse for a brief time before they can get better. Many lines bring this impression out. "One flag was taken down to raise another in its place". "Let's say we take this town, no king or queen of any state" reminds me of anarchism.

I actually also have a story for a whole musical, Into the Woods. Basically, the protagonists are like American Democrats, thinking they're great because they're not as bad as Republicans and going about their daily lives as unknowingly oppressed proles, on occasion flirting with imperialism and wasteful consumerism. The witch becomes a leftist early and then the others finally see the menace of capitalism (the giant) when it affects their lives personally. They think of useless plans that will not help and the witch tries to get everyone to think clearly and find communism. They do once they defeat the giant.
The song that leads me to this the most is "Last Midnight" (http://www.stlyrics.com/songs/s/stephensondheim9944/lastmidnight567053.html).
Many of the lyrics refer to the plot, but the lines "You're so nice. You're not good, you're not bad, you're just nice." make me think of Democrats who think they can just suddenly make everyone get along without doing anything much at all.

So... am I crazy? Are my interpretations any good? Do you have any of your own to share?

JustMovement
20th June 2011, 14:56
I think you are crazy however your inerpretation ARE good.
A good one I can think of off the top of my head is the Doors song five to one. Pretty straight foward really:

Five to one, baby
One in five
No one here gets out alive, now
You get yours, baby
I'll get mine
Gonna make it, baby
If we try

The old get old
And the young get stronger
May take a week
And it may take longer
They got the guns
But we got the numbers
Gonna win, yeah
We're takin' over
Come on!

We (the working class) got the numbers obviously, they (the bourgeois) have the guns with the police and military and whatnot. Theyre the old (order) we are the young. And yes, were takin over- Come on!

edit: This interpretation kind of falls apart if you look at the next stanzas, but im not going to post them.

NoOneIsIllegal
20th June 2011, 15:11
hIvL5CDGV_4

"We'll even take the sky away, block out the sun if we can." This has been planned for years. The reasons change with the weather and still nothing has been found but lies. The words take wing to pierce like daggers at the nape of the neck, while the back is turned. This was supposed to be trust, supposed to be for us. Now it all belongs to the few, and only cutthroat tactics and walking over others gets us respect in the eyes of our "god". As the web grows tighter (yet larger) we are all caught. And those that don't see it coming are turned even more twisted than before, without knowing. "Yes we now, will even take the sky away and leave your life as dark as ours." Taken away and destroyed before our eyes. No voices were heard and none were memorable. We were left to our own destiny, failed at that and sought solace in the coldest arms imaginable. We are the makers of our own fate and we failed. We all have blood on our hands.


Not quite sure about this, but I keep getting that feeling. A powerful song.

Nofuture
20th June 2011, 16:37
Born Free by MIA is my revolution/zombie killing song