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Re: Song Meanings

PostPosted: Fri Jan 04, 2013 3:33 pm
by Charles
mctoon wrote:Irish Rover is about a Dog - does that help

.......and Kitty is about a cat.

Re: Song Meanings

PostPosted: Fri Jan 04, 2013 5:20 pm
by in_the_morning
I still think the scenario in "A Pair of Brown Eyes" is one of the most haunting, sad and at the same time beatiful imageries I've ever heard in a song. Especially the ending when the young man who has obviously broken up with his girlfriend or something similar and who couldn't give a shit about the old man's story at the pub realises that the old fellow had to live forever with the feeling of losing the love of his life.The idea that the young man crawls home in the middle of nowhere and suddenly feels surrounded by nothing but utter loneliness and heartbreak and there's nothing but the wind gently laughing at him is really chilling. For me personally one of the greatest songs about lost love and drunken heartaches.

Re: Song Meanings

PostPosted: Fri Jan 04, 2013 6:21 pm
by kmurray105
fermenter wrote:i always thought rainy night in soho was about shanne bradley and whisky, altho i did read recently ghosts help shane write songs ,hence the lyric " Now the song is nearly over
We may never find out what it means"

the whisky bit sums this lyric up
Sometimes I wake up in the morning
The gingerlady by my bed

whatever it means i dont really care because it is possibly one of the greatest songs ever written ,get a lump in me throat everytime i hear it just for the sheer brilliance of the lyrics.

I had always believed the song to be about the end of a relationship. This perspective was colored I am sure by my having heard long ago that it was about Shanne.

Re: Song Meanings

PostPosted: Sat Jan 05, 2013 6:55 am
by Will
Nice thing about a lot of Shane's songs is that they don't demand a whole hell of a lot of thought to 'get it,' and yet they're incredibly well written -- as opposed to Joy Division's songs, which are ostensibly well written, but nobody really knows what the motherfucker's talking about 90% of the time (this coming from a Joy Division fan), or your typical top o' the charts pop crap, which is terribly written, and requires absolutely no thought to understand '(lick, lick, lick me like a lollypop).' Difficult balance to achieve. Being at once frank and poetic.

Re: Song Meanings

PostPosted: Fri Nov 22, 2013 10:02 am
by leadshoes
kmurray105 wrote:
fermenter wrote:i always thought rainy night in soho was about shanne bradley and whisky, altho i did read recently ghosts help shane write songs ,hence the lyric " Now the song is nearly over
We may never find out what it means"

the whisky bit sums this lyric up
Sometimes I wake up in the morning
The gingerlady by my bed

whatever it means i dont really care because it is possibly one of the greatest songs ever written ,get a lump in me throat everytime i hear it just for the sheer brilliance of the lyrics.

I had always believed the song to be about the end of a relationship. This perspective was colored I am sure by my having heard long ago that it was about Shanne.


I think the narrator in Rainy Night is reminiscing about a long past relationship. The beginning verses only really make sense if it's a person and not alcohol that he's talking about:

"I've been loving you a long time
Down all the years, down all the days
And I've cried for all your troubles
Smiled at your funny little ways

We watched our friends grow up together
And we saw them as they fell
Some of them fell into Heaven
Some of them fell into Hell

I also think that London Girl from the same EP is a companion piece about the same girl, since he's "Sucked along by a winter shower to stand beside your shining tower," so there's rain again, as well as a mention of Soho in the line just before. However, I also read about ghosts helping Shane write songs, including Rainy Night, so it might all really depend on what kind of ghosts were helping him. :)

Re: Song Meanings

PostPosted: Fri Nov 22, 2013 10:04 am
by leadshoes
soulfinger wrote:Repeal of the Licensing Laws is about Time.


How do you know this? I've been trying to figure out the lyrics for a while.

Re: Song Meanings

PostPosted: Fri Nov 22, 2013 9:05 pm
by Fr. McGreer
leadshoes wrote:
kmurray105 wrote:
fermenter wrote:i always thought rainy night in soho was about shanne bradley and whisky, altho i did read recently ghosts help shane write songs ,hence the lyric " Now the song is nearly over
We may never find out what it means"

the whisky bit sums this lyric up
Sometimes I wake up in the morning
The gingerlady by my bed

whatever it means i dont really care because it is possibly one of the greatest songs ever written ,get a lump in me throat everytime i hear it just for the sheer brilliance of the lyrics.

I had always believed the song to be about the end of a relationship. This perspective was colored I am sure by my having heard long ago that it was about Shanne.


I think the narrator in Rainy Night is reminiscing about a long past relationship. The beginning verses only really make sense if it's a person and not alcohol that he's talking about:

"I've been loving you a long time
Down all the years, down all the days
And I've cried for all your troubles
Smiled at your funny little ways

We watched our friends grow up together
And we saw them as they fell
Some of them fell into Heaven
Some of them fell into Hell

I also think that London Girl from the same EP is a companion piece about the same girl, since he's "Sucked along by a winter shower to stand beside your shining tower," so there's rain again, as well as a mention of Soho in the line just before. However, I also read about ghosts helping Shane write songs, including Rainy Night, so it might all really depend on what kind of ghosts were helping him. :)


'Now the song is nearly over, we may never find out what it means'

In my mind, I see them as a very old, happy couple wondering where all the time they had has disapeared to and what was it all about? The song in question being life itself.

Re: Song Meanings

PostPosted: Fri Nov 22, 2013 9:51 pm
by leadshoes
That's an interesting take on that line. I can see it, especially since that's basically my daily quandary already... where has the time disappeared to and what the hell's it all about?

Re: Song Meanings

PostPosted: Sat Nov 23, 2013 10:46 pm
by Iggy Lady
leadshoes wrote:That's an interesting take on that line. I can see it, especially since that's basically my daily quandary already... where has the time disappeared to and what the hell's it all about?


..................Time Flies By When You're the Driver of A Train.....................

Re: Song Meanings

PostPosted: Sun Nov 24, 2013 1:29 am
by leadshoes
Iggy Lady wrote:
leadshoes wrote:That's an interesting take on that line. I can see it, especially since that's basically my daily quandary already... where has the time disappeared to and what the hell's it all about?


..................Time Flies By When You're the Driver of A Train.....................


:D
And then to answer the second part:
God gave us life
So that we could all play
With our mates in the street
With the ball that we bought
From the shop just last week

I've thought about how fun life would be if you went through it only using quotes from HMHB songs for everything you ever say.

Re: Song Meanings

PostPosted: Wed Dec 11, 2013 10:16 pm
by Iggy Lady
Not sure if this is the correct place to post, but one for The Geeks with access to BBC iplayer

Broadcast on BBC Four, 9:00PM Mon, 9 Dec 2013 Available until 9:59PM Mon, 23 Dec 2013

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b0 ... side_Down/

Quite interesting history abouut The Raft of The Medusa

Song Meanings

PostPosted: Thu May 14, 2015 2:08 pm
by Richardvoma
If were all having a go - heres one for you
Dance Hall Days by Wang Chung
Good song or Bad Song?

Re: Song Meanings

PostPosted: Thu May 14, 2015 10:26 pm
by Low D
Richardvoma wrote:If were all having a go - heres one for you
Dance Hall Days by Wang Chung
Good song or Bad Song?


My childhood memories say "good".

Re: Song Meanings

PostPosted: Fri May 15, 2015 8:00 am
by firehazard
Low D wrote:
Richardvoma wrote:If were all having a go - heres one for you
Dance Hall Days by Wang Chung
Good song or Bad Song?


My childhood memories say "good".


My instinct says "spammer". :wink: