For my musical debut, I chose to mangle the song Teardrop by Massive Attack (I warn you now, you’re probably better off not clicking that link until after you’ve finished reading/hearing this post…) The unassailable magnificence of this emo anthem lies in its impenetrably vague lyrics. Everybody that hears it has their own unique interpretation – whether Elizabeth Fraser is singing “feel the sunlight, pray” or “feathers on my breath”, and whether the song is about abortion, futility, grief, etc. – you name it there’s somebody out there arguing passionately that theirs is the One True Meaning.

In addition to the instruments I already own (a violin and a cello), I bought the sheet music from musicroom.com (~$3.55 in Aussie Dollars) and the GigDaddy Multitrack Mixer app for iPhone for $3.99. And this is what I came up with after about half an hour of stuffing around:

Download audio file (teardrop.mp3)

Feel free to donate towards an autotuner, and maybe some lessons.

—-

For the record, here’s what I think the lyrics are. It’s not a common interpretation:

Love, love is a verb
Love is a doing word
Feathers on my prayer
Gentle impulsion
Shakes me, makes me lighter
Feathers on my prayer

Teardrop on the fire
Feathers on my prayer

Nine night of matter
Black flowers blossom
Feathers on my prayer
Black flowers blossom
Feathers on my prayer

Teardrop on the fire
Feathers on my…

Water is my eye
Most faithful mirror
Feathers on my prayer
Teardrop on the fire
Of a confession
Feathers on my prayer
Most faithful mirror
Feathers on my prayer

Teardrop on the fire
Feathers on my prayer

You’re stumbling in the dark
You’re stumbling in the dark

It’s been a while since I last wrote about music lyrics (here and here) so today I’d like to write about one particular lyric from a song called ‘A little fall of rain’ from the musical ‘Les Misérables‘.

Éponine:
Don’t you fret, M’sieur Marius
I don’t feel any pain
A little fall of rain
Can hardly hurt me now
You’re here, that’s all I need to know
And you will keep me safe
And you will keep me close
And rain will make the flowers grow.

Long story short: Éponine loves Marius, Marius loves Cossette, Éponine dies to save Marius – your typical love triangle slash unrequited love scenario.

The beauty here is in the lyric ‘A little fall of rain / Can hardly hurt me now’. On the surface, one could take it to mean that because she’s dying, Éponine is simply saying that Marius’s efforts to keep the rain off her is unnecessary, because all that matters is that he’s holding her. But I like to think that ‘rain’ is Éponine’s metaphor for his tears – in that moment, she comes to the bittersweet realisation that he’s not crying for her because he loves her, and because she’s dying, it no longer ‘hurts’ her to know it. She’s comforted by the knowledge that because of what she did for him, she will forever have a special place in his heart.

Swear words have meaning. Sometimes, it is just more convenient to use a swear word rather than a longer word or phrase. For example, “bitch” is a word that is fast becoming widely accepted. Most people now wouldn’t bat an eyelid if they hear it (even radio and TV don’t “bleep” it out any more), and few would be able to think of an alternative way to describe a vindictive woman other than to call her a bitch. Of course, to say it to her face would be offensive, because people may not accept or recognise their own personality flaws. The point here is, swear words lose their potency over time, and what we find offensive now may not be in the (near) future.

Swear words convey the extremes of emotion. When was the last time that you felt “bummer” was an appropriately satisfying utterance for when you stubbed your toe against something so hard that it bleeds? It is an extreme situation requiring a suitably emotive response. Most would probably use a euphemism such as “shite” or “fudge” but it is essentially said with the same spirit, so should it be considered any less offensive? The great thing about language is that words can have intensity, eg. excellent => good => average => mediocre => poor. Why shouldn’t we use words of high intensity for intense situations? Being able to use the full spectrum of language only helps to colour the world that we live in.

Of course, where would we be without a song? Today’s post comes to you courtesy of the heart-broken Eamon, and his song “Fuck it (don’t want you back)”:

[chorus]
Fuck what I said, it don’t mean shit now
Fuck the presents might as well throw ‘em out
Fuck all the kisses, they didn’t mean jack
Fuck you you ho, don’t want you back

How much less would the impact of this be, if instead he had used these lyrics:

[chorus]
Ignore what I said, it don’t mean naught now
Forget the presents might as well throw ‘em out
Stuff all the kisses, they didn’t mean much
No way you tramp, don’t want you back

Its hard to say why I missed having a piano. I guess I’ll find out soon. Now, to figure out where to put the darned thing…

My obsessions with lyrics continues… the title of this post comes courtesy to you of the poet 50 cent (I used to think the lyrics were “go shorty, it shivers eh? Gonna party like it shivers” – it probably makes more sense if you’ve heard the song…)

Lastly, thanks to all who contributed to my birthday today – through SMS, phone calls and my birthday dinner. All the kind wishes, gifts and good intentions were very much appreciated. If you haven’t gotten me anything yet, its not too late! Cheques should be made out to… hehehe…

—-

For those of you who are wondering what the heck is up with that stupid Solo poem below, that was just me being very silly and wanting to see what it would look like to post pictures on this page. Pictures are supposed to speak a thousand words, but that one must have been feeling a bit off, ‘coz it could only inspire me to muster together 33 (and one of them isn’t even a whole word).

[verse 1:]
I’m so tired of being here
Suppressed by all of my childish fears
And if you have to leave
I wish that you would just leave
Because your presence still lingers here
And it won’t leave me alone

[pre-chorus:]
These wounds won’t seem to heal
This pain is just too real
There’s just too much that time cannot erase

[chorus:]
When you cried I’d wipe away all of your tears
When you’d scream I’d fight away all of your fears
And I’ve held your hand through all of these years
But you still have all of me

[verse 2:]
You used to captivate me
By your resonating light
But now I’m bound by the life you left behind
Your face it haunts my once pleasant dreams
Your voice it chased away all the sanity in me

[pre-chorus]

[chorus]

[bridge:]
I’ve tried so hard to tell myself that you’re gone
And though you’re still with me
I’ve been alone all along

[chorus]

Most people think this song is about a loved one who passed away, but I believe another possibility is that the singer is singing about somebody who has been in a coma for a long time. The meaning of the song then changes from agonizing over a lost love, to someone who is torn by the fact that she is still committed to this person (maybe they were married), but is becoming increasingly unsatisfied with giving her love but never receiving any back. Now she’s contemplating leaving, but is having trouble reconciling it in her mind as it would be a betrayal of the love they used to share. This conjures up some very strong mental images for me (I nearly lost my brother to a car accident once) and Evanescence singer Amy Lee’s divine voice helps complete this tragic picture.

—-

Another band whose lyrics irked me until recently, was Garbage and their song “Cherry Lips”. It just kinda changes gender after the first verse, and although this shouldn’t be surprising given that there is another song on the same album called “Androgyny”, I was still curious as to whether it was talking about two people or one person (who would have to be a cross-dresser). I finally found out today that the song was written for, and about author “JT Leroy” who grew up as a, you guessed it… transvestite.