Every few years a small, homemade song ambles past the gatekeepers and ends up everywhere. “Those Eyes” by New West is one of those. It started life in 2019 asContinue readingThe Meaning of “Those Eyes” by New West
Song Meanings
The Meaning of “If” by Bread
Here is a song with no real chorus, a running time of barely two and a half minutes and a title so short it nearly vanishes. By every rule ofContinue readingThe Meaning of “If” by Bread
The Meaning of “Gasolina” by Daddy Yankee
Some songs change a genre. “Gasolina” changed the map. When Daddy Yankee released it in 2004, reggaeton was a Puerto Rican street sound that had been bubbling away for theContinue readingThe Meaning of “Gasolina” by Daddy Yankee
The Meaning of “Self Aware” by Temper City
Every so often a band appears out of nowhere, and the internet, ever suspicious, immediately asks whether they’re real. That’s the odd little drama surrounding Temper City and their debutContinue readingThe Meaning of “Self Aware” by Temper City
The Meaning of “Ophelia” by The Lumineers
Here’s a trick question: is “Ophelia” by The Lumineers a love song? It certainly sounds like one. There’s a jaunty piano, a thumping stomp and a singer addressing a womanContinue readingThe Meaning of “Ophelia” by The Lumineers
The Meaning of “The Fate of Ophelia” by Taylor Swift
Taylor Swift has a long history of picking fights with Shakespeare’s endings, and winning. Back in 2008, “Love Story” let Romeo and Juliet live happily ever after. Now, in “TheContinue readingThe Meaning of “The Fate of Ophelia” by Taylor Swift
The Meaning of “For What It’s Worth” by Buffalo Springfield
Few songs have been misremembered as thoroughly, and as lovingly, as “For What It’s Worth”. Ask a hundred people what it’s about and a good number will say Vietnam, becauseContinue readingThe Meaning of “For What It’s Worth” by Buffalo Springfield
The Meaning of “To Build a Home” by The Cinematic Orchestra
There’s a certain kind of song that film editors reach for when a character has to look at an empty room and feel the weight of everything that happened there.Continue readingThe Meaning of “To Build a Home” by The Cinematic Orchestra
The Meaning of “Neelothi” from Sirai
Film songs are a funny business. At their worst they’re a marketing department’s idea of a mood. At their best, like “Neelothi” from the Tamil drama Sirai, they smuggle aContinue readingThe Meaning of “Neelothi” from Sirai
The Meaning of “Let Her Cry” by Hootie & the Blowfish
Some songs arrive in a leather jacket with a scowl. “Let Her Cry” turns up in a flannel shirt, sits down beside you and says nothing for a while, whichContinue readingThe Meaning of “Let Her Cry” by Hootie & the Blowfish