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As my bones grew they did hurt
They hurt really bad Nirvana – Serve the Servants
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Cobain had really bad scoliosis (a curvature of the spine that can lead to serious back pain). The disease caused a pinched nerve near his stomach, giving him lifelong pain and nausea. One of the reasons that he began heroin use was to numb this pain.

It could also refer to his non-physical pain, such as his rough childhood, which helped to form his personality as an adult.

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Serve the servants, oh no
Serve the servants, oh no
Serve the servants, oh no
Serve the servants
That legendary divorce is such a bore Nirvana – Serve the Servants
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This is Kurt Cobain’s kiss-off to the media, who always want to bring up the divorce of Cobain’s parents and the marked effect it had on him. Kurt is bored of talking about it.

‘Serve the servants’ may refer to the public as the servants and he (Kurt) is serving his fans. At first Cobain liked and enjoyed performing, now he sees it as just serving the servants.

It should be noted that the “serve the servants” line is perhaps a reference to the Biblical account of the curse of Canaan, as seen on Genesis 9:25:

[Noah] said, “Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be to his brothers.”

The claim should not be dismissed out of hand, seeing other songs he’d performed also contained Biblical references (even if some of them were covers, it demonstrates an openness to the material—e.g., “Jesus don’t want me for a sunbeam”, “‘cause I’ve found God”, “Lake of Fire and fry”, [possibly referring to “the false prophet”?] “the false witness”), and was a fan of the Pixies, whose music also contained the same sort of material (e.g., “if the devil is 6” [Revelation 13:8], “Nimrod’s Son” [Genesis 10:18]).

Since, in context, “servant of servants” refers to a curse, if it really is a Biblical reference its meaning is clear: it was a complaint of being “cursed"—probably with being in a band (through which he “served”) he was losing the inspiration to be in (“such a bore”).

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Ff6c792d066d26218ffadee7e9a9ae5b

156

2 years

I think this is looking into it way too much. You’re on the right track with the line “Serve the Servants” being about Kurt’s relationship with the media/fans. But… the last line isn’t biblical. His parents divorced when he was a kid. THAT is the “legendary divorce” he mentions in the last line of the chorus.

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We're the flowers in the dustbin
We're the poison in your human machine Sex Pistols – God Save the Queen
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There are two metaphors in “God Save the Queen.” The first metaphor says “We’re the flowers in the dustbin” which means they are the only good things in a group of terrible things. The other metaphor is “We’re the poison in your human machine” which means they are the reason England has gone downhill.

This line also references The Flowers of Romance, the group which included latter period Sex Pistol, Sid Vicious, and future John Lydon band Public Image Limited (PiL) member, Keith Levine. PIL later recorded an album called “Flowers of Romance”.

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22254334121d93d700d73495be06e592

647

2 years

Minor, but it’s spelled Levene, not Levine. (He was also an early member of the Clash, but that’s not really relevant.)

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Marked this as a stretch?
5 years
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Default_avatar_100

16

6 years

The metaphors refer to the “yoof” who are the flowers of humanity thrown into the dustbin by the fascist regime and to the Pistols who are the poison in the human machine (or “spanner in the works”)

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Shunt
9 years

Guess I’m in the middle of you two. For me it meant we were cast aside in the 70’s but blossomed in the manure of the garbage. We grew in the dustbin. But as Suburban kid says, we didn’t last long.

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D27410d32bd3bb19c81adf74f68614f2

404

9 years

Diagree with: “The first metaphor says “We’re the flowers in the dustbin” which means they are the only good things in a group of terrible things. ”

To me it seems that flowers in the dustbin are the perfect metaphor for young people with no future in ‘70s UK. They blossomed, they were briefly beautiful but not really needed, and then they were thrown away.

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When there's no future, how can there be sin? Sex Pistols – God Save the Queen
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This line encapsulates the main sentiments of an anarchist: There’s no future for us anyway, so fuck morals.

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Marked this as restating the line?
2 years

That is not what being an anarchits are at all. Some are nihilists true but just like in any ideology. There are peaceful anarchists and those who think aboloshing hiararchies will cause less suffering in the long run so may as well use violent means.

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God save the Queen
The fascist regime Sex Pistols – God Save the Queen
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This opening line received considerable controversy as it was an attack on England’s monarchy.

John Lydon has explained the lyrics as follows:

You don’t write a song like God Save The Queen because you hate the English race. You write a song like that because you love them, and you’re fed up of seeing them mistreated.

Lydon’s critique of the crown is achieved through a kind of cynical cover of the traditional British anthem, “God Save the Queen [or King].”

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God Save the Queen Sex Pistols – God Save the Queen
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“God Save the Queen” is a song by the English punk rock band Sex Pistols. It was released as the band’s second single and was featured on their only studio album, Never Mind the Bollocks, Here’s the Sex Pistols. The song was released during Queen Elizabeth II’s Silver Jubilee in 1977. The record’s lyrics, as well as the cover, were controversial at the time, and both the BBC and the Independent Broadcasting Authority refused to play the song.

The song reached number one on the NME charts in the United Kingdom, but only made it to #2 on the official UK Singles Chart as used by the BBC. This led to accusations by some that the charts had been “fixed” to prevent the song from reaching number one. In March 2001, the BBC wrote that the single “reached number one in the UK in 1977 despite being banned by the BBC”

The record cover, depicting a defaced picture of Queen Elizabeth II, was designed by Jamie Reid and in 2001 was named number 1 in a list of 100 greatest record covers of all time by Q Magazine.

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Cfff23715762df03408639323a0326f1

103

3 years

Se la como toda a valen

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Queen of California John Mayer – Queen of California
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Queen of California is the second single from, and first track of John Mayer’s Born and Raised.

It’s a tribute to the folk rock songs that came before, and Mayer adds his own feelings to that rich mix.

If this music strikes a chord with you, go next to listen to and read Radney Foster’s “California”.

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I'm headed out west with my headphones on
Boarded a flight with a song in the back of my soul
And no one knows John Mayer – Queen of California
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John Mayer suffered from vocal problems in 2011. After the surgery, Mayer decided to travel through the United States. When visiting Montane, John fell in love with the area of Bozeman. He decided to move to Montana, which is west from Atlanta, Georgia where he used to live.

Because of the surgery, John wasn’t allowed to speak. Which resulted in not being able to tell people about the songs he had in his head or soul.

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Default_avatar_100

42

3 years

John Mayer did not move “out west” from Atlanta, GA to Bozeman, Montana. By the time this song was written, he had lived in Los Angeles for many years.

Montana is part of the American West, a region more than a direction. Just like the South is a region.

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Hypocritical Kiss Jack White – Hypocritical Kiss
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This lyrics of this song detail an argument between an unnamed boy and girl– possibly friends, possibly lovers– but it’s most likely a conflict between Jack and Meg White.

The first two verses are told from the boy’s point of view and the last one is told from her point of view. Seems like both the boy and girl in the song are hurling insults at one another.

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Chi
7 years

I agree that it sounds a lot like jack and meg white, but is the gender of both people actually specified?

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Freedom at 21 Jack White – Freedom at 21
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In “Freedom at 21”, Jack White is venting about a girl. It’s unclear whether the girl white is referring to his former bandmate Meg White, or his ex-wife, model and singer Karen Elson.

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Ophelia
6 years

Or maybe it’s someone else that he was in a relationship with? Do you all really think Meg and Karen are the only girls that he was with?

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9fb4488954e8458a0a8bf98ad2ba216a

105

4 years

The song is about 21st Century norms regarding a relationship (which Jack stated in an interview with NME)

The song is not about attaining majority but the new-found freedom the girl enjoys in the 21st Century. However, the girl in this instance is abusing her freedom and taking advantage of the speaker. The girl is using the guy, before the 21st Century this was the other way around.

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