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Got a chase last night from men with truncheons dressed in hats
We didn't do that much wrong, still ran away, though, for the laugh
Just for the laugh Arctic Monkeys – Riot Van
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A truncheon is essentially a police baton.

‘Got a chase’ shows a childhood mentality. They’re looking for fun and the police chase anyone who runs away. It also implies a certain Benny Hill quality to their encounters with the police.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VUOe_hLg7Bo

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E4f1da4bc35cc91ff3e26c9704c3dcca

113

5 years

whole song has a very nostalgic feel to it, as he’s recalling memories from his youth

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No one can blow the shows
Or throw the bones that break your nose like I can Jack White – Weep Themselves to Sleep
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He feels he is better than anyone at disappointing her (by “blowing shows”), as well as how to hurt her.

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A6c9ee017d7d40eb9c36c57f7c88a137

132

10 years

Obviously Mr. White is referencing his excitable nature when it comes to being angry enough to knock the daylights out of someone… But more to the point he is referencing his hyper-critical nature of looking inward at every flaw and misstep as an amplified measure how his actions tend to be at peak moments when all eyes are on him… Clearly his concerts are as much about the expression of feeling and loosely interpreted renditions of his songs inclusive of freestyle lyrical and musical notion

The guy wants the listener that he prone to reacting strongly when he has feelings only to have to go back and clean things up later once the damage has been done relative to deciding how the ‘villian had played the victim’ because nobody really knows just how that goes…

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In the night there is something wild
Can you hear it breathing? Arcade Fire – Deep Blue
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There is still something primal and organic out in the world if you look for it. Machines don’t breathe. Except ventilators.

The word “wild” is used in a similar context in “Half Light II (No Celebration)”.

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I see the feelin', the freedom is granted as soon as the damage of vodka arrived Kendrick Lamar – Swimming Pools (Drank)
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Now they’re drunk, Kendrick and the girl have lost their inhibitions, they’re free. They can “capitalize” on their lack of inhibition by having sex without nerves.

Although it’s not clear if it’s a coincidence or it was Kendrick’s intention, there is a brand of vodka called Freedom.

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Aec5a19834716d3cf20b8ec902c61003

352

5 years

I think that when he says “As soon as the damage of vodka arrives”, he also mean the effect that drinking too much vodka makes you forget about things, mess up with you head and you will not feel guilt for doing something that you don’t remember, so he loose all inhibitions and go for the girl.

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Monarch absolute, serve a glass of proof Deltron 3030 (Ft. Damon Albarn) – Time Keeps on Slipping
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He rules entirely without flaw and serves this song as a glass of proof.

There’s also a play on words here. Absolut is a brand of vodka, while “proof” is an old measure of alcohol content—nowadays, most countries use alcohol by volume (ABV) instead.

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6 years

With the reference to mind control earlier, this line’s use of “monarch” may refer to Project MK-ULTRA, the well known but little talked about CIA research program into mind control.

More info here:

Origins and Techniques of Monarch Mind Control — Torn-republic
Monarch Programming is a method of mind control used by numerous organizations for covert purposes. It is a continuation of project MK-ULTRA, a mind-control program developed by the CIA, and tested on the military and civilians.

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If you're on your way
I'm not gonna write you to stay
If all you have is leavin', I'ma need a better reason
To write you a love song today Sara Bareilles – Love Song
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Of all the lines in the song, these are the ones that sound most like a conventional love song.

Perhaps the label threatened to drop Sara unless she was able to write a big pop song. She would leave them, like a lover might leave you for not writing a love song. Sara’s not convinced that keeping her record deal is worth selling out.

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I learned the hard way that they all say
Things you wanna hear Sara Bareilles – Love Song
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Record executives are good at saying things to make you feel wanted, but they don’t necessarily mean it. They won’t necessarily stick to their word if it stops them getting what they want.

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Blank stares at blank pages Sara Bareilles – Love Song
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Nothing that Sara gave the label to serve as her big single was received with any enthusiasm.

I was turning in the beginnings of ideas and snippets of moments of a song, and I was just getting a really sort of blasé reaction to everything

With all her ideas being poorly received, she was left with nothing.

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blake
6 years

i love you leah

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Head underwater and they tell me
To breathe easy for a while
The breathing gets harder, even I know that
Made room for me, it's too soon to see
If I'm happy in your hands Sara Bareilles – Love Song
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At the end of the sessions for Little Voice, Epic Records demanded that Sara write a big single. It was making her unhappy. As she told MTV:

I started to get really insecure about it, and then I got really pissed off at myself for caring what anybody thought. … I went to a rehearsal space one day. I sat down and wrote something for me.

This was Sara’s flippant and contentious response. The irony is that, while thumbing her nose at the idea of writing a song to appeal to the masses, she ended up with a quirky, catchy song that subsequently became her most widely praised and best known song.

Although lines about leaving and pleasing suggest that the song is a traditional love song, in truth it is anything but.

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1,136

1 year

The first three lines in this song could possibly be a reference to the song “Explain It To Me” by Liz Phair, which begins, “Head underwater/Keeps getting harder/Give ‘em your medicine/Fame injection.” Liz Phair is notorious for doing her own thing musically and not caring about what the masses want, which reflects Sara Bareilles’ similar intent in “Love Song.”

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God only knows what I'd be without you The Beach Boys – God Only Knows
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This song is often heralded as one of the greatest songs of all time. Musicians such as Paul McCartney were terrified of how good they viewed this song as being upon release. In a 1990 interview with David Leaf, McCartney said:

“It’s a really, really great song—it’s a big favorite of mine. I was asked recently to give my top ten favorite songs for a Japanese radio station…I didn’t think long and hard on it, but I popped "God Only Knows” on the top of my list… Very emotional, always a bit of a choker for me, that one. There are certain songs that just hit home with me, and they’re the strangest collection of songs…but that is high on the list, I must say."

Hearing Pet Sounds drove McCartney to greater innovation – Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.

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