song interpretations

[*hearts*damien]

Hi there,

I've been reading the threads on and off for quite a while now, but I never actually posted before (wasn't even a registered member until now). This does seem like the best place to ask a Damien-related question though, so here I am...

Like most of you, I absolutely love the new album. But we all know most of the lyrics are quite depressing. I wanted to give the CD to somebody very special to me, and usually I try to dedicate a song to them. However, "9" is giving me some trouble there. So, I'd like to hear your opinion on what song you think I could dedicate to my special someone. I thought about "Animals...", but the thing is, I'm not 100% sure I'm interpreting the song right. So I was wondering if there's a place where I can find interpretations of the different songs on the album. Any thoughts?

Thanks.
S.

[katiejoey]

I would dedicate coconut skins - i love that freakin song!
as far as interpretations, i really don't think that Damien talks about the reason(s) he writes any particular song - at least i've never seen anything like that. i guess the interpretation is all up to you - each song could mean something different to everybody.

[Ships_Were_Sailin]

if your looking lyric wise then your choices are hard, im dont claim to know all the lyrics on the album by heart but i think you will find it difficult. but you could always go by the mood of the song, coconut skins i find always makes me happy, and i myself would dedicate it to someone who always makes me happy.

grey room maybe?

[Spamlet]

Welcome, hearts (officially)!

We have several song interpretation threads going here in the forum right now for just that purpose. Just use the search function above. But here's the short answer about your immediate question.

"Animals" is about realizing your loved one has finally left you and longing to have them back.

I'd choose "Sleep, Don't Weep" because it's a lovely little lullaby about being comforted by and/or comforting the one you love when stressed.

As opposed to "9 Crimes" (about contemplating being unfaithful), "Elephant" (about being tortured by both your current relationship partner and the one you lost whom you can't seem to forget), "Rootless Tree" (about being trapped in a likewise Hellish longterm union), "Dogs" (a sweet reminiscence of someone you loved only from afar in your youth), "Coconut Skins" (about motivating yourself to sh*t or get off the pot-get on to smoking something else), "M,MY&I" (about conflicted guilt and lust feelings over masturbating), "Grey Room" (about pulling yourself out of depression through finding inner strength) and "Accidental Babies" (about being 'the other man' in an affair).

P.S. Actually, Katie although he claims not to like talking about the songs or what they mean he nevertheless frequently tells stories about them, what they're funamentally about and what caused him to write them.

[the_tilbury]

if your looking to see what people interperet from the songs, songmeanings.net has all the songs and has interpretations from other people

[katiejoey]

Spamlet - i know that he does tell stories about why he wrote certain songs but i think that in all music, not only Damien's, but in all music we can all feel how we feel about them - interpret songs the way we want to. i also think that sometimes people tend to overdo it when trying to interpret Damien's songs. maybe people tend to take it a little bit too far with trying to say what he was feeling at the time he wrote it. only he knows. and i can tell by your posts that you're quite the writer - do you feel the need to explain everything you write? and when someone might take it in another way then how you wrote it does that bother you? some things Damien writes may be so clear to everyone and other things may not - but who cares? we all love his music and lyrics for different reasons. it's not always universal and that's what's so damn great about all music. when i hear stevie ray vaughn play jimi hendrick's little wing i automatically think of my husband and how much i love him but someone else might hear that song and think of how depressing the lyrics are and think of something totally different.
anyways, my whole point is, who cares? we can all take it for what we take it for. and i would still dedicate coconut skins - but that's just me!!

[*hearts*damien]

Thanks Spamlet, actually all of you, for your replies. Much appreciated. If anybody else has anything to add, I'd love to hear (er...read) it.

S.

[PEIeskimo]

i would dedicate the tibetan singing bowl

[Timeé]

i would too. the beauty of it

[Martine]

I agree with you KatieJoey.
I don't think it's that interesting what the real meaning of a song is. The meaning of the song is the one you gives to it. It's all about your own interpretation. I bet I have a bunch other interpretations than the real meaning the writers had while writing it.
That doesn't matter. Your feelings tells you the meaning and that's just great.

And this is one of the reasons there are no booklets by his CD's. He don't want to put it in boxes (don't know how the express that in English), he let it open, it's up to you.

So follow your feelings and you're right

[ancyuber]

I dont know why you guys are being so hostile towards Spamlet. This is what he deserves for answering "*hearts*damien" question I take it...

[katiejoey]

i really wouldn't call my response hostile. it's no different than the kinds of replys he makes when he disagrees with someone. and i think Spamlet knows that i wasn't being hostile. can we not have differing opinions now without being accused of being rude?

[Martine]

Huh, hostile???

If you think I ment it hostile, that's far from true for me....
I don't dare to, because I just like his way of thinking and writing....

[PEIeskimo]

It's ok, nobody really hurt spamlet's feelings.

It's because he's actually a ROBOT. That's why he hasn't responded yet, he's charging.

[Max]

In light of the LA show last night (Orpheum Dec. 9th) were Damo was so giddy and talked about half the songs at length - we should start a thread paraphrasing him from various gigs - and what he says about the different tunes.

His rambelings about "Volcano" (verse by verse) and "Me, My Yoke + I" last night were hilarious.

[Calum]

Everyone should take their own meaning and emotions from poems and songs; that's the whole beauty of writing. No piece of writing should have one, set in stone, interpretation of it, that would be criminal.

So my advice to you is: Search each song spiritually, soulfully and emotionally, then the right song will find itself; that applies to any music.

[flyaway]

Songs have individual meaning to everyone, and it's infantile to be wrapped up in the meaning and analysis of a song. Pick one you feel reflects them best, who cares if Someone says a song is about anything specific, You should dedicate Animals to them if you want to, regardless of what anybody else feels is the correct definition of song. It could carry meaning in a chord sequence, or just one line of the song you feel reflects the person well. You should dedicate it to them anyway, without needing to know the meaning.
At the end of the day it is useless asking anyone on here, as we'll all try to influence you with what we think is right (Pointing no fingers...), just go with what you feel is the right thing to do whether or not Someone thinks differently.

[liswyn]

I think most people can interprete the songs for themselves in a personal manner, but what most are curious about is what Damien himself has got to say about the meaning behind them... and I think that's probably the point for all this discussion in the first place.

[Spamlet]

Originally Posted by katiejoey

i really wouldn't call my response hostile. it's no different than the kinds of replys he makes when he disagrees with someone. and i think Spamlet knows that i wasn't being hostile. can we not have differing opinions now without being accused of being rude?

I did think you seemed hostile, glad I'm not the only one who felt it. Whether that was purposeful or not, the compliment came off as backhanded in the given context.

I merely provided a few simple, single line summaries for the purpose of quick reference. Do you get upset at similar kinds of simple plot synopses in your TV guide for how heavily they limit you from interpreting the film or having your own emotional response to it, too?

Not only that, but it was extremely hypocritical of you to do so. You seem to have a problem with the way people like me "tend to overdo it" when we analyze songs. I'm confused by that, though, because one sentence earlier you argued that everybody can interpret songs the way they want. So let me get this straight: you're preaching freedom by calling for oppression?

You say "who cares?" about what the artist meant when they created something despite the fact that it's painfully clear that I do. Very much.

Now it's probably necessary to explain a few things at this point. I'm a classically trained professional actor, (been performing for well over two decades). The most relevant part of what that means is that we're all about the text. We dissect every single piece of information the writer left us. We scour every different version available, searching for the minutest of differences. A comma versus a semi-colon is a gigantic deal.

We break down lines of verse, counting metrically to find where the pronunciation stresses lie in each sentence. We are expected to look up every single word of the play in the Oxford English dictionary slogging through definitions that can literally be as long as twenty + pages (of typeface so tiny you have to use the included magnifying glass just to read it) for common words like "the" and "and". "Why do we do all of this?" I sense you asking. I can only answer for myself.

Art is my religion. I've devoted my life to the study of it as its priest. I stand up in front of a crowd and tell them a story that I hope will change the way they look at their lives. I sacrifice home, wealth and love so that I can go wherever I'm asked at a moments notice. "The collected works of William Shakespeare" is the bible to me. There are many versions of 'the word' and I'm sure any holy man will tell you they consult them all. The reason for all of that work is because we want to get as close as we can to getting across the author's intentions to the audience.

I'm guessing that your biggest mistake is thinking that we believe we arrive at definitive answers. Nothing could be further from the truth. Every good artist knows that although art reflects life, ultimately life itself is ever changing. So too, must we. There are only around 40 known plays which were probably written by Shakespeare. This means that in the course of a classical actor's career they will do the same plays many times. Especially when you consider that only at most half of the plays are done regularly. I assure you that although I've played a role such as Hamlet (surprise!) in several different productions and can quote huge chunks of it at will, my picking it up right now would result in an entirely different interpretation.

Everyone should know that answers only lead to wanting to ask even more questions. Personally, I regard that outcome as ideal.

In short, any great artistic work is an unfathomably deep ocean of information. Its bottom can never be sounded and yet we continue to plunge, striving for greater and greater insight into the shrouded lessons it may yet hold.

A wise man once said "if man understood all of the mysteries of life he would have no need for the arts".

This is what the academic tradition of written criticism has always actually been about. Journalistic style criticism is, by contrast, still in its infancy. Studying the interpretations which came before to attempt to see the great works as best you can through another man's eyes. Digesting their discoveries and then challenging them with your own. It's what they were trying to teach all of us in school about with essay writing: how to convey a personal impression of what you've experienced to share it with someone who likely never has.

Besides which, no one can fully understand what anyone else means about anything really meaningful. Language is simply too limited a tool when compared to the endless range of subtleties contained in human emotion. No matter how close you are you'll never have the exact same personal experience of a word as anyone else. So should we give up conversations because we'll never truly communicate?

For that matter, it's doubtful that we ever really even fully understand our own thoughts completely. Mine run too wild for their own good.

So should we abandon all contemplation? I often wish I could.

Being this overly analytical is a painful burden. Although I know I'm bright, I'm certainly no supergenius and can only imagine the hell it must be thinking at that level. As it is, I've never really been able to sleep at night because I honestly can't shut my brain off. It's an involuntary muscle. Whirling on and on like it's got a mind of it's own. Which is why putting it to use by attempting to solve puzzles which can't be fully solved is the best way I know to keep it occupied.

So I found a way to turn my curse into a blessing. I slowly peel away layer after layer of significance over time and it calms me a bit. My calling must somehow be tailored to fit me. Maybe that's part of what talent is: finding a way to turn your most prominent personality traits into your strongest ones. I go much deeper than some are comfortable being. But in doing so, a lot of the legwork is done for ensuing adventure seekers. A trail is created and whoever happens by can suddenly find themselves going further along than they may have believed they ever cared to go. They might just realize that it's a thrilling descent. It's an exhilarating ride but roller coasters are also known to make people puke.

Still, no one is forcing you or anyone else to take John Donne like rubicon journeys of madness with me. You can gauge the distance for spelunking through the abyss with a cursory glance at the length of any given post. If you prefer the lovely view on the surface then you don't have to dive under into the murky depths. Skip right past it. I won't blame you because it's not an easy swim at all and therefore not suited to everyone.

Yet, every once in a while we find a pearl shining in the dark while sifting through yet another handful of sand. The promise that a gold dubloon from an ancient rotting chest must surely also wait just outside of our present reach makes all the hardship we've chosen to go through worthwhile.

Treasure exists solely to be buried. For some faith filled soul to someday follow a weathered old map in the burning hope that the mysterious paths scrawled on it may actually lead somewhere.

[katiejoey]

Seriously, "preaching freedom by calling for oppression." Give me a break. Maybe you're the one being hostile. I am in no means being hypocritical - far from it. I think that words exsist for the reader - you can take something one way and i can take it another - I think that's pretty far from hypocritical. So I think we can both stick to what we do best - you can continue with your study of words and your love of performing and I can take my time to watch in amazment my children grow and learn and love. Just please don't ever insult my intelligence because you're well informed in what you spend your life doing. I am a very well trained teacher with degrees in education, special education and psychology (and SURPRISE i even have a minor in literature!!) and i'm the mother of two children which has provided me with more life experience than any degree ever could and i would never write a post telling you all the ways to feel about rasing children or working with Autistic kids or how you should handle a child who has spent his or her life with the one person who is supposed to love and protect them burning them with crack pipes and letting their boyfriend of the moment do whatever they want to them. I do what I do and I would never act superior to someone who doesn't do it. I would never call you a hypocrite.
And by the way, when you said, "I assure you that although I've played a role such as Hamlet in several different productions... my picking it up right now would result in an entirely different interpreation," is exactly what i was talking about. I've taken many classical literature classes and I've read and seen many different Shakespeare plays and i probably feel different about every single one of them than you do. So am i wrong? Are you? Seriously, my whole point, as much as you may disagree with it, is we're all here for the music and we can all feel about it the way we want to feel about it. I really hope I'm not coming across as hostile - that's the last thing I'm trying to do. I'm sorry if i am or did before.

[Spamlet]

Katie,

The simple truth is that we have a lot in common.

Firstly, I had absolutely no intentions of insulting your intelligence at all.

I deeply apologize that you got any such impressions.

You have all my respect for the job you do as a mother, especially where special needs are heavily involved. I've worked with children like that and was also a teacher for many years. My family suffered from drugs too (my brother was a crackhead). Most of all though, we both responded rashly because of a nerve being hit. The irony is that neither of us interpreted the other correctly.

This post wasn't written to make me sound superior to you. I wasn't bragging about any of it. I only tried to explain my philosophy on art. I wrongly interpreted your response of "who cares?" as a very flippant dismissal. I took it as a personal insult. I cared deeply and so felt the need to share with you where I was coming from and why it's something I feel so passionate about.

The questions were asked rhetorically. I posed them in the spirit of exploring what I think are interesting notions. I tried to use we statements specifically because I wasn't attacking you. I just really enjoy mental sparring: exercising our brains together by tackling daunting questions.

Now perhaps you may not agree with this distinction, but to me it's a very crucial one: I was not calling you a hypocrite either. Instead, I was pointing out that you seemed to be saying something which was hypocritical. In other words, if I thought you were an actual hypocrite I wouldn't think it out of character enough to mention one isolated incident of behavior. Sorry you got the wrong message.

The biggest miscommunication seems to be that you overlooked that in this entire post (not just the section where you quoted me) I wasn't ever disagreeing with you that there is no one way to interpret something. Quite the opposite. Read it again and you'll see that isn't the case. The only point of contention was that it seemed to me that you were saying that those of us who like to analyse lyrics were fools for doing something so pointless. Again, I apologize for jumping to the wrong conclusion.

[katiejoey]

I appreciate your reply - I agree that we both had a nerve hit and seemed to have taken eachother the wrong way. The funny thing is - I really enjoy reading your posts. I just sometimes let my emotions get the best of me.
So, my apologies again too (awww we both sound like we just had the biggest fight ever ).
Have a great day.
p.s. Just for the sake of clearing this up (you never know who from my family may read this) I wasn;t talking about my family having issues with drugs - I was talking about children that I have worked with in the past. Although I'm sorry to hear about your brother - I hope all is well with him now. also, (and very thankfully) neither of my children are special needs- those are kids I've worked with in the past as well. (I say past because I'm staying home for the time being because my son's only 6 months old)
p.s.s. what did you teach?

[DRQuebec]

Yeah! For once I'm not the only one arguing with Spamlet for overinterpreting songs