Sunday, June 30, 2013
FYI
I started writing annotations for Rap Genius under the username Jamie_B_K so if in the future you think I copied a post from Rap Genius that's why.
Tuesday, June 25, 2013
Cousins Analysis Rethinking
Monday, June 24, 2013
The Song Cousins
The opening lyrics to the song "Cousins" are only coherent when the rest of the song is taken into account, so I'll get to those last and start with a general overview. I believe this song was about the criticism Vampire Weekend got after their first album for coming from an upper-middle class background and having an Ivy League education, or in other words, having everything going for them. There are many cues in this song that let the listener infer that Koenig is the subject and not the voice of this song. I'll proceed to demonstrate how this view of the song works with different lyrics:
"Dad was a risk taker, His was a shoe maker, You greatest hits 2006, Little list-maker." This means in a basic sense that his grandfather had a low-paying and humble job, his father took a chance in his financial endeavors and obviously succeeded, and the focus of this song is a musician (not only a musician but a 2006 list-maker similar to Koenig). Quality of life obviously increased for this family as generations passed and the current generation is reaping the benefits. Simply born into privilege.
"Heard codes in the melodies, You heeded the call, You were born with 10 fingers and you're gonna use them all." This is referring to the youngest generation becoming involved in the music business. I see the the last section of this part as having a literal and a more metaphorical meaning. The literal meaning being that he became interested in learning to play instruments and the more figurative meaning being that he is naturally going to use all the privilege he was given to succeed. Once again, that may be nonsense and sorry for using the word privilege so frequently.
"When your birth right is interest, You could just accrue it all." Nuff' said. Except if you, like me, did/do not know what accrue means, in which case Ac-crue: (v) to accumulate or receive.
K, so back to the opening lyrics: "You found a sweater on the ocean floor, They're gonna find it if you didn't close the door, You and the smart ones sit outside of their sight, In a house on a street they wouldn't park on at night."This may very well be a stretch but here's how I see it: "You found a sweater on the ocean floor, They're gonna find it if you didn't close the door" Is again commenting on how if one generation of a family manages to do surprisingly well financially or just in general (Dad was a risk-taker) these benefits will be passed down through generations unless someone fucks up or closes the door. "You and the smart ones sit outside of their sight, In a house on a street they wouldn't park on at night." I think this is talking about not accepting this privilege and finding your own path much like the song Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa.
"Dad was a risk taker, His was a shoe maker, You greatest hits 2006, Little list-maker." This means in a basic sense that his grandfather had a low-paying and humble job, his father took a chance in his financial endeavors and obviously succeeded, and the focus of this song is a musician (not only a musician but a 2006 list-maker similar to Koenig). Quality of life obviously increased for this family as generations passed and the current generation is reaping the benefits. Simply born into privilege.
"Heard codes in the melodies, You heeded the call, You were born with 10 fingers and you're gonna use them all." This is referring to the youngest generation becoming involved in the music business. I see the the last section of this part as having a literal and a more metaphorical meaning. The literal meaning being that he became interested in learning to play instruments and the more figurative meaning being that he is naturally going to use all the privilege he was given to succeed. Once again, that may be nonsense and sorry for using the word privilege so frequently.
"When your birth right is interest, You could just accrue it all." Nuff' said. Except if you, like me, did/do not know what accrue means, in which case Ac-crue: (v) to accumulate or receive.
K, so back to the opening lyrics: "You found a sweater on the ocean floor, They're gonna find it if you didn't close the door, You and the smart ones sit outside of their sight, In a house on a street they wouldn't park on at night."This may very well be a stretch but here's how I see it: "You found a sweater on the ocean floor, They're gonna find it if you didn't close the door" Is again commenting on how if one generation of a family manages to do surprisingly well financially or just in general (Dad was a risk-taker) these benefits will be passed down through generations unless someone fucks up or closes the door. "You and the smart ones sit outside of their sight, In a house on a street they wouldn't park on at night." I think this is talking about not accepting this privilege and finding your own path much like the song Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa.
Tuesday, June 4, 2013
"The legendary wooden gate The first established real estate Is lost in time like all the crimes that won this pleasant land" - Hudson
I believe the song Hudson is a criticism of the American myth. The American myth is the notion that our forefathers heroically claimed our land and instilled freedom in all when in reality we forcefully and brutally stole this land from the Native Americans. It's similar to the beautiful image of Hudson bay when the history behind it was so violent and awful. >>FMI see: http://www.livescience.com/5530-mutiny-murder-happened-henry-hudson.html, basically the river was named after Henry Hudson because he was mutilated by his crew there<< This line particularly supports that point.
The first established colony was Jamestown and it famously was surrounded by a wooden gate and he's saying that the few remember whatever the wrongs that occurred there were now. The second part is more important and very direct (the crimes being the terribly dehumanizing treatment of Native Americans). He uses the word pleasant ironically, demonstrating that our forefather's capturing of this land, the United States, was anything but pleasant.
- Jamie
The first established colony was Jamestown and it famously was surrounded by a wooden gate and he's saying that the few remember whatever the wrongs that occurred there were now. The second part is more important and very direct (the crimes being the terribly dehumanizing treatment of Native Americans). He uses the word pleasant ironically, demonstrating that our forefather's capturing of this land, the United States, was anything but pleasant.
- Jamie
Saturday, June 1, 2013
'She'd never seen the word bombs blown up to 96 pt. Futura" - Holiday
For those of you unaware, Futura is a font and 96 pt. is a font size. So, this seems to be about a newspaper headline of a war. If you've ever seen old newspapers announcing wars the headlines are always huge. It would make sense because the line proceeding this is "A vegetarian since the invasion, she'd never seen the word bombs." So, this is Ezra's way of saying that this is the first war she had ever experienced. "Blown up" is a play on words because when a word or picture is enlarged one can say it has been "blown up" and the obvious war imagery of having bombs blown up.
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