- musicexplained
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The phrase "losing my religion" is an expression from the southern region of the United States that means losing one's temper or civility, or "being at the end of one's rope. http://bit.ly/aKn5t7
Stipe told Q that "Losing My Religion" is about "someone who pines for someone else. It's unrequited love, what have you." http://bit.ly/aKn5t7
Vienna was written about a visit to Europe where he saw an old lady sweeping the street. At first he was shocked that people had so little respect for the elderly, until his father explained that allowing them to stay useful to society was the greatest show of respect. http://bit.ly/dC2wTV
The song recalls people Billy met during his days as a piano-lounge singer in Los Angeles, following the failure of his first album. Joel's own personal feelings about this failure are expressed in the failed dreams of the characters in his song. http://bit.ly/acyYJG
Joel wrote the song about a Russian clown named Viktor, who he met while touring the Soviet Union in 1987. The song parallels Viktor's and Joel's lives to emphasise the cultural difference between the United States of America and the Soviet Union. http://bit.ly/c0ZFV6
Scenes From An Italian Restaurant
Joel admitted that the song was written about a restaurant called Fontana di Trevi, located across from Carnegie Hall in Manhattan. While Joel had a series of concerts there in June 1977, he frequented the restaurant. http://bit.ly/aKWAf1
The billy in this track is not billy joel himself, but a Oyster Bar bartender http://bit.ly/dC2wTV
This song references walking through the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn http://bit.ly/dC2wTV
It's Still Rock And Roll To Me
The lyric "Should I get a set of whitewall tires / Are you gonna cruise the Miracle Mile?" references the miracle mile shopping district on the North Shore of Long Island in Nassau County, New York http://bit.ly/9iW9vh
This song refers to singer Chassagnes heritage and allegiance to Haiti, the country her family emigrated from prior to her birth. http://bit.ly/bKoIub
Win butler explained that this song was inspired by his letter writing romance at high school. He was trying to remember that time and it was "all just coloured by this feeling of waiting". He said "the entire summer was just a feeling of anxiousness waiting for her letters. http://bit.ly/91WEDv
According to the NME "This song is about having a pure experience not informed by instant gratification." http://bit.ly/91WEDv
According to Win Butler."The feeling of that song is: if you've ever been in Williamsburg or those parts of London where everyone has the same haircut and is 30 years old... you have a lot of pressure to be part of commercial society. It's really difficult to try and navigate." http://bit.ly/dasz5g
Win butler explained in a Rolling Stone article that this track was inspired by Joe Simpson, father and manager of Jessica and Ashlee simpson. "It could be about other people, too, but it definitely applies to that family�s dynamic." http://bit.ly/a2ubBn
This song is about the dog laika that was sent into space by the Russian space program. Lead singer Win Butler explained this in an interview with Pusle magazine. "It�s a great story about a dog being the first living creature in space." [Win Butler]
For me, this song is about visiting your own home town expecting to have warm feelings of nostalgia and fond memories, but feeling cold and distanced from the place where you grew up.
In this song, the ocean represents a lack of control. "I have this image of being on the ocean at night - being moved by a wave, but not being able to see it. The natural fear in a situation like that, the sense of everything being beyond your control" [win butler] http://bit.ly/a1I5Rx
This song is named after lead singer Natashas band and her relationship with one of the people in the band. http://bit.ly/a6zKpq
This song was written during the writers guild, where Joey Burns was "paralyzed like everyone else by the absense of late-night television commentary" http://bit.ly/a05J3q
This song is about Dee Dee Ramones abusive relationship with his ex-girlfriend Connie http://bit.ly/9JHqbC
This song follows on from their previous song "Now I Wanna Sniff Some Glue". Tommy Ramone explained :-"Something like Carbona Not Glue has to be tongue-in-cheek. It's absurd, like saying that you should try something more poisonous". http://bit.ly/9JHqbC
The inspiration for this song came when the band watched the film "freaks", following the cancellation of a show in ohio. http://bit.ly/9JHqbC
This song is about "kids going to a show and having a good time" http://bit.ly/cMOO7l
According to Wikipedia, this song is based on the popular French Canadian children's song "Alouette", which means "skylark". The chorus directly references lyrics from "Alouette" including the line "Je te plumerai la t�te", which means "I shall pluck your head" http://bit.ly/aty0Tj
Lead singer James Allen explained the meaning behind the song in an interview with the Daily Record. Its "me saying I want to make things right in my life now. I don't want to get to a point where I am regretting things, as that regret can destroy anybody."
The song contains backward masked vocals taken from an interview with Jeff Lynne of E.L.O. When questioned about his own use of backward masking he replied.."anyone who can write a song played forwards and have it say something else backwards has got to be some kind of genius, and that I ain't!"
