Here's a song that's been running through my head for some time, and my thoughts on some of the lyrics.
Turnin' On The Screw, by Queens of the Stone Age
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fORkDrwIhAw (lyrics are in the sidebar)
The message of the song has been really rattling through my head lately. I've come to the conclusion that the song is generally about a person that doesn't really fit in, and is condemned by society for being different. Evidence of this comes towards the beginning, when Homme (ie, the misfit) says "The world is round, my square don't fit at all." Here, I think he's making a reference to that children's toy with the various shaped holes and the accordingly shaped blocks, saying that he's a square peg to a round hole; he doesn't fit in. Further evidence comes later, at "Disappear man, do some magic. You want a reason? How's about because?" This to me is everyone else in society (the collective) telling this misfit to go away. When the misfit asks why he should go away, the collective simply replies "Because".
Later, after his sort of off-tempo grunge-esque guitar solo, Homme goes into what is in my opinion the most powerful lines of the song:
"Scared to say what is your passion,
So slag it all, bitter's in fashion.
Fear of failure's all you've started,
The jury's in, verdict:
Retarded."
In these lines, it seems to me that the misfit is criticizing the collective as being afraid to admit what they really want to do in life. The misfit then says that they "slag it all" (ie, they say "fuck it, life sucks, happiness is a lie), and the misfit adds that everyone nowadays is cynical ("bitter's in fashion") so you'll fit in perfectly with the collective if you're a bitter, cynical person. However the misfit responds to the collective's nihilism critically, saying that all they've done their entire life is be afraid to fail ("Fear of failure's all you've started"), and therefore haven't attempted to do the things they want to in life. The misfit then adds, tongue-in-cheek, "The jury's in, verdict: retarded", basically calling the collective retarded for being too afraid to pursue their passion in life and for being so cynical.
Anyway, these are just my thoughts on the song. It's such an awesome one, and a perfect opener to the album (which is called Era Vulgaris, btw), which has a similar theme of the masses vs the individual. It's a kick-ass song on a kick-ass album from a kick-ass band. Totally <3 them.
1 day ago