Explain The Lyrics

I’ve been thrown the gaijin glare for so long
By now i take the scorn in stride
Got no time for pride that only serves to divide
Got no time for miscommunication
I’ve been trying to set this straight for so long
Trying to hammer out what’s bent
You trust in my intent
You must be heaven sent
And i’ve been trying to let you know that i love you so

I’ve been trying to find a girl for so long
That tears have often filled my eyes
Under azure skies as we said our last goodbyes
I was trying to let you know that i love you so

I love you so
You’ll never know
But i love you so

You suck if you love beautiful romantic tunes that will melt your heart and you have not heard this one.  They sing this in English and Japanese.  As far as the lyrics, they are rather self-explanatory, but I can help clear up some vocabulary that you might not know:

“I’ve been thrown the gaijin glare for so long” means he has stood out by being an American who lives in Japan (“gaijin” meaning alien, or foreigner).

“azure” in “azure skies” means a deep blue, which was used for royalty centuries ago.

“Utsukushii Shibuya” refers to the singer’s fond memories of the city he lived in, presumably with his girlfriend.  Utsukushii means beautiful, and Shibuya is a suburb of Tokyo.

Here are the Japanese lyrics, just in case you know them.  By the way, I sang this song in Japanese to my Chinese girlfriend and killed it (in a good way).  You should try it!

gaijin dato yubi wo sasu
tanin (hito) wo mikudasu youna me de
(mizo wo fukame rudakeno)
puranodo ya _ ha no kabe ni kakawatsu teru baai janai
sou, zutsuto, sai kiro utoshiteta
hizun da kokoro (mono) tataki naoshi
kun ha, sonna boku wowakatsutekureru megami
kun ni _ eyou
I love you so…
detsuto, kun wo sagashi _ ke nando mo naki takunatsuta
ano aozora no shita, wakare no kotoba wo majiwa shita
kun ni _ etakatsuta
I love you so…
wasure naide
temo, I love you so…

Ok, here are the Japanese characters, the best I could work out… They are probably not very accurate.  PLEASE comment or email me the right lyrics if you know Japanese.  Thanks!

私は長い間、外国人のまぶしさを投げてきた
今では私はストライドで軽蔑してください
のみ分割する役割を誇りには時間を持っていない
誤解のための時間を持っていない
私はあまりにも長い間、この直線を設定しようとしてきた
曲がっているかを打ち出すこととして
あなたが私の意図で信頼
あなたは天国に送信する必要があります。
と私はそう私はあなたを愛しているあなたが知っているようにしようとしてきた

私はそう長くのための女の子を見つけるためにしようとしてきた
その涙は、しばしば私の目を埋めている
紺碧の空の下で我々は最後の別れは言ったとして
私は、そう私はあなたを愛しているかを知らせることを試みていた

私はあなたを愛して
あなたが知っていることは決してないだろう
しかし、私はとてもあなたを愛して

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=p20buwlisAY#!

How am I supposed to breathe?
I try to relax, I touch your still frame
So I can watch you closer
And study the ways I believe I belong to you
To you
so I, I scratch at your waist line, your doll hair
I dig up the thought of how your eyes glow
So I make you my religion, my collision, my escape goat
So have I found your secret weak spot, baby?

(Chorus)
Can you pretend I’m amazing?
I can pretend I’m amazing
Instead of what we both know
Instead of what we both know
I cut to the punch line baby
Can we pretend I’m amazing
Instead of what we both know

Now our history is for sale
And for that, I apologize
You see, you’re my only know how
The study of when I believed I belonged to you
To you
You see I’ve made you into something more delicious,
My sweet ghost
So have I found your secret weak spot, baby?

Can you pretend I’m amazing?
I can pretend I’m amazing
Instead of what we both know
Instead of what we both know
I cut to the punch line baby
Can we pretend I’m amazing
Instead of what we both know

Sounds like a real life experience Justin is writing about here.  The lyrics in “Amazing” conclude a list of songs on the album “History for Sale” that seem to all reflect on Justin’s relationship with one ex-girlfriend.  In the first song, “Ugly Side,” he introduces his first meetings with the girl.  Conclusively, “Amazing,” the last track on the album, deals with Justin and his girl breaking up and taking a different direction.  He does not explain why she leaves, but the lyrics definitely tell us that he was deeply in love with her.  I wish that everybody knew how great the writing is in Blue October’s music.  Perhaps if they were a bit more positive?

[Waitress:] “Hello, you wanna cup of coffee?”
[Customers:] “Heh, Turn that fucking juke box down
You want to turn down that juke box….loud in here”
[Waitress:] “I’m sorry, would you like a cup of coffee?
Ok, you take cream and sugar? Sure.”

In truck stops and hamburger joints
In Cadillac limousines
In the company of has-beens
And bent-backs
And sleeping forms on pavement steps
In libraries and railway stations
In books and banks
In the pages of history
In suicidal cavalry attacks
I recognise…
Myself in every stranger’s eyes

And in wheelchairs by monuments
Under tube trains and commuter accidents
In council care and county courts
At Easter fairs and sea-side resorts
In drawing rooms and city morgues
In award winning photographs
Of life rafts on the China seas
In transit camps, under arc lamps
On unloading ramps
In faces blurred by rubber stamps
I recognise…
Myself in every stranger’s eyes

And now, from where I stand
Upon this hill
I plundered from the pool
I look around
I search the skies
I shade my eyes
So nearly blind
And I see signs of half remembered days
I hear bells that chime in strange familiar ways
I recognise…
The hope you kindle in your eyes

It’s oh so easy now
As we lie here in the dark
Nothing interferes, it’s obvious
How to beat the tears
That threaten to snuff out
The spark of our love

Simply put, this is the 10th of 12 songs about a man who dreams of committing adultery with with a woman while he suffers from a mid-life crisis.  Confusingly put, there are elements of existentialism and Buddhism in the song.  All the “myself in ever stranger’s eyes” references point to these two beliefs, which claim that humans all belong to one universal energy.

Maybe I didn’t love you
Quite as often as I could have
Maybe I didn’t treat you
Quite as good as I should have

If I made you feel second best
Girl I’m sorry I was blind
You were always on my mind
You were always on my mind

Maybe I didn’t hold you
All those lonely, lonely times
And I guess I never told you
I’m so happy that you’re mine

Little things I should have said and done
{ From: http://www.elyrics.net/read/w/willie-nelson-lyrics/always-on-my-mind-lyrics.html }
I just never took the time
You were always on my mind
You were always on my mind

Tell me
Tell me that your sweet love hasn’t died
And give me
Give me one more chance to keep you satisfied
I’ll keep you satisfied

Little things I should have said and done
I just never took the time
You were always on my mind
You were always on my mind

You were always on my mind
You were always on my mind

Been given 24 hours
To tie up loose ends
To make amends
His eyes said it all
I started to fall
And the silence deafened
Head spinning round
No time to sit down

Just wanted to
Run and run and run
Be careful they say
Don’t wish life away,
Now I’ve one day

And I can’t believe
How I’ve been wasting my time

In 24 hours they’ll be
Laying flowers
On my life, it’s over tonight
I’m not messing no I
Need your blessing
And your promise to live free
Please do it for me

Is there a heaven a hell
And will I come back
Who can tell
Now I can see
What matters to me
It’s as clear as crystal
The places I’ve been
The people I’ve seen
Plans that I made
Start to fade
The sun’s setting gold
Thought I would grow old,
It wasn’t to be

And I can’t believe
How I’ve been wasting my time

In 18 hours they’ll be
Laying flowers
On my life, it’s over tonight
I’m not messing no I
Need your blessing
And your promise to live free
Please do it for me

In 13 hours they’ll be
Laying flowers
On my life, it’s over tonight
I’m not messing no I
Need your blessing
And your promise to live free
Please do it for me

I’m not alone, I sense it, I sense it
All that I said, I meant it, I meant it

And I can’t believe
How much I’ve wasted my time

In just 8 hours they’ll be
Laying flowers
On my life, it’s over tonight
I’m not messing no I
Need your blessing
And your promise to live free
Please do it for me

In just 1 hour they’ll be
Laying flowers
On my life, it’s over tonight
I’m not messing no I
Need your blessing
And your promise to live free
Please do it for me

This is the theme song to the movie “Ultraviolet” starring Milla Jovovich.  In the movie, she is an ambassador of freedom in a sense, and is infected with a substance that will kill her within 24 hours.  The song is reflective of her feelings, knowing that she has only 24 hours left to live.

Anchors Aweigh my friends, I’ll see you another day
I’m going away, experiences have to come
and the past has got to go
back into our dreams
back into our dreams

Anchors Aweigh my friends
Everybody understands that good times,
that good times they come and they go
and together we will always flow
back into our dreams
back into our dreams

And our troubles, we can’t leave them behind
but the wind blows, and blows them all away
and the road goes… and takes them all away
..back into our dreams

“Anchors Aweigh” is the song of the U.S. Navy, composed in 1906 by Charles Zimmerman with lyrics by Alfred Miles.

The song was first played during the Navy/Army football game in 1906.  Before a crowd in excess of 30,000 Navy won the game 10-0, their first win in the matchup since 1900.

The song was gradually adopted as the song of the U.S. Navy; although there is a pending proposal to make it the official song, and to incorporate protocol into Navy regulations for its performance, its status remains unofficial.  Its lyrics were considered too specific to the Academy and not representative of the Navy at large, and so were rewritten by George D. Lottman.  Its melody was also slightly rewritten by Domenico Salvino.  The current lyrics include three verses and two bridges; the second verse is the one most commonly sung.

Note: to “weigh anchor” is to bring it aboard a vessel to prepare for departure. The phrase anchors aweigh is an acknowledgment to the commander that this procedure has been completed.