Thursday 18 August 2011

Song: No Surprises -- Radiohead & Why Try to Change Me Now -- Fiona Apple


Image from todayonline
I suppose it is a little bit too often with songs, but since I'm ongoing with my House rewatching marathon, the mood just keeps going and going, I just don't feel a better time to promote the songs that I like.
Another downtempo, sad atmosphere song which was played in the season 6 episode 1 of House M.D., when House was admitted to the psychiatric hospital to detox from his Vicodine addiction, overdose and hallucination, alone and sad. And here's the scene in House and the MTV, No Surprises by Radiohead.


This isn't a happy song at all, what do you think the meaning is? I have a theory, but I will leave it to you to think over.



Where's the learning? There aren't too many words for us to learn, but you can use this nice melody song for   listening practice.


Lyrics:

A heart that's full up like a landfill
A job that slowly kills you
Bruises that won't heal
You look so tired, unhappy
Bring down the government
They don't, they don't speak for us
I'll take the quiet life
A handshake of carbon monoxide


No alarms and no surprises
No alarms and no surprises
No alarms and no surprises


Silent
Silent


This is my final fit, my final belly-ache with
No alarms and no surprises
No alarms and no surprises
No alarms and no surprises, please


Such a pretty house, such a pretty garden
No alarms and no surprises
No alarms and no surprises
No alarms and no surprises, please

Image from 991.com
If you don't like the first song, you can try the second one, played at the end of the show. The meaning runs deeper and appeals more to the ladies. See if it can touch your feelings. Fiona Apples Why Try To Change Me Now,

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Lyrics:

I'm sentimental, so I walk in the rain
I've got some habits even I can't explain
Could start for the corner, turn up in Spain
But why try to change me now?

I sit and daydream, I've got daydreams galore
Cigarette ashes, there they go on the floor
I'll go away weekends, leave my keys in the door
But why try to change me now?

Why can't I be more conventional?
People talk, people stare, so I try
But that's not for me, 'cause I can't see
My kind of crazy world go passing me by

So, let people wonder, let 'em laugh, let 'em frown
You know I'll love you till the moon's upside down
Don't you remember I was always your clown?
Why try to change me now?




Vocabulary:
psychiatric -- (adj) of or relating to the study of mental illness
overdose -- (n) [C] (informal ODtoo much of a drug taken or given at one time, either intentionally or by accident
hallucination -- (n) [C or U] when you see, hear, feel or smell something which does not exist, usually because you are ill or have taken a drug
landfill -- (n) [C or U] getting rid of large amounts of rubbish by burying it, or a place where rubbish is buried
bruise -- (n) [C] an injury or mark where the skin has not been broken but is darker in colour, often as a result of being hit by something
sentimental -- (adj) describes someone who is strongly influenced by emotional feelings, especially about happy memories of past events or relationships with other people, rather than by careful thought and judgment based on facts
conventional -- (adj) traditional and ordinary






Resources:

Radiohead @ Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radiohead

Broken Intro, House Season 6 @ Vimeo
http://vimeo.com/22219037

No Surprises -- Radiohead @ YouTube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Lnltl3YoqQ

No Surprises @ Song Meaning
http://www.songmeanings.net/songs/view/562/

Fiona Apple @ Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiona_Apple

House M.D season 6 episode 11 ending scene soundtrack.@ Shooshoomoo.com
http://shooshoomoo.com/2010/01/house-m-d-season-6-episode-11-ending-scene-soundtrack/

Fiona Apple - Why Try To Change Me Now @ YouTube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8uf1n1wUfxE

Why Try To Change Me Now
http://www.spiritofsinatra.com/pages/Lyrics/w/Why_Try_to_Change_Me_Now.htm

http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/psychiatric?q=psychiatric+
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/overdose_1?q=overdose+
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/hallucination?q=hallucination+
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/landfill?q=landfill
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/bruise_1?q=bruise
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/sentimental?q=sentimental
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/conventional?q=conventional