Lyrics Annotated
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CrackingTheSimonCode Lyrics Annotated |
How Can You Live in the Northeast? |
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Four bar intro. Slow, heavy chord progression: A, Em, F#m, E.
Harsh, foreboding. |
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We heard the fireworks. Rushed out to watch the sky. Happy go lucky, Fourth of July.
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Repeats first four bars. Lyrics are at odds with the music. |
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How can you live in the Northeast? How can you live in the South? How can you build on the banks of a river When the flood water pours from the mouth? How can you be a Christian? How can you be a Jew? How can you be a Muslim, a Buddhist, a Hindu? How can you?
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E5 power chord, or no chord at all, whole section.
Tempo unchanged but the eighth notes are replaced by sixteenths, effectively doubling the speed. Dancing counterpoint in the electronics. No guitar or bass, infrequent drum notes. Lyrics again contradicting the music. |
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Weak as the winter sun, We enter life on earth. Names and religion come Just after date of birth. |
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Then everybody gets a tongue to speak, And everyone hears an inner voice. A day at the end of the week To wonder and rejoice.
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Repeats the heavy progression, variation in the melody. Sixteenths and eighth triplets, until the final bar in slower eighth notes, emphasizing "To wonder and rejoice." |
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If the answer is infinite light, Why do we sleep in the dark?
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Same progression as the above four bars, but totally different feel. The first line starts in the middle of the first bar. The second line starts in the third bar. Melodically and rhythmically distinct. |
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How can you live in the Northeast? How can you live in the South? How can you build on the banks of a river When the flood water pours from the mouth? How can you tattoo your body? Why do you cover your head? How can you eat from a rice bowl, The holy man only breaks bread?
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| (Simon sings—hums?—a four-bar "Oooh.") | Repeat intro, with added vocal. |
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We watched the fireworks, 'Til they were fireflies. Followed a path of stars, Over the endless skies.
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Reprise fireworks. Heavy chords, light lyrics. |
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How can you live in the Northeast? How can you live in the South? How can you build on the banks of a river When the flood water pours from the mouth?
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Very similar, but the electonics have stopped dancing. Now a slow, legato counterpoint. |
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I've been given all I wanted. Only three generations off the boat. I have harvested and I have planted. I am wearing my father's old coat.
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Eight-bar instrumental, then ten-bar coda in key of E. Vocal is on and then off the beat. "I have ... planted" line starts late in bar 4, ends early in bar 6. Guitar, electronics, drums all heavy. |
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Annotator's notes: Color palette is limited to pastels (so the type remains readable).
Repeat colors indicate repeats in the music. Minor color changes indicate minor changes in the music. (Example: "Weak as the winter sun, ..." and "Then everybody gets a tongue to speak,...".)
Barely noticeable color changes indicates very subtle music change. Example: "How can you live in the Northeast? ..." First two times not same as third time.)
For an overall summary, ignore the minor and barely noticeable changes. This track has four major musical elements, denoted by blue, pink, green and brown.
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