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Author Topic: What subjects of NMA songs appeal to you most?  (Read 1705 times)

Amandistan

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What subjects of NMA songs appeal to you most?
« on: April 24, 2015, 02:48:20 PM »
I don't know if this has been done before but...

What topic appeals to you most in NMA lyrics?  Is it nature, personal stories, anger, passion, politics, love,lust, wanderlust,not running with the pack etc? 

All of these seem to be fairly common topics in NMA songs and JS does a perfect job at creating those images and emotions. 


For me  I love nature and the songs about trees, the sea, hills, mountains and sunlight appeal to me very much. 
I also find the topics or feeling unsettled or restless  very relatable as well as being an individual and feeling alone. 
Also how some of the songs focus on human weakness and it's not very masculine, apathetic and emotionless lyrics. I also very much related to songs about not fitting in with your family and how cruel people can be. 

Some of the political songs do it for me as well but it's not comparable to songs such as High that use nature as reassurance.   and Dawn about a personal battle and failed suicide. I will be open and say I relate to that very well.

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texaspete

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Re: What subjects of NMA songs appeal to you most?
« Reply #1 on: April 24, 2015, 03:10:05 PM »
How do you know DAWN is alluding to that ?

Have took a very different view from that song ?

TXP
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MARKXE

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Re: What subjects of NMA songs appeal to you most?
« Reply #2 on: April 24, 2015, 03:39:32 PM »
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texaspete

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Re: What subjects of NMA songs appeal to you most?
« Reply #3 on: April 24, 2015, 06:35:51 PM »
Thanks for posting. That makes sense but for me it means something totally different.
I've always took it as a night-owl would, kicking his heels and waiting for the dawn to break. Renewal, a baptism, a new start whatever you wanna call it.

I'm glad the person didn't go through with it.


TXP
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This is where we go to - to the blue of the ocean
On the 30 westbound to the diamond water
Lost out in the white waves - salt purification
Bright eyes and breathless - this is how Love feels

Shush

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Re: What subjects of NMA songs appeal to you most?
« Reply #4 on: April 24, 2015, 11:05:33 PM »
Mostly I like the socio economic political based lyrics. Songs such as "Higher Wall" are very thought provoking. "The hunt" practically a full story from beginning to end, full of energy and passion which you can see in Justin's face when he sings it live. "Angry Planet" for the same reasons. 

Other than that, I really do not mind. In my opinion, the greatest lyricist around. Even when on occasion I do not really understand or connect with the full  lyrics of a song, there are always parts that make you think or feel something. Most of all, I like how some of the songs can mean completely different things to different people which shows the depth of the lyrics.

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Johnz

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Re: What subjects of NMA songs appeal to you most?
« Reply #5 on: April 25, 2015, 04:01:35 AM »
I'm with Amanda.

The socio-political songs are what got me into NMA back in the 80s. However, I think if they were still writing songs like Vengeance, The Hunt or 51st State I would have started to lose interest in them by now. And don't get me wrong I love those songs but as I get older a lot of my thought processes are mirrored by the lyrics of the last 4 or 5 albums. And it is those albums that I listen to most often these days.

Purity has always been a key song in that respect. To me it was a turning point from the angry accusing songs of the 80s to the realisation that things aren't ever as black and white as we would like them to be. JS continues to amaze me with his ability to put words to things I can barely describe. So to me the more philosophical songs such as Someone Like Jesus, Ghosts or Happy To Be Here are really what I listen to most.

I guess that means that I'm getting old.
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jackroadkill

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Re: What subjects of NMA songs appeal to you most?
« Reply #6 on: April 25, 2015, 08:04:27 AM »
As much as I love the aggression in the earlier lyrics I'm also very taken with the themes of the beauty found in everyday life that crop up from time to time.
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Bunny

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Re: What subjects of NMA songs appeal to you most?
« Reply #7 on: April 25, 2015, 10:26:19 AM »
I like the way JS can lyricise 'events'. Cant really explain that but Im thinking Red Earth, Another Imperial Day but equally High, Dawn or Sunset. Two commentaries on world events/life and three that come over as reflections on personal events. Like a life commentary I guess.
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Pol

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Re: What subjects of NMA songs appeal to you most?
« Reply #8 on: April 25, 2015, 11:25:57 AM »
I feel now especially as i get a tiny bit older its not so much the content of the song that's important its much more about the arrangement and the lyrics. Of the six new songs on bwab the two i liked best were angry planet and sunrise ( though guessing live version i doing for me just now) now these songs were probably the polar opposite of each other ,a despairing look at the world today v a real song of hope.
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Space

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Re: What subjects of NMA songs appeal to you most?
« Reply #9 on: April 25, 2015, 05:15:51 PM »
What are the best NMA subjects? The songs that spoke to us about our daily lives.

"This is our town, this is Friday night
Dressed in our rags and our rage and our best....."

That entire song is us! 

And it didn't matter back then if the songs were us, they also wrote songs about people we knew. I knew the people in "Frightened," I hung out with the people in "Young, Gifted, and Skint," I live in BIG town USA but I know the people in "Smalltown England"...

But now we get songs about horsemen and Evel Knievel.
What happened?
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texaspete

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Re: What subjects of NMA songs appeal to you most?
« Reply #10 on: April 25, 2015, 05:47:26 PM »
What do you mean ' what happened ? '?

Lazy, lazy post my friend.

Knievel is a distant cousin of frightened !
Horsemen is a complex song lyrically and musically.

Songwriters evolve even when they don't live in the Big Apple.

He wrote songs about Black Angels in the early 80's... Astound me with your wisdom on that topic?

As a small town Englander I need help from a mind residing amongst a metropolis!

For the above read : RED EARTH ... By the way he wasn't writing about a tomato coloured planet, the themes were a little deeper / darker.

I await your genius ...
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This is where we go to - to the blue of the ocean
On the 30 westbound to the diamond water
Lost out in the white waves - salt purification
Bright eyes and breathless - this is how Love feels

Master Ray

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Re: What subjects of NMA songs appeal to you most?
« Reply #11 on: April 25, 2015, 06:39:23 PM »
Here we go again...

Justin could write a song about having a full English breakfast (with slightly disappointing bacon) and make it heartfelt and incisive...
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ruckedout

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Re: What subjects of NMA songs appeal to you most?
« Reply #12 on: April 25, 2015, 07:07:23 PM »
Seems a bit dramatic but New Model Army got me through some real tough and genuinely horrible times when i was growing up.

Putting the direction of their music and if i like a song or not to one side, i owe them.

Personally, i believe they saved my life. I will be forever in debt.
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Master Ray

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Re: What subjects of NMA songs appeal to you most?
« Reply #13 on: April 25, 2015, 07:36:56 PM »
OK... this might be a bit controversial, but the music always comes first for me... the clash / unity of the instruments is what grabs me by both ears... THEN I get into what the song is about.

I can think of plenty of tunes where I love the music but the lyrics don't strike a personal chord with me (although Justins voice ALWAYS does...)

But getting back to the point of this thread... it's always the ones about family or friends or people you've lost touch with.  Political stuff comes and goes and is too related, IMO, to the listeners background.  The people you care about... that stuff never gets old.

 ???





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Space

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Re: What subjects of NMA songs appeal to you most?
« Reply #14 on: April 25, 2015, 08:28:57 PM »
Quote from: texaspete on April 25, 2015, 05:47:26 PM
He wrote songs about Black Angels in the early 80's... Astound me with your wisdom on that topic?

The Black Angels.  ;D

A bunch of girly lads riding on pink Vespas that their mommies bought them, driving around safe farmlands wishing they were in a real motorcycle gang like The Hell's Angels.

Now go watch the film GIMME SHELTER to see the difference between Black Angels and The Hell's Angels.
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