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Julian Casablancas begs his wife to understand, essentially asking her, “Don’t you understand that I’m not ready to settle down just yet?” He asks her for a better plan, even though there probably isn’t one.

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“Free Fallin',” one of Tom Petty’s biggest hits, is an escapist’s ode to Los Angeles, California. The song, which peaked at #7 on the Billboard Hot 100, was inspired by what Petty frequently saw whilst driving along Ventura Boulevard in the San Fernando Valley.

Rolling Stone rated it #179 on their list of the 500 greatest songs of all time. For that same piece, Tom revealed the label initially rejected the song and told the simple story of its success:

I waited six months and brought the same record back, and they loved it.

The song was also featured in the popular 1996 film Jerry Macguire, starring Tom Cruise.

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“The Guns of Brixton” pre-dates the riots that took place in the 1980s in Brixton but the lyrics depict the feelings of discontent that were building due to heavy-handedness of the police that led to the riots, the recession and other problems at that time. Paul Simonon was originally doubtful about the song’s lyrics, which discuss an individual’s paranoid outlook on life. “You don’t get paid for designing posters or doing the clothes”, he said in an interview published by Bassist Magazine on October 1990, “you get paid for doing the songs.” But he was encouraged to continue working on it by Strummer.

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“Silver Soul” has the thick, churning gloom familiar from earlier Beach House records, but they acquire more force by being placed alongside tracks that allow for more light. Front to back, the arrangements and sequencing are superb.

The song has gained popularity from being sampled in one of Kendrick Lamar’s most popular songs, “Money Trees” and Lil Peep’s 2017 single “Downtown.”

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The seventh track on the second side of Dylan’s 1965 album of the same name.

Written for the storied highway that runs from Dylan’s home state of Minnesota down to New Orleans, the title also echoes “Highway 51”, a Curtis Jones song that Dylan covered on his first album.

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Joel sings, figuratively speaking, about how he and his former manager/ex-brother-in-law Frank Weber could have made it to the Great Wall of China if Weber had just believed in him instead of betrayed him.

The conflict stemmed from Joel’s legal disputes with Weber, who reportedly embezzled millions of dollars from Joel’s savings account.

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Cannery Row is the waterfront street in the New Monterey section of Monterey, California. It is the site of a number of now-defunct sardine canning factories.

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This song is about his journey from a confused teen receiving electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), which was intended to cure his homosexual tendencies, and his journey trying to figure out how to be whole again. After finding his own “peculiar” sense of love and allowing himself to be gloriously happy with it, he feels like a human again. The end is dedicated to Rachel. Rachel was Lou’s transgender companion for a long time, and she influenced him as a person and his music very significantly.

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“Solsbury Hill” is ostensibly about a spiritual journey Peter Gabriel had atop the beautiful hill in Somerset, England. But seasoned fans suggest that Peter Gabriel is figuratively speaking about his decision to leave Genesis and the freedom it provided.

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“Solsbury Hill” was written shortly after Peter left his old prog rock band Genesis. He was inspired to write it after meditating at Little Solsbury Hill in Somerset, England. It has often been interpreted as Peter’s way of coming to terms with his leaving Genesis and getting better opportunities to express himself artistically.

It was the lead single of Peter Gabriel’s 1977 debut self-titled solo album, also known as Car, and became a top 20 hit in the UK, Denmark, Belgium & The Netherlands. It also peaked at #68 on the US Billboard Hot 100.

The song has a rather unusual 7/4 time signature. In Billboard magazine in Feb. 2017, Andrew Unterberger wrote about how that gives it feelings of struggle and endurance:

The 7/4 stomp of “Solsbury Hill” is one of its indelible and striking features, that feeling of a beat missing in every measure giving the song a constant sense of struggle – and subsequently, of endurance.

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