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1981 is a historical snapshot of time, a look back at a pivotal breakthrough in Hip Hop culture—the invention of the Windmill. Crowds gather to watch a moment that held the future.

Get your own copy at The BUA Store

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Quite possibly the most powerful line on the entire record. The concept of standing in the rain is vivid imagery to going through life’s ills and perils, but coming out of it as an experienced individual.

Might as well say, “if you haven’t been through it, you wouldn’t get it” or been through “SOMETHING”, for these are the happenings that shape us. The line calls the stark emotional delivery on “Retrospect For Life” as one of these moments.

Common begins using “it’s like” as a qualifier throughout the song and it gives insight into his narrator’s age/youth.

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On February 6th, 2014, Blood Orange played at Webster Hall in New York. Dev Hynes joined Samantha Urbani on the song’s final chorus and damn near tore the roof off. They have a very real artistic chemistry.

http://youtu.be/-BdUoPdyOlY?t=1m40s

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She’s taken a wrong turn in her life. The prostitution references throughout the song add to this. She’s just a young girl who’s lost her way, and he’s there to provide comfort and solace.

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One could say that Castellanos is the reason the Tigers were willing to part with Prince Fielder (in a trade for Ian Kinsler) this off-season. Miguel Cabrera moves to 1st base and Castellanos takes over the hot corner.

He absolutely MASHED in Single-A, but has taken some time to adjust in AA and AAA. He had 18 jacks and 100 strikeout to go with a .793 OPS last season at Toledo, but his metrics are trending up. Should be a safe bet for a good 400+ AB’s in Detroit this season.

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This makes me think of Barney Gumble’s Yoko Ono-like girlfriend in The Simpsons' Beatles episode, who wants “a single plum, floating in perfume, served in a man’s hat.”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BknF1HBh3a0

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A rake, short for rakehell, is a historic term applied to a man who is habituated to immoral conduct, frequently a heartless womanizer. Think Al Swearangen in Deadwood:

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While the story is a bit perturbing, Meloy explains to the NY Times that:

“I don’t advocate the murder of children. But I happen to know it’s true that people are tickled by that stuff, or else I probably would have been crucified long ago.”

See…he’s just a modern day musical Edgar Allen Poe!

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This is his admittance to the murders. He killed his family in order to be “free.” Sounds sick, but there’s a certain maddening drama about it all. Like something about an Edgar Allen Poe story….

Much how this song’s protagonist uses “freedom” to rationalize his actions, Poe’s Montresor in The Cask Of Amontillado rationalizes the murder of the doomed Fortunato with a simple:

A wrong is unredressed when retribution overtakes its redresser.

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The Rake names each of his children – a mixture of traditional names with no single origin (Isaiah is Biblical, Charlotte is French, Dawn is Old English and Myfanwy is Welsh), further adding to the placelessness of the narrative.

His wife dies giving birth to their stillborn fourth child, and after her death, he decided to get rid of the rest of them too, which is what he goes on to describe.

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