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A reference to “I am the Walrus” by the Beatles
Sitting on a cornflake, waiting for the van to come.
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A reference to the Billy Bragg’s song “A New England,” ironically changed around.
I don’t want to change the world
I’m not looking for a new England
I’m just looking for another girl
This also echoes MLK’s “Mountaintop” speech, in which he states not to talk only about the “new Jerusalem”, but also the “new New York, etc.”
It's as simple as the theory that the dying love to kill El-P – The League of Extraordinary Nobodies
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What is this?
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What is this?
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How the fuck do you explain your own self destruction and still remain trusted? El-P (Ft. Cat Power) – Poisenville Kids No Wins/Reprise (This Must Be Our Time)
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Had some hard goodbyes
Call me up, day or night
Free drinks and bad advice Dessa – Dixon's Girl
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Dessa’s saying that she’s not trying to get Dixon’s girl to prostitute herself, and certainly not for cheap. The “I know how the stones can fly” is an allusion to the ancient practice of stoning prostitutes, commonly know from John 8:7. Dessa is saying that she knows how people can judge others harshly, and that’s not what she’s going to do as she’s been there before. She’s up to talking whenever, even if all she has to offer is free booze and bad advice.
Christ and the Woman Caught in Adultery, by Tintoretto
The previous lines about how everyone want’s to see Dixon’s girl hitting the high notes, with her hair down is probably speaking to the pressure on female artists to be more feminine and sexually desirable, which fits the idea of prostituting one’s creative output.
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And all your insides are out of touch
And then you realize, Real lives
Life, the idea dies Japanese Cartoon (Ft. Lupe Fiasco) – Gasp
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This is about the disparity between the rich and the poor, how things like ipods are manufactured by sweatshop workers who risk their lives and we are our out of touch with their pain
Our outside (physical pleasure from materialism) is in a rush (feels good) but our insides(our minds) are out of touch with the pain of the people who facilitate our pleasure
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This could be a playful reference to Stephen Merritt and his band, The Magnetic Fields, but it’s a definite reference to NYC hip-hop duo Eric B. & Rakim, “Eric B Is President.”
Patrick is leaving New Jersey; “17” is New Jersey’s Route 17, which runs through Mahwah, NJ, where Patrick Stickles went to college.
Then he’s diving through the Merritt Parkway, one of Connecticut’s most scenic routes, with elaborate architectural overpasses.
You can view the Merritt Parkway on Google Maps here, and view Route 17 here.
The 84 referred to is I-84, one of the main highways in CT that goes east to west.
I-84 runs across Connecticut and also connects New York/New Jersey to Massachusetts. It’s a much faster route from Mahwah to Boston than the Merritt Parkway.
also 84 is I-84 the highway that runs thru most of Connecticut that start in Danbury and brings you up to massachussetts
“Magnetize me no more” probably is a riff on Stephen Merritt of The Magnetic Fields.