Jan. 2nd, 2011 04:57 pm
in defense of TH's lyrics
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4am_secretOkay, because this is an ongoing source of... I don't know, baffling frustration for me, I'm just going to throw it out there in a bit of a semi-rant, and get it out of me.
If anyone listens to Tokio Hotel songs and truly thinks that they are about weather or space, they are only hearing, they are not listening.
I really, really, cannot believe that there are so many people out there that don't even bother LISTENING to lyrics, or interpreting them, or analyzing them at all for deeper meaning. Well, actually, judging by what is really popular at the moment, I suppose I can; I don't mean this as any disparagement towards pop music at the moment because I do actually LIKE a lot of it, but it doesn't leave much room for imagination, generally. And I get if people prefer that - music that hands them their thoughts, that doesn't make them have to think too much, something they can just enjoy for what it is.
But Tokio Hotel? IS NOT THAT.
Their music has almost always been loaded with metaphors. I think some of the songs on Schrei were a little more straightforward, but Durch den Monsun? Do people seriously think that Bill REALLY THINKS he's going to have to prove his love for someone by running through a giant storm?? I wasn't even aware that using a storm as a metaphor for a relationship was new, or unique at all to them. And this goes for every appearance of weather in their lyrics... it's almost cliche, but in a way that they have made it uniquely Tokio Hotel, and that adaptation of something so universal is what has worked for them. Monsoon is the song that has helped them break nearly every single market they've broken! Really though, they have done this with a lot of other scenarios; the idea of overcoming strange, terrible, dangerous circumstances to be with someone you love. Another example is Übers Ende der Welt/Ready Set Go.
Some songs are really obvious in their metaphors, right? I mean, we ALL know that songs like Hilf Mir Fliegen are. Spring Nicht may be a less obvious one; surely they are not only meaning to appeal to people that are already on that rooftop - merely the people who feel as if they could be. They use things like broken doors and empty rooms to signify loneliness and heartache. Hell, it's my own personal theory that often, their songs that sound relationship-like might even be inspired by the twins, and their relationship, just put into a different and more relatable context. And not in a sweet twincesty way, the way some have tried to stretch them; for example, I still think a few songs like Ich Bin Nich' Ich are about the twins (or maybe more likely, about Tom, from Bill's POV). But assuming that is the case, you don't have to have a twin to understand those songs, the way they are written, right?
And then we come to Humanoid, probably the most misunderstood of all of their albums. Yes, Humanoid is more conceptual than their other releases. But what exactly does that say about Humanoid, if not that the entire concept of it is representative of something else? The twins have been VERY up-front about what the actual word "humanoid" means to them; it is representative of how they have felt their whole lives. Different, set apart. They think differently than most people, they feel differently, they relate differently. This is a thread that is woven throughout every single song on this album. I venture to say that if you have an open mind to these kinds of metaphors, and if you have EVER felt this way (and probably still do, since I don't think feelings like these generally just go away, at least not in my experience; you merely find others who relate, if you're lucky), you can't help but be reached by these songs. Every single space or sci-fi metaphor goes back to this feeling, this feeling like you are from a different planet than anyone else.
I've seen someone say (on tokiosecrets of course, so I should probably disregard anyway...) that Humanoid is the only song that they thought had any deeper meaning that fit in with the album concept. Really? Is that only because it's the most obvious one? I fear it really must be. Alien should be another that is pretty obvious. This song, and World Behind My Wall both seem to me to be a bit about feeling trapped in your own mind, in the world created by being the way you are.
I'm not going to touch Geisterfahrer/Phantomrider, because my personal meaning for that song kind of clouds my judgement and I don't feel comfortable getting into that one >.> However, this song, along with Alien and WBMW cover loneliness.
Finding people who relate, for one, seems to be a pretty common theme throughout Humanoid. Komm, Sonnensystem/Darkside of the Sun, Lass uns laufen, Für immer jetzt/Forever Now, Kampf der Liebe/Pain of Love (although on a more personal level), Menschen suchen Menschen/Human Connect To Human, Zoom/Zoom Into Me, and Träumer are all about finding people that relate to this way of feeling, on various levels. That is more than HALF of the CD. All of these songs are also about love (and overcoming anything, similar to the idea of Monsoon) and sex (HCTH is this CD's Reden)... it's nearly impossible to miss.
Automatisch/Automatic seems to me to be about people who cannot relate. IF you go with the interpretation of that song that I hear, it reminds me of what many of their fans say about them. You can really play Devil's Advocate with that song: it's easy to relate to the immediate POV (and the interpretation they themselves have given for it), but what happens if you try to look at it from the POV of the person who supposedly IS "automatic"? If you try to look at it from the POV of the band, in this case, or the twins? The moral of the story could just as easily be that you never know what is going on inside someone else unless they decide to let you in, and it's very easy to make judgements and decide harsh things about them, based merely on the fact that you will not be let in. Also? Total breakup song. Perhaps a specific kind of breakup, but still not terribly uncommon.
Empowerment is another common theme. Noise, Hunde/Dogs Unleashed, Hey Du/Hey You, these are the remaining songs on Humanoid, and that seems to be what these songs do. They are about standing up for who you are, what you feel, and taking control back from those who have taken it from you. Yes, on a literal level, one interpretation of Hunde and Dogs Unleashed is that it could be about the band's stalkers, and/or their experiences with their record company. Those are not things that just anyone could relate to, no. But have you never, in your whole life, felt held down or stifled? Trapped? THAT is what these songs are about at their heart. One of the beautiful things about song lyrics is when you can write something about a specific situation, in a way that really opens it up to anyone who has ever felt the same way, or similarly.
I've kind of avoided talking about the bonus tracks because some are quite different from the overall Humanoid concept. In Your Shadow does fit in pretty well, and would definitely go in the "relating" category I mentioned above, and is also a love song. I won't even get into Down On You because I still am not clear on all of the lyrics, but I think it's another pretty obvious love song (with sexual undertones? If my own interpretation of the lyrics is right, anyway...). I lovetoastieghostie's interpretation of the lyrics for Attention being about Bill and fame, and while THAT particular scenario isn't something I have experience with, I have dealt with a break-up that felt EXACTLY like those lyrics. Screamin' always seemed to me to be a song from the POV of their fans in some areas, and in regards to the pressures of extreme obsession in others ("no, you don't know what I'm feeling" for example). It's the only one that feels like more of a message than any of the others, but I'm not sure how many have quite gotten it, even after they worked Monsoon into it during the Humanoid lives, which felt like a definite statement, to me. That Day was more than likely, imo, inspired by Bill's surgery, but I envy anyone who has not ever felt the things described in that song and that can laugh at it for being overdramatic or whatever; it must be nice to not understand those feelings.
Honestly, as I write this all up, I cannot help but think that the misunderstandings that arise from Tokio Hotel's lyrics, most especially in regards to Humanoid, stem from a complete lack of empathy (which is understandable, not everyone will relate to everything), or otherwise, a complete lack of sympathy or a lack of really wanting to understand. Perhaps you simply have to have felt these things to truly get it. I merely wish that those who can't understand could possibly accept that, rather than judging the band so harshly for not fitting into their own life experiences, or aiming for some definition of success that makes sense to some people, and might not for others, including the band. Humanoid may not have done as well as many fans were expecting, but they got their message out into the world, and that message reached people. I am direct evidence of that, and I know I'm not the only one. This album spoke to me in a way that no other album ever has. That is worth so much more than money, fame, even tons of new fans, or the kind of "success" we've become conditioned by places like ONTD to expect everyone to want.
Moral of the story: if you aren't willing to dig a little deeper, Tokio Hotel's music just isn't for you. Either you feel it, or you don't. It's nothing new, and as far as the depth of their lyrics go, it probably won't change any time soon, even if their sound does. So if you want something easier, here's the door.
If anyone listens to Tokio Hotel songs and truly thinks that they are about weather or space, they are only hearing, they are not listening.
I really, really, cannot believe that there are so many people out there that don't even bother LISTENING to lyrics, or interpreting them, or analyzing them at all for deeper meaning. Well, actually, judging by what is really popular at the moment, I suppose I can; I don't mean this as any disparagement towards pop music at the moment because I do actually LIKE a lot of it, but it doesn't leave much room for imagination, generally. And I get if people prefer that - music that hands them their thoughts, that doesn't make them have to think too much, something they can just enjoy for what it is.
But Tokio Hotel? IS NOT THAT.
Their music has almost always been loaded with metaphors. I think some of the songs on Schrei were a little more straightforward, but Durch den Monsun? Do people seriously think that Bill REALLY THINKS he's going to have to prove his love for someone by running through a giant storm?? I wasn't even aware that using a storm as a metaphor for a relationship was new, or unique at all to them. And this goes for every appearance of weather in their lyrics... it's almost cliche, but in a way that they have made it uniquely Tokio Hotel, and that adaptation of something so universal is what has worked for them. Monsoon is the song that has helped them break nearly every single market they've broken! Really though, they have done this with a lot of other scenarios; the idea of overcoming strange, terrible, dangerous circumstances to be with someone you love. Another example is Übers Ende der Welt/Ready Set Go.
Some songs are really obvious in their metaphors, right? I mean, we ALL know that songs like Hilf Mir Fliegen are. Spring Nicht may be a less obvious one; surely they are not only meaning to appeal to people that are already on that rooftop - merely the people who feel as if they could be. They use things like broken doors and empty rooms to signify loneliness and heartache. Hell, it's my own personal theory that often, their songs that sound relationship-like might even be inspired by the twins, and their relationship, just put into a different and more relatable context. And not in a sweet twincesty way, the way some have tried to stretch them; for example, I still think a few songs like Ich Bin Nich' Ich are about the twins (or maybe more likely, about Tom, from Bill's POV). But assuming that is the case, you don't have to have a twin to understand those songs, the way they are written, right?
And then we come to Humanoid, probably the most misunderstood of all of their albums. Yes, Humanoid is more conceptual than their other releases. But what exactly does that say about Humanoid, if not that the entire concept of it is representative of something else? The twins have been VERY up-front about what the actual word "humanoid" means to them; it is representative of how they have felt their whole lives. Different, set apart. They think differently than most people, they feel differently, they relate differently. This is a thread that is woven throughout every single song on this album. I venture to say that if you have an open mind to these kinds of metaphors, and if you have EVER felt this way (and probably still do, since I don't think feelings like these generally just go away, at least not in my experience; you merely find others who relate, if you're lucky), you can't help but be reached by these songs. Every single space or sci-fi metaphor goes back to this feeling, this feeling like you are from a different planet than anyone else.
I've seen someone say (on tokiosecrets of course, so I should probably disregard anyway...) that Humanoid is the only song that they thought had any deeper meaning that fit in with the album concept. Really? Is that only because it's the most obvious one? I fear it really must be. Alien should be another that is pretty obvious. This song, and World Behind My Wall both seem to me to be a bit about feeling trapped in your own mind, in the world created by being the way you are.
I'm not going to touch Geisterfahrer/Phantomrider, because my personal meaning for that song kind of clouds my judgement and I don't feel comfortable getting into that one >.> However, this song, along with Alien and WBMW cover loneliness.
Finding people who relate, for one, seems to be a pretty common theme throughout Humanoid. Komm, Sonnensystem/Darkside of the Sun, Lass uns laufen, Für immer jetzt/Forever Now, Kampf der Liebe/Pain of Love (although on a more personal level), Menschen suchen Menschen/Human Connect To Human, Zoom/Zoom Into Me, and Träumer are all about finding people that relate to this way of feeling, on various levels. That is more than HALF of the CD. All of these songs are also about love (and overcoming anything, similar to the idea of Monsoon) and sex (HCTH is this CD's Reden)... it's nearly impossible to miss.
Automatisch/Automatic seems to me to be about people who cannot relate. IF you go with the interpretation of that song that I hear, it reminds me of what many of their fans say about them. You can really play Devil's Advocate with that song: it's easy to relate to the immediate POV (and the interpretation they themselves have given for it), but what happens if you try to look at it from the POV of the person who supposedly IS "automatic"? If you try to look at it from the POV of the band, in this case, or the twins? The moral of the story could just as easily be that you never know what is going on inside someone else unless they decide to let you in, and it's very easy to make judgements and decide harsh things about them, based merely on the fact that you will not be let in. Also? Total breakup song. Perhaps a specific kind of breakup, but still not terribly uncommon.
Empowerment is another common theme. Noise, Hunde/Dogs Unleashed, Hey Du/Hey You, these are the remaining songs on Humanoid, and that seems to be what these songs do. They are about standing up for who you are, what you feel, and taking control back from those who have taken it from you. Yes, on a literal level, one interpretation of Hunde and Dogs Unleashed is that it could be about the band's stalkers, and/or their experiences with their record company. Those are not things that just anyone could relate to, no. But have you never, in your whole life, felt held down or stifled? Trapped? THAT is what these songs are about at their heart. One of the beautiful things about song lyrics is when you can write something about a specific situation, in a way that really opens it up to anyone who has ever felt the same way, or similarly.
I've kind of avoided talking about the bonus tracks because some are quite different from the overall Humanoid concept. In Your Shadow does fit in pretty well, and would definitely go in the "relating" category I mentioned above, and is also a love song. I won't even get into Down On You because I still am not clear on all of the lyrics, but I think it's another pretty obvious love song (with sexual undertones? If my own interpretation of the lyrics is right, anyway...). I love
toastieghostie's interpretation of the lyrics for Attention being about Bill and fame, and while THAT particular scenario isn't something I have experience with, I have dealt with a break-up that felt EXACTLY like those lyrics. Screamin' always seemed to me to be a song from the POV of their fans in some areas, and in regards to the pressures of extreme obsession in others ("no, you don't know what I'm feeling" for example). It's the only one that feels like more of a message than any of the others, but I'm not sure how many have quite gotten it, even after they worked Monsoon into it during the Humanoid lives, which felt like a definite statement, to me. That Day was more than likely, imo, inspired by Bill's surgery, but I envy anyone who has not ever felt the things described in that song and that can laugh at it for being overdramatic or whatever; it must be nice to not understand those feelings.Honestly, as I write this all up, I cannot help but think that the misunderstandings that arise from Tokio Hotel's lyrics, most especially in regards to Humanoid, stem from a complete lack of empathy (which is understandable, not everyone will relate to everything), or otherwise, a complete lack of sympathy or a lack of really wanting to understand. Perhaps you simply have to have felt these things to truly get it. I merely wish that those who can't understand could possibly accept that, rather than judging the band so harshly for not fitting into their own life experiences, or aiming for some definition of success that makes sense to some people, and might not for others, including the band. Humanoid may not have done as well as many fans were expecting, but they got their message out into the world, and that message reached people. I am direct evidence of that, and I know I'm not the only one. This album spoke to me in a way that no other album ever has. That is worth so much more than money, fame, even tons of new fans, or the kind of "success" we've become conditioned by places like ONTD to expect everyone to want.
Moral of the story: if you aren't willing to dig a little deeper, Tokio Hotel's music just isn't for you. Either you feel it, or you don't. It's nothing new, and as far as the depth of their lyrics go, it probably won't change any time soon, even if their sound does. So if you want something easier, here's the door.
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