Ok, so I decided to make a thread about analyzing the translated lyrics (thanks terra!). I think it's a good idea personally because I am terrible at it and I would like to see what some of you people have to say, as well as help some people understand the songs a little better. Ok, so far I have:

[b]Hybrid Rainbow[/b]
[quote="terra"]i think it's about just not giving up. it's not just waiting until something good happens, it's just knowing that however hopeless things seem now, you've still got another chance tomorrow, you can still keep going.

but i'm still stuck on the blemished rainbow thing. i'm convinced the kanji they used on the wristbands is probably closer to sawao's intent. that perhaps they have a tarnished, imperfect rainbow, but they've still got a rainbow (made by the prism they're using to signal a ship) and they've still got hope. [/quote]
[quote="Lepton"]I'm going to make a comment about Hybrid Rainbow, but you have to remember first that I was thinking of this as a lovesong after seeing a translation of the lyrics. The singer was on an island with someone- a metaphor for being isolated and trying to connect with this person in a way that re-kindled a relationship that used to be pretty close.

Anyway, at the time I first read the translation, I started wondering about the phrase "hybrid rainbow"....

...and it struck me that PERHAPS this was based on a true fact: that no one sees the same rainbow as another person.

This is really true; because of the optics, unless your eyes are in exactly the same location as another eye, you'll see a different color refracted from the same raindrop as you'd see if your eye was shifted a few inches away. Thus- you can't see the SAME rainbow as someone else. Your's is not produced by the same droplets in the same way.

So I was thinking: does he mean that he wants to merge with this person so *completely* that he actually sees through her eyes? And she through his? So they actually DO see the same rainbow?

You have to admit: a sentiment like that is pretty romantic.

I'm probably way off base...but that's what it sounded like to me.


You know, maybe the rainbow is imperfect because the two individual rainbows aren't merged very well....it sort of fits with both interpretations...two people trying to get it together, and muddying each others colors....but still trying to get into perfect registry to get a beautiful blend? A perfect hybrid rainbow? And they don't have it yet, because they've still got issues they're hassling with, so they can't see things through each other's eyes very well. They can't gain the other's perspective.[/quote]

[b]Strange Chameleon[/b]
[quote="zenkalia"]it's a love song about a guy who loves a girl a lot but can't bring himself to change in order to be with her. he's a strange chameleon because he can't change... he's stuck in the colors that he was born in and can't be with this girl consequently.[/quote]
[quote="Lepton"]I'm not sure my take on the video is mutually exclusive with the lyrical content- being a chameleon that can't blend sure seems to be the intent of the lyrics, but it's not unusual for a video to go off in another direction. In this case it may be a subliminal message to be talking about reptiles in the first place...sort of a tacit admission that he's being driven by something other than higher brain functions. That sort of honesty is sometimes very appealing....but then emotional risk always is. There is some allusion to isolation in the lyrics, but the video takes that to a literal place with the "white room" and lack of color.

It just feels like a slightly insane place- an asylum, and who knows if it was his choice or the outside world's. My take was that we all have a place like that in our heads, and we normally keep our libidos there, out of sight until it's time to let it out. Certain kinds of insanity are quite enjoyable....like those moments you share with another person....or your favorite sock puppet, if you're a real misfit. Squirt.[/quote]




I know terra did one for Happy Bivouac, but I can't find it... Any other songs you people want to analyze?

yeah, there are several really deep songs.

lepton can make green day songs deep.

im goign to add onto the strange chameleon analysis

well my take is that the song is a story like literally. something has happened around the second "i wanna be your gentleman" in the second verse. the lyrics afterwards say "scratches can’t be soothed, it can never be healed" which i believe means something like he has opened up, but to no avail. then the lyrics going darkerish (not the right word really). the line he waits in can be in his head, a way for him to win her over. but also this part comes in “We live like we’re playing a never ending prelude" which in my head means that they never went far in their relationship. they were good friends and he loved her (this pronouns can beswitched if you have the need) but no love was returned

then this whole chorus comes in

If the whole world’s a fake and there’s tricks and traps
Even if I realize it’s not alright with just the color you’re born with
Nothing changes no matter what I do, I’m prepared to die
I am a strange chameleon"

i think this whole chorus means that he has no belief in the world, its there just to mess with him, just to screw him over and that he knows that his orginal color isn't enough for life. he tries to change, maybe with the "waiting in line" part stated above. maybe he tries somethign like that, but nothing changed, he is so depressed he is practically suicidal now. and what i think he means by strange chameleon is that unlike others, he cannot adapt to whats around him, he stands out at times he doesnt want to.

the pre-solo lyrics could be what he was saying to the girl. and the solo is symbolic much like other solos. i believe whats happening is taht he is walking away, and maybe even back into his room. there he weeps, and decides waht he is goign to do. this is practically the climax of the story

the next choruses are his thoughts as he says good bye to the girl. he finds out that the girl never liked him like how he likes her...not matter what went through his head. he rips his journal in his head, the memories they had together into shreads. "We’re going to be another fossil, worthless to history" means that they are practically done, nothing is left of this and no one will know about it.

his palm is still warm from their last touch, a handshake. even though he was rejected he still loves her and is glad they met. maybe thats another reason why he is a strange chameleon.

I have a completely different take on Strange Chameleon. First off, my interpretation of him calling himself a "Strange Chameleon" is that he is pretending to be someone he isn't to make some girl like him (Supported by the second line "How about going to look for a place where we can change to be just like someone else"). When he says "...failure of a chameleon, unable to blend with surrounding colors," I interpret that as him saying that he is a different kind of chameleon, one who blends in with emotions and lies, as opposed to colors and light. Anyways, on to my thoughts:

The person whose eyes this story is being told through is obviously in love with this girl, which is established in the first few verses. "As I float and sink, I'm thinking of things after we make it to the other side," I believe this is meant to be a metaphor for being hopeful, that he's going through the trials of winning the girl over, and is thinking of things after she loves him back.

Next, we get the line saying he can't blend in to surrounding colors. Again, I think he is saying that he is pretending to be someone he isn't. "I want to sing a gentle song, and I only want applause from one person..." strikes me as him having good intentions...not much else to say about that.

The next set of "I WANNA BE YOUR GENTLEMAN" I think is him stating that it is harder to pretend to be someone else than he thought...I'm probably way off here, I'm just going on impressions at this part.

"I even lined up in some line I didn't care about," undoubtedly pretending that he does care, because it's something that she cares about. Trying to make her happy. "We live like we're living a never-ending prelude." What's a prelude? Something that comes before something else (usually better). I interpret this to mean that she is enjoying their relationship more and more, like it's building to something even greater. Could be wrong again. "And we laugh, as if we're dead." ...I just like this line.

"Even if I realize it's not alright just with the colors you're born with," meaning you aren't good enough the way you are, and you will only get anywhere in life if you lie about it, similar to the way chameleons change their skin color. "I'm a strange chameleon." Should be obvious by now, what I think this means.

"If everything is a lie that's meant to look alright, and the cat that I tamed was just hungry for food..." Here, he is realizing that everything in the world is also a lie, and that nothing is how it seems. The line regarding the cat shows how he has been deceived by something he thought loved him (I'm assuming that's what this line is referring to, since this is the first mention of a cat in the song...I'm probably overexaggerating its importance). "Even if it's an illusion that bursts with the sound of a snap, the palm of my hand is still warm." His entire world just burst, because he realizes that everything is a lie. I think the 'my hand is still warm' bit is referring to him holding hands with the girl, who finally returns his love. I may be way off though, still just an impression.

I interpret the entire last verse to him deciding that he has to break off the relationship, because if it keeps going, it will only hurt them both. "I'm glad that I met you, Bye-bye I'm a strange chameleon." Before leaving, he gives her these words to explain why it must end. I also believe he does not want her to have to find out that he's lying about who he is, as he discovered about the cat (probably still overexaggerating its importance).

Well, that's my take on Strange Chameleon, which is, due to personal events, my favorite pillows song. Let me know what you think about my ideas.

He falls out of love with her cause he realizes if he has to change this much for her to like him, she doesn't really like him. She likes this strange chameleon douche that he has decided to be.

[quote="Tatsu-Kun"]He falls out of love with her cause he realizes if he has to change this much for her to like him, she doesn't really like him. She likes this strange chameleon douche that he has decided to be.[/quote]
Yeah, that's what I meant. That, and if he continues to lie like that, it will only hurt him more, and when she eventually finds out that he's really a different person, she'd be destroyed, and probably leave him out of anger.