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'Rio' Song and Lyrics Discussion


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This has a very Paul Simon feel again. Not like TBWKTM = Graceland, (which I loved) but earlier Simon and Garfunkel stuff. It's got a real singer/songwriter vibe to it.

 

Funny, as to me, Good Wife has the Paul Simon type of touch to it (Graceland) at the beginning and to me this is more George Michael-ish (Faith), because of the rhythm.   Thinking about it, you do hear  influences from the same group of artists on Mika's albums but usually not in the same form. I personally find it reassuring since I like his infuences as well. 

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i take it as meaning that the holes in his pockets have been there for so long that they had time to grow pockets of their own.

 

what i'm wondering tho, is "having a hole in the pocket" some sort of expression in english? in german it would mean something like having no money, or spending the money faster than it can come in. but in this context i think it's more a different expression for "skeletons in the closet"? :dunno: i guess the holes having pockets on their own is just a funny way to say that the holes are significantly big. :naughty:

 

 

Funny, as to me, Good Wife has the Paul Simon type of touch to it (Graceland) at the beginning and to me this is more George Michael-ish (Faith), because of the rhythm.  

 

agree with that.

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what i'm wondering tho, is "having a hole in the pocket" some sort of expression in english? in german it would mean something like having no money, or spending the money faster than it can come in. but in this context i think it's more a different expression for "skeletons in the closet"? :dunno: i guess the holes having pockets on their own is just a funny way to say that the holes are significantly big. :naughty:

 

agree with that.

To me, "holes in my pocket" usually means someone who spends money fast, but has nothing to show for it. But I've sometimes heard the phrase used about other good things (or things in general) trickling away without coming to anything.

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I like this song. This is a summer song, to listen at the beach.

I don't understand each lyrics, especially the part of "holes in the pockets" I look the sense, without result... It is the fact to spend lot of money ?

I'm going to dig again ^^

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I like this song. This is a summer song, to listen at the beach.

I don't understand each lyrics, especially the part of "holes in the pockets" I look the sense, without result... It is the fact to spend lot of money ?

I'm going to dig again ^^

It mostly means finding you've got no money left and not really knowing what you spent it on. But I've heard it used not about money occasionally

 

I think here it might mean that he (briefly) had good things/opportunities/relationships, that are now gone, and he didn't notice them going and/or doesn't know why.

Edited by Soaring Simpson
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It mostly means finding you've got no money left and not really knowing what you spent it on. But I've heard it used not about money occasionally

 

I think here it might mean that he (briefly) had good things/opportunities/relationships, that are now gone, and he didn't notice them going and/or doesn't know why.

Yeah, there's a saying that's like "Your money's burning a hole in your pocket". It means you're in such a rush to spend whatever money you have.

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thanks for the explanations. so it does mean what i originally thought... i just got confused because he sings the pockets/holes were "hiding things", so i thought it might have a different meaning. :dunno:

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This one is slowly rising in my favourite track chart!

 

I think it could be a great summer single and can almost picture the video to go with it!  :yes:

Even for me this song could really work well as a summer single! I don't know why, I just have this feeling :)

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 2 weeks later...

Ok I gotta ask. Is Mika really allergic to peanuts or was that just a clever line?

I googled and found this post on our own MFC.

http://www.mikafanclub.com/topic/12289-mikas-50-secrets-le-50-secrets-de-mika/

see nr.43. So I guess it's true.

 

I'm starting to like this song more and more. It sticks in my head and the lyrics are great. Great example of mixing a dark subject with a happy melody.

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There's the funniest little fight/arguement on twitter right now about this. It's on the post he just made about being in Milan tomorrow. Someone keeps responding to every tweet he does with "PEANUT BUTTER". No idea why, but finally another fan was like what is your deal? He's allergic! And the first fan was all omg are you sure? And the second quoted Rio. Lol.

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There's the funniest little fight/arguement on twitter right now about this. It's on the post he just made about being in Milan tomorrow. Someone keeps responding to every tweet he does with "PEANUT BUTTER". No idea why, but finally another fan was like what is your deal? He's allergic! And the first fan was all omg are you sure? And the second quoted Rio. Lol.

 

He has tweeted about eating peanut butter, though!   :doh:

https://twitter.com/mikasounds/statuses/8211312864

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I thought Mika said this song was written from the perspective of the person who dumped him so the peanut allergy would not be his anyway. Maybe someone else remembers what he said? I don't recall exactly or where I read it and he probably didn't say it in English so I am not sure if that's correct.

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I thought Mika said this song was written from the perspective of the person who dumped him so the peanut allergy would not be his anyway. Maybe someone else remembers what he said? I don't recall exactly or where I read it and he probably didn't say it in English so I am not sure if that's correct.

Yes, you're right. in the Song by song talk he says that the song Rio is written as the other side of the story of Ordinary man. It is written from the perpective of the person who is leaving . But since Mika wrote the song it's his perspective as well so I don't think there would be a problem if the allergy is his. He takes the thoughts of the other person but is still himself.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hn2K-sw3Kr8

The tweet however is pretty clear so maybe the peanut allergy story is a hoax that keeps popping up.

Suggestion: A very brave person, who really wants to know and meets him after a gig, gives a net of peanuts and a can of tuna and watches his reaction. It won't be me though.

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Suggestion: A very brave person, who really wants to know and meets him after a gig, gives a net of peanuts and a can of tuna and watches his reaction. It won't be me though.

:lmfao:

 

In respect to allergies, "seafood" would not refer to fish but to shellfish (prawns, oysters, squid, etc.) so he wouldn't be allergic to tuna in any case.

 

I don't think he's allergic to either to be honest. The listing of "facts" was not compiled from an interview but other sources (some of which are inaccurate). I don't remember any primary source for Mika having allergies or recall him every talking about it. He said he loathed fish once but he was talking about swimming, not eating.

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I thought Mika said this song was written from the perspective of the person who dumped him so the peanut allergy would not be his anyway. Maybe someone else remembers what he said? I don't recall exactly or where I read it and he probably didn't say it in English so I am not sure if that's correct.

 

Very interesting. I'm assuming a track by track...

 

Yes, you're right. in the Song by song talk he says that the song Rio is written as the other side of the story of Ordinary man. It is written from the perpective of the person who is leaving . But since Mika wrote the song it's his perspective as well so I don't think there would be a problem if the allergy is his. He takes the thoughts of the other person but is still himself.

The tweet however is pretty clear so maybe the peanut allergy story is a hoax that keeps popping up.

Suggestion: A very brave person, who really wants to know and meets him after a gig, gives a net of peanuts and a can of tuna and watches his reaction. It won't be me though.

 

I'm gonna have to click that, but I'm hoping it's in English, will I be disappointed?

 

Also, I would totally do that, maybe not a can of tuna, but peanuts sure. After all, he's always hungry and could use a post gig snack! But I would ask first, and also have an alternate option.

 

:lmfao:

 

In respect to allergies, "seafood" would not refer to fish but to shellfish (prawns, oysters, squid, etc.) so he wouldn't be allergic to tuna in any case.

 

I don't think he's allergic to either to be honest. The listing of "facts" was not compiled from an interview but other sources (some of which are inaccurate). I don't remember any primary source for Mika having allergies or recall him every talking about it. He said he loathed fish once but he was talking about swimming, not eating.

 

He has so many pics on instagram of him eating or food he has, do any of them contain seafood or peanut products???

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I'm gonna have to click that, but I'm hoping it's in English, will I be disappointed?

There are English subtitles so you're alright.  :thumb_yello: 

 

He has so many pics on instagram of him eating or food he has, do any of them contain seafood or peanut products???

I don't know. I lost interest in what Mika eats for breakfast (lunch and dinner) before he started using Instagram. I thought I remembered something from Twitter when he was in Australia and talking about how his manager was busy on the phone and ignoring him so the waiter thought they were having a lovers' spat. I don't know why I thought seafood was involved, maybe just because they were on the water? :naughty:
 
I have personally seen him eat pizza, Coke, salad, rooibos tea and Excel mints. I heard him say he hates Rolos (they taste like mud).
 
I'm also sure he's a big fan of ice cream and champagne (especially pink). He talked about wanting Japanese ice cream on Twitter once until a fan delivered some to him in Tokyo. :naughty:
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Hold on, I'm reading this entire discussion about whether or not Mika is allergic to peanuts, but I interpreted the lyric a bit differently..

 

"Give me a peanut and I'll turn blue, I can't even eat the things you do"

 

I thought it meant that the ex eats a lot of peanuts and that every time Mika (or the other way around, if it's from the ex's perspective) sees/eats a peanut he's reminded of the other one so he 'turns blue'. He can't eat peanuts because they remind him of his ex.

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Hold on, I'm reading this entire discussion about whether or not Mika is allergic to peanuts, but I interpreted the lyric a bit differently..

 

"Give me a peanut and I'll turn blue, I can't even eat the things you do"

 

I thought it meant that the ex eats a lot of peanuts and that every time Mika (or the other way around, if it's from the ex's perspective) sees/eats a peanut he's reminded of the other one so he 'turns blue'. He can't eat peanuts because they remind him of his ex.

 

Turning blue means you can't breathe. Anaphylaxis happens when someone has a severe allergy and can make it difficult to breathe.

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Turning blue means you can't breathe. Anaphylaxis happens when someone has a severe allergy and can make it difficult to breathe.

 

I literally cannot find that meaning anywhere through Google. And I don't think that makes a lot of sense... Anyway, I said it was my interpretation and that's the nice thing about music, it can be interpreted in different ways :wink2:

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I literally cannot find that meaning anywhere through Google. And I don't think that makes a lot of sense... Anyway, I said it was my interpretation and that's the nice thing about music, it can be interpreted in different ways :wink2:

 

The meaning of "turn blue" is very clear to an English speaker. In the context of the rest of the verse I think what he's saying is that their relationship is a complete disaster due to bad luck/being accident prone :naughty:

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Here's what he said:  "Rio is a funny song because it's the other side of the song Ordinary Man. If Ordinary Man was my perspective on this love story which went wrong, Rio is the other person. It's the story I pictured and it's also the thoughts of the other person, a little bit to make me, to reassure myself, I've invented the other side of the story."

 

I feel like that changes the tone of the song a bit. Lines that sound self-deprecating come off as passive-aggressively vicious.  :naughty:

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