Best song lyrics? [Archive] - Freethought Forum

wade-w

01-01-2005, 02:18 AM

Favorite song lyrics? That's a tough one. There are so many. But here are some I am very fond of. If you ask me on a different day I might come up with different choices. Here goes:

Frank Zappa, Cosmik Debris:

The Mystery Man came over
An' he said: "I'm outa-sight!"
He said, for a nominal service charge,
I could reach nirvana t'nite
If I was ready, willing 'n able
To pay him his regular fee
He would drop all the rest of his present affairs
And devote His Attention to me

But I said . . .
Look here brother,
Who you jivin' with that Cosmik Debris?
(Now who you jivin' with that Cosmik Debris?)
Look here brother,
Don't you waste your time on me

The Mystery Man got nervous
An' he fidget around a bit
He reached in the pocket of his Mystery Robe
An' he whipped out a shaving kit
Now, I thought it was a razor
An' a can of foamin' goo
But he told me right then when the top popped open
There was nothin' his box won't do
With the oil of Aphrodite
An' the dust of the Grand Wazoo
He said:
"You might not believe this, little fella, but it'll cure your Asthma too!"

An' I said . . .
Look here brother,
Who you jivin' with that Cosmik Debris?
(Now what kind of a guru are you anyway?)
Look here brother,
Don't you waste your time on me
Don't waste yer time . . .

I've got troubles of my own, I said
An' you can't help me out
So take your meditations an' your preparations
An' ram it up yer snout
"BUT I GOT A CRYSTAL BALL!", he said
An' held it to the light
So I snatched it
All away from him
An' I showed him how to do it right

I wrapped a newspaper 'round my head
So I'd look like I was Deep
I said some Mumbo Jumbo then
An' told him he was goin' to sleep
I robbed his rings
An' pocket watch
An' everything else I found
I had that sucker hypnotized
He couldn't even make a sound
I proceeded to tell him his future then
As long as he was hanging around,
I said
"The price of meat has just gone up
An' yer ol' lady has just gone down . . . "

Look here brother,
Who you jivin' with that Cosmik Debris?
(Now is that a real poncho or is that a Sears poncho?)
Don't you know,
You could make more money as a butcher,
So don't you waste your time on me
(Don't waste it, don't waste your time on me . . . )
Ohm shonty, ohm shonty, ohm shonty-ohm
SSHONTAY

This is a great commentary on Psychics and astrologers, etc.

The Band, The Weight:

I pulled into Nazareth, was feelin' about half past dead;
I just need some place where I can lay my head.
"Hey, mister, can you tell me where a man might find a bed?"
He just grinned and shook my hand, and "No!", was all he said.

(Chorus: )
Take a load off Fanny, take a load for free;
Take a load off Fanny, And (and) (and) you can put the load right on me.

I picked up my bag, I went lookin' for a place to hide;
When I saw Carmen and the Devil walkin' side by side.
I said, "Hey, Carmen, come on, let's go downtown."
She said, "I gotta go, but m'friend can stick around."

(Chorus)

Go down, Miss Moses, there's nothin' you can say
It's just ol' Luke, and Luke's waitin' on the Judgement Day.
"Well, Luke, my friend, what about young Anna Lee?"
He said, "Do me a favor, son, woncha stay an' keep Anna Lee company?"

(Chorus)

Crazy Chester followed me, and he caught me in the fog.
He said, "I will fix your rack, if you'll take Jack, my dog."
I said, "Wait a minute, Chester, you know I'm a peaceful man."
He said, "That's okay, boy, won't you feed him when you can."

(Chorus)

Catch a cannon ball now, t'take me down the line
My bag is sinkin' low and I do believe it's time.
To get back to Miss Fanny, you know she's the only one.
Who sent me here with her regards for everyone.

I love the imagery in that one.

And finally, two from the Grateful Dead, first, Friend of the Devil:

I lit out from Reno, I was trailed by twenty hounds
Didn't get to sleep last night 'till the morning came around.

(Chorus: )
Set out runnin' but I take my time
A friend of the devil is a friend of mine
If I get home before daylight, I just might get some sleep
tonight.

Ran into the devil, babe, he loaned me twenty bills
I spent the night in Utah in a cave up in the hills.

(chorus)

I ran down to the levee but the devil caught me there
He took my twenty dollar bill and vanished in the air.

(chorus)

Got two reasons why I cry away each lonely night,
The first one's named Sweet Anne Marie, and she's my heart's
delight.
The second one is prison, babe, the sheriff's on my trail,
And if he catches up with me, I'll spend my life in jail.

Got a wife in Chino, babe, and one in Cherokee
The first one says she's got my child, but it don't look like
me.

(chorus)

The arrangement on the original studio version of this song was in an up-tempo bluegrass style. It eventually evolved into a slow, bluesy ballad.

The Loser:

If I had a gun for every ace I have drawn,
I could arm a town the size of Abilene
Don't you push me baby,
Cause you know I'm only in it for the gold

All that I am asking for is ten gold dollars
And I could pay you back with one good hand
You can look around about the wide world over
And you'll never find another honest man.

Last fair deal in the country,
Sweet Suzie, last fair deal in the town
Put your gold money where your love is baby,
Before you let my deal go down

Don't you push me baby, cause I'm all alone
Well I know a little something you won't ever know
Don't you touch hard liquor, just a cup of cold coffee
I'm gonna get up in the morning and go

Everybody prayin' and drinkin' that wine
I can tell the Queen of Diamonds by the way she shines
Come to daddy on an inside straight,
Well I got no chance of losin' this time

Last fair deal in the country,
Last fair deal in the town
Put your gold money where your love is baby,
Before you let my deal go down

Everybody prayin' and drinkin' that wine
I can tell the Queen of Diamonds by the way she shines
Come to daddy on an inside straight,
Well I got no chance of losin' this time.

You can't find a worse bet in poker than an inside straight. Another slow, bluesy ballad.

Ymir's blood

01-01-2005, 03:11 AM

The Weight is a favorite of mine as well.

Here are some really short song lyrics:

Rob Zombie ~ Call of the Zombie:

From out of the darkness the zombie did call.
True pain and suffering he brought to them all.
Away ran the children to hide in their beds,
For fear that the Devil would chop off their heads.

Pink Floyd ~ One of these days

One of these days i´m going to cut you into little pieces!...

wade-w

01-01-2005, 03:33 AM

Pink Floyd ~ One of these days

One of these days i´m going to cut you into little pieces!...

Heh. I have a live Pink Floyd recording where in the second set they do One of These Days and segue from that into Careful With That Axe Eugene which also has only one line:

Careful, with that axe, Eugene!

D. Scarlatti

01-01-2005, 08:16 AM

Tough Mama
Meat shakin' on your bones
I'm gonna
Go down to the river and get some stones
Sister's on the highway with that steel-drivin' crew
Papa's in the big house, his workin' days are through
Tough Mama
Can I blow a little smoke on you?

Dark Beauty
Won't you move over and gimme some room
It's my duty
To bring you down to the field where the flowers bloom
Ashes in the furnace, dust on the rise
You came through it all the way, flyin' through the skies
Dark Beauty
With the long night's journey in your eyes.

Sweet Goddess
Born of a blinding light and a changing wind
Now don't be modest
You know who you are and where you been
Jack the Cowboy went up north
He's buried in the past
Lone Wolf went out drinking
It was over pretty fast
Sweet Goddess
Your perfect stranger's comin' on in at last.

Silver Angel
With the badge of the lonesome road written your sleeve
I'd be grateful
If this golden ring you'd receive
Today on the countryside it was a-hotter than a crotch
I stood alone upon the ridge and all I did was watch
Sweet Goddess
Must be time to carve another notch.

Crestfallen
A world of illusion at my door
I ain't a-haulin'
Any of my lambs to the marketplace anymore
The prison walls are crumbling, there is no end in sight
I gained some recognition but I lost my appetite
Dark Beauty
Meet me at the border late tonight.

Bob Dylan ~ Tough Mama

lady cop

01-01-2005, 12:18 PM

oh hell, i can't write them all..but here goes...pogues, fairy tale of new york, bette midler, the rose, bob seger, you'll accompany me, as time goes by from 'casablanca', key largo, bertie higgins, glenn miller, sentimental journey, jimmy buffett, southern cross, luciano pavarotti, la donna mobile, amazing grace by judy collins et al, any gilbert and sullivan, any italian opera, melissa etheridge, come to my window, beach boys, student revolution time, buddy holly, anything! rave on. elvis, i want you, i need you, i love you. and blues... all the women blues singers, and solomon burke, billy holiday. jesus, i could go on and on.

Socratoad

01-01-2005, 01:10 PM

Me too. Mine tastes are far too eclectic to enable me to make a list. I can not help but to have noticed that there is a lot of good music coming out of Africa these days. Much of it not in english, however that does not lesson my enjoyment of it in the least. I think that such music is loosely grouped under the rather loose genre "world music".

My tastes definitely does not extend to any of the hate filled crap that pollutes the airways.

Oops, just noticed this thresad is about lyrics. Y'all forgive me I hope, cuz I'm not awake yet. Off the top of my head, some of the words of the protest songs stick in mine mind. I especially was attracted to the lyrics of some of the Phil Ochs songs ..... many other as well. Julie Collins, Joni Mitchell and on and on.

justaman

01-01-2005, 01:48 PM

Whenever someone asks me my favourite song, I always wind up naming 20, and generally they're a different 20 from the last time I was asked :P

As far as lyrics go, I can never get past Mad World (The Gary Jules version made a hit by Donnie Darko). I had that song on repeat and bawled my friggen eyes out when I first got it :P

All around me are familiar faces
Worn out places
Worn out faces
Bright and early for the daily races
Going no where
Going no where
And their tears are filling up their glasses
No expression
No expression
Hide my head I wanna drown my sorrow
No tomorrow
No tomorrow
And I find it kind of funny
I find it kind of sad
The dreams in which I’m dying are the best I’ve ever had
I find it hard to tell you
I find it hard to take
When people run in circles its a very very
Mad world
Mad world
Children waiting for the day they feel good
Happy birthday
Happy birthday
Made to feel the way that every child should
Sit and listen
Sit and listen
Went to school and I was very nervous
No one knew me
No one knew me
Hello teacher tell me what’s my lesson
Look right through me
Look right through me
And I find it kind of funny
I find it kind of sad
The dreams in which I’m dying are the best I’ve ever had
I find it hard to tell you
I find it hard to take
When people run in circles its a very very
Mad world
Mad world
Illogical world
Mad world

JoeP

01-01-2005, 02:50 PM

Find The River, REM

There’s no one left to take the lead
But I tell you and you can see
We’re closer now than light years to go

Pick up here and chase the ride
The river empties to the tide
Fall into the ocean

The river to the ocean goes
Fortune for the undertow
None of this is going my way
There is nothing left to throw
Of ginger, lemon, indigo
Coriander stem and rose of hay

Strength and courage overrides
The privileged and weary eyes
River poet search naïveté
Pick up here and chase a ride
The river empties to the tide
All of this is coming your way

Killer, Seal
So you want to be free to live your life the way you want to be
Will you give if we cry
Will we live or will we die
Jaded hearts heal with time
Shoot that love so we can stop the bleeding

Solitary brother, is there still a part of you that wants to live
Solitary sister, is there still a part of you that wants to give
Solitary brother, is there still a part of you that wants to live
Solitary sister, is there still a part of you that wants to give

If we try and live our lives the way we want to be

Brother
Sister

There’s no other love, there’s no other love, there is no other love no other love like ours
There’s no other love, there’s no other love, there is no other love no other love like ours
There’s no other love, there’s no other love, there is no other love no other love like ours
There’s no other love, there’s no other love, there is no love

Love and Death, Yeats, put to music by the Waterboys
Behold the flashing waters
A cloven dancing jet,
That from the milk-white marble
For ever foam and fret;
Far off in drowsy valleys
Where the meadow saffrons blow,
The feet of summer dabble
In their coiling calm and slow.
The banks are worn forever
By a people sadly gay:
A Titan with loud laughter,
Made them of fire clay.
Go ask the springing flowers,
And the flowing air above,
What are the twin-born waters,
And they'll answer
Death and Love.

With wreaths of withered flowers
Two lonely spirits wait
With wreaths of withered flowers
'Fore paradise's gate.
They may not pass the portal
Poor earth-enkindled pair,
Though sad is many a spirit
To pass and leave them there
Still staring at their flowers,
That dull and faded are.
If one should rise beside thee,
The other is not far.
Go ask the youngest angel,
She will say with bated breath,
By the door of Mary's garden
Are the spirits
Love and Death.

The Great Gig in the Sky, Pink Floyd
Aaa aaa-aa-ah aaah aa-aa-ah
:giggle:

Sweetie

01-01-2005, 11:36 PM

I could throw out a whole pile, but these two I've been listening to today so they come to mind, they are so much more with the music though:

"Fearless"

Is there anything that I need to say
that hasn't been said before
I have been polite for too long
why should I be anymore
better now than never, better loud than clever
better just to play the fool
it's times like this
when you just close your eyes and kiss
cause everything after this
is just bullshit and being cruel
so hold me up, I'm going out
and don't wait up, I won't be coming home

if you lay me down in concrete fields
will I dream of grass and opera
this is the sound and how it feels
to be dead

In the end there will be fire and brimstone
and no one will be there to answer the telephone
you are the only one I'll miss
you are the only answer at a time like this
she is he trick of my trade
she is the thing that can't be made
she is gold and nothing less
and she is fearless
so hold me up, we're going out
and don't wait up, we won't be coming home

You hold it in your hand
you keep it in your heart
you hide it in your head
and you use it when you have to
she is the trick of my trade
these are the things that can't be made
stay yourself and nothing less
stay fearless

-Matthew Good

Pearl Jam Alive lyrics

Son, she said, have I got a little story for you
What you thought was your daddy was nothin' but a...
While you were sittin' home alone at age thirteen
Your real daddy was dyin', sorry you didn't see him, but I'm glad we talked...

Oh I, oh, I'm still alive
Hey, I, I, oh, I'm still alive
Hey I, oh, I'm still alive
Hey...oh...

Oh, she walks slowly, across a young man's room
She said I'm ready...for you
I can't remember anything to this very day
'Cept the look, the look...
Oh, you know where, now I can't see, I just stare...

(Chorus)

Is something wrong, she said
Well of course there is
You're still alive, she said
Oh, and do I deserve to be
Is that the question
And if so...if so...who answers...who answers...

(Chorus)

CARLA

01-02-2005, 03:41 AM

:love: I'M A HOPLESS ROMANTIC

I'm new here so don't tank me just yet..!! :wave:

THERE IS NOTHING MORE ROMANTIC THEN AT LAST, SUNG BY ETTA JAMES.. IT'S OLD SCHOOL BUT A CLASSIC..!! TREAT YOURSELF DOWNLOAD IT AND ENJOY..!! :D

Lyrics for: At Last BY: ETTA JAMES

At last, my love has come along
My lonely days are over
And life is like a song
Oh, yeah, at last
The skies above are blue
My heart was wrapped up in clovers
The night I looked at you
I found a dream that I could speak to
A dream that I can call my own
I found a thrill to rest my cheek to
A thrill that I have never known
Oh, yeah when you smile, you smile
Oh, and then the spell was cast
And here we are in heaven
For you are mine
At last

lady cop

01-02-2005, 04:01 AM

Carla, you are so right..that is right up there for all-time romantic song. it is so amazing how songs can mean so much, provide a soundtrack to our lives, and mark moments like nothing else can, long after memories fade those songs bring it all back. :love: :affection: :heart: :hearts: :cupid: :serenade:

livius drusus

01-02-2005, 04:13 AM

That's one of my favorite songs, Carla. Have you ever seen Pleasantville (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120789/?fr=c2l0ZT1kZnxteD0yMHxzZz0xfGxtPTIwMHx0dD0xfHBuPTB8c291cmNlaWQ9bW96aWxsYS1zZWFyY2h8cT1wbGVhc2FudHZpbGxlfGh0bWw9MXxubT0x;fc=1;ft=3;fm=1)? At Last is the soundtrack to a beautiful moment in that movie.

Sweetie

01-02-2005, 04:30 AM

That's a great song. The only problem with it is that once you get it in your head you can't get it out, and I find it's like a broken record, keep repeating the opening two lines and then it fades off, and then the opening two lines again a bit later, and then it's gone and.... :D Out damn song, get out I say!

Just kidding around, it should be considered the most romantic song of the century or something, thanks for bringing it to mind, it creates such a sweet mood. :holdhand:

wade-w

01-02-2005, 10:27 AM

Here's another favorite of mine.

The Jefferson Airplane, White Rabbit:

One pill makes you larger
And one pill makes you small,
And the ones that mother gives you
Don't do anything at all.
Go ask Alice
When she's ten feet tall.

And if you go chasing rabbits
And you know you're going to fall,
Tell 'em a hookah smoking caterpillar
Has given you the call.
Call Alice
When she was just small.

When the men on the chessboard
Get up and tell you where to go
And you've just had some kind of mushroom
And your mind is moving low.
Go ask Alice
I think she'll know.

When logic and proportion
Have fallen sloppy dead,
And the White Knight is talking backwards
And the Red Queen's "off with her head!"
Remember what the dormouse said:
"Feed your head. Feed your head. Feed your head"

wade-w

01-02-2005, 10:53 AM

Another favorite that I haven't heard in way too long is Wooden Ships. It's a complex song with a complex history. The music was written by David Crosby, and the lyrics were written jointly by Crosby, Stephen Stills, along with Paul Kanter and Grace Slick from the Airplane. It was then recorded by both Crosby, Stills and Nash and The Airplane, with different arrangements and even slightly different lyrics. It's a beautiful example of what can be done with three part harmony, though that also makes it nearly impossible for most bands to pull off. Oh, and the first verse here is on the sheet music, but it wasn't on either recording.

It's about survival in a post-apocalyptic world. Here it is:

Black sails knifing through the pitchblende night
Away from the radioactive landmass madness
From the silver-suited people searching out
Uncontaminated food and shelter on the shores
No glowing metal on our ship of wood only
Free happy crazy people naked in the universe
WE SPEAK EARTH TALK
GO RIDE THE MUSIC

If you smile at me you know I will understand
Cause that is something everybody everywhere does
In the same language

I can see by your coat my friend that you're from the other side
There's just one thing I got to know
Can you tell me please who won

You must try some of my purple berries
I been eating them for six or seven weeks now
Haven't got sick once
Probably keep us both alive

Wooden ships on the water very free and easy
Easy you know the way it's supposed to be
Silver people on the shoreline leave us be
Very free and easy
Sail away where the mornin sun goes high
Sail away where the wind blows sweet and young birds fly

Take a sister by her hand
Lead her far from this barren land
Horror grips us as we watch you die
All we can do is echo your anguished cry and
Stare as all your human feelings die
We are leaving
You don't need us

Go and take a sister by her hand
Lead her far from this foreign land
Somewhere where we might laugh again
We are leaving
You don't need us
Sailing ships on the water very free and easy
Easy you know the way it's supposed to be
Silver people on the shoreline leave us be
Very free
And gone
NO C'MON
GO RIDE THE MUSIC
C'MON RIDE IT CHILD

Gawen

01-02-2005, 07:42 PM

Poison
Every Rose Has its Thorn

We both lie silently still
In the dead of the night
Although we both lie close together
We feel miles apart inside

Was it something I said or something I did
Did my words not come out right
Though I tried not to hurt you
Though I tried
But I guess that's why they say

Chorus:
Every rose has its thorn
Just like every night has its dawn
Just like every cowboy sings his sad, sad song
Every rose has its thorn

Yeah it does

I listen to our favorite song
Playing on the radio
Hear the dj say loves a game of easy come and
Easy go
But I wonder does he know
Has he ever felt like this

And I know that you'd be here right now
If I could have let you know somehow
I guess

Though it's been a while now
I can still feel so much pain
Like a knife that cuts you the wound heals
But the scar, that scar remains

I know I could have saved a love that night
If I'd known what to say
Instead of makin' love
We both made our separate ways

But now I hear you found somebody new
And that I never meant that much to you
To hear that tears me up inside
And to see you cuts me like a knife
I guess

Godsmack
I Stand Alone

Now I've told you this once before
You can't control me
If you try to take me down you're gonna pay
Now I feel your every nothing that you're doing for me
I'm picking you outa me
you run away
I stand alone
Inside
I stand alone
You're always hiding behind your so called goddess
So what you don't think that we can see your face
Resurrected back before the final fallen
I'll never rest until I can make my own way
I'm not afraid of fading
I stand alone
Feeling your sting down inside of me
I'm not dying for it
I stand alone
Everything that I believe is fading
I stand alone
Inside
I stand alone
And now its my time (now its my time)
It's my time to dream (my time to dream)
Dream of the sky (dream of the sky)
Make me believe that this place isn't plagued
By the poison in me
Help me decide if my fire will burn out
Before you can breathe
Breathe into me
I stand alone
Inside
I stand alone
Feeling your sting down inside of me
I'm not dying for it
I stand alone
Everything that I believe is fading
I stand alone
Inside

Queensryche
Chasing Blue Sky

Shakin’ time, she needs
Taking rides...to somewhere
Let’s lose our minds, no hurry
I’m the wakeful night, with dreams...or something

Chasing blue sky,
We’re chasing blue sky

Taking time from all this worry
Mesmerized by the waves of your smile
I wish that I could say something
But you’re the rose colored glass I see through
I’ll see you through

Chasing blue sky, We’re chasing blue sky
Chasing blue sky, We’re chasing blue sky

Queesnryche
Eyes of a Stranger

I awoke on impact
Under surveillance from the camera eye
Searching high and low
The criminal mind found at the scene of the crime
Handcuffed and blind, I didn't do it
She said she loved me
I guess I never knew
But do we ever, ever really know?
She said she'd meet me on the other side
But I knew right then, I'd never find her

I don't believe in love
I never have, I never will
I don't believe in love
It's never worth the pain that you feel

No more nightmares, I've seen them all
From the day I was born, they've haunted my every move
Every open hand's there to push and shove
No time for love it doesn't matter
She made a difference
I guess she had a way
Of making every night seem bright as day
Now I walk in shadows, never see the light
She must have lied 'cause she never said goodbye

I don't believe in love
I never have, I never will
I don't believe in love
I'll just pretend she never was real
I don't believe in lovev I need to forget her face, I see it still
I don't believe in love
It's never worth the pain that you feel

No chance for contact
There's no raison d'etre
My only hope is one day I'll forget
The pain of knowing what can never be
With or without love it's all the same to me

I don't believe in love
I never have, I never will
I don't believe in love
I'll just pretend she never was real
I don't believe in love
I need to forget her face, I see it still
I don't believe in love
It's never worth the pain that you feel

Queensryche
Jet City Woman

Every time I leave
you say you won't be there.

And you're always there.

Every time I cry your name at night,
you pull close and say it's alright.

I look in your eyes, just like the rain.
Washing me, rain wash over me.

Touching your face, I feel the heat of your heartbeat
echo in my head like a scream.
What you do to me!

Waited so long I can't wait another day without you.
Jet City Woman.
Its a long way, home to my
Jet City Woman.
I see her face everywhere, can't get her out of my mind.

Whenever I'm alone I'm thinking,
there's a part missing from my life.
Wonder where I'd be without your love
holding me together now I'm
watching the time tick, tick away.
Face grows longer every day.
Fortunes are lost on the women I've seen
but without you I can't breathe.

You're the air to me!

Waited so long, I'm all alone thinking about you.
Jet City Woman.
Got to find my way home to her.
Jet City Woman.
I see her face everywhere I look!
Jet City Woman.
Just a thousand milles and I'll be there
Jet City Woman, to make the clouds go away.
Time for some blue sky!

Waited so long now the plane's delayed
an hour, reminds me of all our days apart.
Hold on, just a little longer.
Jet City Woman.
Wonder where I'd be, you're the air to me.
Jet City Woman.
Eyes like the rain, rain down on me
Jet City, Woman.
No more nights alone
I'm almost home now.
Jet City Woman.
Close my eyes, I'm there in my Jet City.

I have a whole bunch more.

Sweetie

01-05-2005, 06:28 AM

Damn, I can't resist. This one song floats through my head every so often,
and I love the intro. Most of these guys' stuff is pop I think it could be called, and this song is too damned long, but I love the lead singer's voice and the first two verses are just sung so well and just evoke such a feeling of, what? Of helplessness and what? I can listen to the first two verses over and over again:

Drove downtown in the rain nine-thirty on a Tuesday night,
just to check out the late-night record shop.
Call it impulsive, call it compulsive, call it insane;
but when I'm surrounded I just can't stop.

It's a matter of instinct, it's a matter of conditioning,
It's a matter of fact.
You can call me Pavlov's dog
Ring a bell and I'll salivate- how'd you like that?
Dr. Landy tell me you're not just a pedagogue,
cause right now I'm

http://www.lyricsdomain.com/2/barenaked_ladies/brian_wilson.html

You can listen to the song here, it's live, "Brian Wilson":

http://www.bnlmusic.com/music/default.asp

I just love these lines though:

Ring a bell and I'll salivate,
how'd you like that?

It says to me, would you like that, would you like to see me weak, are you happy now knowing I'm so helpless, knowing I'm human? But I am human.

seebs

01-05-2005, 11:15 AM

All right, post 'em. Tell us who, what, and why :).

Let's see.

Jethro Tull, Hymn 43:

Our Father high in Heaven,
Smile down upon your son.
He was busy with his money games,
His women, and his gun.
Oh Jesus save me!

And the unsung Western hero
He killed an Indian or three, hey,
And then he made his name in Hollywood,
To set the white man free.
Oh Jesus save me!

(chorus)
If Jesus saves, well he'd better save Himself,
From the gory glory seekers,
Who use His name in death.
Oh Jesus save me!
(chorus repeats)

Well I saw Him in the city,
And on the mountains of the moon, hey.
His cross was rather bloody,
And He could hardly roll His stone.
Oh Jesus save me!

I love this song. When I was pretty solidly hostile to Christianity, I loved it because I thought it was mocking Christians. Now I love it because I think it's chiding them. :)

Let's see. Other favorite songs include, but are not limited to: Outlaw Torn (Metallica), Missionary Man (Eurythmics), St. Stephen (Grateful Dead). World's full of songs I love to itty-bitty pieces.

wade-w

01-05-2005, 07:35 PM

Here's another one from The Band. It's also covered by Joan Baez (and was her biggest hit, IIRC) and Bob Dylan, among others. But as far as I'm concerned, nobody comes close to doing it as well as The Band. Oh, and Joan mangled the lyrics a bit. This is the original version.

The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down:

Virgil Caine is the name, and I served on the Danville train,
'Til Stoneman's cavalry came and tore up the tracks again.
In the winter of '65,
We were hungry, just barely alive.
By May the tenth, Richmond had fell,
it's a time I remember oh so well,

(Chorus)
The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down, and the bells were ringing,
The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down, and the people were singin'. They went
La, La, La, La, La, La, La, La, La, La, La, La, La, La,

Back with my wife in Tennessee,
When one day she called to me,
"Virgil, quick, come see, there goes Robert E. Lee!"
Now I don't mind choppin' wood,
and I don't care if the money's no good.
Ya take what ya need and ya leave the rest,
But they should never have taken the very best.

(Chorus)

Like my father before me, I will work the land,
Like my brother above me, who took a rebel stand.
He was just eighteen, proud and brave,
But a Yankee laid him in his grave,
I swear by the mud below my feet,
You can't raise a Caine back up when he's in defeat.

(Chorus and fade)

livius drusus

01-05-2005, 07:53 PM

Hey, if Gawen can post "Every Rose Has Its Thorn", I can post Alannah Myles' smoldering love letter to the Elvis, "Black Velvet". I think it's remarkably evocative of the South, and to think she's Canadian of all things. Go figure.

Black Velvet

Mississippi in the middle of a dry spell
Jimmy Rogers on the victrola up high
Mama's dancing with baby on her shoulder
The Sun is setting like molasses in the sky.
The boy could sing, knew how to move, everything.
Always wanting more, he'd leave you longing for.

Black velvet and that little boy smile
Black velvet with that slow southern style
A new religion that'll bring you to your knees
Black velvet if you please.

Up in Memphis the music's like a heat wave
White lightning, bound to drive you wild.
Mama's baby's in the heart of every school girl
"Love me tender" leaves 'em cryin' in the aisle
The way he moved, it was a sin, so sweet and true.

Always wanting more, he'd leave you longing for.

Black velvet and that little boy smile
Black velvet with that slow southern style
A new religion that'll bring you to your knees
Black velvet if you please.

Every word of every song that he sang was for you.
In a flash he was gone, it happened so soon,

What could you do?

Black velvet and that little boy smile
Black velvet with that slow southern style
A new religion that'll bring you to your knees
Black velvet if you please.
Black velvet and that little boy smile
Black velvet with that slow southern style
A new religion that'll bring you to your knees
Black velvet if you please.

...If you please
If you please

livius drusus

01-05-2005, 07:55 PM

Tori Amos' "Silent All These Years" has some kickass lyrics.

Silent All These Years

Excuse me but can I be you for a while
My dog won't bite if you sit real still
I got the anti-Christ in the kitchen yellin' at me again
Yeah I can hear that
Been saved again by the garbage truck
I got something to say you know
But nothing comes
Yes I know what you think of me
You never shut-up
Yeah I can hear that

But what if I'm a mermaid
in these jeans of his
with her name still on it
Hey but I don't care
cause sometimes
I said sometimes
I hear my voice
And it's been here
Silent All These Years

So you found a girl
Who thinks really deep thougts
What's so amazing about really deep thoughts
Boy you best praya that I bleed real soon
How's that thought for you
My scream got lost in a paper cup
You think there's a heaven
Where some screams have gone
I got 25 bucks and a cracker
Do you think it's enough
To get us there

Cause what if I'm a mermaid
In these jeans of his
With our name still on it
Hey but I don't care
Cause sometimes
I said sometimes
I hear my voice
And it's been here
Silent All These...

Years go by
Will I still be waiting
For somebody else to understand
Years go by
If I'm stripped of my beauty
And the orange clouds
Raining in head
Years go by
Will I choke on my tears
Till finally there is nothing left
One more casualty
You know we're too easy Easy Easy

Well I love the way we communicate
Your eyes focus on my funny lip shape
Let's hear what you think of me now
But baby don't look up
The sky is falling
Your mother shows up in a nasty dress
It's your turn now to stand where I stand
Everybody lookin' at you here
Take hold of my hand
Yeah I can hear them

But what if I'm a mermaid
in these jeans of his
with her name still on it
Hey but I don't care
cause sometimes
I said sometimes
I hear my voice [x3]

And it's been here
Silent All These Years
I've been here
Silent All These Years

Ymir's blood

01-05-2005, 08:40 PM

Wade, I don't think I've heard The Band's version, but a radio station in Charlotte (95.7 independently owned, even!) plays the Baez version a lot. Cool song. :yup:

Here's one from a sadly departed Canadian band, Rhea's Obsession.

Dreaming Blade:
He dreams in light
So moon and stars will fight
While he is playing
In the pale moonlight
With his eyes shut tight
His dreams are sharp as night
And he is saving them
Until the timing is right
Wake now child
In the middle of the night
The edges of your mind
have grown a little wild
Dreaming blade
Take the fear away
Dreaming blade
Cut it all away
Can you cut like a knife
Destroy what I don't like
Dreaming blade
Let me dream away

Ensign Steve

01-05-2005, 09:09 PM

I love the chorus to Slipknot's Surfacing. Completely simple and straightforward. Good music when I'm angry or happy! :)

Fuck it all. Fuck this world.
Fuck everything that you stand for.
Don't belong. Don't exist.
Don't give a shit.
Don't ever judge me.
Don't you fucking judge me.

Although this one could be posted in the misheard lyrics thread, because until I looked them up a few minutes ago, I thought the last two lines were, "Don't even touch me. Don't you fucking touch me." Whatever! :P

Ymir's blood

01-06-2005, 07:37 PM

Seeing Roland98's username keeps making me think of Warren Zevon:

Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner:
Roland was a warrior from the Land of the Midnight Sun
With a Thompson gun for hire, fighting to be done
The deal was made in Denmark on a dark and stormy day
So he set out for Biafra to join the bloody fray

Through sixty-six and seven they fought the Congo war
With their fingers on their triggers, knee-deep in gore
For days and nights they battled the Bantu to their knees
They killed to earn their living and to help out the Congolese

Roland the Thompson gunner...

His comrades fought beside him - Van Owen and the rest
But of all the Thompson gunners, Roland was the best
So the CIA decided they wanted Roland dead
That son-of-a-bitch Van Owen blew off Roland's head

Roland the headless Thompson gunner
Norway's bravest son
Time, time, time
For another peaceful war
But time stands still for Roland
'Til he evens up the score
They can still see his headless body stalking through the night
In the muzzle flash of Roland's Thompson gun
In the muzzle flash of Roland's Thompson gun

Roland searched the continent for the man who'd done him in
He found him in Mombassa in a barroom drinking gin
Roland aimed his Thompson gun - he didn't say a word
But he blew Van Owen's body from there to Johannesburg

Roland the headless Thompson gunner...
The eternal Thompson gunner
still wandering through the night
Now it's ten years later but he still keeps up the fight
In Ireland, in Lebanon, in Palestine and Berkeley
Patty Hearst heard the burst of Roland's Thompson gun and bought it

Shake

01-07-2005, 03:54 PM

I'm not sure why, but:
Pearl Jam
Black

Hey...oooh...
Sheets of empty canvas, untouched sheets of clay
Were laid spread out before me, as her body once did
All five horizons revolved around her soul
As the earth to the sun
Now the air I tasted and breathed has taken a turn
Ooh, and all I taught her was everything
Ooh, I know she gave me all that she wore
And now my bitter hands chafe beneath the clouds
Of what was everything?
Oh, the pictures have all been washed in black, tattooed everything...

I take a walk outside
I'm surrounded by some kids at play
I can feel their laughter, so why do I sear
Oh, and twisted thoughts that spin round my head
I'm spinning, oh, I'm spinning
How quick the sun can, drop away
And now my bitter hands cradle broken glass
Of what was everything?
All the pictures have all been washed in black, tattooed everything...
All the love gone bad turned my world to black
Tattooed all I see, all that I am, all I'll ever be...yeah...

Uh huh...uh huh...ooh...
I know someday you'll have a beautiful life, I know you'll be a star
In somebody else's sky, but why
Why, why can't it be, why can't it be mine

Tool
Aenima

Some say the end is near.
Some say we'll see armageddon soon.
I certainly hope we will.
I sure could use a vacation from this

Bullshit three ring circus sideshow of
Freaks

Here in this hopeless fucking hole we call LA
The only way to fix it is to flush it all away.
Any fucking time. Any fucking day.
Learn to swim, I'll see you down in Arizona bay.

Fret for your figure and
Fret for your latte and
Fret for your hairpiece and
Fret for your lawsuit and
Fret for your prozac and
Fret for your pilot and
Fret for your contract and
Fret for your car.

It's a
Bullshit three ring circus sideshow of
Freaks

Here in this hopeless fucking hole we call LA
The only way to fix it is to flush it all away.
Any fucking time. Any fucking day.
Learn to swim, I'll see you down in Arizona bay.

Some say a comet will fall from the sky.
Followed by meteor showers and tidal waves.
Followed by faultlines that cannot sit still.
Followed by millions of dumbfounded dipshits.

Some say the end is near.
Some say we'll see armageddon soon.
I certainly hope we will cuz
I sure could use a vacation from this

Silly shit, stupid shit...

One great big festering neon distraction,
I've a suggestion to keep you all occupied.

Learn to swim.

Mom's gonna fix it all soon.
Mom's comin' round to put it back the way it ought to be.

Learn to swim.

Fuck L Ron Hubbard and
Fuck all his clones.
Fuck all those gun-toting
Hip gangster wannabes.

Learn to swim.

Fuck retro anything.
Fuck your tattoos.
Fuck all you junkies and
Fuck your short memory.

Learn to swim.

Fuck smiley glad-hands
With hidden agendas.
Fuck these dysfunctional,
Insecure actresses.

Learn to swim.

Cuz I'm praying for rain
And I'm praying for tidal waves
I wanna see the ground give way.
I wanna watch it all go down.
Mom please flush it all away.
I wanna watch it go right in and down.
I wanna watch it go right in.
Watch you flush it all away.

Time to bring it down again.
Don't just call me pessimist.
Try and read between the lines.

I can't imagine why you wouldn't
Welcome any change, my friend.

I wanna see it all come down.
suck it down.
flush it down.

... and others from that album as well as from Lateralus, for example:

The Grudge

Wear the grudge like a crown of negativity.
Calculate what we will or will not tolerate.
Desperate to control all and everything.
Unable to forgive your scarlet lettermen.

Clutch it like a cornerstone. Otherwise it all comes down.
Justify denials and grip 'em to the lonesome end.
Clutch it like a cornerstone. Otherwise it all comes down.
Terrified of being wrong. Ultimatum prison cell.

Saturn ascends, choose one or ten. Hang on or be humbled again.

Clutch it like a cornerstone. Otherwise it all comes down.
Justify denials and grip 'em to the lonesome end.
Saturn ascends, comes round again.
Saturn ascends, the one, the ten. Ignorant to the damage done.

Wear the grudge like a crown of negativity.
Calculate what we will or will not tolerate.
Desperate to control all and everything.
Unable to forgive your scarlet lettermen.

Wear your grudge like a crown. Desperate to control.
Unable to forgive. And we're sinking deeper.

Defining, confining, controlling, and we're sinking deeper.

Saturn comes back around to show you everything
Let's you choose what you will not see and then
Drags you down like a stone or lifts you up again
Spits you out like a child, light and innocent.

Saturn comes back around. Lifts you up like a child or
Drags you down like a stone
To consume you till you choose to let this go.

Give away the stone. Let the oceans take and
Transmutate this cold and fated anchor.
Give away the stone. Let the waters kiss and
Transmutate these leaden grudges into gold.
Let go.

Darren

01-07-2005, 05:56 PM

Bright Blue - Weeping

I knew a man who lived in fear
It was huge, it was angry, it was drawing near
Behind his house, a secret place
Was the shadow of the demon he could never face.

He built a wall of steel and flame
And men with guns, to keep it tame
Then standing back, he made it plain
That the nightmare would never ever rise again
But the fear and the fire and the guns remain.

It doesn't matter now
It's over anyhow
He tells the world that it's sleeping
But as the night came round
I heard its lonely sound
It wasn't roaring, it was weeping
It wasn't roaring, it was weeping.

And then one day the neighbours came
They were curious to know about the smoke and flame
They stood around outside the wall
But of course there was nothing to be heard at all
"My friends", he said, "We've reached our goal
The threat is under firm control
As long as peace and order reign
I'll be damned if I can see a reason to explain
Why the fear and the fire and the guns remain."

It doesn't matter now
It's over anyhow
He tells the world that it's sleeping
But as the night came round
I heard its lonely sound
It wasn't roaring, it was weeping
It wasn't roaring, it was weeping.

It doesn't matter now
It's over anyhow
He tells the world that it's sleeping
But as the night came round
I heard its lonely sound
It wasn't roaring, it was weeping
It wasn't roaring, it was weeping.

____________________________________

The Polyphonic Spree - Reach for the Sun

Light and day is more than you'll say

Because all
My feelings are more
Than i can let by
Or not
More than you've got
Just follow the day

Follow the day and reach for the sun!

You don't see me flyin to the red
One more you're done
Just follow the seasons and find the time
Reach for the bright side
You don't see me flyin to the red
One more you're nuts
Just follow the day
Follow the day and reach for the sun

Just follow the day
Follow the day and reach for the sun!

You don't see me flyin to the red
One more you're nuts
Just follow the seasons and find the time
Reach for the bright side
You don't see me flyin to the red
One more you're nuts
Just follow the day
Follow the day and reach for the sun!

Just follow the day
Follow the day and reach for the sun!

Just follow the day
Follow the day and reach for the sun!

______________________________________

The Beatles - While My Guitar Gently Weeps

I look at you all see the love there that’s sleeping
While my guitar gently weeps
I look at the floor and I see it needs sweeping
Still my guitar gently weeps
I don’t know why nobody told you how to unfold your love
I don’t know how someone controlled you
They bought and sold you.

I look at the world and I notice it’s turning
While my guitar gently weeps
With every mistake we must surely be learning
Still my guitar gently weeps
I don’t know how you were diverted
You were perverted too
I don’t know how you were inverted
No one alerted you.

I look at you all see the love there that’s sleeping
While my guitar gently weeps
Look at you all...
Still my guitar gently weeps.

______________________________________

REM - Nightswimming

Nightswimming deserves a quiet night.
The photograph on the dashboard, taken years ago,
turned around backwards so the windshield shows.
Every streetlight reveals the picture in reverse.
Still, it's so much clearer.
I forgot my shirt at the water's edge.
The moon is low tonight.

Nightswimming deserves a quiet night.
I'm not sure all these people understand.
It's not like years ago,
The fear of getting caught,
of recklessness and water.
They cannot see me naked.
These things, they go away,
replaced by everyday.

Nightswimming, remembering that night.
September's coming soon.
I'm pining for the moon.
And what if there were two
Side by side in orbit
Around the fairest sun?
That bright, tight forever drum
could not describe nightswimming.

You, I thought I knew you.
You I cannot judge.
You, I thought you knew me,
this one laughing quietly underneath my breath.
Nightswimming.

The photograph reflects,
every streetlight a reminder.
Nightswimming deserves a quiet night, deserves a quiet night.

_________________________________

The Waterboys - Universal Hall

universal hall

i sacrifice my power on the altar of your love
that it may be born again on another world

in this library i could lose myself
transports, gateways on every shelf
dark words, bright words of ice and fire
as if an angel did descend and use the writer as a pen
for here are 'avalon of the heart'
'flight into freedom'
macdonald's 'lilith' and 'fantastes'
lewis's 'perelandra'

i sacrifice my power on the altar of your love
that it may be born again on another world

come friend, let us climb the winding flights of stairs
through the narrow door into the chamber bare
a single candle burns as we seat ourselves
words take form in our minds and repeat themselves :
"my beloved and i are one
my beloved and i are one
my beloved and i are one
my beloved and i are one"

i sacrifice my power on the altar of your love
that it may be born again on another world

out here on the tower the air is cold and clear
the stars and moon are bright above us
a night wind whispers in our ears
and it loves us
and though your body weary is
in this grand canyon state of mind
if high stream of dreams and truth be told
and our intentions be entwined
then from these high flung tower walls
let healing grace and blessings fall
over all this cracked and broken land
from northern crag to southern down
from universal hall to camden town
from city square to village green
from parliament to housing scheme
from iona to the hill of dreams

i sacrifice my power on the altar of your love
that it may be born again on another world

________________________________________

Pink Floyd - Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun

Little by little the night turns around
Counting the leaves which tremble at dawn
Novices lean on each other in yearning
Under the leaves the swallow is resting
Set the controls for the heart of the sun
Over the mountain watching the watcher
Breaking the darkness waking the grapevine
One inch of love is one inch of shadow
Love is the shadow that ripen's the wine
Set the controls for the heart of the sun
The heart of the sun
The heart of the sun
Witness the man who raves at the wall
Making the shape of his question to heaven
Whether the sun will fall in the evening
Will he remember the lesson of giving
Set the controls for the heart of the sun
The heart of the sun
The heart of the sun

________________________________________

Mad World is already up I see, so I don't need to include it here. Needless to say the music that goes with the lyrics above is great too.

Shake

01-07-2005, 09:49 PM

Re: Mad World

I still prefer the TfF version.

seebs

01-08-2005, 04:13 AM

The arrangement on the original studio version of this song was in an up-tempo bluegrass style. It eventually evolved into a slow, bluesy ballad.

I am told that there are (were?) no recordings of it, ever, that were acoustic and slow, or electric and fast.

Everybody prayin' and drinkin' that wine
I can tell the Queen of Diamonds by the way she shines
Come to daddy on an inside straight,
Well I got no chance of losin' this time.

You can't find a worse bet in poker than an inside straight. Another slow, bluesy ballad.[/QUOTE]

Ahh, but not just any inside straight; an inside straight flush, because he has to specify which queen, and either a royal flush or a 9-K flush. Very poor odds for a very good hand...

Ymir's blood

01-08-2005, 04:24 AM

Radiohead ~ Creep
When you were here before,
Couldn't look you in your eye
You're just like an angel,
Your skin makes me cry
You float like a feather,
In a beautiful world

I wish I was special,
You're so very special

But I'm a creep, I'm a weirdo
What the hell am I doing here?
I don't belong here

I don't care if it hurts,
I wanna have control
I want a perfect body,
I want a perfect soul
I want you to notice,
When I'm not around

You're so very special,
I wish I was special

But I'm a creep, I'm a weirdo
What the hell am I doing here?
I don't belong here

Oh...Oh...
She's running out again...
She's running
She's, run, run, run
Run....

Whatever makes you happy,
Whatever you want
You're so fucking special,
I wish I was special

But I'm a creep, I'm a weirdo
What the hell am I doing here?
I don't belong here
I don't belong here...

seebs

01-08-2005, 04:42 AM

I am a man of constant sorrow
I have seen trouble all my days
I bid farewell to old Kentucky
The State where I was born and raised

For six long years I've been in trouble
No pleasure here on earth I've found
For in this world I'm bound to ramble
I have no friends to help me now

You may bury me in some deep valley
For many years where I may lay
Then you may learn to love another
While I am sleeping in my grave

Maybe your friends think I'm just a stranger
My face you'll never see no more
But there is one promise that is given
I'll meet you on God's golden shore

This is a wonderful example of blues, or bluegrass, having been covered by everyone from Dylan to the Dead. There's a particularly nice rendition in the O Brother, Where Art Thou sound track... And an incredible techno remix done by some Euro techno entity called Skeewiff. Good luck finding the latter. I've got an MP3 of it, but I can find no evidence either that it's commercially available, or that it's legal.

But for this remix... Damm it, if it's not legal, copyright law should be changed. O Skeewiff, Where Art Thou (http://www.seebs.net/tmp/Skeewiffwhereartthou.mp3).

Godless Wonder

01-08-2005, 05:41 AM

I wouldn't really say these are the "best," but they are interesting in a too clever, gimmicky kind of way. I'm not the kind of person who listens to the words, I'm too busy listening to the music.

If you're not familiar with this, pay attention to the title, and look carefully at the words.

Rush's "Anagram (for Mongo) "

There's a snake coming out of the darkness
Parade from paradise
End the need for Eden
Chase the dreams of merchandise

There is tic and toc in atomic
Leaders make a deal
The cosmic is largely comic
A con they couldn't conceal

There is no safe seat at the feast
Take your best stab at the beast
The night is turning thin
The saint is turning to sin

Raise the art to resistance
Danger dare to be grand
Pride reduced to humble pie
Diamonds down to sand

Take heart from earth and weather
The brightness of new birth
Take heart from the harvest
Shave the harvest from the earth

Reasoning is partly insane
Image just an eyeless game
The night is turning thin
The saint is turning to sin

Miracles will have their claimers
More will bow to Rome
He and she are in the house
But there's only me at home

Rose is a rose of splendor
Posed to respond in the end
Lonely things like nights,
I find, end finer with a friend

I hear in the rate of her heart
A tear in the heat of the art

The night turns thin
The saint turns to sin

Brimshack

01-08-2005, 08:40 AM

------------------------------------------------------------------------
Primus
Wynona's Big Brown Beaver

Wynona's got herself a big brown beaver
and she shows it off to all her friends.
One day, you know, that beaver tried to leave her,
So she caged him up with cyclone fence.
Along came Lou with the old baboon
And said "Recognize that smell?"
"Smells like seven layers,
That beaver eats Taco Bell."
Now Rex he was a Texan out of New Orleans
And he travelled with the carnival shows.
He ran bumper cars, sucked cheap cigars
And he candied up his nose.
He got wind of the big brown beaver
So he though he'd take himself a peek,
But the beaver was quick
And grabbed him by the kiwis.
Now he ain't pissed for a week.
(And a half!)
Now Wynona took her big brown beaver,
And she stuck him up in the air.
Said "I sure do love this big brown beaver
And I wish I did have a pair."
Now the beaver onces slept for seven days
And it gave us all an awful fright.
So I tickled his chin and I gave him a pinch
And the bastard tried to bite me.
Wynona loved her big brown beaver
And she stroked him all the time.
She pricked her finger one day and it
Occurred to her she might have a porcupine.

Southern Culture on the Skids
Country Funk

What's that there on your pantleg boy
It must be that country funk
Dirty elbows and grimy knees
I was hers from the very first squeeze
now all I got is my magazines
country funk
What's that drippin down them (bibs)? there boy
it must be that country funk
What's that drippin down your bibs there boy
curly hair and a factory tan
painted nails on some callused hands
she found a boy but she left her a man
(solo)
she ? herself I can't get no relief
I saw things I should have never seen
now all I got is my magazines
and now she's gone
I'm all alone
and its so hard in the mornin
won't you please come home
until then I'll pretend
what's that there on your pantleg boy?

The Reverend Horton Heat - Bales of Cocaine

Well I was workin' on my farm, 'bout 1982
Pullin' up some corn, and a little carrot, too
When two low-flyin' airplanes, 'bout a hun'red feet high
Dropped a buncha bales of somethin', 'bout hit me in the eye

So I cut a bale open, and man was I surprised
A buncha large sized baggies, with big, white rocks inside
So I took a little sample, and my crazy brother Joe
Sniffed it up and kicked his heels, said, "Horton, that's some blow!"

(Chorus)
Bales of cocaine, fallin' from low-flyin' planes
I don't know who done dropped 'em, but I thank 'em just the same
Bales of cocaine, fallin' like the pourin' rain
My life changed completely by those low-flyin' planes

I loaded up them bales in my pick 'em up truck
Headed west for Dallas, where I might try my luck
I didn't have a notion that I could sell 'em there
Thirty minutes later I was a millionare

(Chorus)

Now I am a rich man, but I'm still a farmer too
But I sold my farm in Texas, bought a farm down in Peru
And when I get so homesick, I think I'm goin' insane
I travel back to Texas in a low-flyin' plane

The Vandals - Join us for Pong

it's the gay nineties and you can't watch nothin' good
mindless pinko garbage is all they make in hollywood
kung fu theatre, now there's a show with class
like to find the guy who cancelled it and karate chop his ass
so after alf is done, there ain't nothin' good on
all my rowdy friends come over because i have pong
join us! join us! join us!
join us for pong!
i got the foxes i got that clout
i got my unit on the day they came out
you bring the snack treats you bring the booze
i ain't bringin' nothin' does that box belong to you?
pass the dutchies on my all time favourite song
but turn it down you moron cause we're tryin' to play pong
don't be fooled by world peace or an economy that's stable
the cia's just got more time to watch you through your cable
they would control you and take away your brain
you can defeat them if you switch your box over to "game"
do what's right to you not what they tell you to
you can fight, we meet tonight, so join us for pong

Ensign Steve

01-08-2005, 07:47 PM

Brim, I love Winona's Big Brown Beaver! :clap: :urock:

seebs

01-09-2005, 12:05 PM

I like a great deal of Primus. Big Brown Beaver is a particularly likeable song. (I find it fascinating that there's a similar riff in Smack My Bitch Up.)

One of my favorite quotes in a Primus song is "... and in doing so, each found that he gave just a little bit of his soul away. What a couple of dumbshits."

JoeP

01-09-2005, 04:02 PM

Re: Mad World

I still prefer the TfF version.
Correct.

xouper

01-10-2005, 09:41 PM

Some of my nominations for all-time best lyrics:

"The Rose"

Some say love, it is a river
that drowns the tender reed.
Some say love, it is a razor
that leaves your soul to bleed.
Some say love, it is a hunger,
an endless aching need.
I say love, it is a flower,
and you its only seed.

It's the heart afraid of breaking
that never learns to dance.
It's the dream afraid of waking
that never takes the chance.
It's the one who won't be taken,
who cannot seem to give,
and the soul afraid of dyin'
that never learns to live.

When the night has been too lonely
and the road has been to long,
and you think that love is only
for the lucky and the strong,
just remember in the winter
far beneath the bitter snows
lies the seed that with the sun's love
in the spring becomes the rose.

Paul Simon wrote a plethora of songs with excellent lyrics. For example, "Bridge Over Troubled Water", "America", "Sound of Silence", and of course this one:

The Boxer

I am just a poor boy and my story’s seldom told
I’ve squandered my resistance for a pocketful of mumbles, such are promises
All lies and jest, still the man hears what he wants to hear
And disregards the rest, hmmmm

When I left my home and my family, I was no more than a boy
In the company of strangers
In the quiet of the railway station, runnin’ scared
Laying low, seeking out the poorer quarters, where the ragged people go
Looking for the places only they would know

Li la li...

Asking only workman’s wages, I come lookin’ for a job, but I get no offers
Just a comeon from the whores on 7th avenue
I do declare, there were times when I was so lonesome
I took some comfort there

Now the years are rolling by me, they are rockin’ even me
I am older than I once was, and younger than I’ll be, that’s not unusual
No it isn’t strange, after changes upon changes, we are more or less the same
After changes we are more or less the same

Li la li...

And I’m laying out my winter clothes, wishing I was gone, goin’ home
Where the new york city winters aren’t bleedin’ me, leadin’ me to go home

In the clearing stands a boxer, and a fighter by his trade
And he carries the reminders of every glove that laid him down or cut him
’til he cried out in his anger and his shame
I am leaving, I am leaving, but the fighter still remains
Yes he still remains

Li la li...

wade-w

01-10-2005, 10:02 PM

I love The Boxer. In fact, that entire album, Bridge Over Troubled Water, is incredible.

Darren

01-10-2005, 10:12 PM

Some of my nominations for all-time best lyrics:

Paul Simon wrote a plethora of songs with excellent lyrics. For example, "Bridge Over Troubled Water", "America", "Sound of Silence", and of course this one:

The Boxer

I am just a poor boy and my story’s seldom told
I’ve squandered my resistance for a pocketful of mumbles, such are promises
All lies and jest, still the man hears what he wants to hear
And disregards the rest, hmmmm

When I left my home and my family, I was no more than a boy
In the company of strangers
In the quiet of the railway station, runnin’ scared
Laying low, seeking out the poorer quarters, where the ragged people go
Looking for the places only they would know

Li la li...

Asking only workman’s wages, I come lookin’ for a job, but I get no offers
Just a comeon from the whores on 7th avenue
I do declare, there were times when I was so lonesome
I took some comfort there

Now the years are rolling by me, they are rockin’ even me
I am older than I once was, and younger than I’ll be, that’s not unusual
No it isn’t strange, after changes upon changes, we are more or less the same
After changes we are more or less the same

Li la li...

And I’m laying out my winter clothes, wishing I was gone, goin’ home
Where the new york city winters aren’t bleedin’ me, leadin’ me to go home

In the clearing stands a boxer, and a fighter by his trade
And he carries the reminders of every glove that laid him down or cut him
’til he cried out in his anger and his shame
I am leaving, I am leaving, but the fighter still remains
Yes he still remains

Li la li...

I have to agree,Simon and Garfunkel brought out some of the best lyrical songs ever. Apropos of them I watched the film the Graduate recently and loved it (S & G did the soundtrack which is brilliant - includes Sounds of Silence, Scarborough Fair and April, Come She Will).

Also, since I've remained a fan of Richard Adam's Watership Down since childhood, I love this Garfunkel song (I'm assuming he wrote it) - lyrics, music and the way Garfunkel sings it -

Bright Eyes

Is it a kind of dream,
Floating out on the tide,
Following the river of death downstream?
Oh, is it a dream?

There's a fog along the horizon,
A strange glow in the sky,
And nobody seems to know where you go,
And what does it mean?
Oh, is it a dream?

Bright eyes,
Burning like fire.
Bright eyes,
How can you close and fail?
How can the light that burned so brightly
Suddenly burn so pale?
Bright eyes.

Is it a kind of shadow,
Reaching into the night,
Wandering over the hills unseen,
Or is it a dream?

There's a high wind in the trees,
A cold sound in the air,
And nobody ever knows when you go,
And where do you start,
Oh, into the dark.

Bright eyes,
burning like fire.
Bright eyes,
how can you close and fail?
How can the light that burned so brightly
Suddenly burn so pale?
Bright eyes.

Bright eyes,
burning like fire.
Bright eyes,
how can you close and fail?
How can the light that burned so brightly
Suddenly burn so pale?
Bright eyes.

Darren

01-10-2005, 10:20 PM

Re: Mad World

I still prefer the TfF version.
Correct.

No way, Gary Jules' slower, sadder version wins hands down! (And doesn't it work well at the end of Donnie Darko?)

Ymir's blood

01-11-2005, 01:29 AM

I love The Sound of Silence, The Boxer, I Am A Rock, and Mrs. Robinson.

In I Am A Rock however, I usually mentally change the word 'womb' to tomb' as it appeals to me more that way.

A winter’s day
In a deep and dark december;
I am alone,
Gazing from my window to the streets below
On a freshly fallen silent shroud of snow.
I am a rock,
I am an island.
I’ve built walls,
A fortress deep and mighty,
That none may penetrate.
I have no need of friendship; friendship causes pain.
It’s laughter and it’s loving I disdain.
I am a rock,
I am an island.

Don’t talk of love,
But I’ve heard the words before;
It’s sleeping in my memory.
I won’t disturb the slumber of feelings that have died.
If I never loved I never would have cried.
I am a rock,
I am an island.

I have my books
And my poetry to protect me;
I am shielded in my armor,
Hiding in my room, safe within my womb.
I touch no one and no one touches me.
I am a rock,
I am an island.

And a rock feels no pain;
And an island never cries.

xouper

01-11-2005, 03:43 AM

Sweetie

01-11-2005, 05:30 AM

In My Life, The Rose, some of the songs that stick with me. Bette Midler's version of "In My Life" in "For the Boys" was when that song caught my attention. The Rose, well, that's just classic.

It's the heart afraid of breaking
that never learns to dance
It's the dream afraid of waking
that never takes the chance
It's the one who won't be taken
who cannot seem to give
and the soul afraid of dying
that never learns to live

I always found these words to be profound, they highlight a paradox and it's stated so simply. No complicated or large words were needed here, that is the beauty of it sometimes, I think.

Darren

01-11-2005, 06:53 AM

Speaking of Paul Simon, I read in an interview, (or heard, I don't recall, and I can't find the interview online), that later in his career he revealed that I Am A Rock is one of his least favorite songs.

In a 1984 inteview for Playboy (http://www.ckk.chalmers.se/guitar/simon.interview6.html), Simon had this to say about his favorite lyrics:

Playboy: Can the lyrics stand alone ?

Simon: ... To me, the person who wrote the most moving lyrics was Bob Dylan, in the early days. Boots of Spanish Leather, Girl from the North Country. Don't Think Twice, It's All Right. Blowin' in the Wind. ...

Playboy: Are there any other lyricists you feel generous toward?

Simon: John Lennon could do that, too. He evoked something very powerful with very few words. Strawberry Fields Forever. I Am the Walrus. In My Life. Norwegian Woods. Little stories that are enigmatic but very powerful.
Blowing in the Wind is definitely a good choice for best lyrics. Norwegian Woods is one of my favorite songs to play on the guitar, as is Yesterday and I had thought about nominating them for best lyrics, as well.

Bob Dylan, of course - his lyrics are fantastic:

Blowing in the Wind

How many roads must a man walk down
Before you call him a man?
Yes, 'n' how many seas must a white dove sail
Before she sleeps in the sand?
Yes, 'n' how many times must the cannon balls fly
Before they're forever banned?
The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind,
The answer is blowin' in the wind.

How many times must a man look up
Before he can see the sky?
Yes, 'n' how many ears must one man have
Before he can hear people cry?
Yes, 'n' how many deaths will it take till he knows
That too many people have died?
The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind,
The answer is blowin' in the wind.

How many years can a mountain exist
Before it's washed to the sea?
Yes, 'n' how many years can some people exist
Before they're allowed to be free?
Yes, 'n' how many times can a man turn his head,
Pretending he just doesn't see?
The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind,
The answer is blowin' in the wind.

I also forgot to put in some Dead kennedys lyrics, which can be really great too - the words below were not actually from a song but made up a little story as a guitar was being fixed, Jello Biafra is talking, or rapping perhaps:

Night of the Living Rednecks

Ray's guitar broke. No, we won't play Rawhide, won't play anything.
We'll play the theme from the Dinah Shore show.
Who wants to be Dinah Shore? Who's alter-ego is Dinah Shore?
Oh, his fists didn't go up so quickly this time. Yawn...yawn..yawn.
Put those headphones on, it's be-bop time.

I want to tell you a story about the last time I was in Portland.
The night before we played at the Long Goodbye.
I was walking on the street about 10:30 at night.
A lot of people go to bed around here at 10:30 at night.
And well, I was walking along when suddenly these jocks in this
bright blue pickup drove up. It had KC lights, tractor tires,
everything but the CB. It was a life-size Hot Wheels car for some dumb rich kid,
right. Well, they drove up to me
and they yelled what dumb rich kids usually yell, "Hey, faggot,"
and showered me with some water.
So, I stood there thinking, what a bunch of fuckheads and picked up a rock.
Now, I waited, walked down about a block to
where the Kentucky Fried Chicken is, on Burnside,
and sure enough they drove around again.
They said, "Hey, faggot, where's the nearest McDonald's?" I said,
"I don't know" and they squirted me again.
So I threw the rock and put a nice-size dent in their giant Hot Wheels car.
They screached to a halt in the parking lot of some department store,
who's name I don't remember, it's up the street from Fred Meyer,
and they got out their clubs and they ran after me, yelling,
"We're gonna kill you, you god damn faggot, we're gonna kill you,
you motherfucker."
So I got in a phonebooth by the Kentucky Fried Chicken on Burnside,
held my legs straight out like this so they couldn't open the door
to the phonebooth. So they began charging the phonebooth,
beating on it with their club, yelling,
"We're gonna kill you, you motherfucker, we're gonna kill you,
you god damn faggot." I just looked at them.
So, there was a crowd gathering by this time
and these kids were standing nearby and they said,
"Oh, look at him, he's insane." I thought, ah-hah, here's my way out.
I yelled at them, "Take me to a mental hospital right away.
I wanna be be put away.
Please put me away, c'mon, call the cops and put me away.
Please put me away now."
They said, "Alright, faggot, we're calling the police." So they called the police.
The cop comes out and I go, ah, my savior, I'm away from these jocks.
He opens up the door, "Get out of there, you,"
throws me up against the car, frisks me, shoves me in the back.
Then he goes over to the jocks, "Now what happened here?
It looks like we're going have to take him to jail
but we got to have the full story first"
So the jocks, who had an ace in the hole, ace in the hole
Take down on the bass, a little bit down on the bass. Yeah,
ace in the hole, and they go, "Well, goddammit,
the motherfucker put a dent in my truck, a $5000 truck, right,
so I got my club, I went out and I wanted to kill him.
I want to kill him. Let me kill him, goddammit.
Let me kill him."
So the cop made them go home, and he drove me home,
and he confiscated their club and my rock as further evidence.
And I thought, so this is Oregon, huh? Tolerent Oregon?

Ray, are you done with your guitar yet? He isn't done yet.
So what else do you want to hear, I'm out of stories.
That's a true story, too. Just ask Bruce Loose.

livius drusus

01-11-2005, 01:08 PM

Speaking of Paul Simon, I read in an interview, (or heard, I don't recall, and I can't find the interview online), that later in his career he revealed that I Am A Rock is one of his least favorite songs.

I like the lyrics a great deal, but the song as a whole bugs me. Something about the music, about the way the lyrics scan, just doesn't work for me.

xouper

01-11-2005, 01:29 PM

... I Am A Rock ...
I like the lyrics a great deal, but the song as a whole bugs me. Something about the music, about the way the lyrics scan, just doesn't work for me.
Or conversely, the melody and the musical arrangement (production) can add great emotional impact to lyrics. Bette Midler's version of The Rose is a good example. So too Martina McBride's Independence Day and Pete Droge's Fourth of July, the musical arrangement adds real punch to the lyrics, which I almost nominated, but they are a bit darker, focusing as they do on homicide and suicide, respectively.

Goliath

01-11-2005, 01:44 PM

Hmmm...best song lyrics? That's a tough one. Instead, I'll give forth some pretty good lyrics of a song that's been stuck in my head, lately:

Whistles the Wind by Flogging Molly

Whistles the wind, blowing my way
Sweeping me back, back here to stay
Can winners be losers running on the same track?
Some head for glory, others refresh

Well it breaks my heart to see you this way
The beauty in life, where's it gone?
And somebody told me, you were doing okay
Somehow I guess they were wrong

My isolation, now there's a sobering thought
A minute alone, a lifetime too long
See the face in this mirror, so pale it could crack
Desperately wanting a color in lacks

Well it breaks my heart to see you this way
The beauty in life, where's it gone?
And somebody told me, you were doing okay
Somehow I guess they were wrong

So you drank with the lost souls for too many years
Time to be right cause they'll cripple with fear
Never been righteous, go sell them, we're wrong
Life's only life with you in this song

Now there's an ocean between us
Where I am and where I want to be
So you prayers in doubt, doubt not for me

Well it breaks my heart to see you this way
The beauty in life, where's it gone?
And somebody told me, you were doing okay
Somehow I guess they were wrong

Well it breaks my heart to see you this way
The beauty in life, where's it gone?
And somebody told me, you were doing okay
Somehow I guess they were wrong

Whistles the wind
Whistles the wind
Whistles the wind
Whistles the wind

Oh you'll find your way out, but there's no going now
Every woman and child drags you down for the good
It's not safe being free, can't give back what you feel
You said you'll always be in heaven with me

Ymir's blood

01-13-2005, 02:20 AM

Well, despite my last entry having been mercilessly savaged, I will give it another shot. :dramaq:

The Dead Milkmen: Life is Shit

I ran into a friend of mine
Said he was gonna take some words and make them rhyme
I said "You can fool some of them some of the time,
But you can only fool half them all of the time"
He said "Yes I do believe this is true,
Would you like to come and sniff some glue?
And we'll fly to where the skies are blue
And look for things both bright and new"

And on a pretty Sunday morning
A bunch of pretty Baptist girls
Linked their pretty hands and they sang
Life is shit, life is shit
The world is shit, the world is shit
This is life as I know it
This is life as I know it

And in the sky I saw Richard Nixon
Smoking a lacey with Mr. Dickson
He said "Son there's something I must say,
I do believe I've found a better way"
And a vision came
And I new it was Bob Crane
And Bob sang:

Life is shit, life is shit
The world is shit, the world is shit
This is life as I know it
This is life as I know it

And when my friend and I were done
We went to rest upon the sun
Cause life takes from us the things we love
And it robs us of the special ones
And it puts them high where we can't climb
And we only miss them all the time

And we sing:
Life is shit, life is shit
The world is shit, the world is shit
This is life as I know it
This is life as I know it
This is life as I know it
This is life as I know it
This is life as I know it

wade-w

01-13-2005, 03:22 AM

John Prine, Sam Stone

Sam Stone came home,
To his wife and family
After serving in the conflict overseas.
And the time that he served,
Had shattered all his nerves,
And left a little shrapnel in his knee.
But the morphine eased the pain,
And the grass grew round his brain,
And gave him all the confidence he lacked,
With a Purple Heart and a monkey on his back.

Chorus:
There's a hole in daddy's arm where all the money goes,
Jesus Christ died for nothin' I suppose.
Little pitchers have big ears,
Don't stop to count the years,
Sweet songs never last too long on broken radios.
Mmm....

Sam Stone's welcome home
Didn't last too long.
He went to work when he'd spent his last dime
And Sammy took to stealing
When he got that empty feeling
For a hundred dollar habit without overtime.
And the gold rolled through his veins
Like a thousand railroad trains,
And eased his mind in the hours that he chose,
While the kids ran around wearin' other peoples' clothes...

(Chorus)

Sam Stone was alone
When he popped his last balloon
Climbing walls while sitting in a chair
Well, he played his last request
While the room smelled just like death
With an overdose hovering in the air
But life had lost its fun
And there was nothing to be done
But trade his house that he bought on the G. I. Bill
For a flag draped casket on a local heroes' hill.

(Chorus)

This one is a great statement about aging:

Hello In There

We had an apartment in the city,
Me and Loretta liked living there.
Well, it'd been years since the kids had grown,
A life of their own left us alone.
John and Linda live in Omaha,
And Joe is somewhere on the road.
We lost Davy in the Korean war,
And I still don't know what for, don't matter anymore.

Chorus:
Ya' know that old trees just grow stronger,
And old rivers grow wilder ev'ry day.
Old people just grow lonesome
Waiting for someone to say, "Hello in there, hello."

Me and Loretta, we don't talk much more,
She sits and stares through the back door screen.
And all the news just repeats itself
Like some forgotten dream that we've both seen.
Someday I'll go and call up Rudy,
We worked together at the factory.
But what could I say if asks "What's new?"
"Nothing, what's with you? Nothing much to do."

(Chorus)

So if you're walking down the street sometime
And spot some hollow ancient eyes,
Please don't just pass 'em by and stare
As if you didn't care, say, "Hello in there, hello."

This one is an amusing little protest song:

Your Flag Decal Won't Get You Into Heaven Anymore

While digesting Reader's Digest
In the back of a dirty book store,
A plastic flag, with gum on the back,
Fell out on the floor.
Well, I picked it up and I ran outside
Slapped it on my window shield,
And if I could see old Betsy Ross
I'd tell her how good I feel.

Chorus:
But your flag decal won't get you
Into Heaven any more.
They're already overcrowded
From your dirty little war.
Now Jesus don't like killin'
No matter what the reason's for,
And your flag decal won't get you
Into Heaven any more.

Well, I went to the bank this morning
And the cashier he said to me,
"If you join the Christmas club
We'll give you ten of them flags for free."
Well, I didn't mess around a bit
I took him up on what he said.
And I stuck them stickers all over my car
And one on my wife's forehead.

(Chorus)

Well, I got my window shield so filled
With flags I couldn't see.
So, I ran the car upside a curb
And right into a tree.
By the time they got a doctor down
I was already dead.
And I'll never understand why the man
Standing in the Pearly Gates said...

"But your flag decal won't get you
Into Heaven any more.
We're already overcrowded
From your dirty little war.
Now Jesus don't like killin'
No matter what the reason's for,
And your flag decal won't get you
Into Heaven any more."

Shake

01-13-2005, 09:33 PM

Re: Mad World

I still prefer the TfF version.
Correct.

No way, Gary Jules' slower, sadder version wins hands down! (And doesn't it work well at the end of Donnie Darko?)
/me cringes at the impending smackdown

Umm ... Haven't seen Donnie Darko ... in fact, only just heard of it several months ago.

It's too slow now; he made it all wimpy and shit.

OK, and now for something completely different -- more song lyrics:
A Perfect Circle -- Judith

You're such an inspiration for the ways
That I'll never ever choose to be
Oh so many ways for me to show you
How the savior has abandoned you
Fuck your God
Your lord, your Christ
He did this
Took all you had and
Left you this way
Still you pray, you never stray
Never taste of the fruit
You never thought to question why

It's not like you killed someone
It's not like you drove a hateful spear into his side
Praise the one who left you
Broken down and paralyzed
He did it all for you
He did it all for you

Oh so many many ways for me to show you
How your dogma has abandoned you
Pray to your Christ, to your god
Never taste of the fruit
Never stray, never break
Never---choke on a lie
Even though he's the one who did this to you
You never thought to question why

Not like you killed someone
It's Not like you drove a spiteful spear into his side
Talk to Jesus Christ
As if he knows the reasons why
He did it all for you
Did it all for you
He did it all for you...

Farren

01-13-2005, 10:14 PM

Echo and the Bunnymen: The Game

A sense of duty
was my one intention
and an ugly beauty
was my own invention
Pride a proud refusal
and I refuse
to need your approval
Too many seekers
Too few beacons
But through the fog
we'll keep on beaming

Through the crying hours
of your glitter years
all the living out
of your tinsel tears
and the midnight trains
I never made
'cos I'd already
played...the game

Everybody's
got their own good reason
why their favorite season
is their favorite season
Winter winners
and those summers sons
aren't good for everyone
aren't good for everyone
Spring has sprung
and autumns well done
so well done

And it's a better thing
that we do now
forgetting everything
the whys and hows
While you reminisce
about the things you miss
you won't be ready
to kiss...goodbye

The earth is a world
The world is a ball
A ball in a game
with no rules at all
And just as I wonder
at the beauty of it all
you go and drop it
and it breaks and falls

I'll never understand
why you thought I would
need to be reassured
and be understood
When I always knew
that your bad's my good
and I was ready
ready...to be loved

Born under Mars
With Jupiter rising
Fallen from stars
That lit my horizon

I'll never understand
why you thought I would
need to be reassured
and be understood
When I always knew
that your bad's my good
and I was ready
ready...to be

Through the crying hours
of your glitter years
all the living out
of your tinsel tears
and the midnight trains
I never made
'cos I'd already
played

it's a better thing
that we do now
forgetting everything
the whys and hows
While you reminisce
about the things you miss
you won't be ready
to kiss...goodbye

Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds: The Hammer Song

I set out on monday
The night was cold and vast
And my brother slept

And though I left quite quietly
My father raged and raged
And my mother wept

Now, my life was like a river
All sucked into the ground
And then the hammer came down
Lord, the hammer came down

Many miles did I roam
Through the ice and through the snow
My horse died on the seventh day

I stumbled into a city
Where the people tried to kill me
And I ran in shame

Then I came upon a river
And I laid my saddle down
And then the hammer came down
Lord, the hammer came down
It knocked me to the ground
And I said, "Please, please
Take me back to my home town"
Lord, the hammer came down

Now I've been made weak by visions
Many visions did I see
All through the night

On the seventh hour an angel came
With many snakes in all his hands
And I fled in fright

I pushed off into the river
And the water came around
And then the hammer came down
Lord, the hammer came down
And it did not make a sound
And I said, "Please, please
Take me back to my home ground"
Lord, the hammer came down

Two Nu: Ponderous

This is ponderous man. Really ponderous.

I had this dream the other night
I went to work, but nobody remembered who I was, so
I decided to take the day off

On my way out, I ran into my boss
He said, Hey, you look familiar.
I said Thanks, people say that a lot in these dreams

And then the horns kicked in
And my shoes started to squeak

Then all of the sudden, I find myself on some faraway tropical beach
And there's this sign there that says
Aren't you supposed to be at work?
Sort of screamed out at me
Then I remembered. I'd been here before in other dreams.
Usually there was a water polo game
And a girl who could talk with her eyes.
And she'd say, "Can you see what I'm saying?"

And then the horns kicked in
And my shoes started to squeak

Then I find myself walking near this lake
And the phone rings
And the operator speaks to me in a language I don't understand

Ooom poppa chikamaga wana sing gow
Do lomma sinnigama mana ching jow
Inimana choogamaga wana sing gee
Finimana foonimana one is now free

Then the horns kicked in
And my shoes started to squeak

Now we're coming up on this really wierd part of my dream
You know, the part where I know how to tapdance
But I can only do it while wearing golf shoes
Then I'm walking again with the girl who can talk with her eyes
This time she says, "I think you see what I'm saying"
Then just before I woke up, it started to rain in southern california

Ooom poppa chikamaga wana sing gow
Do lomma sinnigama mana ching jow
Inimana choogamaga wana sing gee
Finimana foonimana one is now free

Aren't you supposed to be at work?
The girl who could talk with her eyes.
"Can you see what I'm saying?"
This is ponderous man, really ponderous.

Farren

01-13-2005, 10:17 PM

And since Donnie Darko's been mentioned, the other great song from that movie:

Echo and the Bunnymen: Killing Moon

Under blue moon I saw you
So soon you'll take me
Up in your arms
Too late to beg you or cancel it
Though I know it must be the killing time
Unwillingly mine

Fate
Up against your will
Through the thick and thin
He will wait until
You give yourself to him

In starlit nights I saw you
So cruelly you kissed me
Your lips a magic world
Your sky all hung with jewels
The killing moon
Will come too soon

Fate
Up against your will
Through the thick and thin
He will wait until
You give yourself to him

Under blue moon I saw you
So soon you'll take me
Up in your arms
Too late to beg you or cancel it
Though I know it must be the killing time
Unwillingly mine

Fate
Up against your will
Through the thick and thin
He will wait until
You give yourself to him

(repeat last chorus x4)

Ex-zombie

01-15-2005, 05:52 AM

Rest in pieces by Saliva

Look at me, my depth perception must be off again
Cause this hurts deeper than I thought it did
It has not healed with time
It just shot down my spine
You look so beautiful tonight
Reminds me how you laid us down
And gently smiled before you destroyed my life

Would you find it in your heart
To make this go away
And let me rest in pieces
(let me rest in pieces)
Would you find it in your heart
To make this go away
And let me rest in pieces
(let me rest in pieces)
Pieces

Look at me, my depth perception must be off again
You got much closer than I thought you did
I am in your reach
You held me in your hands

Would you find it in your heart
To make this go away
And let me rest in pieces
(let me rest in pieces)
Would you find it in your heart
To make it go away
And let me rest in pieces
(let me rest in pieces)
<repeat x3>

Would you find it in your heart
To make this go away
And let me rest in pieces
(let me rest in pieces)
Would you find it in your heart
(find it in your heart)
And let me rest in pieces
(let me rest in pieces)

RevDahlia

01-15-2005, 07:34 AM

I picked a Tom Waits song at random courtesy of iTunes, because Tom is the best lyricist ever born and all of his songs qualify for this thread. And I came up with "Downtown Train"... I will never, ever, ever forgive Rod Stewart for butchering this song. When I am Queen I will send him to Greenland to work in the ice mines.

Downtown Train

Outside another yellow moon
has punched a hole in the nighttime, yes
I climb through the window and down the street
I'm shining like a new dime
the downtown train is full of all those Brooklyn girls
they try so hard to break out of their little worlds

You wave your hand and they scatter like crows
they have nothing that will ever capture your heart
they're just thorns without the rose
be careful of them in the dark
oh if I was the one
you chose to be your only one
oh baby can't you hear me now

Chorus

Will I see you tonight
on a downtown train
every night is just the same
you leave me lonely now

I know your window and I know it's late
I know your stairs and your doorway
I walk down your street and past your gate
I stand by the light of the foyer
you watch them as they fall
baby they all live heart attacks
they stay at the carnival
but they'll never win you back

Chorus

Will I see you tonight on a downtown train
where every night is just the same you leave me lonely
will I see you tonight on a downtown train
all of my dreams just fall like rain
all upon a downtown train

viscousmemories

01-15-2005, 07:45 AM

Motorcycle Drive By - Third Eye Blind

Summer time and the wind is blowing,
Outside in lower Chelsea,
And I don't know
What I'm doing in this city,
The sun is always in my eyes,
It crashes through the windows,
And I'm sleeping on the couch,
When I came to visit you,
That's when I knew,
That I could never have you,
I knew that before you did,
Still I'm the one who's stupid

And there's this burning,
Like there's always been,
I've never been so alone,
And I've never been so alive

Visions of you on a motorcycle drive by,
The cigarette ash it flies in your eyes,
And you don't mind,
You smile,
And say the world it doesn't fit with you.
I don't believe you,
You're so serene,
Careening through the universe,
Your axis on a tilt,
You're guiltless and free,
I hope you take a piece of me with you

And there's things I'd like to do, that you don't believe in,
I would like to build something,
But you'll never see it happen,
And there's this burning,
Like there's always been,
I've never been so alone,
And I've,
I've never been so alive

And there's this burning, uh-huh
There is this burning, yeah yeah yeah

Where's the soul,
I want to know,
New York City's evil,
The surface is everything,
But I could never do that,
Someone would see through that,
And this is the last time,
We'll be friends again,
And I'll get over you,
You'll wonder who I am,
And there's this burning,
Just like there's always been,
I've never been so alone, alone
And I've, and I've
I've never been so alive, so alive

I go home to the coast,
It starts to rain,
I paddle out on the water,
Alone,
Taste the salt and taste the pain,
I'm not thinking of you again,
Summer dies and swells rise,
The sun goes down in my eyes,
See this rolling wave,
Darkly coming to take me,
Home

And I never been so alone,
And I've never been so alive

D. Scarlatti

01-15-2005, 01:37 PM

Here's a little thing that's gonna please ya
Just a little town down in Indonesia
Bangkok
Yeah Bangkok

Two slanty eyed men lyin' in bed
One got his Mauser, the other said
Bangkok
Ooh Bangkok

Makin' love the Japanese way
Learned aggressively in Hong Kong
Bangkok
Ooh Bangkok

Margaret Trudeau, Jackie O.
Madame Nhu and Brigitte Bardot
Bangkok
Yeah Bangkok
Ooh baby Bangkok
Baby Bangkok
Baby Bangkok

Yeah
Huh huh hah

Hmm hmm ha ha ha

I'm not livin' on Chinese rocks
I never ...
Oh Bangkok
Yeah Bangkok baby
Whoo

It's a revisionist kinda mind
It's just a little town down in Indochina
Bangkok
Yeah Bangkok
Whoo Bangkok
Baby Bangkok

Alex Chilton ~ Bangkok

Brimshack

01-27-2005, 09:44 AM

This is more of a beat poem by the Foremen, but it's really quite wonderful to listen to:

My life is black.
My beret is black.
My apartment is black.
My girlfriend is, well, she's very tan.

Oh, vast blatant train yard of apocalyptic America, hissing and groaning like a horse on fire with a wick like gravy in Evanston like stone.

Greasing the abnormal skillet of anti-ardorous desire dropping dollops in dreamlike cornucopias until nightfall of concupiscent somnolence 'til the schoolboys know... and the carnival barkers know... and the legions of lowing lettuce pickers know, and all those in and out of the "know" know that roaches are building a motel for us.

America! You're an unfriendly waitress with bad cappuccino.

"I'm in pain," he said.
I said, "I know what you mean."
"No," he said, "I'm in pain."
I said, "I know what you mean."
He said, "No, man, you're standing on my foot."

Come with me now for I feel the tiny teeth of time on my tremorous testicles like two twin tintypes of -- I hate it when I get stuck on "t".

Come now and weep sweet elevators of glorious infatuation niceties, covered like miserable telephones in the Arizona dawn of cracked brake drums and creaky screen porches, glowering on the eternal Friday like Ulysses Grant in a swimsuit rolling his own... like Catholicism, like cool mud, like some wild sirocco of canvas backdrop nothiningness in a cucumber sandwich called Suffering. God, that's good.

And in America, when the sun goes down, and the tide goes out, and the people gather 'round and they all begin to shout...

When, in resonant sweet shoop alleyways the hyena calls of drunken Spaniards rattle the glass where I, in second floor oyster bars, sit, digging it... where dogs eat dictionaries and vomit complete sentences. When now, and now, and now go the clanging departures of cosmos after cosmos, and we, fired like tiny arrows arc toward death, I think of Dean Moriarty. I even think of old Dean Moriarty.

I look at where I am, and I know it is time to find a new... booking agent. (Look at this dump..)

HelenM

01-27-2005, 02:48 PM

Also, since I've remained a fan of Richard Adam's Watership Down since childhood, I love this Garfunkel song (I'm assuming he wrote it) - lyrics, music and the way Garfunkel sings it -

Bright Eyes

Is it a kind of dream,
Floating out on the tide,
Following the river of death downstream?
Oh, is it a dream?

There's a fog along the horizon,
A strange glow in the sky,
And nobody seems to know where you go,
And what does it mean?
Oh, is it a dream?

Bright eyes,
Burning like fire.
Bright eyes,
How can you close and fail?
How can the light that burned so brightly
Suddenly burn so pale?
Bright eyes.

Is it a kind of shadow,
Reaching into the night,
Wandering over the hills unseen,
Or is it a dream?

There's a high wind in the trees,
A cold sound in the air,
And nobody ever knows when you go,
And where do you start,
Oh, into the dark.

Bright eyes,
burning like fire.
Bright eyes,
how can you close and fail?
How can the light that burned so brightly
Suddenly burn so pale?
Bright eyes.

Bright eyes,
burning like fire.
Bright eyes,
how can you close and fail?
How can the light that burned so brightly
Suddenly burn so pale?
Bright eyes.

I love that song!

I found the movie (VHS) in Walgreens for $4 last year so I bought it, but when I watched it, in fact it's not that great - the animation is abysmal by today's standards. I still love the song Bright Eyes, though.

I'd have to think about whether the lyrics of the songs I like are awesome or whether it's more the combination of lyrics and music that I like so much.

I do like the lyrics of Voi Che Sapete :D

Helen

TomJoe

01-27-2005, 04:25 PM

One of my favorite artists is Jeff Buckley (requiescat in pace). His album Grace is simply a masterpiece IMNSHO. Anyways, I'm always fond of the depressing sort of love-song, one where things never really ever seem to work out, but you know you just can't live without them...

Last Goodbye

This is our last goodbye
I hate to feel the love between us die
But it's over
Just hear this and then I'll go:
You gave me more to live for,
More than you'll ever know.

This is our last embrace,
Must I dream and always see your face
Why can't we overcome this wall
Baby, maybe it is just because I didn't know you at all.

Kiss me,
Please, kiss me
But kiss me out of desire, babe, and not consolation
You know, it makes me so angry 'cause I know that in time
I'll only make you cry,
This is our last goodbye.

Did you say "no, this can't happen to me,"
And did you rush to the phone to call?
Was there a voice unkind in the back of your mind saying,
"Maybe... you didn't know him at all."

Well, the bells out in the church tower chime
Burning clues into this heart of mine
Thinking so hard on her soft eyes and the memory
Of her sighs that, "it's over... it's over..."

TomJoe

01-27-2005, 04:27 PM

And then there is this one, on the same album...

Lover You Should've Come Over

Looking out the door
I see the rain fall upon the funeral mourners
Parading in a wake of sad relations
As their shoes fill up with water
And maybe I'm too young
To keep good love from going wrong
But tonight you're on my mind so
(You'll never know)

I'm broken down and hungry for your love
With no way to feed it
Where are you tonight?
Child, you know how much I need it.
Too young to hold on
And too old to just break free and run

Sometimes a man gets carried away,
When he feels like he should be having his fun
And much too blind to see the damage he's done
Sometimes a man must awake to find that, really,
He has no-one...

So I'll wait for you... And I'll burn oh
Will I ever see your sweet return,
Oh, will I ever learn
Lover, you should've come over
'Cause it's not too late.

Lonely is the room the bed is made
The open window lets the rain in
Burning in the corner is the only one
Who dreams he had you with him
My body turns
And yearns for a sleep that will never come
It's never over,
My kingdom for a kiss upon her shoulder
It's never over,
All my riches for her smiles when I slept so soft against her...
It's never over,
All my blood for the sweetness of her laughter
It's never over,
She is the tear that hangs inside my soul forever
Maybe I'm just too young
To keep good love from going wrong
Oh... lover you should've come over...
'Cause it's not too late...

I feel too young to hold on
I'm much too old to break free and run
Too deaf, dumb, and blind
To see the damage I've done
Sweet lover, you should've come over
Oh, love I waited for you

Lover, you should've come over
'Cause it's not too late

beyelzu

01-27-2005, 04:43 PM

beyelzu

01-27-2005, 04:52 PM

I picked a Tom Waits song at random courtesy of iTunes, because Tom is the best lyricist ever born and all of his songs qualify for this thread. And I came up with "Downtown Train"... I will never, ever, ever forgive Rod Stewart for butchering this song. When I am Queen I will send him to Greenland to work in the ice mines.

sorry but the honor of best lyricist ever goes to nick cave.

tom waits might be second in the male category however.

Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds

"and the mercy seat is waiting and I think my head is burning
and in a way I am yearning to be done with all this measuring of the truth
an eye for an eye
a truth for a truth
and anyway I told the truth and
I am not afraid to die"

throughout the song he uses dramatic repitition and an interesting internal rhyme scheme with the above stanza . from elsewhere in the song he compares the electric chair, the aforementioned mercy seat to the throan of god. the place where all answers are known.

"In heaven his throne is made of gold
the ark of his testament is stowed
a throne from which Im told all history does unfold
Down here its made of wood and wire
and my body is on fire
and god is never far away

Into the mercy seat I climb
My head is shaved my head is wired
And like a moth that tries to enter the bright
I go shufflin out of life just to hide in death awhile"

TomJoe

01-27-2005, 04:53 PM

Musically, it's a far reach from Jeff Buckley to the Mighty Mighty Bosstones, but I particularly like the lyrics from this MMBT song:

Nevermind Me

He didn't hit me for a home
Or hit me up 'cause he was cold
He was addicted to drugs
And I could see that in his eyes
What about me?
Well I was only rolled

Chorus:
He didn't rob me for food
It wasn't hunger, but a jonze
He needed a fix,
Someone will fix my broken bones
And I'll feel better in the morning
The pain will fade as time goes by
What was taken, I won't miss, or I'll replace
Nevermind me,well I'm alright

He seemed to hate what he was doing
He sure knew how to get it done
Possessed by an addiction
I don't have to comprehend
What about me?
Well he whipped me with a gun

Chorus...

I'll feel better in the morning... nevermind me, I'm alright (4x)

beyelzu

01-27-2005, 04:56 PM

I found alix olsin's song lyrics listed at the osu women studies page.

I am such a feminist.

well eve's mouth hurts from tryin' not to laugh
at some jokes some scholar made about being someone's half it was
a joke/a lie/exaggeration/a fib
now you all believe i came from his rib

she screams at the top of her lungs,
i'm whole, I'm body, I'm heart, I'm mind, I'm soul

queen victoria gave her daughter some advice
as her daughter shook and trembled on her wedding night
queen Victoria' she said to her daughter,
'baby lie still and think of the empire' and her husband,
though kind in mind, never stopped to wonder why she never smiled

little red riding hood was walking down the trail
she was carrying the goodies,
thought, 'they'll go stale.' so she ate 'em all up and that was that
then she threw them all up for fear of getting fat 'cause
even red riding hood reads magazines the ones prescribing diets for pre-teens

now we got cinderella she's chillin at home,
quite content with being alone she's playing with the mice and singing with the birds
and they're the only ones who ever heard these words
she said 'i'll get in the damn pumpkin, do it all right,
weep and lose my slipper, freak out in the night,
but there's one thing that the prince might not like it's a fairy god I'm after: I'm a dyke'

she screams at the top of her lungs,
I'm whole, I'm body, I'm heart, I'm mind, I'm soul

now we got snow white, she's a homemaker of sorts
cuz she cleans and she cooks and she takes care of dwarves
one day i said 'snow white, go back to school'
and she said 'no i can't, i'd feel like a fool.'
you know it's hard for us women to try to be ourselves
we spend our whole damn lives taking care of little elves.

now helen of troy, they say, launched a thousand ships
with the short of her skirt and the shape of her lips
and when that old bard laid the blame at her face for the rape of a nation--
wrong time, wrong place Helen simply whispered 'history's a test-look between the lines, girls;
read between the text~

now we got dear rapunzel she's chilling in the tower
waiting for the handsome prince she's sapped of all her power
finally one day, the handsome prince in town,
he called up to rapunzel 'yo girl, let it down'

but our dear rapunzel was nowhere to be seen,
yes our dear rapunzel had learned something keen
'all the time alone kinda taught me how to cope so i shaved my head and i made me a rope'

she screams at the top of her lungs,
I'm whole, I'm body, I'm heart, I'm mind, I'm soul

TomJoe

01-27-2005, 05:00 PM

...

Hope I Never Lose My Wallet

Never lose my wallet,it would put me in a spot.
Never lose my sense,at least how much I've got.
Never lose my family,
Never lose my friends,
Never lose my youth, I hope it never ends.

Hope I never lose my wallet!

And hell I hope to hell, and only time will tell,
I hope I never lose my mind,
or lose myself somewhere,
not too far from here,
that nobody can find.

Never lose my hair, I would hate to go without.
Never lose direction, and wander all about.
Never lose my courage,
Never lose my hope,
Never lose my girl, it would make it hard to cope.

Hope I never lose my wallet!

And last of all, not least of all,
I hope I never lose my mind!
Or lose myself somewhere,
not too far from here,
that nobody can find.

Hope I never lose my wallet ...

Farren

01-27-2005, 08:05 PM

I picked a Tom Waits song at random courtesy of iTunes, because Tom is the best lyricist ever born and all of his songs qualify for this thread. And I came up with "Downtown Train"... I will never, ever, ever forgive Rod Stewart for butchering this song. When I am Queen I will send him to Greenland to work in the ice mines.

sorry but the honor of best lyricist ever goes to nick cave.

tom waits might be second in the male category however.

Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds

"and the mercy seat is waiting and I think my head is burning
and in a way I am yearning to be done with all this measuring of the truth
an eye for an eye
a truth for a truth
and anyway I told the truth and
I am not afraid to die"

throughout the song he uses dramatic repitition and an interesting internal rhyme scheme with the above stanza . from elsewhere in the song he compares the electric chair, the aforementioned mercy seat to the throan of god. the place where all answers are known.

"In heaven his throne is made of gold
the ark of his testament is stowed
a throne from which Im told all history does unfold
Down here its made of wood and wire
and my body is on fire
and god is never far away

Into the mercy seat I climb
My head is shaved my head is wired
And like a moth that tries to enter the bright
I go shufflin out of life just to hide in death awhile"

I love that song. I love Nick Cave, generally. Have you read his novel And the Ass saw the Angel? Pure poetry from start to end and as close as a novel could come to a literary rendition of American Gothic.

inland wave

01-27-2005, 09:15 PM

I don't know about the best lyrics thing, but one of the most romantic songs I have heard in along time comes from the movie "Don Juan DeMarco", performed by Brian Adams, called "Have You Ever Loved a Woman". I would have to say any guy on this board, married or otherwise--if you are wanting some--play this song and you'll get it.

beyelzu

02-06-2005, 09:03 PM

I picked a Tom Waits song at random courtesy of iTunes, because Tom is the best lyricist ever born and all of his songs qualify for this thread. And I came up with "Downtown Train"... I will never, ever, ever forgive Rod Stewart for butchering this song. When I am Queen I will send him to Greenland to work in the ice mines.

sorry but the honor of best lyricist ever goes to nick cave.

tom waits might be second in the male category however.

Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds

"and the mercy seat is waiting and I think my head is burning
and in a way I am yearning to be done with all this measuring of the truth
an eye for an eye
a truth for a truth
and anyway I told the truth and
I am not afraid to die"

throughout the song he uses dramatic repitition and an interesting internal rhyme scheme with the above stanza . from elsewhere in the song he compares the electric chair, the aforementioned mercy seat to the throan of god. the place where all answers are known.

"In heaven his throne is made of gold
the ark of his testament is stowed
a throne from which Im told all history does unfold
Down here its made of wood and wire
and my body is on fire
and god is never far away

Into the mercy seat I climb
My head is shaved my head is wired
And like a moth that tries to enter the bright
I go shufflin out of life just to hide in death awhile"

I love that song. I love Nick Cave, generally. Have you read his novel And the Ass saw the Angel? Pure poetry from start to end and as close as a novel could come to a literary rendition of American Gothic.
reading it now.and it is some excellent shit

xorbie

02-07-2005, 07:00 AM

The actual best lyricist ever. (Well, maybe not, but quite good nonetheless).

How Much Do You Pay?

No one really understands the experience that change lives
That pave an agnostic a place to lay in decay in toxic waste
So most every identity paraphernalia to familiarize with smiles neatly
painted on a robotic face
But not this man, he played the bucket with his hands
And got paid but it was change people dropped in his can
twenty-three years ago he was a lawyer by description
But I guess all of a sudden he resigned from that position
But I've never seen the sky quite as clear as his eyes
As he blistered fingers paint down on the plastic
And in a twisted sort of way it all makes sense
While they rush to die he provides the soundtrack so tragic
He sits on the corner of 7th and 1st
And I was thirsty for a question anyone would nurse
One day I asked he why he gave up his career
He said, "I didn't, I just took off the name tag" then he added

Make Money and die that's the American Way
It don't matter what name you gave the bucket that you play
Make Money and die that's the American Way
It don't matter what name you gave the bucket that you play

So I took in what was said but I didn't accept it
Well maybe I did I mean I just wouldn't admit it
I was too committed to the belief that all the hard work from now would
improve my future existence somehow
So I said, you don't accomplish nothing sitting in the street
And I'm sure you barely survive on the pennies you gather
He said, to your surprise I make enough to eat
And I accomplish just as much as you only I stop pretending my job matters
He looked me in my face and told me I was a puppet
And what I do is no more important than playing a bucket
I still hear his voice when I set my alarm before bed
I never could wash what he said out of my head, so fuck it, it goes

Make Money and die that's the American Way
Make Money and die that's the American Way
Make Money and die that's the American Way
It don't matter what name you gave the bucket that you play
Make Money and die that's the American Way
Make Money and die that's the American Way
Make Money and die that's the American Way
It don't matter what name you gave the bucket that you play

See I could dress myself up in a white coat and say I'm a doctor
Carry an eye by my buckle wear a gold badge and say I'm a copper
Maybe I'm just a sloppy lazy crazy carbon copy part of the heart of the
deranged nation that gave me the generation ecstasy under water, I forgot
survive mind wash slaughtered by Austria's offers, caught your calls and
called your forefathers my bosses, lost it all in the name of gaining enough
to spin, consuming the youth ... amp my frenzy
When I taught my man playing away on his drum
Something clicked in my brain and I became less dumb
I'm working for bread crumbs
Pretending there's a meaning
But my employment is just a bucket, I'm desperately beating
And one day, I'll be old and retired
Looking at my life like what a waste of good fire
All because school never taught me how to be inspired
And the job concerned applying to myself just wouldn't hire

Make Money and die that's the American Way
Make Money and die that's the American Way
Make Money and die that's the American Way
It don't matter what name you gave the bucket that you play
Make Money and die that's the American Way
Make Money and die that's the American Way
Make Money and die that's the American Way

But hey, here's my application, how much do y'all pay

Sweetie

02-09-2005, 04:22 AM

Was driving the other day and just pulling in somewhere and this song came on so I waited in the car before it was done before getting out. I always loved this song:

Concrete Blonde
Joey

Joey, baby - don't get crazy
Detours, fences...I get defensive

I know you've heard it all before
So I don't say it anymore
I just stand by and let you
Fight your secret war

And though I used to wonder why
I used to cry till I was dry
Still sometimes I get a strange pain inside
Oh, Joey, if you're hurting so am I

Joey, honey - I got some money
All is forgiven. Listen, listen

But if I seem to be confused
I didn't mean to be with you.
And when you said I scared you
Well I guess you scared me too

But we got lucky once before
And I don't want to close the door
And if you're somewhere out there
Passed out on the floor
Oh Joey, I'm not angry anymore

It's so real and to the point but simply, not contrived:

"But if I seem to be confused,
I didn't mean to be with you"

"I know you've heard it all before,
so I don't say it anymore"

koan

02-09-2005, 07:29 AM

I love "Joey". I sing it on karaoke all the time. Your all lucky I can't hook it up to the forum. :shatter: I thought of a lesser known Concrete Blonde song though.

Tomorrow Wendy
Original version by andy prieboy

It is complete now - two ends of time
Are neatly tied
A one-way street, she’s walking to the
End of the line
And there she meets the faces she sees in
Her heart and mind

They say - goodbye - tomorrow wendy’s
Going to die
Underneath the chilly grey november sky
We can make believe
That kennedy is still alive
We’re shooting for the moon and smiling
Jackie’s driving by

They say - good try -
Tomorrow wendy’s going to die
I told the priest - don’t count on
Any second coming.
God got his ass kicked the first time he
Came down here slumming
He had the balls to come, the gall to die
And then forgive us -
No, I don’t wonder why
I wonder what he thought
It would get us - hey hey, good try -
Tomorrow wendy’s going to die

"God got his ass kicked..." :asskick: had to listen to this over and over again just for this line. :D

lady cop

02-09-2005, 07:39 AM

"GLORIA" by jim morrison, sorry, i don't know where to get the lyrics. but they could never meet the pure sexuality of it anyway.

The Lone Ranger

02-09-2005, 09:25 AM

I simply adore Jethro Tull's literate and thought-provoking lyrics:

Broadsword

I see a dark sail on the horizon
Set under a black cloud that hides the sun.

Bring me my broadsword and clear understanding.
Bring me my cross of gold as a talisman.
Get up to the roundhouse on the cliff-top standing.
Take women and children and bed them down.

Bring me my broadsword and clear understanding.
Bring me my cross of gold as a talisman.
Bless with a hard heart those who surround me.
Bless the women and children who firm our hands.
Put our backs to the north wind. Hold fast by the river.
Sweet memories to drive us on for the motherland.

I see a dark sail on the horizon
Set under a black cloud that hides the sun.

So bring me my broadsword ... and my cross of gold as a talisman.

Cup of Wonder

May I make my fond excuses for the lateness of the hour,
But we accept your invitation, and we bring you Beltane's flower.
For the May Day is the great day, sung along the old straight track.
And those who ancient lines did lay will heed the song that calls them back.

Pass the word and pass the lady, pass the plate to all who hunger.
Pass the wit of ancient wisdom, pass the cup of crimson wonder.

Ask the green man where he comes from, ask the cup that fills with red.
Ask the old grey standing stones that show the sun its way to bed.
Question all as to their ways, and learn the secrets that they hold.
Walk the lines of nature's palm crossed with silver and with gold.

Pass the cup and pass the lady, pass the plate to all who hunger.
Pass the wit of ancient wisdom, pass the cup of crimson wonder.

Join in black December's sadness, lie in August's welcome corn.
Stir the cup that's ever-filling with the blood of all that's born.
But the May Day is the great day, sung along the old straight track.
And those who ancient lines did lay will heed this song that calls them back.

Pass the word and pass the lady, pass the plate to all who hunger.
Pass the wit of ancient wisdom, pass the cup of crimson wonder.

Jack-In-The-Green

Have you seen Jack-In-The-Green, with his long tail hanging down?
He quietly sits under every tree in the folds of his velvet gown.
He drinks from the empty acorn cup the dew that dawn sweetly bestows.
And taps his cane upon the ground -- signals the snowdrops it's time to grow.

It's no fun being Jack-In-The-Green: no place to dance, no time for song.
He wears the colours of the summer soldier; carries the green flag all the winter long.
Jack, do you never sleep? Does the green still run deep in your heart?
Or will these changing times, motorways, powerlines, keep us apart?
Well, I don't think so
I saw some grass growing through the pavements today.

The rowan, the oak and the holly tree are the charges left for you to groom.
Each blade of grass whispers Jack-In-The-Green.
Oh Jack, please help me through my winter's night.
And we are the berries on the holly tree.
Oh, the mistlethrush is coming: Jack, put out the light.

Moths

The leaded window opened, to move the dancing candle flame
And the first Moths of summer -- suicidal game, suicidal game.
And a new breeze chattered in its May-bud tenderness,
Sending water-lillies sailing as she turned to get undressed.
And the long night awakened and we soared on powdered wings,
Circling our tomorrows in the wary month of Spring.

Chasing shadows slipping in a magic lantern slide,
Creatures of the candle on a night-light-ride.
Dipping and weaving,
Flutter through the golden needle's eye in our haystack madness.
Butterfly-stroking on a Spring-tide high.

Life's too long (as the Lemming said)
as the candle burned and the Moths were wed.
And we'll all burn together as the wick grows higher, before the candle's dead.

Oh, the leaded window opened to move the dancing candle flame.
And the first moths of summer -- suicidal game, oh, suicidal game.
To join in the worship of the light that never dies
In a moment's reflection of two moths spinning in her eyes.

Songs From The Wood

Let me bring you songs from the wood:
to make you feel much better than you could know.
Dust you down from tip to toe.
Show you how the garden grows.
Hold you steady as you go.
Join the chorus if you can: it'll make of you an honest man.

Let me bring you love from the field:
poppies red and roses filled with summer rain.
To heal the wound and still the pain,
that threatens again and again,
as you drag down every lover's lane.
Life's long celebration's here. I'll toast you all in penny cheer.

Let me bring you all things refined:
galliards and lute songs served in chilling ale.
Greetings well met fellow, hail!
I am the wind to fill your sail.
I am the cross to take your nail:
A singer of these ageless times, with kitchen prose and gutter rhymes.

Songs from the wood make you feel much better.

Then there's Loreena McKennitt, with her haunting voice:

All Souls Night

Bonfires dot the rolling hillsides, figures dance around and around
To drums that pulse out echoes of darkness, moving to the pagan sound.

Somewhere in a hidden memory, images float before my eyes
Of fragrant nights of straw and of bonfires, and dancing till the next sunrise.

I can see the lights in the distance, trembling in the dark cloak of night
Candles and lanterns are dancing, dancing -- a waltz on All Souls Night.

Figures of cornstalks bend in the shadows, held up tall as the flames leap high
The green knight holds the holly bush, to mark where the old year passes by.

I can see the lights in the distance, trembling in the dark cloak of night
Candles and lanterns are dancing, dancing -- a waltz on All Souls Night.

Standing on the bridge that crosses the river that goes out to the sea
The wind is full of a thousand voices -- they pass by the bridge and me.

I can see the lights in the distance, trembling in the dark cloak of night
Candles and lanterns are dancing, dancing -- a waltz on All Souls Night.

The Mummers' Dance

When in the springtime of the year, when the trees are crowned with leaves
When the ash and oak, and the birch and yew are dressed in ribbons fair
When owls call the breathless moon, in the blue veil of the night
The shadows of the trees appear amidst the lantern light.

We've been rambling all the night, and some time of this day
Now returning back again, we bring a garland gay.

Who will go down to those shady groves and summon the shadows there
And tie a ribbon on those sheltering arms, in the springtime of the year?
The songs of birds seem to fill the wood, that when the fiddler plays
All their voices can be heard long past their woodland days.

And so they linked their hands and danced round in circles and in rows
And so the journey of the night descends, when all the shades are gone.

"A garland gay we bring you here, and at your door we stand
It is a sprout well budded out -- the work of Our Lord's hand."

We've been rambling all the night, and some time of this day
Now returning back again, we bring a garland gay.

Rush has some pretty neat songs too:

Witch Hunt

The night is black, without a moon
The air is thick and still
The vigilantes gather on the lonely torch-lit hill.

Features distorted in the flickering light
The faces are twisted and grotesque
Silent and stern in the sweltering night
The mob moves like demons possessed
Quiet in conscience, calm in their right
Confident their ways are best.

The righteous rise, with burning eyes
Of hatred and ill-will
Madmen fed on fear and lies -- to beat and burn and kill.

They say there are strangers who threaten us
In our immigrants and infidels
They say there is strangeness too dangerous
In our theaters and bookstore shelves
That those who know what's best for us
Must rise and save us from ourselves

Quick to judge, quick to anger
Slow to understand
Ignorance and prejudice and fear walk hand in hand.

And while I know it's not "cool" to say so, I adore a lot of John Denver's stuff. Some of his music really speaks to me:

Calypso

To sail on a dream on a crystal-clear ocean, to ride on the crest of the wild raging storm.
To work in the service of life and the living, in search of the answers to questions unknown.
To be part of the movement and part of the growing, part of beginning to understand.

Aye, Calypso, the places you've been to, the things that you've shown us, the stories you tell.
Aye, Calypso, I sing to your spirit, the men who have served you so long and so well.

Like the dolphin who guides you, you bring us beside you
to light up the darkness and show us the way.
For though we are strangers in your silent world, to live on the land we must learn from the sea.
To be true as the tide and free as a wind swell, joyful and loving in letting it be.

Aye, Calypso, the places you've been to, the things that you've shown us, the stories you tell.
Aye, Calypso, I sing to your spirit, the men who have served you so long and so well.

Higher Ground

There are those who can live with the things they don't believe in
They are giving up their lives for something that is less than it can be.
Some have longed for a home in a place of inspiration
Some will find the emptiness inside by giving it all for the things that they believe
They believe

Maybe it's just a dream in me, maybe it's just my style
Maybe it's just the freedom that I've found
But given the possibility of living up to the dream in me
You know I'll be reaching for higher ground

I will stand on my own, I will live up to the vision
I will trust in what I feel, and follow my heart until it brings me home
Brings me home

Maybe it's just a dream in me, maybe it's just my style
Maybe it's just the freedom that I've found
But given the possibility of living up to the dream in me
You know I'll be reaching for higher ground

Keep me through the night, lead me to the light
Teach me the magic of wonder, give me the spirit to fly

Maybe it's just a dream in me, maybe it's just my style
Maybe it's just the freedom that I've found
But given the possibility of living up to the dream in me
You know I'll be reaching for higher ground

I Want to Live

There are children raised in sorrow, on a scorched and barren plain
There are children raised beneath the golden sun
There are children of the water, children of the sand
And they cry out through the universe, their voices raised as one:

I want to live, I want to grow, I want to see, I want to know
I want to share what I can give, I want to be, I want to live.

Have you gazed out on the ocean, seen the breaching of a whale?
Have you watched the dolphins frolic in the foam?
Have you heard the song the humpback hears five hundred miles away
Telling tales of ancient history of passages and home?

For the worker and the warrior the lover and the liar
For the native and the wanderer in time
For the maker and the user and the mother and her son
I am looking for my family and all of you are mine

We are standing all together, face to face and arm in arm
We are standing on the threshold of a dream
No more hunger, no more killing, no more wasting life away
It is simply an idea, and I know its time has come.

To the Wild Country

There are times I fear I lose myself -- I don't know who I am
I get caught up in the struggle and the strain
With my back against a stone wall, my finger in the dam
I'm losing strength and going down again.

And I take a look around me -- my eyes can't find the sun
There's nothing wild as far as I can see
Then my heart turns to Alaska, and freedom on the run
I can hear her spirit calling me:

To the mountains, I can rest there
To the rivers, I will be strong
To the forest, I'll find peace there
To the wild country, where I belong.

Oh, I know sometimes I worry, on worldly ways and means
And I can see the future killing me
On a misbegotten highway of prophecies and dreams
A road to nowhere and eternity.

And I know it's just changes, yes, and mankind marching on
I know we can't live in yesterday
But compared to what were losing, and what it means to me
I'd give my life and throw the rest away.

To the mountains, I can rest there
To the rivers, I will be strong
To the forest, I'll find peace there
To the wild country, where I belong.

Whose Garden Was This?

Whose garden was this?
It must have been lovely
Did it have flowers?
I've seen pictures of flowers
And I'd love to have smelled one.

Whose river was this?
You say it ran freely
And blue was its colour
I've seen blue in some pictures
And I'd love to have been there.

Tell me again, I need to know:
The forests had trees, the meadows were green
The oceans were blue, and birds really flew
Can you swear that it's true?

Whose grey sky was this?
Or was it a blue one?
You say they were breezes
I've heard records of breezes
And I'd love to have felt one.

Tell me again, I need to know:
The forests had trees, the meadows were green
The oceans were blue, and birds really flew
Can you swear that it's true?

Whose garden was this?
It must have been lovely
Did it have flowers?
I've seen pictures of flowers
And I'd love to have smelled one.

Tell me again, I need to know
Tell me again, I need to know
Tell me again, I need to know.

Cheers,

Michael

John Carter

02-09-2005, 10:15 AM

"GLORIA" by jim morrison, sorry, i don't know where to get the lyrics. but they could never meet the pure sexuality of it anyway.

Gloria was written and originally performed by Van Morrison, not Jim Morrison. Alot of bands did covers of it though, including The Doors, so the confusion is understandable. The version you're probably thinking of was from a sound check, and included on a compilation of live performances that was released in the eighties. Here are the lyrics:

Like to tell you ’bout my baby, you know she comes around,
Just ’bout five feet four a-from her head to the ground.
You know she comes around here just about midnight,
She make me feel so good, lord, she make me feel all right.
And her name is g-l-o-r-i,

G-l-o-r-i-a gloria
G-l-o-r-i-a gloria
I’m gonna shout it all night gloria
I’m gonna shout it every day, gloria
Yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah.

She comes around here just about midnight, ha
She make me feel so good, lord, I wanna say she make me feel all right.
Comes a-walkin’ down my street, then she comes up to my house,
She knock upon my door and then she comes to my room,
Yeah an’ she make me feel all right,

G-l-o-r-i-a gloria
G-l-o-r-i-a gloria
I’m gonna shout it all night gloria
I’m gonna shout it every day gloria
Yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah,
Looks so good gloria
All right, feel so good gloria
All right, yeah now.

Probably my favorite Van Morisson song is Moondance. It's a bit different from most of his other more pop style stuff like Brown Eyed Girl. It's more a jazz arrangement:

Well, it’s a marvelous night for a moondance
With the stars up above in your eyes
A fantabulous night to make romance
’neath the cover of october skies
And all the leaves on the trees are falling
To the sound of the breezes that blow
And I’m trying to please to the calling
Of your heart-strings that play soft and low
And all the night’s magic seems to whisper and hush
And all the soft moonlight seems to shine in your blush

Chorus:
Can I just have one a’ more moondance with you, my love
Can I just make some more romance with a-you, my love

Well, I wanna make love to you tonight
I can’t wait ’til the morning has come
And I know that the time is just right
And straight into my arms you will run
And when you come my heart will be waiting
To make sure that you’re never alone
There and then all my dreams will come true, dear
There and then I will make you my own
And every time I touch you, you just tremble inside
And I know how much you want me that you can’t hide

Chorus

Repeat 1st verse

One more moondance with you in the moonlight
On a magic night
La, la, la, la in the moonlight
On a magic night
Can’t I just have one more dance with you my love

koan

02-10-2005, 05:33 AM

Hard to beat Moondance. I shan't even try.
I wanted to post this one because I find so few newer songs actually touch me and this one did.

Bring Me To Life - Evanescence

How can you see into my eyes
Like open doors.
Leading you down into my core
Where I’ve become so numb.
Without a soul
My spirit’s sleeping somewhere cold
Until you find it there and lead it back home.

(wake me up.
Wake me up inside.
I can’t wake up.
Wake me up inside.
Save me.
Call my name and save me from the dark.
Wake me up.
Bid my blood to run.
I can’t wake up.
Before I come undone.
Save me.
Save me from the nothing I’ve become.)

Now that I know what I’m without
You can’t just leave me.
Breathe into me and make me real
Bring me to life.

[chorus]

Bring me to life.
I’ve been living a lie
There’s nothing inside.
Bring me to life.

Frozen inside without your touch,
Without your love, darling.
Only you are the life among the dead.

All of this sight
I can’t believe I couldn’t see
Kept in the dark
But you were there in front of me

I’ve been sleeping a 1000 years it seems.
I’ve got to open my eyes to everything.

Without a thought
Without a voice
Without a soul

Don’t let me die here
There must be something wrong.
Bring me to life.

[chorus]

Bring me to life.
I’ve been living a lie
There’s nothing inside.

Bring me to life

kensloft

02-10-2005, 07:28 AM

I've paid my dues time after time
I've done my sentence, but committed no crime
And bad mistakes, I've made a few
I've had my share of sand kicked in my face
But I've come through

And we mean to go on and on and on and on

We are the champions my friends
And we'll keep on fighting till the end
We are the champions, we are the champions
No time for losers, coz we are the champions of the world

I've taken my bows and my curtain calls
You brought me fame and fortune
And everything that goes with it - I thank you all
But it's been no bed of roses, no pleasure cruise
I consider it a challenge before the whole human race
And I ain't gonna lose

And we mean to go on and on and on and on

We are the champions my friends
And we'll keep on fighting till the end
We are the champions, we are the champions
No time for losers, coz we are the champions of the world

We are the champions - my friends
And we'll keep on fighting till the end
We are the champions, we are the champions
No time for losers, coz we are the champions

Lyrics reproduced by kind permission of Queen Music Ltd. and EMI Music Publishing Ltd.

Sweetie

02-11-2005, 02:57 PM

Ack! Who could forget Civil War by Guns N' Roses?

Did you wear a black armband
when you shot the man who said
"Peace could last forever."
And in my first memories they shot Kennedy
I went numb when I learned to see
and so I never fell for Vietnam
We've got the wall of D.C.
to remind us all
That you can't trust freedom
when it's not in your hands
When everybody's fighting for
their promised land

Clutch Munny

02-11-2005, 07:08 PM

And the moon's laying low in the sky
Forcing everything metal to shine
And the sidewalk holds diamonds,
Like a jewlery store case
They argue walk this way, no walk this way

And there's kids playing guns in the street
And one's pointing his tree branch at me
So I put my hands up, I say "Enough is enough.
If you walk away, I'll walk away."
And then he shot me dead

I found a liquid cure
For my land-locked blues
It will pass away, like a slow parade
It's leaving, but I don't know how soon

A good woman will pick you apart
A box full of suggestions for a possible heart
And you may be offended, you may be afraid
But don't walk away, don't walk away

We made love on the living room floor
With the noise in the background
From televised war
And in a defeaning pleasure
I thought I heard someone say
"If we walk away, they'll walk away."

You'll be free, child, once you have died
From the shackles of language in measurable time
And then we can trade places, play musical graves
tell them walk away, walk away, walk away

-- selected verses from "One foot in front of the other" (Bright Eyes)

Shake

02-11-2005, 08:11 PM

Paul Revere - Beastie Boys

How here's a little story - I've got to tell
About three bad brothers - you know so well
It started way back in history
With Adrock, M.C.A., and me - Mike D.
Been had a little horsy named Paul Revere
Just me and my horsy and a quart of beer
Riding across the land - kicking up sand
Sheriff's posse on my tail cause I'm in demand
One lonely Beastie I be
All by myself - without nobody
The sun is beating down on my baseball hat
The air is gettin' hot - the beer is getting flat
Lookin' for a girl - I ran into a guy
His name is M.C.A., I said, "Howdy" - he said, "Hi"

He told a little story - that sounded well rehearsed
Four days on the run and that he's dying of thirst
The brew was in my hand - and he was on my tip
His voice was hoarse, his throat was dry - he asked me for a sip
He said, "Can I get some?"
I said, "You can't get none!"
Had a chance to run
He pulled out his shotgun
He was quick on the draw - I thought I'd be dead
He put the gun to my head and this is what he said,
"Now my name is M.C.A. - I've got a license to kill
I think you know what time it is - it's time to get ill
Now what do we have here - an outlaw and his beer
I run this land, you understand - I make myself clear."
We stepped into the wind - he had a gun, I had a grin
You think this story's over but it's ready to begin

"Now I got the gun - you got the brew
You got two choices of what you can do
It's not a tough decision as you can see
I can blow you away or you can ride with me" I said, I'll ride with you if
you can get me to the border
The sheriff's after me for what I did to his daughter
I did it like this - I did it like that
I did it with a whiffleball bat
So I'm on the run - the cop's got my gun
And right about now - it's time to have some fun
The King Adrock - that is my name
And I know the fly spot where they got the champagne."
We rode for six hours then we hit the spot
The beat was a bumpin' and the girlies was hot
This dude was staring like he knows who we are
We took the empty spot next to him at the bar
M.C.A. said, "Yo, you know this kid?"
I said, "I didn't." - but I know he did
The kid said, "Get ready cause this ain't funny
My name's Mike D. and I'm about to get money."
Pulled out the jammy - aimed it at the sky
He yelled, "Stick 'em up!" - and let two fly
Hands went up and people hit the floor
He wasted two kids that ran for the door
"I'm Mike D. and I get respect
Your cash and your jewelry is what I expect"
M.C.A. was with it and he's my ace
So I grabbed the piano player and I punched him in the face
The piano player's out - the music stopped
His boy had beef - and he got dropped
Mike D. grabbed the money - M.C.A. snatched the gold
I grabbed two girlies and a beer that's cold.