What's your favorite lyric from a song?

Sometimes in the mornin' when shadows are deep
I lie here beside you just watching you sleep
And sometimes I whisper what I'm thinking of
My cup runneth over with love

Sometimes in the evening when you do not see
I study the small things you do constantly
I memorize moments that I'm fondest of
My cup runneth over with love

In only a moment we both will be old
We won't even notice the world turning cold
And so, in these moments with sunlight above
My cup runneth over with love
My cup runneth over with love, with love

"My Cup Runneth Over, from the 1966 Broadway musical "I Do! I Do!" as recorded by Ed Ames.

Regards,
-- Al

Very profound indeed, Jim (Broadstone). A correction to the words, though, if I may. They are actually "I'm tired of livin' and scared of dyin'."

Here is a link to the famous performance of the song by the great Paul Robeson in the 1936 version of "Showboat".

Best regards,
-- Al

I suspect that n80's post was said tongue-in-cheek, as the non-lyrics he quoted could indeed be how the real lyrics are heard when the songs are listened to in a casual manner. A couple of additional examples in a similar vein:

"Oh A Tree In Motion" -- Johnny Tillotson
"I'm Your P---- (um, Venus), I'm Your Fire" -- Shocking Blue

Regards,
-- Al :-)
 

An interesting article on mondegreens, titled with the very same Hendrix reference we've been talking about:

https://www.newyorker.com/science/maria-konnikova/science-misheard-lyrics-mondegreens

The article describes what is said to be the origin of the term, indicating that the word "mondegreen" is itself a mondegreen.

One more example that occurs to me:

"Secret Asian Man" -- Johnny Rivers

Regards,
-- Al

More completely, "laid him on the green" was misheard as "Lady Mondegreen." As described in the article I linked to in my previous post:

In November, 1954, Sylvia Wright, an American writer, published a piece in Harper's where she admitted to a gross childhood mishearing. When she was young, her mother would read to her from the “Reliques of Ancient English Poetry,” a 1765 book of popular poems and ballads. Her favorite verse began with the lines, “Ye Highlands and ye Lowlands / Oh, where hae ye been? / They hae slain the Earl Amurray, / And Lady Mondegreen.” Except they hadn’t. They left the poor Earl and “laid him on the green.” He was, alas, all by himself.

Regards,
-- Al

@CD318, excellent selections in your recent posts, IMO, especially the ones from "What A Wonderful World" and "Ol’ Man River."

A correction, though: "Ol’ Man River" was composed by Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II, not Lerner & Loewe.

Also, as you may be aware, what is probably the most famous version of "Ol’ Man River" (and deservedly so IMO) was sung by the great although controversial Paul Robeson in the 1936 film version of the musical "Showboat":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eh9WayN7R-s

Best regards,
-- Al

I heard the following on SiriusXM the other day. Touching lyrics, and sang very nicely IMO except for the part near the end when his singing verges on yelling.

At the end of a rainbow,
You´ll find a pot of gold.
At the end of a story,
You´ll find it´s all been told.
But our love has a treasure
Our hearts can always spend.
And it has a story without any end.

At the end of a river,
The water stops its flow.
At the end of a highway,
There´s no place you can go.
But just tell me you love me
And you are only mine,
And our love will go on till the end of time.

"The End," Earl Grant (1958)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rmeeNYhNYQw

Regards,
-- Al

There is a very informative writeup on "MacArthur Park" on Wikipedia. The lyrics largely reflect some of Jimmy Webb's real life experiences.

The song is certainly one of the most unique popular recordings of the rock era, and like CD318 I consider it, as recorded by Richard Harris, to be a standout.

Regards,
-- Al
 

For those who may like sentimental ballads, as I do in many cases:

"You're My World," lyrics by the noted lyricist Carl Sigman:

You're my world, you're every breath I take
You're my world, every move I make
Other eyes see the stars up in the skies
But for me they shine within your eyes

As the trees reach for the sun above
So my arms reach out to you for love
With your hand resting in mine
I feel a power so divine

You're my world, you are my night and day
You're my world, you're every prayer I pray
If our love ceases to be
Then it's the end of my world for me

With your hand resting in mine
I feel a power so divine
You're my world, you are my night and day
You're my world, you're every prayer I pray
If our love ceases to be
Then it's the end of my world
End of my world
End of my world for me

The first recording using Sigman's English-language lyrics was done in 1964 by the late Cilla Black, who as many will realize was closely associated with the Beatles and producer George Martin. The song was later covered by Helen Reddy among many others. I recently happened across a 2014 performance by the British singer and actress Sheridan Smith, which as far as I am aware was never released as a recording but was performed in a three-part British TV series entitled "Cilla," in which she portrayed Ms. Black. I was struck by how this performance is a remarkable impression of Cilla Black's singing, but at the same time is better IMO:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CMHILWOo3II

Regards,
-- Al

P.S. to my previous post:  After looking further at the comments under the video I linked to it appears that the singing which accompanies the video is an "alternate take" that was recorded at some point by Cilla Black herself, although Sheridan Smith did the singing in the TV program from which the video was created.  So that explains why the singing was, as I said, "a remarkable impression of Cilla Black's singing."  :-)

Regards,
-- Al