It's hard to kiss the lips at night that have been chewing my ass out all day long ... Vince Gill |
"Doesn't mean that much to me, to mean that much to you" |
"Lord I was born a Ramblin Man..." |
Here's a few I keep with me all the time.
We sail our icecats on the frozen river
Some loser fires off a flare, amen
For seven seconds its like Christmas day
And then its dark again
Donald Fagen, "Snowbound"
And I'll keep on trying
Till I tie a string around that moon
And in the morning
Then it could be your balloon
Kami Lyle, "Stay with You" on Manu Katche's Third Round |
" the tip of my tongue is the barrel of a gun and it's loaded " The Wood Brothers |
"so good to be alive when the eulogies are read" Phil Ochs
Crucifixon |
OK, I've got a few:
"He's the better of the best,
best believe he's the baddest,
Perfect timing when I'm climbing on my rhyming apparatus
Lot of guts
When he cuts, girls move their butts
His name is Jay here to play he must be nuts"
- Run DMC - "It's Tricky"
"Playing makeup, wearing guitar"
- Replacements - "Left of the Dial"
Almost any rhyme by Rakim, the lyrical master. A couple of beauties from "I Know You Got Soul":
"I start to think,
and then I sink
Into the paper,
like I was ink,
When I'm writing, I'm trapped in between the lines,
I escape when I finish the rhyme..."
"Picture a mic, the stage is empty
A beat like this might tempt me
To pose, show my rings and my fat gold chain
Grab the mic like I'm on Soul Train
But I'll wait 'cause I mastered this
Let the others go first so the brothers don't miss
Eric B. break the sticks (you got it)
Rakim will begin when you make the mix"
"Think about it -- wait -- erase your rhyme,
Forget it, and don't waste your time,
'Cause I'll be in the crowd if you ain't controlling it,
Drop the mic, you shouldn't be holding it.
This is how it should be done
This style is identical to none
Some try to make it sound like this but you're getting me
So upset that I'm wet 'cause you're sweating me"
"First of all, I'm the soloist, the soul controller
Rakim gets stronger as I get older
Constant elevation causes expansion
I write my rhyme while I cool in my mansion
Then put it on tape and in the city I test it
Then on the radio the R's requested"
A few lines from "Fell in Love With a Girl" by the White Stripes:
"she turns and says "are you alright?"
I said "I must be fine cause my heart's still beating"
"my left brain knows that
all love is fleeting
she's just looking for something new
and I said it once before
but it bears repeating" |
"give me everything tonight. We might not get tomorrow... " |
"There's something we need to discuss-
Your husband's cheatin' on us"
Matraca Berg |
And slowly turns the grinding wheel, in the Court of the Crimson King. |
"Life's a counterfeit and when you look at it
Life's a laugh and death's the joke, it's true
You see, it's all a show, keep them laughing as you go
Just remember the last laugh is on you" |
"I started out with nothing and I still got most of it left" Seasick Steve. Not my favourite but this line appealed to me recently. |
I'll have a jelly donut, and a bottle of anything...to go!!! |
God, there are so many, and the words absent of the musical accompaniment lose a lot of their impact if the reader has never heard the song. A few that come to mind out of many for me
Jimi Hendrix- Castles Made of Sand
It's a Beautiful Day- White Bird
Jethro Tull- Look into the Sun
Jefferson Airplane- Today, Hey Fredrick, and Eskimo Blue Day
The Kinks-Big Sky
Janis Joplin with Big Brother- Blindman
The Kinks- Big Sky
Big Sky looks down on all the people looking up at the Big Sky.
Everybody pushing one another around
Big Sky feels sad when he sees the children scream and cry
But the Big Sky is too big to let it get him down.
Big Sky too big to cry
Big Sky too high to see
People like you and me
One day we'll be free, we won't care, just you see
'Til that day can be, don't let it get you down
When I feel that the world is too much for me
I think of the Big Sky, and nothing matters much to me.
Big Sky looks down on all the people who think they got problems
They get depressed and they hold their head in their hands and cry.
People lift up their hands and they look up to the Big Sky
But the Big Sky is too big to sympathize
Big Sky's too occupied
Though he would like to try
And he feels bad inside
Big Sky's too big to cry
One day we'll be free, we won't care, just you wait and see
'Til that day can be, don't let it get you down. |
"Wherever you go, whatever you do, whatever you say: say, say, say.... say it with love! " |
"I told ya I love you ya, now get out" Anita O'day |
This one's from Karl Wallinger (World Party), who has a quirky sense of spirituality around some of his lyrics and generally steals his tunes from the best of the best (Dylan, Beatles, Stones) :
"Take It Up"
I got an extra glimpse
Of the truth today
Staring at my breakfast
When I thought I heard it say
Fighting is no good
Success, an empty lie
The treasure hunt is lonely
Until you realize
We came to take it up
We came to take it up, we came to take it up
We came to raise it up
We came to take it up, we came to move it up
I promise you miss
I will do my best today
But somebody keep trying to make me
Trying to make me lose my way
But I believe, oh, my darling
I believe in you
And I hope when you hear this
You'll remember what we were sent to do
We came to take it up
We came to take it up, we came to take it up
We came to move it up
We came to raise it up, we came to praise it up
Speeding out of the town
I thought I'd lost my way
'Til I saw the green and ebony
Come a-wondering about their pay
Well, I've got the money
If you've still got the friends
We can really put this world to right
Or sit and watch the end, you know
We came to take it up..... |
"Wherever you go, whatever you do, whatever you say: say, say, say.... say it with love! " |
Edorr, "You Don't Know What Love Is" is my favorite song. You stole my lyrics. That's OK, these are my second favorite lyrics.
Softly as in a morning sunrise
The light of love comes stealing
Into a newborn day
Flaming with all the glow of sunrise
A burning kiss is sealing
A vow that all betray
For the passions that thrill love
And take you high to heaven
Are the passions that kill love
And let it fall to hell
So ends the story, and it began, "Softly As In a Morning Sunrise". |
the future is bright I gotta wear shades |
"You're breakin my heart, so fuck you" |
"walk around with a broken leg, and a hundred dollar bill"
Beck. No, not Jeff Beck. Just Beck. |
"Jesus died for somebody's sins, but not mine." |
"Started swearing to my God, and on my mother's grave,
that I would love you 'til the end of time, I swore I would love you 'til the end of time............
So now I'm prayin' for the end of time to hurry up and arrive,
cause if I have to spend another minute with you I don't think that I can really survive!"
Meatloaf |
....cruising and playing the radio, with no particular place to go. Chuck Berry |
Freedom's just another word for nothin' left to lose...
from Me and Bobby McGee
Don't know that I've ever heard more truth expressed in 9 words. |
Hush now, baby
Soon I'll see you in my dreams
Asking nuthin'
Nuthin's ever what it seems
Baby wants the milk and honey
Ask me and you shall recieve
Never seen no devil wear his heart upon his sleeve
Down the corner-
Where the streets have turned to sand
If you-
Do unto others
You will die by your own hand
Baby pulls me even closer
Tangled like the web she weaves
Shaking off her demons
Now they're coming after me
Don't mistake me
Ain't no ordinary man
Gonna save me
From the shotgun in your hand
Covering the walls in shadow
Faster than the sound of speed
Never seen no devil
Now it's all that I can see |
for melancholy:
I've been lately thinking
About my life's time
All the things I've done
And how it's been
And I can't help believing
In my own mind
I know I'm gonna hate to see it end
I've seen a lot of sunshine
Slept out in the rain
Spent a night or two all on my own
I've known my lady's pleasures
Had myself some friends
And spent a night or two in my own home
And I have to say it now
It's been a good life all in all
It's really fine
To have a chance to hang around
And lie there by the fire
And watch the evening tire
While all my friends and my old lady
Sit and pass the pipe around
And talk of poems and prayers and promises
And things that we believe in
How sweet it is to love someone
How right it is to care
How long it's been since yesterday
And what about tomorrow
And what about our dreams
And all the memories we share
The days they pass so quickly now
Nights are seldom long
And time around me whispers when it's cold
The changes somehow frighten me
Still I have to smile
It turns me on to think of growing old
For though my life's been good to me
There's still so much to do
So many things my mind has never known
I'd like to raise a family
I'd like to sail away
And dance across the mountains on the moon
I have to say it now
It's been a good life all in all
It's really fine
To have the chance to hang around
And lie there by the fire
And watch the evening tire
While all my friends and my old lady
Sit and watch the sun go down
And talk of poems and prayers and promises
And things that we believe in
How sweet it is to love someone
How right it is to care
How long it's been since yesterday
What about tomorrow
What about our dreams
And all the memories we share
John Denver
|
I'm hovering like a fly, waiting for the windshield on the freeway." Peter Gabriel |
B.B. King - nobody loves me but my mama, and she could be jiving too.
blues song - woman to her best girl friend "I think your husband is cheating on us" |
Marilyn Scott's verion of Here's to Life where the lyric says "may all your storms be weathered and all that's good get better" Wonderful blessing.
Absolutely the best version of this song I've heard. Other songs on the cd are okay, but she knocked this one out of the park.
enjoy |
"Well, I see you give more than I can take.
Well, I only harvest some."
Neil Young, "Harvest" (of course) |
I have a couple:
"My anaconda don't want none unless you've got buns, hun"
Sir Mix-a-lot, Baby Got Back
"The next best thing to playing and winning is playing and losing"
Alison Krauss, The Lucky One
Michael |
She said, "Where you been?" I said, "No place special."
She said, "You look different." I said, "Well, I guess."
She said, "You been gone." I said, "That's only natural."
She said, "You wanna stay?" I said, "If you want me to, yess."
Bob Dylan, "Isis" |
Its hard to say only 1 fav. i have another: "sorry seems to be the hardest word" by Elton john |
"To have ambition is my ambition" from I Love a Man in a Uniform by Gang of Four |
"It'll turn your sandwich into a banquet"
"The large print giveth, the small print taketh away"
etc, etc
Tom Waits, Step Right Up |
"Why pamper life's complexity when the leather runs smooth on the passenger seat?"
-- from This Charming Man by The Smiths |
"From the rocking of the cradle to the rolling of the Hearst. Was the going up worth the coming down?"
One of the most under rated songwriters of our time Mr. Kris Kristofferson. |
"A natural beauty should be preserved like a monument, in nature."
Natural Beauty - Neil Young |
Sit beside the breakfast table
Think about your troubles
Pour yourself a cup of tea
And think about the bubbles
You can take your teardrops
And drop them in a teacup
Take them down to the riverside
And throw them over the side
To be swept up by a current
And taken to the ocean
To be eaten by some fishes
Who were eaten by some fishes
And swallowed by a whale
Who grew so old
He decomposed
He died and left his body
To the bottom of the ocean
Now everybody knows
That when a body decomposes
The basic elements
Are given back to the ocean
And the sea does what it oughta
And soon there's salty water
(That's not too good for drinking)
'Cause it tastes just like a teardrop
(So they run it through a filter)
And it comes out from a faucet
(And is poured into a teapot)
Which is just about to bubble
Now think about your troubles
Think About Your Troubles
- Harry Nilsson
|
For me it has to be the line from "I Wish I Were In Love Again" by Rodgers and Hart.
When love conceals it soon reveals,
The faint aroma of performing seals,
The double-crossing of a pair of heels,
I wish I were in love again.
Whenever I hear the double crossing of a pair of heels, I always think of a film noir detective story. |
Just heard another great one:
"We all get what we deserve/
Unfortunately" - John Doe, "Unforgiven" |
"If I don't see you no more in this world, I'll meet you in the next one. Don't be late." Jimi Hendrix |
"I wish I didn't know now what I didn't know then" |
Lovely, indeed, Edorr. Speaking of Zimmerman.... Oh God said to Abraham, "Kill me a son"
Abe says, "Man, you must be puttin' me on"
God say, "No." Abe say, "What ?"
God say, "You can do what you want Abe, but
The next time you see me comin' you better run"
Well Abe says, "Where do you want this killin' done ?"
God says. "Out on Highway 61". |
While we are on the subject, the quintessential God lyric is of course John Lennon's "God". No cynism here, just lots of existential anxiety - very beautiful lyrics indeed:
God is a concept,
By which we can measure,
Our pain,
I'll say it again,
God is a concept,
By which we can measure,
Our pain,
I don't believe in magic,
I don't believe in I-ching,
I don't believe in bible,
I don't believe in tarot,
I don't believe in Hitler,
I don't believe in Jesus,
I don't believe in Kennedy,
I don't believe in Buddha,
I don't believe in mantra,
I don't believe in Gita,
I don't believe in yoga,
I don't believe in kings,
I don't believe in Elvis,
I don't believe in Zimmerman,
I don't believe in Beatles,
I just believe in me,
Yoko and me,
And that's reality.
The dream is over,
What can I say?
The dream is over,
Yesterday,
I was dreamweaver,
But now I'm reborn,
I was the walrus,
But now I'm John,
And so dear friends,
You just have to carry on,
The dream is over. |
Thanks, Edorr. Back atcha, from Tom Waits: Well I don't go to church on Sunday
Don't get on my knees to pray
Don't memorize the books of the Bible
I got my own special way
I know Jesus loves me
Maybe just a little bit more
I fall down on my knees every Sunday
At Zerelda Lee's candy store
Well it's got to be a chocolate Jesus
Make me feel good inside
Got to be a chocolate Jesus
Keep me satisfied
Well I don't want no Anna Zabba
Don't want no Almond Joy
There ain't nothing better
Suitable for this boy
Well it's the only thing
That can pick me up
Better than a cup of gold
See only a chocolate Jesus
Can satisfy my soul
When the weather gets rough
And it's whiskey in the shade
It's best to wrap your savior
Up in cellophane
He flows like the big muddy
But that's ok
Pour him over ice cream
For a nice parfait
Well it's got to be a chocolate Jesus
Good enough for me
Got to be a chocolate Jesus
Good enough for me
Well it's got to be a chocolate Jesus
Make me feel so good inside
Got to be a chocolate Jesus
Keep me satisfied |
Jax, your lyrics reminded me of (one of many) priceless Randy Newman lyrics. God's song from the album sail away:
Cain slew Abel Seth knew not why
For if the children of Israel were to multiply
Why must any of the children die?
So he asked the Lord
And the Lord said:
"Man means nothing he means less to me
than the lowiliest cactus flower
or the humblest yucca tree
he chases round this desert
cause he thinks that's where i'll be
that's why i love mankind
I recoil in horror from the foulness of thee
from the squalor and the filth and the misery
How we laugh up here in heaven at the prayers you offer me
That's why i love mankind"
The Christians and the Jews were having a jamboree
The Buddhists and the Hindus joined on satellite TV
They picked their four greatest priests
And they began to speak
They said "Lord the plague is on the world
Lord no man is free
The temples that we built to you
Have tumbled into the sea
Lord, if you won't take care of us
Won't you please please let us be?"
And the Lord said
And the Lord said
"I burn down your cities--how blind you must be
I take from you your children and you say how blessed are we
You must all be crazy to put your faith in me
That's why i love mankind
You really need me
That's why i love mankind" |
From Mark Hollis hauntingly beautiful self-titled album, these are the complete lyrics from the 6'21" song, "Inside Looking Out." Feel my skin Lord
Feel my luck tumbling down
Left no life no more
Turn my seasons turn
Lived in much younger times
Left no life no more
For me to shine
From Robert Plant's, Band of Joy, album...this was actually derived from a traditional song, but I think he's changed the lyrics a bit. Cindy got religion
She had it once before
She spilled it on a Saturday
Upon a hardwood floor From the dark and cynical Jim White project, Chainsaw of Life, by Hellwood (White, Dowd, & Willie B) - lyrics by Johnny Dowd, "Thank you, Lord": Thank you Lord
Oh thank you for the hurricane
I see your boundless love
In the faces etched with pain
Thank you Lord
Oh thank you for the memories of the ark
You are the shining light we see
When were drowning in the dark
Thank you Lord for Jesus
And the rope from which he hung
And thank you for the cross
Upon which they nailed your son
Thank you thank you for our leaders
With their blind and stupid eyes
Your mysterious wisdom
Is embedded in their lies
Thank you for the rich man
Who gets richer by the hour
For the professor of higher learning
Hidden in his ivory tower
Thank you for the earthquake
For the fire and devastation
And the suffering that results
From your inscrutable equation
And thank you Lord oh thank you
Your mercy falls like rain
That destroyed the mighty levy
That held back Lake Pontchartrain
So thank you for Katrina
And the mighty towers that fall
Thank you oh thank you
We thank you one and all |
