So many versions but this is the one by Judy Garland Ol' man river, that ol' man river He must know somethin', but he don't say nothin' He just keeps rollin' He keeps on rollin' along He don't plant taters, he don't plant cotton An' them that plants' 'em is soon forgotten But ol' man river He just keeps rollin' along You an' me, we sweat an' strain Body all achin' and wracked with pain Tote that barge! Lift that bale! You get a little drunk an' you land in jail I get weary and sick of tryin' I'm tired of livin' and scared of dyin' But ol' man river He just keeps rollin' along Alan Jay Lerner / Frederick Loewe |
@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 |
@almarg thanks for the update. I do like the Sinatra and Robeson versions but Judy's version is the one that sticks. By the time she recorded it she had certainly been through some difficult times. Anyway, speaking of Mr Robeson. Here's my favourite lyric as sung by him. I'm pretty sure we've all been through something similar: Passing By There is a lady sweet and kind Was never face so pleased my mind, I did but see her passing by And yet I love her till I die! Her gestures, motions and her smile Her wit, her voice, my heart beguile; Beguile my heart, I know not why And yet I love her till I die! Cupid is winged, and doth range Her country; so my heart doth change. But change the earth, or change the sky Yet will I love her till I die! https://youtu.be/FursR1Oxp3Q |
All these from the head of one man - And I meet you at the cemetry gates Keats and Yeats are on your side But you lose Because well the love of Wilde is on mine I dreamt about you last night And I fell out of bed twice Park the car at the side of the road You should know Time’s tide will smother you And I will too When you laugh about people who feel so very lonely Their only desire is to die.. ..I’ve seen this happen in other people’s lives And now it’s happening in mine I am now A central part Of your mind’s landscape Whether you care Or do not Yeah, I’ve made up your mind Good times for a change See, the luck I’ve had Can make a good man Turn bad So please please please Let me, let me, let me Let me get what I want This time Burn down the disco Hang the blessed DJ Because the music that they constantly play It says nothing to me about my life Hang the blessed DJ Because the music they constantly play There’s a club, if you’d like to go You could meet somebody who really loves you.’ So you go, and you stand on your own And you leave on your own And you go home, and you cry And you want to die Frankly, Mr. Shankly, this position I’ve held It pays my way, and it corrodes my soul I want to leave, you will not miss me I want to go down in musical history Frankly, Mr. Shankly, I’m a sickening wreck I’ve got the twenty first century breathing down my neck I must move fast, you understand me I want to go down in celluloid history, Mr. Shankly and many, many others |
@roberjerman, you are the target (quarry) is indeed awesome. As for Led Zep I always tend to remember the drums and guitar more than the lyrics. But here’s few I never forget, mostly from the same album. Standing on a hill in my mountain of dreams, Telling myself it’s not as hard, hard, hard as it seems Your head is humming and it won’t go In case you don’t know The piper’s calling you to join him Dear lady, can you hear the wind blow And did you know Your stairway lies on the whispering wind (used to play the whole song in my head all day whilst working in a factory). If it keeps on rainin’ levee’s goin’ to break If it keeps on rainin’ levee’s goin’ to break (this one comes on automatically every time we get heavy rain) and I can’t leave this one out, Been dazed and confused for so long it’s not true Wanted a woman, never bargained for you Lots of people talk and few of them know Soul of a woman was created below, yeah |
Here's a nice early 60s lyric from one of the greatest talents of that era - Lionel Bart I've seen places, faces And smiled for a moment But, oh, you haunted me so Still, my tongue tied, young pride Would not let my love for you show In case you'd say "No" Just beautiful. https://youtu.be/scTDEj0yYUQ |
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Two sets of great Metal lyrics from the 80s. "Hook In Mouth" A cockroach in the concrete, courthouse tan and beady eyes A slouch with fallen arches, purging truths into great lies A little man with a big eraser, changing history Procedures that he's programmed to, all he hears and sees Altering the facts and figures, events and every issue Make a person disappear, and no one will ever miss you Rewrites every story, every poem that ever was Eliminates incompetence, and those who break the laws Follow the instructions of the New Way's Evil Book of Rules Replacing rights with wrongs, the files and records in the schools You said you've got the answers, well who asked you anyway ? Ever think may be it was meant to be this way ? Don't try to fool us, we know the worst is yet to come I believe my kingdom will come [CHORUS:] F, is for fighting, R is for red Ancestors' blood in battles they've shed E, we elect them, E, we eject them In the land of the free and the home of the brave D, for your dying, O, your overture M, will cover your grave with manure This spells out FREEDOM, it means nothing to me As long as there's P.M.R.C F, is for fighting, R is for red Ancestors' blood in battles they've shed E, we elect them, E, we eject them In the land of the free and the home of the brave D, for your dying, O, your overture M, is for money, you know what that cures This spells out FREEDOM, it means nothing to me As long as there's P.M.R.C [CHORUS:] Put your hand right up my shirt Pull the strings that make me work Jaws will part, words fall out Like a fish with hook in mouth Rewrites every story, every poem that ever was Eliminates incompetence, and those who break the laws Follow the instructions of the New Way's Evil Book of Rules Replacing rights with wrongs, the files and records in the schools I'm not a fish I'm a man Hook in mouth "South Of Heaven" An unforeseen future nestled somewhere in time Unsuspecting victims no warnings, no signs Judgment day the second coming arrives Before you see the light you must die Forgotten children, conform a new faith Avidity and lust controlled by hate The never ending search for your shattered sanity Souls of Damnation in their own reality Chaos rampant An age of distrust Confrontations Impulsive habitat Bastard sons begat your cunting daughters Promiscuous mothers with your incestuous fathers Ingrate souls condemned for all eternity Obtained by immoral observance a domineering deity Chaos rampant An age of distrust Confrontations Impulsive sabbath On and on south of heaven On and on south of heaven On and on south of heaven On and on south of heaven The root of all evil is the heart of a black soul A force that has lived all eternity The never ending search for a truth never told The loss of all hope and your dignity Chaos rampant An age of distrust Confrontations Impulsive habitat On and on south of heaven On and on south of heaven.. |
@roxy54 , I’m not that familiar with Metal but my brother used to play these regularly. I get the vague idea of one being about censorship (A little man with a big eraser, changing history) the other damnation (The never ending search for your shattered sanity) but you’re right about them working better with music. Megadeth https://youtu.be/t2osUs_k-9w Slayer https://youtu.be/XtLvlaGJJEU |
How about some more Dylan lyrics? My favourite (Mr Tambourine Man - final verse is as good as it gets for me) has already been mentioned at least twice, so here’s a few others which live strong in the memory. "Your sister sees the future Like your mama and yourself You’ve never learned to read or write There’s no books upon your shelf" [we used to love quoting that last line in our college days!] "I see a lot of people As I make the rounds And I hear her name here and there As I go from town to town And I’ve never gotten used to it I’ve just learned to turn it off Either I’m too sensitive Or else I’m gettin’ soft Sundown, yellow moon I replay the past I know every scene by heart They all went by so fast If she’s passin’ back this way I’m not that hard to find Tell her she can look me up If she’s got the time" "A change in the weather is known to be extreme But what’s the sense of changing horses in midstream? I’m going out of my mind, oh With a pain that stops and starts Like a corkscrew to my heart Ever since we’ve been apart" "Yes, I received your letter yesterday, about the time the doorknob broke When you asked me how I was doing, was that some kind of joke All these people that you mention, yes, I know them, they’re quite lame I had to rearrange their faces and give them all another name Right now, I can’t read too good, don’t send me no more letters no Not unless you mail them from Desolation Row" [This next one, Sugar Baby, is my favourite Dylan song, everyone should listen to it at least once] Here’s a Barb Jungr cover https://youtu.be/SlJgKZT3nAw "I got my back to the sun ’cause the light is too intense I can see what everybody in the world is up against You can’t turn back you can’t come back, sometimes we push too far One day you’ll open up your eyes and you’ll see where we are Sugar Baby get on down the road You ain’t got no brains, no how You went years without me Might as well keep going now Some of these bootleggers, they make pretty good stuff Plenty of places to hide things here if you want to hide ’em bad enough I’m staying with Aunt Sally, but you know, she’s not really my aunt Some of these memories you can learn to live with and some of them you can’t Sugar Baby get on down the line You ain’t got no brains, no how You went years without me You might as well keep going now The ladies down in Darktown, they’re doing the Darktown Strut You always got to be prepared but you never know for what There ain’t no limit to the amount of trouble women bring Love is pleasing, love is teasing, love’s not an evil thing Sugar Baby, get on down the road You ain’t got no brains, no how You went years without me Might as well keep going now Every moment of existence seems like some dirty trick Happiness can come suddenly and leave just as quick Any minute of the day the bubble could burst Try to make things better For someone, sometimes you just end up making it a thousand times worse Sugar Baby, get on down the road You ain’t got no brains no how You went years without me Might as well keep going now Your charms have broken many a heart and mine is surely one You got a way of tearing a world apart, love, see what you done Just as sure as we’re living, just as sure as you’re born Look up, look up seek your Maker ’fore Gabriel blows his horn Sugar Baby, get on down the line You ain’t got no sense, no how You went years without me Might as well keep going now" |
@bdp24 yes it was the one for me that finally cracked the 'holy trilogy' of Bringing It All Back Home, Highway 61 Revisited, and Blonde On Blonde. Almost feels like sacrilege to even suggest such a thing! Unlike those earlier amphetamine fuelled masterpieces, Love and Theft feels like a mature work finding Dylan in a playful mood. "I asked Fat Nancy for something to eat She said, "Take it off the shelf As great as you are, man You'll never be greater than yourself." I told her I didn't really care High water everywhere" "Well, my parents they warned me not to waste my years And I still got their advice oozing out of my ears" "You can smell the pinewood burning You can hear the school bell ring Gotta get up near the teacher if you can If you wanna learn anything" Compare that to the surreal brilliance of Tombstone Blues - "Well, John the Baptist after torturing a thief Looks up at his hero the Commander-in-Chief Saying, "Tell me great hero, but please make it brief Is there a hole for me to get sick in?" The Commander-in-Chief answers him while chasing a fly Saying, "Death to all those who would whimper and cry." And dropping a bar bell he points to the sky Saying, "The sun's not yellow it's chicken." For over 25 years I've been calling one of my friends the 'Commander-in-Chief', or sometimes just 'Commander' or just 'Chief'. To this day he doesn't know why. |
Great postings @cd318. Printing out his lyrics puts the lie to the people who questioned the validity of Dylan’s 2016 Nobel prize for literature. Literature snobs! I also find Joni Mitchell’s recent critique of Dylan absurd. I admit to having never cared for her, but she is no where close to being on his level. Her critiquing Dylan would have been like The Monkees critiquing The Beatles ;-). For me, Dylan's John Wesley Harding album was as revolutionary as were the three early masterpieces of his that you mention. Thank God for his motorcycle accident! That got him off the speed, and into the basement with The Hawks (soon to become The Band), where they reinvented Rock 'n' Roll! |
@bdp24 Probably preaching to mostly the choir, but what is so amazing about Dylan is that he has reincarnated himself and/or his musical style/voice at least 4-5 times, every decade, and being successful with each one, particularly the success following his 60’s popularity (folk, from acoustic to electric guitar etc). This consistency is a testament to his talents, awarding him the Pulitzer. E.g., Dylan prevailed with each new style and decade, from the 70’s music (from New Morning, gospel, to The Band to John Wesley Harding) to his 80’s music (Tangled up in Blue, Oh Mercy, etc) and so on an so forth. All different, all masterpieces IMO> -But today, like the 2001 "love and theft" album that has received praise, I wanted to share some of Dylan’s more recent work, the "Tempest" lyrics from his 2012 album, a regular novel as it were .... the accompanying music is calm, measured, with a metronome-like bass thwacking, keeping a driving rhythm which inevitably signals a treacherous ending ... ----------------------------------- Tin Angel WRITTEN BY: BOB DYLAN ---------------------------------------- It was late last night when the boss came home To a deserted mansion and a desolate throne Servant said, “Boss, the lady’s gone She left this morning just ‘fore dawn.” “You got something to tell me, tell it to me, man. Come to the point as straight as you can.” “Old Henry Lee, chief of the clan, Came riding through the woods and took her by the hand.” The boss he laid back flat on his bed He cursed the heat and he clutched his head He pondered the future of his fate To wait another day would be far too late Go fetch me my coat and my tie And the cheapest labor that money can buy Saddle me up my buckskin mare If you see me go by, put up a prayer Well, they rode all night and they rode all day Eastward long on the broad highway His spirit was tired and his vision was bent His men deserted him and onward he went He came to a place where the light was dull His forehead pounding in his skull Heavy heart was wracked with pain Insomnia raging in his brain Well he threw down his helmet and his cross-handled sword He renounced his faith, he denied his Lord Crawled on his belly, put his ear to the wall One way or another he’d put an end to it all He leaned down, cut the electric wire Stared into the flames and he snorted the fire Peered through the darkness, caught a glimpse of the two It was hard to tell for certain who was who He lowered himself down on a golden chain His nerves were quaking in every vein His knuckles were bloody, he sucked in the air He ran his fingers through his greasy hair They looked at each other and their glasses clinked One single unit inseparably linked “Got a strange premonition there’s a man close by.” “Don’t worry about him, he wouldn’t harm a fly.” From behind the curtain the boss crossed the floor He moved his feet and he bolted the door Shadows hiding the lines in his face With all the nobility of an ancient race She turned, she was startled with a look of surprise With a hatred that could hit the skies “You’re a reckless fool, I can see it in your eyes. To come this way was by no means wise.” “Get up, stand up, you greedy lipped wench And cover your face or suffer the consequence. You are making my heart full sick. Put your clothes back on double quick.” “Silly boy, you think me a saint. I’ll listen no more to your words of complaint. You’ve given me nothing but the sweetest lies. Now hold your tongue and feed your eyes.” “I’d have given you the stars and the planets too But what good would these things do you? Bow the heart, if not the knee Or never again this world you’ll see.” “Oh, please let not your heart be cold. This man is dearer to me, then gold.” “Oh my dear, you must be blind. He’s a gutless ape with a worthless mind.” “You had your way too long with me. Now it’s me who’ll determine how things shall be. Try to escape,” he cussed and cursed, “You’ll have to try to get past me first.” “I dare not let your passion rule. You think my heart, the heart of a fool. And you sir, you cannot deny You made a monkey of me, what and for why?” “I’ll have no more of this insulting chat. The devil can have you, I’ll see to that. Look sharp or step aside, Or in the cradle you’ll wish you died.” The gun went boom and the shot rang clear First bullet grazed his ear Second ball went right straight in And he bent in the middle like a twisted pin He crawled to the corner and he lowered his head He gripped the chair and he grabbed the bed It would take more than needle and thread Bleeding from the mouth, he’s as good as dead “You shot my husband down, you fiend.” “Husband, what husband, what the hell do you mean? He was a man of strife, a man of sin. I cut him down and I’ll throw him to the wind.” “Hear this,” she said, with angry breath “You too shall meet the lord of death. It was I who brought your soul to life.” And she raised her robe and she drew out a knife His face was hard and caked with sweat His arms ached and his hands were wet “You’re a murderous queen and a bloody wife. If you don’t mind, I’ll have the knife.” “We’re two of a kind and our blood runs hot. But we’re no way similar in body and thought. All husbands are good men, as all wives know.” Then she pierced him to the heart and his blood did flow His knees went limp and he reached for the door His doom was sealed, he slid to the floor He whispered in her ear, “This is all your fault. My fighting days have come to a halt.” She touched his lip and kissed his cheek He tried to speak, but his breath was weak “You died for me, now I’ll die for you.” She put the blade to her heart and she ran it through All three lovers together in a heap Thrown into the grave forever to sleep Funeral torches blazed away Through the towns and the villages all night and all day |
@1graber2 , Tin Angel reminds me a bit of Lily, Rosemary, and the Jack of Hearts. But this time no one gets out alive. Tempest is a great album but dark and brutal in places. I've not played it for a few years except for my favourite track Tempest, with the brilliant ending, "The watchman he lay dreaming Of all the things that can be He dreamed the Titanic was sinking Into the deep blue sea" |
@cd318 I hear ya. I latched onto Tempest about 6 months ago, after reminiscing with Bob on his Americana "Triplicate" album. The dark nature, but beautiful brutality of Tempest had me enamored for a good 2 months. But I hear ya, and thats why I only play Tempest once in while these days, when I need to balance the light with the dark, to keep perspective. Next week: Steely Dan lyrics!! |
I have watched my fair share of TV in my life and now I fully embrace this song! Get out there and do it and live life yourself and not through others...get out of the stands passively wasting your life away and get out there on stage and really live! Make your life your performance! Step up to the plate! Take the noose off your ambition! Throw away your television Time to make this clean decision Master waits for it’s collision now It’s a repeat of a story told It’s a repeat and it’s getting old Throw away your television Make a break big intermission Recreate your super vision now It’s a repeat of a story told It’s a repeat and it’s getting old Renegades with fancy gauges Slay the plague for it’s contagious Pull the plug and take the stages Throw away your television now Oh oh oh Throw away your television Take the noose off your ambition Reinvent your intuition now It’s a repeat of a story told It’s a repeat and it’s getting old |
@roxy54 I just googled it, Red Hot Chilli Peppers - Throw Away Your Television - couldn’t agree with it more. I just use the TV for the occasional old movie (Last Picture Show, Kane, Vertigo, or YouTube / classic Doctor Who etc). Music is way less constrictive, and thank God I’ve still got friends worth talking to. My dad seems to watch TV all day, but then he is in his 80's! https://youtu.be/voIjWQjbDmg |
"Well I stared out of my windshield into the rains so light I put on my dims... somebody flashed their brights, and I reached over turned the radio down low your sister cried all the way home lightening crashed and the road shown like a mirror a dog came out of the ditch and then he disappeared and I remember a conversation we had on the phone and your sister cried all the way home" Mary Gauthier "Your Sister Cried" |
"Bums drink and wonder round tramps drink and wonder too well the hobo was a pioneer who preferred to work for food he knew how our nation was doin’ by the length of a sidewalk cigarette butt born with an aching wanderlust embedded within his gut hounded and beat and broke and chased out of every town with his walking stick severed with his coffee can crown the last, of the hobo kings.’ THE GREAT MARY GAUTHIER! "The Last of the Hobo Kings" Now tell me there is no good music made today..... |
James Taylor – Fire And Rain Just yesterday morning they let me know you were gone Susanne the plans they made put an end to you I walked out this morning and I wrote down this song I just can't remember who to send it to I've seen fire and I've seen rain I've seen sunny days that I thought would never end I've seen lonely times when I could not find a friend But I always thought that I'd see you again Won't you look down upon me, Jesus You've got to help me make a stand You've just got to see me through another day My body's aching and my time is at hand And I won't make it any other way Oh, I've seen fire and I've seen rain I've seen sunny days that I thought would never end I've seen lonely times when I could not find a friend But I always thought that I'd see you again Been walking my mind to an easy time my back turned towards the sun Lord knows when the cold wind blows it'll turn your head around Well, there's hours of time on the telephone line to talk about things To come Sweet dreams and flying machines in pieces on the ground Oh, I've seen fire and I've seen rain I've seen sunny days that I thought would never end I've seen lonely times when I could not find a friend But I always thought that I'd see you, baby, one more time again, now Thought I'd see you one more time again There's just a few things coming my way this time around, now Thought I'd see you, thought I'd see you fire and rain, now |
