Greg Brown has written some great lyrics. Check out his prose from the song, Whatever it Was, from Slant 6 Mind. Here's a couple of lines from that tune in case you're too lazy to use the link or don't want to read the whole thing:
Like a guy in a bra it's the idea that counts, It's a picture of a picture of a whore holding a picture of a john.
An electronic head and feet of clay, gonna be a lotta roadkill on the Information Highway, Someone stole the video of the everfresh and lovely dawn.
too many "favorites" to list- what lyric that meanders around in my head today may be replaced by another tomorrow. One comes to mind that reminds me of real life: "ain't it funny how two people who suffer together have stronger connections than those who are most content..." (Brownsville Girl; Dylan)
"The secret to walkin' on water is knowin' where da rocks is." --Bootsy Collins
"Hey lady, won't you be my dog And I'll be your tree And you can pee on me!" --George Clinton/Funkadelic
In its entirety: "Johnny's in the basement Mixing up the medicine I'm on the pavement Thinking about the government The man in the trench coat Badge out, laid off Says he's got a bad cough Wants to get it paid off Look out kid It's somethin' you did God knows when But you're doin' it again You better duck down the alley way Lookin' for a new friend The man in the coon-skin cap In the big pen Wants eleven dollar bills You only got ten
Maggie comes fleet foot Face full of black soot Talkin' that the heat put Plants in the bed but The phone's tapped anyway Maggie says that many say They must bust in early May Orders from the D. A. Look out kid Don't matter what you did Walk on your tip toes Don't try "No Doz" Better stay away from those That carry around a fire hose Keep a clean nose Watch the plain clothes You don't need a weather man To know which way the wind blows
Get sick, get well Hang around a ink well Ring bell, hard to tell If anything is goin' to sell Try hard, get barred Get back, write braille Get jailed, jump bail Join the army, if you fail Look out kid You're gonna get hit But users, cheaters Six-time losers Hang around the theaters Girl by the whirlpool Lookin' for a new fool Don't follow leaders Watch the parkin' meters
Ah get born, keep warm Short pants, romance, learn to dance Get dressed, get blessed Try to be a success Please her, please him, buy gifts Don't steal, don't lift Twenty years of schoolin' And they put you on the day shift Look out kid They keep it all hid Better jump down a manhole Light yourself a candle Don't wear sandals Try to avoid the scandals Don't wanna be a bum You better chew gum The pump don't work 'Cause the vandals took the handles" --Bob Dylan, "Subterranean Homesick Blues"
And, in conclusion:
"So if you wanna burn yourself, remember that I love you. If you wanna cut yourself, remember that I love you. If you wanna kill yourself, remember that I love you. Call me up before your dead. We can make some plans instead. Send me an IM. I'll be your friend. . .
. . . They think we're disposable, while both my thumbs opposable, spelled out on a double word and triple letter score and
[we won't stop until somebody calls the cops and even then we'll start again and just pretend that nothing ever happened]
We're just dancing. We're just hugging. Singing, screaming, kissing, tugging on the sleeve of how it used to be" --Kimya Dawson, "Loose Lips"
well its all the lyrics, however I think they are great!
To the town of dreams he has come to make his mark Just a small, small fish in a pond that's full of sharks Well, it's sink or swim and if you wanna grow It's not what you do, it's just who you know So he hangs around in the clubs when the skies grow dark
At a casual glance, well, he looks real sleek Drives a foreign car 'cause that's L.A. chic If you look real close, well, his sneakers leak The L.A. Dreamer
Now he rents a place that is far from Beverly Hills And it's work all day 'cause he has to pay the bills Every night he's out down on Sunset Strip Being seen around all those clubs so hip Then it's up at eight, make it through on those magic pills
At a casual glance, well, he looks real sleek Drives a foreign car 'cause that's L.A. chic If you look real close, well, his sneakers leak The L.A. Dreamer
Standing where he can be seen Stand around for long enough and Soon he's part of the machine Of stars and bars the L.A. dreamer schemes
In a few short weeks he is seen at every place Just by hanging out everybody knows his face Oh, he comes on strong like he's real big deal Buying drinks all around, can't afford no meals Trying oh so hard to get a start in that L.A. race
At a casual glance, well, he looks real sleek Drives a foreign car 'cause that's L.A. chic If you look real close, well, his sneakers leak The L.A. Dreamer
Artist: Charlie Album: Lines Song: L.A. dreamer
only found it on LP and both copys have plenty of rice crispies
For lyrics, mine is bruce springsteen's "the river". There are clever lines throughout the song but this section is my favorite: "Now all them things that seemed so important, Well mister they vanished right into the air. Now I just act like I dont remember, mary acts like she dont care. But I remember us riding in my brothers car Her body tan and wet down at the reservoir. At night on them banks Id lie awake, And pull her close just to feel each breath she'd take. Now those memories come back to haunt me, they haunt me like a curse. Is a dream a lie if it dont come true, Or is it something worse...that sends me Down to the river though I know the river is dry Down to the river, my baby and i Oh down to the river we ride..."
Chocolate on my fingers, icing on my lips Sugar diabetes and blubber on my hips I keep the night light burning in the kitchen baby So I can go downstairs and cruise I got them oreo creme sandwich Chocolate covered creme filled cookie blues
"You walk down Alameda shuffling your deck of trick cards, over everyone. Like some precious, only Son- Face down, bowing to the champion." --Elliott Smith, LP Either/Or
Rainer Maria Rilke was born in Prague and wrote in German. It is indeed a quote from Rilke, you got that part right. One of my favorite writers - his letters are quite beautiful.
I had one that was brought to mind just the other day; a line from an XTC song:
I ask myself should I put my finger to the left, no I ask myself should I put my finger to the right, no I say it really doesn't matter where I put my finger Someone else will come along and move it And it's always been the same It's just a complicated game
03-07-04: Woodman From Ray Wylie Hubbard's The Messenger: "Our fears are like dragons guarding our most precious treasures." (And he's quoting the French poet Relke)
Also, from Sheryl Crow, "If you'd like to reach me, leave me alone"
"Who the hell you calling crazy? You wouldn't know what crazy was if Charles Manson was eating Fruit Loops on your front porch..." from Suicidal Tendencies' song 'You Can't Bring Me Down' off of their 'Lights...Camera...Revolution!' album
Sit by my side, come as close as the air, Share in a memory of gray; And wander in my words, dream about the pictures That I play of changes.
Green leaves of summer turn red in the fall To brown and to yellow they fade. And then they have to die, trapped within the circle time parade of changes.
Scenes of my young years were warm in my mind, Visions of shadows that shine. 'Til one day I returned and found they were the Victims of the vines of changes.
The world's spinning madly, it drifts in the dark Swings through a hollow of haze, A race around the stars, a journey through The universe ablaze with changes.
Moments of magic will glow in the night All fears of the forest are gone But when the morning breaks they're swept away by Golden drops of dawn, of changes.
Passions will part to a strange melody. As fires will sometimes burn cold. Like petals in the wind, we're puppets to the silver strings of souls, of changes.
Your tears will be trembling, now we're somewhere else, One last cup of wine we will pour And I'll kiss you one more time, and leave you on the rolling river shores of changes.
The town pumps on the edge of town The whores call his name when he comes around three sheets to the wind like a millionaire Crawls home on his hands and knees To three hungry mouths to feed Their bellies as empty as the Frigidaire
The continents and the seven oceans bound the range of my emotions My time is long but not forever My moods are the changing wind and weather -
From "Higherbound"
I'm easy to love but I'm harder to hold
From "Lonesome and a Long, Long Way From Home"
There is light at the end of the road I am told, peace in the valley and a city of gold I must be facing backwards because all I can see is a storm-black rain cloud falling on me
From "The Pan Within"
Put your face to my window, breathe a night full of treasure The wind is delicious, sweet and wild with the promise of pleasure The stars are alive and nights like these were born to be sanctified by you and me, lovers, thieves, fools and pretenders
Saki70, "Signs" by 5 Man Electric Band, Great tune!
"Said hey there Mister can't you read, you got to have a shirt and tie to get a seat. (I think the rest goes) , " You can't eat no you can't sleep , you aint supposed to be. And the sign said got to have a membership card to get inside".
Ten hundred books could I write you about her Cause I felt if I could know her I would know all women And they've not been any too well known For brains and planning and organized thinking But I'm sure the women are equal And they may be ahead of the men
Yet I wouldn't spread such a rumor around Cause one organizes the other And sometimes the most lost and wasted Attract the most balanced and sane And the wild and the reckless take up With the clocked and the timed And the mixture is all of us And we're still mixing
But never never never Never could have it been done If the women hadn't entered into the deal Like she came along to me
And all creeds and kinds and colors Of us are blending Till I suppose ten million years from now We'll all be just alike Same color, same size, working together And maybe we'll have all of the fascists Out of the way by then Maybe so
But never never never Never could have it been done If the women hadn't entered into the deal Like she came along to me
"the sign said HELP WANTED - NO LONG HAIRS NEED APPLY . So I tucked my hair up under my hat and went in to ask him why . He said you look like a fine upstanding young man , I think you'll do ! So I took off my hat and said imagine that , me working for you !"
" Got sick of my job, sick of my wife, sick of my future and sick of my life. Jumped in the car and hit the gas , told everybody they can kiss my ___"
I only quoted a short bit from the following song (actually, largely spoken word) in a previous contribution to this thread, but given this recent Glen Frey lyric (the subject is identical); in case you've never heard it, Ozzy, thought you may enjoy the entire verse, from Tom Waits...Frank's Wild Years:
Tom gives a real deadpan delivery on this song:
Frank settled down in the Valley, and he hung his wild years on a nail that he drove through his wife's forehead.
He sold used office furniture out there on San Fernando Road and assumed a $30,000 loan at 15 1/4% and put a down payment on a little two bedroom place.
His wife was a spent piece of used jet trash Made good bloody-marys, kept her mouth shut most of the time, had a little Chihuahua named Carlos that had some kind of skin disease and was totally blind.
They had a thoroughly modern kitchen; self-cleaning oven (the whole bit) Frank drove a little sedan. They were so happy.
One night Frank was on his way home from work, stopped at the liquor store, picked up a couple of Mickey's Big MouthÂ’s. Drank 'em in the car on his way to the Shell station; he got a gallon of gas in a can.
Drove home, doused everything in the house, torched it. Parked across the street laughing, watching it burn, all Halloween orange and chimney red.
Frank put on a top forty station, got on the Hollywood Freeway headed North.
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