Oh I don't really have anything against them, but in the sea of interesting and memorable lyrics, I wouldn't include any of theirs among my favorites, or ones that I consider special, and I noticed that you listed 2 of their songs. We're all touched by different things.
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"You are my home wherever you go. Anywhere you stand, is my piece of land. You are my home. Your six one frame. My address is your name. High ceilings grand halls, walls are just walls, and you are my home. You are my home wherever you go. Anywhere you stand, is my piece of land. You are my home. The bering sea, the barrier reef, anywhere you breathe, is where I believe, I'm meant to be. You are my home wherever you go. Anywhere you stand, is my piece of land. You are my home." Amanda Shires "You Are My Home" |
Favourite Clash lyric - great reminder there’s always worse places than where you might be now. Straight to Hell If you can play on the fiddle How’s about a British jig and reel? Speaking King’s English in quotation As railhead towns feel the steel mills rust Water froze In the generation Clear as winter ice This is your paradise There ain’t no need for ya There ain’t no need for ya Go straight to hell, boys, go straight to hell, boys Wanna join in a chorus Of the Amerasian blues? When it’s Christmas out in Ho Chi Minh City Kiddie say papa papa papa papa pappa-san, take me home See me got Photo photo photograph of you and mamma mamma mamma-san Of you and mamma mamma mamma-san Let me tell you ’bout your blood, bamboo kid It ain’t Coca-Cola, it’s rice Straight to hell Go straight to hell boys Go straight to hell Go straight to hell boys Oh Papa-san Please take me home Oh Papa-san Everybody, they wanna go home So Mamma-san says You want to play mind-crazed banjo On the druggy-drag ragtime U.S.A.? In Parkland International Ha, junkie-dom U.S.A Where pro-caine proves the purest rock man groove And rat poison The volatile Molotov says Straight to hell Can you really cough it up loud and strong? The immigrants, they wanna sing all night long It could be anywhere Most likely could be any frontier any hemisphere In no-man’s-land There ain’t no asylum here King Solomon he never lived ’round here Straight to hell, boys Go straight to hell, boys Go straight to hell, boys Go straight to hell, boys Oh, papa-san, please take me home |
Lyrics from Star Star that might have got buried in the mix, Yeah, Ali McGraw got mad with you For givin' head to Steve McQueen Yeah, you and me we made a pretty pair Fallin' through the silver screen Honey, I'm open to anythin' I don't know where to draw the line Yeah, I'm makin' bets that you gonna get John Wayne before he dies |
"See those fault lines laid out like landmines It's hard to relax A promise broken, the ground breaks open Love falls through the cracks And I have a few of my own I got a few of my own fault lines Running under my life Running under my life I'm alone here, I play the odds, dear I go where I please Down below, the man I know Might not be me And I got a few of my own I got a few of my own fault lines Running under my life Running under my life On the high-wire, above the wildfire An old acrobat On faulty cable, still he's able Not to fall flat And I got a few of my own I got a few of my own fault lines Running under my life Running under my life" Tom Petty "Fault Lines" |
Stones’ All the Way Down (Excerpt) She went all the way All the way down She went all the way, all the way She showed me love a hundred ways How she pimped and how she paid All the daughters, all the sons All were welcome, all would come We went all the way All the way down We went all the way, all the way I was King, Mr. Cool Just a snobby little fool (Like kids are now.) I dreamed of reaching greater heights I raved about it every night Talk is cheap |
My favourite sequence from Pepper. "People running round it's five o'clock Everywhere in town is getting dark Everyone you see is full of life It's time for tea and meet the wife Somebody needs to know the time, glad that I'm here Watching the skirts you start to flirt now you're in gear Go to a show you hope she goes I've got nothing to say but it's OK" Well, it is June 1st. |
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,"The End," Earl Grant (1958) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rmeeNYhNYQw Regards, -- Al |
How about a couple of Petula Clark lyrics to brighten up this Sunday evening? This first one featuring these beautiful lines written by none less than Charlie Chaplin himself. "Love, this is my song Here is a song, a serenade to you The world cannot be wrong If in this world there’s you" and this second one from Who Am I is somewhat atypical of her usual style but no less charming for that. "The buildings reach up to the sky. The traffic thunders on the busy street. The pavement slips beneath my feet. I walk alone and wonder who am I? I close my eyes and I can fly. And I escape from all this worldly strife, restricted by routine of life, but still I can’t discover who am I." |
“Happened back in the bayou many years ago Satan came to take him and he did it real slow Well, they rushed him back to see the doctor The doctor just shook his head Twenty years of rotgut whiskey Done killed this poor man dead He drank ole poison whiskey 'Til it killed him dead” “Poison Whisky” Lynyrd Skynyrd |
Feels like it's time for a couple of deep lines from Dylan. The first from Subterranean Homesick Blues, "Don't follow leaders, watch the parkin' meters" and a tricky one from It's Alright, Ma "Proves to warn that he not busy being born Is busy dying" The following lyric from Blonde on Blonde eventually lead me into reading the Steinbeck novel. "With your sheet-metal memory of Cannery Row, And your magazine-husband who one day just had to go," Unfortunately, great book that it is, my memory of it is not 'sheet metal'. Far from it. Maybe time to revisit it this summer. |
" This shirt is old and faded all the color's washed away I've had it now for more damn years that I can count anyway I wear it beneath my jacket with the collar turned up high so old I should replace it but I'm not about to try This shirt's got silver buttons and a place upon the sleeve where I use to set my heart up right there where anyone could see this shirt is the one I wore to every boring high school dance where the boys ignored the girls and we all pretended to like the band This shirt was a pillow for my head on a train through Italy this shirt was a blanket beneath my love we made in Argeles this shirt was lost for three whole days in a town near Buffalo till I found the locker key in a downtown Trailways bus depot This shirt was the one I lent you and when you gave it back it had a rip inside the sleeve where you rolled your cigarettes It was the place I put my heart now look where you put a tear I forgave your thoughtlessness but not the boy who put it there This shirt was the place your cat decided to give birth to five and we stayed up all night watching and we wept when the last one died this shirt is just an old faded piece of cotton shining like the memories inside those silver buttons And this shirt is a grand old relic with a grand old history I wear it now for Sunday chores cleaning house and raking leaves I wear it beneath my jacket with the collar turned up high so old I should replace it but I'm not about to try" Mary Chapin Carpenter "This Shirt" |
Too many masters to mention, Dylan, Waits, Cohen, Taupin Knopfler, Simon, Lennon, Springsteen... Roger Waters here... DSOTM And all that is now And all that is gone And all that's to come And everything under The sun is in tune But the sun is eclipsed By the moon” WISH YOU WERE HERE Can you tell a green field from a cold steel rail, A smile from a veil, Do you think you can tell. Did they get you to trade your heroes for ghosts... “ We’re just two lost souls living in a fish bowl year after year” By the way which one’s Pink” THE WALL Hush now baby, baby, don't you cry. Mama's gonna make all your nightmares come true. Mama's gonna put all her fears into you. Mama's gonna keep you right here under her wing. She won't let you fly, but she might let you sing. Mama's gonna keep baby cozy and warm. Ooh baby, ooh baby, ooh baby, Of course mama's gonna help build the wall” I've got wild staring eyes And I've got a strong urge to fly But I got nowhere to fly to Ooh, babe when I pick up the phonethere's still nobody home” All alone, or in two's The ones who really love you Walk up and down outside the wall Some hand in hand And some gathered together in bands The bleeding hearts and the artists Make their standAnd when they've given you their all Some stagger and fall, after all it's not easy Banging your heart against some mad bugger's wall” THE FINAL CUT And as the windshield melts My tears evaporate Leaving only charcoal to defend. Finally I understand the feelings of the few. Ashes and diamonds Foe and friend We were all equal in the end“ AMUSED TO DEATH Ooh western woman Ooh western girl And the children of Melrose Strut their stuffIs absolute zero cold enough And out in the valley warm and clean The little ones sit by their TV screens No thoughts to thinkNo tears to cry All sucked dry Down to the very last breath Bartender what is wrong with me Why am I so out of breath The captain said excuse me ma'am This species has amused itself to death Amused itself to death We watched the tragedy unfold We did as we were told We bought and sold It was the greatest show on earth But then it was over We ohhed and aahed We drove our racing carsWe ate our last few jars of caviar And somewhere out there in the stars A keen-eyed look-out Spied a flickering light Our last hurrah And when they found our shadows Grouped around the TV sets They ran down every leadThey repeated every test They checked out all the data on their lists And then the alien anthropologists Admitted they were still perplexedBut on eliminating every other reason For our sad demise They logged the only explanation left This species has amused itself to deathNo tears to cry no feelings left This species has amused itself to death |
@tostadosunidos, thanks for the reminder of why Dylan is the most revolutionary lyricist in Pop music history. "A Hard Rain's A Gonna Fall" was recorded about a year before The Beatles recorded their original boy/girl love songs like "I Wanna Hold Your Hand" and "She Loves You". It took Lennon a couple of years to come to terms with what Bob was doing, and it completely changed his (and many others') songwriting (for better or worse). |
Far from my favourite Eagles song but great lyrics nevertheless. Well worth a another mention. Already Gone Well, I heard some people talkin' just the other day And they said you were gonna put me on a shelf But let me tell you I got some news for you And you'll soon find out it's true And then you'll have to eat your lunch all by yourself' Cause I'm already gone And I'm feelin' strong I will sing this vict'ry song Woo hoo hoo, my my, woo hoo hoo The letter that you wrote me made me stop and wonder why But I guess you felt like you had to set things right Just remember this, my girl, when you look up in the sky You can see the stars and still not see the light (that's right) And I'm already gone And I'm feelin' strong I will sing this vict'ry song Woo hoo hoo, my my, woo hoo hoo Well, I know it wasn't you who held me down Heaven knows it wasn't you who set me free So often times it happens that we live our lives in chains And we never even know we have the key But me, I'm already gone And I'm feelin' strong I will sing this vict'ry song' Cause I'm already gone Yes, I'm already gone And I'm feelin' strong I will sing this vict'ry song 'Cause I'm already gone (repeat) 1994 Live in New York https://youtu.be/1XfiS3jX-VE |
"Well, I came upon a child of God He was walking along the road And I asked him, "tell me, where are you going?” This he told me Said, "I’m going down to Yasgur’s Farm Gonna join in a rock and roll band Got to get back to the land And set my soul free” We are stardust, we are golden And we’ve got to get ourselves Back to the garden" Crosby, Stills & Nash - "Woodstock" |
A Hard Rain's a Gonna Fall Bob Dylan Oh, where have you been, my blue-eyed son?Oh, where have you been, my darling young one? I've stumbled on the side of twelve misty mountains I've walked and I've crawled on six crooked highways I've stepped in the middle of seven sad forests I've been out in front of a dozen dead oceans I've been ten thousand miles in the mouth of a graveyard And it's a hard, and it's a hard, it's a hard, and it's a hard And it's a hard rain's a-gonna fall Oh, what did you see, my blue-eyed son?Oh, what did you see, my darling young one? I saw a newborn baby with wild wolves all around it I saw a highway of diamonds with nobody on it I saw a black branch with blood that kept drippin' I saw a room full of men with their hammers a-bleedin' I saw a white ladder all covered with water I saw ten thousand talkers whose tongues were all broken I saw guns and sharp swords in the hands of young children And it's a hard, and it's a hard, it's a hard, it's a hard And it's a hard rain's a-gonna fall And what did you hear, my blue-eyed son?And what did you hear, my darling young one? I heard the sound of a thunder, it roared out a warnin' Heard the roar of a wave that could drown the whole world Heard one person starve, I heard many people laughin' Heard the song of a poet who died in the gutter Heard the sound of a clown who cried in the alley And it's a hard, and it's a hard, it's a hard, it's a hard And it's a hard rain's a-gonna fall Oh, who did you meet, my blue-eyed son?Who did you meet, my darling young one? I met a young child beside a dead pony I met a white man who walked a black dog I met a young woman whose body was burning I met a young girl, she gave me a rainbow I met one man who was wounded in love I met another man who was wounded with hatred And it's a hard, it's a hard, it's a hard, it's a hard It's a hard rain's a-gonna fall Oh, what'll you do now, my blue-eyed son?Oh, what'll you do now, my darling young one? I'm a-goin' back out 'fore the rain starts a-fallin' I'll walk to the depths of the deepest black forest Where the people are many and their hands are all empty Where the pellets of poison are flooding their waters Where the home in the valley meets the damp dirty prison Where the executioner's face is always well-hidden Where hunger is ugly, where souls are forgotten Where black is the color, where none is the number And I'll tell it and think it and speak it and breathe it And reflect it from the mountain so all souls can see it Then I'll stand on the ocean until I start sinkin' But I'll know my song well before I start singin' And it's a hard, it's a hard, it's a hard, it's a hard It's a hard rain's a-gonna fall |
"Damn the lump in my throat damn the hole in my coat damn the rain that just won't quit damn the sorry waste of it Damn the truth, damn the lies Damn the look behind your eyes Damn the day, damn the night Goddamn the losing light There ain't no boat, there ain't no train To take us back, the way we came Ain't no shelter from this hard rain The cure for the pain is the pain The cure for the pain is the pain It's not like we think it's gonna be Not like the movies that you see Ain't no soaring violins Just machines an medicines So bless these pills bless these sheets Bless the food you can't eat Bless the damned who walk these halls And God have mercy on us all There ain't no drug, there ain't no cure To make it like it was before Ain't no shelter from this hard rain The cure for the pain is the pain The cure for the pain is the pain" Gretchen Peters "The Cure for the Pain" |
Love Is Strange "Love - love is strange Lot of people take it for a game Once you get it - you're in an awful fix After you've had it - you never want to quit Many people don't understand, no no They think lovin', yeah yeah - is money in the hand Your sweet lovin' - is better than a kiss, yeah yeah When you leave me - sweet kisses I miss" As for Buddy Holly's (overdub) version here - https://youtu.be/6Nwr4nh2oOE - all I want to say is that so, so beautiful this record is. |
Can't think of the best Scott Walker lyric but this is one I never tire of. Walker did a lot to popularise Brel, rightly so. "If I became deaf, dumb and blind Because I pitied all mankind And broke my heart to make things right I know that every single night When my angelic work was through The angels and the Devil too Would sing my childhood song to me About the time they called me "Jacky" If I could be for only an hour If I could be for an hour every day If I could be for just one little hour Cute in a stupid ass way" |
Some great lines stay in the memory from the Sex Pistols ’The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle’, but the best might be the intro, "People said we couldn’t play They called us foul-mouthed yobs But the only notes that really count Are the ones that come in wads" Another example of a great song coming at a bad time for the band. The outro still kicks hard 40 years later, "Elvis Presley died in 1959 Chuck Berry you’re a big ugly fucker (?) Ian Dury Cockney Fraud Mick Jagger white nigga Bob Dylan got a parking ticket stuck to his arsehole David Bowie you are a bloody cunt Rod Stewart‘s got a luggage label tied to his tonsils Elton John hair transplant Sid Vicious Rock and Roll Cliché Paul Cook bare bones Johnny Rotten he’s got his knickers knotted (?) Rock and roll swindle Swindle It’s a swindle!" https://youtu.be/FfFbcbGaTMY |
"They called me up in Tennessee They said "Tammy, stand by the JAMs" But if you don’t like what they’re going to do, You better not stop them ’cause they’re coming through (bring the beat back) (Hey hey) All bound for Mu Mu Land (justified!) (Hey hey) All bound for Mu Mu Land (justified!) Mu Mu Land Mu Mu Land All bound for Mu Mu Land They’re Justified, and they’re Ancient, And they drive an ice cream van. (just roll it from the top) They’re Justified and they’re Ancient, With still no master plan." The trip of a lifetime for Tammy Wynette who later said, "I really don’t know why they (KLF) chose me. I was apprehensive at first, but I’m really excited with the way it’s all turned out", Wynette said. "Mu Mu Land looks a lot more interesting than Tennessee.... But I wouldn’t want to live there." |
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Jim Morrison must have been reading Joseph Campbell when he wrote this line. It resonates increasingly with me as the years pass by. "Trade in your hours for a handful of dimes" I don't exactly hate my job, well only sometimes, but still can't help feel there must be better ways of getting money than working with the public. https://www.songfacts.com/facts/the-doors/five-to-one |
Shane McGowan is certainly one candidate for the greatest lyricist the UK has produced, but another songwriter, his one-time friend Elvis Costello (also of Irish descent like Morrissey too), has probably has put down more clever couplets and phrases than anyone. Here's just a of the few memorable ones. 'Nice girls not one with a defect Cellophane shrink-wrapped, so correct Red dogs under illegal legs She looks so good that he gets down and begs' 'She's been a bad girl. She's like a chemical. Though you try to stop it, she's like a narcotic. You wanna torture her. You wanna talk to her. All the things you bought for her, putting up your temp'rature.' 'You either shut up or get cut up; they don't wanna hear about it. It's only inches on the reel-to-reel. And the radio is in the hands of such a lot of fools tryin' to anaesthetise the way that you feel' 'And it's the damage that we do And never know It's the words that we don't say That scare me so Somehow I found myself down at the dockside Thinking of the old days of Liverpool and Rotherhide The transparent people who live on the other side Living a life that is almost like suicide' 'Your body speaks much louder than your voice You let it do the talking so I don't have any choice' 'But if your patience is exhausted and you still cannot decide You're sitting in the garage contemplating suicide And you have no motivation you can't even catch your breath All of this acceleration is driving you to death' 'When I said that I was lying I might have been lying Never let me hear you say you're not trying' 'So in this almost empty gin palace Through a two-way looking glass You see your Alice' 'There's a tuppeny hapenny millionaire Looking for a fourpenny one With a tight grip on the short hairs Of the public imagination' 'They talked to the sister, the father and the mother With a microphone in one hand and a chequebook in the other' 'I saw a newspaper picture from the political campaign A woman was kissing a child, who was obviously in pain She spills with compassion, as that young child's face in her hands she grips Can you imagine all that greed and avarice coming down on that child's lips?' 'Two newspaper editors like playground sneaks Running the book on which of them is going to last the week One of them calls to me And he says, "I know you" "You gave me this tattoo back in '82" "You were a spoilt child then with a record to plug" "And I was a shaven headed seaside thug" "Things haven't really changed that much" "One of us is still getting paid too much"' |
"The Mona Lisa’s sister doesn’t smile she tried to pose, but only for a while Leonardo sent her home since then she has lived alone with her few belongings and a copy of a painting of herself unhappy she is going to burn it when she’s ready Chorus: Get started...Start a fire Get started...Start a fire Marylin was lying all alone with an empty bottle by the phone Kennedy was not around She was cold when she was found but she’d gone were the goddesses are sleeping where the molten tougues of flames are weeping or when the angels hearts are beating chorus Joan of Arc was burning at the stake somebody had made a big mistake She lit a cigarette in an airport where you get your fingers taken off for smoking meanwhile up the road a factory is choking the one’s who killed her work there, I’m not joking chorus...……… Graham Parker "Get Started, Start a Fire" |
There is just too many to list, haha! I bet you wouldn't recognize some of the more obscure bands I listen to... I was even surprised when I found them here: https://musiety.com
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