Song Lyrics

[therock67]

What are your favourite song lyrics? Not necessarily the whole song - can be a couple of cracking lines are whatever.


Two Gallants - My Madonna

And I curse my own comfort for the deaf and the blind,
'cause it's dark as a dungeon way down in my mind.
And I wake on the floor with my country at war,
and I wish I could care but my liver's too sore.
And if liquor's a lover, you know I'm a whore,
if liquor's a lover, you know I'm a whore.

[iamthelaw]

Don't look down - The Divine Comedy

(The song is about a couple on a Ferris wheel; I've skipped the middle verses as they don't really advance the action)

Birds and planes go
Through the rainbow
Every day though
You simply refuse
Old-fashioned Ferris Wheels
Are no big deal
They're just big wheels with chairs
So don't be scared
Just set yourself free ...

And without warning when we're almost at the top
The wheel that turns us all comes to a sudden stop.
The wind that's blown us dies a quick and painless death
The air gets clammy and we hold each other's breath
We get the feeling that we're not alone in this
And then a God who really ought not to exist
Sticks out a great big hand
And grabs me by the wrist
And asks me "why?" and I say
"Well God, it's like this
It may be arrogance
Or just appalling taste
But I'd rather use my pain than let it all go to waste
On some old god who tells me what I want to hear
As if I cannot tell obedience from fear
I want to take my pleasures where and how I will,
Be they disgraceful or distasteful or distilled
And to be frank I find that life has more appeal
Without a driver who's asleep behind the wheel"

Then God decides that he has taken quite enough
Of all this atheistic tosh I'm spouting off
And so he calls upon his favourite angel choir
To sing of times when men were filled with christian fire
But over-zealous angels flap their wings too fast
And cause the wind to blow and turn the wheel at last
And soon my feet are safely back on solid ground
And then I hear a voice say
"Don't look down".

[iamthelaw]

Jungleland - Bruce Springsteen

Outside the street's on fire in a real death waltz
Between flesh and what's fantasy and the poets down here
Don't write nothing at all, they just stand back and let it all be
And in the quick of the night they reach for their moment
And try to make an honest stand
But they wind up wounded, not even dead
Tonight in Jungleland

[eamo]

iamthelaw said:

Don't look down - The Divine Comedy

(The song is about a couple on a Ferris wheel; I've skipped the middle verses as they don't really advance the action)

Birds and planes go
Through the rainbow
Every day though
You simply refuse
Old-fashioned Ferris Wheels
Are no big deal
They're just big wheels with chairs
So don't be scared
Just set yourself free ...

And without warning when we're almost at the top
The wheel that turns us all comes to a sudden stop.
The wind that's blown us dies a quick and painless death
The air gets clammy and we hold each other's breath
We get the feeling that we're not alone in this
And then a God who really ought not to exist
Sticks out a great big hand
And grabs me by the wrist
And asks me "why?" and I say
"Well God, it's like this
It may be arrogance
Or just appalling taste
But I'd rather use my pain than let it all go to waste
On some old god who tells me what I want to hear
As if I cannot tell obedience from fear
I want to take my pleasures where and how I will,
Be they disgraceful or distasteful or distilled
And to be frank I find that life has more appeal
Without a driver who's asleep behind the wheel"

Then God decides that he has taken quite enough
Of all this atheistic tosh I'm spouting off
And so he calls upon his favourite angel choir
To sing of times when men were filled with christian fire
But over-zealous angels flap their wings too fast
And cause the wind to blow and turn the wheel at last
And soon my feet are safely back on solid ground
And then I hear a voice say
"Don't look down".

Smashing Law. Exalt. I will post my choice presently but a mention as well for Ten Seconds to Midnight from the same album as above. I think I have explained this before but the songs counts down from ten to one into a drumroll for Tonight We Fly. Rock still no chance of me burning that for you - you were spotted today by the way enjoying lunch in Isaac Butt's..

[eamo]

Long Before - The Palace Brothers aka Bonnie 'Prince' Billy

I have emboldened my favourite lines. It is a story of a human being growing up in the American Outback. Incredible stuff

Long before what is black was blackened
O, long before
Blooms of gray made mother lovely
Mother ain't lovely no more
And long before the house was leaning
O, long before
The corridor of box woods lined the entrance
Box woods ain't there no more
Dad burned the box woods
And like to burned the house
But one came wandering and beat daddy down
O, long before
Long before this road seemed knotted
O, long before
There was but one path dim and cozy
Path don't seem to be no more
And long before you were my sister
O, long before
Gals in town they called me mister
Ain't no girl call on me no more
I cut the card loosewise
Were you not my only dream?
Give the hero his house
He and ma live in sin
O, long before
And long before you were an artwork
O, long before
Mama suckled you on her holy breast
Mama's breast ain't holy no more
Long before we shared a shortsheet
O, long before
I stood above you as you slept
I don't stand above no more
We won little mobile
And won filthy path
And will drift along tongueless unhappiness at last
Will last
And last
Till we see fit to stand before
That virgin cunt, that sainted whore
Whose piss we have slept under
Whose smell we have bore
Is her heelprint that marks our faces?
O, long before

[iamthelaw]

eamo said:

a mention as well for Ten Seconds to Midnight from the same album as above. I think I have explained this before but the songs counts down from ten to one

Yeah, my favourite line is the one

"I think there-four (sic) I am/
A lucky man"

[therock67]

eamo said:

Rock still no chance of me burning that for you - you were spotted today by the way enjoying lunch in Isaac Butt's..

Did you spot another forum member in my company? 8 clicks on my loyalty card today, ridiculous. Every second meal is free in that place.

[therock67]

iamthelaw said:

eamo said:

a mention as well for Ten Seconds to Midnight from the same album as above. I think I have explained this before but the songs counts down from ten to one

Yeah, my favourite line is the one

"I think there-four (sic) I am/
A lucky man"

Give us the whole lot - nobody said it had to be one each. Two Gallants verse just popped into my head cause I've been singing it in my head all morning.

[eamo]

admin said:

eamo said:

Rock still no chance of me burning that for you - you were spotted today by the way enjoying lunch in Isaac Butt's..

Did you spot another forum member in my company? 8 clicks on my loyalty card today, ridiculous. Every second meal is free in that place.

A fellow forum member spotted you and I caught a glimpse of you when I was leaving so I didnt see the person with you. I havent bothered getting the card punched because I dont go there that often. I may change my mind now though

[iamthelaw]

Ten,
Apes turn into men,
And grapes turn into wine;
How we made it to nine I'll never know...
Eight. Man looks for a mate,
But fate plays cruel tricks
And seven turns to six.
Still he's alone...
Along comes number five:
Eureka, I'm alive!
I think there-four I am
A lucky man...
Three, From this balcony
The two of us can see
The house where we first met
One
wet
Sunday...

[iamthelaw]

Apologies for hogging the thread, but:

Highway 61 Revisited - Bob Dylan

God said to Abr'am, "Kill me a son"
Abe said, "Man you must be putting me on"
God said, "No", Abe said "What?"
God said, "You can do what you want Abe, but
The next time you see me coming you better run"
Abe said "Where do you want this killing done?"
God said "Out on Highway 61"

[therock67]

To continue the Dylan theme:

Seven Curses

Old Reilly stole a stallion
But they caught him and they brought him back
And they laid him down on the jailhouse ground
With an iron chain around his neck.

Old Reilly's daughter got a message
That her father was goin' to hang.
She rode by night and came by morning
With gold and silver in her hand.

When the judge he saw Reilly's daughter
His old eyes deepened in his head,
Sayin', "Gold will never free your father,
The price, my dear, is you instead."

"Oh I'm as good as dead," cried Reilly,
"It's only you that he does crave
And my skin will surely crawl if he touches you at all.
Get on your horse and ride away."

"Oh father you will surely die
If I don't take the chance to try
And pay the price and not take your advice.
For that reason I will have to stay."

The gallows shadows shook the evening,
In the night a hound dog bayed,
In the night the grounds were groanin',
In the night the price was paid.

The next mornin' she had awoken
To know that the judge had never spoken.
She saw that hangin' branch a-bendin',
She saw her father's body broken.

These be seven curses on a judge so cruel:
That one doctor will not save him,
That two healers will not heal him,
That three eyes will not see him.

That four ears will not hear him,
That five walls will not hide him,
That six diggers will not bury him
And that seven deaths shall never kill him.

[eamo]

Apologies for length of this post but I had to include a Smiths/Morrissey section. Paint a Vulgar Picture is about the shit way record companies treat musicians

Panic:

Panic on the streets of London
Panic on the streets of Birmingham
I wonder to myself
Could life ever be sane again ?
The Leeds side-streets that you slip down
I wonder to myself
Hopes may rise on the Grasmere
But Honey Pie, you're not safe here
So you run down
To the safety of the town
But there's Panic on the streets of Carlisle
Dublin, Dundee, Humberside
I wonder to myself

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

On the Leeds side-streets that you slip down
Provincial towns you jog 'round
Hang the DJ, Hang the DJ, Hang the DJ
Hang the DJ, Hang the DJ, Hang the DJ
HANG THE DJ, HANG THE DJ, HANG THE DJ
HANG THE DJ, HANG THE DJ
HANG THE DJ, HANG THE DJ
Hang the DJ, Hang the DJ, Hang the DJ
HANG THE DJ, HANG THE DJ
HANG THE DJ, HANG THE DJ
Hang the DJ, Hang the DJ, Hang the DJ
HANG THE DJ, HANG THE DJ
HANG THE DJ, HANG THE DJ
Hang the DJ, Hang the DJ, Hang the DJ
HANG THE DJ

Speedway:

And when you slam
Down the hammer
Can you see it in your heart ?
All of the rumours
Keeping me grounded
I never said, I never said that they were
Completely unfounded
So when you slam
Down the hammer
Can you see it in your heart ?
Can you delve so low ?
And when you're standing
On my fingers
Can you see it in your heart ? ... ah ...
And when you try
To break my spirit
It won't work
Because there's nothing left to break
Anymore
All of the rumours
Keeping me grounded
I never said, I never said that they were
Completely unfounded
You won't sleep
Until the earth that wants me
Finally has me
Oh you've done it now
You won't rest
Until the hearse that becomes me
Finally takes me
Oh you've done it now
And you won't smile
Until my loving mouth
Is shut good and proper
FOREVER
All of the rumours
Keeping me grounded
I never said, I never said that they were
Completely unfounded
And all those lies
Written lies, twisted lies
Well, they weren't lies
They weren't lies
They weren't lies
I never said
I never said
I could have mentioned your name
I could have dragged you in
Guilt by implication
By association
I've always been true to you
In my own strange way
I've always been true to you
In my own sick way
I'll always stay true to you

Paint a Vulgar Picture

At the record company meeting
On their hands - a dead star
And oh, the plans they weave
And oh, the sickening greed

At the record company party
On their hands - a dead star
The sycophantic slags all say :
I knew him first, and I knew him well

Re-issue ! re-package ! re-package !
Re-evaluate the songs
Double-pack with a photograph
Extra track (and a tacky badge)

A-list, playlist
Please them , please them !
Please them !
(sadly, this was your life)

But you could have said no
If youd wanted to
You could have said no
If youd wanted to

Bpi, mtv, bbc
Please them ! please them !
(sadly this was your life)

But you could have said no
If youd wanted to
You could have walked away
...couldnt you ?

I touched you at the soundcheck
You had no real way of knowing
In my heart I begged take me with you ...
I dont care where youre going...

But to you I was faceless
I was fawning, I was boring
Just a child from those ugly new houses
Who could never begin to know

Who could never really know
Oh ...

Best of ! most of !
Satiate the need
Slip them into different sleeves !
Buy both, and feel deceived

Climber - new entry, re-entry
World tour ! (media whore)
Please the press in belgium !
(this was your life...)

And when it fails to recoup ?
Well, maybe :
You just havent earned it yet, baby

I walked a pace behind you at the soundcheck
Youre just the same as I am
What makes most people feel happy
Leads us headlong into harm

So, in my bedroom in those ugly new houses
I danced my legs down to the knees
But me and my true love
Will never meet again ...

At the record company meeting
On their hands - at last ! - a dead star !
But they can never taint you in my eyes
No, they can never touch you now

No, they cannot hurt you, my darling
They cannot touch you now
But me and my true love
Will never meet again

[iamthelaw]

eamo said:

Apologies for length of this post but I had to include a Smiths/Morrissey section.

(How Soon is Now)

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

[eamo]

iamthelaw said:

eamo said:

Apologies for length of this post but I had to include a Smiths/Morrissey section.

(How Soon is Now)

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

I think that section was voted the greatest lyrics ever in some poll recently..

[iamthelaw]

eamo said:

I think that section was voted the greatest lyrics ever in some poll recently..

I think you're thinking of the VH1 poll in April of 13,000 viewers, where it finished 2nd; top five were as follows:

1. U2 - One. "One life, with each other, sisters, brothers."

2. The Smiths - How Soon is Now? "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."

3. Nirvana - Smells Like Teen Spirit. "I feel stupid and contagious, here we are now, entertain us."

4. Bob Marley - Redemption Song. "Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery, none but ourselves can free our minds, have no fear for atomic energy, 'cause none of them can stop the time."

5. Coldplay - Yellow. "Look at the stars, look how they shine for you."

[goran2001]

'Strange Fruit' by Billie Holiday, best lyrics of all time, no contest.

Southern trees bear a strange fruit,
Blood on the leaves and blood at the root,
Black bodies swinging in the southern breeze,
Strange fruit hanging from the poplar trees.

Pastoral scene of the gallant south,
The bulging eyes and the twisted mouth,
Scent of magnolias, sweet and fresh,
Then the sudden smell of burning flesh.

Here is fruit for the crows to pluck,
For the rain to gather, for the wind to suck,
For the sun to rot, for the trees to drop,
Here is a strange and bitter crop.

Morrissey doesn't, has never and never will come close to lyrics like that.

[iamthelaw]

goran2001 said:

Morrissey doesn't, has never and never will come close to lyrics like that.

The songs are scarcely comparable. Nor do they need to be. As I've just said on another thread, I don't see why we have to put down one side to praise the other.

I think it all fits in with Bandage's "angry & bitter" thread.

[eamo]

goran2001 said:

'Strange Fruit' by Billie Holiday, best lyrics of all time, no contest.

Southern trees bear a strange fruit,
Blood on the leaves and blood at the root,
Black bodies swinging in the southern breeze,
Strange fruit hanging from the poplar trees.

Pastoral scene of the gallant south,
The bulging eyes and the twisted mouth,
Scent of magnolias, sweet and fresh,
Then the sudden smell of burning flesh.

Here is fruit for the crows to pluck,
For the rain to gather, for the wind to suck,
For the sun to rot, for the trees to drop,
Here is a strange and bitter crop.

Morrissey doesn't, has never and never will come close to lyrics like that.

I think you'll find Goran that Billie Holiday didnt write that song. But it is a good call. It is about hanging those accused of crimes or something innit?

Billie had an incredible voice. One reviewer once said that she 'turned average songs into classics because she lended her voice to it'. I have Lady In Satin album - some wonderful moments.

PS You dont have to slag Morrissey to emphasise the quailty lyrics of Strange Fruit

[eamo]

iamthelaw said:

goran2001 said:

Morrissey doesn't, has never and never will come close to lyrics like that.

The songs are scarcely comparable. Nor do they need to be. As I've just said on another thread, I don't see why we have to put down one side to praise the other.

I think it all fits in with Bandage's "angry & bitter" thread.

Exalt again Law. You really are on form today.

[goran2001]

I am chastised! But then again, i kinda don't like Morrissey...some great songs, but i can't get past the voice. Bit like Leonard Cohen really, although i'd rank Cohen as a better songwriter (and among the best). Take 'Hallelujah', though- always an incredible lyric, but it only became a great song when Jeff Buckley sang it. Same with 'Famous Blue Raincoat'- there's a version by Tori Amos which just brings the song alive.
For me, 'Strange Fruit' has it both- a great lyric teamed with an incredible vocal (the Nina Simone version is stunning too). All those Smiths lyrics we had earlier in the thread...great writing, but the vocal just doesn't do it for me. It's too one-note.

[bandage]

Brian Kennedy:- Every Song Is A Cry For Love

Being strong, being tough,
Never tender, always rough,
It was never enough for me,
In the dark of the night,
Only love can make this right,
Singing out,
Every song is a cry for love.

Superb song, superb talent.

[iamthelaw]

goran2001 said:

Bit like Leonard Cohen really, although i'd rank Cohen as a better songwriter (and among the best). Take 'Hallelujah', though- always an incredible lyric, but it only became a great song when Jeff Buckley sang it.

Agreed

goran2001 said:

For me, 'Strange Fruit' has it both- a great lyric teamed with an incredible vocal (the Nina Simone version is stunning too).

Agreed - the Nina Simone version is class

goran2001 said:

Same with 'Famous Blue Raincoat'- there's a version by Tori Amos which just brings the song alive.

Excellent lyric - must get hold of Tori's version

Two good points & a good idea; I'll exalt you for that.

Extract from Famous Blue Raincoat lyrics

"And what can I tell you my brother, my killer
What can I possibly say?
I guess that I miss you, I guess I forgive you
Im glad you stood in my way."

I think it only works with the music though.

[therock67]

I was just about to reply to the same post iamthelaw. I could probably agree on Hallelujah, but with Famous Blue Raincoat - well I don't know the Tori Amos version but I would disagree that it "only became a great song..." - the Cohen version is superb. Not saying a cover version isn't better, but Cohen's version is a great song.

Great shout on Strange Fruit though. I have a Jack L version as well.

[iamthelaw]

admin said:

the Cohen version is superb.

Agree with that too; all I meant to say was that I look forward to hearing the Tori Amos version.

By the way your avatar is hypnotic; have just caught myself watching it half-a-dozen times.