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Beechwoods
09-01-2009, 13:17
I thought it would be nice to share some of our favourite lyrics, and recommendations of good records that show off the lyricists art. I'll add a few of my own later. Feel free to quote as you like, be selective though - no need for all seven verses of Stairway to Heaven!

All lyrics remain copyright of their respective authors. Please credit the lyricist if it's not the same as the artist - these guys deserve it afterall!

Filterlab
09-01-2009, 14:11
I love this verse from 'Can You Forgive Her?' by my old mates the Pet Shop Boys. I believe this is the only song ever released with the words "cricket pavilion" in the lyrics. :)


Remember when you were more easily led
Behind the cricket pavilion and the bicycle shed
Trembling as your dreams came true
You looked right into those blue eyes and knew
Lyrics written by Tennant and Lowe

Beechwoods
09-01-2009, 14:39
All this talk of cricket pavillions made me think of Marillion's 'Garden Party' - cricket... cucumber sandwiches... well that was how my mind worked :)

I love Fish's early lyrics, and this is a classic - I love the thought of 'edgy eggs and queuing cumbers' :lol:


Garden party held today
Invites call the debs to play
Social climbers polish ladders
Wayward sons again have fathers

Edgy eggs and queuing cumbers
Rudely wakened from their slumbers
Time has come again for slaughter
O on the lawns by still Cam waters

muffinman
09-01-2009, 15:25
My favourite line has to be taken from Pink floyds worst albumTM
this is taken from the gunners dream


A place to stay, enough to eat.
somewhere old heroes shuffle safely down the street.
where you can speak outloud about your doubts and fears
and whats more,noone ever dissapears,
you never hear their standard issues kicking in your door.
you can relax on both sides of the tracks and maniacs
don't blow holes in bandsmen by remote controls
and everyone has recourse to the law
and noone kills the children anymore

R.Waters

Beechwoods
09-01-2009, 15:43
Sends tingles up my spine that song. Waters' delivery is fantastically bitter, and angry. That album really came from the heart. The fact that the lyrics were rooted in the real world rather than the slightly fantastic world of The Wall, it made them all the more poignant. His lyrics since haven't matched up. The title song also has it's powerful moments. This one always got me...


Thought I oughta bare my naked feelings,
Thought I oughta tear the curtain down.
I held the blade in trembling hands
Prepared to make it but just then the phone rang
I never had the nerve to make the final cut.

muffinman
09-01-2009, 15:52
I have actually listened to the gunners dream laying on the grass at san carlos water. the radio chatter, missile and jet sounds on the track made for a rather sobering experience

Filterlab
09-01-2009, 18:27
My favourite PSB track, You Know Where You Went Wrong, has some lovely lyrics. It's about two homeless men recounting tales of their lives and how where the went wrong. My favourite verse:


Two men on the street
Drinking something cheap
No home, no family
Its cold, nowhere to sleep
Passers-by never catch their eye
Anywhere, one man drinks, the other swears

Beechwoods
09-01-2009, 20:49
This kind of social-commentary in lyrics makes me fall for songs. I see them as political albeit quite-often with a small 'P'. One of my favourite lyrics in this vein is 'Merlene On The Wall' by Suzanne Vega. It's difficult to pick a short part, because it's all so good, but it's such a rich song, which can be interpreted in so many ways, and it's recorded so nicely, it's a real keeper.

Marlene is a picture hanging on the wall. Some say that Suzanne Vega had a poster of Marlene Dietrich and that the song is autobiographical. Some say that the song is about a taboo relationship, or an illicit relationship - to me it's a song about domestic abuse, about being trapped in a relationship, and breaking free. There's a lot I could write about this song, but go away and have a listen to it and form your own opinion :)


Even if I am in love with you
All this to say, what's it to you?
Observe the blood, the rose tattoo
Of the fingerprints on me from you

Other evidence has shown
That you and I are still alone
We skirt around the danger zone
And don't talk about it later

Primalsea
09-01-2009, 23:12
Sorry for lowering the tone but here's an old Scout song that we used to sing on the minibus:

Rich girl uses vasoline
Poor girl uses lard
Mona uses axle grease, cos her c**t's so hard,
Oi!!

Mona Mona show us yer legs, Mona Mona show us yer legs
Right above the knee.

For something deeper, Prince's When Doves Cry has some very good lyrics.

Beechwoods
09-01-2009, 23:21
:doh:

Well that's certainly an interesting counterpoint to Suzanne Vega, though I'm not sure how much it gets for artistic merit ;)

Marco
09-01-2009, 23:22
Here's one we used to sing at school to girls [goes to the tune of 'My body lies over the ocean'].

"My one-skin lies over my two-skin, my two-skin lies over my three, my three-skin lies over my four-skin, so pull back my foreskin for me.. Oh, pull back, pull back, pull back my foreskin for me, for me... Pull back..."

You get the idea! ;)

Deep and meaningful it is not! :lol:

Marco.

Beechwoods
09-01-2009, 23:36
:doh: :doh: I knew I should have called this thread 'The Deep & Meaningful Lyric Thread'. What is it about tonight?!

Marco
09-01-2009, 23:52
Admit it made you giggle, though! :lol:

Marco.

Beechwoods
10-01-2009, 06:32
:lol: Maybe a little bit

Marco
10-01-2009, 11:55
Cheap and superfical was the name of the game in those days! :eyebrows:

Marco.

Primalsea
10-01-2009, 14:29
OK, how about this:

And the devil in black dress watches over
My guardian angel walks away
Life is short and love is always over in the morning
Black wind come carry me far away

Filterlab
10-01-2009, 16:19
OK, how about this:

And the devil in black dress watches over
My guardian angel walks away
Life is short and love is always over in the morning
Black wind come carry me far away

Bob the Builder?

Beechwoods
10-01-2009, 16:28
'Temple Of Love' by Sisters Of Mercy :)

Filterlab
10-01-2009, 16:45
Sisters of Mercy, of course. Didn't they do a track called 'No Memories'? I seem to remember a dark synth driven track from about 1987, the female vocal was very Siobhan Fahey-esque with a lovely rich darkness.

Filterlab
10-01-2009, 16:46
Sorry, I was thinking of Scarlet Fantastic.

Beechwoods
10-01-2009, 17:15
I must say I'm liking how this thread is shaping out. I saw it a bit like the 'what's spinning' thread but it's actually a bit like that crossed with the 'three words daily' thread :)

Beechwoods
10-01-2009, 20:30
Ok. Something different. Hip-hop. This is by East Flatbush Project and released on Ninja Tune in the UK. I love the backing track. Very oriental.

I know that audiophiles and hip-hop / rap don't generally mix. I know that 'gangsta' rap is detested by many. But this song says a lot from the perspective of someone in a gang. Far more intelligent than a lot of the stuff that pretends to be from the streets.

And I know 'cos I'm a middle class white boy from Bristol... ;)

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=yXBckFyiMyU

Forgive the awful video.

Don't say sticks and stones
They might break your bones
But the nine millimeter, it'll bore your dome
I'm talkin about the toe-taggin
Huh, the body-baggin
Man, niggas are dyin, huh, mommas are cryin, casket buyin
Who, me dyin, leave my family cryin?
Hell no, I cause, um, bloodbaths and showers
Send me commissary, motherf--- them flowers
Thoughts of slaughter, of leaving my daughters
Hours and hours of fears running through my mind
As I pick up the Zig 9

Beef starts with the shove and ends with the shovel
And niggas standing on your corner reminiscing of you
But your ass is out and you're dead and gone
So who'd you rather be?
The murdered, or the murderer?
Niggas got me stressed - I got my Tek and my vest
And I sing who Jah bless, let no man curse
Or one of us will leave here tonight in a hearse
When we'll be tried by 12
And fertilizing daisies

..

Cause I'd rather be tried by 12 than carried by 6
Nigga
I sign my name on the book at your funeral
The Zig's on my hip with an extra clip
Cause I'd rather be tried by 12 than carried by 6



Don't know the lyricist, but East Flatbush Project is an alias for Brooklyn producer Spencer Bellamy.

Filterlab
10-01-2009, 22:06
Too much for me to be honest, although my girly will attest to my excellent impression of a New York based rapper.

These lyrics are from Pressure by Sunscreem from their album O3. The vocalist (Lucia Holm) has a particularly soft tone to her rather strong voice and can switch from gentle to a scream very quickly. The middle eight is one of the finest contrasts ever written into a dance track (in my opinion), the hard pace of the track is dropped immediately and replaced by a quartet of strings with a closed/open high hat playing a 16th/4th over to right. Sublime whilst paying attention to maintaining the rhythm.


The sound flew in the bare room

The ride's no longer spare

And time will always fall apart

In a house where they don't care

We fantasised your life

And recognised the sins

But it's tit for tat

You take the rap

Now it's me that's going to win

Mike
10-01-2009, 22:40
Here's one from the John Fox era of Ultravox. The wild, the beautiful and the damned



Calling cards of madness

Pull the brass men from their knees

To petrify more images to dangle just outside the reach

Of the stunted and the dreamless ones who have nothing left to keep

For frozen dawns or nights as cold as these have been



Don't ask for explanations

There's nothing left you'd understand

You're one of the wild, the beautiful and the damned

Beechwoods
10-01-2009, 22:40
Too much for me to be honest, although my girly will attest to my excellent impression of a New York based rapper.

Go on, which one? Not Eminem... grew up in Detroit... Not Vanilla Ice, he was born in Dallas... Don't tell me it's Jay-Z :scratch:


These lyrics are from Pressure by Sunscreem from their album O3. The vocalist (Lucia Holm) has a particularly soft tone to her rather strong voice and can switch from gentle to a scream very quickly. The middle eight is one of the finest contrasts ever written into a dance track (in my opinion), the hard pace of the track is dropped immediately and replaced by a quartet of strings with a closed/open high hat playing a 16th/4th over to right. Sublime whilst paying attention to maintaining the rhythm.

I remember Sunscreem but I can't remember their big song. Just checked out 'Pressure' and it's got some great old-school house piano on it, and the guitar into the middle eight builds the pace nicely, to the drop...

From my clubbing days (prog house / trance and acid) the track that left the biggest impression on me (because it was absolutely massive for about a year) was Mory Kanté's Yeke Yeke (the Hardfloor Remix). From about 3'15" to 4'25" the tracks builds and builds - it'd go on for so long that the folks would be going absolutely bonkers by the time the track kicked back in. It was a Hardfloor signature and ended up being overused and ripped off all over the place...

Can you imagine how this sounded over a club soundsystem with 15" drivers? I can still remember how it felt :) Happy days :

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=Bdvx7AFsKrk

Filterlab
10-01-2009, 22:47
Go on, which one? Not Eminem... grew up in Detroit... Not Vanilla Ice, he was born in Dallas... Don't tell me it's Jay-Z :scratch:

Nobody in particular, I just walk around the house doing that finger thing and making up rhymes about my bee-atch. :)



I remember Sunscreem but I can't remember their big song. Just checked out 'Pressure' and it's got some great old-school house piano on it, and the guitar into the middle eight builds the pace nicely, to the drop...

From my clubbing days (prog house / trance and acid) the track that left the biggest impression on me (because it was absolutely massive for about a year) was Mory Kanté's Yeke Yeke (the Hardfloor Remix). From about 3'15" to 4'25" the tracks builds and builds - it'd go on for so long that the folks would be going absolutely bonkers by the time the track kicked back in. It was a Hardfloor signature and ended up being overused and ripped off all over the place...

Can you imagine how this sounded over a club soundsystem with 15" drivers? I can still remember how it felt :) Happy days :

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=Bdvx7AFsKrk

Sunscreem weren't all that massive to be honest, but they did well at the time. Mory Kanté on the other hand had a massive hit with Yeke Yeke! "Yek yek yek no more, yeke yek yek", loved that track and you're right, the build used to get the floor pumping. Man I loved clubbing, proper clubbing rather than that commercial shite. I have a single by Soundsation somewhere, I don't recall the name of the track though but it was a massive club hit. I'll dig it out. :)

Filterlab
10-01-2009, 22:49
Peace and Joy - the single includes remixes by Tin Tin Out. :)

Primalsea
10-01-2009, 22:52
was very Siobhan Fahey-esque with a lovely rich darkness.

Sounds like chocolate to me, maybe Hot Chocolate:lolsign:

Beechwoods
10-01-2009, 22:54
Mory Kanté on the other hand had a massive hit with Yeke Yeke! "Yek yek yek no more, yeke yek yek", loved that track

I'm glad you remember it. I've got a tape of a Kiss FM mix from around 1996, with the DJ introing the track "This... is... massive..." and it was :)

It really is one to play extremely loud on a very good system with tight bass and great handling of the voice and the ringing strings (not sure what instrument it is). Sound can get very wallowy if you're not careful!

Filterlab
10-01-2009, 22:57
Sounds like chocolate to me, maybe Hot Chocolate:lolsign:

Oooh, writhing in melted chocolate with Siobhan Fahey, sounds rather like a fantasy of mine. :)


I'm glad you remember it. I've got a tape of a Kiss FM mix from around 1996, with the DJ introing the track "This... is... massive..." and it was :)

It really is one to play extremely loud on a very good system with tight bass and great handling of the voice and the ringing strings (not sure what instrument it is). Sound can get very wallowy if you're not careful!

I think I have it on a Kiss CD somewhere, one of those Kiss in the mix jobs. Man, I should dig out more of my dance stuff, really takes me back to my stomping days.

Marco
12-01-2009, 08:04
Oooh, writhing in melted chocolate with Siobhan Fahey...


Who she? :)

Marco.

Filterlab
12-01-2009, 08:57
Siobhan Fahey (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siobhan_Fahey)

anthonyTD
12-01-2009, 10:37
As around the sun the earth knows she’s revolving, and the rose buds know to bloom in early may, just as hate knows love’s the cure you can rest your mind assure that I’ll be loving you always…

Stevie wonder…

jimdgoulding
28-01-2009, 19:52
Jon Hendricks wrote some fantastically clever and witty lyrics to many of Theolonius Monk's tunes which can be heard on Carmen Sings Monk. It's a nice album on it's own, by Carmen McRae, especially the live in a hall ones for transparency and atmosphere.

Billy Strayhorn's lyrics to "Lush Life" are like a fine impressionist. Especially when you understand that he was only 18 years old when he wrote them. No way, you'll be saying out loud, where did he get this from?

The Grand Wazoo
14-03-2009, 11:20
'Debris' - The Faces from 'A Nod's as Good as a Wink'
It was written by Ronnie Lane about his father.

I left you on the Debris
At the Sunday morning market
You were sorting through the odds and ends.
You was looking for a bargain

I heard your footsteps at the front door,
And that old familiar love song,
Cause you knew you'd find me waiting there
At the top of the stairs.

I went there and back
Just to see how far it was
And you, you tried to tell me
But I had to learn for myself.

Theres more trouble at the depot,
With the general workers union
And you said, "They'll never change a thing.
Well, they won't fight and their not working."

Oh you was my hero
How you are my good friend
I've been there and back
And I know how far it is

But I left you on the Debris
Now we both know you got no money.
And I wonder what you would have done
Without me hanging around.

Beautiful guitar playing too..........a track for my desert island, I think.

The Grand Wazoo
15-05-2009, 16:19
ROLLING STONES - MEMO FROM TURNER

You're a lashing, smashing hunk of man, your sweat shines sweet and strong
Your organ's working perfectly but there's a part that's screwed on wrong

Joe
31-05-2009, 21:44
'If Jesus came to Earth today
They'd crucify him straightaway
Upon a cross of mdf
And they'd use 'No Need For Nails'

'Upon Westminster Bridge', Half Man, Half Biscuit

Barry
01-06-2009, 01:07
And I know 'cos I'm a middle class white boy from Bristol... ;)



You're not the only one :)

Barry

DanJennings
20-07-2009, 15:49
saw that half man half biscuit post, and couldn't resist throwing in a couple of my favourites:

The horrible sincerity of Miriam Stoppard, makes me want to go out and commit mass murder'

HMHB - Architecture and Morality; Ted and Alice

I shout all my obscenities from steeples,
but please dont label me a madman,
I'm off to see the Bootleg Beatles,
as the bootleg Mark Chapman,
Cafe bars, idiots and pigeons,
There's far too many in this town,
so me and the ombudsman,
are gonna do what we can,
when the evening sun goes down.

HMHB - When The Evening Sun Goes Down

Joe
22-07-2009, 18:29
'Neil Morrissey's a knobhead'

HMHB, 'Bottleneck at Capel Curig'

Beechwoods
23-07-2009, 16:47
Contenders for the best two line lyrics ever?

The class war boiled down to two lines only? I think both these say more about the zeitgeist than could ever be written in a newspaper editorial, who cares they're both more than 35 years old!

The Who - The Dirty Jobs (Quadrophenia, 1973)


I am the man who drives the local bus
I take miners to work, but the pits all closed today.

Pink Floyd - Us & Them (Dark Side Of The Moon, 1973)


For want of the price of tea and a slice
The old man died

The Grand Wazoo
23-07-2009, 16:58
Contenders for the best two line lyrics ever?

The class war boiled down to two lines only? I think both these say more about the zeitgeist than could ever be written in a newspaper editorial, who cares they're both more than 35 years old!



The Class War, eh?
I must say, those are rather more poignant lyrics than than the previous comment on the condition of Neil Morrissey's head!

Beechwoods
23-07-2009, 17:41
I think there would be less in the way of debate and disagreement about Neil Morrissey being a knob-head though!

DaveK
25-07-2009, 09:16
Hi Guys,
Maybe slightly off the theme, but still on topic (?)
I am very old (;) :lolsign: ) and was learning to talk in the early years of the war (Note to Marco: - No, not WW1 but WW2 ;)). At least I think that's when I recall these lyrics from, I think they formed part of me learning to master the spoken word - there again that could have been when I was in my early teens :lolsign:.
I recall that there was a song that got lots of air time on either the Light Programme or the Home Service - yes, that's they called the Wireless in those days (and Wireless is what they called the radio in those days - digital involved using the fingers, then :lol: ). The lyrics of the song went (honest): -

"Chicory Chick Chalar Chalar,
Inabananaka Walaka Walaka,
Can't you see,
Chicory Chick, it's me"

Fortunately I cannot remember any more. At a very early age it was quite a challenge to correctly get you tongue round that lot.
Polite comments invited :) .

The Grand Wazoo
25-07-2009, 09:54
Hi Guys,
Maybe slightly off the theme, but still on topic (?)
I am very old (;) :lolsign: ) and was learning to talk in the early years of the war (Note to Marco: - No, not WW1 but WW2 ;)). At least I think that's when I recall these lyrics from, I think they formed part of me learning to master the spoken word - there again that could have been when I was in my early teens :lolsign:.
I recall that there was a song that got lots of air time on either the Light Programme or the Home Service - yes, that's they called the Wireless in those days (and Wireless is what they called the radio in those days - digital involved using the fingers, then :lol: ). The lyrics of the song went (honest): -

"Chicory Chick Chalar Chalar,
Inabananaka Walaka Walaka,
Can't you see,
Chicory Chick, it's me"

Fortunately I cannot remember any more. At a very early age it was quite a challenge to correctly get you tongue round that lot.
Polite comments invited :) .

Is this the thing, Dave?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eIZtvDdb4bA

.........or this one?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KEqZClqnbnQ&feature=related

DaveK
25-07-2009, 10:22
Hi Chris,


Is this the thing, Dave?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KEqZClqnbnQ&feature=related

Yep, that's the one, the vocal version, the first one appears to be the instrumental version - any idea of the date?
Also, you can't actually remember it, like me, can you?? :lolsign:
Cheers,

The Grand Wazoo
25-07-2009, 11:28
Hi Chris,



Yep, that's the one, the vocal version, the first one appears to be the instrumental version - any idea of the date?
Also, you can't actually remember it, like me, can you?? :lolsign:
Cheers,

The first one has vocals later on.

Apparently, the 2nd one, Sammy Kaye, was No.1 in 1945. And, no, I don't remember it from then. I do, however, enjoying bringing a bit happiness to old codgers, such as yourself, in their dotage.

Alex_UK
13-08-2009, 15:05
Hi Neal, with no apologies for resurrecting this thread, and referring back to a very old post about Marlene on the Wall - have you tried any of the later stuff by The Cardigans? Not the catchy pop stuff you've remember like "Lovefool" "Erase Rewind" etc - this is from my favourite track on the 2003 album "Long Gone Before Midnight" - superbly crafted songs both musically and lyrically, if you don't know the album, I'd thoroughly recommend trying it out - though I could be wrong as I think it was panned by the critics! Anyway, some of "And then you Kissed Me"

Oh you hit me
Yeah you hit me really hard
Man you hit me
Yeah you hit me right in the heart

Lord I’ve had my deal
But I never quite knew how it feels
When love makes you wake up sore
With fists that are ready for more

and it hit me that love is a game
like in war no one can be blamed
yes, it struck me that love is a sport
so i pushed you a little bit more

(And don't forget that is from someone with English as second language, plus Nina Persson has a great voice, in my opinion.)

Great idea for a thread, which is why I thought I'd bump it!

Puffin
16-08-2009, 18:35
"they got a name for the winners in the world, I want a name when I lose"

Deacon Blues - Steely Dan.

I don't have a competitive bone in my body.

Joe
17-10-2009, 19:26
From 'Girlfriend's Finished With Him' by Half Man Half Biscuit

'Underneath the underlying tones and dizzy melodies
Next to the intelligent guitars
You’ll find frailty, beauty, sex as art
And something or other about dolphins
Parlourmaids, dandelions, things ’bout my mind
And a dead girl’s soul that lives inside me
And we don’t really know what it’s meant to be
But it’s an absolute depth of intensity
But at the end of the night
When the rider’s been ridden
We claim our fee and we get back in the van again
Inspired by no-one, other groups bore us
How can you say we sound like Frazier Chorus?
‘Cos at the end of the night you claim your poke
You get back in to the Wim van Hanegem
Rockabilly Jim from the pub quiz team
Told me something more interesting than your songs ever could'

Themis
17-10-2009, 21:26
Let me help you to pick up your dead
As the sins of the fathers are fed
With the blood of the fools and the thoughts of the wise
And from the pan under your bed
Let me make you a present of song
As the wise man breaks wind and is gone
While the fool with the hour-glass is cooking his goose
And the nursery rhyme winds along

Gerald Bostock (Ian Anderson)
Jethro Tull - Thick as a Brick

Rare Bird
17-10-2009, 21:35
"Worship!" - cried the clown. "I'm a T.V.
Making bandsmen go clockwork,
See the slinky seal Cirkus policeman,
Bareback ladies have fish."
Strongmen by his feet, plate-spinning statesman,
Accrobatically juggling -
Bids his tamers go quiet the tumblers
Lest the mirror stop turning ...

Themis
17-10-2009, 21:37
You got the new Lizard, or is it just a warm-up ? ;)

Rare Bird
17-10-2009, 21:39
Not got it yet...Just an early Crimson nut couldnt help it.

;)

Rare Bird
18-10-2009, 10:05
btw the 40th anny edition is not out till 26th this month, you can pre order

Themis
18-10-2009, 10:09
btw the 40th anny edition is not out till 26th this month, you can pre order
Yep, I will certainly do so. :)

Joe
18-10-2009, 16:35
'Lizard' is the only King Crimson I own. Original Island vinyl copy (in less-than-mint condition though)

DSJR
19-10-2009, 11:31
Don't worry, an early CD issue is superb...




I try to believe what I feel these days
It makes life much easier for me
It's hard to decide what is real these days
When things look so dizzy to me

I already know my children's children's faces
Voices that I've heard before
There's always more
There's always more

Wandering leaving the sea behind
To my home which everybody owns
Wandering, wandering
Where we can do what we please
Wandering

I feel like a thousand years have passed
I'm younger than I used to be
I feel like the world is my home at last
I know everyone that I meet

Somewhere in the music I can hear the bells
I heard a thousand years before
There's always more
There's always more

Wandering is this there all there is
Since I was since I began to be
Wandering, wandering
Where we can do what we please
Wandering

The Grand Wazoo
23-10-2009, 19:00
Should this be on the lyrics thread or the quirky songs thread?
I dunno, probably both...........

'The Mooney Suzuki' - Good 'ol Alcohol'

I remember back in high school getting’ high was tons of fun
Its much easier to score some weed than to drink before you’re 21
At that age I thought alcohol was square, drinking just something old folks do
Course if we got our hands on some, well hell, we’ll drink like old folks too
Its different now when you get older and you’re getting on in your years
I’ve become so much more civilized since moving on to spirits and beers
So today if I wanna act an ass and gag, puke, stagger, and fall
I’m gonna do it in the trusted hands…of good old alcohol
That good ol alcohol
One more before last call
Can make you feel a mile high
If you’ve been feeling small
Yes, every now and then
I call upon my friend
That good ol, good ol, good old alcohol!
When I was younger my thing was hippy drugs
Like hashish, caps, and lids
Had a dug-out with zoso written on
Where I kept my one hitter hid
Amphetamine just wasn’t my speed
And cocaine will make you go broke
But man oh man, I sure could go for that marijuana smoke
I’d use a bong, or bowl, or rollin’ papers, or any other smoke components
Then I’d rip right through two boxes of Little Miss’ coffee cake covered donuts
And if you found your self stranded with no paraphanalia at all
You could always poke some holes through empty cans of alcohol
That good ol alcohol finds you in the bathroom stall
With your face inside the toilet, curled up in a little ball
Yeah once you’ve done my friend, you’ll come runnin’ back again
For some good ol, good ol, good old alcohol!
The mescaline you scored at cheap’s meadow looked like little candy nerds
That shit’ll make you crap your pants and backwards speak your words
Ate an 1/8th of psychedellic mushroom at my buddy’s girlfriends place
Listened to ‘Lectric Lady land three times over again with a strobe light in my face
Then there was LSD; some double dipped and some were window paine
Some bart simpson, some blue unicorn, and…uh, some of them just plain.
12 hours later trying to get high on shakes, seeds, and stems will do fuck-all
Only way to ease that come-down is with some good ol alcohol
That good ol alcohol, when the doctor needs a call
He may offer you some perkaset or even demoral
Yet when you’re high and dry, nothing else will get you by
Like some good ol, good ol, good old alcohol!
There will come one morning after when you will wake up and you will say
Goddamn I’m getting’ too old for this…what time is it and what day?
Where are all my Goddamn clothes and where’s my wallet, shoes, and keys
Where goddamn hell am I and goddamn it hurts when I try to pee
Now my liver’s limp, synapses spent, and my nerve endings are fried
Got through many a trying night, the kind where stronger men have died
But I’ve seen it, smelled it, ate it, tasted it,
Slid it, hit it, chased it, wasted it, puffed it, huffed it
Dosed it, toast it, Rolled it n sold it n tin foil bowled it
I’ve smoked poked, copped, popped
Mixed, fixed, chopped, dropped
Licked, kicked, toked n choked…weaked ‘n’ peeked & woke n boke
I’ve scored it and hoarded it…I’ve snorted it and sorted it
I’ve Slipped it, lipped it, sipped it and roach clipped it
I’ve cleaned it and fiended it, I’ve laced it and tasted it
I’ve dipped it and chewed it, Zig zag and bambooed it
I’ve cold turkey and restarted it
I’ve discarded and bogarted it
I’ve taken it and I’ve shaken it
I’ve stirred it and I’ve slurred and blurred it all…
And there ain’t a goddamn thing I trust as much…as good old alcohol!
That good ol alcohol…one more before last call
Can make you feel a mile high if you’ve been feeling small
Yes every now and then I’ll call upon my friend
That good ol good ol good ol alcohol
That good ol good ol good ol alcohol
That good ol good ol good ol alcohol
…smoke ‘em if you got ‘em!

DSJR
23-10-2009, 19:42
Gordon Bennett guv............... :scratch:

The Grand Wazoo
23-10-2009, 19:59
vk_Dqzji1vU

Joe
24-10-2009, 11:14
As I was motivatin'
Back in town
I saw a Cadillac sign
Sayin' "No Money Down"
So I eased on my brakes
And I pulled in the drive
Gunned my motor twice
Then I walked inside
Dealer came to me
Said "Trade in your Ford
And I'll put you in a car
That'll eat up the road
Just tell me what you want
And then sign on that line
And I'll have it brought down to you
In a hour's time"

I'm gonna get me a car
And I'll be headed on down the road
Then I won't have to worry
About that broken - down, raggedy Ford

"Well Mister I want a yellow convertible
Four - door de Ville
With a Continental spare
And a wide chrome wheel
I want power steering
And power brakes
I want a powerful motor
With a jet off - take
I want air condition
I want automatic heat
And I want a full Murphy bed
In my back seat
I want short - wave radio
I want TV and a phone
You know I gotta talk to my baby
When I'm ridin' alone"

Yes I'm gonna get that car
And I'm gonna head on down the road
Yeah, then I won't have to worry
About that broken - down, raggedy Ford

"I want four carburetors
And two straight exhausts
I'm burnin' aviation fuel
No matter what the cost
I want railroad air horns
And a military spark
And I want a five - year guarantee
On everything I got
I want ten - dollar deductible
I want twenty dollar notes
I want thirty thousand liability"
That's all she wrote

I got me a car
And I'm headed on down the road
No money down
I don't have to worry
About that broken - down, raggedy Ford

'No Money Down' Chuck Berry

DSJR
24-10-2009, 12:28
vk_Dqzji1vU

I foirst thought it was the two vocalists of Can, but obviously it's only the name of the band...

Beechwoods
24-10-2009, 14:49
The Perfumes Of Arabia
by Maggie Holland, as performed by Martin Carthy.

A modern lyric in a style completely consistent with Carthy's traditionally found music. The main conceit is of course stolen from Macbeth.


I was driving on a journey when I turned my radio on
Thinking to hear a story or some old familiar song
But all I heard were voices telling me a foreign war
They were counting Scuds and Patriots, they were telling me the score

...

I couldn't bear to hear it so I turned the volume down
Turned into a garage in some little Hampshire town
Filled up my car as I took the air of this green and pleasant land
And then I recognised the smell of blood upon my hand

I've tried sandalwood and roses, I've tried eau de cologne as well
Calvin Klein, Chanel number 5, it cannot ease the smell
I've tried in every Body Shop I can find throughout the land
But the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand.

Alex_UK
24-10-2009, 17:06
Good one Joe, used to love this as a spotty teenager (snigger)

I remember the girl next door
We used to play house on the kitchen floor
I'd be king, she'd be queen
Together we'd play with our ding a ling a ling

My ding a ling, Oh my ding a ling
I wanna play with my ding a ling

Beechwoods
24-10-2009, 18:47
Sugar Baby
Dock Boggs

http://www.ibiblio.org/jimmy/folkden-wp/?p=7090


Oh I’ve got no sugar baby now
All I can do is to seek peace with you
And I can’t get along this a-way
Can’t get along this a-way

All I can do, I’ve said all I can say
I’ll send it to your mama next payday
Send you to your mama next payday.

...

Laid her in the shade, give her every dime I made
What more could a poor boy do
What more could a poor boy do?

Oh I’ve got no honey baby now
Got no sugar baby now

Said all I can say, I’ve done all I can do
And I can’t make a living with you
Can’t make a living with you

DSJR
24-10-2009, 19:09
Another home falls by the wayside
A few old cushions stuffed with pride
A hand is shaking from the rubble
This is spirit is still alive
A servant bares his occupation
Breaks his back just growing old
Never mind his views were taken
Just saw by the rules of old
Less cities more moving people
Rushing out with pride
Less cities more moving people

Hands that once were tied
A church bell rang for the occasion
The average man learns what's in store
Now he sees where his life was taken
Fighting heat, but growing old
Less cities more moving people
Rushing out with pride
Less cities more moving people
Hands that once were tied
Is this what we call education
Just watch the wheel of time revolve
But why is this not what I'm thinking
Just one mind and the unknown!
Less cities more moving people
Rushing out with pride
Cities are moving people
Who just forgot their lives

Rare Bird
24-10-2009, 19:12
The wall on which the prophets wrote
Is cracking at the seams.
Upon the instruments of death
The sunlight brightly gleams.
When every man is torn apart
With nightmares and with dreams,
Will no one lay the laurel wreath
As silence drowns the screams.

Between the iron gates of fate,
The seeds of time were sown,
And watered by the deeds of those
Who know and who are known;
Knowledge is a deadly friend
When no one sets the rules.
The fate of all mankind I see
Is in the hands of fools.

Confusion will be my epitaph.
As I crawl a cracked and broken path
If we make it we can all sit back
And laugh.
But I fear tomorrow Ill be crying,
Yes I fear tomorrow Ill be crying.

Joe
24-10-2009, 19:35
'Hot Rod Lincoln'

My pappy said "Son your gonna drive me to drinkin'
If you don't stop drivin' that Hot Rod Lincoln"

Have you heard the story of the hot rod race
Where the Fords and Lincolns were settin' the pace?
That story is true I'm here to say
I was drivin' that model A.

It's got a Lincoln motor and it's really souped up
That Model A body makes it look like a pup
It's got eight cylinders and uses 'em all
Got overdrive, just won't stall

With a four barrel carb and dual exhausts
With four-eleven gears you can really get lost
Got safety tubes, but I ain't scared
The brakes are good, the tires fair

Pulled out of San Pedro late one night
And the moon and the stars were shining bright
We was drivin' up Grapevine Hill
Passin' cars like they was standing still

All of a sudden, in the wink of an eye
A Cadillac sedan passed us by
I said, "Boys, that's a mark for me!"
By then the tail lights was all you could see

Now the fellas ribbed me for being behind
So thought I'd make the Lincoln unwind
Took my foot of the gas and man alive
I shoved it on down into over drive

Wound it up to a-hundred-and-ten
My speedometer said that I hit top end
My foot was glued like lead to the floor
That's all there is and there ain't no more

Now the boys all thought that I'd lost my sense
And telephone poles looked like a picket fence
They said "Slow down, I see spots!"
The lines on the road just looked like dots

Took a corner, Side-Swiped a truck
Crossed my fingers just for luck
My Fenders was clickin' the guard rail posts
The guy beside me was white as a ghost

Smoke was coming from outta of the back
When I started to gain on that Cadillac
Knew I could catch him, I thought I could pass
Don't ya know by then we'd be low on gas?

Had flames comin' from outta the side
Feel the tension, man what a ride
I said "Look out boys, I've got a license to fly"
And that Caddy pulled over and let us by

Now all of the sudden she started to knockin'
And down in a dips she started to rockin'
I looked in the mirror, a red light was blinkin'
The cops was after my Hot Rod Lincoln

They arrested me and they put me in jail
And called my pappy to throw my bail
He said "Son, you're gonna to drive me to drinkin'
If you don't stop drivin' that Hot Rod Lincoln"

Rare Bird
25-10-2009, 00:21
è il numero che ho
triste camminare
inutili perché;
favole e bugie
che parlano di Dio
stupidi soldati
che chiedono di me
Solo nei giardini delle menti siede
il tempo che verrà
siede chi ha perduto accarezzando
quella pace che non ha
e pace di un momento è riposare
su quest'isola di niente...
Ma la verità
è il numero che ho
triste camminare
inutili perché.
E come un aquilone
che vento non ha
io non pano più
di credere di perdonare:
troppe verità
che chiedono di me

(PFM ' L'Isola Di Niente')

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LalR8MC7zDA

aquapiranha
02-11-2009, 22:17
The wall on which the prophets wrote
Is cracking at the seams.
Upon the instruments of death
The sunlight brightly gleams.
When every man is torn apart
With nightmares and with dreams,
Will no one lay the laurel wreath
As silence drowns the screams.

Between the iron gates of fate,
The seeds of time were sown,
And watered by the deeds of those
Who know and who are known;
Knowledge is a deadly friend
When no one sets the rules.
The fate of all mankind I see
Is in the hands of fools.

Confusion will be my epitaph.
As I crawl a cracked and broken path
If we make it we can all sit back
And laugh.
But I fear tomorrow Ill be crying,
Yes I fear tomorrow Ill be crying.

I love King Crimson

DSJR
02-11-2009, 23:04
I've tried to mend, the love
That ended long ago
Although we still pretend..

Our love is surely coming to an end
Don't waste the time you've got to love again

We tried to lie
But you and I
Know better than to let each other lie
The thought of lying to you makes me cry
Counting up the times that passed us by

I've sent this letter hoping it will reach your hand
And if it does I hope that you will understand
That I must leave
In a while
And though I smile
You know the smile is only there to hide
What I'm really feeling deep inside
Just a face where I can hang my pride

Goodbye...
Goodbye...




We'll talk of places that we went
And times that we have spent
Together penniless and free

You'll see the day another way
And they could put the sunshine
for a nighttime where you lay

You're love began I don't know when
But if you do I know that
you'll be happy in the end


ELP - Trilogy

Joe
02-11-2009, 23:07
Post-festivities
I'm feeling numb now
from remedies and Prozac
and a can of two-tone
I'm feeling numb now
I'm feeling numb
I'm feeling numb now
I'm feeling numb
Prozac
Don't touch that phone dial
Stick with kindred
Welcome in
I'm on automation
And family
Is cerebral caustic
I'm feeling numb now
I'm feeling numb
I'm feeling numb now
I'm feeling numb
(I'm feeling numb now
I'm feeling numb)
Everything is broken
because of grist that curtails
get the Western on
Stick with family
At the lodge
At the lodge
At the lodge
I'm feeling numb now
I'm feeling numb
I'm feeling numb now
I'm feeling numb
I'm feeling numb now
I'm feeling numb
I'm feeling numb now
Don't touch that phone dial
I'm feeling numb
Stick with kindred
(Feeling numb now)/At the lodge
(Feeling numb)/At the lodge
(Feeling numb now)
The grist that curtails the mill
will make us strong
(Feeling numb)
And you'll be dead
before I'm born

'Feeling Numb' The Fall

Barry
03-11-2009, 01:18
May I ask posters to this thread to please credit the lyrics they quote? Otherwise they are somewhat impotent when read in isolation.

Regards

Joe
03-11-2009, 19:34
To be honest, 99.99% of song lyrics are rubbish when divorced from their musical setting.

Themis
27-11-2009, 22:36
La poésie contemporaine ne chante plus... Elle rampe
Elle a cependant le privilège de la distinction...
Elle ne fréquente pas les mots mal famés... elle les ignore
On ne prend les mots qu'avec des gants : à "menstruel" on préfère "périodique", et l'on va répétant qu'il est des termes médicaux qui ne doivent pas sortir des laboratoires et du Codex.

Le snobisme scolaire qui consiste, en poésie, à n'employer que certains mots déterminés, à la priver de certains autres, qu'ils soient techniques, médicaux, populaires ou argotiques, me fait penser au prestige du rince-doigts et du baisemain.

Ce n'est pas le rince-doigts qui fait les mains propres ni le baisemain qui fait la tendresse.
Ce n'est pas le mot qui fait la poésie, mais la poésie qui illustre le mot.

Les écrivains qui ont recours à leurs doigts pour savoir s'ils ont leur compte de pieds, ne sont pas des poètes, ce sont des dactylographes.

Le poète d'aujourd'hui doit être d'une caste, d'un parti ou du Tout-Paris.
Le poète qui ne se soumet pas est un homme mutilé.

La poésie est une clameur. Elle doit être entendue comme la musique.
Toute poésie destinée à n'être que lue et enfermée dans sa typographie, n'est pas finie. Elle ne prend son sexe qu'avec la corde vocale, tout comme le violon prend le sien avec l'archet qui le touche.

L'embrigadement est un signe des temps.
De notre temps

Les hommes qui pensent en rond ont les idées courbes.
Les sociétés littéraires c'est encore la Société.
La pensée mise en commun est une pensée commune.

Mozart est mort seul,
Accompagné à la fosse commune par un chien et des fantômes.
Renoir avait les doigts crochus de rhumatismes.
Ravel avait dans la tête une tumeur qui lui suça d'un coup toute sa musique.
Beethoven était sourd.
Il fallut quêter pour enterrer Béla Bartok.
Rutebeuf avait faim.
Villon volait pour manger.
Tout le monde s'en fout...

L'Art n'est pas un bureau d'anthropométrie !

La Lumière ne se fait que sur les tombes...

Nous vivons une époque épique et nous n'avons plus rien d'épique
La musique se vend comme le savon à barbe.
Pour que le désespoir même se vende il ne reste qu'à en trouver la formule.
Tout est prêt :
Les capitaux
La publicité
La clientèle
Qui donc inventera le désespoir ?

Avec nos avions qui dament le pion au soleil,
Avec nos magnétophones qui se souviennent de "ces voix qui se sont tues",
Avec nos âmes en rade au milieu des rues,
Nous sommes au bord du vide,
Ficelés dans nos paquets de viande,
A regarder passer les révolutions

N'oubliez jamais que ce qu'il y a d'encombrant dans la Morale,
C'est que c'est toujours la Morale des autres.

Les plus beaux chants sont des chants de revendications
Le vers doit faire l'amour dans la tête des populations.

A L'ÉCOLE DE LA POÉSIE ON N'APPREND PAS: ON SE BAT !

Léo Ferré- Il n'y a plus rien - Préface

Joe
28-11-2009, 15:45
Bubble perm
Ever since your bubble perm
I’ve gone ex-directory
Just in case you need me

Swivel chair
In your leather swivel chair
You can turn your back on me
Leave me in the out-tray

She’s the main man in the office in the city
And she treats me like I’m just another lackey
But I can put a tennis racket up against my face
And pretend that I am Kendo Nagasaki

Executive
Think you’re all executive
But I could still upset you with
Millican and Nesbitt

Acumen
Loads of business acumen
But can you remember when
You would die for Flintlock

Mary oh Mary
Quite ordinary
Tell me how does your CD collection grow
With Sade and Whitney
Vandross and T’Pau
Everything’s AOR

She’s the main man in the office in the city
And she treats me like I’m just another lackey
But I can put a tennis racket up against my face
And pretend that I am Kendo Nagasaki

She’s the main man in the office in the city
I remember though when she was reading Jackie
But I can put a tennis racquet up against my face
And pretend that I am Kendo Nagasaki

Everything's AOR HMHB

Rare Bird
07-12-2009, 16:57
Why do you stare
Do you think that I care?
You've been mislead
By the thoughts in your head

Your words waste and decay
Nothing you say
Reaches my ears anyway
You never spoke a word of truth

Why do you think
I believe what you said
Few of your words
Ever enter my head

I'm tired of liver for freaks?
With tongues in their cheeks
Turning their eyes as they speak
They make me sick and tired

Are you confused
To the point in your mind
Though you're blind
Can't you see you're wrong
Won't you refuse
To be used
Even though you may know
I can see you're wrong
Please, please, please open their eyes
Please, please, please don't give me lies

I loon? all of the earth
Witness my birth
Cried at the sight of a man
And still I don't know who I am

I've seen paupers as kings
Puppets on strings
Dance for the children who stare
You must have seen them everywhere

...........................

Each part was played
Though the play was not shown
Everyone came
But they all sat alone

The dawn opened the play
Waking the day
Causing a silent hooray
The dawn will break another day

Now that it's done
Are we going to see the reason why I'm here

ELP - The Endlesss Enigma Pt.1&2

Rare Bird
13-12-2009, 20:56
They called me the Reverend when I entered the Crurch unstained;
my employers have changed but the name has remained.
It all began when I went on a tour,
hopping to find some furniture.
I followed a sign - it said "Beautiful Chest".
It led to a lady who showed me her best.
She was taken by surprise when I quickly closed my eyes.
So she rang the bell, and quick as hell
Bob the Nob came out on his job
to see what the trouble was.
"Louise, is the Reverend hard to please?"
"you're telling me!"
"Perhaps, sir, if it's not too late,
we could interest you in our Staffordshire plate?"
"Oh no, not me. I'm a man of repute."
But the Devil caught hold of my soul and a voice called out "Shoot!"

Themis
13-12-2009, 21:16
I'm tired Lord and I'm drawn
And I'm chilled right to the bone
I crawled home from my work
And this note said she was gone

Said your dinner's in the cat
And your love is out the door
I'm goin' back to my momma
And I don't want you no more, no more

She said she don't want me no more
She's gone back to her momma
Said she's never never comin' back no more

Now a man can take so much
And only heaven knows his limit
But a naggin' bitchin' woman
Digs a hole and puts him in it

A sophisticated man
Needs a little something on the side
So what you don't get at home
You've gotta get outside, hey

(Chorus:)
She's gone : I'm spending all of my money
She's gone, gone, gone : And I can swing with my honey
She's gone, I'm so glad my woman's gone


Now time goes marching on
And it won't wait for you
You've gotta take it when it's offered
And get it when it's due

Now a man can move much faster
Without a millstone around his neck
So if you get the chance to lose it
You've gotta drop it and run like heck, hey

(Chorus)

Modern Man Blues - 10cc

Joe
13-12-2009, 21:17
In this sumptuous hacienda,
Where I weigh things up as they’re on the way down
From beneath your Reverend Jim Jones bedspread
I watch the angels look down onto your sweet brow

If God had meant for us to work
Then I’m sure he would have given us jobs
Six weeks to live but at least I’m not in Journey
Sign on you crazy diamond

I didn’t take much time convincing her
Baby, I’m from the Wirral peninsula
A merciless despot, with nothing to lose
In my Dick Quax running shoes

Underneath the shade of the average tree where
They handed out mediocrity
I saw you with Alchemy under your arm
Standing in the middle of a long queue

I saw the Goodyear airship sail over your head
I saw the joke I told you fly over your head
Why don’t they have any badminton courts in the jungle?
Because there isn’t the demand
Oh let me take you by the hand

Sturmey-Archer Campagnolo
Sturmey-Archer Campagnolo
Sturmey-Archer Campagnolo
Sturmey-Archer Campagnolo
Sturmey-Archer Campagnolo
Sturmey-Archer Campagnolo
Sturmey-Archer Campagnolo on my mind

'A Lilac Harry Quinn' HMHB

The Grand Wazoo
01-01-2010, 13:47
Ian Dury - 'Geraldine' from 'Mr Love Pants'

I'm in love with the person in the sandwich centre
If she didn't exist I'd have to invent her
There isn't any secret to my frequent visits
It's the way she makes them and they're all exquisite

I'm in love with the person in the sandwich centre
Enamoured of the magic of her fresh polenta
My temperature rises and my pulses quicken
When she gets cracking with the coronation chicken
Geraldine, Geraldine

I know there's much more to life than the physical side
I should put these thoughts on hold
But when she's buttering my baguette
My blood runs hot and cold
Geraldine, G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-Geraldine
Geraldine, G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G

I'm in love with the person in the sandwich centre
I'm living for the moment that I next frequent her
In beauty's eyes beholding my inamorata
As she works her wonders on a dried tomato
Geraldine, Geraldine

I know there's much more to life than the sensual side
The spiritual should come first
But when she's buttering my baguette
I think I'm going to burst
Geraldine, that's the nicest badge I've ever seen
Geraldine, you make the world seem fresh and clean
Geraldine, G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-Geraldine
Geraldine

DSJR
01-01-2010, 13:55
Another home falls by the wayside
A few old cushions stuffed with pride
A hand is shaking from the rubble
This is spirit is still alive
A servant bares his occupation
Breaks his back just growing old
Never mind his views were taken
Just saw by the rules of old

Less cities more moving people
Rushing out with pride
Less cities more moving people
Hands that once were tied

A church bell rang for the occasion
The average man learns what's in store
Now he sees where his life was taken
Fighting heat, but growing old

Less cities more moving people
Rushing out with pride
Less cities more moving people
Hands that once were tied

Is this what we call education
Just watch the wheel of time revolve
But why is this not what I'm thinking
Just one mind and the unknown!

Less cities more moving people
Rushing out with pride
Cities are moving people
Who just forgot their lives

The Fixx - Phantoms - Less Cities, More Moving People

Themis
20-02-2010, 09:24
Si tu peux voir détruit l'ouvrage de ta vie
Et sans dire un seul mot te mettre à rebâtir
Ou perdre d'un seul coup le gain de cent parties
Sans un geste et sans un soupir

Si tu peux être amant sans être fou d'amour
Si tu peux être fort sans cesser d'être tendre
Et, te sentant hais, sans haïr à ton tour
Pourtant lutter et te défendre

Si tu peux supporter d'entendre tes paroles
Travesties par des gueux pour exciter des sots
Et d'entendre mentir sur toi leurs bouches folles
Sans mentir toi-même d'un mot

Si tu peux rester digne en étant populaire
Si tu peux rester peuple en conseillant les rois
Et si tu peux aimer tous tes amis en frère
Sans qu'aucun d'eux soit tout pour toi

Si tu sais méditer, observer et connaître
Sans jamais devenir sceptique ou destructeur
Rêver, mais sans laisser ton rêve être ton maître
Penser sans n'être qu'un penseur

Si tu peux être dur sans jamais être en rage
Si tu peux être brave et jamais imprudent
Si tu sais être bon, si tu sais être sage
Sans être moral ni pédant

Si tu peux rencontrer triomphe après défaite
Et recevoir ces deux menteurs d'un même front
Si tu peux conserver ton courage et ta tête
Quand tous les autres les perdront

Alors les Rois, les Dieux, la Chance et la Victoire
Seront à tout jamais tes esclaves soumis
Et, ce qui vaut mieux que les Rois et la Gloire
Tu seras un homme, mon fils.

Bernard Lavilliers - If

Joe
20-02-2010, 09:44
Inspired by the whf/wtf thread:

Re: Our gig at Deptford Abyss
Who the hell does Jeff Dreadnought think he is?
Was he even there? (I ask myself)
Does he even care? (don’t kid yourself)
Wait ’til our PR men hear of this

It’s a bad review, we got a bad review …oh Lord
It’s a bad review – wotta we gonna do? …oh Lord
I can’t walk down the street ‘cos other groups I might meet, and they’ll smirk
Oh, it’s a rum old do, is a bad review …oh Lord
And my girlfriend’s fuming

You hacks don’t know where it’s at
You can’t appreciate the master of the Strat
Not that I’m concerned (‘course you’re not)
Your paper’s full of crap (‘course it is)
I only read the gig guide anyway

It’s a bad review, a b-b-b-bad review …oh Lord
We got a bad review, I can’t believe its true …oh Lord
Well I know what you look like, so don’t ever come near Stroud,
Page 32, it’s a bad review …oh Lord
My girlfriend’s fuming

OK – let’s go to chapel

Oo-oo – what’s to do? It’s a bad review
Oo-oo – what’s to do? It’s a bad review

The fearsome hollow boom of the older boys in the deep end
The green shoots of recovery shrivelled up in harsh tomorrows
Left to pick dry sticks and mumble to myself
A melancholy emblem of parish cruelty

'Bad Review' Half Man Half Biscuit

Joe
13-03-2010, 11:24
What ever happened to twin sets?
What ever happened to Hi-fi?
What ever happened to TV sex?
What ever happened to you and I?

Your passion is a product
of highlight and detail.
That come hither look--
Bonus offer retail.

Whatever happened to pick-up trucks?
Whatever happened to yellow pages?
Whatever happened to burning books?
Whatever happened to new ages?

Your emotions are cheap--
Cut, price, cash and carry.
You wear your heart on your sleeve
For any Tom, Dick, or Harry.

Your love is a cashed-in cheque.
Oh oh, that's the way of all flesh!

Whatever happened to Chairman Mao?
Whatever happened to God above?
Whatever happened to the cow?
Whatever happened to plug-in love?

Your pasteurised life--
So fit for consumption.
Ooh, those undressing eyes--
So strictly commercial.

Your love is a cashed-in cheque
Oh oh, that's the way of all flesh!
All flesh!
All flesh!

'Whatever Happened To?' The Buzzcocks

DSJR
13-03-2010, 21:59
You’re not mine anymore, as we take our last walk together
Along the midnight shore
Before we say goodbye, forever

Shall I call you "love" or use your name
Shall I wear my sadness face, or look the same
I am careful to avoid the touch of your hand
I must not be drawn into the bedroom of your eyes

You could say you’d see me soon, but you’re as silent as the moon
You could say “let’s start again”, but you think of other men
And I wonder if I ever knew, the more elusive inner you
For the buttons of your mind were difficult to find
and my fingers far too clumsy…






Roger McGough - The Scaffold

Barry
02-08-2010, 21:55
I notice that this excellent thread has lain fallow for some time. It’s time to resurrect it. To do so I’m going to provide two examples by a female singer songwriter whose lyrical poetry can stand comparison with that of Bob Dylan and Joni Mitchell: Susanne Vega.

The first example is a repeat of the Susanne Vega song forming an early (8th) post to this thread by Nick (Beechwoods). I’m repeating it for two reasons: firstly because it is an excellent example of subtle lyric writing on a difficult subject, and secondly the following post was such a crass, puerile and stupid reply that, in my opinion, it all but sabotaged the good intentions of the thread. It is Susanne Vega’s ‘Marlene on the Wall’.

As Nick opined in his offering of this song, Marlene refers to a picture on a wall that observes the social interaction described in the song. It might actually be a poster of Marlene Dietrich, but whether it is or not doesn’t matter, it's what is going on that is of more interest. Is it, as Nick suggests, about an illicit affair, or is it as seems more likely, a description of domestic violence – an aspect of a failed but trapped relationship?


‘Marlene on the Wall’

Even if I am in love with you
All this to say, what's it to you?
Observe the blood, the rose tattoo
Of the fingerprints on me from you

Other evidence has shown
That you and I are still alone
We skirt around the danger zone
And don't talk about it later

Marlene watches from the wall
Her mocking smile says it all
As the records the rise and fall
Of every soldier passing

But the only soldier now is me
I'm fighting things I cannot see
I think it's called my destiny
That I am changing

Marlene on the wall

I walk to your house in the afternoon
By the butcher's shop with the sawdust strewn
"Don't give away the goods too soon"
Is what she might have told me

And I tried so hard to resist
When you held me in your handsome fist
And reminded me of the night we kissed
And of why I should be leaving

Marlene watches from the wall
Her mocking smile says it all
As the records the rise and fall
Of every man who's been here

But the only one here now is me
I'm fighting things I cannot see
I think it's called my destiny
That I am changing

Marlene on the wall.


This second song by Susanne Vega and taken from her first album (as is ‘Marlene on the Wall’), is also about a very difficult and sensitive subject: that of parental child abuse. What I find particularly shocking, but sadly realistic, is the desire of the victim to retreat into his own little world, afraid to talk about it to a stranger who may be able to help for fear of further abuse. Here it is:

‘Luka’

My name is Luka
I live on the second floor
I live upstairs from you
Yes I think you've seen me before

If you hear something late at night
Some kind of trouble. Some kind of fight
Just don't ask me what it was
Just don't ask me what it was
Just don't ask me what it was

I think it's because I'm clumsy
I try not to talk too loud
Maybe it's because I'm crazy
I try not to act too proud

They only hit until you cry
After that you don't ask why
You just don't argue anymore
You just don't argue anymore
You just don't argue anymore

Yes I think I'm okay
I walked into the door again
Well, if you ask that's what I'll say
And it's not your business anyway
I guess I'd like to be alone
With nothing broken, nothing thrown

Just don't ask me how I am
Just don't ask me how I am
Just don't ask me how I am

My name is Luka
I live on the second floor
I live upstairs from you
Yes I think you've seen me before

If you hear something late at night
Some kind of trouble, some kind of fight
Just don't ask me what it was
Just don't ask me what it was
Just don't ask me what it was

And they only hit until you cry
After that, you don't ask why
You just don't argue anymore
You just don't argue anymore
You just don't argue anymore.

petea
02-08-2010, 22:59
Hi Barry,

I always though of 'Luka' as about domestic violence (wife) rather than child abuse but a great song from a wonderful songwriter / singer none-the-less. Another on a similar subject comes from those great commentators on the social condition, 10,000 Maniacs.

'What's the Matter Here' from In My Tribe

"That young boy without a name
Anywhere I'd know his face
In this city the kid's my favorite
I've seen him
I see him every day
Seen him run outside
Looking for a place to hide
From his father
The kid half naked
And said to myself
"O, what's the matter here?"

I'm tired of the excuses
Everbody uses
He's their kid
I stay out of it
But who gave you the right
To do this?

We live on Morgan Street
Just ten feet between
And his mother
I never see her
But her screams and cussing
I hear them every day
Threats like
"If you don't mind
I will beat on your behind"
"Slap you, slap you silly"
Made me say
"O, what's the matter here?"

I'm tired of the excuses
Everybody uses
He's your kid
Do as you see fit
But get this through
That I don't approve
Of what you did
To you own flesh and blood

I'm tired of the excuses
Everybody uses
He's your kid
Do as you see fit
But get this through
That I don't approve
Of what you did
To you own flesh and blood

"If you don't sit
In your chair straight
I'll take this belt
From around my waist
And don't you think
That I won't use it!"
Answer me and take your time
What could be the awful crime
He could do at such young an age?
If I'm the only witness
To your madness
Offer me some words to balance
Out what I see and what I hear
All these cold and rude
Things that you do
I suppose you do
Because he belongs to you
And instead of love
And the feel of warmth
You've given him these cuts
And sores won't heal
With time or age
I want to say
"What's the Matter here?"
But I don't dare say
"What's the Matter here?"
But I don't dare say"


On a different theme, how about 'Ruby's Arms' by Tom Waits. The man is a master of holding a melody through the rhythm of the lyrics.

"I will leave behind all of my clothes,
I wore when I was with you,
all I need's my railroad boots
and my leather jacket.
As i say goodbye to Ruby's arms
although my heart is breaking,
I will steal away out through your
blinds, for soon you will be waking.

The morning light has washed your face
and everything is turning blue now.
Hold on to your pillow case
there's nothing i can do now.
As I say goodbye to Ruby's arms,
you'll find another soldier,
and i swear to god by christmastime,
there'll be someone else to hold you.

The only thing I'm taking is
the scarf off of your clothesline,
I'll hurry past your chest of drawers
and your broken wind chimes,
as i say goodbye
I'll say goodbye,
say goodbye to Ruby's arms.

I will feel my way down the darkened hall,
and out into the morning,
the hobos at the freightyards
have kept their fires burning.
So Jesus Christ this goddamn rain,
will someone put me on a train.
I'll never kiss your lips again
or break your heart,
as I say goodbye
I'll say goodbye,
say goodbye to Ruby's arms."

Wonderful.

Techno Commander
02-08-2010, 23:27
Fine lyrics from the master himself. :)


Catholic girls
With a tiny little mustache
Catholic girls
Do you know how they go?
Catholic girls
In the rectory basement
Father rileys a fairy
But it don't bother mary
Catholic girls
At the cyo
Catholic girls
Do you know how they go?
Catholic girls
There can be no replacement
How do they go, after the show?

Barry
03-08-2010, 12:59
There is at the moment a concurrently running thread entitled “What’s so great about the Beatles”. Well, I my opinion, their song ‘She’s Leaving Home’ alone would earn them more than respect enough.

I have never heard a song whose lyrics so eloquently and poignantly expresses the alienation and distance that can sometimes occur between parents and their late teenage offspring. Even reading the lyrics brings tears to my eyes. No party is truly guilty – though guilt is felt. The feeling of ingratitude and betrayal perceived by the parents, though not understanding that the ‘sacrifices they made’ had lead to a stifling and lonely environment for their daughter. If only they had sat down together and talked about it.

‘She’s Leaving Home’

Wednesday morning at five o'clock
as the day begins
Silently closing her bedroom door
Leaving the note that she hoped would say more
She goes downstairs to the kitchen
clutching her handkerchief
Quietly turning the back door key
Stepping outside she is free

She (we gave her most of our lives)
is leaving (sacrificed most of our lives)
home (we gave her everything money could buy)
She's leaving home after living alone for
so many years (bye bye)

Father snores as his wife gets into her dressing gown
Picks up the letter that's lying there
Standing alone at the top of the stairs
She breaks down and cries to her husband
Daddy our baby's gone
Why would she treat us so thoughtlessly
How could she do this to me

She (We never thought of ourselves)
is leaving (never a thought for ourselves)
home (we struggled hard all our lives to get by)
She's leaving home after living alone for
so many years (bye bye)

Friday morning at nine o'clock she is far away
Waiting to keep the appointment she made
Meeting a man from the motor trade

She (what did we do that was wrong)
is having (we didn't know it was wrong)
fun (fun is the one thing that money can't buy)
Something inside that was always denied for
so many years (bye bye)
She's leaving home (bye bye)

Barry
03-08-2010, 22:58
This one is by Rickie Lee Jones: ‘The Last Chance Texaco’. Probably my favourite RLJ song. Not sure exactly why it’s my favourite, maybe it’s because I think the idea of using a clapped out, run-down automobile that needs a bit of TLC, as a metaphor for a woman’s unsuccessful relationship with men is rather clever.

And now it’s her last chance, “to trust the man with the star”, “her timing’s all wrong – she can’t idle this long”, “she just needs a man, that’s all”.

I would commend that your actually listen to this track (end of Side 1 on RLJ’s eponymous LP), so that you can hear RLJ making ‘Eeee- yeeow’ noises, mimicking the sound of the traffic on I-9.


‘The Last Chance Texaco’

A long stretch of headlights
Bends into I-9
Tiptoe into truck stops
And sleepy diesel eyes
Volcanoes rumble in the taxi
And glow in the dark
Camels in the driver's seat
A slow, easy mark

But you ran out of gas
Down the road a piece
Then the battery went dead
And now the cable won't reach...

It's your last chance
To check under the hood
Last chance
She ain't soundin' too good,
Your last chance
To trust the man with the star
You've found the last chance Texaco

Well, he tried to be Standard
He tries to be Mobil
He tried living in a world
And in a shell
There was this block-busted blonde
He loved her - free parts and labour
But she broke down and died
She threw all the rods he gave her

But this one ain't fuel-injected
Her plug's disconnected
She gets scared and she stalls
She just needs a man, that's all

It's her last chance
Her timing's all wrong
Her last chance
She can't idle this long
Her last chance
Turn her over and go
Pullin' out of the last chance Texaco
The last chance.

The Grand Wazoo
03-08-2010, 23:00
Two sublime choices Barry.

Alex_UK
03-08-2010, 23:01
Rickie Lee Jones: ‘The Last Chance Texaco’ - Spotify Link (http://open.spotify.com/track/6AW2LwSx8pN24BRWzPMvn0)

DSJR
03-08-2010, 23:06
ELP (Mr Palmer probably)

Good night, good night....
Look at that moon shine so bright.
And tonight he smiles
Especially for you.

Sleep tight, sleep tight.
Know everything is alright.
And tonight I will be here
Watching over you.

For tonight I will be here watching over you.
Tonight I’ll be here watching over you.

Sweet dreams, sweet dreams.
It is never as real as it seems.
And in the morning when you wake up
I will be right here.

Sleep on, sleep on.
For no matter how dark or how long
It may seem that your night is
I will still be here.

I will still be here watching, watching over you.
So sleep, little darling, sleep on through.

So be still, be still
For you know that I always will
Tonight and forever
Be watching over you.

For tonight and forever, be watching over you.
So sleep, little darling, sleep on through.

I will be watching over you.


Our son was born what seems like yesterday and eleven and a half years on he's 5' 6" - taller than his Mum and with bigger shoe size than me.. However tall or old he gets, I hope to honour the lyrics above in some way or another :)

:goodnight:

The Grand Wazoo
03-08-2010, 23:28
I've always had a bit of a thing for Del Amitri - it used to be a guilty pleasure, but now I'm not guilty about it. I often think that Justin Curry and Iain Harvie's lyrics are overlooked. They have a way of setting a scene just so with lines like these:

Before the Evening Steals the Afternoon

Lovers they walk on the bright side of the street
And the city it shines in surprise in the ice cream heat
And I want to be kissed in the haze of this hotel room
Before the evening steals the afternoon

And the traffic it shakes as my travel shaver drones
And the maid she mistakes my 'come in' for a 'please leave me alone'
But I want to be held in the swell of her sweet perfume
Before the evening steals the afternoon

Before the daylight dies and the dusty sky gets rusted up with tungsten
Before the phony night stakes its claim on walkers waiting at the junction

From the blue shade of the park, couples emerge
Dropping hands like they're still scared to get caught
But I want to be caught in their rage of embraces too
Before the evening steals the afternoon




Also, Move Away Jimmy Blue has more than a bit of a She's Leaving Home

A struck match faded like a nervous laugh
Beyond the halo of a naked bulb
Your low voice mingles with your other half?s;
Schoolfriends in second-hand clothes
Eventually your world will shrink within four walls
Of neglected debts and stolen stereos.

So move away Jimmy Blue
Before your small, small town turns around
And swallows you

A drunk mother was the cue
For the legendary things that you do
Behind a carnival tent with mud on your face
Behind the old glue factory too.

So move away Jimmy Blue
Before your small, small town turns around
And swallows you

Wet feet visit the same old places
Finding nothing new
It?s a binful of tissues from made-up faces
In a townful of nothing to do
A love match with the moon
In a layby, while insects hum and
You got put in the darkness of a woman?s womb
Jimmy blue.

So move away,
Move away Jimmy Blue
Before your small, small town
Turns around and swallows you.

Joe
12-08-2010, 09:40
There is at the moment a concurrently running thread entitled “What’s so great about the Beatles”. Well, I my opinion, their song ‘She’s Leaving Home’ alone would earn them more than respect enough.

I have never heard a song whose lyrics so eloquently and poignantly expresses the alienation and distance that can sometimes occur between parents and their late teenage offspring.

Someone once wrote about the different reaction to the song you had as a kid: 'Down with the fascist parents, man!' to those you have as a parent: 'The ungrateful little trollop!'.

Joe
12-08-2010, 09:56
I've always had a bit of a thing for Del Amitri - it used to be a guilty pleasure, but now I'm not guilty about it. I often think that Justin Curry and Iain Harvie's lyrics are overlooked.

Oh, yes:

Snow in a soulless city covers up the cracks in the road
As a wastrel buys her cigarettes and wipes her pretty nose
Like a part-time Elvis imitator, these streets I knew so well
Have been pasted beyond recognition with a temporary smell

Now the midnight train eases out leaving everyone marooned
And without her it might as well be the surface of the moon

From the well-swept streets of Jackson Heights to the dockside drudgery
Everything's now a replica of what it used to be
And since they tarted up the tramsheds and painted the bridges blue
It seems less like a home to me than just a place they bury you

Now we're lit up like a cathedral in our frozen concrete ruin
And without her it might as well be the surface of the moon

So I need her and I love her that is true
But I'm stuck here like some shipwreck still holding on to you
So when they beat out the tramps and patch up the slums
Everything will be fine
There'll be a new facade for us to hide behind

So on the ancient trails of our coupling in the places we used to meet
I am amazed by the lack of memories that I thought would flood through me
And the riverside where we first kissed has now been reduced
To a phoney old world market where only shoppers get seduced

Now your arms embrace me strangely in your old familiar room
And for all I care it might as well be the surface of the moon
Yeah for all I care it might as well be the surface of the moon

The Grand Wazoo
12-08-2010, 22:58
Lowell George - 'Twenty Million Things'

If it's fix a fence, fender dents
I've got lots of experience
Rent gets spent
All the letters never written, that don't get sent
It comes from confusion, all things I left undone
It comes from moment to moment, day to day
The time seems to slip away

But I've got twenty million things to do, twenty million things
All I can think about is you
With twenty million things
Twenty million things to do

I've got mysterious wisteria hanging in the air
The rocking chair I was supposed to fix
Well it came undid
And all the things that I let slip, I found out quick
It comes from moment to moment, day to day
The time seems to slip away

But I've got twenty million things to do, twenty million things
All I can do, is think about you
With twenty million
Twenty million things to do

Alex_UK
12-08-2010, 23:55
I've got mysterious wisteria hanging in the air
The rocking chair I was supposed to fix
Well it came undid

That, is just pure, unadulterated genius, those three lines. I didn't know the track or artist (sorry) - but just... yes! http://open.spotify.com/track/6vcTWUW5ZcC1Zg28xzBJsm

Batty
13-08-2010, 00:26
Did anyone see my last marble
As it rolled out and over the floor?
It fell through a hole in the corner
Of a room in a town on a tour
It's lonely without your last marble
I miss it not rattling around
As I lie in my bed there's a space in my head
Where there used to be colours and sound..

When I was a child I had marbles
They brought admiration and fame
They were pretty to look at and marbles
Was always my favourite game
We played all the summer days
In the stony alleyways
In the playground after class
We would trade the coloured glass
More valuable than diamonds
More magical than diamonds
Did anyone see..
Did anyone see..
Does anyone see?

There were almost four hundred until the black day
I discovered how high they would fly to the sky
If you used them for tennis instead of a ball..
Zinging glass satellites crueller than fate
Whacked with a racket up into the blue
I'd smashed all the greenhouses on the estate
And a crowd formed a queue at the gate..

That was almost the end of my marbles
Confiscated, I choked back the tears
I hung onto a handful of favourites
That disappeared over the years
Did anyone see my last marble
I swear that I had it before
Sometimes I think I should go see a shrink
In case he can find me some more

Did anyone see my last marble?
I'd saved it to give it away
Since I was a youth
Now I don't have no proof
Only words
Only words
Only words.

Marbles I to IV

Batty
13-08-2010, 02:01
Three hundred miles an hour on water
In your purpose-built machine
No one dared to call a boat
Screaming blue
Out of this world
Make history
This is your day
Blue Bird
At such speeds, things fly

What did she say?
I know the pain of too much tenderness
Wondering when or if you'll come back again
Wanting to live for you
And being banned from giving

But only love will turn you around
Only love will turn you around
Only love
Only love will turn you around

So we live you and I
Either side of the edge
And we run and we scream
With the dilated stare
Of obsession and dreaming
What the hell do we want
Is it only to go
Where nobody has gone
A better way than the herd
Sing a different song
Till you're running the ledge
To the gasp from the crowd
Spinning round in your head
Everything that she said


Out of this World, A tribute to Donald Campbell.

The Grand Wazoo
13-09-2010, 19:48
Ian Dury & the Blockheads - 'You'll See Glimpses'

You'll see.
They think I'm off my crust as I creep about the gaff.
But I'm really getting ready to surprise them all.
Because I'm busy sorting out the problems of the world.
And when I reveal all, I may get a crinkly mouth.
I've given my all to the task at hand unstintingly.
And when it's all over, I'll rest on my laurels.

Here for a moment is a glimpse of my plan:
All the kids will be happy learning things.
The wind will smell of wild flowers.
Nobody will whack each other about, or nasty things.
All the room in the world.

They take me for a mug because I smile.
They think I'm too out of tune to mind being patronised.
All in all, it's been another phase in my chosen career,
And when my secrets are out, they'll bite their silly tongues.
All I want for my birthday is another birthday.
When skies are blue, we all feel the benefit.

Glimpse Number 2 for the listener.
Everyone will feel useful in lovely ways.
Trees will be firmly rooted in town and country.
Illness and despair will be dispensed with.
All the room in the world.

They ask me if I've had the voices yet.
They don't think I know any true answers.
It's true that I haven't quite finished yet.
When it all comes out in the wash, they'll eat their words.
I've got all their names and addresses.
Later on I'll write them each a thank you letter.

Before I stop, here's a last glimpse into the general future.
Home rule will exist in each home, forever.
Every living thing will be another friend.
This wonderful state of affairs will last for always.
This has been got out by a friend.

Techno Commander
13-09-2010, 19:56
Aqualung - Jethro Tull

Stiring stuff. :)

Sitting on a park bench
eyeing little girls with bad intent. :eyebrows:
Snot running down his nose
greasy fingers smearing shabby clothes.
Drying in the cold sun
Watching as the frilly panties run. :stalks:
Feeling like a dead duck
spitting out pieces of his broken luck.

Sun streaking cold
an old man wandering lonely.
Taking time
the only way he knows.
Leg hurting bad,
as he bends to pick a dog-end
he goes down to the bog
and warms his feet.

Feeling alone
the army's up the rode
salvation à la mode and
a cup of tea.
Aqualung my friend
don't start away uneasy
you poor old sod, you see, it's only me.
Do you still remember
December's foggy freeze
when the ice that
clings on to your beard is
screaming agony.
And you snatch your rattling last breaths
with deep-sea-diver sounds,
and the flowers bloom like
madness in the spring.

Jac Hawk
13-11-2010, 15:52
For me the lyrics from simon & garfunkle's track "The Boxer" are hard to beat, plus they make me think of Cornwall in the 70's very happy times indeed.

BTW if anyone plays there music collection from PC there is a great plugin for media player that gets all the lyrics for you.

Barry
13-11-2010, 23:31
For me the lyrics from Simon & Garfunkle's track "The Boxer" are hard to beat, plus they make me think of Cornwall in the 70's very happy times indeed.

BTW if anyone plays there music collection from PC there is a great plugin for media player that gets all the lyrics for you.

Hello Jac,

Agreed - it's a fine song. For those that don't know it:

"I am just a poor boy
Though my story's seldom told
I have squandered my resistance
For a pocket full of mumbles such are promises
All lies and jests
Still a man hears what he wants to hear
And disregards the rest

When I left my home and my family
I was no more than a boy
In the company of strangers
In the quiet of the railway station running scared
Laying low, seeking out the poorer quarters
Where the ragged people go
Looking for the places only they would know

Lie la lie ...

Asking only workman's wages
I come looking for a job
But I get no offers,
Just a come-on from the whores on Seventh Avenue
I do declare, there were times when I was so lonesome
I took some comfort there

Lie la lie ...

Then I'm laying out my winter clothes
And wishing I was gone
Going home
Where the New York City winters aren't bleeding me
Bleeding me, going home

In the clearing stands a boxer
And a fighter by his trade
And he carries the reminders
Of ev'ry glove that layed him down
Or cut him till he cried out
In his anger and his shame
"I am leaving, I am leaving"
But the fighter still remains

Lie la lie ..."

Regards

Bazil
15-11-2010, 19:07
Just the last verse of Paranoid Eyes:-

you believed in their stories of fame fortune and glory
now you're lost in a haze of alcohol soft middle age
the pie in the sky turned out to be miles too high
and you hide hide hide
behind brown and mild eyes

:( Classic Waters

YNWaN
15-11-2010, 19:58
Four pails of water and a bagfull of salts.

That is all we are, that is all a man comprises,
chemicals alone, with no spirit, soul or ghost -

_________________________________

I'm gonna call her on the telephone
Have her over 'cause i'm all alone
I need excitement oh i need it bad
And she's the best, i've ever had

__________________________________

Please don't call me Reg, it's not my name
__________________________________

I can read your mind like a magazine
I see where you're at
I know what you mean
__________________________________

shiny, shiny, shiny boots of leather

whiplash girlchild in the dark

comes in bells, your servant, don't forsake him

strike, dear mistress, and cure his heart

DSJR
15-11-2010, 20:53
Two for the season...

Nick Drake, River Man - extract

"Gonna see the river man
Gonna tell him all I can
About the ban
On feeling free

If he tells me all he knows
About the way his river flows
I don’t suppose
It’s meant for me"

and...

Led Zep, Ramble On

"Leaves are falling all around, It's time I was on my way.
Thanks to you, I'm much obliged for such a pleasant stay.
But now it's time for me to go. The autumn moon lights my way.
For now I smell the rain, and with it pain, and it's headin' my way.
Sometimes I grow so tired, but I know I've got one thing I got to do...

*Ramble On, And now's the time, the time is now, to sing my song.
I'm goin' 'round the world, I got to find my girl, on my way.
I've been this way ten years to the day, Ramble On,
Gotta find the queen of all my dreams.

Got no time for spreadin' roots, The time has come to be gone.
And to' our health we drank a thousand times, it's time to Ramble On.

* Chorus

Mine's a tale that can't be told, my freedom I hold dear.
How years ago in days of old, when magic filled the air.
T'was in the darkest depths of Mordor, I met a girl so fair.
But Gollum, and the evil one crept up and slipped away with her, her, her....yeah.

* Chorus

Gonna ramble on, sing my song. Gotta keep-a-searchin' for my baby...
Gonna work my way, round the world. I can't stop this feelin' in my heart
Gotta keep searchin' for my baby......"

Barry
16-11-2010, 00:49
Would posters to this thread please name the song whose lyrics they are quoting? Lyrics are not the same as poetry; one needs to have some idea of the tune or rhythm against which the lyrics are sung.

Thank you

Alex_UK
16-11-2010, 08:54
Would posters to this thread please name the song whose lyrics they are quoting? Lyrics are not the same as poetry; one needs to have some idea of the tune or rhythm against which the lyrics are sung.

Thank you

+1, pretty please! ;)

YNWaN
16-11-2010, 11:37
Peter Hammill - Four Pails
The Undertones - Teenage kicks
Robyn Hitchcock and the Egyptions - Brenda's Iron Sledge
Hawkwind - Psi Power
The Velvet Underground - Venus in Furs

DSJR
16-11-2010, 12:40
Hybrid's Disappear Here (gawd, I love this album..)

Maybe it was my mistake
Could it be that I'm the one to blame?
Broken all the pieces
Why don't you throw the rest away?

And you cry like a baby
Fly like a bird
I'll shoot you down
And yet no one can save me
Cause I only disappear here

Wait! I'm in the wrong house
I'm in the wrong room
Some place in someone else's shoes

I want to turn back
I want to shut down
I'll blow away if I breathe out

Save me from sleeping now
Save me from flying out
I disappear here

I have been your guilty pleasure
I've been your lack of restraint
Apply the perfect pressure
To your sweet subordinate

So go into your spiral
And gently you're winding me down
So I figure I'm falling
Into the fall out

Wait! I'm in the wrong house
I'm in the wrong room
Some place in someone else's shoes

I want to turn back
I want to shut down
You'll blow away if I breathe out

Save me from sleeping now
Save me from flying out
I disappear here

Broken, torn, insincere
Can I watch
As you disappear
Here

WAD62
21-11-2010, 11:40
Tokyo Storm Warning Lyrics (Mr Costello at his best)

The sky fell over cheap Korean monster-movie scenery
And spilled into the mezzanine of the crushed capsule hotel
Between the Disney abattoir and the chemical refinery
And I knew I was in trouble but I thought I was in hell

So you look around the tiny room and you wonder where the hell you are
While the K.K.K. convention are all stranded in the bar
They wear hoods and carry shotguns in the main streets of Montgomery
But they're helpless here as babies 'cause they're only here on holiday

Chorus: What do we care if the world is a joke
(Tokyo Storm Warning)
We'll give it a big kiss
We'll give it a poke
(Tokyo Storm Warning)
Death wears a big hat 'cause he's a big bloke
(Tokyo Storm Warning)
We're only living this instant

The black sand stuck beneath her feet in a warm Sorrento sunrise
A barefoot girl from Naples or was it a Barcelona hi-rise
Whistles out the tuneless theme song on a hundred cheap suggestions
And a million false seductions and all those eternal questions

Chorus

So they flew the Super-Constellation all the way from Rimini
And feasted them on fish and chips from a newspaper facsimile
Now dead Italian tourists bodies litter up the Broadway
Some people can't be told you know they have to learn the hard way

Holidays are dirt-cheap in the Costa del Malvinas
In the Hotel Argentina they can hardly tell between us
For Teresa is a waitress though she's now known as Juanita
In a tango bar in Stanley or in Puerto Margarita
She's the sweetest and the sauciest
The loveliest and the naughtiest
She's Miss Buenos Aires in a world of lacy lingerie

Chorus

The Japanese got Jesus robots telling teenage fortunes
For all we know and all we care they might as well be Martians
They say gold paint on the palace gates comes from the teeth of pensioners
They're so tired of shooting protest singers
That they hardly mention us
While fountains fill with second-hand perfume
And sodden trading stamps
They'll hang the bullies and the louts that dampen down the day

Chorus

We braved the cold November air and the undertaker's curses
Saying "Take me to the Folies Bergere and please don't spare the hearses"
For he always had a dream of that revolver in your purse
How you loved him 'til you hated him and made him cry for mercy
He said "Don't ever mention my name there or talk of all the nights you cried
We've always been like worlds apart now you're seeing two nightmares collide"

Chorus

Barry
21-11-2010, 20:55
Tokyo Storm Warning Lyrics (Mr Costello at his best)

The sky fell over cheap Korean monster-movie scenery
And spilled into the mezzanine of the crushed capsule hotel
Between the Disney abattoir and the chemical refinery
And I knew I was in trouble but I thought I was in hell

So you look around the tiny room and you wonder where the hell you are
While the K.K.K. convention are all stranded in the bar
They wear hoods and carry shotguns in the main streets of Montgomery
But they're helpless here as babies 'cause they're only here on holiday

Chorus: What do we care if the world is a joke
(Tokyo Storm Warning)
We'll give it a big kiss
We'll give it a poke
(Tokyo Storm Warning)
Death wears a big hat 'cause he's a big bloke
(Tokyo Storm Warning)
We're only living this instant

The black sand stuck beneath her feet in a warm Sorrento sunrise
A barefoot girl from Naples or was it a Barcelona hi-rise
Whistles out the tuneless theme song on a hundred cheap suggestions
And a million false seductions and all those eternal questions

Chorus

So they flew the Super-Constellation all the way from Rimini
And feasted them on fish and chips from a newspaper facsimile
Now dead Italian tourists bodies litter up the Broadway
Some people can't be told you know they have to learn the hard way

Holidays are dirt-cheap in the Costa del Malvinas
In the Hotel Argentina they can hardly tell between us
For Teresa is a waitress though she's now known as Juanita
In a tango bar in Stanley or in Puerto Margarita
She's the sweetest and the sauciest
The loveliest and the naughtiest
She's Miss Buenos Aires in a world of lacy lingerie

Chorus

The Japanese got Jesus robots telling teenage fortunes
For all we know and all we care they might as well be Martians
They say gold paint on the palace gates comes from the teeth of pensioners
They're so tired of shooting protest singers
That they hardly mention us
While fountains fill with second-hand perfume
And sodden trading stamps
They'll hang the bullies and the louts that dampen down the day

Chorus

We braved the cold November air and the undertaker's curses
Saying "Take me to the Folies Bergere and please don't spare the hearses"
For he always had a dream of that revolver in your purse
How you loved him 'til you hated him and made him cry for mercy
He said "Don't ever mention my name there or talk of all the nights you cried
We've always been like worlds apart now you're seeing two nightmares collide"

Chorus

Wow! Dread to think what a collaboration between Elvis Costello and Roger Waters might produce. Perhaps it's just as well they don't work together!

Regards

WAD62
22-11-2010, 09:51
...it somehow makes a little more sense with the music, as always he has great rhythm in his lyrics (if that makes sense).

Barry
13-01-2011, 18:32
This thread has become a bit quiet, so I’ll revive it by posting two sets of lyrics.

The first is The Sisters of Mercy by Leonard Cohen. The Sisters of Mercy are not, as I’m sure you know, a religious order. Rather they are Cohen’s appellation of two prostitutes he met in Edmonton. With this sort of PR, the Sisters of Mercy should enjoy plenty of business!


Oh the sisters of mercy, they are not departed or gone.
They were waiting for me when I thought that I just couldn’t go on.
And they brought me their comfort and later they brought me their song.
Oh I hope you run into them, you who've been travelling so long.

Yes you who must leave everything that you cannot control.
It begins with your family, but soon it comes around to your soul.
Well I've been where you're hanging; I think I can see how you're pinned:
When you're not feeling holy, your loneliness says that you've sinned.

They lay down beside me; I made my confession to them.
They touched both my eyes and I touched the dew on their hem.
If your life is a leaf that the seasons tear off and condemn
they will bind you with love that is graceful and green as a stem.

When I left they were sleeping, I hope you run into them soon.
Don't turn on the lights, you can read their address by the moon.
And you won't make me jealous if I hear that they sweetened your night:
We weren't lovers like that and besides it would still be all right,
We weren't lovers like that and besides it would still be all right.




My second choice is I Got No, I Got Life by Nina Simone. There are times when we all feel disgruntled and tend to whinge about our lot in life; there seems to have been some of late here on this forum. Though by no means a panacea, it’s sometimes a good thing to take stock and be grateful for what you have got, and no one does it better than Nina Simone.


I ain't got no home, ain't got no shoes
Ain't got no money, Ain't got no class
Ain't got no skirts, Ain't got no sweater
Ain't got no perfume Ain't got no bed
Ain't got no mind,

Ain't got no mother Ain't got no culture
Ain't got no friends, aint got no schoolin'
Ain't got no love, Ain't got no name
Ain't got no ticket, Ain't got no token
Ain't got no god

and what have I got?
why am I alive anyway?
yeah what have i got?
nobody can take away?...

Got my hair. Got my head
Got my brains, Got my ears
Got my eyes, Got my nose
Got my mouth, I got my smile

Got my tongue, Got my chin
Got my neck, Got my boobies
Got my heart, Got my soul
Got my back, I got my sex.

I got my arms, got my hands, got my fingers,
got my legs, got my feet, got my toes,
got my liver, got my blood.

I've got life,
I've got my freedom
I've got life
I've got life
and I am gonna keep it.

I've got life
and nobody's gonna take it away
I've got life!

Beechwoods
05-02-2011, 11:03
From the sublime to the ridiculous, 'You Knows I Love You' by Goldie Lookin' Chain. One of my favourite 'love-rap' tracks :)


I wanna take you to Mcdonalds with a candle
Girl, it's my love you can't handle
I see you walking on the way home from work
Your Tesco tunic really drives me berserk
I'm for real - it ain't no quirk
My love is lurking the way a rapist would lurk
In a bush, or a car park in town
I bought you this necklace
It cost me 12 pounds
From Argos, Elizabeth Duke
Maybe you're the Skywalker to my Luke
The Darth to the Vader
Flip Over the Crossfader
I'll serenade you with a bag of space raiders
Or walkers or smiths or maybe even quavers
'Cos my love for you is like drugs for ravers
With glowsticks and funny hats on
I loves you more than I loves my bong

botnsA3KOWI

WAD62
07-02-2011, 12:53
GLC top quality light entertainment...'Yer mums gor a penis!'

Dan Le Sac Vs Scroobius Pip 'Thou shalt always kill' (from the album Angles which is excellent IMHO)

Thou shalt not steal if there is a direct victim.
Thou shalt not worship Pop Idols or follow Lostprophets.
Thou shalt not take the names of Johnny Cash, Joe Strummer,
Johnny Hartman, Desmond Decker, Jim Morrison,
Jimi Hendrix or Syd Barrett in vain.
Thou shalt not think that any male over the age of 30
That plays with a child that is not their own is a paedophile.
Some people are just nice.
Thou shalt not read NME.
Thou shalt not stop liking a band just because they've become popular.
Thou shalt not question Stephen Fry.
Thou shalt not judge a book by it's cover.
Thou shalt not judge Lethal Weapon by Danny Glover.
Thou shalt not buy Coca-Cola products.
Thou shalt not buy Nestle products.
Thou shalt not go into the woods with your boyfriend's best friend,
Take drugs and cheat on him.
Thou shalt not fall in love so easily.
Thou shalt not use poetry, art or music to get into girls' pants.
Use it to get into their heads.
Thou shalt not watch Hollyoaks.
Thou shalt not attend an open mic and leave
As soon as you've done your shitty little poem or song
You self-righteous prick.
Thou shalt not return to the same club or bar week in,
Week out just 'cause you once saw a girl there that
You fancied that you're never gonna fucking talk to anyway.

Thou shalt not put musicians and
Recording artists on ridiculous pedestals
No matter how great they are or were.
The Beatles: Were just a band.
Led Zepplin: Just a band.
The Beach Boys: Just a band.
The Sex Pistols: Just a band.
The Clash: Just a band.
Crass: Just a band.
Minor Threat: Just a band.
The Cure: Were just a band.
The Smiths: Just a band.
Nirvana: Just a band.
The Pixies: Just a band.
Oasis: Just a band.
Radiohead: Just a band.
Bloc Party: Just a band.
The Arctic Monkeys: Just a band.
The Next Big Thing... JUST A BAND.

Thou shalt give equal worth to tragedies that occur in non-English
Speaking countries as to those that occur in English speaking countries.
Thou shalt remember that guns,
Bitches and bling were never part of the four elements and never will be.
Thou shalt not make repetitive generic music,
Thou shalt not make repetitive generic music,
Thou shalt not make repetitive generic music,
Thou shalt not make repetitive generic music.
Thou shalt not pimp my ride.
Thou shalt not scream if you wanna go faster.
Thou shalt not move to the sound of the wickedness.
Thou shalt not make some noise for Detroit.
When I say "Hey" thou shalt not say "Ho".
When I say "Hip" thou shalt not say "Hop".
When I say, he say, she say, we say, make some noise - kill me.

Ah, I forgot where I was, hang on

Thou shalt not quote me happy.
Thou shalt not shake it like a polaroid picture.
Thou shalt not wish your girlfriend was a freak like me.
Thou shalt spell the word "Pheonix" P-H-E-O-N-I-X
Not P-H-O-E-N-I-X, regardless of what the Oxford English Dictionary tells you.
Thou shalt not express your shock at the fact that
Sharon got off with Brad at a club last night by saying "Is it".
Thou shalt think for yourselves.

And thou shalt always...
Thou shalt always kill!

Works better with the music...

yoN6XfyQsr4

DanJennings
10-02-2011, 19:25
Dan Le Sac Vs Scroobius Pip 'Thou shalt always kill' (from the album Angles which is excellent IMHO)


Really enjoyed that, and listened to a couple of other songs on youtube, will definitely be checking them out, cheers

Techno Commander
11-02-2011, 14:11
Aqualung - Jethro Tull

Sitting on a park bench
eyeing little girls with bad intent.
Snot running down his nose
greasy fingers smearing shabby clothes.
Drying in the cold sun
Watching as the frilly panties run.
Feeling like a dead duck
spitting out pieces of his broken luck.

Sun streaking cold
an old man wandering lonely.
Taking time
the only way he knows.
Leg hurting bad,
as he bends to pick a dog-end
he goes down to the bog
and warms his feet.

Feeling alone
the army's up the rode
salvation à la mode and
a cup of tea.
Aqualung my friend
don't start away uneasy
you poor old sod, you see, it's only me.
Do you still remember
December's foggy freeze
when the ice that
clings on to your beard is
screaming agony.
And you snatch your rattling last breaths
with deep-sea-diver sounds,
and the flowers bloom like
madness in the spring.

WAD62
11-02-2011, 14:55
Really enjoyed that, and listened to a couple of other songs on youtube, will definitely be checking them out, cheers

Dan go for 'Angles' their first album, the second ones Ok (a bit patchy) but Angles is superb IMHO, 'Letter from God to Man' using a big beefed up radiohead sample is another highlight.

Actually whilst I'm here...

Dan Le Sac Vs Scroobius Pip
" Letter From God To Man "

Hey there
How's it going?
Long
Time
No
See.
I know I haven't been around much but it didn't seem like you wanted me to be.

The last time I sent down a message, you nailed it to a cross.
So I figured id just leave you to it and let you be your own boss.

But I've been keeping an eye on you, I have. And it's amazing how you've grown.
All your technological advances and the problems you've overthrown.

And all the beautiful art you've created with such grace and such finesse.
But I must admit there are a few things that, I'm afraid, have impressed me less.

So I'm writing to apologise for all the horrors committed in my name.
Although it was never what I intended I feel I should take my share of the blame.

A lot of the good that I tried to do was corrupted when organized religion got into full swing.
What I thought were quite clear messages were taken to unusual extremes.

My teachings were taken out of context to meet the agenda of others.
Interpretations were taken in many different ways and hidden meanings "discovered".

Religion became a tool for the weak to control the strong.
With all these new morals and ethics survival of the fittest was gone.

No longer could the biggest man simply take what ever he needed,
Because damnation was the price if certain rules were not heeded.

Some of the deeds committed in my name just make me wonder where I went wrong.
Back at the start when I "created" all of this, the foundations seemed so strong.

See all the elements were already here long before I began.
I just kind of put them all together. I didn't really think out a long term plan.

I made the sun an appropriate distance and laid the stars across the sky,
So you could navigate this globe or simply experience a sunrise.

I covered the earth with plants and fruits, some for sustenance and some for beauty.
And made the sun shine and clouds rain so there maintenance wasn't your duty.

I tried to give each creature it's own attributes. But without making them enveloped.
I gave you all space to grow and, in your own way, space to develop.

I didn't know that such development would cause rifts and jealousy.
Cause you to war against each other and leave marks on this planet indelibly.

You see, I wasn't the creator, more the curator of nature
And I want to set things straight with homosexuals right now: I DON'T hate ya.

I was a simple being that happened to be the first to yield such powers.
But I just laid the ground. It was you that built the towers.

It was you that invented bombs and fear that comes with them.
It was you that invented money, and corrupt economic systems.

You invented terms like "just wars" and terms like "friendly fire",
And it was you that didn't know when to stop digging deeper and when to stop building higher.

It was you that exhausted the resources I carefully laid out on this earth,
And it was you that even saw these problems coming but accredited them little worth.

It was you that used my teachings for your own personal gain
And it was you that committed such tragedies, even if they were committed in my name.

So I apologise for any mistakes I made and for when my words were misconstrued,
But this apology is to Mother Nature because I created you.

7KnGNOiFll4

Beechwoods
11-02-2011, 22:20
If the following lyric was written by Suzanne Vega I think it would have gained far more recognition, as it was it was written by the winner of the first American Idol. It's a very sad song, written from a girl to her parents.


I will not make the same mistakes that you did
I Will not let myself cause my heart so much misery
I will not break the way you did
You fell so hard
I've learned the hard way, to never let it get that far

Because of you
I'll never stray too far from the sidewalk
Because of you
I learned to play on the safe side
So I don't get hurt
Because of you
I find it hard to trust
Not only me, but everyone around me
Because of you
I am afraid

I lose my way
And it's not too long before you point it out
I cannot cry
Because I know that's weakness in your eyes
I'm forced to fake, a smile, a laugh
Every day of my life
My heart can't possibly break
When it wasn't even whole to start with

Because of you
I'll never stray too far from the sidewalk
Because of you
I learned to play on the safe side
So I don't get hurt
Because of you
I find it hard to trust
Not only me, but everyone around me
Because of you
I am afraid

I watched you die
I heard you cry
Every night in your sleep
I was so young
You should have known better than to lean on me
You never thought of anyone else
You just saw your pain
And now I cry
In the middle of the night
For the same damn thing

Because of you
I'll never stray too far from the sidewalk
Because of you
I learned to play on the safe side
So I don't get hurt
Because of you
I tried my hardest just to forget everything
Because of you
I don't know how to let anyone else in
Because of you
I'm ashamed of my life because it's empty
Because of you
I am afraid

Because of you
Because of you

xEE53HdjXQo

Bazil
24-02-2011, 18:28
Its one o'clock and time for lunch
When the sun beats down and I lie on the bench
I can always hear them talk
Me I'm just a lawnmower you can tell me by the way I walk


From "I know what I like in your wardrobe" - Genesis (as if nobody knew ;) )

Neil McCauley
14-03-2011, 23:32
This kind of social-commentary in lyrics makes me fall for songs. I see them as political albeit quite-often with a small 'P'. One of my favourite lyrics in this vein is 'Merlene On The Wall' by Suzanne Vega. It's difficult to pick a short part, because it's all so good, but it's such a rich song, which can be interpreted in so many ways, and it's recorded so nicely, it's a real keeper.

Marlene is a picture hanging on the wall. Some say that Suzanne Vega had a poster of Marlene Dietrich and that the song is autobiographical. Some say that the song is about a taboo relationship, or an illicit relationship - to me it's a song about domestic abuse, about being trapped in a relationship, and breaking free. There's a lot I could write about this song, but go away and have a listen to it and form your own opinion :)

Agreed 100%. Excellent reminder that I haven't played this magical track this month. I'll rectify the oversight on Tuesday.

DanJennings
16-03-2011, 19:37
I've been raving about it on other threads, but oh well, I'll bring it up on this one too.

Ben Folds' new album 'Lonely Avenue' was written in an interesting fashion

He was presented with lyrics by the author Nick Hornby, whose obsession with music (and Arsenal grrrr) are well known.

All the tracks are belters, but here's one for starters.

bNrSaaugizI

I see it all, I get it, I promise you I do
Your mom walked out on you when you were only two
You've grown up believing that this country hates the poor
You're a dad three times over and you're only twenty-four

The Christians on the radio, they act like you're scum
Self-righteous condescending bastards, each and every one
I don't read the Bible but I try to love you, man
Every flaw and violent act, I think I understand

But your dogs, your dogs, what's fun about those?
And that tat on your neck, and that ring through your nose?
The weed, the junk food, the violent pornography
Don't you think you'd want to be
Just a little bit more like me?

I still have high hopes you could join our community
There's more of us than you now, but we'd welcome the diversity
You?re not white trash, like the other neighbors say
If you want to challenge stereotyping, join the PTA

At night, when your pit bulls are scaring our children
My wife, I'll be honest here, wants me to shoot them
And sometimes I let my fantasies run

But that's only at night, when I'm not really thinking
And you're listening to Metallica in your backyard and drinking
The rest of the time I think we get along fine
I never judge you, I'm a live-and-let-live guy

But your dogs, your dogs, what?s fun about those?
And that tat on your neck, and that ring through your nose?
The weed, the junk food, the violent pornography
Don't you think you'd want to be
Just a little bit more like me?

DSJR
16-03-2011, 20:18
I'm lowering the tone and reverting fifty plus years but I don't care, courtesy of Guy Mitchell -

CHORUS
Take me back baby, try me one more time.
Take me back baby, try me one more time.
If I don't make ya love me, ain't no fault of mine.

I need your lovin' baby, don't leave me all a-lone.
Without you I'll go crazy. I want you for my own.
On my bended knees I'm beggin' you please, please, please

(Chorus)

Mmm, I love cake and candy, makes me say I do.
But I'd give up cake and candy for one sweet kiss from you.
On my bended knees I'm beggin' you please, please

(Chorus)

Now you've got my devotion. Put me to the test.
I 'll swim the deep blue ocean, won't even stop to rest.
On my bended knees I'm beggin' you please, please

(Chorus)

DSJR
17-03-2011, 16:40
from "Rocket Cottage" by Steeleye Span - you really have to listen to it in the original version as the WAY the song is sung makes it even more poignant for me...

What makes you go abroad fighting for strangers
When you could be safe at home free from all dangers?

A recruiting sergeant came our way
To an Inn nearby at the close of day
He said young Johnny you're a fine young man
Would you like to march along behind a military band,
With a scarlet coat and a big cocked hat,
And a musket at your shoulder,
The shilling he took and he kissed the book,
Oh poor Johnny what will happen to you?

The recruiting sergeant marched away
From the Inn nearby at the break of day,
Johnny went too with half a ring
He was off to be a soldier he'd be fighting for the King
In a far off war in a far off land
To face a foreign soldier,
But how will you fare when there's lead in the air,
Oh poor Johnny what'll happen to you?

What makes you go abroad fighting for strangers
When you could be safe at home free from all dangers?

The sun shone hot on a barren land
As a thin red line took a military stand,
There was sling shot, chain shot, grape shot too,
Swords and bayonets thrusting through,
Poor Johnny fell but the day was won
And the King is grateful to you
But your soldiering's done and they're sending you home,
Oh poor Johnny what have they done to you?

They said he was a hero and not to grieve
Over two wooden pegs and empty sleeves,
They carried him home and they set him down
With a military pension and a medal from the crown.
You haven't an arm and you haven't a leg,
The enemy nearly slew you,
You'll have to go out on the streets to beg,
Oh poor Johnny what have they done to you?

What makes you go abroad fighting for strangers
When you could be safe at home free from all dangers?

Apologies, sends shivers down my spine..... Things haven't changed, have they?

Alex_UK
21-03-2011, 11:20
Rather a poignant one in the light of World events, from my fave, Tina Dico:

http://open.spotify.com/track/5c6IDlHY1b5qmPv7oT7qi1

Some Other Day (2007)

I watched a flood on my TV today
I couldn't say from where
Just another flood on my TV

I wasn't bothered, it was far way
Worlds away from here
From my family and me

But just for a second I could feel
This safe and independent life of mine is not real
Just for a second I could see
That nothing is forever and nothing is for free

When will I go and make a change
I've got the time and I let it waste
I frown at people who don't care but I'm just the same
I wanna make a diffrence
Maybe some other day

A bomb went off not far from here tonight
And now I'm wide awake
Tossing and a-turning in my bed

A glass of Hennessy sits by my side
But with every sip I take
These visions creep into my head

Just in this second I can see
The lights go and bricks and ceilings tumbling on me
Just in this second I can hear
The steps of panicked neighbours
The sound of fear

When will I go and make a change
I've got the time and I let it waste
I frown at people who don't care but I'm just the same
I wanna make a diffrence
Maybe some other day

Werner Berghofer
21-03-2011, 17:53
There’s a house on my block
That’s abandoned and cold
The folks moved out of it a
Long time ago
And they took all their things
And they never came back
Looks like it’s haunted
With the windows all cracked
And everyone calls it
The house, the house where
Nobody lives

Once it held laughter
Once it held dreams
Did they throw it away?
Did they know what it means?
Did someone’s heart break
Or did someone do somebody wrong?

Well the paint was all cracked
It was peeled off of the wood
The papers were stacked on the porch
Where I stood
The weeds had grown up
Just as high as the door
There were birds in the chimney
And an old chest of drawers
Looks like no one will ever
Come back to the
House were nobody lives

Once it held laughter
Once it held dreams
Did they throw it away?
Did they know what it means?
Did someone’s heart break
Or did someone do somebody wrong?

So if you find someone
Someone to have, someone to hold
Don’t trade it for silver
Don’t trade it for gold
I have all of life’s treasures
And they are fine and they are good
They remind me that houses
Are just made of wood
What makes a house grand
Ain’t the roof or the doors
If there’s love in a house
It’s a palace for sure
Without love…
It ain’t nothin but a house
A house where nobody lives
Without love it ain’t nothin
But a house, a house where
Nobody lives.

(Tom Waits: A house where nobody lives)


Operator, number, please: it’s been so many years
Will she remember my old voice while I fight the tears?
Hello, hello there, is this Martha? This is old Tom Frost,
And I am calling long distance, don’t worry ’bout the cost.
’Cause it’s been forty years or more, now Martha please recall,
Meet me out for coffee, where we’ll talk about it all.

And those were days of roses, poetry and prose
And Martha all I had was you and all you had was me.
There was no tomorrows, we’d packed away our sorrows
And we saved them for a rainy day.

And I feel so much older now, and you’re much older too,
How’s your husband? And how’s the kids? You know that I got married too?
Lucky that you found someone to make you feel secure,
’Cause we were all so young and foolish, now we are mature.

And those were days of roses, poetry and prose
And Martha all I had was you and all you had was me.
There was no tomorrows, we’d packed away our sorrows
And we saved them for a rainy day.

And I was always so impulsive, I guess that I still am,
And all that really mattered then was that I was a man.
I guess that our being together was never meant to be.
And Martha, Martha, I love you can’t you see?

And those were days of roses, poetry and prose
And Martha all I had was you and all you had was me.
There was no tomorrows, we’d packed away our sorrows
And we saved them for a rainy day.

And I remember quiet evenings trembling close to you …

(Tom Waits: Martha)

DSJR
21-03-2011, 21:57
ZZ Top

It's three o'clock in the morning and the rain begin to fall
But I know what I'm needin' but I don't have it all

I'm needin' someone like you that I just wanna do love to
Baby, baby, I need you tonight

Outside my window it's lonely and cold
Inside my heart there's a fire burning out of control

Burning for someone like you I just wanna do love to
Baby, baby, I need you tonight

Your love's coming to me like a wolf howling at the moon
But that just doesn't do me if I can get you soon

I'm calling for someone like you that I just wanna do love to
Baby, baby, I need you tonight

The Grand Wazoo
29-03-2011, 15:45
'Ode To Billy Joe' by Bobby Gentry

I love the way this song is written - a family discussing the death of a neighbour while carrying on the everyday business of eating lunch together. That coupled with the music which perfectly evokes the setting of 'a sleepy, dusty Delta day' make this a masterpiece of storytelling.


It was the third of June, another sleepy, dusty Delta day
I was out choppin' cotton and my brother was balin' hay
And at dinner time we stopped and walked back to the house to eat
And Mama hollered out the back door "y'all remember to wipe your feet"
And then she said "I got some news this mornin' from Choctaw Ridge"
"Today Billy Joe MacAllister jumped off the Tallahatchie Bridge"

And Papa said to Mama as he passed around the blackeyed peas
"Well, Billy Joe never had a lick of sense, pass the biscuits, please"
"There's five more acres in the lower forty I've got to plow"
And Mama said it was shame about Billy Joe, anyhow
Seems like nothin' ever comes to no good up on Choctaw Ridge
And now Billy Joe MacAllister's jumped off the Tallahatchie Bridge

And Brother said he recollected when he and Tom and Billie Joe
Put a frog down my back at the Carroll County picture show
And wasn't I talkin' to him after church last Sunday night?
"I'll have another piece of apple pie, you know it don't seem right"
"I saw him at the sawmill yesterday on Choctaw Ridge"
"And now you tell me Billie Joe's jumped off the Tallahatchie Bridge"

And Mama said to me "Child, what's happened to your appetite?"
"I've been cookin' all morning and you haven't touched a single bite"
"That nice young preacher, Brother Taylor, dropped by today"
"Said he'd be pleased to have dinner on Sunday, oh, by the way"
"He said he saw a girl that looked a lot like you up on Choctaw Ridge"
"And she and Billy Joe was throwing somethin' off the Tallahatchie Bridge"

A year has come 'n' gone since we heard the news 'bout Billy Joe
And Brother married Becky Thompson, they bought a store in Tupelo
There was a virus going 'round, Papa caught it and he died last Spring
And now Mama doesn't seem to wanna do much of anything
And me, I spend a lot of time pickin' flowers up on Choctaw Ridge

And drop them into the muddy water off the Tallahatchie Bridge

Barry
29-03-2011, 20:00
An excellent example, Chris, of the power and poetry of lyrics.

I think the following information about Bobby Gentry and her comments on the song are interesting and pertinent (courtesy of Wikipedia):

“Gentry (after high school) moved to Los Angeles to enter UCLA as a philosophy major.

In 1967, Gentry produced her first single, the country rock "Mississippi Delta"; however, it was the flipside, "Ode to Billie Joe" with its sparse sound and controversial lyrics that started to receive airplay in the U.S. Capitol's shortened version added to the song's mystery. Questions arose among the listeners: what did Billie Joe and his girlfriend throw off the Tallahatchie Bridge, and why did Billie Joe commit suicide? Gentry herself has commented on the song, saying that its real theme was indifference:

‘Those questions are of secondary importance in my mind. The story of Billie Joe has two more interesting underlying themes. First, the illustration of a group of peoples' reactions to the life and death of Billie Joe, and its subsequent effect on their lives, is made. Second, the obvious gap between the girl and her mother is shown when both women experience a common loss (first Billie Joe, and later, Papa), and yet Mama and the girl are unable to recognize their mutual loss or share their grief.’ “


Furthermore, as there is an important distinction to be made between poetry and lyrics, I will if you don’t mind, add a YouTube clip wherein you can ‘hear’ the dispassionate discussion of the sad news of Billie Joe MacAllister’s death at the dinner table.

rDHpkYI5_FY

There are many questions raised by the elliptic nature of the lyrics; possibly involving a taboo subject: http://www.filibustercartoons.com/billyjoe.htm .

Still sends shivers up my spine - absolutely superb!

Regards

Alex_UK
29-03-2011, 21:35
Strange, one of those songs I know really well, but to my knowledge don't own a copy and don't remember ever consciously listening to it - but what a song! (And how many covers of it!)

On Spotify, if you are (http://open.spotify.com/track/3ZsLNrysR0UFbjcaIEcDTj)

Thanks Chris & Barry for giving it some exposure.

Barry
29-03-2011, 23:00
Following Chris’s (The Grand Wazoo) example of a song that might be described by the late, great Janis Joplin as a “song of social import”: I offer for your consideration Ralph McTell’s 'Streets of London'.


COkya7N3pB8&feature

We all have times when we ought to think: “There but for the Grace of God, go I”, times when we can easily ‘whinge’ about “our lot in life” -

So, think about what you do have, and about what others do not.


Have you seen the old man
In the closed-down market
Kicking up the paper,
with his worn out shoes?
In his eyes you see no pride
And held loosely at his side
Yesterday's paper telling yesterday's news.

So how can you tell me you're lonely,
And say for you that the sun don't shine?
Let me take you by the hand and lead you through the streets of London
I'll show you something to make you change your mind.

Have you seen the old girl
Who walks the streets of London
Dirt in her hair and her clothes in rags?
She's no time for talking,
She just keeps right on walking
Carrying her home in two carrier bags.

[Chorus]

In the all night cafe
At a quarter past eleven,
Same old man is sitting there on his own
Looking at the world
Over the rim of his tea-cup,
Each tea last an hour
Then he wanders home alone.

[Chorus]

And have you seen the old man
Outside the seaman's mission
Memory fading with
The medal ribbons that he wears?
In our winter city,
The rain cries a little pity
For one more forgotten hero
And a world that doesn't care.

[Chorus]

Alex_UK
29-03-2011, 23:16
Played that track only yesterday, Barry - doubt I have played it in the last 20 years beforehand - social commentary in its finest form, and sadly, nothing changes regards to the "humanity" of the human race. As Agent Smith says, we are a virus...

Barry
29-03-2011, 23:21
Played that track only yesterday, Barry - doubt I have played it in the last 20 years beforehand - social commentary in its finest form, and sadly, nothing changes regards to the "humanity" of the human race. As Agent Smith says, we are a virus...

Good one Alex!

We all need to put things into perspective from time to time. :rolleyes:

s70rmp
09-04-2011, 14:38
I got a sixty-nine Chevy with a 396
Fuelie heads and a Hurst on the floor
She's waiting tonight down in the parking lot
Outside the Seven-Eleven store
Me and my partner Sonny built her straight out of scratch
And he rides with me from town to town
We only run for the money got no strings attached
We shut 'em up and then we shut 'em down

Tonight, tonight the strip's just right
I wanna blow 'em off in my first heat
Summer's here and the time is right
For goin' racin' in the street

We take all the action we can meet
And we cover all the northeast state
When the strip shuts down we run 'em in the street
From the fire roads to the interstate
Some guys they just give up living
And start dying little by little, piece by piece
Some guys come home from work and wash up
And go racin' in the street

Tonight, tonight the strip's just right
I wanna blow 'em all out of their seats
Calling out around the world, we're going racin' in the street

I met her on the strip three years ago
In a Camaro with this dude from L.A.
I blew that Camaro off my back and drove that little girl away
But now there's wrinkles around my baby's eyes
And she cries herself to sleep at night
When I come home the house is dark
She sighs "Baby did you make it all right"
She sits on the porch of her daddy's house
But all her pretty dreams are torn
She stares off alone into the night
With the eyes of one who hates for just being born
For all the shut down strangers and hot rod angels
Rumbling through this promised land
Tonight my baby and me we're gonna ride to the sea
And wash these sins off our hands

Tonight tonight the highway's bright
Out of our way mister you best keep
'Cause summer's here and the time is right
For goin' racin' in the street



The lyrics are great on their own but you do need the music with it.
If my Cadillac hadnt got a broken front spring then tonight I'd be out for a drive with this playing with the winds down a bit to get the wind in my hair.

The live versions are stunning.

Alex_UK
31-01-2012, 23:56
Well, this thread should probably be nominated for a Beyond The Grave resuss - almost 10 months of inactivity... :scratch: Oh well...

Listening to a song I know really well from a cover of it by Joan Osborne - but this time the original - always strange when the exposure is the wrong way round - if you get my drift!!!

Bob Dylan - Man In The Long Black Coat (From Oh Mercy (1989))

Crickets are chirpin' the water is high
There's a soft cotton dress on the line hangin' dry
The Windows wide open African trees
Bent over backwards from a hurricane breeze
Not a word of goodbye not even a note
She'd gone with the man in the long black coat.

Somebody seen him hangin' around
At the old dance hall on the outskirts of town
He looked into her eyes when she stopped him to ask
If he wanted to dance he had a face like a mask
Somebody said from the bible he'd quote
There was dust on the man in the long black coat.

Preacher was a talking there's a sermon he gave
He said every man's conscience is vile and depraved
You cannot depend on it to be your guide
When it's you who must keep it satisfied
It ain't easy to swallow it sticks in the throat
She gave her heart to the man in the long black coat.

There are no mistakes in life some people say
It is true sometimes you can see it that way
But people don't live or die people just float
She went with the man in the long black coat.

There's smoke on the water it's been there since June
Tree trunks uprooted beneath the high crescent moon
Feel the pulse and vibration and the rumbling force
Somebody is out there beating on a dead horse
She never said nothing there was nothing she wrote
She'd gone with the man in the long black coat.

The Grand Wazoo
01-02-2012, 00:06
Blimey, Alex, it's all a bit four horsemen of the apocalypse isn't it?
Strange but my shelves are spilling with Dylan albums & have been since I was about 15, but I don't own this one, nor have I ever heard it, to my knowledge.

Any word on those missing albums yet?

Alex_UK
01-02-2012, 08:29
Strange but my shelves are spilling with Dylan albums & have been since I was about 15, but I don't own this one, nor have I ever heard it, to my knowledge.

I'm gradually working through the Dylan back catalogue - this has been one of my favourites so far - 25 years into his career, and although his 80s albums are generally not considered "masterpieces" this a "return to form" after a rough patch between "Infidels" and this one. Well, so they say - whoever they may be! ;)

DanJennings
04-02-2012, 09:52
I'm gradually working through the Dylan back catalogue - this has been one of my favourites so far - 25 years into his career, and although his 80s albums are generally not considered "masterpieces" this a "return to form" after a rough patch between "Infidels" and this one. Well, so they say - whoever they may be! ;)

+1

I love the Oh Mercy album, not the cheeriest though. I love 'Ring Them Bells' 'Political World' and 'The Disease Of Conceit'

DSJR
04-02-2012, 10:20
Bob Dylan? Over-rated if you ask me :eyebrows:

One of my favourite bands and all thanks to Alex..

"True To Form" and rather topical for me right now on here...

It's a little too easy to live and learn
But those breaks are scarce
So take some time out
to look back and see how you fared

The right is always the wrong
and the short's always the long
The hardest thing about refrain
is now I can only save face

To deny yourself is so true to form
You spend most of your days wishing you were never born
To deny yourself is so true to form
You spend most of your days wishing you were never born

Face down in what you know
you'll never come up for air
Close the door
I've had about as much as I can bear

The right is always the wrong
and the short's always the long
The hardest thing about refrain
is now I can only save face

To deny yourself is so true to form
You spend most of your days wishing you were never born
To deny yourself is so true to form
You spend most of your days wishing you were never born

joethelion
03-03-2012, 01:48
Some innocuous thoughts over a few G&T's ...

A thread which references great story-telling, in lyrics that also manifest great songs too, should tip the Forum pork pie to someone near-universally acknowledged one of the greatest contemporary British cameo lyricists and song-writers ...

Eg:

Tube Station -

"They took the keys,
And she'll think it's me."

Truly graphic ... It's impossible not to envisage and feel this horror, if you love her ... even if you don't ...


Private Hell -

"The man that you once loved,
Is bald and fat,
And seldom in,
Working late as usual."

Disturbingly close ... Stops you looking in the mirror and tears your heart ... Don't play it on your Birthday ... Nor Hers ...


The wonderful world of music probably affords greater scope for Forum thread confusion than any other art-form, yet this would be a great thread to develop in more specific ways.

Eg: Could we ask for posters' comments/justification ... like mine above ?

I can forsee it might become discouraging/time-consuming, however, there might be fairly simple ways of bringing greater objectivity, clarity and purpose ... and there sure are some sharp minds around here ... :)

Most importantly:

Why choose to bring a particular lyric to the Forum's attention ?

Perhaps lyrics could be offered in sub-threads as Cameo, or Abstract, or Avant Garde, or Driving, or Late Night, or Lurv ... or Disco ( :) ) .... ?

Eg: The Tull fraternity are certainly capable of commenting/justifying such as "Aqualung" ... Great choice ... likewise "She's Leaving... " ... There's eg: "Waterloo Sunset" too ... and loads of rap, which is substantially cameo ...

Indeed, it seems Cameos might form the first sub-thread ...

It might be possible in time to build a really good DJ-like series of descriptors/play-lists for all manner of occasions/situations/moods ...

Eg: I've traded on "Beatles Love Songs", Levi Stubbs, Alison Moyet and Barry White, every Valentine's Day since whenever ... :) (and mostly done OK) but it might be even more productive next time to have the benefit of wider appreciation/knowledge/understanding/relevance ... :)

Alternately, perhaps Posters might merely be required to state their case ?

Or .. 'owzabowt ... A conforming weekly topic/subject/genre/artist/band/whatever, deemed by the Great whoever (or even the Boss) ...

How about starting this coming Monday with db & War ... ?

Well, on reflection, it's not a great starter really ... V2 Schneider's instrumental ... but it makes the point ... :mental:

There's still "Heroes", of course ... :)

Savvy ?

Cheers,
(literally)

jtl

PS: Sorry if such/similar is dealt with elsewhere ... I haven't read every post/thread ... yet :)

Barry
03-03-2012, 15:03
Hello Joe

I think you will find that several posters to this thread do explain how and why the lyrics quoted mean so much to them, rather than quoting them in isolation.

It also helps if a YouTube clip can be added.


This is an excellent thread that does lay fallow from time to time, and I have felt that I should contribute with some new posts.

Regards

DSJR
03-03-2012, 16:18
From the lips of Maire Brennan (Clannad)




Though I care a lot.
You don’t believe it’s true, do you?
So. The answer’s not 'give in before you start,
And try'.

Almost seems to late to turn,
What do we burn to learn?
Almost seems to late to turn,
To you.

I saw the sad decline,
a rift become a storm.
Stayed so cold last night,
This lonely heart inside me says:

Almost seems to late to turn,
What do we burn to learn?
Almost seems to late to turn,
To you.

Now, the anger’s gone,
It leaves behind a pain, again.
Where did we go wrong?
Let go my shadow, pass me by.

Almost seems to late to turn,
What do we burn to learn?
Almost seems to late to turn,
To you.

freefallrob
13-04-2012, 10:08
Driving through the long night
Trying to figure who's right and who's wrong
Now the kid has gone.
I sit belted up tight,
She sucks on a match light, glowing bronze,
Steering on.

And I might be more of a man
If I stopped this in its tracks and say come on, lets go home.
But she's got the wheel,
And I've got nothing except what I have on.

When you're driving with the brakes on,
When you're swimming with your boots on,
It’s hard to say you love someone
And it’s hard to say you don't

Trying to keep the mood right,
Trying to steer the conversation from
The thing we've done.
She shuts up the ashtray and I say it’s a long way back now hon
And she just yawns. And we might get lost someplace so desolate that no one where we're from would ever come

But she's got the wheel
And I've got to deal from now on.

When you're driving with the brakes on
When you're swimming with your boots on
It’s hard to say you love someone
And it’s hard to say you don't

But unless the moon falls tonight, unless continents collide,
Nothing's gonna make me break from her side.

Cos when you're driving with the breaks on
When you're swimming with your boots on
It’s hard to say you love someone
And it’s hard to say you don't...

The Grand Wazoo
04-03-2013, 00:16
From The Grave

Don't forget to let us know the name of the song & who did it.

mikeba316
04-03-2013, 04:05
666 is no longer alone,
He's getting out the marrow in your back bone,
And the seven trumpets blowing sweet rock and roll,
Gonna blow right down inside your soul.
Pythagoras with the looking glass reflects the full moon,
In blood, he's writing the lyrics of a brand new tune.

MartinT
04-03-2013, 07:22
If you want head-scratching confusion, you can't beat a good Yes lyric.

Heart of the Sunrise

Love comes to you and you follow
Lose one on to the heart of the sunrise
SHARP-DISTANCE
How can the wind with its arms
All around me

Lost on a wave and then after
Dream on on to the heart of the sunrise
SHARP-DISTANCE
How can the wind with so many around me
Lost in the city

Lost in their eyes as you hurry by
Counting the broken ties they decide
Love comes to you and then after
Dream on on to the heart of the sunrise
Lost on a wave that you're dreaming
Dream on on to the heart of the sunrise
SHARP-DISTANCE
How can the wind with its arms all around me
SHARP-DISTANCE
How can the wind with so many around me
I feel lost in the city

...etc.

.mus
04-03-2013, 08:39
Clouddead - 'Rifle Eyes'

I like the words of this song for the way that they sound, rather than any meaning that they may or may not convey.
I tend to prefer music without words, or at least without words in English - I like the sounds that people can make when they sing/speak, but often the significance of those words distracts me from that. In this case, the words are pretty much gibberish, and often they're sung so quickly that it's hard to discern the meanings, and so one can just enjoy the sounds :)

yWrQDCl9Edo

Clouddead - Rifle Eyes

A murder of mosquitoes, moths, and gnats ravage the fluorescent flickering ribs of a motel lot flood light, their frantic trajectories perfectly sketching insane in its halogen corona.
No collision... no drinking of bulbs at long last... just a panicked moon drove dance they bang their insect eyes and mind at in the dark.

Note: It takes an Extended Stay America's common black self cleaning line of ants approximately 1 & 2/3rd's hours to completely excavate the fresh kill carcass of a large New Orleans cricket.

Point: Minnows have teeth in their throats...

Thrice we passed this truck all packed with pigs... this truck is always packed with pigs.
You can not tell nor ask a pear tree that it might only have the bird's nests happen to its branches.

Have you ever marveled through the pretty pith of your turned around eye at the bug blood gut modern art on the fender of your country crossing rental van?

It then becomes self evident that nature is responsible...
To peel deer from desert fun...
To sleep through vulture mouths...
Its femur like a chopstick through the paper.

Nightcrawlers all dried up
On the summer sun sidewalk.
An ant with a little bit of leaf
Looks like an ant with an African mask.
The red raw salmon steak
In the gas station urinal.
A full feathered dead pigeon
With its entire skull exposed.

A single long stemmed rose
Resting between two mounted antlers.

A spider spitting web
On a styrofoam snowman's head.
Car salesmen asleep in their cars
On lunch-break under the highway on-ramp.
The x-ray of someone's tumored skull
Left to scream doom from the gutter
With all the other preventative waste,
No name no face.

All the oil drills
On some sick sedated rhythmic robot rape mode
Like brain-washed flies at a carcass.
The highway shoulder dead dog's
Fly devoured eyeballs
As garnish to a four lane state road,
And all the southern Cali orange trucks
Headed to somewhere there's winter.

One armed men changing tires in the shoulder
For pretty ladies and their well dressed daughters;
Engine oil boiling,
Undercarriage eaten by a billion ants of rust,
Bacteria gang-banging in the window cracks.

Joe
09-03-2013, 18:42
Everybody knows that the dice are loaded
Everybody rolls with their fingers crossed
Everybody knows that the war is over
Everybody knows the good guys lost
Everybody knows the fight was fixed
The poor stay poor, the rich get rich
That's how it goes
Everybody knows

Everybody knows that the boat is leaking
Everybody knows that the captain lied
Everybody got this broken feeling
Like their father or their dog just died

Everybody talking to their pockets
Everybody wants a box of chocolates
And a long stem rose
Everybody knows

Everybody knows that you love me baby
Everybody knows that you really do
Everybody knows that you've been faithful
Ah give or take a night or two
Everybody knows you've been discreet
But there were so many people you just had to meet
Without your clothes
And everybody knows

Everybody knows, everybody knows
That's how it goes
Everybody knows

Everybody knows, everybody knows
That's how it goes
Everybody knows

And everybody knows that it's now or never
Everybody knows that it's me or you
And everybody knows that you live forever
Ah when you've done a line or two
Everybody knows the deal is rotten
Old black joe's still pickin' cotton
For your ribbons and bows
And everybody knows

And everybody knows that the plague is coming
Everybody knows that it's moving fast
Everybody knows that the naked man and woman
Are just a shining artifact of the past
Everybody knows the scene is dead
But there's gonna be a meter on your bed
That will disclose
What everybody knows

And everybody knows that you're in trouble
Everybody knows what you've been through
From the bloody cross on top of calvary
To the beach of malibu
Everybody knows it's coming apart
Take one last look at this sacred heart
Before it blows
And everybody knows

Everybody knows, everybody knows
That's how it goes
Everybody knows

Oh everybody knows, everybody knows
That's how it goes
Everybody knows

Everybody knows

'Everybody knows' by Laughing Len Cohen

The Grand Wazoo
18-04-2013, 23:09
Last Friday morning I was talking to a guy who had been in the army and had served in the Falklands. We talked about all sorts of things as the radio news was on in the background. The news was full of the recent death of a certain ex-Prime Minister and his expression changed when mention was made of the Falklands.

What he said next reminded me of this song:

'Easter Parade' - The Faith Brothers

Dressed to kill one cool spring morning
Got on board the first from Portsmouth
On the crest of a rising wave
Of hate for strangers of our own kind
But the headlines, cheering crowds and flags
I must admit stirred something in me
That faded as we pulled away
And turned out to be only fear disguised

The bulldogs bayed
The pious prayed
I think it rained
On the Easter Parade

Down south the old and desperate men
Sacrifice the young and ready
On the altar of their crumbling gods
Mourning for a long-lost glory
For nineteen years you chart my life
With your morals and your incentives
In six weeks pull it all apart
For horror's real and you are far away

My mind ingrained
I came home maimed
So was kept away
From the Easter Parade

Hooked on a kind of freedom
I still need to hurt somebody
Too estranged to talk about it
Or get close to anyone

The mother of the nation cries 'Rejoice!'
And I can hardly shuffle
Struck down by what the mean can do
For political ambition
And now the truth begins to surface
Like a spectre from dark water
Rising up to bring them down
I can't take heart, only wonder why

Is our conscience lame
Is a fall to shame
All to be gained
From the Easter Parade

DSJR
17-05-2013, 18:26
Coverdale Page - Over Now

Great song -


You said you'd give me love
Instead you caused me pain
You made me curse and slam the door
And hang my head in shame

But, it's over now, it's over now

You talked to me of virtue
And sang a song so sweet
All I know is I could smell
The perfume of deceit

It's over now, it's over now

You told me of your innocence
And I believed it all
But your best friend is your vanity
And the mirror on the wall

It's over now

I turned away from what I heard
And everything I saw
Now I see the light of day
I release the dog of war

So whatcha gonna do
When the truth pays you a call?
How you gonna feel
When you finally lose it all?

How you gonna look
Standing up against the wall
Whatcha gonna do? Whatcha gonna say
When you feel the hammer fall? I'm gonna see you crawl

You took your pills and washed them down
And then you talked for hours
I tried to build a garden
But you trampled all the flowers

And it's over now

Wanting this, needing that
Always after more, now that it's all over
I release the dog of war
I release the dog of war

So whatcha gonna do
When the truth pays you a call?

How you gonna look
Standing up against the wall?

Whatcha gonna do? Whatcha gonna say
When you feel the hammer fall?

Whatcha gonna do? Whatcha gonna say
Standing up against the wall?

So whatcha gonna do? Whatcha gonna say
Mamma, when you feel the hammer fall?
So whatcha gonna do?