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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!
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. :)
Lyrics written by Tennant and LoweQuote:
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
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:
Quote:
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
My favourite line has to be taken from Pink floyds worst albumTM
this is taken from the gunners dream
R.WatersQuote:
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
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...
Quote:
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.
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
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:
Quote:
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
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 :)
Quote:
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
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.
:doh:
Well that's certainly an interesting counterpoint to Suzanne Vega, though I'm not sure how much it gets for artistic merit ;)
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.
:doh: :doh: I knew I should have called this thread 'The Deep & Meaningful Lyric Thread'. What is it about tonight?!
Admit it made you giggle, though! :lol:
Marco.
:lol: Maybe a little bit
Cheap and superfical was the name of the game in those days! :eyebrows:
Marco.
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?Quote:
Originally Posted by Primalsea
'Temple Of Love' by Sisters Of Mercy :)
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.
Sorry, I was thinking of Scarlet Fantastic.
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 :)
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.
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.
Quote:
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
Here's one from the John Fox era of Ultravox. The wild, the beautiful and the damned
Quote:
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
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:Quote:
Originally Posted by Filterlab
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...Quote:
Originally Posted by Filterlab
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
Nobody in particular, I just walk around the house doing that finger thing and making up rhymes about my bee-atch. :)Quote:
Originally Posted by Beechwoods
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. :)Quote:
Originally Posted by Beechwoods
Peace and Joy - the single includes remixes by Tin Tin Out. :)
Sounds like chocolate to me, maybe Hot Chocolate:lolsign:Quote:
Originally Posted by Filterlab
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 :)Quote:
Mory Kanté on the other hand had a massive hit with Yeke Yeke! "Yek yek yek no more, yeke yek yek", loved that track
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!
Oooh, writhing in melted chocolate with Siobhan Fahey, sounds rather like a fantasy of mine. :)Quote:
Originally Posted by Primalsea
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.Quote:
Originally Posted by Beechwoods
Who she? :)Quote:
Oooh, writhing in melted chocolate with Siobhan Fahey...
Marco.
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…
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?
'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.
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
'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
You're not the only one :)Quote:
Originally Posted by Beechwoods
Barry
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
'Neil Morrissey's a knobhead'
HMHB, 'Bottleneck at Capel Curig'
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)
Pink Floyd - Us & Them (Dark Side Of The Moon, 1973)Quote:
I am the man who drives the local bus
I take miners to work, but the pits all closed today.
Quote:
For want of the price of tea and a slice
The old man died
The Class War, eh?Quote:
Originally Posted by Beechwoods
I must say, those are rather more poignant lyrics than than the previous comment on the condition of Neil Morrissey's head!
I think there would be less in the way of debate and disagreement about Neil Morrissey being a knob-head though!
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?Quote:
Originally Posted by DaveC
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eIZtvDdb4bA
.........or this one?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KEqZC...eature=related
Hi Chris,
Yep, that's the one, the vocal version, the first one appears to be the instrumental version - any idea of the date?Quote:
Originally Posted by The Grand Wazoo
Also, you can't actually remember it, like me, can you?? :lolsign:
Cheers,
The first one has vocals later on.Quote:
Originally Posted by DaveC
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.
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!
"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.
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'