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For some reason, I know not why , I never really listened to the lyrics of songs . I might occasionally notice a particular sentence or would remember a chorus but whether I loved a song or not really depended on the general sound/ rhythm rather than the lyrics which often passed me by .
I was always bemused by people who could easily sing along to whole songs and recently realized I was perhaps missing out.
Not long ago I started a thread on existentialism /depression etc and someone mentioned the song by Pink Floyd .. Time. I knew the song but not what it was about so googled the lyrics and became enlightened .
What song lyrics do you find particularly amazing ? .. life changing ?
I guess it depends on what stage of life you are at but I particularly love lines containing wisdom .
An example that touched me being an often depressed soul was "who wants to live forever " and "the show must go on" by Freddie. Another one .. perhaps more so because of the the music was "the power of love" by FGTH.
Even "Angels" by RW moved me and I wouldn't have believed that an ex punk rocker from the 70's. Must be getting soft!
Any recommendations much appreciated.
Thanks
Bill
Deacon Blue - Dignity springs to mind.
When I was younger, I was more drawn to sings that tell a story. Lots of They Might Be Giants, Beautiful South and some old classics like Running Bear, Tell Laura I Love Her, Boy Named Sue, Big Bad John.
Try 'Life', by Des'ree. Beautifully crafted.
The blim holes in my shell suit,
Formed into an absolute,
Fell apart one day.
Mario Man by The Super Furry Animals.
funnily enough I was reading this article about Howard devoto's best lyrics the other day. Good introduction to Magazine, one of the greatest Manchester bands
Devoto is a clever wry bastard
https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/magazine-howard-devoto-10-best-lyrics/?amp
Deacon Blue – Dignity springs to mind.
Good choice.
When I was younger, I was more drawn to sings that tell a story.
I still am, and this is one of my favourite examples
(and everything else off that album)
Also a fan of a story in a song too. Half Man Half Biscuit are the masters at this, (though not sure they could be described as life changing) as are Pulp and the Arctic Monkeys Whatever you say I am...
' oh the snot has caked against my pants, it's turning into crystal'
Arthur Lee, 'live and let live' 1967
I'd much rather listen to lyrics. Happy to sacrifice some tunefulness for a good story eg Bob Dylan or Billy Bragg. I like a bit of Chumbawamba too. All those are stuffed full of good lyrics
I love the lyrics in Enjoy the Silence by Depeche Mode. Land of Confusion seems to stay very current as well lyrics wise.
Kyoto by Phoebe Bridgers is brilliant lyrically, but contains one of the best lines ever
I'm going to kill you...
if you don't beat me to it
Reminds me of various relationships I had when I was younger
And this is just a piece of lyrical wonderfulness that always makes me smile. The whole thing is a little slice of joy
So I bide my time with philosophical questions
Not for nothing, but what came first?
The chicken nugget or the Egg McMuffin?
On Guy Garvey's album... Courting the Squall - the lyric is "In the hills it's an overcoat colder"
I think anyone who lives outside a big city can relate to that
Also a fan of a story in a song too. Half Man Half Biscuit are the masters at this
I was just going to say the same. Two works of utter genius off the wonderfully titled 'Nobody cares about your creative hub, so get your ****ing hedge cut'
A man of constant sorrow (with a garage in constant use)
And Renfields Afoot (definitely NSFW as its very sweary)
A lyric that's stuck with me, and applies quite well to some of the threads on here:
I believe I've passed the age
of consciousness and righteous rage.
I find that just surviving is a noble fight
I once believed in causes too,
had my pointless point of view.
But life went on matter who was wrong or right
These
Too many to mention. Try this one by Bonnie prince Billie
Well, you're my friend
And can you see
Many times, we've been out drinkin'
Many times we shared our thoughts
But did you ever, ever notice
The kind of thoughts I got?
Well, you know I have a love
A love for everyone I know
And you know I have the drive
To live, I won't let go
But can you see its opposition
Comes rising up sometimes?
That it's dreadful imposition
Comes blacking in my mind?
And that I see a darkness
And that I see a darkness
And that I see a darkness
And that I see a darkness
Did you know how much I love you?
Here's a hope that somehow you
Can save me from this darkness
This.
It's pretty much perfect in every way.
And this
Get me. Every damn time.
Lord knows why but for the school run this morning I could not get the lyrics 'Hot dog, jumping frog, Alberquerque' out of my head.
At one point I sang the lyrics out loud to which my nine year old asked 'What's Alberquerque?', which then precipitated a conversation about US states,
Which led to a conversation about UK counties
Which led to how and why we write addresses
Which led to postcodes
Which led to the NATO alphabet
Which led to the situation in Ukraine.......
The school run is an interesting episode in my day.
Elbow - Scattered Black and Whites.
I really love Elbow/Guy. But this one makes me quite emotional, instantly throws me back to detailed memories of my dear Grandad, and all the adventures he took us on.
"A high-back chair, he sits and stares
A thousand yards and whistles marching-band
Kneeling by and speaking up
He reaches out and I take a massive hand
Disjointed tales that flit between
Short trousers and a full dress uniform
And he talks of people ten years gone
Like I've known them all my life
Like scattered black & whites
I come back here from time to time
I shelter here somedays"
The Beatles' For No-one with that immortal line 'You won't forget her' sung in Scouse
I think there's a "the music is just there to carry the lyrics" camp and "the words are just sounds to go with the music" camp. I'm mostly in the latter category but sometimes enjoy a well fashioned phrase - like the Phoebe Bridgers one.
But I can't listen to Into Your Arms with dry eyes
Common People by Pulp
A Hard Rain's Gonna Fall by Bob Dylan. For a wonderful piece of storytelling, Hurricane by the same artist.
I tend to be drawn towards songs & artists that are a little melancholic. Even those artist famed for their melancholiness occasionally hit you with such a lovely song.
This for instance if you can get by the sad voice lies imo a beautiful song
And this one!
Dire Straits, Brothers in Arms, always gets to me.
And it's rather appropriate with everything that's going on in Ukraine just now
These mist covered mountains
Are a home now for me
But my home is the lowlands
And always will be
Someday you'll return to
Your valleys and your farms
And you'll no longer burn to be
Brothers in arms
Through these fields of destruction
Baptisms of fire
I've witnessed your suffering
As the battle raged high
And though they did hurt me so bad
In the fear and alarm
You did not desert me
My brothers in arms
There's so many different worlds
So many different suns
And we have just one world
But we live in different ones
Now the sun's gone to hell and
The moon's riding high
Let me bid you farewell
Every man has to die
But it's written in the starlight
And every line in your palm
We're fools to make war
On our brothers in arms
Bon Iver: Holocene
Loads of Stevie Wonder come to mind, how about
If it's Magic (Songs In The Key of Life)
and Mercy Mercy Me by Marvin Gaye is genius
Billy Bragg has written some great lyrics about being a normal human being.
Life With The Lions
I hate the arsehole I become
Every time I'm with you
You know you've got me on the run
But let me make it clear to you
It's taken two fools such as we
To make love deaf, dumb and blind
Now you're upset 'cause I can't read your mind love
You're upset 'cause I can't read your mind
I hate the arsehole I become
Every time I'm with you
I get the feeling looking in your eyes
That somehow I should forgive you
I know that I'm guilty but I don't know what I've done
You're not about to let me join in the fun are you
You're not about to let me join in the fun
I hate the arsehole I become
Every time I'm with you
I hate the way you try to give me back
All the things I give to you
I know when I leave the room
They say what's up with him
But love is not a game you play to win girl
Love is not a game you play to win
If that face of yours could only talk
The stories it could tell
The chase is always better than the kill, love
The chase is always better than the kill
The Great Leap Forwards
It may have been Camelot for Jack and Jacqueline
But on the Che Guevara highway filling up with gasoline
Fidel Castro's brother spies a rich lady who's crying
Over luxury's disappointment
So he walks over and he's trying
To sympathize with her but he thinks that he should warn her
That the Third World is just around the corner
In the Soviet Union a scientist is blinded
By the resumption of nuclear testing and he is reminded
That Dr. Robert Oppenheimer's optimism fell
At the first hurdle
In the Cheese Pavilion and the only noise I hear
Is the sound of someone stacking chairs
And mopping up spilled beer
And someone asking questions and basking in the light
Of the fifteen fame-filled minutes of the fanzine writer
Mixing pop and politics he asks me what the use is
I offer him embarrassment and my usual excuses
While looking down the corridor
Out to where the van is waiting
I'm looking for the great leap forward
Jumble sales are organized
And pamphlets have been posted
Even after closing time there's still parties to be hosted
You can be active with the activists
Or sleep in with the sleepers
While you're waiting for the great leap forwards
One leap forward, two leaps back
Will politics get me the sack?
Waiting for the great leap forwards
Well, here comes the future and you can't run from it
If you've got a blacklist, I want to be on it
Waiting for the great leap forwards
Oh, it's a mighty long way down rock 'n roll
From "Top of the Pops" to drawing the dole
You're waiting for the great leap forwards
If no one out there understands
Then start your own revolution and cut out the middleman
Waiting for the great leap forwards
In a perfect world we'd all sing in tune
But this is reality so give me some room
Waiting for the great leap forwards
So join the struggle while you may
The revolution is just a t-shirt away
Waiting for the great leap forwards
Waiting for the great leap forwards
Waiting for the great leap forwards
Waiting for the great leap forwards
(Baby, I'm strutting) waiting for the great leap forwards
Waiting for the great leap forwards
Waiting for the great leap forwards
Waiting for the great leap forwards
Waiting for the great leap forwards
Waiting for the great leap forwards
My favourite lines of his come from New England
I saw two shooting stars last night
I wished on them but they were only satellites
Is it wrong to wish on space hardware
I wish, I wish, I wish you'd care
"Today's the fourth of July
Another June has gone by
And when they light up our town
I just think what a waste of gunpowder and sky"
There are so many great lyricists that it seems a bit pointless to list them all - plenty mentioned above.
Sometimes though, you hear a lyric in a song that means something personal. It might be because of where you are in life, or where you are in the world, or just because it suits the exact situation you find yourself. Other times, other places, it might have left you emotionless.
One for me is because I heard it a lot one sunny summer driving through leafy North Devon, missing my wife who was at home 200 miles away:
And what's a song without you?
When every song I write is about you
When I can't hold myself without you
And I can't change the day I found you
On these roads
Out of love
So it goes
How it feels when we fall, when we fold
How we lose control
It means nothing when read out without the setting.
Willie Nelson wrote the song but Al is the man with his band to make it sound so good
Kris Kristofferson putting on his cleanest dirty shirt
I'm not really a country fan but two cracking songs
Almost forgot
https://youtu.be/E5EArR3Qnzg
Culture Shock:
Sometimes you despise yourself - you are not alone
Everyone needs someone else - you are not alone
Blyth Power:
Do you believe in high ideals?
Or in a white chalk horse upon a distant hill
Do you place your trust in paramilitary skills
Or powder and pills?
Subhumans:
You don't know who you might have been or who you now should be
Or what you ought to write on walls or why you wanna be free
And then you start to panic 'cause the inspiration's there
But your not sure how to use it anyway and no one seems to care
You're the classic all-round failure who never seems to win
You'd like to write a book but you're not sure how to begin
It's the story of your life
And the end of it's your death
And every word that's in between is just a waste of breath
Such simple lyrics but they manage to convey so much and cover such a long period of time.
Sang so simply, beautifully and with such feeling too.
Always makes me melancholy when I hear it.
Tell Laura I Love Her
GReat song see also Johnny remember me.
On a similar vein,
Richard Thomson Beeswing and 52 black lightning
Nancy sinatra is a good shout
it's been said a million times but lyrics aren't poetry. They need the music and the voice to work, and you don't even need to be able to hear the words clearly. Which is why poems set to music never really work - a good poem just has too much in it. That said I'm in the like lyrics camp and do have a memory for them. So I dunno
I met this girl she looked like Axl Rose,
Got drunk took her home and we slept in our clothes.
always raises a tear.
(From "I don't miss Julieanne" Ben Folds 5)
On the other end of the scale, I'll admit to enjoying Eminem - Fack a bit more than I should.
The Band Sang Waltzing Matilda
Probably the Pogues version is the best know
Witten by Eric Bogle
Kris Kristofferson putting on his cleanest dirty shirt
Such a great song!
Townes Van Zandt To Live is to Fly.
Kristofferson favourite is Here comes the rainbow
Townes Van Zandt To Live is to Fly.
Tecumseh Valley is another great of his. And he has many.
Can I have two?
This really speaks to me, though the writer/singer now hates it. He deconstructs it whenever he sings it, like in this performance. Still, this lyric from it I adore: [i]"The most remarkable thing about you standing in the doorway is that it's you, and that you're standing in the doorway."[/i]
This is just such a great story, and 'inspired by real life events'. [i]"And when I killed her, it was so easy, that I wanted to kill her again."[/i]
And if I'm feeling sad, this'll drag me down further and bring me out the other side - definitely one that needs the music though, so I won't pull out a lyric and write it here.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EWf0GeaKOVA
How can I not include this? [i]"Are you aching for the grave? That's okay, we're insured."[/i]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Io2Cl1u5gmU
Sorry, that was four.
It's early morning
No one is awake
I'm back at my cliff
Still throwing things off
I listen to the sounds they make
On their way down
I follow with my eyes till they crash
I imagine what my body would sound like
Slamming against those rocks
And when it lands
Will my eyes be closed or open?
I'm often drawn to a lyric that makes me chuckle. Definitely makes you feel better, along with good music of course.
A couple spring to mind straight away and maybe unsurprisingly, they come from uk rap.
Full of tongue in cheek and humour.
To my mind, one of the best opening lines ever.
Dizraeli and the Small Gods
You might see me walking round with a slight limp, it's not a G-thing bruv I done me ankle in...
The second just seems to raise an uncontrollable lol from me every time. 😂
The Streets
Philosophy and history, Kant said to do is to be, Nietzsche to be is to do, Frank Sinatra-Doo-be-do...
Richard Thomson Beeswing and 52 black lightning
I was scrolling down the thread thinking that surely Thomson would be mentioned by now. Beeswing is one of my faves, but so many more.
To get really crusty, I am fond of a bit of Clive James/Pete Atkin, eg
"you are repressed...
...but you're remarkably dressed"
Kant said to do is to be, Nietzsche to be is to do, Frank Sinatra-Doo-be-do…
I shouldn't be too impressed, my mum's had a fridge magnet with that on for about 15 years.
pretty much anything by Kirsty MacColl or Thea Gilmore. My favourite line that immediately came to mind on seeing the thread title:
"You know my character witness just went down for perjury"
Saviours and All: Thea Gilmore
Pretty well much anything by Squeeze
The Boxer by Simon and Garfunkel
National Express by Divine Comedy
Neighbourhood by Space
I like a bit of politics in my Lyrics, "ghost town", "fortunate son" or "born in the usa" spring to mind. But I think my absolute favourite lyrics are "in the gheto" (and I probably hate everything else elvis has done).
too many to quote a few...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C7kUDkK70qQ&ab_channel=TheJamVEVO
then theres Elvis again too many to quote
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SlCvlGCuQBE&ab_channel=ElvisCostelloVEVO
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V1d4r9awjKE&ab_channel=ElvisCostelloVEVO
A New England by Billy Bragg
So many to chose from, how about
The Devine Comedy - National Express, this always makes me smile
or for something a little angrier
Kae Tempest - Europe is Lost
National Express by Divine Comedy
@johndoh - Pretty much anything by Divine Comedy. This is my favourite. Its a list of things he's left on buses and trains, yet its achingly beautiful. How do you even do that? Utter genius!
Pete Docherty gets a lot of grief but he's the best songwriter of his generation by a mile
A time for Heroes is pure poetry, but in particular the line:
There's fewer more distressing sights than that
Of an Englishman in a baseball cap
Pretty much anything by Divine Comedy
Yeah - a new starter at work loves Divine Comedy and he said the same just last week when we got talking about music – I will have to listen to some more.
Another lyrical masterclass by Mr Hannon.
This is fantastic .. so many suggestions to listen to ..really looking forward to a new experience. My initial examples were pretty pathetic I guess but they were songs that induced that shiver down the spine .. not just because of the lyrics but as was mentioned earlier .. the combination of voice, lyric and music.
I often find it hard to hear the lyrics .. do you guys and gals actually take it all in simply by listening or do you Google when something appeals ?
Kant said to do is to be, Nietzsche to be is to do, Frank Sinatra-Doo-be-do…
I shouldn’t be too impressed, my mum’s had a fridge magnet with that on for about 15 years.
Oh well. It's a great line for a song.
I love this one, so beautiful, musically and lyrically.
And how about a bit of Bruce?
Now there's a beautiful river in the valley ahead
There 'neath the oak's bough soon we will wed
Should we lose each other in the shadow of the evening trees
Girl I'll wait for you, I fall behind wait for me
Blimey! No Bruce yet. Good call! My personal favourite. Its beautiful and miles better in this studio outtake ...
Inside I felt like I was carrying the broken spirits
Of all the other ones who lost
Excellent thread. Can't really get on with 'beeswing' but love a bit of Leonard Cohen and Dignity is great. I really hate how missed so many really powerful lyrics when I was younger as I just couldn't hear what was being said.
I often find it hard to hear the lyrics .. do you guys and gals actually take it all in simply by listening or do you Google when something appeals ?
I always listen to lyrics and sometimes look them up. My wife is the polar opposite - she NEVER listens to them at all.
Another one I really like is She's Electric by Oasis.
Ohh! Ohh!
How could I forget – surely some of the best lyrics ever...
Sign o' the Times by Prince.
Hurricane Annie ripped the ceiling of a church and killed everyone inside
You turn on the telly and every other story is tellin' you somebody died
A sister killed her baby 'cause she couldn't afford to feed it
And yet we're sending people to the moon
In September, my cousin tried reefer for the very first time
Now he's doing horse, it's June
And there are very few lyricists as good as Peter Gabriel. This is basically a poem, and a very fine one (and was inspired by the life and death of a poet).
My favourite line I reckon
And that old time feelin' rocks and spits and cries
Like an old lover rememberin' the girl with the clear blue eyes
I often find it hard to hear the lyrics .. do you guys and gals actually take it all in simply by listening or do you Google when something appeals ?
I have a great ear for listening to words. I can usually remember whole songs after a few listens. But 95% of the time it's just sounds and I never actually 'process' the words as they are.
I'm definitely in the camp of enjoying the music and the lyrics and can honestly give or take.
The first Foo Fighters album apparently has completely meaningless words. Grohl self-consciously avoiding discussing Cobain's death, apparently.
So as an antithesis to all you wannabe poets, I present:
Fingernails are pretty
Fingernails are good
Seems that all they ever wanted was a market 🤘🤘🤘
Too many to mention. I love effective and affecting lyrics.
The Aimee Mann lines already mentioned are as close to perfection as lyrics writing gets I reckon.
Fyfe Dangerfield has a real way with simple words too. Some of his lines have been my personal email signature for years now...
"And to those of you who moan your lives through one day to the next
Well, let them take you next
Can't you live and be thankful you're here?
See it could be you tomorrow next year"
In a similar vein, Frank Turner turns plain words into good things...
"I'm not convinced of the existence of these things that don't exist
Yeah, by Jewish boys with big ideas and scratches on their wrist
By a loving or a vengeful God, or one who condescends
Who'll wash his hands down in the mire among the misery of men
Or by ever turning circles hanging timeless in the sky
Like a dream catcher distracting from the fact you're gonna die
But I place one foot before the other, confident because
I know that everything we are right now is everything that was
That Wat Tyler, Woody Guthrie, Dostoevsky and Davy Jones
Are all dissolved into the ether and have crept into my bones
And all the cells in all the lines upon the backs of both my hands
Were once carved into the details of two feet upon the sand,"
And, much as he wrote some pretentious dross at times (and I'm saying that as a huge Manics fan), Richey Edwards quite often found a vein of lyrical gold...
"No one likes looking at you
Your lack of ego offends male mentality
They need your innocence
To steal vacant love and to destroy
Your beauty and virginity used like toys
My mind is dead, everybody loves me
Wants a slice of me
Hopelessly passive and compatible
Need to belong, oh, the roads are scary
Hold me in your arms
I wanna be your only possession
Used, used, used by men
Used, used, used by men
All they leave behind is money
Paper made out of broken twisted trees
Your pretty face offends
Because it's something real that I can't touch
Eyes, skin, bone, contour, language as a flower
No god reached me, faded films and loving books
Black and white TV
All the world does not exist for me
If I'm starving, you can feed me lollipops
Your diet will crush me
My life, just an old man's memory
Little baby, nothing
Loveless slavery, lips kissing empty
Dress your life in loathing
Breaking your mind with Barbie Doll futility
Little baby nothing
Sexually free, made-up to breakup
Assassinated beauty
Moths broken up, quenched at last
The vermin allowed a thought to pass them by
You are pure, you are snow
We are the useless sluts that they mould
Rock 'n' roll is our epiphany
Culture alienation, boredom and despair
You are pure, you are snow
We are the useless sluts that they mould
Rock 'n' roll is our epiphany
Culture alienation, boredom and despair"
I often find it hard to hear the lyrics .. do you guys and gals actually take it all in simply by listening or do you Google when something appeals ?
I always listen really carefully to lyrics. Why wouldn't you.
I think the reason that Coldplay really irritate the **** out of me is that Chris Martin sings like his imbuing the lyrics with some kind of meaning, when in reality when you listen to them they are utter and complete meaningless drivel. Almost a random selection of words, really badly thrown together
I think the reason that Coldplay really irritate the **** out of me is that Chris Martin sings like his imbuing the lyrics with some kind of meaning, when in reality when you listen to them they are utter and complete drivel
They irritate me simply because they are shit.
Has there ever been a more beautiful and simple opening lyric to a love song than this?
Athlete - Wires
When you really listen to the lyrics the song can bring you to tears.
Athlete – Wires
When you really listen to the lyrics the song can bring you to tears.
Agreed. Didn't he write that about his wife in intensive care?
Agreed. Didn’t he write that about his wife in intensive care?
I thought it was his newborn daughter in SCBU but you may be right.
I am going to start blubbing...
First night of your life
Curled up on your own
Looking at you now
You would never know
Richard Thomson Beeswing and 52 black lightning
I was going to say ANY Richard Thomson, but that one is a belter. Some very "thoughtful" stuff on "The Old Kitbag" album, e.g. A Love You Can't Survive.
all lyric...