Songs that are lyrically brilliant

[repo_4]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=loIUe0iCHBE

[grego]

love the morrissey/smiths posts (november spawned a monster and hairdresser on fire are classics), and the world party post.

Both Sides Now

Rows and flows of angel hair

And ice cream castles in the air

And feather canyons everywhere

I've looked at clouds * that way

But now they only block the sun

They rain and snow on everyone

So many things I would have done

But clouds got in my way

I've looked at clouds from both sides now

From up and down, and still somehow

It's cloud illusions I recall

I really don't know clouds at all

Moons and Junes and Ferris wheels

The dizzy dancing way you feel

As ev'ry fairy tale comes real

I've looked at love that way

But now it's just another show

You leave 'em laughing when you go

And if you care, don't let them know

Don't give yourself away

I've looked at love from both sides now

From give and take, and still somehow

It's love's illusions I recall

I really don't know love at all

Tears and fears and feeling proud

To say "I love you" right out loud

Dreams and schemes and circus crowds

I've looked at life that way

But now old friends are acting strange

They shake their heads, they say I've changed

Well something's lost, but something's gained

In living every day

I've looked at life from both sides now

From win and lose and still somehow

It's life's illusions I recall

I really don't know life at all

I've looked at life from both sides now

From up and down, and still somehow

It's life's illusions I recall

I really don't know life at all

================================

also, i've always loved pink floyds (roger waters, really) the final cut. i'm in the minority with my opinion on this album, but i cant help it. i really like it.

through the fish eyed lens of tear stained eyes

i can barely define the shape of this moment in time

and far from flying high in clear blue skies

i'm spiralling down to the hole in the ground where i hide

if you negotiate the minefield in the drive

and beat the dogs and cheat the cold electronic eyes

and if you make it past the shotgun in the hall

dial the combination. open the priesthole

and if i'm in i'll tell you what's behind the wall

there's a kid who had a big hallucination

making love to girls in magazines

he wonders if you're sleeping with your new found faith

could anybody love him

or is it just a crazy dream

and if i show you my dark side

will you still hold me tonight

and if i open my heart to you

and show you my weak side

what would you do

would you sell your story to rolling stone

would you take the children away

and leave me alone

and smile in reassurance

as you whisper down the phone

would you send me packing

or would you take me home

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

[twa]

Waylon

The only two things in life that make it worth livin'

Is guitars that tune good and firm feelin' women

..

I've always been crazy and the trouble that it's put me through

I've been busted for things that I did, and I didn't do

I can't say I’m proud of all of the things that I’ve done

But I can say I’ve never intentionally hurt anyone

I've always been different with one foot over the line

Winding up somewhere one step ahead or behind

It ain't been so easy but I guess I shouldn't complain

I've always been crazy but it's kept me from going insane

Beautiful lady are you sure that you understand

The chances your taking loving a free living man

Are you really sure you really want what you see

Be careful of something that's just what you want it to be

I've always been crazy but it's kept me from going insane

Nobody knows if it's something to bless or to blame

So far I ain't found a rhyme or a reason to change

I've always been crazy but it's kept me from going insane

...

I don’t look the way the average cowboy singer looks.

I’ll admit I’ve taken things I never shoulda took.

You can read a different story in a lot of different books.

But even then you won’t really know,

How it was a long time ago.

Women have been my trouble since I found out they weren’t men.

In spite of that I stopped and took a wife now and then.

They built their fences high but they couldn’t hold me in.

I was born with a fire down below,

And I learned to fly a long time ago.

[Califan007 The Constipated]

Some 70s pop lyrical brilliance :thumbsup:

Moonlight Feels Right - Starbuck

The wind blew some luck in my direction

I caught it in my hands today

I finally made a tricky French connection

You winked and gave me your OK

I'll take you on a trip beside the ocean

And drop the top at Chesapeake Bay

Ain't nothin' like the sky to dose a potion

The moon'll send you on your way

Moonlight feels right

Moonlight feels right

If You Could Read My Mind - Gordon Lightfoot

If you could read my mind, love

What a tale my thoughts could tell

Just like an old time movie

'Bout a ghost from a wishing well

In a castle dark or a fortress strong

With chains upon my feet

You know that ghost is me

And I will never be set free

As long as I'm a ghost that you can't see

If I could read your mind, love,

What a tale your thoughts could tell

Just like a paperback novel

The kind the drugstores sell

Then you reached the part where the heartaches come

The hero would be me

But heroes often fail

And you won't read that book again

Because the ending's just too hard to take

Livin' For The City - Stevie Wonder

A boy is born in hard time Mississippi

Surrounded by four walls that ain't so pretty

His parents give him love and affection

To keep him strong moving in the right direction

Living just enough, just enough for the city...ee ha!

His father works some days for fourteen hours

And you can bet he barely makes a dollar

His mother goes to scrub the floor for many

And you'd best believe she hardly gets a penny

Living just enough, just enough for the city...yeah

His sister's black but she is sho 'nuff pretty

Her skirt is short but Lord her legs are sturdy

To walk to school she's got to get up early

Her clothes are old but never are they dirty

Living just enough, just enough for the city...um hum

Her brother's smart he's got more sense than many

His patience's long but soon he won't have any

To find a job is like a haystack needle

Cause where he lives they don't use colored people

Living just enough, just enough for the city...

Family Affair - Sly & The Family Stone

One child grows up to be

Somebody that just loves to learn

And another child grows up to be

Somebody you'd just love to burn

Mom loves the both of them

You see it's in the blood

Both kids are good to Mom

'Blood's thicker than mud'

It's a family affair

it's a family affair

Newlywed a year ago

But you're still checking each other out

Nobody wants to blow

Nobody wants to be left out

You can't leave, 'cause your heart is there

But you can't stay, 'cause you been somewhere else

You can't cry, 'cause you'll look broke down

But you're cryin' anyway 'cause you're all broke down

It's a family affair

[grego]

If You Could Read My Mind - Gordon Lightfoot

oh, thats a great one.

[spjunkies]

Please don't kill me, but another Smith Classic that I just thought of...

Oh mother, I can feel the soil falling over my head

And as I climb into an empty bed

Oh well, enough said

I know it's over still I cling

I don't know where else I can go, mother

Oh mother, I can feel the soil falling over my head

See, the sea wants to take me

The knife wants to slit me

Do you think you can help me?

Sad veiled bride, please be happy

Handsome groom, give her room

Loud, loutish lover, treat her kindly

Although she needs you more than she loves you

And I know it's over

Still I cling

I don't know where else I can go

It's over, it's over, it's over

I know it's over

And it never really began

But in my heart it was so real

And you even spoke to me and said:

"If you're so funny

Then why are you on your own tonight?

And if you're so clever

Then why are you on your own tonight?

If you're so very entertaining

Then why are you on your own tonight?

If you're so very good looking

Why do you sleep alone tonight?

I know because tonight is just like any other night

That's why you're on your own tonight

With your triumphs and your charms

While they are in each other's arms"

It's so easy to laugh

It's so easy to hate

It takes strength to be gentle and kind

It's over, over, over

It's so easy to laugh

It's so easy to hate

It takes guts to be gentle and kind

It's over, over, over

Love is natural and real

But not for you, my love

Not tonight my love

Love is natural and real

But not for such as you and I, my love

Oh Mother, I can feel the soil falling over my head

Oh Mother, I can feel the soil falling over my head

Oh Mother, I can feel the soil falling over my head

Oh Mother, I can feel the soil falling over my head

Oh Mother, I can feel the soil falling over my head

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5sQPZ9dD9v8&feature=related

[Gracelander]

The Flying Burrito Brothers, "Hot Burrito #1", Gram Parsons was a genius. This is a pretty song that i've always loved.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_tHoNZp7POA

[Going Commando]

I studied poetry in school, I'm a snob. Song lyrics almost always fall short of the kind of lyrical quality of good poetry because they're contrived to fit into rhythms and rhyming structures for the music, plus they're usually narrative or at least themed. Also most musicians are musicians first, have no formal training in creative writing, and their poetry is very amateur. But some musicians have a real poetic voice within their song lyrics that's impressive. Songs are funny too. The content of the lyrics is typically much less important than the way they're sung.

Joanna Newsom for one. She's got a strong creative writing background and her songwriting is really superior. You're good with just about anything off of Have One on Me. But "Does Not Suffice" and "Go Long" are especially brilliant.

Does Not Suffice is one of the most moving breakup songs I've ever heard.

I also love Annie Clark's songs. The whole package is good, she's a fantastic singer and guitar player, but her lyrics can really impress and move me in particular. Strange Mercy was a great album, the title track is amazing. "Year of the Tiger" is good too. It's really really hard to tell a coherent narrative in a song and have it be strong but she manages it pretty well.

[zoony]

Secured under the weight of watchful eyes,

Lulled to sleep under clear expansive skies.

Somewhere in these prying hearts

Conflicting histories tear us apart

And we hope we don't get what we deserve,

Hide behind the targets in front of all the people we serve.

[Chachie]

the The - Love Is Stronger Than Death

Lovelovelove

Lovelovelove

Me & my friend were walking

In the cold light of mourning.

Tears may blind the eyes but the soul is not deceived

In this world even winter aint what it seems.

Here come the blue skies here comes springtime.

When the rivers run high & the tears run dry.

When everything that dies.

Shall rise.

Lovelovelove is stronger than death.

Lovelovelove is stronger than death.

In our lives we hunger for those we cannot touch.

All the thoughts unuttered & all the feelings unexpressed

Play upon our hearts like the mist upon our breath.

But, awoken by grief, our spirits speak

How could you believe that the life within the seed

That grew arms that reached

And a heart that beat.

And lips that smiled

And eyes that cried.

Could ever die?

Here come the blue skies here comes springtime.

When the rivers run high & the tears run dry.

When everything that dies.

Shall rise.

[Califan007 The Constipated]

Shy - Prince

After a look much louder than words she said

"I passed my initiation

A friend of mine, he got killed and in retaliation

I shot the boy

Twice in the head

No regrets, no sorrow

I'm goin' back tomorrow

2 make sure he's dead"

Do What You Have To Do - Sarah McLachlan

What ravages of spirit

Conjured this tempestuous rage

Created you a monster

Broken by the rules of love

And fate has lead you through it

You do what you have to do

And fate has led you through it

You do what you have to do

And I have the sense to recognize that

I don't know how to let you go

Every moment marked

With apparitions of your soul

I'm ever swiftly moving

Trying to escape this desire

The yearning to be near you

I do what I have to do

The yearning to be near you

I do what I have to do

But I have the sense to recognize

That I don't know how to let you go

I don't know how

To let you go

A glowing ember

Burning hot

Burning slow

Deep within I'm shaken by the violence

Of existing for only you

I know I can't be with you

I do what I have to do

I know I can't be with you

I do what I have to do

And I have sense to recognize but

I don't know how to let you go

I don't know how to let you go

I don't know how to let you go

[Mr. Sinister]

[B.Lloyd]

Hard in the Paint -- Waka Flocka Flame

[E-Dog Night]

Women think I'm tasty

But they're always trying to waste me

Make me burn the candle right down

Baby, baby

I don't need your jewel in my crown

'Cause all of you women

Is low down gamblers

Cheatin' like I don't know how

Baby, I'm going crazy

Got the fever in the funkhouse now

This low down ****in'

Got my po' feet a-itchin;

Don't you know the deuce is still wild

Baby, I can't stay

You got to roll me

And call me the Tumblin' Dice

---

Always in a hurry

Never stop to worry

Don't see the time passing by

Honey, got no money

I'm all 6's and 7's and 9's

Say now baby

I'm the rank outsider

You can be my partner in crime

Baby, I can't stay

You got to roll me

And call me the Tumblin' Dice

---

Oh, my my my

I'm the lone crap shooter

Playing the field every night

Baby, I can't stay

You got to roll me

And call me the Tumblin' Dice

[Sticksboi05]

For anyone living the struggle this is your anthem. Richard Ashcroft is so underrated. Like many other 90's Brit bands, lives partially in the shadow of Oasis.

But The Verve's biggest hit is also a masterpiece lyrically just as it is musically (don't care if it was a ripped sample, the way the strings were used was creative). Seriously if this song comes on and you don't get sucked into it, you have no soul, well, at least, you might as well not.

Bittersweet Symphony.

Cause it's a bitter sweet symphony this life...

Trying to make ends meet, you're a slave to the money then you die.

I'll take you down the only road I've ever been down...

You know the one that takes you to the places where all the veins meet, yeah.

No change, I can't change, I can't change, I can't change,

but I'm here in my mold, I am here in my mold.

But I'm a million different people from one day to the next...

I can't change my mold, no,no,no,no,no,no,no

Well I've never prayed,

But tonight I'm on my knees, yeah.

I need to hear some sounds that recognize the pain in me, yeah.

I let the melody shine, let it cleanse my mind, I feel free now.

But the airwaves are clean and there's nobody singing to me now.

No change, I can't change, I can't change, I can't change,

but I'm here in my mold, I am here in my mold.

And I'm a million different people from one day to the next

I can't change my mold, no,no,no,no,no

Have you ever been down?

I can't change, I can't change...

Cause it's a bittersweet symphony this life.

Trying to make ends meet, trying to find somebody then you die.

You know I can't change, I can't change, I can't change, I can't change

but I'm here in my mold, I am here in my mold.

And I'm a million different people from one day to the next.

///I can't change my mold, no,no,no,no,no///

(It's just sex and violence melody and silence)

(It's just sex and violence melody and silence)

(I'll take you down the only road I've ever been down)

(It justs sex and violence melody and silence)

(I'll take you down the only road I've ever been down)

(Been down)

(Ever been down)

Best song out of the Britpop era along with Common People and Live Forever.

[Corcaigh]

Dead Kennedys - We've got a bigger problem now ... for the Dallas Cowboys reference alone.

[terrifNick21]

[Califan007 The Constipated]

Istanbul (Not Constantinople) - The Four Lads

Istanbul was Constantinople

Now it's Istanbul, not Constantinople

Been a long time gone, Constantinople

Now it's Turkish delight on a moonlit night

Every gal in Constantinople

Lives in Istanbul, not Constantinople

So if you've a date in Constantinople

She'll be waiting in Istanbul

Even old New York was once New Amsterdam

Why they changed it I can't say

People just liked it better that way

So take me back to Constantinople

No, you can't go back to Constantinople

Now it's Istanbul, not Constantinople

Why did Constantinople get the works?

That's nobody's business but the Turks

Istanbul (Istanbul)

Istanbul (Istanbul)

Even old New York was once New Amsterdam

Why they changed it I can't say

People just liked it better that way

So take me back to Constantinople

No, you can't go back to Constantinople

Now it's Istanbul, not Constantinople

Why did Constantinople get the works?

That's nobody's business but the Turks

Istanbul

[drtdrums]

I really hope this post convinces one person to listen to this band; their singer/lyricist, Mark Salomon, is also an amazing writer of prose. They are one of the greatest hidden gems of the musical universe as far as I'm concerned.

Somehow stumbled my way home, stood inside the doorway

Staring blind through rooms I knew were missing more than the paintings on the walls

It's hard to call this home, I'm more that just alone

Have I been passed by and left behind again

I feel it pulling me

It's heavy

No desire to wonder why the answers have so long escaped me

But the arms are open wide to rivers underneath the surface

Follow with the tide ease into the cooler water

Farewell and all goodbyes to the shoreline

I'll see you when I see you

Silhouette against the stone romantic standing at the edge

Of mystery now a tragedy left to count as mortals long grown cold

The story goes untold and no one ever knows

It just disappears beneath the fears He killed

And I feel them pulling me

Heavy

No desire to wonder why the answers have so long escaped me

But the arms are open wide to rivers underneath the surface

Follow with the tide ease into the cooler water

Farewell and all goodbyes to the shoreline

Remember when we

Did you see them

Don't forget this moment ever

We belong this is home

I've missed you so

For now and always

I cannot recall

My life before this

I feel it pulling me

It's heavy

No desire to wonder why the answers have so long escaped me

But the arms are open wide to rivers underneath the surface

Follow with the tide, outside ease into the cooler water

Farewell and all goodbyes to the shoreline

I'll see you when I see you

I'll see you when I see you

To prove it's not a fluke:

You slipped from my arms, I knew you had to go

Such a heavy heart, who could hope to hold

And I know where you're going, and that's the hardest part

No matter where tonight ends, you won't escape your broken heart

Stay a while

Helpless for the words, and it tightens up the air

It's not what you deserve, it's not for lack of care

Inside of me is screaming out, I'm praying for my prayers

Distracting and unworthy of each and every burning tear

Seems insincere

Do I see God in all of this, maybe all along

It's just that we're so small, and simply not as strong

Strong like wings of silver, and feathers made of gold

To carry heavy hearts, to cover all our helpless souls

To cover all of us

Under wings of Gold and Silver sometimes we have to hide

For shelter from this bitter winter at least tonight

If it were mine to give I'd give you your own time

Turn it back or forward whatever you decide

____________________________________

Oh, heck, one more. This one is just incredible:

Sleepless eyes open wide before Heaven I stand again

If there's no winning this war tonight I was wondering

If you could steady my spinning head

And trusting gets harder now

I wish you were here beside me

My failures my fears and doubts have been haunting me

I'm just not who I thought I'd be

Freefall weightless and terrified

On I go crossing over from living to so alive

And purified I know weeping is cast for the night

And joy...

Thought I was a good man and fell short of my standards

Now what am I left with All or nothing

And my first taste of freedom

Freefall weightless and terrified

On I go crossing over from living to so alive

And purified I know weeping is cast for the night

And joy...

If I fall down

If I fail you

When I fall down

When I fail you

I hope to find you there

I hope to find you there

I know I'll find you there

I've always found you there

When I fall down, down

Freefall weightless and terrified

On I go crossing over from living to so alive

And purified I know weeping is cast for the night

But joy comes in the morning

[Burgold]

Constantinople reminded me of how impressed I was the first time I heard the Star Wars version of Bye, Bye American Pie by Wierd Al.

[grego]

Please don't kill me, but another Smith Classic that I just thought of...

theres a light that never goes out.....its a classic.

Take me out tonight Where there's music and there's people And they're young and alive Driving in your car I never never want to go home Because I haven't got one Anymore Take me out tonight Because I want to see people and I Want to see life Driving in your car Oh, please don't drop me home Because it's not my home, it's their Home, and I'm welcome no more And if a double-decker bus Crashes into us To die by your side Is such a heavenly way to die And if a ten-ton truck Kills the both of us To die by your side Well, the pleasure - the privilege is mine Take me out tonight Take me anywhere, I don't care I don't care, I don't care And in the darkened underpass I thought Oh God, my chance has come at last (But then a strange fear gripped me and I Just couldn't ask) ] Take me out tonight Oh, take me anywhere, I don't care I don't care, I don't care Driving in your car I never never want to go home Because I haven't got one, da ...Oh, I haven't got one

And if a double-decker bus Crashes into us To die by your side Is such a heavenly way to die And if a ten-ton truck Kills the both of us To die by your side Well, the pleasure - the privilege is mine

Oh, There Is A Light And It Never Goes Out There Is A Light And It Never Goes Out There Is A Light And It Never Goes Out There Is A Light And It Never Goes Out There Is A Light And It Never Goes Out There Is A Light And It Never Goes Out There Is A Light And It Never Goes Out There Is A Light And It Never Goes Out There Is A Light And It Never Goes Out

[Koolblue13]

There's soooo many but for now I just want to echo Predicto's comments (I mean Bob Dylan, c'mon) and note previous mention of Simon & Garfunkel (numerous, but Sounds of Silence is always worth a nod), Knopfler's Romeo & Juliet, and McLachlan's Angel (go ahead and give me ****, I dare ya), Don Quixote by Gordon Lightfoot, Cohen's Suzanne, Shawn Colvin's Trouble, and of course, the incomparable In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida :pfft:. I love talented lyricists.

Romeo and Juliet is possibly the most beautiful song ever written and has defined a couple of my favorite failed relationships.

Also, if somebody had never heard of Rock and Roll, I would play them Sultans of Swing, which is rumored to be about the joint I use to work, John and Peters.

---------- Post added May-29th-2012 at 08:08 AM ----------

Dead Kennedys - We've got a bigger problem now ... for the Dallas Cowboys reference alone.

Glad somebody picked up on that reference.

[HogNose]

Procol Harum- A Whiter Shade of Pale

We skipped the light fandango

turned cartwheels 'cross the floor

I was feeling kinda seasick

but the crowd called out for more

The room was humming harder

as the ceiling flew away

When we called out for another drink

the waiter brought a tray

And so it was that later

as the miller told his tale

that her face, at first just ghostly,

turned a whiter shade of pale

She said, 'There is no reason

and the truth is plain to see.'

But I wandered through my playing cards

and would not let her be

one of sixteen vestal virgins

who were leaving for the coast

and although my eyes were open

they might have just as well've been closed

And so it was that later

as the miller told his tale

that her face, at first just ghostly,

turned a whiter shade of pale

[greenspandan]

Propagandhi - Iteration

Donald wept through the proceedings.

His tears soaked through the canvas

that cloaked his twisted face and they stained

his orange jumpsuit where with such rare distinction he once displayed

the evidence of his outstanding contributions to the maintenance of a kingdom come.

But those days are gone.

He’s nothing more than a number on a docket thick with shareholders, engineers, PR firms, politicians: war-profiteers.

How the **** did I end up here? This just isn’t fair.

Ain’t no place for a millionaire.

He searches for the words to stop this table in mid-turn,

like “we are but old men” and “we only did what we were told,”

but the laughter from the gallery drowns out these vestiges of a profession’s oldest defense.

The court will direct the record to reflect compliments from the bench;

you sir, are central casting’s crowning achievement.

And for your outstanding performance in a comedic role,

I’d like to dedicate the findings of the jury to the dead.

But how can one man ever repay a debt so appalling?

Can’t gouge 10,000 eyes

from a single head so I

think we should observe

a sentence that will serve

to satisfy both a sense of function and poetry:

so you will spend the rest of your days drenched in sweat,

with your face drawn in a rictus of terror

as you remove another buried land mine fuse.

Meanwhile, 100 yards back

behind the sandbags,

a legless foreman

pulls the trigger on

a red megaphone.

Squelching feedback. Drunken laughter.

Broken English. His dead daughter’s picture.

Time and tide, no one can anticipate

the inevitable waves of change.

[TradeTheBeal!]

No love for Steel Panther?

I want to tell you 'bout something fun

So I wrote you this song

If you've ever been to Disneyland

You know the lines can be real long

But I got a ride that the ****es love

And you won't have to wait at all

All you've got to do is ditch your boyfriend

And give sexy Michael Starr a call

I'll take your ass for a weenie ride

Spread your cheeks and swallow your pride

It's scary like a rollercoaster

It will stretch you out so wide

Gonna take your ass for a weenie ride

Hold on tight 'cause I'm coming inside

It's better than a ferris wheel or a water slide

It's a weenie ride

I want to sing about a thing

That's funner than a swing

And better than the Monkey bars

You can take it on the couch

Or your waterbed

Or in the back of your Daddy's car

And it's open all day

Nighttime too

Seven ****ing days a week

It only shuts down intermittently

So I can take a leak

So put that snatch on a weenie ride

Ride her face down or on your side

You'll be amazed what you can fit in there

When some leverage is applied

Open your legs for a weenie ride

You won't be the first to see it and cry

Just bring the baby wipes and some astroglide

It's a weenie ride

Oh yeah

Scream for me... Scream out in Ecstacy...

Honey, won't you try the weenie ride

You're never gonna be the same

Baby, how you gonna get to Heaven

If you can't take a little pain?

Step right up for a weenie ride

It's even more fun when you're gagged and tied

Oops, I think I got a little DNA

All over your backside

Go on and tell your friends about the weenie ride

You can charge admission, baby, I don't mind

Even with a big old muff you won't get denied

For the weenie ride

Ooooooooh

Weenie Weenie Weenie Weenie Weenie Weenie Weenie Ride (It's a weenie ride)