Again, those aren't Nirvana's lyrics, but the Meat Puppets' How about: "You better watch out Cupid stuck me with a sickness Pull your little arrows out and let me live my life The one I'd better lead All the blondes are fantasies And we looked at them eleven ways You said 'Look at me', and looked away And you wrote the song I want to play I'll write you harmony in C Everybody, everybody just wanna fall in love Everybody, everybody just wanna play the lead" (Metric - Sick Muse)
"Well the point was fast, but it was too blunt to miss, life handed us a paycheck, we said, 'we worked harder than this!'" "There was this tortoise, its shell was covered with jewels And had been since time began It knew the world through all its histories And the universe and its mysteries One day it came across a man The two were talking The tortoise offered to tell him About the future and how the universe ran Oh, the man killed the tortoise, took his shell And with a song on his lips walked off again" -- Both Modest Mouse. I have this theory that Isaac Brock is one of the most brilliant lyricists of a generation "You are my sweetest downfall I loved you first, I loved you first Beneath the sheets of paper lies my truth I have to go, I have to go Your hair was long when we first met Samson went back to bed Not much hair left on his head He ate a slice of wonder bread and went right back to bed And history books forgot about us and the bible didn't mention us And the bible didn't mention us, not even once" -- Regina Spektor I love this one because she's reimagined the story of Samson from the bible, and carried it out as if the two lovers were able to stay together and lead unextraordinary lives "What if I'd been born fifty years before you In a house on a street where you lived? Maybe I'd be outside as you passed on your bike Would I know? And in a white sea of eyes I see one pair that I recognize And I'd know That I am I am I am The luckiest" -- Ben Folds, who has this way of taking the things you can't seem communicate, and deliver them so simply, yet so elegantly
"Night with the eyes of a horse that trembles in the night. Night with eyes of water in the field asleep Is in your eyes of secret-water. Eyes of shadow water. Eyes of well-water. Eyes of dream water. Silence and solitude, Two little animals moon led, Drink in your eyes, drink in those waters. If you open your eyes, the night opens doors of musk, The secret kingdom of the water opens flowing from the center of the night. And if you close your eyes, a river, A silent and beautiful current, fills you from within, Flows forward, darkens you. Night brings its wetness to beaches in your soul." Eric Whitacre, Water Night
Far too many to post, but I've found that consistently Dire Straits/Mark Knopfler and Counting Crows have incredibly good songwriting and lyrics. I'll also say Rush, though some songs can tend to be misses for a lot of people (I'm looking at you, "Dog Years").
"Pick a star on the dark horizon and follow the light." Regina Spektor, The Call "Golau arall yw tywyllwch i arddangos gwir brydferthwch." (Darkness is another light that exposes true beauty.) Ar Hyd y Nos - All Through the Night John Ceiriog Hughes "I stood for nothing, so I fell for everything." Katy Perry, Roar
I'm trying to tell you something about my life. Maybe give me insight between black and white. The best thing you've ever done for me is to help me take my life less seriously; it's only life after all. Well darkness has a hunger that's insatiable, and lightness has a call that's hard to hear. I wrap my fear around me like a blanket. I sailed my ship of safety till I sank it, I'm crawling on your shore. I went to the doctor, I went to the mountains. I looked to the children, I drank from the fountain. There's more than one answer to these questions pointing me in crooked line The less I seek my source for some definitive the closer I am to fine. ~ The Indigo Girls, Closer to Fine. Words to live by.
You may like this song @Wreybies "Catching an all-night station somewhere in Louisiana It sounds like 1963, but for now it sounds like heaven May the wind take your troubles away May the wind take your troubles away Both feet on the floor, two hands on the wheel, May the wind take your troubles away."
"Momma want some Obama in me The hood want 'Pac hip-hop wanna see the Common in me And since it's a senseless contradiction I end up a misfit tryna fit in" -Lecrae "I'll tip my hat to the new constitution Take a bow for the new revolution Smile and grin at the change all around Pick up my guitar and play Just like yesterday Then I'll get on my knees and pray We don't get fooled again" -The Who
Jesus Christ, I am bleached by the heat But I feel fine in my filthy skin - Lowlife, "Bleach" Violent, more violent, his head cracks the chair Moves on reaction then slumps in despair We were strangers for way too long - Joy Division, "I Remember Nothing" I have many more to come.
When I dream that sweet dream When I forget where I am I will always remember Your hand on my shoulder - Swans, "Real Love"
Why am I this way? Why am I this way? It's true, I'm horrible But I don't need to be in trouble - Dee Dee Ramone, "I'm Horrible" I sang you all my sorrows You told me all your joys - The Pogues, "Rainy Night in Soho"
I feel so extraordinary Something's got a hold on me I get this feeling I'm in motion A certain sense of liberty - New Order, "True Faith"
Been listening to Sailing to Philadelphia this morning. The opening track, "What It Is," might be the best Mark Knopfler solo song ever...easily on par with the best Dire Straits material. The drinking dens are spilling out There's staggering in the square There's lads and lasses falling about And a crackling in the air Down around the dungeon doors The shelters and the queues Everybody's looking for Somebody's arms to fall into And it's what it is It's what it is now There's frost on the graves and the monuments But the taverns are warm in town People curse the government And shovel hot food down The lights are out in city hall The castle and the keep The moon shines down upon it all The legless and asleep And it's cold on the tollgate With the wagons creeping through Cold on the tollgate God knows what I could do with you And it's what it is It's what it is now The garrison sleeps in the citadel With the ghosts and the ancient stones High up on the parapet A Scottish piper stands alone And high on the wind The highland drums begin to roll And something from the past just comes And stares into my soul And it's cold on the tollgate With the Caledonian blues Cold on the tollgate God knows what I could do with you And it's what it is It's what it is now What it is It's what it is now There's a chink of light, there's a burning wick There's a lantern in the tower Wee Willie Winkie with a candlestick Still writing songs in the wee wee hours On Charlotte Street I take A walking stick from my hotel The ghost of Dirty Dick Is still in search of Little Nell And it's what it is It's what it is now Oh it's what it is What it is now -Mark Knopfler, "What It Is" (Sailing to Philadelphia) There's just no beating this song for atmosphere (or guitar playing, but that's for a different thread!). The guy knows how to create a scene.
Balanced on their knives Little parts of lives Such a strange reality Kill the unicorn Just to have its horn Soon he's just a fantasy --Savatage, Gutter Ballet
A song partly about words. From memory, I believe this portion goes: Listen as the syllables of slaughter cut with calm precision, Patterned frosty phrases rape your ears and sow the ice incision, Adjectives of annihilation bury the point beyond redemption, Venomous verbs of ruthless candor plagiarise assassin's fervor. Apocalyptic alphabet, casting spell, the creed of tempered diction. -Marillion, Assassing. I have to say, though, in all of the songs I know in this thread, reading the lyrics doesn't have near the effect of the song
"And if you think that peace Is a common goal Well that goes to show Just how little you know" The Smiths - Death of a Disco Dancer
Ah, The Smiths! Wealth of good lyrical content. "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...'Cause tonight is just like any other night, That's why you're on your own tonight, Your triumphs and your charms, they're in each other's arms..." -The Smiths, I Know It's Over "What she said, I smoke 'cause I'm hoping for an early death, and I need to cling to something." -The Smiths, What She Said
Ah, the Smiths, soundtrack to my adolescence and gateway drug to Joy Division. Scratch my name on your arm with a fountain pen This means you really love me And though I walk home alone, my faith in love is still devout - The Smiths, "Rusholme Ruffians" The procession moves on, the shouting is over Praise to the glory of loved ones now gone Talking aloud as they sit 'round the table Scattering flowers washed down by the rain Stood by the gate at the end of the garden Watching them pass like clouds in the sky Tried to cry out in the heat of the moment Possessed by a fury that burns from inside - Joy Division, "The Eternal"
Some are born to move the world To live their fantasies But most of us just dream about The things we'd like to be Sadder still to watch it die Than never to have known it For you, the blind who once could see The bell tolls for thee, bell tolls for For you, the blind who once could see Bell tolls for thee, bell tolls for thee --Rush, Losing It
I could flood the topic with Rush lyrics, but I think that would border on spam! 80's Rush, starting with Signals, is definitely Neil Peart at his most...eloquent, I think. Sure, there's something to be said for space opera songs and songs about Greek gods and flying through wormholes, but just read the lines posted above to "Losing It." That's the real good stuff. I only wish I could have seen them play that one live this past tour, but alas my city was not one of the relatively few shows that got blessed with it.
Oh, it's such a perfect day I'm glad I spent it with you Oh, such a perfect day You just keep me hanging on - Lou Reed, "Perfect Day" Hold on to the one you love and kiss her before she dies The river that runs with love won't run dry - Swans, "The River that Runs with Love Won't Run Dry"
