Favorite Lyrics Anyone?

[cybee]

Well now that ciso has me humming a medley of Billy don't be a Hero and clang clang Trolley song I'm trying hard to block out those tunes with something else.

Anyone have any favorite song lyrics? This is one of my all time favorite lyrics from the Yes song Close To The Edge.

A seasoned witch could call you from the depths of your disgrace,
And rearrange your liver to the solid mental grace,
And achieve it all with music that came quickly from afar,
Then taste the fruit of man recorded losing all against the hour.
And assessing points to nowhere, leading ev'ry single one.
A dewdrop can exalt us like the music of the sun,
And take away the plain in which we move,
And choose the course you're running.

 

[By-Tor]

Yes is a great band, I've seen them live twice. They have always been creative and adventurous.

Personally, I think Neil Peart of Rush has written some amazing lyrics. It's one of those things that makes their music stand out from all other rock bands.

Peart has dozens of great lyrics, but these are two of my favorites from the Power Windows album:

Middletown Dreams

Territories

Frank Zappa had fantastic lyrics too. He's my second favorite.

 

[pugwash]

Frank Zappa had fantastic lyrics too. He's my second favorite.

I have close to everything Zappa ever released, including a lot of the original vinyl releases. He was a highly talented and under-appreciated artist.

However, one line from one song ("Peach, Plum, Pear" by Joanna Newsom) is one of the better lyrics:
"I have read the right books
to interpret your looks
you were knocking me down
with the palm of your eye "

 

[By-Tor]

I totally agree... but Zappa is definitely not "under-appreciated". He was under-appreciated by the mainstream media, yes... but that doesn't mean squat.

Too many people put emphasis on commercial success, while the artistic success is the only thing that really matters. Zappa is well respected... and his legacy will be remembered. That's something that nickel and dime posers like George Michael and Noel Gallagher can only dream of.

Zappa's bands were also extremely talented. Many people don't remember, but Steve Vai's career started in Zappa's band.

 

[pugwash]

Many people don't remember, but Steve Vai's career started in Zappa's band.

And Zappa was cultural attaché to Czechoslovakia. Oh, and he restored and played the Stratocaster that Hendrix famously destroyed on stage.

 

[OiRogers]

By God... I knew there were more common interests than watches in this community...

Zappa?... Vai?..... Love both their collective bodies of work dearly.
Even if my wife make fun of me for listening to "guitarists mastrubating"
I also have pretty much every release from both of the above artists... many many on vinyl as well... but I've recently ripped most of my vinyl onto ye olde Ipode... doesn't sound quite the same, but I still enjoy it quite well.

On an somewhat unrelated note... just caught the Zappa Plays Zappa show back on the 24th... Dweezil is quite the musician himself, and as someone who never had the opportunity to catch Frank Zappa live... it was a wonderful experience.

 

[cybee]

I totally agree... but Zappa is definitely not "under-appreciated". He was under-appreciated by the mainstream media, yes... but that doesn't mean squat.
quote]

Yes you had to appreciate those musician's who were real individual's and were true to their music and true to themselves. Zappa a real musical genius. I am actually just now discovering Rush so even some of the older songs are new to me and the writing is unbelievable.

One more lyric that was brought to mind that I always liked..Joni Mitchell:

I was a free man in Paris
I felt unfettered and alive
Nobody was calling me up for favors
No one's future to decide
You know I'd go back there tomorrow
But for the work I've taken on
Stoking the star maker machinery
Behind the popular song

"Oh, and he restored and played the Stratocaster that Hendrix famously destroyed on stage."
Pugwash you mean the guitar that Hendrix lit on fire?

 

[pugwash]

"Oh, and he restored and played the Stratocaster that Hendrix famously destroyed on stage."
Pugwash you mean the guitar that Hendrix lit on fire?

Yes.

 

[Ferrariman]

"Whip it good" - DEVO

Less heady than Zappa but I like the sound of it.

 

[seank]

This is one of my favorites by Morrissey.



Oh ! Take me back to dear old Blighty,
Put me on the train for London Town,
Take me anywhere,
Drop me anywhere,
Liverpool, Leeds or Birmingham
But I don't care,
I should like to see my ...

I don't bless them
Farewell to this land's cheerless marshes
Hemmed in like a boar between arches
Her very Lowness with a head in a sling
I'm truly sorry - but it sounds like a wonderful thing


I said Charles, don't you ever crave
To appear on the front of the Daily Mail
Dressed in your Mother's bridal veil ?
Oh ...
And so, I checked all the registered historical facts
And I was shocked into shame to discover
How I'm the 18th pale descendant
Of some old queen or other


Oh, has the world changed, or have I changed ?
Oh has the world changed, or have I changed ?


Some 9-year old tough who peddles drugs
I swear to God
I swear : I never even knew what drugs were
Oh ...
So, I broke into the palace
With a sponge and a rusty spanner
She said : "Eh, I know you, and you cannot sing"
I said : "That's nothing - you should hear me play piano"


We can go for a walk where it's quiet and dry
And talk about precious things
But when you're tied to your Mother's apron
No-one talks about castration
Oh ...


We can go for a walk where it's quiet and dry
And talk about precious things
Like love and law and poverty
Oh, these are the things that kill me


We can go for a walk where it's quiet and dry
And talk about precious things
But the rain that flattens my hair ...
Oh, these are the things that kill me


All their lies about make-up and long hair, are still there


Past the Pub who saps your body
And the church who'll snatch your money
The Queen is dead, boys
And it's so lonely on a limb
Past the Pub that wrecks your body
And the church - all they want is your money
The Queen is dead, boys
And it's so lonely on a limb




Sean K

 

[R2D4]

I like songs that tell stories about real people. Today I'm thinking of Billy Joel

Well I'm on the Downeaster Alexa
And I'm cruising through Block Island Sound
I have charted a course to the Vineyard
But tonight I am Nantucket bound

We took on diesel back in Montauk yesterday
And left this morning from the bell in Gardiner's Bay
Like all the locals here I've had to sell my home
Too proud to leave I worked my fingers to the bone

So I could own my Downeaster Alexa
And I go where the ocean is deep
There are giants out there in the canyons
And a good captain can't fall asleep

I've got bills to pay and children who need clothes
I know there's fish out there but where God only knows
They say these waters aren't what they used to be
But I've got people back on land who count on me

So if you see my Downeaster Alexa
And if you work with the rod and the reel
Tell my wife I am trolling Atlantis
And I still have my hands on the wheel

Now I drive my Downeaster Alexa
More and more miles from shore every year
Since they tell me I can't sell no stripers
And there's no luck in swordfishing here

I was a bayman like my father was before
Can't make a living as a bayman anymore
There ain't much future for a man who works the sea
But there ain't no island left for islanders like me

 

[andreww]

Jesus Cybee, talk about deja-vu . When I read the post title, my first thought was Yes, "Tim and a word", or "And You and I". Jon Anderson had such a way of stringing together words, and making music. Sometimes they didn't make much sense, but the just flowed rhythmically.

 

[andreww]

@ By-Tor

My favorite Peart lyrics

Words by neil peart, music by geddy lee and alex lifeson

I turn my back to the wind
To catch my breath,
Before I start off again
Driven on,
Without a moment to spend
To pass an evening
With a drink and a friend

I let my skin get too thin
Id like to pause,
No matter what I pretend
Like some pilgrim --
Who learns to transcend --
Learns to live
As if each step was the end

Time stand still --
Im not looking back
But I want to look around me now
See more of the people
And the places that surround me now

Freeze this moment
A little bit longer
Make each sensation
A little bit stronger
Experience slips away...

I turn my face to the sun
Close my eyes,
Let my defences down --
All those wounds
That I cant get unwound

I let my past go too fast
No time to pause --
If I could slow it all down
Like some captain,
Whose ship runs aground --
I can wait until the tide
Comes around

Make each impression
A little bit stronger
Freeze this motion
A little bit longer
The innocence slips away...

Summers going fast --
Nights growing colder
Children growing up --
Old friends growing older
Experience slips away..

 

[By-Tor]

That's Time Stand Still. Beautiful and very different Rush song... and the other Rush song that uses a special guest star (Aimee Mann).

Do you know what the other one is?

 

[andreww]

entre-nous?

 

[d4m.test]

Girlfriend in a coma, I know
I know - it's serious
Girlfriend in a coma, I know
I know - it's really serious

There were times when I could
Have "murdered" her
(But you know, I would hate
Anything to happen to her)


NO, I DON'T WANT TO SEE HER


Do you really think
She'll pull through ?
Do you really think
She'll pull through ?
Do ...


Girlfriend in a coma, I know
I know - it's serious
My, my, my, my, my, my baby, goodbye


There were times when I could
Have "strangled" her
(But you know, I would hate
Anything to happen to her)
WOULD YOU PLEASE
LET ME SEE HER !


Do you really think
She'll pull through ?
Do you really think
She'll pull through ?
Do ...
Let me whisper my last goodbyes


I know - IT'S SERIOUS

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OR
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From the ice-age to the dole-age
There is but one concern
I have just discovered :

Some girls are bigger than others
Some girls are bigger than others
Some girl's mothers are bigger than
Other girl's mothers


Some girls are bigger than others
Some girls are bigger than others
Some girl's mothers are bigger than
Other girl's mothers


As Anthony said to Cleopatra
As he opened a crate of ale :


Oh, I say :
Some girls are bigger than others
Some girls are bigger than others
Some girl's mothers are bigger than
Other girl's mothers


Some girls are bigger than others
Some girls are bigger than others
Some girl's mothers are bigger than
Other girl's mothers


Send me the pillow ...
The one that you dream on ...
Send me the pillow ...
The one that you dream on ...
And I'll send you mine

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OR

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Shyness is nice and
Shyness can stop you
From doing all the things in life
You'd like to

Shyness is nice and
Shyness can stop you
From doing all the things in life
You'd like to

So, if there's something you'd like to try
If there's something you'd like to try
Ask me I wont say no, how could I?

Coyness is nice, and
Coyness can stop you
From saying all the things in
Life you'd like to

So, if there's something you'd like to try
If there's something you'd like to try
Ask me I wont say no, how could I?

Spending warm Summer days indoors
Writing frightening verse
To a BUCKTOOTHED girl in Luxembourg

Ask me, ask me, ask me
Ask me, ask me, ask me

Because if it's not Love
Then it's the bomb, the bomb, the bomb,
the bond, the bomb, the bomb, the bomb
That will bring us together

Nature is a language - can't you read ?
Nature is a language - can't you read ?

So, ask me, ask me, ask me,
Ask me, ask me, ask me

Because if it's not Love
Then it's the bomb, the bomb, the bomb,
the bomb, the bomb, the bomb, the bomb
That will bring us together

If it's not Love
Then it's the bomb
Then it's the bomb
That will bring us together

So, ask me, ask me, ask me,
Ask me, ask me, ask me
Oh, la...

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OR

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Take me out tonight
Where theres music and theres people
And theyre young and alive
Driving in your car
I never never want to go home
Because I havent 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 dont drop me home
Because its not my home, its their
Home, and Im 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 dont care
I dont care, I dont 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 couldnt ask)

Take me out tonight
Oh, take me anywhere, I dont care
I dont care, I dont care
Driving in your car
I never never want to go home
Because I havent got one, da ...
Oh, I havent 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
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OR

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I slept through the night, I got through to the dawn
I flipped a switch and the light went on
I got out of bed and I put some clothes on
Its a pretty good day so far

I turned the tap, there was cold there was hot
I put on my coat to go to the shop
I stepped outside, and I didnt get shot
Its a pretty good day so far

I didnt hear any sirens or explosions
No murders coming in form those heavy guns
No UN tanks, I didnt see one
Its a pretty good day so far

No snipers in windows, taking a peak
No people panic, running scared through the streets
I didnt see any bodies without arms, legs, or feet
Its a pretty good day

There was plasma bandages and electricity
Food, wood, and water; and the air was smoke free
No camera crews from my TV

It was all such a strange sight to be home
Nobody was frightened, wounded, hungry, or cold
And the children seemed normal, they didnt look old
Its a pretty good day so far

I walked through a park, you would not believe it
There in the park, there were a few trees left
And on some branches, there were a few leaves

I slept through the night, got through to the dawn
I flipped the switch and the light went on
I wrote down my dream, I wrote this song
Its a pretty good day so far

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OR
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Laugh at the tears you're crying
Smile while your head explodes
You don't have to take this lying down
So blow your nose, baby
Just get your fingers clicking
To the rhythm and the rhyme
Otherwise, you'll just be kicking around
And that's a crime
How can you talk that way
On such a lovely day?
When sunshine comes your way
It's time to make some hay
I fall for this season every time
When it's hot and everybody smiles
I can't help myself
I'm in love with the summertime
Even when I get hayfever, I find
I may sneeze but I don't really mind
As long as I'm in love with the summertime
Oh, stop your belly-aching
We all know what it's like
There ain't a pill I haven't taken, I guess
But that's alright, baby
'Cos your daddy's car is waiting
To take us to the sea
She feels like celebrating life
[ Lyrics provided by http://www.mp3lyrics.org ]
And so should we!
How can you talk that way
On such a lovely day?
When sunshine comes your way
It's time to make some hay
I fall for this season every time
When it's hot and everybody smiles
I can't help myself
I'm in love with the summertime
Even when I get hayfever, I find
I may sneeze but I don't really mind
As long as I'm in love with the summertime
I fall for this season every time
When it's hot and everybody smiles
I can't help myself
I'm in love with the summertime
Even when I get hayfever, I find
I may sneeze but I don't really mind
As long as I'm in love with the summertime
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OR
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No matter how I try,
I just can't get her out of my mind
And I when I sleep I visualize her.

I saw her in the pub,
I met her later at the nightclub.
A mutual friend introduced us
We talked about the noise
And how its hard to hear your own voice
Above the beat and the sub-bass.
We talked and talked for hours,
We talked in the back of our friend's car
As we all went back to his place.

On our friend's settee,
she told me that she really liked me
And I said: "Cool, the feeling's mutual."
We played old 45s
And said it's like the soundtrack to our lives
And she said: "True, it's not unusual."
Then privately we danced
We couldn't seem to keep our balance
A drunken haze had come upon us.
We sank down to the floor
And we sang a song that I can't sing anymore
And then we kissed and fell unconscious.

I woke up the next day
All alone but for a headache.
I stumbled out to find the bathroom
But all I found was her
Wrapped around another lover.
No longer then is he our mutual friend.


How can you ask about favourites when there are so many thousands.....?

 

[By-Tor]

@Andrew: Nope, from the Signals album "Losing it". Ben Mink plays electric violin.

Another favorite of mine... Porcupine Tree's "Anesthetize". Best rock song recorded in the 2000's (imho). Dunno if the lyrics themselves are so amazing, lots of Roger Waters-depression style there... but they work so well with the music. You gotta hear this song... greatness!



A good impression of myself
Not much to conceal
I'm saying nothing
But I'm saying nothing revealed

I simply am not here
No way I...
Shut up, be happy
Stop whining please

Because of who we are
We react in mock surprise
The cure off, there must be more
So don't breathe here,
Don't leave your bags

I simply am not here
No way I...
Shut up, be happy
Stop whining please

The dust in my soul
Makes me feel the weight in my legs
My head in the clouds
And I'm zoning out

I'm watching TV
But I find it hard to stay conscious
I'm totally bored
But I can't switch off

Only apathy from the pills in me
It's all in me, all in you
Electricity from the pills in me
It's all in me, all in you
Only MTV, cult philosophy

We're lost in the mall
Shuffling through the stores like zombies
What is the point?
What can money buy?

My hand's on a gun
And I find the range, God tempt me
What did you say?
Think I'm passing out

[x2]
Only apathy from the pills in me
It's all in me, all in you
Electricity from the pills in me
It's all in me, all in you
Only MTV, cult philosophy

Water so warm that day (water so warm that day)
I counted out the waves (I counted out the waves)
As they broke into shore
I smiled into the sun

The water so warm that day
I was counting out the waves
And I followed their short life
As they broke on the shoreline
I could see you
But I couldn't hear you

You were holding your hat in the breeze
Turning away from me in this moment
You were stolen as black across the sun

Water so warm that day (water so warm that day)
I counted out the waves (I counted out the waves)
As they broke into shore (as they broke into shore)

 

[andreww]

@Andrew: Nope, from the Signals album "Losing it". Ben Mink plays electric violin.

[/b]

I knew it was Ben Mink, just a little foggy on the song :shock:

Ben was actually the replacement violinist in a band called FM. He took over for the mumified "Nash the Slash" when he decided to pursue a solo career. FM opened for Rush quite a lot back in those days, as did Max Webster and The Tragically Hip. The guys in Rush are very friendly, and often ended up jamming with their opening acts. I guess they really hit it off with Ben. There were a lot of great progressive bands coming out of Toronto at that time!

 

[cybee]

Jon Anderson had such a way of stringing together words, and making music. Sometimes they didn't make much sense, but the just flowed rhythmically.

I agree Jon Anderson is a real poet. I've seen Yes so many times now that I have lost track. Another of my favorite Yes lyrics is from the Relayer album and a song called Sound Chaser.

Faster moment spent spread tales of change within the sound,
Counting form through rhythm electric freedom
Moves to counterbalance stars expound our conscience
All to know and see the look in your eyes.

Passing time will reach as nature relays to set the scene,
New encounters spark a true fruition,
Guiding lines we touch them, our bodies balance out the waves
As we accelerate our days to the look in your eyes.



From the moment I reached out to hold, I felt a sound,
And what touches our soul slowly moves as touch rebounds.
And to know that tempo will continue
Lost in trance of dances as rhythm takes another turn,
As is my want, I only reach to look in your eyes.

 

[RWIGWH]

Should I fall out of love, my fire in the light
To chase a feather in the wind
Within the glow that weaves a cloak of delight
There moves a thread that has no end.

For many hours and days that pass ever soon
the tides have caused the flame to dim
At last the arm is straight, the hand to the loom
Is this to end or just begin?
* Chorus: All of my love, all of my love, All of my love to you. (repeat)

The cup is raised, the toast is made yet again
One voice is clear above the din
Proud Aryan one word, my will to sustain
For me, the cloth once more to spin



Yours is the cloth, mine is the hand that sews time
his is the force that lies within
Ours is the fire, all the warmth we can find
He is a feather in the wind

All Of My Love
Robert Plant