WISH YOU WERE HERE Can you tell a green field from a cold steel rail, A smile from a veil, Do you think you can tell. Did they get you to trade your heroes for ghosts... “
We’re just two lost souls living in a fish bowl year after year”
By the way which one’s Pink”
THE WALL Hush now baby, baby, don't you cry. Mama's gonna make all your nightmares come true. Mama's gonna put all her fears into you. Mama's gonna keep you right here under her wing. She won't let you fly, but she might let you sing. Mama's gonna keep baby cozy and warm. Ooh baby, ooh baby, ooh baby, Of course mama's gonna help build the wall”
I've got wild staring eyes And I've got a strong urge to fly But I got nowhere to fly to Ooh, babe when I pick up the phonethere's still nobody home”
All alone, or in two's The ones who really love you Walk up and down outside the wall Some hand in hand And some gathered together in bands The bleeding hearts and the artists Make their standAnd when they've given you their all Some stagger and fall, after all it's not easy Banging your heart against some mad bugger's wall”
THE FINAL CUT And as the windshield melts My tears evaporate Leaving only charcoal to defend. Finally I understand the feelings of the few. Ashes and diamonds Foe and friend We were all equal in the end“
AMUSED TO DEATH Ooh western woman Ooh western girl And the children of Melrose Strut their stuffIs absolute zero cold enough And out in the valley warm and clean The little ones sit by their TV screens No thoughts to thinkNo tears to cry All sucked dry Down to the very last breath Bartender what is wrong with me Why am I so out of breath The captain said excuse me ma'am This species has amused itself to death Amused itself to death We watched the tragedy unfold We did as we were told We bought and sold It was the greatest show on earth But then it was over We ohhed and aahed We drove our racing carsWe ate our last few jars of caviar And somewhere out there in the stars A keen-eyed look-out Spied a flickering light Our last hurrah And when they found our shadows Grouped around the TV sets They ran down every leadThey repeated every test They checked out all the data on their lists And then the alien anthropologists Admitted they were still perplexedBut on eliminating every other reason For our sad demise They logged the only explanation left This species has amused itself to deathNo tears to cry no feelings left This species has amused itself to death
@tostadosunidos, thanks for the reminder of why Dylan is the most revolutionary lyricist in Pop music history. "A Hard Rain's A Gonna Fall" was recorded about a year before The Beatles recorded their original boy/girl love songs like "I Wanna Hold Your Hand" and "She Loves You". It took Lennon a couple of years to come to terms with what Bob was doing, and it completely changed his (and many others') songwriting (for better or worse).
Far from my favourite Eagles song but great lyrics nevertheless. Well worth a another mention.
Already Gone Well, I heard some people talkin' just the other day And they said you were gonna put me on a shelf But let me tell you I got some news for you And you'll soon find out it's true And then you'll have to eat your lunch all by yourself' Cause I'm already gone And I'm feelin' strong I will sing this vict'ry song Woo hoo hoo, my my, woo hoo hoo
The letter that you wrote me made me stop and wonder why But I guess you felt like you had to set things right Just remember this, my girl, when you look up in the sky You can see the stars and still not see the light (that's right)
And I'm already gone And I'm feelin' strong I will sing this vict'ry song Woo hoo hoo, my my, woo hoo hoo Well, I know it wasn't you who held me down Heaven knows it wasn't you who set me free So often times it happens that we live our lives in chains And we never even know we have the key But me, I'm already gone And I'm feelin' strong I will sing this vict'ry song'
Cause I'm already gone Yes, I'm already gone And I'm feelin' strong I will sing this vict'ry song 'Cause I'm already gone (repeat)
A Hard Rain's a Gonna Fall Bob Dylan Oh, where have you been, my blue-eyed son?Oh, where have you been, my darling young one? I've stumbled on the side of twelve misty mountains I've walked and I've crawled on six crooked highways I've stepped in the middle of seven sad forests I've been out in front of a dozen dead oceans I've been ten thousand miles in the mouth of a graveyard And it's a hard, and it's a hard, it's a hard, and it's a hard And it's a hard rain's a-gonna fall Oh, what did you see, my blue-eyed son?Oh, what did you see, my darling young one? I saw a newborn baby with wild wolves all around it I saw a highway of diamonds with nobody on it I saw a black branch with blood that kept drippin' I saw a room full of men with their hammers a-bleedin' I saw a white ladder all covered with water I saw ten thousand talkers whose tongues were all broken I saw guns and sharp swords in the hands of young children And it's a hard, and it's a hard, it's a hard, it's a hard And it's a hard rain's a-gonna fall And what did you hear, my blue-eyed son?And what did you hear, my darling young one? I heard the sound of a thunder, it roared out a warnin' Heard the roar of a wave that could drown the whole world Heard one person starve, I heard many people laughin' Heard the song of a poet who died in the gutter Heard the sound of a clown who cried in the alley And it's a hard, and it's a hard, it's a hard, it's a hard And it's a hard rain's a-gonna fall Oh, who did you meet, my blue-eyed son?Who did you meet, my darling young one? I met a young child beside a dead pony I met a white man who walked a black dog I met a young woman whose body was burning I met a young girl, she gave me a rainbow I met one man who was wounded in love I met another man who was wounded with hatred And it's a hard, it's a hard, it's a hard, it's a hard It's a hard rain's a-gonna fall Oh, what'll you do now, my blue-eyed son?Oh, what'll you do now, my darling young one? I'm a-goin' back out 'fore the rain starts a-fallin' I'll walk to the depths of the deepest black forest Where the people are many and their hands are all empty Where the pellets of poison are flooding their waters Where the home in the valley meets the damp dirty prison Where the executioner's face is always well-hidden Where hunger is ugly, where souls are forgotten Where black is the color, where none is the number And I'll tell it and think it and speak it and breathe it And reflect it from the mountain so all souls can see it Then I'll stand on the ocean until I start sinkin' But I'll know my song well before I start singin' And it's a hard, it's a hard, it's a hard, it's a hard It's a hard rain's a-gonna fall
"Damn the lump in my throat damn the hole in my coat damn the rain that just won't quit damn the sorry waste of it
Damn the truth, damn the lies Damn the look behind your eyes Damn the day, damn the night Goddamn the losing light
There ain't no boat, there ain't no train To take us back, the way we came Ain't no shelter from this hard rain The cure for the pain is the pain The cure for the pain is the pain
It's not like we think it's gonna be Not like the movies that you see Ain't no soaring violins Just machines an medicines
So bless these pills bless these sheets Bless the food you can't eat Bless the damned who walk these halls And God have mercy on us all
There ain't no drug, there ain't no cure To make it like it was before Ain't no shelter from this hard rain The cure for the pain is the pain The cure for the pain is the pain"
Love Is Strange "Love - love is strange Lot of people take it for a game Once you get it - you're in an awful fix After you've had it - you never want to quit Many people don't understand, no no They think lovin', yeah yeah - is money in the hand Your sweet lovin' - is better than a kiss, yeah yeah When you leave me - sweet kisses I miss"
Can't think of the best Scott Walker lyric but this is one I never tire of. Walker did a lot to popularise Brel, rightly so.
"If I became deaf, dumb and blind Because I pitied all mankind And broke my heart to make things right I know that every single night When my angelic work was through The angels and the Devil too Would sing my childhood song to me About the time they called me "Jacky"
If I could be for only an hour If I could be for an hour every day If I could be for just one little hour Cute in a stupid ass way"
Some great lines stay in the memory from the Sex Pistols ’The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle’, but the best might be the intro,
"People said we couldn’t play They called us foul-mouthed yobs But the only notes that really count Are the ones that come in wads"
Another example of a great song coming at a bad time for the band. The outro still kicks hard 40 years later,
"Elvis Presley died in 1959 Chuck Berry you’re a big ugly fucker (?) Ian Dury Cockney Fraud Mick Jagger white nigga Bob Dylan got a parking ticket stuck to his arsehole David Bowie you are a bloody cunt
Rod Stewart‘s got a luggage label tied to his tonsils Elton John hair transplant Sid Vicious Rock and Roll Cliché Paul Cook bare bones Johnny Rotten he’s got his knickers knotted (?) Rock and roll swindle Swindle It’s a swindle!"
"They called me up in Tennessee They said "Tammy, stand by the JAMs" But if you don’t like what they’re going to do, You better not stop them ’cause they’re coming through (bring the beat back) (Hey hey) All bound for Mu Mu Land (justified!) (Hey hey) All bound for Mu Mu Land (justified!) Mu Mu Land Mu Mu Land All bound for Mu Mu Land They’re Justified, and they’re Ancient, And they drive an ice cream van. (just roll it from the top) They’re Justified and they’re Ancient, With still no master plan."
The trip of a lifetime for Tammy Wynette who later said,
"I really don’t know why they (KLF) chose me. I was apprehensive at first, but I’m really excited with the way it’s all turned out", Wynette said. "Mu Mu Land looks a lot more interesting than Tennessee.... But I wouldn’t want to live there."
"Mama looked down and spit on the ground every time my name gets mentioned Papa said "Oy! if I get that boy I'm gonna stick him in the house of detention"
- Me and Julio Down By the Schoolyard by Paul Simon -
Shane McGowan is certainly one candidate for the greatest lyricist the UK has produced, but another songwriter, his one-time friend Elvis Costello (also of Irish descent like Morrissey too), has probably has put down more clever couplets and phrases than anyone.
Here's just a of the few memorable ones.
'Nice girls not one with a defect Cellophane shrink-wrapped, so correct Red dogs under illegal legs She looks so good that he gets down and begs'
'She's been a bad girl. She's like a chemical. Though you try to stop it, she's like a narcotic. You wanna torture her. You wanna talk to her. All the things you bought for her, putting up your temp'rature.'
'You either shut up or get cut up; they don't wanna hear about it. It's only inches on the reel-to-reel. And the radio is in the hands of such a lot of fools tryin' to anaesthetise the way that you feel'
'And it's the damage that we do And never know It's the words that we don't say That scare me so
Somehow I found myself down at the dockside Thinking of the old days of Liverpool and Rotherhide The transparent people who live on the other side Living a life that is almost like suicide'
'Your body speaks much louder than your voice You let it do the talking so I don't have any choice'
'But if your patience is exhausted and you still cannot decide You're sitting in the garage contemplating suicide And you have no motivation you can't even catch your breath All of this acceleration is driving you to death'
'When I said that I was lying I might have been lying Never let me hear you say you're not trying'
'So in this almost empty gin palace Through a two-way looking glass You see your Alice'
'There's a tuppeny hapenny millionaire Looking for a fourpenny one With a tight grip on the short hairs Of the public imagination'
'They talked to the sister, the father and the mother With a microphone in one hand and a chequebook in the other'
'I saw a newspaper picture from the political campaign A woman was kissing a child, who was obviously in pain She spills with compassion, as that young child's face in her hands she grips Can you imagine all that greed and avarice coming down on that child's lips?'
'Two newspaper editors like playground sneaks Running the book on which of them is going to last the week One of them calls to me And he says, "I know you" "You gave me this tattoo back in '82" "You were a spoilt child then with a record to plug" "And I was a shaven headed seaside thug" "Things haven't really changed that much" "One of us is still getting paid too much"'
"The Mona Lisa’s sister doesn’t smile she tried to pose, but only for a while Leonardo sent her home since then she has lived alone with her few belongings and a copy of a painting of herself unhappy she is going to burn it when she’s ready
Chorus:
Get started...Start a fire Get started...Start a fire
Marylin was lying all alone with an empty bottle by the phone Kennedy was not around She was cold when she was found but she’d gone were the goddesses are sleeping where the molten tougues of flames are weeping or when the angels hearts are beating
chorus
Joan of Arc was burning at the stake somebody had made a big mistake She lit a cigarette in an airport where you get your fingers taken off for smoking meanwhile up the road a factory is choking the one’s who killed her work there, I’m not joking
There is just too many to list, haha! I bet you wouldn't recognize some of the more obscure bands I listen to... I was even surprised when I found them here: https://musiety.com
@slaw Yep, the late great Warren Zevon. Play It All Night Long. Chorus: "Sweet Home Alabama" Play That Dead Band's Song Turn Those Speakers Up Full Blast Play It All Night Long.
Following on from Warren Zeavon's Play It All Night Long, here's one of his I can never tire of,
Werewolves of London
"I saw a werewolf with a Chinese menu in his hand Walking through the streets of Soho in the rain He was looking for the place called Lee Ho Fooks For to get a big dish of beef chow mein
Ah-hooo, werewolves of London, ah-hooo Ah-hooo, werewolves of London, ah-hooo
You hear him howling around your kitchen door You better not let him in Little old lady got mutilated late last night Werewolves of London again
Ah-hooo, werewolves of London, ah-hooo Ah-hooo, werewolves of London, ah-hooo, huh
He's the hairy-handed gent who ran amok in Kent Lately he's been overheard in Mayfair You better stay away from him He'll rip your lungs out, Jim Huh, I'd like to meet his tailor
Ah-hooo, werewolves of London, ah-hooo Ah-hooo, werewolves of London, ah-hooo
Well, I saw Lon Chaney walking with the Queen Doin' the werewolves of London I saw Lon Chaney Junior walking with the Queen, uh Doin' the werewolves of London I saw a werewolf drinkin' a piña colada at Trader Vic's And his hair was perfect, na
Ah-hooo, werewolves of London Heh, draw blood Ah-hooo, werewolves of London"
Apparently there really was a place called Lee Ho Fooks! Continuing in the theme of great London songs here's a 1980s Pogues classic you won't often hear on the radio.
The Old Main Drag
When I first came to London, I was only sixteen With a fiver in my pocket and my ol' dancin' bag I went down to the dilly to check out the scene But I soon ended upon the old main drag
There the he-males and the she-males paraded in style And the old man with the money would flash you a smile In the dark of an alley you'd work for a five For a swift one off the wrist down on the old main drag
In the cold winter nights, the old town, it was chill But there were boys in the cafes who'd give you cheap pills If you didn't have the money, you'd cajole or you'd beg There was always lots of tuinol on the old main drag
One evening as I was lyin' down in Leicester Square I was picked up by the coppers and kicked in the balls Between the metal doors at Vine Street, I was beaten and mauled And they ruined my good looks for the old main drag
In the tube station, the old ones who were on the way out Would dribble and vomit and grovel and shout And the coppers would come along and push them about And I wished I could escape from the old main drag
And now I'm lyin' here, I've had too much booze I've been spat on and shat on and raped and abused I know that I am dyin' and I wish I could beg For some money to take me from the old main drag
"I was drivin’ home, early Sunday mornin’, through Bakersfield listenin’ to gospel music on a colored radio station and the preacher said, you know, you’ll ALWAYS have the LORD by your side, I was so pleased to be informed of this, that I ran twenty red-lights in his honor,
(Thank you Jesus, thank you Lord)
I had arrangements to meet a girl, and I was kind of late... I thought by the time I got there, she’d be off... she’d be off with the Nearest truck driver she could find much to my surprise, there she was, sittin’ in the corner, little bleary, worse for wear and tear was the girl... FAR away eyes
chorus so if you’re dowwwn on your luck and you can’t quite harmonize find a girl, with faaar away eyes
and if you’re down right disgusted and life ain’t worth a dang get a girl, with faaar away eyes"
Well the preacher kept right on sayin’ that all I had to do was send ten dollars to the Church of the Sacred Bleeding Heart of Jesus located somewhere in Los Angelis California and next week they’d say my payer on the RAdio and all my dreams would COME true
know next week I got a praaayer I got a Girrl… You know what kind of eyes she got? A Girrl, with far away eyes.
"Idiot wind Blowing through the buttons of our coats Blowing through the letters that we wrote Idiot wind Blowing through the dust upon our shelves We're idiots, babe It's a wonder we can even feed ourselves"
Dylan's final verse always comes to mind each time some new realisation gradually dawns upon me.
"Woke up on Monday and wrote you a love song, a love song well the pen stopped and the paper flew out the window and the notes rang down the road I don't know where they'll go, get caught in the trees I suppose ripped apart by the birds and the winter winds whisper good bye to your love..."
Two from the Queen of Folk - so much talent in one person. Sometimes I wish she’d taken the road of success rather than activism. Still, I think most of what she sought came to be. I certainly hope so.
"Like these flowers at your door and scribbled notes about the war We’re only saying the time is short and there is work to do And we’re still marching in the streets with little victories and big defeats"
"Now I see you standing With brown leaves falling around And snow in your hair Now you’re smiling out the window Of that crummy hotel Over Washington Square Our breath comes out white clouds Mingles and hangs in the air Speaking strictly for me We both could have died then and there"
"Here comes the helicopter second time today everybody scatters and hopes it goes away, how many kids they murdered only God can say
(if I had a rocket launcher....I'd make somebody pay)
I don't believe in guarded borders and I don't believe in hate I don't believe in generals or their stinking tortured states and when I talk with the survivors of things too sickening to relate
(if I had a rocket launcher...I would retaliate)
on the rio lacant'un one hundred thousand wait to fall down from starvation or some less human fate cry for Guatemala with a corpse in every gate
(if I had a rocket launcher...I would not hesitate)
I want to raise every voice at least I've got to try every time I think about it water rises to my eyes situation desperate echoes of the victims' cry
(if I had a rocket launcher...some son of a bitch would die)
"Not a day goes by that I don't think about you You left your mark on me. It's permanent, a tattoo, Pierce the skin and the blood runs through Oh my baby
(The way you move, it's right on time The way you move, it's right on time, It's right on time with me.)
I stand over the stove in the kitchen watch the water boil and I listen Turn off the television Oh my baby,
(chorus)
I take off my watch and my earrings my bracelets and everything Lie on my back and moan at the ceiling Oh my baby"
"I work mornings in the old yard, digging in the ground, but I moonlight as an astronaut, mostly just sit around and howl, won't you come to my house tonight, we could sleep on the floor, I got this window that looks out to Orion, I paid extra for, oh don't forget about the sun, he's forgotten us by now, kiss me so I remember how, we'll turn these sorrows into strangers, buy them a ticket on the train, drop 'em off at the station, watch 'em ride far away, far away"
@rlb61 , it’s funny how despite me feeling symbiotically linked to the Beatles, (like no doubt many, many others), I just can’t think of many lyrics that I consider great.
The magic of the Beatles is a most mysterious one. It’s not exclusively in the lyrics nor in the musicianship or even the image. It’s seems to be some wonderful combination of almost everything, especially the tunes.
Favourite lines don’t ring like poetry,
"Everywhere there’s lots of piggies Living piggy lives You can see them out for dinner With their piggy wives Clutching forks and knives to eat their bacon"
"People running round it’s five o’clock Everywhere in town it’s getting dark Everyone you see is full of life It’s time for tea and Meet The Wife"
"There’s people standing round Who’ll screw you in the ground They’ll fill you in with all their sins you see"
"I’m fixing a hole where the rain gets in And stops my mind from wandering Where it will go"
"Semolina Pilchard Climbing up the Eiffel tower Elementary penguin singing Hare Krishna Man, you should have seen them kicking Edgar Allen Poe"
and finally perhaps the best pure lyric they ever came up with,
"Words are flowing out like endless rain into a paper cup They slither while they pass, they slip away across the universe Pools of sorrow waves of joy are drifting through my opened mind Possessing and caressing me Jai guru deva om
Nothing’s gonna change my world Nothing’s gonna change my world Nothing’s gonna change my world Nothing’s gonna change my world
Images of broken light which dance before me like a million eyes They call me on and on across the universe Thoughts meander like a restless wind Inside a letter box they Stumble blindly as they make their way Across the universe Jai guru deva om
Nothing’s gonna change my world Nothing’s gonna change my world Nothing’s gonna change my world Nothing’s gonna change my world
Sounds of laughter shades of life are ringing Through my open ears inciting and inviting me Limitless undying love which shines around me like a million suns And calls me on and on across the universe Jai guru deva om
Nothing’s gonna change my world Nothing’s gonna change my world Nothing’s gonna change my world Nothing’s gonna change my world Nothing’s gonna change my world Nothing’s gonna change my world Nothing’s gonna change my world Nothing’s gonna change my world
Jai guru deva Jai guru deva Jai guru deva Jai guru deva"
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