Lyrics That Matter

[]-[@n$0Ma☩!©]

The lyrical content of a song is just as important to me as the melody and the performance. Maybe more so. A great beat with stupid lyrics will get none of my time. That said, great lyrics with a crappy melody don't get very far either.

The decline of lyrical poetry in pop music is evident. Lot sof articles can be found on the subject. We've all seen the comparisons and the jokes.

When I think about truly great lyrics, I immediately think about "Blood of Eden" the Peter Gabriel song for which I named my daughter.

I caught sight of my reflection - I caught in the window
I saw the darkness in my heart
I saw the signs of my undoing
They had been there from the start

And I then I hear song after song of MINDLESS garbage on the radio and think, my god... I've become my Father.

So what are the lyrics that matter most to you? The ones that compel you when nothing else seems to matter?

 

[captdg]

Radio,especially most top 40, has always been about a hook... melody wise and mindless lyrics played over and over and over. Most formats are to appeal to the 13-26 yr old female.

 

[justmund]

I'm a big fan of Jeff Buckley, these lyrics are to his friend, who has got his girlfriend pregnant and is contemplating skipping out on her. Jeff's dad (Tim Buckley) did the same thing to him, to chase his musical career:

"Don't be like the one who made me so old
Don't be like the one who left behind his name
'Cause they're waiting for you like I waited for mine
And nobody ever came..."

 

[captdg]

Always been fond of this...

Blue on black
Tears on a river
Push on a shove
It don't mean much
Joker on jack
Match on a fire
Cold on ice
A dead man's touch
Whisper on a scream
Doesn't change a thing
Don't bring you back
Blue on black

 

[Shawn@PRS]

I'm a sucker for a great lyric as well.

Mark Knopfler is one of the few guys who can write a great tune, pen amazing lyrics and play guitar like a mofo.

She took off her silver locket. She said "Remember me by this".
She put her hand in my pocket. I got a keepsake and a kiss.
And in the roar of dust and diesel, I stood and watched her walk away.
I could have caught up with her easy enough but something must have made me stay

 

[László]

The decline of lyrical poetry in pop music is evident. Lot sof articles can be found on the subject.

Um...I dunno if lyrics have degraded all that much. There have always been crappy lyrics on popular songs. Here's the lyric from the huge 1958 hit, "Witch Doctor" (this song was #1):

"I told the witch doctor I was in love with you
I told the witch doctor I was in love with you
And then the witch doctor, he told me what to do
He said that ....

(Chorus)
Ooo eee, ooo ah ah ting tang
Walla walla, bing bang
Ooo eee, ooo ah ah ting tang
Walla walla, bing bang...
Ooo eee, ooo ah ah ting tang
Walla walla, bing bang
Ooo eee, ooo ah ah ting tang
Walla walla, bing bang"

Here's a huge hit from 1952, sung by Patti Page:

"How much is that doggie in the window (arf, arf)
The one with the waggley tail
How much is that doggie in the window (arf, arf)
I do hope that doggie's for sale"

You want to go back further? 1925:

"Five foot two, eyes of blue
But oh what those five foot could do
Has anyone seen my gal
Turned up nose and turned down hose
Never had another beau
Has anyone seen my gal"

For that matter, go back further... how about 1848's "Oh Susanna" (and yes these are the original lyrics):

"I come from Alabama with my Banjo on my knee--
I’se gwine to Lou’siana my true lub for to see.
It rain’d all night de day I left, de wedder it was dry;
The sun so hot I froze to def -- Susanna, dont you cry"

Then again, what the heck, here's a little ditty from 1430 with some pretty bad lyrics:

"I have a yong suster
Fer biyonde the see;
Manye be the druries
That she sente me.

Whan the cherye was a flowr,
Thanne hadde it no stoon;
Whan the dove was an ey,
Thanne hadde it no boon"

One of my favorite horrifically bad lyrics from Richard Wagner's "Das Rheingold" (translated, proving that even the classics can have lyrics that make one cringe):

"Sleek as slime
the slope of the slate is!
I slant and slide
With foot and with fist!
I no safety can find
On the slippery slobber!"

 

[László]

Then there's the old Stooges song proving that every so often what one needs is something very, very basic:

"No fun my babe no fun
No fun my babe no fun
No fun to hang around
Feeling that same old way
No fun to hang around
Freaked out for another day"

 

[james]

Completely not what Hans had in mind...but to add another purely ridiculous tune but one that has always made me feel better....especially when I take stupid things in life too seriously...

Phish....Contact -

I was listening to the Chicago '94 box set this week. "Rift" stood out lyrically...at least for the syncopation

Last night, in the moments my thoughts were adrift
And coasting a terrace, approaching a rift
Through which I could spy several glimpses beneath
Of the darkness the light from above could not reach
I spied wings of reason, herself taking flight
And upon yonder precipice saw her alight
And glared back at me one last look of dismay
As if she were the last one she thought I'd betray

So much better I said to myself
And drawing quite close to the top of the shelf
I struggled with destiny upon the ledge
And gasped when defeated he slipped off the edge
And silence contagious in moments like these
Consumed me and strengthened my will to appease
The passion that sparked me one terrible night
And shocked and persuaded my soul to ignite

So much better I said to myself
And drawing quite close to the top of the shelf
I struggled with destiny upon the ledge
And gasped when defeated he slipped off the edge

And silence contagious in moments like these
Consume me and strengthen my will to appease

The passion that sparked me one terrible night
And shocked and persuaded my soul to ignite

I've historically been completely uninterested in lyrics, but I've been more interested recently.

Joanna Newsom -"Emily"...intimidating stuff

The meadowlark and the chim-choo-ree and the sparrow
Set to the sky in a flying spree, for the sport over the pharaoh
A little while later the Pharisees dragged comb through the meadow
Do you remember what they called up to you and me, in our window?

There is a rusty light on the pines tonight
Sun pouring wine, lord, or marrow
Down into the bones of the birches
And the spires of the churches
Jutting out from the shadows
The yoke, and the axe, and the old smokestacks and the bale and the barrow
And everything sloped like it was dragged from a rope
In the mouth of the south below

We've seen those mountains kneeling, felten and grey
We thought our very hearts would up and melt away
From that snow in the nighttime
Just going
And going
And the stirring of wind chimes
In the morning
In the morning
Helps me find my way back in
From the place where I have been

And, Emily - I saw you last night by the river
I dreamed you were skipping little stones across the surface of the water
Frowning at the angle where they were lost, and slipped under forever
In a mud-cloud, mica-spangled, like the sky'd been breathing on a mirror

Anyhow - I sat by your side, by the water
You taught me the names of the stars overhead that I wrote down in my ledger
Thoough all I knew of the rote universe were those Pleiades loosed in December
I promised you I'd set them to verse so I'd always remember

That the meteorite is a source of the light
And the meteor's just what we see
And the meteoroid is a stone that's devoid of the fire that propelled it to thee

And the meteorite's just what causes the light
And the meteor's how it's perceived
And the meteoroid's a bone thrown from the void that lies quiet in offering to thee

You came and lay a cold compress upon the mess I'm in
Threw the window wide and cried, "Amen! Amen! Amen!"
The whole world stopped to hear you hollering
You looked down and saw now what was happening

The lines are fading in my kingdom
(Though I have never known the way to border them in)
So the muddy mouths of baboons and sows and the grouse and the horse and the hen
Grope at the gate of the looming lake that was once a tidy pen
And the mail is late and the great estates are not lit from within
The talk in town's becoming downright sickening

In due time we will see the far butte lit by a flare
I've seen your bravery, and I will follow you there
And row through the nighttime
Gone healthy
Gone healthy all of a sudden
In search of the midwife
Who could help me
Who could help me
Help me find my way back in
There are worries where I've been

Say, say, say in the lee of the bay; don't be bothered
Leave your troubles here where the tugboats shear the water from the water
(Flanked by furrows, curling back, like a match held up to a newspaper)
Emily, they'll follow your lead by the letter
And I make this claim, and I'm not ashamed to say I know you better
What they've seen is just a beam of your sun that banishes winter

Let us go! Though we know it's a hopeless endeavor
The ties that bind, they are barbed and spined and hold us close forever
Though there is nothing would help me come to grips with a sky that is gaping and yawning
There is a song I woke with on my lips as you sailed your great ship towards the morning

Come on home, the poppies are all grown knee-deep by now
Blossoms all have fallen, and the pollen ruins the plow
Peonies nod in the breeze and while they wetly bow
With hydrocephalitic listlessness ants mop up-a their brow

And everything with wings is restless, aimless, drunk and dour
The butterflies and birds collide at hot, ungodly hours
And my clay-colored motherlessness rangily reclines
Come on home, now! All my bones are dolorous with vines

Pa pointed out to me, for the hundredth time tonight
The way the ladle leads to a dirt-red bullet of light
Squint skyward and listen
Loving him, we move within his borders
Just asterisms in the stars' set order

We could stand for a century
Staring
With our heads cocked
In the broad daylight at this thing
Joy
Landlocked
In bodies that don't keep
Dumbstruck with the sweetness of being
Until we don't be told
Take this
Eat this

Told
The meteorite is the source of the light
And the meteor's just what we see
And the meteoroid is a stone that's devoid of the fire that propelled it to thee

And the meteorite's just what causes the light
And the meteor's how it's perceived
And the meteoroid's a bone thrown from the void that lies quiet in offering to thee

Smog - "Teenage Spaceship"

Flying around
The houses at night
Flying alone

A teenage spaceship
I was a teenage spaceship
Landing at night

I was beautiful with all my lights
Loomed so large on the horizon
So large, people thought my windows
Were stars
So large on the horizon
People thought my windows
Were stars

A teenage spaceship
A teenage spaceship

And I swore I'd never lay like a log
Bark like a dog

I was a teenage smog
Sewn to the sky

 

[james]

Then there's the old Stooges song proving that every so often what one needs is something very, very basic:

"No fun my babe no fun
No fun my babe no fun
No fun to hang around
Feeling that same old way
No fun to hang around
Freaked out for another day"

I just got that RAT pedal in the mail today. My Ted 245 through that pedal and the DRRI screamed "T.V Eye" to me instantly

 

[Mikegarveyblues]

+1 to Knopfler. The writing on Privateering is right up there with his best IMHO.

I always felt Pink Floyd's Roger Waters was a great writer.

Hello?
Is there anybody in there?
Just nod if you can hear me.
Is there anyone at home?
Come on, now,
I hear you're feeling down.
Well I can ease your pain
Get you on your feet again.
Relax.
I'll need some information first.
Just the basic facts.
Can you show me where it hurts?

There is no pain you are receding
A distant ship, smoke on the horizon.
You are only coming through in waves.
Your lips move but I can't hear what you're saying.
When I was a child I had a fever
My hands felt just like two balloons.
Now I've got that feeling once again
I can't explain you would not understand
This is not how I am.
I have become comfortably numb.

O.K.
Just a little pinprick.
There'll be no more aaaaaaaaah!
But you may feel a little sick.
Can you stand up?
I do believe it's working, good.
That'll keep you going through the show
Come on it's time to go.

There is no pain you are receding
A distant ship, smoke on the horizon.
You are only coming through in waves.
Your lips move but I can't hear what you're saying.
When I was a child
I caught a fleeting glimpse
Out of the corner of my eye.
I turned to look but it was gone
I cannot put my finger on it now
The child is grown,
The dream is gone.
I have become comfortably numb.

-----------------

Hey you, out there in the cold
Getting lonely, getting old
Can you feel me?
Hey you, standing in the aisles
With itchy feet and fading smiles
Can you feel me?
Hey you, dont help them to bury the light
Don't give in without a fight.

Hey you, out there on your own
Sitting naked by the phone
Would you touch me?
Hey you, with you ear against the wall
Waiting for someone to call out
Would you touch me?
Hey you, would you help me to carry the stone?
Open your heart, I'm coming home.

But it was only fantasy.
The wall was too high,
As you can see.
No matter how he tried,
He could not break free.
And the worms ate into his brain.

Hey you, standing in the road
always doing what you're told,
Can you help me?
Hey you, out there beyond the wall,
Breaking bottles in the hall,
Can you help me?
Hey you, don't tell me there's no hope at all
Together we stand, divided we fall.

---------------------------------------

So, so you think you can tell
Heaven from Hell,
Blue skys from pain.
Can you tell a green field
From a cold steel rail?
A smile from a veil?
Do you think you can tell?

And did they get you to trade
Your heros for ghosts?
Hot ashes for trees?
Hot air for a cool breeze?
Cold comfort for change?
And did you exchange
A walk on part in the war
For a lead role in a cage?

How I wish, how I wish you were here.
We're just two lost souls
Swimming in a fish bowl,
Year after year,
Running over the same old ground.
What have we found?
The same old fears.
Wish you were here.

One of only a few bands where the lyrics resonate as much as the guitars - for me at least.

 

[captdg]

I knew Floyd was comin on this thread. Alan Parsons wrote some great stuff too.

 

[11top]

Patrick Monahan is a poet:

Now that she's back in the atmosphere
With drops of Jupiter in her hair, hey, hey
She acts like summer and walks like rain
Reminds me that there's a time to change, hey, hey
Since the return from her stay on the moon
She listens like spring and she talks like June, hey, hey

Tell me did you sail across the sun
Did you make it to the milky way to see the lights all faded
And that heaven is overrated

Tell me, did you fall for a shooting star
One without a permanent scar
And did you miss me while you were looking for yourself out there

Now that she's back from that soul vacation
Tracing her way through the constellation, hey, hey
She checks out Mozart while she does tae-bo
Reminds me that there's room to grow, hey, hey
Now that she's back in the atmosphere
I'm afraid that she might think of me as plain ol Jane
Told a story about a man who is too afraid to fly so he never did land

Tell me did the wind sweep you off your feet
Did you finally get the chance to dance along the light of day
And head back to the milky way
And tell me, did Venus blow your mind
Was it everything you wanted to find
And did you miss me while you were looking for yourself out there

Can you imagine no love, pride, deep-fried chicken
Your best friend always sticking up for you... even when I know you're wrong
Can you imagine no first dance, freeze dried romance five-hour phone
Conversation
The best soy latte that you ever had... And me

Tell me did the wind sweep you off your feet
Did you finally get the chance to dance along the light of day
And head back toward the milky way

 

[sergiodeblanc]

"Humidity is rising - Barometer's getting low
According to all sources, the street's the place to go
Cause tonight for the first time
Just about half-past ten
For the first time in history
It's gonna start raining men.

It's Raining Men! Hallelujah! - It's Raining Men! Amen!
I'm gonna go out to run and let myself get
Absolutely soaking wet!
It's Raining Men! Hallelujah!
It's Raining Men! Every Specimen!
Tall, blonde, dark and lean
Rough and tough and strong and mean" :dancing:


But seriously, I happen to absorb mostly one-liners from songs and could care less about the lyrical content unless it's REALLY BAD, like I find to be the case with some of the songwriters who are presently successful right now.

Sometimes I just want to dance and not think too hard.

 

[Hopeful Sinner]

I've mentioned his name before around these parts, but Charlie Terrell is one of my favorite lyricists as well as a great musician. Here's an excerpt from one of my favorite songs of his called "Make Your Bed Hard"...

I'm on the road, baby
Tires in the rain
I can't shake your ghost, mama
It's like rust on a chain
Oh, I feel like my memory's gonna drown

Make your bed hard, baby
'Til I get back in town

Pain is my woman
I see her once in a while
She ain't like you, baby
I pay her by the mile
Oh, I feel like my time is winding down

Make your bed hard, baby
'Til I can't touch the ground

I can see you dancing
Dancing in my head
Your hips are swaying
Your lips are red
Oh, I feel like I'm scattered on the ground

Make your bed hard, baby
'Til I come back around

It won't be long, baby
I'll be in your bed
But you know I get restless
I get lost up in my head
I can't stay baby, the circle turns around

Make your bed hard, baby
'Til I can lay you down

Make your bed hard, baby
'Til I get back in town

 

[thieves&foxes]

I agree with Paul when he says that the instruments he makes are just tool for musicians (pretty darn nice ones though!) and as a vocalist/songwriter/guitarist I've always put importance on lyrics and melody (and incredible vocalists). Yeah a musical hook can get you moving, but my favorite songs have always had great lyrics. Springsteen, Dylan et al.

 

[JMintzer]

For You - Bruce Springsteen

Princess cards she sends me with her regards
Barroom eyes shine vacancy, to see her you gotta look hard
Wounded deep in battle, I stand stuffed like some soldier undaunted
To her Cheshire smile. I'll stand on file, she's all I ever wanted
But you let your blue walls get in the way of these facts
Honey, get your carpetbaggers off my back
You wouldn't even give me time to cover my tracks
You said "Here's your mirror and your ball and jacks"
But they're not what I came for, and I'm sure you see that too
I came for you, for you, I came for you, but you did not need my urgency
I came for you, for you, I came for you, but your life was one long
emergency
And your cloud line urges me, and my electric surges free
Crawl into my ambulance, your pulse is getting weak
Reveal yourself all now to me girl while you've got the strength to speak
`Cause they're waiting for you at Bellevue with their oxygen masks
But I could give it all to you now if only you could ask
And don't call for your surgeon even he says it's too late
It's not your lungs this time, it's your heart that holds your fate
Don't give me money, honey, I don't want it back
You and your pony face and your union jack
Well take your local joker and teach him how to act
I swear I was never that way even when I really cracked
Didn't you think I knew that you were born with the power of a locomotive
Able to leap tall buildings in a single bound?
And your Chelsea suicide with no apparent motive
You could laugh and cry in a single sound

And your strength is devastating in the face of all these odds
Remember how I kept you waiting when it was my turn to be the god?
You were not quite half so proud when I found you broken on the beach
Remember how I poured salt on your tongue and hung just out of reach
And the band they played the homecoming theme as I caressed your cheek
They ragged, jagged melody she still clings to me like a leach
But that medal you wore on your chest always got in the way
Like a little girl with a traphy so soft to buy her way
We were both hitchhikers but you had your ear tuned to the roar
Of some metal-tempered engine on an alien, distant shore
So you, left to find a better reason than the one we were living for
And it's not that nursery mouth I came back for
It's not the way you're stretched out on the floor
`Cause I've broken all your windows and I've rammed through all your doors
And who am I to ask you to lick my sores? And you should know that's true
I came for you, for you, I came for you, but you did not need my urgency
I came for you, for you, I came for you, but your life was one long
emergency
And your cloud line urges me, and my electric surges free

 

[JMintzer]

And then there's this...

Why don't we do it in the road? Mm
Why don't we do it in the road? Ah
Why don't we do it in the road? Mm
Why don't we do it in the road? Mm
No one will be watching us
Why don't we do it in the road?

Why don't we do it in the road?
Why don't we do it in the road?
Why don't we do it in the road?
Why don't we do it in the road?
No one will be watching us
Why don't we do it in the road?

Ooh

Why don't we do it in the road?
Why don't we do it in the road?
Why don't we do it, do it in the road?
Why don't we do it in the road?
No one will be watching us
Why don't we do it in the road?

 

[Shawn@PRS]

For You - Bruce Springsteen

To her Cheshire smile. I'll stand on file, she's all I ever wanted

This is a great line- I think I dated the same girl.



I've had many different girls inside my bed
but only one or two inside my head
- Frank Turner

 

[Boogie]

Lyrics make you think, in the foreground and/or in the background. A cleverly composed cadence can take a series of syllables and rebuild words or meanings...leaving us with an interpretation that is either off or completely wrong. There's nothing funnier that hearing someone singing a song with completely wrong lyrics! My favorite 'perceived' lyrics are from Kurt Cobain where I still hear "don't mosquito my libido", which is much more interesting than "a mosquito, my libido". Heck, I don't know what mosquito-ing a libido is, but it doesn't sound like a bad experience. Don't get me started on "revved up like a douche, another runner in the night".

 

[captdg]

In ancient times...
Hundreds of years before the dawn of history
Lived a strange race of people... the Druids

No one knows who they were or what they were doing
But their legacy remains
Hewn into the living rock... Of Stonehenge

Stonehenge! Where the demons dwell
Where the banshees live and they do live well
Stonehenge! Where a man's a man
And the children dance to the Pipes of Pan

Hey!

Stonehenge! 'Tis a magic place
Where the moon doth rise with a dragon's face
Stonehenge! Where the virgins lie
And the prayers of devils fill the midnight sky

And you my love, won't you take my hand?
We'll go back in time to that mystic land
Where the dew drops cry and the cats meow
I will take you there, I will show you how

Oh!

And oh how they danced
The little children of Stonehenge
Beneath the haunted moon
For fear that daybreak might come too soon

And where are they now?
The little children of Stonehenge
And what would they say to us?
If we were here... tonight


N. Tufnel..D St. Hubbins