Music: Favorite song lyrics

Spring in Fialta

A malign star kept him
Apr 1, 2007
25,085
14,267
Montreal, QC
Self-explanatory thread title. I got the idea from listening to Lady Godiva's Operation by the Velvet Underground for the first time in a while yesterday. Probably my all-time favorite lyrics in a song. Hell, I don't think there's much in literature that bests it. Brilliant stuff.

Lady Godiva here dressed so demurely
Pats the head of another curly haired boy, just another toy
Sick with silence she weeps sincerely
Saying word that have oh so clearly been said
So long ago
Draperies wrapped gently 'round her shoulder
Life has made her that much bolder now
That she's found out how
Dressed in silk, Latin lace and envy
Pride and joy of the latest penny faire
Pretty passing care
Hair today now dipped in the water
Making love to every poor daughter's son
Isn't it fun
Now today propping grace with envy
Lady Godiva peers to see if anyone's there
And hasn't a care
Doctor is coming the nurse thinks sweetly
Turning on the machines that neatly pump air
The body lies bare
Shaved and hairless what once was screaming
Now lies silent and almost sleeping
The brain must have gone away
Strapped securely to the white table
Ether caused the body to wither and writhe
Underneath the white light
Doctor arrives with knife and baggage
Sees the growth as just so much cabbage
That now
Must be cut away
Now come the moment of Great! Great! Decision!
The doctor is making his first incision
One goes here - one goes there
The ether tube's leaking says someone who's sloppy
The patient it seems is not so well sleeping
The screams echo up the hall
Don't panic someone give him pentathol instantly
Doctor removes his blade
Cagily slow from the brain
By my count of ten
The head won't move

 
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Trap Jesus

Registered User
Feb 13, 2012
28,686
13,456
I've always loved Aesop Rock's No Regrets. The lyrics are much more straightforward than his other music, but it's such a concise character study. It's kind of sad but beautiful at the same time.



Lucy was 7 and wore a head of blue barettes
City born, into this world with no knowledge and no regrets
Had a piece of yellow chalk with which she'd draw upon the street
The many faces of the various locals that she would meet
There was joshua, age 10
Bully of the block
Who always took her milk money at the morning bus stop
There was Mrs. Crabtree, and her poodle
She always gave a wave and holler on her weekly trip down to the bingo
parlor
And she drew
Men, women, kids, sunsets, clouds
And she drew
Skyscrapers, fruit stands, cities, towns
Always said hello to passers-by
They'd ask her why she passed her time
Attachin lines to concrete
But she would only smile
Now all the other children living in or near her building
Ran around like tyrants, soaking up the open fire hydrants
They would say
"Hey little Lucy, want to come jump double dutch?"
Lucy would pause, look, grin and say
"I'm busy, thank you much"
Well, well, one year passed
And believe it or not
She covered every last inch of the entire sidewalk,
And she stopped-
"Lucy, after all this, you're just giving in today??"
She said:
"I'm not giving in, I'm finished, " and walked away
1 2 3
That's the speed of the seed
A be see
That's the speed of the need
You can dream a little dream
Or you can live a little dream
I'd rather live it
'cause dreamers always chase
But never get it
Now Lucy was 37, and introverted somewhat
Basement apartment in the same building she grew up in
She traded in her blue barettes for long locks held up with a clip
Traded in her yellow chalk for charcoal sticks
And she drew
Little bobby who would come to sweep the porch
And she drew
The mailman, delivered everyday at 4
Lucy had very little contact with the folks outside her cubicle day
But she found it suitable, and she liked it that way
She had a man now: Rico, similar, hermit
They would only see each other once or twice a week on purpose
They appreciated space and Rico was an artist too
So they'd connect on saturdays to share the pictures that they drew
(Look!)
Now every month or so, she'd get a knock upon the front door
Just one of the neighbors,
Actin nice, although she was a strange girl, really
Say, "Lucy, want to join me for some lunch??"
Lucy would smile and say "I'm busy, thank you much"
And they would make a weird face the second the door shut
And run and tell their friends how truly crazy Lucy was
And lucy knew what people thought but didn't care
'cause while they spread their rumors through the street
She'd paint another masterpiece
Lucy was 87, upon her death bed
At the senior home, where she had previously checked in
Traded in the locks and clips for a head rest
Traded in the charcoal sticks for arthritis, it had to happen
And she drew no more, just sat and watched the dawn
Had a television in the room that she'd never turned on
Lucy pinned up a life worth's of pictures on the wall
And sat and smiled, looked each one over, just to laugh at it all
No Rico, he had passed, 'bout 5 years back
So the visiting hours pulled in a big flock o' nothin
She'd never spoken once throughout the spanning of her life
Until the day she leaned forward, grinned and pulled the nurse aside
And she said:
"Look, I've never had a dream in my life
Because a dream is what you want to do, but still haven't pursued
I knew what I wanted and did it till it was done
So i've been the dream that I wanted to be since day one!"
Well!
The nurse jumped back,
She'd never heard Lucy even talk,
'Specially words like that
She walked over to the door, and pulled it closed behind
Then Lucy blew a kiss to each one of her pictures
And she died.
1 2 3...
A be C...
 

Trap Jesus

Registered User
Feb 13, 2012
28,686
13,456
I'm also a big fan of little lyrics that are just kind of funny and quirky and paint a vivid picture. Some that come to mind:

Tom Waits referring to his Uncle Vernon as "a big-shot down there at the slaughterhouse" in Cemetary Polka.

Modest Mouse looking on the bright side of everything in Float On:

"A fake Jamaican took every last dime with that scam
It was worth it just to learn some sleight of hand."

The Magnetic Fields painting a romantic picture for a date in Strange Powers:

"On the Ferris wheel
Looking out on Coney Island
Under more stars than
There are prostitutes in Thailand"

MF DOOM's commentary on the "50 Cent rap era" in Beef Rapp:

To all rappers shut up with ya shuttin up
And keep your shirt on, at least a button up
Yuck, is they rhymers or strippin males?
Outta work jerks since they shut down Chippendales
 
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Hammettf2b

oldmanyellsatcloud.jpg
Jul 9, 2012
22,489
4,610
So California
Rise Against - Disparity by Design

But if we just took a step back
A bigger picture we might view
Perhaps the man in the gutter
Is not so different from you

 

kihei

McEnroe: The older I get, the better I used to be.
Jun 14, 2006
42,530
10,127
Toronto
Let's Do It, by Cole Porter

Birds do it, bees do it
Even educated fleas do it
Let's do it, let's fall in love

In Spain, the best upper sets do it
Lithuanians and let's do it
Let's do it, let's fall in love

The dutch in old Amsterdam do it
Not to mention the fins
Folks in Siam do it, think of Siamese twins

Some Argentines, without means, do it
People say in Boston even beans do it
Let's do it, let's fall in love

Romantic sponges, they say, do it
Oysters down in oyster bay do it
Let's do it, let's fall in love

Cold cape cod clams, 'gainst their wish, do it
Even lazy jellyfish, do it
Let's do it, let's fall in love

Electric eels I might add do it
Though it shocks em I know
Why ask if shad do it, waiter bring me
"shad roe"

In shallow shoals English soles do it
Goldfish in the privacy of bowls do it
Let's do it, let's fall in love

...

The chimpanzees in the zoos do it
Some courageous kangaroos do it
Let's do it, let's
Fall in love

I'm sure giraffes on the sly do it
Even eagles as they fly do it
Let's do it, let's fall
In love

Electric eels I might add do it
Though it shocks em I know
Why ask if shad do it, garcon de
"shad roe"

The world admits bears in pits do it
Even pekingeses at the Ritz do it
Let's do it, let's
Fall in love

The royal set sans regret did it
And they considered it fun
Marie Antoinette did it
With or without napoleon


Source: LyricFind
Songwriters: Cole Porter
Let's Do It (Gerburg) lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc
 

Pranzo Oltranzista

Registered User
Oct 18, 2017
3,826
2,669
MF DOOM's commentary on the "50 Cent rap era" in Beef Rapp:

To all rappers shut up with ya shuttin up
And keep your shirt on, at least a button up
Yuck, is they rhymers or strippin males?
Outta work jerks since they shut down Chippendales

Made me think of this (I'm not a huge fan of rap, but some stuff by Gemstones is just brilliant)

"if fashion is where your passion is that's what you should be doing"

 
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Pranzo Oltranzista

Registered User
Oct 18, 2017
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My favorite lyrics are in French. Serge Gainsbourg is probably my favorite songwriter and I don't see anybody getting close to him in English songs.
 

Voight

#winning
Feb 8, 2012
40,347
16,638
Mulberry Street
This might seem basic/mainstream but Hotel California & Desperado by the Eagles.

Don't Look Back in Anger - Oasis. This one kills me because the lyrics are good and seem like they actually mean something but Noel Gallagher was on drugs when he wrote the song and says he doesn't know what they mean.
 
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Spring in Fialta

A malign star kept him
Apr 1, 2007
25,085
14,267
Montreal, QC
I'm also a big fan of little lyrics that are just kind of funny and quirky and paint a vivid picture. Some that come to mind:

Tom Waits referring to his Uncle Vernon as "a big-shot down there at the slaughterhouse" in Cemetary Polka.

Modest Mouse looking on the bright side of everything in Float On:

"A fake Jamaican took every last dime with that scam
It was worth it just to learn some sleight of hand."

The Magnetic Fields painting a romantic picture for a date in Strange Powers:

"On the Ferris wheel
Looking out on Coney Island
Under more stars than
There are prostitutes in Thailand"

MF DOOM's commentary on the "50 Cent rap era" in Beef Rapp:

To all rappers shut up with ya shuttin up
And keep your shirt on, at least a button up
Yuck, is they rhymers or strippin males?
Outta work jerks since they shut down Chippendales

I adore DOOM and Mm..Food in particular. I never listened to Modest Mouse's music, but that is a nice lyrics.

This is from Potholderz.

 
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Pranzo Oltranzista

Registered User
Oct 18, 2017
3,826
2,669
What do you have in mind in particular?

Depends what you're looking for. If you want to have a laugh at his playful use of language, go for



But if you're serious, damn, there's so much material. I'm a sucka for intertextuality, so I love his palimpseste songs (more than most, Je suis venu te dire que je m'en vais). Here's an interesting article about his borrowings to different poets (from Rimbaud to Edgar Allen Poe): Comment Serge Gainsbourg a remixé Rimbaud, Baudelaire, Poe...

If you're of a certain âge (in your 40s-50s), and maybe a little blasé, these two songs should be instant favorites:


(Marc Ribot's version of Black Trombone might be my favorite song ever)



And if you're up for the complete trip with the genius, go for the whole album L'homme à la tête de chou (concept album telling a story, some prefer L'Histoire de Melody Nelson, similar exercise and also brilliant).

And with all that being said, my favorite song by Gainsbourg is still L'anamour, fun lyrical exercise too.
 

Eisen

Registered User
Sep 30, 2009
16,737
3,101
Duesseldorf
Vanity
New Model Army

I'll teach you everything that I know now, Eddie
If you really want to take the time
But don't expect to get answers to anything, Eddie
There is just one thing I've learned
Through everything that I've done and tried
Everything I have justified
It's all vanity, all vanity - we try to have control
It's all vanity, all vanity 'cause Chaos rules it all

I always drive like a madman, Eddie
But you'll soon get used to that
I believe if you're moving fast enough, Eddie
You don't ever have to watch your back
I choose solid ground to make my stands
I stay off the streets at closing time
It's all vanity, all vanity - we try to have control
It's all vanity, all vanity 'cause Chaos rules it all

Remember how it was out at Bunglass
We climbed up to the peak and stood against the rocks
The photographs came - you couldn't see us
We were lost against the mountains like specks of dust
And the mirror never lies, it's just these foolish eyes
And we all see what we want to see
What we need to see, what we have to see
And so will you do just the same one day, Eddie
I've been to that place a thousand times
Looked over the edge so many times
Wanted to jump a thousand times

Well we talk about saving the world now, Eddie
It's our vanity gone mad
She'll survive us all perfectly well
When we're all long buried and dead
Clever monkeys with technology
Barely out of the caves and the trees
It's all vanity, all vanity - we try to have control
It's all vanity, all vanity 'cause Chaos rules it all
Eddie now let it go...
I turn my head away from here
Down towards the rolling seas again
I kneel and worship where I can
The ground comes swirling up and through these veins...
 
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Mimsy

Registered User
Mar 21, 2015
434
234
Stuart Murdoch of Belle and Sebastian is a favorite of mine. He's a clever lyricist, and often whimsical. When I separate his lyrics from his typically pretty melodies, I don't necessarily find them as captivating as when heard together. His songs are among the most replayed in my library.


Murdoch side project, God Help the Girl, with "Down and Dusky Blonde". Random lines below
:

I fried my head I'm not a brunette
I'm a down and dusky blonde.


With her matinee good looks
She talks like talking from a book
I speak the language of my village, of my street


I read a book a day, like an apple
But I did not eat
And so the doctor came to me
He said a woman does not live
By the printed word
Forgive yourself and eat


 
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Chili

En boca cerrada no entran moscas
Jun 10, 2004
8,440
4,269
In one song, Al Stewart captured WWII on the eastern front …

Roads to Moscow

They crossed over the border, the hour before dawn
Moving in lines through the day
Most of our planes were destroyed on the ground where they lay
Waiting for orders we held in the wood
Word from the front never came
By evening the sound of the gunfire was miles away
Ah, softly we move through the shadows, slip away through the trees
Crossing their lines in the mists in the fields on our hands and on our knees
And all that I ever
Was able to see
The fire in the air glowing red
Silhouetting the smoke on the breeze

All summer they drove us back through the Ukraine
Smolensk and Viasma soon fell
By autumn we stood with our backs to the town of Orel
Closer and closer to Moscow they come
Riding the wind like a bell
General Guderian stands at the crest of the hill
Winter brought with her the rains, oceans of mud filled the roads
Gluing the tracks of their tanks to the ground while the sky filled with snow
And all that I ever
Was able to see
The fire in the air glowing red
Silhouetting the snow on the breeze

In the footsteps of Napoleon the shadow figures stagger through the winter
Falling back before the gates of Moscow, standing in the wings like an avenger
And far away behind their lines the partisans are stirring in the forest
Coming unexpectedly upon their outposts, growing like a promise
You'll never know, you'll never know which way to turn, which way to look you'll never see us
As we're stealing through the blackness of the night
You'll never know, you'll never hear us
And the evening sings in a voice of amber, the dawn is surely coming
The morning roads lead to Stalingrad, and the sky is softly humming

Two broken Tigers on fire in the night
Flicker their souls to the wind
We wait in the lines for the final approach to begin
It's been almost four years that I've carried a gun
At home it will almost be spring
The flames of the Tigers are lighting the road to Berlin
Ah, quickly we move through the ruins that bow to the ground
The old men and children they send out to face us, they can't slow us down
And all that I ever
Was able to see
The eyes of the city are opening
Now it's the end of the dream

I'm coming home, I'm coming home, now you can taste it in the wind, the war is over
And I listen to the clicking of the train-wheels as we roll across the border
And now they ask me of the time that I was caught behind their lines and taken prisoner
"They only held me for a day, a lucky break, " I say they turn and listen closer
I'll never know, I'll never know why I was taken from the line and all the others
To board a special train and journey deep into the heart of holy Russia
And it's cold and damp in the transit camp, and the air is still and sullen
And the pale sun of October whispers the snow will soon be coming
And I wonder when I'll be home again and the morning answers "Never"
And the evening sighs, and the steely Russian skies go on forever
 

sdf

Registered User
Jan 23, 2015
2,219
391
Rostov on Don
Let's Do It, by Cole Porter

Birds do it, bees do it
Even educated fleas do it
Let's do it, let's fall in love

In Spain, the best upper sets do it
Lithuanians and let's do it
Let's do it, let's fall in love

The dutch in old Amsterdam do it
Not to mention the fins
Folks in Siam do it, think of Siamese twins

Some Argentines, without means, do it
People say in Boston even beans do it
Let's do it, let's fall in love

Romantic sponges, they say, do it
Oysters down in oyster bay do it
Let's do it, let's fall in love

Cold cape cod clams, 'gainst their wish, do it
Even lazy jellyfish, do it
Let's do it, let's fall in love

Electric eels I might add do it
Though it shocks em I know
Why ask if shad do it, waiter bring me
"shad roe"

In shallow shoals English soles do it
Goldfish in the privacy of bowls do it
Let's do it, let's fall in love

...

The chimpanzees in the zoos do it
Some courageous kangaroos do it
Let's do it, let's
Fall in love

I'm sure giraffes on the sly do it
Even eagles as they fly do it
Let's do it, let's fall
In love

Electric eels I might add do it
Though it shocks em I know
Why ask if shad do it, garcon de
"shad roe"

The world admits bears in pits do it
Even pekingeses at the Ritz do it
Let's do it, let's
Fall in love

The royal set sans regret did it
And they considered it fun
Marie Antoinette did it
With or without napoleon


Source: LyricFind
Songwriters: Cole Porter
Let's Do It (Gerburg) lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc
This piece of shit your favorite lyrics? I will not read your reviews anymore
 

Mimsy

Registered User
Mar 21, 2015
434
234
I need to stop skimming OPs before replying. I chose one of my favorite lyricists and a sample lyric as opposed to posting my favorite lyrics.

I blame the OP.
 

ItsFineImFine

Registered User
Aug 11, 2019
3,534
2,263
I tried to make a move just to stay in the game
I tried to stay awake and remember my name
But Everybody's socially isolating
And I don't feel the same

-Keane, 2004

 

Ceremony

blahem
Jun 8, 2012
113,009
15,069
I've been thinking about posting in this thread for a few days. Originally I was thinking of what to post, but when I actually sat down and thought about specific songs I realised it was hopeless. Anything I posted would have been a mixture of a few things. Self-indulgence mainly, as a list a bunch of songs I like to an audience I think cares. I've done this regularly since I was about fourteen. Aside from that though I wondered whether it was the lyrics themselves I liked, or the way in which they're delivered. There were some I hold a strong emotional attachment to and some I don't. Do I like some more than others because of this? Do I think they're better (what a term) than others because of this? How, then can I put an assortment of songs/lyrics here that anyone should care about?

It didn't help that I had a shortlist of about fifteen songs. With several from the same artists. That's not self-indulgence, that's taking the piss. Then there's the case of several songs from the same artists. While it's obvious that a lyricist doesn't peak with only one song, surely it's an exercise in redundancy seeing five songs from one source? And what if it's full songs rather than a verse, a chorus, a single line?

Anyway

Watching her these things she said
The times she cried too frail to wake this time

Ceremony - New Order (I don't know why the title for this says 2019 remaster - this was on the 2008 Collector's Edition of Movement)

I spy a boy
I spy a girl
I spy the worst place
in the world
In the whole world
Oh, you didn't do bad
You made it out
I'm still stuck here
Oh, but I'll get out
Oh yeah, I'll get out
Can't you see a giant walks among you, seeing through your petty lives
Do you think I do these things for real?
I do these things just so I survive
And you know, I will survive
It may look to the untrained eye
I'm sitting on my arse all day
I'm biding time until I take you all on
My lords and ladies
I will prevail
I cannot fail
'Cos I spy
Oh, I've got your number, taken notes
I know the ways your minds work out, I've studied
And your minds are just the same as mine
Except that you're clever swines
You never let your masks slip
You never admit to it
You're never hurried
Oh, no no no
And every night I hone my plan
How I'll get my satisfaction
How I will blow your paradise away
Away
Away!
'Cos I spy
It's just like in the old days
I used to compose my own critical notices in my head
"The crowd gasps at Cocker's masterful control of the bicycle
Skilfully avoiding the dog turd outside the corner shop
Imagining a blue plaque above the place I first ever touched a girl's chest
But hold on
You've got to wait for the best"
You see you should take me seriously
Very seriously indeed
'Cos I've been sleeping with your wife for the past sixteen weeks
Smoking your cigarettes
Drinking your brandy
Messing up the bed you chose together
And in all that time
I just wanted you to come home unexpectedly one afternoon
And catch us at it in the front room
You see I spy for a living
and I specialise in revenge
On taking the things I know will cause you pain
I can't help it
I was dragged up
My favourite parks are car parks
Grass is something you smoke
Birds are something you shag
Take your Year in Provence
and shove it up your ass
Your Ladbroke Grove looks turn me on, oh yeah
With roach burns in designer dresses
Skin stretched tight over high cheekbones
And thousands of tiny dryness lines
Beating a path
Beating a path to the corners of your eyes
And every night I hatch my plan
It's not a case of woman v man
It's more a case of haves against haven'ts
And I just happen to have got what you need
Just exactly what you need, yeah
La la, la la la la la la la la
In the midnight hour
La la, la la la la la la la la
I will come to you
I will come to you
I will take you from this sickness
Dinner parties and champagne
I'll hold your body and make it sing again
Come on, sing again
Let's sing again
Oh yeah, 'cos I spy
Yes, I spy
I spy a boy
And I spy a girl
I spy a chance to change the world
To change your world

I Spy - Pulp

Why do I deserve the science?
To feel better about you
At a loss I lost my cool
I denied that I found you
I tried to be a basket-case
I did not surprise you
I'm trying to find a signal fire
Let me know when I should move
But you, amplified in the silence
Justified in the way you make me bruise
Magnified in the science
Anatomically proved that you don't need me
Why do I desire the space?
I was mourning after you
I was lost and lost my shape
There was nothing I could do
I don't want to waste away
It was all I gave to you
Take me back or take my place
I will rise right up for you
But you, amplified in the silence
Justified in the way you make me bruise
Magnified in the science
Anatomically proved that you don't need me
But all the while you waste away you're asking
Did I really need another one to take me down?
Everybody knows it's something that you had to live with, darling
Nobody's gonna tear you down now
There is nothing you keep
There is only your reflection
There was nothing but quiet retractions
To families pleading: don't look in that cabinet
There's far more bad than there's good
I don't know how it got there
That was something your father had burned in me
Twenty hours out of Homestake: eternity
You can go anywhere but you are where you came from
Little girl you are cursed by my ancestry
There is nothing but darkness and agony
I cannot only see, but you stopped me from blinking
Let me watch you as close as a memory
Let me hold you above all the misery
Let me open my eyes and be glad that I got here

The Silence - Manchester Orchestra

I believe in a house in the clouds
God's got his dead friends round
And painted all the walls in red
To remind them they're all dead

Head Rolls Off - Frightened Rabbit

So I bide my time
As you devour my insides
Cause I lost my guts
When I was a boy

Cool Ethan - The Xcerts
 
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Hammettf2b

oldmanyellsatcloud.jpg
Jul 9, 2012
22,489
4,610
So California
Another one of my favorites.

Pink Floyd - Time

Tired of lying in the sunshine staying home to watch the rain.
You are young and life is long and there is time to kill today.
And then one day you find ten years have got behind you.
No one told you when to run, you missed the starting gun.
 
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