Great Song Lyrics

Discussion in 'Lounge' started by figwold, Dec 23, 2020.

  1. figwold

    figwold First Class Member

    Dec 12, 2016
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    Of course so many to choose from, and I’m sure we can all argue fiercely even with ourselves about who is the greatest lyricist let alone which is the greatest set of lyrics.

    To my mind the greatest lyricist is Fish in his prime Marillion, early 80s pomp.

    An example (and probably more to follow) from He Knows, You Know

    “Light switch, yellow fever, crawling up your bathroom wall
    Singing psychedelic praises to the depths of a china bowl
    You've got venom in your stomach, you've got poison in your head
    You should have listened to the priest at the confession
    When he offered you the sacred bread
    He knows, you know, he knows, you know
    He knows, you know, but he's got problems”

    link:

     
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  2. Oldfart

    Oldfart Senior Member

    Oct 25, 2019
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    Staffs Moorlands
    If wine and pills were hundred dollar
    Bills, I might keep you satisfied
    And if broken dreams were limousines
    I might take you for a ride

    And all I can do is think of you
    And wish you were here by my side
    Yes, if heartaches were nickels
    I'd be the richest fool alive

    If Heartaches Were Nickels - Joe Bonamassa

    Link:


    Oldfart
     
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  3. Smilinjack

    Smilinjack Guest

    Resonates to this very day :p:D

     
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  4. andyc1

    andyc1 Lunarville 7, Airlock 3

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    "Like Dom King, Iv'e got a crazy hair doo"

    Beastie Boys :p
     
  5. andyc1

    andyc1 Lunarville 7, Airlock 3

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    "Squeeze my lemon till the juice runs down my leg"

    Led Zeppelin :)
     
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  6. andyc1

    andyc1 Lunarville 7, Airlock 3

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    "I'm not fine fuck pretending"

    Alice in chains.
     
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  7. andyc1

    andyc1 Lunarville 7, Airlock 3

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    "Rapunzel Rapunzel let down you hair, so I can climb up and get into your underwear"

    More Beastie Boys :p:cool:

    ...I'll stop now :rolleyes:
     
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  8. Oldfart

    Oldfart Senior Member

    Oct 25, 2019
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    Staffs Moorlands
    Remember when you were young, you shone like the sun
    Shine on you crazy diamond
    Now there's a look in your eyes, like black holes in the sky
    Shine on you crazy diamond
    You were caught on the crossfire of childhood and stardom
    Blown on the steel breeze

    Shine On You Crazy Diamond - Pink Floyd

    Oldfart
     
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  9. Hobnail

    Hobnail Senior Member

    Jan 4, 2020
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    More Floyd:
    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.

    Wish you were here.
    I could play that intro on guitar once in my life.
     
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  10. Timothy Peters

    Timothy Peters Senior Member

    Nov 3, 2019
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    Elvis Costello -

    Oh, I said, "I'm so happy I could die"
    She said, "Drop dead" then left with another guy

    Pink Floyd, had the last line painted on the back of a helmet, my mom was none to pleased -

    The sun is the same in a relative way but you're older,
    Shorter of breath and one day closer to death.

    Cracker - What the World Needs Now -

    I don't know what the world may need
    But a V8 engine's a good start for me
    Think I'll drive and find a place
    To be surly

    Bad Examples - Not Dead Yet

    I was born too late to play in the rolling stones
    I don't know jimmy page, I never met yoko ono
    Standing with a strat, I'm rock and roll's bastard son
    Go out, get drunk, get laid, have fun
    I don't got a million dollars, don't drive a cadillac
    Gimme half a chance, 'cause I'm not dead yet

     
  11. Timothy Peters

    Timothy Peters Senior Member

    Nov 3, 2019
    316
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    Palatine, IL USA
    Elvis Costello -

    Oh, I said, "I'm so happy I could die"
    She said, "Drop dead" then left with another guy

    Pink Floyd, had the last line painted on the back of a helmet, my mom was none to pleased -

    The sun is the same in a relative way but you're older,
    Shorter of breath and one day closer to death.

    Cracker - What the World Needs Now -

    I don't know what the world may need
    But a V8 engine's a good start for me
    Think I'll drive and find a place
    To be surly

    Bad Examples - Not Dead Yet

    I was born too late to play in the rolling stones
    I don't know jimmy page, I never met yoko ono
    Standing with a strat, I'm rock and roll's bastard son
    Go out, get drunk, get laid, have fun
    I don't got a million dollars, don't drive a cadillac
    Gimme half a chance, 'cause I'm not dead yet

     
  12. DCS222

    DCS222 Guest

    My lovely, lovely, lovely horse
    My lovely horse
    Running through the field
    Where are you going
    With your fetlocks blowing
    In the wind?
    I want to shower you with sugar lumps
    And ride you over fences
    Polish your hooves every single day
    And bring you to the horse dentist
    My lovely, lovely, lovely horse
    My lovely horse
    You're a pony no more
    Running around
    With a man on your back
    Like a train in the night, yeah
    Like a train in the night ...


     
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  13. DCS222

    DCS222 Guest

    #13 DCS222, Dec 24, 2020
    Last edited by a moderator: Dec 24, 2020
    As for Fish era Marillion, there are so many to choose from... I particularly like Forgotten Sons... from when the troubles were still at the front of the news and how the loss of individual troops in the region was all too soon forgotten by the nameless, faceless watchers who parade the carpeted corridors of Whitehall...



    You're just another coffin on its way down the emerald aisle
    When your children's stony glances mourn your death in a terrorist's smile
    The bomber's arm placing fiery gifts on the supermarket shelves
    Alley sings with shrapnel detonate a temporary hell
    Forgotten Sons
     
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  14. DCS222

    DCS222 Guest

    But one of my true favourite songs has awesome lyrics along an amazing track... if you never heard this song, do yourself a favour and spend a little time on it!

    Diary of a working man - Blackfoot


    In a room all alone
    Waiiting by the telephone
    With a tear in his eye and a pen in his hand
    So begins the diary of a working man
    He'd been poor man all his life
    And just when things were going right
    Some stranger takes his woman away
    He doesn't know if he'll see
    Oh, another day
    Oh, another day
    Time has come and he was right
    It was a cold and rainy night
    And he thought for sure she would follow
    But it won't be the same, no...
    Tomorrow
    Now here's a man glory bound
    In a pool of dreams about to drown
    If he can just get through this night
    Then maybe tomorrow things
    Will work out right
    Oh, will work out right
    Well, with the pain in his blood
    He'd love to take her if he could
    And as he wakes with a scream
    To only realize it's just reality
    He woke with sweaty hands
    Maybe there'll be a change in plans
    With a tear in his eye and a gun in his hand
    So ends the diary of a workingman

     
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  15. Georgez

    Georgez Senior Member

    Nov 2, 2019
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    Keeping it simple...
     
  16. figwold

    figwold First Class Member

    Dec 12, 2016
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    Brilliant, yes I could play that once too, in a former life. Might need to try again o_O
     
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  17. Adie P

    Adie P Crème de la Crème

    Jul 7, 2018
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    Fist classs choice track of a (once?) great band and singer. I came across the band before they hit big in this country as I heard a track being played from the sound desk in the lead up to a rock band concert - the details of which I can no longer remember who, when or where - so I went and asked at the desk what it was he'd played and he wrote down the name of the band. It's likely the sound guy had got the track from the States because finding more information at the time was impossible and I had to wait until "TV ON THE RADIO" played some of their early stuff and it got a UK release and I could get my hands and ears on the full deal!

    Moving on, I'll punt, arguably, one of the UK's finest rock lyricists, singers and band leaders EVER ............... Mr, Lynott and co. You could pick any number of tracks from TL's catalogue (please :)) but I'll choose a particular 'duet' offering with the very finest TL lead gutar player.

    ARE YOU OUT THERE? I SAID, ARE YOU OUT THERE?




     
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  18. Octoberon

    Octoberon Crème de la Crème

    Jul 2, 2020
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    Great thread and some great choices. I was beginning to think I’m the only one who still gives Script the occasional spin (well, stream). It may be harder for anyone not growing up watching the troubles on tv to get the impact of Forgotten Sons but I’ll always remember the drama and chill of it live. Same with Chelsea Monday. Those were the days.
     
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  19. andypandy

    andypandy Crème de la Crème

    Jan 10, 2016
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    One of my long time favourites:-

    I feel inclined to blow my mind
    Get hung up, feed the ducks with a bun
    They all come out to groove about
    Be nice and have fun in the sun

    Itchycoo Park - Small Faces
     
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  20. Doc Strange

    Doc Strange Senior Member

    Aug 8, 2019
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    Well, the Pistols are a possibility:
    'There's no point in asking, you'll get no reply'
    & of course 'Get pissed, destroy!'

    W/Jayne Country and the Electric Chairs are too:
    'If you don't wanna fuck me baby, fuck off!'

    Maybe the Prodigy:
    'I'm on the way to another dimension
    I'm on the way to another dimesnion
    I'm on the way to another dimension - pay close attention'.

    But possibly the greatest sets of lyrics I have ever heard are Springsteen's:

    THE RIVER [​IMG]
    Album version



    I come from down in the valley where mister when you're young
    They bring you up to do like your daddy done
    Me and Mary we met in high school when she was just seventeen
    We'd ride out of that valley down to where the fields were green

    We'd go down to the river and into the river we'd dive
    Oh down to the river we'd ride

    Then I got Mary pregnant and man that was all she wrote
    And for my nineteenth birthday I got a union card and a wedding coat
    We went down to the courthouse and the judge put it all to rest
    No wedding day smiles, no walk down the aisle, no flowers no wedding dress

    That night we went down to the river and into the river we'd dive
    Oh down to the river we did ride, yay yay yay

    I got a job working construction for the Johnstown Company
    But lately there ain't been much work on account of the economy
    Now all them things that seemed so important, well mister they vanished right into the air
    Now I just act like I don't remember, Mary acts like she don't care

    But I remember us riding in my brother's car, her body tan and wet down at the reservoir
    At night on them banks I'd lie awake and pull her close just to feel each breath she'd take
    Now those memories come back to haunt me, they haunt me like a curse
    Is a dream a lie if it don't come true or is it something worse

    That sends me down to the river, though I know the river is dry
    That sends me down to the river tonight, ay yay yay
    Down to the river, my baby and I
    Oh down to the river we ride, ah yay yay
    Ooh ooh ooh ooh, ooh ooh-ooh-ooh
    Ooh-ooh-ooh ooh ooh ooh, ooh ooh-ooh-ooh
    Ooh ooh ooh ooh, ooh ooh-ooh-ooh
    Ooh-ooh-ooh ooh ooh ooh, ooh-ooh

    DS
     
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