Awesome Song Lyrics

[PowerButchi]

A Lady of a Certain Age by Divine Comedy. It's also possibly one of my favourite songs ever. Divine Comedy are fucking class. Every single song that Neil Hannon has ever penned has amazing, amazing, amazing lyrics.

 

Back in the day you had been part of the smart set

You'd holidayed with kings, dined out with starlets

From London to New York, Cap Ferrat to Capri

In perfume by Chanel and clothes by Givenchy

 

You sipped camparis with David and Peter

At Noel's parties by Lake Geneva

Scaling the dizzy heights of high society

Armed only with a cheque book and a family tree

 

You chased the sun around the Cote d'Azur

Until the light of youth became obscured

And left you on your own and in the shade

An English lady of a certain age

 

And if a nice young man would buy you a drink

You'd say with a conspiratorial wink

 

[ShortOrderCook]

Dan Le Sac vs Scroobius Pip - 'This is a letter from God to Man'

 

Hey There, how, how

[FLips]

Dan Le Sac vs Scroobius Pip have some quality lyrics. Good choice.

[Duke]

Lots of miserable content ITT so far, which is all well and good, but let's lighten it up a little. To this day, this line never fails to bring a smile to my face- it's simple, honest, funny and absolutely captured what Slim Shady was all about in the year 2000.

 

Will Smith don't gotta cuss in his raps to sell his records;

well I do, so fuck him and fuck you too!

 

Rolls off the tongue and sticks straight in your head. It's a belting line, and while taken at face value it isn't big or clever, there is a back story to it, as there usually is whenever Eminem addresses anybody in his lyrics.

 

 

"dissed by eminem, but did it bother him? Yup but he classy, big will just make another 20 mill, brush right past E"

[HarmonicGenerator]

Since Magnum's already mentioned American Pie, that means only one thing... It's Boss time!

 

I'm really into 'Youngstown' at the moment, highly recommend watching the Hyde Park live version that's on Youtube, if only for the cracker of a Nils Lofgren solo they put on the end of the song:

 

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Here in north-east Ohio, back in 1803

James and Danny Heaton found the ore that was lining Yellow Creek

They built a blast furnace, here along the shore

And they made the cannonballs that helped the Union win the war

Here in Youngstown, here in Youngstown

My sweet Jenny I'm sinking down

Here darlin' in Youngstown

 

Well my daddy worked the furnaces, kept 'em hotter than hell

I come home from 'Nam worked my way to scarfer, a job that'd suit the devil as well

Well, taconite coke and limestone fed my children and made my pay

Them smokestacks reaching like the arms of God into a beautiful sky of soot and clay

Here in Youngstown, here in Youngstown

Sweet Jenny I'm sinking down

Here darlin' in Youngstown

 

Well my daddy come on the Ohio works when he come home from World War Two

Now the yard's just scrap and rubble, he said, "them big boys did what Hitler couldn't do."

Yeah, these mills, they built the tanks and bombs that won this country's wars

We sent our sons to Korea and Vietnam, now we're wondering what they were dying for

Here in Youngstown, here in Youngstown

My sweet Jenny I'm sinking down

Here darlin' in Youngstown

 

From the Monongahela valley to the Mesabi iron range

To the coal mines of Appalachia, the story's always the same

Seven hundred tons of metal a day, now you tell me the world's changed

Once I made you rich enough, rich enough to forget my name

And Youngstown, and Youngstown

My sweet Jenny I'm sinking down

Here darlin' in Youngstown

 

When I die I don't want no part of heaven, I would not do heaven's work well

I pray the devil comes and takes me to stand in the fiery furnaces of hell...

 

[AWESOME NILS SOLO]

 

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You have to be doing pretty well to beat 'Thunder Road'. I love this song, and the story in the lyrics are a major, major part of that:

 

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The screen door slams, Mary's dress waves

Like a vision she dances across the porch as the radio plays

Roy Orbison singing for the lonely

Hey, that's me and I want you only

Don't turn me home again

I just can't face myself alone again

Don't run back inside, darling, you know just what I'm here for

So you're scared and you're thinking that maybe we ain't that young anymore

Show a little faith, there's magic in the night

You ain't a beauty, but hey you're alright

Oh and that's alright with me

 

You can hide 'neath your covers and study your pain

Make crosses from your lovers, throw roses in the rain

Waste your summer praying in vain for a saviour to rise from these streets

Well now I'm no hero, that's understood

All the redemption I can offer, girl, is 'neath this dirty hood

With a chance to make it good somehow

Hey what else can we do now

 

Except roll down the window and let the wind blow back your hair

Well the night's bustin' open, these two lanes will take us anywhere

We got one last chance to make it real

To trade in these wings on some wheels

Climb in back, heaven's waiting down on the tracks

 

Oh, oh, come take my hand

We're riding out tonight to case the promised land

Oh oh oh oh Thunder Road, oh Thunder Road, oh Thunder Road

Lying out there like a killer in the sun

Hey I know it's late, we can make it if we run

Oh oh oh oh Thunder Road, sit tight, take hold, Thunder Road

 

Well I got this guitar and I learned how to make it talk

And my car's out back if you're ready to take that long walk

From your front porch to my front seat

The door's open but the ride it ain't free

And I know you're lonely for words that I ain't spoken

Tonight we'll be free, all the promises will be broken

 

There were ghosts in the eyes of all the boys you sent away

They haunt this dusty beach road in the skeleton frames of burned-out Chevrolets

They scream your name at night in the street

Your graduation gown lies in rags at their feet

And in the lonely cool before dawn

You hear their engines roaring on

But when you get to the porch they're gone on the wind, so Mary climb in

It's a town full of losers, we're pulling out of here to win...

 

AWESOME DRUM BIT INTO THE SAX SOLO

 

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'Bobby Jean' is another great one:

 

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Well I came by your house the other day

Your mother said you went away

She said there was nothing that I could have done

There was nothing nobody could say

Me and you we've known each other ever since we were sixteen

I wished I would have known

I wished I could have called you

Just to say goodbye Bobby Jean

 

Now you hung with me when all the others turned away, turned up their nose

We liked the same music, we liked the same bands, we liked the same clothes

We told each other that we were the wildest

The wildest things we'd ever seen

Now I wished you would have told me

I wished I could have talked to you

Just to say goodbye Bobby Jean

 

Now we went walking in the rain talking about the pain from the world we hid

Now there ain't nobody, nowhere nohow gonna ever understand me the way you did

Maybe you'll be out there on that road somewhere, in some bus or train travelling along, in some motel room there'll be a radio playing and you'll hear me sing this song

Well, if you do, you'll know I'm thinking of you and all the miles in between and

I'm just calling one last time

Not to change your mind, but just to say I miss you baby, good luck, goodbye Bobby Jean

 

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'American Land's not really one of his (I think it's Pete Seeger but I could be wrong), but it's great fun anyway:

 

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What is this land America, so many travel there

I'm going now while I'm still young, my darling meet me there

Wish me luck my lovely, I'll send for you when I can

And we'll make our home in the American land

 

Over there all the women wear silk and satin to their knees

And children, dear, the sweets, I hear, are growing on the trees

Gold comes rushing out the rivers straight into your hands

When you make your home in the American land

 

There's diamonds in the sidewalk, the gutters lined in song

Dear, I hear that beer flows through the faucets all night long

There's treasure for the taking, for any hard working man

Who'll make his home in the American land

 

I docked at Ellis Island in the city of light and spire

I wandered to the valley of red-hot steel and fire

We made the steel that built the cities with the sweat of our two hands

We made our home in the American land

 

There's diamonds in the sidewalk, the gutters lined in song

Dear, I hear that beer flows through the faucets all night long

There's treasure for the taking, for any hard working man

Who'll make his home in the American land

 

The McNicholas, the Posalskis, the Smiths, Zerillis too

The Blacks, the Irish, Italians, the Germans and the Jews

They come across the water a thousand miles from home

With nothing in their bellies but the fire down below

 

They died building the railroads, they worked to bones and skin

They died in the fields and factories, names scattered in the wind

They died to get here a hundred years ago, they're still dying now

Their hands that built the country we're always trying to keep out

 

There's diamonds in the sidewalk, the gutters lined in song

Dear, I hear that beer flows through the faucets all night long

There's treasure for the taking, for any hard working man

Who'll make his home in the American land

 

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And I'll end with this bit of 'Jungleland', which Stephen King uses in the epigraph of The Stand:

 

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Outside the street's on fire in a real death waltz

Between what's flesh and what's fantasy

And the poets down here don't write nothing at all

They just stand back and let it all be

And in the quick of the night, they reach for their moment

And try to make an honest stand

But they wind up wounded, they're not even dead

Tonight in Jungleland

 

 

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[Devon Malcolm]

A Lady of a Certain Age by Divine Comedy. It's also possibly one of my favourite songs ever. Divine Comedy are fucking class. Every single song that Neil Hannon has ever penned has amazing, amazing, amazing lyrics.

 

Neil Hannon is fantastic. A great laugh, too, I remember when he used to pop up regularly on SM:TV playing a stripping vicar. The Duckworth-Lewis Method are great as well. What a top bloke, bordering on genius.

[Frankie Crisp]

God bless you, HG. I was trying to whittle down which songs/lyrics to include in here from Springsteen (Youngstown was the first that came to mind), so you've reduced the list of ones to choose from. I could list a boat-load and will probably post more later when I get a minute, but the first that come to mind right now are two sets of lyrics from Mary Queen of Arkansas:

 

Mary, my queen, your blows for freedom are missing,

Oh, you're not man enough for me to hate or woman enough for kissing

and

 

But on your bed, Mary, I can see the shadow of a noose,

Whoa, I don't understand how you can hold me so tight and love me so damn loose

Sob.

[seph]

The whole song is a depressing, brilliant ode to how life is short but the first chorus of Pink Floyd's "Time" nails it:

 

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

[air_raid]

"High hopes and aspirations

Ideas above my station, maybe

But all this time I've tried

To walk with dignity and pride"

 

Words to inspire you all, by the genius Chesney Hawkes.

[PowerButchi]

Ezekiel Jackson's theme has legitimately great lyrics. It's a definite workout song.

[Cobra1000]

Fleet Foxes - Helplessness Blues

 

I was raised up believing I was somehow unique

Like a snowflake distinct among snowflakes, unique in each way you can see

And now after some thinking, I'd say I'd rather be

A functioning cog in some great machinery serving something beyond me

 

But I don't, I don't know what that will be

I'll get back to you someday soon you will see

 

What's my name, what's my station, oh, just tell me what I should do

I don't need to be kind to the armies of night that would do such injustice to you

Or bow down and be grateful and say "sure, take all that you see"

To the men who move only in dimly-lit halls and determine my future for me

 

And I don't, I don't know who to believe

I'll get back to you someday soon you will see

 

If I know only one thing, it's that everything that I see

Of the world outside is so inconceivable often I barely can speak

Yeah I'm tongue-tied and dizzy and I can't keep it to myself

What good is it to sing helplessness blues, why should I wait for anyone else?

 

And I know, I know you will keep me on the shelf

I'll come back to you someday soon myself

 

If I had an orchard, I'd work till I'm raw

If I had an orchard, I'd work till I'm sore

And you would wait tables and soon run the store

 

Gold hair in the sunlight, my light in the dawn

If I had an orchard, I'd work till I'm sore

If I had an orchard, I'd work till I'm sore

Someday I'll be like the man on the screen

 

Alice in Chains - Nutshell (my personal favourite song by them) pretty grim stuff though

 

We chase misprinted lies

We face the path of time

And yet I fight

And yet I fight

This battle all alone

No one to cry to

No place to call home

 

My gift of self is raped

My privacy is raked

And yet I find

And yet I find

Repeating in my head

If I can't be my own

I'd feel better dead

 

And since Modest Mouse was mentioned, I'll go for this, though I prefer the Sun Kil Moon version!

 

I'm the same as I was when I was 6 years old

And oh my God I feel so damn old

I don't really feel anything

On a plane, I can see the tiny lights below

 

And oh my God, they look so alone

Do they really feel anything?

Oh my God, I've gotta gotta gotta gotta move on

Where do you move when what you're moving from

 

Is yourself?

The universe works on a math equation

that never even ever really ends in the end

Infinity spirals out creation

 

We're on the tip of its tongue, and it is saying

We ain't sure where you stand

You ain't machines and you ain't land

And the plants and the animals, they are linked

 

And the plants and the animals eat each other

Oh my God and oh my cat

I told my Dad what I need

Well I know what I have and want

 

But I don't know what I need

Well, he said he said he said he said

"Where we're going I'm dead."

[air_raid]

The universe works on a math equation

 

...s. Maths!

 

[Teedy Kay]

Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac - Man Of The World

Shall I tell you about my life

They say Im a man of the world

Ive flown across every tide

And Ive seen lots of pretty girls

 

I guess Ive got everything I need

I wouldt ask for more

And theres no one Id rather be

But I just wish that Id never been born

 

And I need a good woman

To make me feel like a good man should

I dont say Im a good man

Oh, but I would be if I could

 

I could tell you about my life

And keep you amused Im sure

About all the times Ive cried

And how I dont want to be sad anymore

And how I wish I was in love

 

Considering what happened afterwards, this cry for help hidden in a song is harrowing yet wonderful. Has a song ever meant more to one person?

[Sphinx]

I could pick anything from Blue by Joni Mitchell, but I'll opt for A Case Of You.

 

Just before our love got lost you said

"I am as constant as a northern star"

And I said "Constantly in the darkness

Where's that at?

If you want me I'll be in the bar"

 

On the back of a cartoon coaster

In the blue TV screen light

I drew a map of Canada

Oh, Canada

With your face sketched on it twice

Oh you're in my blood like holy wine

You taste so bitter and so sweet

 

Oh, I could drink a case of you, darling

Still I'd be on my feet

Oh I would still be on my feet

 

Oh, I am a lonely painter

I live in a box of paints

I'm frightened by the devil

And I'm drawn to those ones that ain't afraid

 

I remember that time you told me you said

"Love is touching souls"

Surely you touched mine

'Cause part of you pours out of me

In these lines from time to time

Oh, you're in my blood like holy wine

You taste so bitter and so sweet

 

Oh, I could drink a case of you, darling

And I would still be on my feet

I would still be on my feet

 

I met a woman

She had a mouth like yours

She knew your life

She knew your devils and your deeds

And she said

"Go to him, stay with him if you can

But be prepared to bleed"

 

Oh but you are in my blood

You're my holy wine

You're so bitter, bitter and so sweet

 

Oh, I could drink a case of you darling

Still I'd be on my feet

I would still be on my feet.

 

I thoroughly recommend listening to the song though as Joni Mitchell's voice is brilliant and oozes emotion. Fuck it, listen to the whole album. Preferably make sure you're in a solemn mood first. First time I heard it, I only wanted to preview the first song before going to bed and ended up feeling blown away and listened to it all. It racked up the play count on my iPod for months after.

 

[Frankie Crisp]

Today's all about George.

 

I could fill this thread with George-knows how many songs and lyrics, but at this moment in time and for the last few months I'm not able to go more than a few hours without listening to Run Of The Mill. It completely resonates and gives me a warm feeling the second it kicks in.

 

George wrote some beautiful, beautiful songs as he developed with The Beatles, but I rate this as better than anything he did with the group and up there with the best of his solo work.

 

The lyrics and meaning are wonderful, but made even more great by how earnest his vocals are.

 

Link to the song

 

Lyrics:

 

Everyone has choice

When to and not to raise their voices

It's you that decides

Which way you will turn

While feeling that our love's not your concern

It's you that decides

 

No one around you

Will carry the blame for you

No one around you

Will love you today and throw it all away

Tomorrow when you rise

Another day for you to realize me

Or send me down again

 

As the days stand up on end

You've got me wondering how I lost your friendship

But I see it in your eyes

 

Though I'm beside you

I cant carry the pain for you

I may decide to

Get out with your blessing

Where I'll carry on guessing

 

How high will you leap?

Will you make enough for you to reap it?

Only you'll arrive

At your own made end

With no one but yourself to be offended

It's you that decides

It's incredible from start to finish, but that last verse just does it for me.