Favorite Song Lyrics

I'm listening to the Canadian songwriter/poet Leonard Cohen's 1992 album The Future--bleak, bitter, sardonic humor, and some hope, for all that.

The title track carries a difficult message, but well worth consideration--


The Future




Give me back my broken night

my mirrored room, my secret life
it's lonely here,
there's no one left to torture
Give me absolute control
over every living soul
And lie beside me, baby,
that's an order!

Give me crack and anal sex
Take the only tree that's left
and stuff it up the hole
in your culture
Give me back the Berlin wall
give me Stalin and St Paul
I've seen the future, brother:
it is murder.

Things are going to slide, slide in all directions
Won't be nothing
Nothing you can measure anymore
The blizzard, the blizzard of the world
has crossed the threshold
and it has overturned
the order of the soul
When they said REPENT REPENT
I wonder what they meant
When they said REPENT REPENT
I wonder what they meant
When they said REPENT REPENT
I wonder what they meant

You don't know me from the wind
you never will, you never did
I'm the little jew
who wrote the Bible
I've seen the nations rise and fall
I've heard their stories, heard them all
but love's the only engine of survival
Your servant here, he has been told
to say it clear, to say it cold:
It's over, it ain't going
any further
And now the wheels of heaven stop
you feel the devil's riding crop
Get ready for the future:
it is murder

Things are going to slide ...

There'll be the breaking of the ancient
western code
Your private life will suddenly explode
There'll be phantoms
There'll be fires on the road
and the white man dancing
You'll see a woman
hanging upside down
her features covered by her fallen gown
and all the lousy little poets
coming round
tryin' to sound like Charlie Manson

Give me back the Berlin wall
Give me Stalin and St Paul
Give me Christ
or give me Hiroshima
Destroy another fetus now
We don't like children anyhow
I've seen the future, baby:
it is murder

Things are going to slide ...

When they said REPENT REPENT ...

~~Leonard Cohen



​
Click to expand...
 
Love - Forever Changes

Really into the last song "You set the scene"


This is the time and life that I am living
And I'll face each day with a smile
For the time that I've been given such a little while
...

This is the only thing that I am sure of
And that's all that lives is gonna die
And there'll always be some people here to wonder why
And for every happy hello, there will be good-bye
...

And for everyone who thinks that life is just a game
Do you like the part you�re playing
 
Ah! I just discovered this thread. What a wonderful idea!

I'm listening to Dar Williams' 2003 album, The Beauty of the Rain, and it is blowing me away--just real solid all the way through. Here's one that particularly stands out for me, though:

Your Fire Your Soul

Button up that shirt you're supposed to wear. Don't forget your airline ticket or to brush your hair,
Show that family that you care. But could you wear something that celebrates
Everything you love, and maybe what your family hates, 'cause that might be what it takes.

It's you fire, it's your soul, you shouldn't have to go.
It's you fire, it's your soul, you shouldn't have to go.

First thing they'll say's take off your shoes,
And they'll say they want your story, but they get confused
By all those words you use. A year ago your car went off a cliff
And you saw an angel in midair who said you'd live. Well, that's a story you can give.

That's your fire, it's your soul, you shouldn't have to go.
Your fire, your soul, you shouldn't have to go.

And they'll say, "You're family, you belong to us. You can stay at home and have our love and trust,
But any day now one of us could die, and if we make you suffer don't you want to find out why,
Cause we love to watch you try. With your fire, your soul, your soul."
It's your fire, it's your fire, it's your fire.

Then you'll fly home and get the flu, and you'll keep staring at the ground, you always do,
When they get their time with you. You are not a punching bag my dear,
I think your darkest day should have some light this year, I think you should stay right here.

It's your fire, it's your soul, you shouldn't have to go.
It's your fire, it's your soul, you shouldn't have to go.


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


Of course, the printed lyrics don't do the song justice; you have to listen to it. She's got this incredible range that soars into some ethereal slice of sunshine. Great stuff. Simply great.
 
On the other hand, I've been re-visiting my jaded teenage feelings by listening to a lot of Violent Femmes lately. The great thing about those guys is that the emotion is so raw and so dead-on to being a messed-up, angry teenager, but Gordon Gano achieves his lyrical effect by making a musical caricature of those feelings. It's like slapping a tongue-in-cheek bleeding heart right there on the turntable. I can't listen to this stuff without dancing ridiculously around my apartment with a big grin on my face, and guffawing with laughter. Sheer genius.

My personal favorite:

Kiss Off

I need someone, a person to talk to, someone to care, to love, could it be you? Could it be you-hoo? The situation gets rough and I start to panic. It's not enough, it's just a habit. Hey kid, you're sick. Well, darlin', this is it.

You can all just kiss off into the air. Behind my back, I can see them stare. They'll hurt me bad, but I won't mind. They'll hurt me bad, they do it all the time--yeah yeah--they do it all the time--yeah yeah--they do it all the time--do it all the time!--they do it all the time--do it all the time!--they do it all the time--DO IT ALL THE TIME!!

I hope you know that this will go down on your permanent record.
Oh yeah? Well, don't get so distressed. Did I happen to mention that I'm impressed?

I'll take one, one, one 'cause you left me and
two, two, two for my family and
three, three, three for my heartache and
four, four, four for my headaches and
five, five, five for my loneliness and
six, six, six for my sorrow and
seven, seven, n-n-n-no tomorrow and
eight, eight, I--forget what eight was for but
nine, nine, nine for my lost god and
ten, ten, ten, ten for EVERYTHING EVERYTHING EVERYTHING EVERYTHING!

You can all just kiss off into the air. Behind my back, I can see them stare. They'll hurt me bad, but I won't mind. They'll hurt me bad, they do it all the time--yeah yeah--they do it all the time--yeah yeah--they do it all the time--do it all the time!--they do it all the time--do it all the time!--they do it all the time time time time time ti-ti-ti-ti-ti-time time--DO IT ALL THE TIME!!

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

But again, you just have to listen to the song to get the full effect. :D
 
BluejayWay said:
c666373898x.jpg


The Waterboy's "Glastonbury Song"
Click to expand...
I like this one. What kind of music do the Waterboys play?
 
Sarah McLachlan "Elsewhere":
I love the time and in between
the calm inside me
in the space where I can breathe
I believe there is a distance I have wandered
to touch upon the years of
reaching out and reaching in
holding out and holding in
I believe this is heaven to no one else but me
and I'll defend it as long as I can be
left here to linger in silence if I choose to
would you try to understand?

And from "Fumbling Toward Ecstasy":
all the fear has left me now
I'm not frightened anymore
it's my heart that pounds beneath my flesh
it's my mouth that pushes out this breath
and if I shed a tear I won't cage it
I won't fear love
and if I feel a rage I won't deny it
I won't fear love
companion to our demons
they will dance and we will pay
with chairs, candles, and clothes
making darkness into day
it will be easy to look in or out
upstream or down without a thought
and if I shed a tear...

Tracy Chapman "She's Got Her Ticket":
She's got her ticket
I think she gonna use it
I think she going to fly away
No one should try and stop her
Persuade her with their power
She says that her mind is made
Up
Why not leave why not
Go away
Too much hatred
Corruption and greed
Give your life
And invariably they leave you with
Nothing
Young girl ain't got no chances
No roots to keep her strong
She's shed all pretenses
That someday she'll belong
Some folks call her a runaway
A failure in the race
But she knows where her ticket takes her
She will find her place in the sun
And she'll fly, fly, fly...

And from "Why?"
Why do the babies starve
When there's enough food to feed the world
Why when there's so many of us
Are there people still alone
Why are the missles called peacekeepers
When they're aimed to kill
Why is a woman still not safe
When she's in her home
Love is hate
War is peace
No is yes
And we're all free
But somebody's gonna have to answer
The time is coming soon
Amidst all these questions and contradictions
There're some who seek the truth
But somebody's gonna have to answer
The time is coming soon
When the blind remove their blinders
And the speechless speak the truth

Neat thread, by the way...
 
I like this one. What kind of music do the Waterboys play?
Click to expand...
That album is strongly in the rock vein, and is excellent. The Waterboys over the years appear to be mainly Mike Scott and whoever fits what he wants to be playing. Room to Roam is another one of my favorites, and it's music is very traditional Irish, as is Fisherman's Blues.
The newest album, Universal Hall, is spare lyrically, etherially beautiful simple arrqangements, and very spiritually oriented--like this one:

The Christ in You

i'm gonna look twice at you
until i see the christ in you

when i'm lookin through the eyes of love
Click to expand...
 
listening to a lot of Violent Femmes lately
Click to expand...
The only Femmes I know is Hallowed Ground, and I think it's a masterpiece--

Hey, I clicked on your homepage--I'll second the "Here's to Jerry"! I really got into the Grateful Dead with American Beauty--the perfect melding of the sacred and the profane--I was sixteen, and played it two or three times a day for a solid month, at least--
 
american.jpg


Ripple

The Grateful Dead



Lyrics: Robert Hunter
Music: Jerry Garcia
If my words did glow with the gold of sunshine
And my tunes were played on the harp unstrung
Would you hear my voice come through the music?
Would you hold it near, as it were your own?

It's a hand-me-down, the thoughts are broken
Perhaps they're better left unsung
I don't know, don't really care
Let there be songs to fill the air

Ripple in still water
When there is no pebble tossed
Nor wind to blow

Reach out your hand if your cup be empty
If your cup is full may it be again
Let it be known there is a fountain
That was not made by the hands of man

There is a road, no simple highway
Between the dawn and the dark of night
And if you go, no one may follow
That path is for your steps alone

Ripple in still water
When there is no pebble tossed
Nor wind to blow

You who choose to lead must follow
But if you fall, you fall alone
If you should stand, then who's to guide you?
If I knew the way, I would take you home
​
 
BluejayWay said:
The only Femmes I know is Hallowed Ground, and I think it's a masterpiece--

Hey, I clicked on your homepage--I'll second the "Here's to Jerry"! I really got into the Grateful Dead with American Beauty--the perfect melding of the sacred and the profane--I was sixteen, and played it two or three times a day for a solid month, at least--
Click to expand...
Oh, well--I can't take credit for that. I gave up my claim to that address about six or seven months ago. It looks like some other deadhead has taken it over since then. I'm not really a deadhead; although I do enjoy their music very much. Ripple is probably my favorite song off of American Beauty, but I also like Sugar Magnolia a whole lot. Other Dead favorites include Slipknot/Franklin's Tower and Eyes of the World.

As far as the Violent Femmes go; yes, Hallowed Ground is very good, too. That's actually the only other Femmes record I own, but I can't listen to it right now, since it is actually a record and I don't own a turntable anymore.

Here's some lyrics to follow Ripple--U2's One:

Is it getting better?
Or do you feel the same?
Will it make it easier on you now
You've got someone to blame?
You say...
One love
One life
When it's one need
In the night
One love
We get to share it
Leaves you baby if you
Don't care for it


Did I disappoint you
Or leave a bad taste in your mouth?
You act like you never had Love
And you want me to go without
Well it's...
Too late
Tonight
To drag the past out into the light
We're one, but we're not the same
We get to
Carry each other
Carry each other
One...


Have you come here for forgiveness?
Have you come to raise the dead?
Have you come here to play Jesus
To the lepers in your head?
Did I ask too much?
More than a lot?
You gave me nothing
Now it's all I got
We're one
But we're not the same
Well we
Hurt each other
And we'll do it again
You say
Love is a temple
Love a higher law
Love is a temple
Love the higher law
You ask me to enter
But then you make me crawl
And I can't be holding on
To what you got
When all you got is hurt

One love
One blood
One life
You got to do what you should
One life
With each other
Sisters
Brothers
One life
But we're not the same
We get to
Carry each other
Carry each other
One
One
 
I gave up my claim to that address about six or seven months ago. It looks like some other deadhead has taken it over since then.
Click to expand...
Interesting coincidence!
As to who is a Deadhead, the debate continues to roll on--although reasoned consensus tends toward a "hey, if you like the music, you can consider yourself a Deadhead" sort of position. Anyhow, I should think of a lyric to post--ok, another Dead song:

Blues For Allah



Lyrics: Robert Hunter
Music: Jerry Garcia
Arabian wind, the needle's eye is thin
The ships of state sail on mirage and drown in sand
Out in no man's land, where Allah does command
What good is spilling blood? It will not grow a thing
"Taste eternity", the swords sing
Blues for Allah, Insh'Allah
They lie where they fall, there's nothing more to say
The desert stars are bright tonight, let's meet as friends

The flower of Islam, the fruit of Abraham
The thousand stories have come round to one again
Arabian night, our gods pursue their flight
What fatal flowers of darkness bloom from seeds of light
Bird of Paradise fly in the white sky

Blues for Allah, Insh'Allah
Let's see with our heart these things our eyes have seen
And know the truth must still lie somewhere in between

Under eternity
Under eternity
Under eternity
Under eternity
Under eternity
Under eternity

Bird of Paradise fly in white sky
Blues for Allah, Insh'Allah
​
 
The Rain Song

The Rain Song


This is the springtime of my loving-
the second season I am to know

You are the sunlight in my growing-
so little warmth I've felt before.

It isn't hard to feel me glowing-
I watched the fire that grew so low.

It is the summer of my smiles-
flee from me Keepers of the Gloom.

Speak to me only with your eyes
it is to you I give this tune.

Ain't so hard to recognize-
These things are clear to all from
time to time. Ooooh...

(Chorus)
I've felt the coldness of my winter
I never thought it would ever go
I cursed the gloom that set upon us...
But I know that I love you so
but I know that I love you so.


These are the seasons of emotion
And like the winds they rise and fall

This is the wonder of devotion-
I see the torch we all must hold.

This is the mystery of the quotient-
Upon us all a little rain

must fall, Just a little rain?
ooooh, yeah yeah yeah!
 
Re: The Rain Song

Artist: Skunk Anansie
Song: Twisted
Album: Stoosh
[" Stoosh " CD]

I cried on my blood day
there was nothing that I
could hold on to
just a line could have helped
remind me of you, of you

I screamed till the blood came
I was living in a cloud of hope
lover's kiss then they make a wish
to the end, they pretend

everyday hurts a little more
everyday hurts a little more
and I'll do anything
yes I'll do anything
to belong
to be strong
to say there's nothing wrong
everyday hurts a little more
everyday hurts a little more
and I'll do anything
yes I'll do anything
to belong
to be strong
to say there's nothing wrong
everyday hurts

I cried in the sunlight
would I fake all the times I loved you
just to play in a game of twisted with you
with you
I need to believe you
sacrificed all the lies we made up
how we kissed then we made our wish
to the end, to the end

repeat chorus
time made me confide in you
so contrived were the words you sold me
now nothing can swallow
the feeling so shallow inside
 
Yesterday.com

From the song Yesterday.com by Sum 41
can't step in my way
head first in your love & dismay
its like beating the day
it can't stop going out of my head
whatever this could be i'd never know,
i never said it'd be the end of our torpedo

i hate you today,
i can't find a way,
don't drag me down now,

[Chorus]
goodbye, i've had enough frustration
i won't kiss up, goodbye,
this dead end situation,
it's just not worth my time
[End Chorus]

it's all better today,
i never thought it would end up this way,
you got somethin' to say?
don't wanna hear it if it gets in my way
(halt)this confusion, wondering, so overwhelmed,
(halt) this illusion seems so clear,
(cant) find conclusion dissapointing evolution
not (all) things are what they appear

so whats the point of this hell?
i know you too well we're running backwards,

[Chorus]
while waiting so frustrating,
im so sick of,
all this tension not to mention,
im so sick of,
can't take it,
you won't make it,
just save yourself the struggle,
can't do this,
try for yourself 'cuz im just fine!
[Guitar Solo]

you speak for all of us when,
you can be heard
i'll bet you've had a lesson to know one word
(so sick of, feel so sick of)
you speak for all of us when,
you can be heard
i'll bet you've had a lesson to know one word

[Chorus]
while waiting so frustrating,
im so sick of,
all this tension not to mention,
im so sick of, sick of you!
Click to expand...

And Garden Groove by Sublime

We took this trip to garden grove
It smelt like lou dog in the van
This ain't no reggae party $5 at the door
Get so real sometimes who wrote my rhymes
I got the microwave got the vcr I got the duece duece
in the trunk of my car
If you only knew that all the love that I found
It's hard to keep my soul on the ground
You're a fool don't you **** around with my dog
All I can see I steal as I fill up my garage
But my mind music from jamaica
All the love that I found, pull over there's a reason
why my soul is unsound
It's you it's that **** stuck under my shoe
It's that smell inside the van
It's my bed sheet covered with sand
Sitting through a shitty band
Getting hassled by the man
Waking up to an alarm
Sticking needles in your arm
Picking up trash on the freeway
Feeling depressed every day
Leaving without making a sound
Pickin up my dog at the pound
Livin in a tweeker pad
Getting yelled at by my dad
Saying I'm happy when I'm not
Finding roaches in the pot
All these things I do
They're waiting para tu.
Click to expand...

Those are 2 of my favorite lyrics
 
here's a good one:

Indian Sunset

Music by Elton John
Lyrics by Bernie Taupin

As I awoke this evening with the smell of wood smoke clinging
Like a gentle cobweb hanging upon a painted tepee
Oh I went to see my chieftain with my warlance and my woman
For he told us that the yellow moon would very soon be leaving
This I can't believe I said, I can't believe our warlord's dead
Oh he would not leave the chosen ones to the buzzards and the soldiers guns

Oh great father of the Iroquois ever since I was young
I've read the writing of the smoke and breast fed on the sound of drums
I've learned to hurl the tomahawk and ride a painted pony wild
To run the gantlet of the Sioux, to make a chieftain's daughter mine

And now you ask that I should watch
The red man's race be slowly crushed
What kind of words are these to hear
From Yellow Dog whom white man fears

I take only what is mine Lord, my pony, my squaw, and my child
I can't stay to see you die along with my tribe's pride
I go to search for the yellow moon and the fathers of our sons
Where the red sun sinks in the hills of gold and the healing waters run

Trampling down the prairie rose leaving hoof tracks in the sand
Those who wish to follow me I welcome with my hands
I heard from passing renegades Geronimo was dead
He'd been laying down his weapons when they filled him full of lead

Now there seems no reason why I should carry on
In this land that once was my land I can't find a home
It's lonely and it's quiet and the horse soldiers are coming
And I think it's time I strung my bow and ceased my senseless running
For soon I'll find the yellow moon along with my loved ones
Where the buffalos graze in clover fields without the sound of guns

And the red sun sinks at last into the hills of gold
And peace to this young warrior comes with a bullet hole
 
Billy Joel, The River of Dreams

In the middle of the night
I go walking in my sleep
From the mountains of faith
To the river so deep
I must be lookin' for something
Something sacred I lost
But the river is wide
And it's too hard to cross
even though I know the river is wide
I walk down every evening and stand on the shore
I try to cross to the opposite side
So I can finally find what I've been looking for

In the middle of the night
I go walking in my sleep
Through the valley of fear
To a river so deep
I been searching for something
Taken out of my soul
Something I'd never lose
Something somebody stole

I don't know why I go walking at night
But now I'm tired and I don't want to walk anymore
I hope it doesn't take the rest of my life
Until I find what it is I've been looking for
(Two beat Pause)

In the middle of the night
I go walking in my sleep
Through the jungle of doubt
To the river so deep
I know I'm searching for something
Something so undefined
That it can only be seen
By the eyes of the blind
In the middle of the night (break)

’M’not sure about a life after this
God knows I've never been a spiritual man
Baptized by the fire, I wade into the river
That is runnin' to the promised land (Long Four beat Pause)

In the middle of the night
I go walking in my sleep
Through the desert of the truth
To the river so deep
We all end in the ocean
We all start in the streams
We're all carried along
By the river of dreams
In the middle of the night
Click to expand...

lunamoth
 
Not my favourite lyrics, but it's stuck in my bloody head. I think it's something to do with the groups of Israeli Jewish vandals who terrorise Palestinian communities.

The Brews - NOFX

Friday night we’ll be drinkin’ manashevitz
Goin’ out to terrorize goyem
Stompin’ shagitz, screwin’ shicksas
As long as we’re home by saturday mornin’

Cause hey we’re the brews
Sportin’ anti swastika tattoos
Oi oi we’re the boys
Orthodox, hesidic, o.g. ois

Orthopedic dr. martins good for
Waffle making, kickin’ through the shin
Reputation, gained through intimidation
Pacifism no longer tradition

Cause hey we’re the brews
Sportin’ anti swastika tattoos
Oi oi we’re the brews
The fairfax ghetto boys skinheaded jews

We got the might, psycho mashuganas
We can’t lose a fight, as we are the chosen ones
Chutspah, we battle then we feast
We celebrate, we’ll separate our milkplates from our meat
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top