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What are your favorite lyrics?

5,406 Views | 72 Replies | Last: 6 yr ago by spanky
JCA1
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AG
Watching the Country Music documentary on PBS got me to thinking about my favorite songs lyrically. I'll admit that I'm partial to "storyteller" type lyrics. Here's a few of mine -

Tonight We Ride - Tom Russell. Absolutely incredible song involving Pancho Villa, a *****house, and your bones bleaching on the desert. This song will make you want to rob a liquor store and then try and make it to Mexico.

Gallo Del Cielo - Another Tom Russell song, but I prefer to listen to the version by Joe Ely. Simply the best song about a cockfighting rooster that's ever been written or ever will be written. If you're a songwriter thinking of getting into the cockfighting rooster genre, don't even bother.

Shades of Gray - REK. A lot of people would go with The Road Goes On Forever, but I like this one better. But, much the TRGOF, it's a two hour movie in 3 minutes. You can't help but picture the story in your mind, almost reflexively. And REK's economy of words is ridiculous. It's crazy how much he can convey in so few words.

Hurricane - Bob Dylan. Another awesome storytelling song. I've never been a huge Dylan fan, but this song always struck a cord with me.

I'm sure I could come up with more, but I'll stop there now and let others have a turn. What say the rest of you?
chipotle
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Pvssy got bank in her pockets
Before she got dick in her drawers
If brother didn't have good and plenty of his own
In love Pvssy never did fall
Tanya 93
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Closer to Fine--Indigo Girls

And I went to see the doctor of philosophy
With a poster of Rasputin and a beard down to his knee
He never did marry or see a B-Grade movie
He graded my performance, he said he could see through me
I spent four years prostrate to the higher mind
Got my paper and I was free


Outfit--Jason Isbell

Don't call what your wearing an outfit, don't ever say your car is broke
Don't worry about losing your accent, a southern man tells better jokes
Have fun, stay clear of the needle, call home on your sister's birthday
Don't tell them you're bigger than Jesus, don't give it away

Gracie--Ben Folds

Life flies by in seconds
You're not a baby Gracie, you're my friend
You'll be a lady soon but until then
You gotta do what I say


And there will always be a part of me
Nobody else is ever gonna see but you and me
My little girl
My Gracie girl
CE Lounge Lizzard
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AG
Bob Wills - Faded Love
"and with every heartbeat I still think of you
and remember our Faded Love"

Willie & Waylon - Mamas Don't let your Babies Grow up to be Cowboys
"Cowboys like smokey old pool rooms and clear mountain mornings
little warm puppies and children and girls of the night"

Kristoferson - Me and Bobby McGee
"Then somewhere near Salinas, Lord, I let her slip away
looking for the home I hope she'll find
I'd trade all of my tomorrows for a single yesterday
holding Bobby's body next to mine"
gggmann
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AG
Take a straight and stronger course
To the corner of your life
Make the white queen run so fast
She hasn't got time to make you a wife

'Cause it's time, it's time in time with your time
And its news is captured
For the queen to use!

Move me on to any black square
Use me anytime you want
Just remember that the goal
Is for us all to capture only one (Move me on to any black square)

Don't surround yourself with yourself
Move on back two squares
Send an instant karma to me
Initial it with loving care (Don't surround yourself)

'Cause it's time, it's time in time with your time
And its news is captured
For the queen to use!
Know Your Enemy
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AG
"If I can't be my own, I'd feel better dead." - Alice In Chains "Nutshell"
Urban Ag
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AG
Don't worry about tomorrow
Take it today
Forget about the check
We'll get Hell to pay

Punked Shank
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AG
You're dead but the world keeps spinning
Take a spin through the world you left
It's getting dark a little too early
Are you missing the dearly bereft?

-The Eels..song is Last Stop: This Town
CoolaidWade
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AG
"You are the most, you're so rad, you're so fresh

And I'm so glad" Jamie-Weezer



"I may be a bird in a cage. But at least it's your cage" Bird in a Cage-Old 97's
IIIHorn
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Get your tongue out of my mouth 'cause I'm kissing you goodbye.
mazag08
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AG
When I come back from a mighty quest
I have no need for sleep or rest
I head to a tavern for a drink
And get so drunk I cannot think
A wench by my side and a jug of mead
These are the things that I most need
So I sit back and sing this song
And drink and party all night long

Hey! Hey!
I want more wenches
Hey! Hey!
More wenches and mead
Hey! Hey!
I want more wenches
Lots of wenches is what I need

When I come back from a mighty quest
I have no need for sleep or rest
I head to a tavern for a drink
And get so drunk I cannot think
A wench by my side and a jug of mead
These are the things that I most need
So I sit back and sing this song
And drink and party all night long

Hey! Hey!
I want more wenches
Hey! Hey!
More wenches and mead
Hey! Hey!
I want more wenches
Lots of wenches is what I need
watty
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AG
John Mayer and Ben Folds are two of my favorite lyricists of my life. There's a Christian artist named Andrew Peterson who writes wonderful storytelling lyrics as well.

As for something current, I really love the wordplay in the song "Playboys" by Midland. I think it's just so clever, the different uses of "playboy" and "play, boys." Here's the first verse and chorus:


Quote:

She said, "I guess there ain't no right way
For you to say goodbye again
You been looking at the highway
Where your heart has always been
I could cuss you from here to Tuscon
But there ain't nothing left to say, boy"
She said, "I thought that I could change you
No, but you were born a playboy"

So get on the stage and play boys
Let's kick out the lights tonight, get high, and make noise
We might drink a little too much whiskey
We might have a little too much fun
She's already gone away, boys
If we don't go home, what difference does it make, boys?
This whole world would be a dull place, boys
If it was all work and no play, boys
Head Ninja In Charge
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AG
"Chill out, what ya yelling for?" is my favorite opening line to a song ever.
Flashdiaz
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AG
Story type songs:

Pancho and Lefty - Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard

My Mind is Playing Tricks on Me - Ghetto Boys
Texaggie7nine
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My Neck, My Back...
7nine
Scotty Appleton
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A change of speed, a change of style
A change of scene, with no regrets
A chance to watch, admire the distance
Still occupied, though you forget
Different colours, different shades
Over each mistakes were made
I took the blame
Directionless so plain to see
A loaded gun won't set you free
So you say

We'll share a drink and step outside
An angry voice and one who cried
We'll give you everything and more
The strain's too much, can't take much more
Oh, I've walked on water, run through fire
Can't seem to feel it anymore

It was me, waiting for me
Hoping for something more
Me, seeing me this time
Hoping for something else
Apache
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AG
As I head into the backside of my 40's time truly feels like it is speeding up. These lyrics that I've always loved hit closer to home than ever.... a reminder to not waste time or put things off.

Ticking away the moments
That make up a dull day
Fritter and waste the hours
In an off-hand way

Kicking around on a piece of ground
In your home town
Waiting for someone or something
To show you the way

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 the one day you find
Ten years have got behind you
No one told you when to run
You missed the starting gun

And you run and you run
To catch up with the sun
But it's sinking

Racing around
To come up behind you again

The sun is the same
In a relative way
But you're older

Shorter of breath
And one day closer to death

Every year is getting shorter
Never seem to find the time

Plans that either come to naught
Or half a page of scribbled lines

Hanging on in quiet desperation
Is the English way

The time is gone
The song is over
Thought I'd something more to say

Home
Home again
I like to be here
When I can

When I come home
Cold and tired
It's good to warm my bones
Beside the fire

Far away
Across the field
Tolling on the iron bell
Calls the faithful to their knees
To hear the softly spoken magic spell...
Bruce Almighty
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AG
Then one day you find, ten years have got behind you. No one told you when to run, you missed the starting gun.
KidDoc
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AG
Rush & Iron Maiden for me. Off the top of my head:

Rush-Anthem
Know your place in life is where you want to be
Don't let them tell you that you owe it all to me
Keep on looking forward, no use in looking 'round
Hold your head above the ground and they won't bring you down

Anthem of the heart and anthem of the mind
A funeral dirge for eyes gone blind
We marvel after those who sought
New wonders in the world, wonders in the world,
Wonders in the world they wrought

Live for yourself, there's no one else
More worth living for
Begging hands and bleeding hearts will only cry out for more

Anthem of the heart and anthem of the mind
A funeral dirge for eyes gone blind
We marvel after those who sought
New wonders in the world, wonders in the world,
Wonders in the world they wrought

Though I know they've always Told you selfishness is wrong
Yet it was for me not you
I came to write this song

Anthem of the heart and anthem of the mind
A funeral dirge for eyes gone blind
We marvel after those who sought
New wonders in the world, wonders in the world,
Wonders in the world they wrought

Iron Maiden- Wasted Years
From the coast of gold, across the seven seas
I'm traveling on, far and wide
But now it seems, I'm just a stranger to myself
And all the things I sometimes do, it isn't me but someone else

I close my eyes, and think of home
Another city goes by, in the night
Ain't it funny how it is, you never miss it til it's gone away
And my heart is lying there and will be til my dying day

So understand
Don't waste your time always searching for those wasted years
Face up, make your stand
And realize you're living in the golden years

Too much time on my hands, I got you on my mind
Can't ease this pain, so easily
When you can't find the words to say, it's hard to make it through another day
And it makes me want to cry, and throw my hands up to the sky

So understand
Don't waste your time always searching for those wasted years
Face up, make your stand
And realize you're living in the golden years
No material on this site is intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. See full Medical Disclaimer.
JABQ04
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AG
I love "Tonight we Ride"



So all can enjoy
Shelton98
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AG
This old porch is just a long time waiting and forgetting
remembering the coming back, not crying about the leaving
and remembering the falling down and the laughter, and the curse of luck
from all those sons of beeches, who said we'd never get back up
TX AG 88
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AG
"Icy Blue Heart" - John Hiatt

Quote:

She came onto him like a slow movin' cold front
His beer was warmer than the look in her eyes
She sat on a stool, he said, "What do you want?"
She said, "Give me a love that don't freeze up inside."

He said, "I have melted some hearts in my time dear
But to sit next to you, Lord, I shiver and shake
And if I knew love, well, I don't think I'd be here
Askin' myself if I've got what it takes."

[Chorus:]
To melt your icy blue heart
Should I start?
To turn what's been frozen for years
Into a river of tears

"These days we all play cool, calm and collected
Why, our lips could turn blue just shooting the breeze"
But under the frost, well, he thought he detected
A warm blush of red and a touch of her knee

He said, "Girl, you're a beauty like I've never witnessed
And I've seen the Northern Lights dance in the air
But I've felt the cold that can follow the first kiss
And there's not enough heat in the fires burning there."

[Chorus]
TX AG 88
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AG
"Paper Thin" - John Hiatt
Quote:


I was gonna get up off that bar stool
Just as soon as I could figure it out
Why I was overlooked at the car pool
Stood up at the dance with no twist and shout

When you're burnin' with your last desire
And every memory haunts you
You write it down in alcohol fire
'Cause that's the only flame that wants you

[Chorus:]
When you're paper thin
Yeah, read all about it
When you were out of luck, well, luck was doin' alright
Now you're paper thin
Yeah, they can see right through ya
You just cut your little finger on the edge of the night

Now do I really have to be responsible
For what I did between those tavern walls
I was just mixing up some chemicals
You could've heard a pin drop, could have heard time crawl

And every once in a while
You could hear you're own heart pound
Maybe some paper doll with a pasted on smile
Would let you write her number down

[Chorus]
TX AG 88
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AG
"Real Fine Love" - John Hiatt
Quote:


Well I never went to college, babe
I did not have the luck
Rolled out of Indiana in the back of a pickup truck
With no education higher
Than the street of my hometown
I went lookin' for a fire
Just to burn it all down

[Chorus:]
You've got a real fine love
You've got a real fine love
One I am unworthy of
You've got a real fine love, baby

I thought I had a line on something
Maybe no one else could say
And they couldn't find it in their hearts
To just get out of my way
Then out of nowhere, and from nothing
You came into my life
I'd seen an angel or two before
But I'd never asked one to be my wife

[Chorus]

Well you can sprinkle all your teardrops
Across the evening sky
But you cannot hide the twinkle
Of starlight in your eye
Well I left my map way back there, baby
I don't know where we are
But I'm gonna pull my pony up
And hitch my wagon to your star

[Chorus]

Well now the babies are all sleeping
And the twilight's givin' in
She looks like you, he looks like her
And we all look like Him
Well maybe it's just the little thing
The way I feel tonight
A little joy
A little peace
And a whole lot of love

[Chorus 2x]

You got it


If y'all can't tell, I think John Hiatt is one of the best songwriters in the business. His stuff has been covered by all KINDS of stars/superstars. Bonnie Raitt, Joe Cocker, David Crosby, BOB DYLAN, STEVE EARLE, JOAN BAEZ, Buddy Guy, Ronnie Milsap, WILLIE NELSON, hell, even Paula Abdul and Iggy Pop are on the list!

http://www.unicom.com/retired/john-hiatt/covers.html
JCA1
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AG
I'm a big fan of Crossing Muddy Waters by Hiatt.
Wabs
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AG
Beautiful lady, are you sure that you understand
The chances your taking loving a free living man
Are you really sure, you really want what you see
Be careful of something that's just what you want it to be

-Waylon
mrsbeer05
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AG
She hates my mama
She hates my daddy too
She loves to tell me
She hates the things I do
She loves to lie beside me
Almost every night
She's no lady she's my wife

~Lyle Lovett
Bunk Moreland
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I'll do some snippets I really like. This first one (Long Black Veil) was featured in the doc but it's one of the most haunting songs and I love many versions of it...

The judge said son, what is your alibi
If you were somewhere else, then you won't have to die
I spoke not a word, thou it meant my life
For I'd been in the arms of my best friend's wife

Dill/Wilkins
-------

So if you're going to the bayou
Man I'll tell you all I know
She's got skin so pale
She's six feet high
And she'll look right through you
With just one eye

Lyle - one of his funnier songs imo.
-------


In spite of ourselves we'll end up a-sittin' on a rainbow
Against all odds, honey we're the big door-prize
We're gonna spite our noses right off of our faces
There won't be nothin' but big ol' hearts dancin' in our eyes

Prine
--------

Everybody's wonderin' what and where they they all came from
Everybody's worryin' 'bout where they're gonna go
When the whole thing's done
But no one knows for certain
And so it's all the same to me
I think I'll just let the mystery be

DeMent
--------

Claude!
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Nobody here will ever find me
But I always be around
Just like the songs I leave behind me
I'm gonna live forever now
Elmo Lincoln
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AG
The bold verses are my favorites.

Razor Town by Jason Isbell

In a razor town you take whoever
You think you can keep around
There's an echoed sound
That permeates the sidewalk
Where she shuffles 'round

It's a big machine
It used to be the avenue of changing dreams
And she's a lonely thing, sweeping up the glitter
While she pulls the strings

Take a long last look
Before she turns to stone
And what the last man took
And what was long, long gone

The way it used to be
I wasn't there to see it working properly
And now it seems to me
That both of you are suffering

You know I've heard her say
That you're the only reason she's alive today
And I just turned away
Thinking maybe she was right

So, say your last goodbye
Make it short and sweet
There ain't no way for you to fly
With her hanging on your feet

Let her go out if she wants to
And if she don't, go out yourself
Don't take sorry for an answer
Unless you really want what's left

'Cause in a razor town
The only thing that matters
Tends to bring you down
And there's no way around
But maybe you can barrel through
'Cause a razor ain't no good for you
gigemags-99
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AG
Turnpike Troubadours - "Good Lord Lorrie" all of the lyrics. Perfect.

But, The ending is brutal and awesome:
"Well Lorrie said I wonder what we ever went through
All this trouble for
You ain't half of who I thought you was
And this ain't fun no more
And her words cut clean through drunk
And dark and dimmin' doorway light
Well I've had all I can handle
Hope you're happy now, goodnight
Guess her folks were right
Guess her folks were right

Well good lord Lorrie, I love you
Could it go more wrong
Well good lord Lorrie, I love you
Could it go more wrong"
AGinHI
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AG
Quote:

Mama take this badge from me
I can't use it anymore
It's getting dark too dark to see
Feels like I'm knockin' on heaven's door

Mama put my guns in the ground
I can't shoot them anymore
That cold black cloud is comin' down
Feels like I'm knockin' on heaven's door

Quote:

Please allow me to introduce myself
I'm a man of wealth and taste
I've been around for a long, long years
Stole many a man's soul and faith

And I was 'round when Jesus Christ
Had his moment of doubt and pain
Made damn sure that Pilate
Washed his hands and sealed his fate

Pleased to meet you
Hope you guess my name
But what's puzzling you
Is the nature of my game

I stuck around St. Petersburg
When I saw it was a time for a change
Killed the czar and his ministers
Anastasia screamed in vain

I rode a tank
Held a general's rank
When the blitzkrieg raged
And the bodies stank

Pleased to meet you
Hope you guess my name, oh yeah
Ah, what's puzzling you
Is the nature of my game, oh yeah

I watched with glee
While your kings and queens
Fought for ten decades
For the gods they made

I shouted out,
Who killed the Kennedys?
When after all
It was you and me

Let me please introduce myself
I'm a man of wealth and taste
And I laid traps for troubadours
Who get killed before they reached Bombay

Pleased to meet you
Hope you guessed my name, oh yeah
But what's puzzling you
Is the nature of my game, oh yeah, get down, baby
“We don't have a government of the people, by the people, for the people. We have government of the people, by the bureaucrats, for the bureaucrats.”

-Milton Friedman
wildcat08
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AG
A couple from Guy Clark:

It's time for a change
I'm tired of that same ol' same
The same ol' words the same ol' lines
The same ol' tricks and the same ol' rhymes

Days precious days
Roll in and out like waves
I got boards to bend I got planks to nail
I got charts to make I got seas to sail

I'm gonna build me a boat
With these two hands
It'll be a fair curve
From a noble plan
Let the chips fall where they will
'Cause I've got boats to build

Sails are just like wings
The wind can make 'em sing
Songs of life songs of hope
Songs to keep your dreams afloat

I'm gonna build me a boat
With these two hands
It'll be a fair curve
From a noble plan
Let the chips fall where they will
'Cause I've got boats to build

Shores distant shores
There's where I'm headed for
Got the stars to guide my way
Sail into the light of day

I'm gonna build me a boat
With these two hands
It'll be a fair curve
From a noble plan
Let the chips fall where they will
'Cause I've got boats to build

From "Picasso's Mandolin":

Like Picasso said in 1910
I'm gonna paint me a mandolin
Could be cubes, it could be curves
I like to mix the paint with nerve
I'm load my brush and fire away
Paint me a hole in the light of day

Edit: ...and I have no idea how that particular emoticon got there.
AgNav93
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AG
The ungrateful few who tangle inside
Don't care where they're born, they're growin' up wild
The rain makes me thirsty and fightin' to go
My mind turns determined, dark as a storm
CHORUS
So my love has, grown as sharp as, a bramble rose
Like a real good woman nobody knows
I get so ashamed for makin' you blue
I come back to this porch to make it all up to you
The rain's got me thirsty, falling wasteful and slow
I'm restless enough. I'm so scared to go

Tift Merritt--Bramble Rose
CDub06
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AG
Dead in the middle of Little Italy little did we know
That we riddled two middlemen who didn't do diddly
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