John Prine:

We had an apartment in the city
Me and Loretta liked living there
Well, it'd been years since the kids had grown
A life of their own left us alone
John and Linda live in Omaha
And Joe is somewhere on the road
We lost Davy in the Korean war
And I still don't know what for, don't matter anymore

Ya' know that old trees just grow stronger
And old rivers grow wilder ev'ry day
Old people just grow lonesome
Waiting for someone to say, "Hello in there, hello"

Me and Loretta, we don't talk much more
She sits and stares through the back door screen
And all the news just repeats itself
Like some forgotten dream that we've both seen

Someday I'll go and call up Rudy
We worked together at the factory
But what could I say if asks "What's new?"
"Nothing, what's with you? Nothing much to do"

So if you're walking down the street sometime
And spot some hollow ancient eyes
Please don't just pass 'em by and stare
As if you didn't care, say, "Hello in there, hello"

R.I.P. to Mr. Robert Hunter...........

A famously liberal Canadian activist singer, Bruce Cockburn, who wrote protest songs on many secular subjects, might well have written my all-time favorite "Christmas" song. It's called "Cry of a Tiny Babe", and I'll just supply an excerpt of the lyrics, along with a link to a youtube video of the song:

There are others who know about this miracle birth

The humblest of people catch a glimpse of their worth
For it isn't to the palace that the Christ child comes
But to shepherds and street people, hookers and bums
And the message is clear if you've got ears to hear
That forgiveness is given for your guilt and your fear
It's a Christmas gift you don't have to buy
There's a future shining in a baby's eyes

Merle and Clint...

..."Well tell 'em I won't be riding I'll be walking
'Cause I don't think a crazy man should drive
Anyway the car belongs to you now
Along with any part of me that's still alive
But there's really not much left you could hold on to
And if you did it wouldn't last here anyway
It would head to where the rest of me rolled on to
So even if I wanted to I couldn't stay"..

Hello, darkness, my old friend..../

Agree on the Bruce Cockburn song.

Some of my favorites excerpts from Leonard Cohen are his religious allusions and are not from Hallelujah or Who By Fire.

And Jesus was a sailor when he walked upon the water
And he spent a long time watching from his lonely wooden tower
And when he knew for certain only drowning men could see him
He said all men will be sailors then until the sea shall free them
But he himself was broken, long before the sky would open
Forsaken, almost human, he sank beneath your wisdom like a stone



Some women wait for Jesus, and some women wait for Cain
So I hang upon my altar
And I hoist my axe again.
And I take the one who finds me back to where it all began
When Jesus was the honeymoon
And Cain was just the man.
And we read from pleasant Bibles that are bound in blood and skin
That the wilderness is gathering
All its children back again.

When I look south and see the storm clouds roll
On their way to old Mexico
I don't want to be alone
The rays of light through my Shiner Bock bottle
Make me wanna turn the key and put down the throttle
And get lost down 35

- Jason Boland and The Stragglers

Can't talk about great lyrics without mentioning Dylan.

Positively 4th Street:
" You've got a lotta nerve to say you are my friend
When I was down you just stood there grinnin'
You've got a lotta nerve to say you got a helping hand to lend
You just want to be on the side that's winnin' "

When they turn the pages of history
When these days have passed long ago
Will they read of us with sadness
For the seeds that we let grow?
We turned our gaze
From the castles in the distance
Eyes cast down
On the path of least resistance

Cities full of hatred, fear and lies
Withered hearts and cruel, tormented eyes
Scheming demons dressed in kingly guise
Beating down the multitude and
Scoffing at the wise

The hypocrites are slandering
The sacred Halls of Truth
Ancient nobles showering
Their bitterness on youth
Can't we find the minds that made us strong?
Can't we learn to feel what's right
And what's wrong?
What's wrong?

Cities full of hatred, fear and lies
Withered hearts and cruel, tormented eyes
Scheming demons dressed in kingly guise
Beating down the multitude and
Scoffing at the wise
Can't we raise our eyes and make a start?
Can't we find the minds to lead us
Closer to the heart?

Too many to list.

I think Cody Canada is one of the best song writers and musicians of my generation. It is difficult to find a meh song on any cross Canadian ragweed album.

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

-- Time by Pink Floyd

I traded rattlers and scorpions for roaches
And wide open spaces for this job that pays good
Now as as I sit here in traffic in stressville
I wonder if I'm being paid what I should

C-O-double M-O-N
A wave, an awesome wave,
That rushes skin and widens in blooded veins.
Breathe in, exhale,
I've poked a nerve he'll slap me like a whale
Slaps the C-O-double M-O-N.
Tide out, tide in,
A flood of blood to the heart and the fear slipstreams.
Breathe in, exhale,
I've poked a nerve he'll slap me like a whale
Slaps the C-O-double M-O-N.
Flood of blood to the heart.
Flood flood flood of blood blood blood to the heart heart heart, to the heart, heart, heart.

Bloodflood - alt-j

LA County tells you a beautiful story of a man killing his EX and her husband right after they said "I do"

Quote:

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She left Dallas for California
With an old friend by her side
Well he did not say much
But one year later
He'd ask her to be his wife

And the lights of L.A. County
Look like diamonds in the sky
When you're driving through the hours
With an old friend at your side

One year later I left Houston
With an old friend by my side
Well it did not say much
But it was a beauty
Of a coal black .45

And the lights of L.A. County
Look like diamonds in the sky
When you're driving through the hours
With an old friend at your side

So I drove on all the day long
And I drove on through the night
And I thought of her a'waiting
For to be his blushing bride

And the lights of L.A. County
They looked like diamonds in the sky
As I drove into the valley
With my old friend at my side

And as she stood there at the altar
All dressed in her gown of white
Her face was bright as stars a'shining
Like I'd dreamed of all my life

And they kissed each other
And they turned around
And they saw me standing in the aisle
Well I did not say much
I just stood there watching
As that .45 told them goodbye

And the lights of L.A. County
Look like diamonds in the sky
When you're kneeling at the altar
With an old friend at your side

And the lights of L.A. County
Are a mighty pretty sight
When you're kneeling at the altar
With an old friend at your side

---

Johnny Cash - Man in Black

Well, you wonder why I always dress in black,
Why you never see bright colors on my back,
And why does my appearance seem to have a somber tone.
Well, there's a reason for the things that I have on.

I wear the black for the poor and the beaten down,
Livin' in the hopeless, hungry side of town,
I wear it for the prisoner who has long paid for his crime,
But is there because he's a victim of the times.

I wear the black for those who never read,
Or listened to the words that Jesus said,
About the road to happiness through love and charity,
Why, you'd think He's talking straight to you and me.

Well, we're doin' mighty fine, I do suppose,
In our streak of lightnin' cars and fancy clothes,
But just so we're reminded of the ones who are held back,
Up front there ought 'a be a Man In Black.

I wear it for the sick and lonely old,
For the reckless ones whose bad trip left them cold,
I wear the black in mournin' for the lives that could have been,
Each week we lose a hundred fine young men.

And, I wear it for the thousands who have died,
Believen' that the Lord was on their side,
I wear it for another hundred thousand who have died,
Believen' that we all were on their side.

Well, there's things that never will be right I know,
And things need changin' everywhere you go,
But 'til we start to make a move to make a few things right,
You'll never see me wear a suit of white.

Ah, I'd love to wear a rainbow every day,
And tell the world that everything's OK,
But I'll try to carry off a little darkness on my back,
'Till things are brighter, I'm the Man In Black

91_Aggie said:

---

LA County tells you a beautiful story of a man killing his EX and her husband right after they said "I do"

Quote:

---

She left Dallas for California
With an old friend by her side
Well he did not say much
But one year later
He'd ask her to be his wife

And the lights of L.A. County
Look like diamonds in the sky
When you're driving through the hours
With an old friend at your side

One year later I left Houston
With an old friend by my side
Well it did not say much
But it was a beauty
Of a coal black .45

And the lights of L.A. County
Look like diamonds in the sky
When you're driving through the hours
With an old friend at your side

So I drove on all the day long
And I drove on through the night
And I thought of her a'waiting
For to be his blushing bride

And the lights of L.A. County
They looked like diamonds in the sky
As I drove into the valley
With my old friend at my side

And as she stood there at the altar
All dressed in her gown of white
Her face was bright as stars a'shining
Like I'd dreamed of all my life

And they kissed each other
And they turned around
And they saw me standing in the aisle
Well I did not say much
I just stood there watching
As that .45 told them goodbye

And the lights of L.A. County
Look like diamonds in the sky
When you're kneeling at the altar
With an old friend at your side

And the lights of L.A. County
Are a mighty pretty sight
When you're kneeling at the altar
With an old friend at your side

---

---

I think this is some of Lyle's best story telling

" Like a beetle on its back,
I've got to get back on track"

"Pissin' in my yard ain't gonna make yours any greener"

The thing that makes me saddest about Evan Felker's spiral into addiction is that he is a brilliant lyricist.

From Come as You Are:
Riding the heels of a seven day stone
Laughin' together and drinking alone
Stitch it up quick now, it's come all unsewn
My right arm around you, you're already gone
Well you come as you are and you leave with a smile
You got a way, honey, you got a style
That you play
So I wake in the mornin' and start out my day
To the sound of you walkin' away
To the sound of you walkin' away
Well how did I get to the shape that I'm in
A younger man's thoughts, some tonic, some gin
And now I'm fumblin' around for it, darlin' don't go
The click of the heel to the tap of the to

From The Mercury:

Lorrie laughs like she just don't care
Got a red bandana and raven hair
Sitting in the corner at The Mercury
Cowboy killers in a plain white tee

And back before the glasses and the sleeve tattoos
She's just another small town kid
Sure she's gotta couple problems now
But she doesn't try to keep 'em hid

Her kind of loving is a little like a fist fight
Alright, alright
The kind of thing you never see before midnight
Girl, I know you're gonna wreck this town
Won't tell me where to be when the walls start falling

From Every Girl:
She's a sober Sunday kitchen conversation with my dad
Aw she's every friend I've ever had
Well we never failed to cut a trail whenever times were bad
Oh she's every friend I've ever had
She's a flighty good time buddy in the corner of the bar
But she'd fight the Devil for ya just for being who you are
And she's the last to cast a stone though she'd love to leave you mad
Aw she's every friend I've ever had

"Well I woke up this morning and I got myself a beer" - "Roadhouse Blues", The Doors

"Got to scrape that s*** right off your shoe" - "Sweet Virginia", The Rolling Stones

"Cause if my baby don't love me no more, I know her sister will" - "Red House", Jimi Hendrix

And finally, some of the most devastating lyrics ever put down:
"Goodbye is too good a word, babe
So I just say fare thee well
I ain't sayin' you treated me unkind
You could have done better but I don't mind
You just kinda wasted my precious time
But don't think twice, it's all right" - "Don't Think Twice, It's Alright" - Bob Dylan

Flatter than a table top
Makes you wonder why they stopped here
Wagon must've lost a wheel,
Or they lacked ambition, one.

Dreaming was as easy as believing it was never going to end.

Baby's Got a Whole Lot More - Reckless Kelly
Half my life has passed me by
And I never stopped to wonder why
I always felt I had to roam
And I never felt like I had a home
Yea but failure's got what victory's got
Repetition's what history's taught
So I guess we all know what's in store

Live Oak - Jason Isbell
There's a man who walks beside me he is who I used to be
And I wonder if she sees him and confuses him with me
And I wonder who she's pinin' for on nights I'm not around
Could it be the man who did the things I'm living down?

If We Were Vampires Jason Isbell
If we were vampires and death was a joke
We'd go out on the sidewalk and smoke
And laugh at all the lovers and their plans
I wouldn't feel the need to hold your hand
Maybe time running out is a gift
I'll work hard 'til the end of my shift
And give you every second I can find
And hope it isn't me who's left behind

It's knowing that this can't go on forever
Likely one of us will have to spend some days alone
Maybe we'll get forty years together
But one day I'll be gone
Or one day you'll be gone

One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer - George Thorogood and The Destroyers
One bourbon, one scotch, one beer
Well I ain't seen my baby since I don't know when
I've been drinking bourbon, whiskey, scotch and gin
Gonna get high man I'm gonna get loose
Need me a triple shot of that juice
Gonna get drunk don't you have no fear
I want one bourbon, one scotch and one beer
One bourbon, one scotch, one beer

Love Reckless Kelly, I've listened to Under The Table and Above The Sun probably 5000 times.

Quote:

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One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer - George Thorogood and The Destroyers
One bourbon, one scotch, one beer
Well I ain't seen my baby since I don't know when
I've been drinking bourbon, whiskey, scotch and gin
Gonna get high man I'm gonna get loose
Need me a triple shot of that juice
Gonna get drunk don't you have no fear
I want one bourbon, one scotch and one beer
One bourbon, one scotch, one beer

---

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_Bourbon,_One_Scotch,_One_Beer

George was not the lyricist.

Some stupid with a flare gun burned the place to the ground

This is going to be an ode to the Avett Brothers, but I don't care.

Quote:

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And if you take of my soul
You can still leave it whole
With the pieces of your own you leave behind

---

Quote:

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I'm a little nervous 'bout what you'll think
When you see me in my swimming trunks

---

Quote:

---

Just do your best.
It's the only way to keep that last bit of sanity.
Maybe I don't have to be good but I can try to be
At least a little better than I've been so far.

---

Quote:

---

Hate stumbles forward and leans in the door.
Weary head hung down, eyes to the floor.
He says "Love, I'm sorry", and she says, "What for?"
"I'm yours and that's it, whatever.
I should not have been gone for so long.
I'm yours and that's it, forever."

---

Quote:

---

Always remember there was nothing worth sharing
Like the love that let us share our name.

---

Quote:

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I wanna have pride like my mother has,
And not like the kind in the bible that turns you bad.

---

Quote:

---

Keep your clothes on,
I got all that I can take.
Teach me how to use
The love that people say you make.

---

Quote:

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Wouldn't it be fine to stand behind
The words we say in the best of times?
Oh, and you and I know all too well
About the hell and paradise right here on earth.

---

Quote:

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When I'm in my sweet daughter's eyes,
My heart is now ruined for the rest of all times.

---

And then the entireity of this song

Quote:

---

When my body won't hold me anymore
And it finally lets me free,
Will I be ready?
When my feet won't walk another mile
And my lips give their last kiss goodbye,
Will my hands be steady?

When I lay down my fears,
My hopes and my doubts,
The rings on my fingers,
And the keys to my house,
With no hard feelings.

When the sun hangs low in the west,
And the light in my chest
Won't be kept held at bay any longer.
When the jealousy fades away,
And it's ash and dust for cash and lust,
And it's just hallelujah!
And love in thoughts, and love in the words,
Love in the songs they sing in the church,
And no hard feelings.

Lord knows they haven't done
Much good for anyone.
Kept me afraid and cold
With so much to have and hold.

When my body won't hold me anymore,
And it finally lets me free,
Where will I go?
Will the trade winds take me south
Through Georgia grain or tropical rain,
Or snow from the heavens?

Will I join with the ocean blue
Or run into the savior true
And shake hands laughing
And walk through the night
Straight to the light
Holding the love I've known in my life
And no hard feelings.

Lord knows they haven't done
Much good for anyone.
Kept me afraid and cold
With so much to have and hold.
Under the curving sky,
I'm finally learning why
It matters for me and you
To say it and mean it too,
For life and its loveliness,
And all of its ugliness,
Good as its been to me,
I have no enemies.

---

Here's a personal favorite from Son Volt

Quote:

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Catching an all-night station
Somewhere in Louisiana
It sounds like 1963
But for now it sounds like heaven

---

Todd Snider is a fantastic lyricist.

Anybody who writes a song about a pitcher who pitches a no hitter while high on acid... come on.




Dock Ellis didn't think he was pitching that day
Back in 1970
When he and his wife took a trip to the ballpark
A little bit differently
So by the time that he hit the bullpen
Half the world had melted away
That's about the time coach Murtaugh came and said
Dock you're pitching today
Taking the mound the ground turned into
The icing on a birthday cake
The lead off man came up and turned into
A dancing rattle snake
The crowd tracked back and forth
In waves of color underneath the sun
That ball turned into a silver bullet
His arm into a gun
I took a look all around the world one time
I finally discovered
You can't judge a book
Three up, three down for three straight innings
In a zero, zero tie
As all those batters names come ringing
From a voice out of the sky
Hallucinating Halloween scenes
Each new swing of the bat
His sinker looked like it was falling off a table
But nobody was hallucinating that
I took a look all around the world one time
I finally discovered
You can't judge a book
By the top of the seventh he was up one to nothing
And giving them padres fits
By the bottom of the eighth he was up two to nothing
And they still hadn't got any hits
With one out left to go in the game
The batter looked like a baby child
That birthday cake was shaking
Them waves of color was going wild
By the time that he mowed the last man down
He was high as he had ever been
Laughing to the sounds of the world going around
Completely unaware of the win
And while the papers would say he was scattered that day
He was pretty as a pitcher could be
The day Dock Ellis of the Pittsburgh Pirates
Threw a no hitter on LSD

citizenkane06 said:

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And finally, some of the most devastating lyrics ever put down:
"Goodbye is too good a word, babe
So I just say fare thee well
I ain't sayin' you treated me unkind
You could have done better but I don't mind
You just kinda wasted my precious time
But don't think twice, it's all right" - "Don't Think Twice, It's Alright" - Bob Dylan

---

I think those are maybe Dylan's SECOND most devastating lyrics. The most would have to be Positively 4th Street (the whole song) that finishes with

Quote:

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I wish that for just one time you could stand inside my shoes
And just for that one moment I could be you.
Yes, I wish that for just one time you could stand inside my shoes
You'd know what a drag it is to see you.

---

saw a werewolf drinking a pina colada at Trader Vic's
His hair was PERFECT