It’s Friday night. After a trying week I cracked a relatively nice bottle of wine and I’m listening to a couple of my favorite artists, Frank Turner and Springsteen. Maybe it’s the mood, maybe it’s the wine, but I find myself relishing and losing myself in their lyrics.
So my question is: Who are some of your favorite lyricists - the ones that can touch you? And, what’s one or two of favorite lines or turn of phrase?
I’ll start with one that immediately comes to mind (I’m sure I’ll add more later):
U2 - Bono - “One” on Achtung Baby
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, then we do it again
Wow, those are some deep lyric’s. I got lost at “To the lepers in your head?” Think I need to listen to that like now
So my favorite lyrics are from anything Blackstar or Sublime (self titled).
*edit: Wow man, just got to those lyrics. I’ve actually heard this song but never listened to it. I think it’s beautiful if you end up in the situation where this song takes on deep meaning.
“Cast No Shadow” by Oasis, written by Noel Gallagher
Here’s a thought for every man
Who tries to understand what is in his hands (what’s in his hands)
He walks along the open road of love and life
Surviving if he can (surviving if he can)
Bound with all the weight of all the words he tried to say
Chained to all the places that he never wished to stay
Bound with all the weight of all the words he tried to say
As he faced the sun he cast no shadow
Josh Homme of Queens Of The Stone Age and in this case Them Crooked Vultures
from No One Loves Me & Neither Do I:
Then she said
“No one loves me. Neither do I.”
You get what you give
I give good bye
If I should vanish
Don’t get caught off guard
Don’t hold it against me
Unless it gets hard
That’s right
Well, if sex is a weapon
Then smash, boom, pow
How you like me now?
You can’t always do it right
You can always do what’s left
So I told her I was trash
She winked and laughed and said
“I already know
I’ve got a beautiful place
To put your face,”
And she was right
But I’ve always felt my favorite were Peter Gabriel’s dream-like lyrics from Genesis’ Broadway Melody Of 1974:
Echoes of the Broadway Everglades
With our mythical Madonnas
Still walking in their shades
Lenny Bruce declares a truce
And plays his other hand
Marshall McLuhan, casual viewing
Head buried in the sand
Sirens on the rooftops wailing
But there’s no ship sailing
Groucho, with his movies trailing
Stands alone with his punchline failing
Ku Klux Klan serve hot soul food
And the band plays “In the Mood”
The cheerleader waves her cyanide wand
There’s a smell of peach blossom and bitter almond
Caryl Chessman sniffs the air and leads the parade
He knows, in a scent, you can bottle all you made
There’s Howard Hughes
In blue suede shoes
Smiling at the majorettes
Smoking Winston Cigarettes
And as the song and dance begins
The children play at home
With needles, needles and pins
