cliched lyrics

chris77

Next to the Afrikaans sokkie compilations, the biggest sin one can commit in music, imho, is cliched and unoriginal lyrics. Especially when singing about love. Listen to Leonard Cohen for something original - "my second skin, my next of kin, I'll find you in my sleep. And who but you will take me in, a thousand kisses deep" And the whole song is full of this, not just one or two stanzas. So what do you reckon are the best and worst lyrics ever commited. Examples please.

Bob-Dubery

chris77 wrote: So what do you reckon are the best and worst lyrics ever commited. Examples please.

"Midnight in her room
There was music and incense and mirrors all round
By the light of the moon
Her silver dress slipped to the ground
Then she knelt like St Joan
And invisible armies attended her there
And her knife brightly shone
As she cut off her long silken hair"

Those are fab lyrics. From the pen of Richard Thompson who I consider to be the best English-language songwriter of the last 20 years at least.

Cliched? Oh that's harder actually. Especially these days. There's so much been said in song that it gets hard to not repeat something that's been said before. Annoying lyrics to me are those that are clumsy and/or unconvincing and/or reeking of self-importance.

Bob-Dubery

Bob Dubery wrote:
Cliched? Oh that's harder actually. Especially these days. There's so much been said in song that it gets hard to not repeat something that's been said before. Annoying lyrics to me are those that are clumsy and/or unconvincing and/or reeking of self-importance.

Or just plain banal.

EG
"Woah, I'm going to Barbados
Woah, back to the palm trees
Woah, I'm going to see my girlfriend
Woah, in the sunny Carribean sea "

And now I might have to explain how I even came to know of such crap lyrics :-[ Something that bad should go in one ear and as quickly as possible out of the other.

JoEllis

You hear these a lot:

(whatever lyrics here) life
(whatever lyrics here) strife

and

(whatever lyrics here) change
(whatever lyrics here) rearrange

And then the great emo cliché: "Save me from myself"

Renesongs

The following cliches are a prerequisites for a blues song

1. You have to wake up in the morning
2. Your baby has left/is cheating/doesn't love you
3. You have no money
4. You and your dog are very sad
5. You continue to be superstitious even though chance has not treated you favorably
6. You forget how to speak and spell in English particularly words that end with "ing"
7. You have a killer squealing guitar solo you are dying to unleash

aubs1

Ok, so this is not really cliched, but rather original, 1st class crap, but still a "catchy" tune that irritates and sticks in your head, no matter how much you try to "let it out the other ear!!!! ?

"So when I see a ghost,
I have a slice of toast"

Or something like that!!! Geez, my wife likes the song......so I better tread lightly! ?

Bob-Dubery

Renesongs wrote: The following cliches are a prerequisites for a blues song

1. You have to wake up in the morning
2. Your baby has left/is cheating/doesn't love you
3. You have no money
4. You and your dog are very sad

Isn't that last one country and western?

Bob-Dubery

Renesongs wrote: The following cliches are a prerequisites for a blues song

1. You have to wake up in the morning
2. Your baby has left/is cheating/doesn't love you
3. You have no money
4. You and your dog are very sad
5. You continue to be superstitious even though chance has not treated you favorably
6. You forget how to speak and spell in English particularly words that end with "ing"
7. You have a killer squealing guitar solo you are dying to unleash

Allow me then to present a blues song that avoids all of the above....

Woke up this morning, didn't feel that bad
Last night was definitely not one of the worst I ever had
Ate a nice dinner, drank a few drinks
Didn't think about you baby no matter what you think
Went back to my hotel room, I went straight to bed
Didn't moan, didn't cry and I did not wish I was dead
I'm alright
I'm alright
Yeah I'm alright baby, I'm alright without you

I'm Alright by Loudon Wainwright III

[deleted]

Just listened to one of my favorite songs, Halelujah by Leonard Cohen. Damn he's good.

'Love is not a victory march
It's a cold and it's a broken Halelujah"

An interesting show where they come up with pretty original lyrics is Flight of the Concords. On one of the episodes one of the characters wants to write his girlfriend a love song. He does the usual "I'll climb the highest mountain, I'll swim the deepest ocean"
Luckily his friend helps him write a song about everything he would actualy do. It's very sweet. Not heroic, but more fun.

I would realy recommend this show.

MikeM

Bob Dubery wrote:
Renesongs wrote: 1. You have to wake up in the morning
Allow me then to present a blues song that avoids all of the above....

Woke up this morning, didn't feel that bad
Last night was definitely not one of the worst I ever had
Ate a nice dinner, drank a few drinks
Didn't think about you baby no matter what you think
Went back to my hotel room, I went straight to bed
Didn't moan, didn't cry and I did not wish I was dead
I'm alright
I'm alright
Yeah I'm alright baby, I'm alright without you

I'm Alright by Loudon Wainwright III

Still woke up in the morning ? See, it's impossible ?

Bob-Dubery

Viccy wrote: Just listened to one of my favorite songs, Halelujah by Leonard Cohen. Damn he's good.

'Love is not a victory march
It's a cold and it's a broken Halelujah"

Sometimes I think that song sounds like he was trying to win a bet as to how many rhymes he could find. It sounds like a collection of snapshots, of unrelated thoughts. But then there's no rule that says a song has to be about one thing.

My favorite lines from that song...
"Maybe there's a God above
All I ever learned from love
Was how to shoot at someone who outdrew ya"

Bob-Dubery

MikeM wrote: Still woke up in the morning ? See, it's impossible ?

Doh!

Renesongs

Yeah I'm alright baby, I'm alright without you

This fellow is in denial phase of the blues. No. 2. "Your baby has left/is cheating/doesn't love you" is also implied here

[deleted]

I actualy first heard Jeff Buckley sing it. He does a pretty good version. I think I actualy prefer him singing it.

Bob-Dubery

Renesongs wrote: The following cliches are a prerequisites for a blues song

1. You have to wake up in the morning
2. Your baby has left/is cheating/doesn't love you
3. You have no money
4. You and your dog are very sad
5. You continue to be superstitious even though chance has not treated you favorably
6. You forget how to speak and spell in English particularly words that end with "ing"
7. You have a killer squealing guitar solo you are dying to unleash

You left out 8. Your mojo is either not working or it isn't working on your baby.

DonovanB

Placebo wrote a whole song about the Devil in the details. The WHOLE thing.... There are a lot of songs that use everyday clichés as well.

Spyke

Bob Dubery wrote:
Viccy wrote: Just listened to one of my favorite songs, Halelujah by Leonard Cohen. Damn he's good.

'Love is not a victory march
It's a cold and it's a broken Halelujah"
Sometimes I think that song sounds like he was trying to win a bet as to how many rhymes he could find. It sounds like a collection of snapshots, of unrelated thoughts. But then there's no rule that says a song has to be about one thing.

My favorite lines from that song...
"Maybe there's a God above
All I ever learned from love
Was how to shoot at someone who outdrew ya"

"She tied you to a kitchen chair,
she broke your throne, she cut your hair"

I know the Rufus Wainwright version, I'll look for the others.

If you understand the meaning behind the lyrics then it's actually very clever and pertinent.

Dirk

Viccy wrote: Just listened to one of my favorite songs, Halelujah by Leonard Cohen. Damn he's good.

Also one of my all time favorites. Take a listen to Myles Kennedy from Alterbridge. I just love his vocals.

chris77

Ja, Cohens brilliant hey. Not a fan of his voice in his earlier recordings though. Much prefer the aged timbre of his recent stuff. Heard Lenny Kravitz crooning "Ill be there for you" in a song again this morning. So that must make him number nine million and five to saddle up that one...

[deleted]

Yeah, His voice has matured nicely.