Lyrics that say it all for you!

lindsmuse · 2010-02-15T08:02:19+00:00

'Nobody said that there be days like these' John Lennon. So funny and so profound at the same time ... Every couple of years I think - they didn't! That's r...

Lyrics that say it all for you!

Bob-Dubery

chris77 wrote: Mostly though lyrics are just the noise that adds melody and harmony to a song...

I think that can be the case, but it's not a given. Two bands that I do like, Little Feat and Led Zeppelin, I think the lyrics often (but not always) fall into that category.

But really.... Leonard Cohen, Dylan, Joe Jackson, Nick Drake, Sandy Denny, Steely Dan, Bacharach and David, Bruce Cockburn, the whole Wainwright dynasty, Paul Simon, Randy Newman, Zappa, Knopfler, Richard Thompson, Elvis Costello, Robbie Robertson.... there's a lot of really good stuff out there, SONGS with LYRICS that you can really get your teeth into. (and there's many more names that could be added to the list)

With some artists it's almost the opposite situation of what you're describing - the music is just there to convey the lyrics. Dylan and Loudon Wainwright III are examples of this.

Sometimes you get lyrical and musical sophistication together. Paul Simon for example. Some of his post Simon And Garfunkel work really touched the heights.

For me lyrics are a major attraction. It may be not be the same for everybody. I can enjoy music that has no lyrics, that can still be eloquent... listen to Beck's Blow By Blow album, or Bruce Cockburn's album of instrumentals, or Beethoven. But lyrics can present real beauty and I think that if we don't pay them attention we're missing out.

chris77

@Bob. True. Great lyrics are maybe not as scarce as I think. The problem for me is that I no longer have "dedicated" times when I can listen to music purely for the enjoyment thereof. Its always a kind of background actitivity nowadays, eg while I drive, read, work, etc. It has to really stand out before I take notice. This probably means that I miss a lot of the good stuff purely by hearing without listening. I do feel though that sadly a lot of lyrics tend to be non-sensical dribble that only make sense to the guy/gal who wrote them.

Riaan-Combrink

X-rated Bob wrote: A writer I find very interesting in terms of how his lyrics overlap with a more universal experience of life is Loudon Wainwright III. He writes a lot of songs about his divorces, fights with his kids, hangups about his father, his love for his mother etc etc and that kind of stuff often has me reaching for the barf bag. But he often seems to tap into something universal under the specifics and so the songs resonate more widely.

Eg from his song "Thanksgiving" which takes the form of a prayer about a soon to be gathering where the family (dysfunctional) will sit down to eat together
"On this auspicious occasion
This special family dinner
If I argue with a loved one
Lord, please let me be the winner."

My favourite lyricist is Warren Zevon. He writes exactly this style of lyrics. One example:

And if California slides into the ocean
Like the mystics and statistics say it will
I predict this motel will be standing until I pay my bill
8)

Bob-Dubery

lindsmuse wrote: Those Richard Thompson lyrics are 'mighty fine'!

It's wierd - I don't know who the hell he is! I know Danny Thompson. I know the bands that you refer to in other threads - Pentangle, Fairport Convention, Incredible String Band - love them - but this musician - don't know how come ... I never heard of him. But I guess there's many many brilliant musicians out there that we simply just never get round to. Kind of a pity. Which is a good album to start with?

The on-line Richard Thompson fan/discussion group has a web site where a few tracks are made available with the artist's consent. So for a freebie...

1) Go to http://www.rtlist.net/
2) Click on "Listen to him now"

Three songs there - and you get the lyrics too.

Keep Your Distance is from the Rumor and Sigh album. I'm glad you asked what's going on in the instrumental passage before the guitar solo - it's a hurdy gurdy.
The name of the 2nd track is misspelled. It should be 1952 Vincent Black Lightning (yours pedantically....). This is probably his most popular, most requested song.
The version of Hard On Me here is from his live album Semi-Detached Mock Tudor and it features some major soloing from both the Thompsons.

Renesongs

I love good lyrics for me it makes a good piece of music an awesome and powerful creation. Pretentious glib or just plain bad lyrics can ruin even the best music. Hence I despise RAP (Rhythm and Poetry) with a passion. RAP kind of spits, swears and waves it's genitals at you whereas good heartfelt lyrics can give you hope, empathy, identity, love, tragedy or just sheer craziness

Some of my favourite lyricists in alphabetical order are:
Bob Dylan
Donald Fagen (Steely Dan)
Ian Anderson
Jimi Hendrix
John Lennon
Joni Mitchell
Leonard Cohen

lindsmuse

Some of my favourite lyricists in alphabetical order are:
Bob Dylan
Donald Fagen (Steely Dan)
Ian Anderson
Jimi Hendrix
John Lennon
Joni Mitchell
Leonard Cohen

Yes these are all brilliant - And someone mentioned Don McLean - he was incredible.

Squonk

One lyricist that used to impress me in the good old days was Peter Hammil of van der Graaf Generator, a prog rock band that weren't in the same spotlight as their peers but a good band nevertheless.

Peter Hammil released plenty of solo albums that were excellent musically and lyrically.
Here is his take on Apartheid in the 70's from the album "the future now"

A motor bike in Africa

A motor-bike in Africa,
he's riding the white line,
oblivious of snakes stretched out
across the way like trip-wire,
shouting
"The road is mine!"

Tracing the line of the skeleton coast,
ghost riders from the Sud-West:
the original angels of death they seem,
six motor-bikes abreast.

Riding through the oppressive night,
now only the hardest remain.
Look at the scars of the tyre-tracks,
look to the bodies behind their backs,
look at the bastards bray
in Africa today.

The bodies of Biko and Soweto poor,
the Christian message of Dutch Reform,
the sound of the monster, the motor-bike roar,
the hate in the eyes of the uniformed Boer,
the head and the bucket, the boot and the floor...
racial torture and racial war
in Africa today.

Come in Rhodesia, South Africa, your time is up...
no protection on a motor-bike;
sooner or later the normal traffic's gonna get you.

Ray

It's a hassle you know to make rocket ships go to infinity

lindsmuse

It's a hassle you know to make rocket ships go to infinity

Thats a nice one. Who wrote that? Its something that sticks.

There's been a couple of songs that for years part of the lyrics I could never hear.

Then the internet came along ... ?

Ray

Gong. Either off Angels Egg or Pothead Pixies I think. I had some of their elpees when I was young. Swear I cant remember.

BMU

Not to be contrary but to me vocals are just the thing that gets in the way of hearing the guitar, don't really care about lyrics at all.

OK I guess I do feel like headbanging when I hear In Flames'

I feel like sh*t
But at least I feel something

Not that I feel like sh*t, I have a great life, it just makes me wanna headbang and go "yeah" pointlessly. ?

Bob-Dubery

Somebody played a great song at TJs tonight. I know the song, and I know who wrote it. It's by Dougie McLean, but I know very little about him (so please don't ask). The song is called "Garden Valley"

This is really not my home
Oh where are you my lovely Bonny?
I'm afraid and all alone
There is no peace for me

I'm sitting in the stranger's room
Playing at the stranger's table
Shining empty like the moon
There is no peace for me

But in the darkness struggle cold
I think about a garden valley
Gentle as the leaves unfold
Singing out across the bay
Distant and so far away
There is no peace for me

I'm blinded by your city lights
I wander through these fearful places
The colours fade to black and white
There is no peace for me

And these are not the friends I know
These are not their smiling faces
A desert that no-one should know
There is no peace for me

But in the darkness struggle cold
I think about a garden valley
Gentle as the leaves unfold
Singing out across the bay
Distant and so far away
There is no peace for me

Now I know and feel it well
Poor immigrants deep sunken feeling
Standing at the gates of Hell
There is no peace for me

Burned out by their master's greed
Cruel exile transportation
Robbed of every love and need
There is no peace for me

The version I know is by Irish singer Cara Dillon

Bob-Dubery

X-rated Bob wrote: Somebody played a great song at TJs tonight. I know the song, and I know who wrote it. It's by Dougie McLean, but I know very little about him (so please don't ask). The song is called "Garden Valley"

This is really not my home
Oh where are you my lovely Bonny?
I'm afraid and all alone
There is no peace for me

And blah blah blah....

One thing about "Garden Valley" is that it shows how great songwriting doesn't necessarily boil down to neat little "lyric bites". The magic in this song is the way the narrative perspective shifts outward towards the end of the song. That change in perspective suddenly puts a different spin on the preceding verses, invites us to consider them in a different context. Not all of Paul Simon's great songs boiled down to a catchy phrase like "still crazy after all these years".

MIKA-the-better-one

I reckon RAP, has provided some of the best lyrics to music, maybe because thats there main focus.... I think alot of people make the generalisation on rap after hearing basically only radio rap, which is pretty crap, however thats like rating all rock on the jonas brothers.... Not very effective.
I would chalenge people to have a good listen to some decent rap, and not just lsten to lil wayne, and Jay Z....
Bands I struggle with lyrics for are often metal bands, I find they often try to sing about how pained they are, trying to imply they are more damaged than the next person, which I think is a load of crap,,,,,,,,,, all that pain they sing of is just life, so not really pain.
Good lyrics or songwriters hmmmmm....... I like stuff that does not need to much intelextualising, its so pretensious to imply deep lyrics I think.
MEwithoutyou...... a band I doubt many will know write amazing lyrics........... and dont over do the whole angry nonsense or the deep rubbish

Bob-Dubery

Renesongs wrote: I love good lyrics for me it makes a good piece of music an awesome and powerful creation. Pretentious glib or just plain bad lyrics can ruin even the best music. Hence I despise RAP (Rhythm and Poetry) with a passion. RAP kind of spits, swears and waves it's genitals at you whereas good heartfelt lyrics can give you hope, empathy, identity, love, tragedy or just sheer craziness

I think we have to be careful with generalisations like this. Not all RAP is about gangstas slapping bitches around. And there are rock acts that have lyrics that promote racism, or that describe a pretty seedy life style. I could make a case for some songs getting worryingly close to paedophilia. Whitney Houston, who early in her career made a big deal of her christian convictions and presented a pretty wholesome image, had a big hit with a song about having an affair with somebody else's husband.

You can find plenty of objectionable lyrics in plenty of genres.

lindsmuse

Oh no that Cara dillon song made me blub!!!! What a beautiful song - the lyrics - everything!!! I imagined this being sung by that guy with the real deep growly gratey voice - can't remember his name - Tom somebody. Like a rough tough guy. To hear it sung so sweetly wow!

Bob-Dubery

lindsmuse wrote: Oh no that Cara dillon song made me blub!!!! What a beautiful song - the lyrics - everything!!! I imagined this being sung by that guy with the real deep growly gratey voice - can't remember his name - Tom somebody. Like a rough tough guy. To hear it sung so sweetly wow!

You thinking of Tom Waits? That song would not be out of place for him.

Cara Dillon is a marvellous singer. If you look around on Youtube you will find a clip of her doing the traditional song "The Streets Of Derry" as a duet with Paul Brady who is a great interpretative singer.

Renesongs

This has been one of my favourite's. It's about the fortunes of a guy that runs a drug lab, probably heroin
Kid Charlemagne - Walter Beker & Donald Fagen

While the music played you worked by candlelight
Those San Francisco nights,
You were the best in town
Just by chance you crossed the diamond with the pearl
You turned it on the world
That's when you turned the world around
Did you feel like Jesus ?
Did you realize
That you were a champion in their eyes ?

On the hill their stuff was laced with kerosene
But yours was kitchen clean
Everyone stopped to stare at your technicolor motorhome
Every A Frame had your number on the wall
You musta had it all
You go to L.A. on a dare and you go it alone
Could you live forever
Could you see the day
Could you feel your whole world fall apart and fade away

Chorus
Get along
Get along Kid Charlemagne
Get along Kid Charlemagne

Now your patrons have all left you in the red
Your low rent friends are dead
This life can be very strange
All those day-glo freaks who used to paint their face
They've joined the human race, some things will never change
Son you were mistaken
You are obsolete
Look at all the white men on the street

Chorus

Clean this mess up else we'll all end up in jail
Those test tubes and the scale
Just get it all out of here
Is there gas in the car ?
Yes there's gas in the car!
I think the people down the hall know who you are
Careful what you carry
Cause the man is wise
You are still an outlaw in their eyes

Chorus

singemonkey

It's not one or two, but a great many recurring lyrics for me. A friend once said that I had a lyric for any moment - like when we were watching a little bird and I sang a line from Barrett's "Birdie hop/ he do/ He hop along..."

Some of them that come to me often:

Still, you don't expect to be bright and bon vivant,
So far away from home

- Paul Simon

I told him, get me a suzette
And could you please make it crepe?

- Bob Dylan

On the back of a cartoon coaster
In the Blue TV screen light
I drew a map of Canada
Oh Canada!
With your face sketched on it twice

- Joni Mitchell

I'd given my nurse the weekend off
My meals were ill prepared
My typewriter stood mute as a tomb
And my piano crouched in the corner of the room with all its teeth bared
All its teeth bared
Hallelujah

- Nick Cave

They are leaning out for love and they will lean that way forever

- Leonard Cohen

It's the seaside town
That they forgot to bomb, come
Come, come, nuclear bomb

- Morrissey

Some say he took up with a Salvation Army band
Played dirty water from a swordfish trombone

- Tom Waits

The skin of a robot
vibrates with pleasure,
Matrons and gigolos
carouse in the parlour,
The hand-grenade eyes,
Impotent and blind

- Beck

And many more.

chris77

I also like storyteller lyrics, two of my favourites being Tweeter and the Monkeyman - The Traveling Wilburies and Boy named Sue - Johny Cash. I love being able to visualize a song And as cliched as the lyrics might seem, My Way and Thats Life by Frank Sinatra is actually quite brilliant. No really!, google them...