What are some of your favourite lyrics from a song?

“You quote the Good Book
When it’s convenient
But you don’t have the sense
No you don’t have the sense
To tie your tangled tongue
Instead you slash it through the mud”

Everything Must Go by Taking Back Sunday

Don’t fear the reaper.

“We didn’t start the fire
It was always burning
Since the world’s been turning
We didn’t start the fire
No we didn’t light it
But we tried to fight it”

Not my favourite favourite, but the first one that came to mind upon seeing the question:

Have you ever chased the night
That sailed in front of you
On a boat that’s bound for hope
But left you in the queue
With your shouting, waving
Taunting, flaunting friends as crew
Telling you that every lie
You ever heard was true?
Have you stood upon that dock?
Have you ever had it blue?

- Have You Ever Had It Blue? – The Style Council (Paul Weller, aka The Modfather)

“River of Tears”
by Eric Clampton

It’s three miles to the river
That would carry me away,
And two miles to the dusty street
That I saw you on today.
It’s four miles to my lonely room
Where I will hide my face,
And about half a mile to the downtown bar
That I ran from in disgrace.
Lord, how long have I got to keep on running,
Seven hours, seven days or seven years?
All I know is, since you’ve been gone
I feel like I’m drowning in a river,
Drowning in a river of tears.
Drowning in a river.
Feel like I’m drowning,
Drowning in a river.
In three more days, I’ll leave this town
A year from now, maybe settle down
Where no one knows my face.
I wish that I could hold you
One more time to ease the pain,
But my time’s run out and I got to go,
Got to run away again.
Still I catch myself thinking,
One day I’ll find my way back here.
You’ll save me from drowning,
Drowning in a river,
Drowning in a river of tears.
Drowning in a river.
Feels like I’m drowning,
Drowning in the river.
Lord, how long must this go on?
Drowning in a river,
Drowning in a river of tears.

My favourite lyric from any song is from “The Manchester Rambler” by Ewan McColl

“Well, I once loved a maid, a spot-welder by trade…”

On a more serious note, I love the lyrics in Your Latest Trick

They’re selling postcards of the hanging
They’re painting the passports brown
The beauty parlor is filled with sailors
The circus is in town.
...

I never realized how beautiful the lyrics to this song were until one day this summer. I was relaxing outside on a beautiful evening, the music was playing and it totally entranced me. I don’t know why it escaped my appreciation before.

Why Should I Cry For You?
Band: Sting
Album: The Soul Cages
Song: Why Should I Cry For You?

Under the dog star sail
Over the reefs of moonshine
Under the skies of fall
North, north west, the stones of Farve

Under the Arctic fire
Over the seas of silence
Hauling on frozen ropes
For all my days remaining
But would north be true?

All colours bleed to red
Asleep on the ocean’s bed
Drifting on empty seas
For all my days remaining

But would north be true?
Why should I?
Why should I cry for you?
Dark angels follow me
Over a godless sea
Mountains of endless falling,
For all my days remaining,

What would be true?

Sometimes I see your face,
The stars seem to lose their place
Why must I think of you?
Why must I?
Why should I?
Why should I cry for you?
Why would you want me to?
And what would it mean to say,
That, ‘I loved you in my fashion’?

What would be true?
Why should I?
Why should I cry for you?

Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen (all of it),

Having said that, my real favority lyrics of all time, are from a song by “Los Porretas” called “Si Lo Se Me Meo”. Meaning, “The Potheads – If I Had Known I Would Have Pissed My Pants”. It tells the story of a pothead who accidentally ends up taking a nap in the back of an undercover cop car. The lyrics can be found here

Here is some of it translated to English:

Friday and its midnight, and I am very tired,
so much smoking that it made me slobish.
We will have another, because its friday night,
They always let me sleep in the car.

It’s 4am, where the hell is everyone?
I am about to piss my pants and freezing from the cold,
I don’t know where I am, who does this red car belong to?
I went to take a piss, but when I came back I got in a different car.

I went to take a piss, and I nearly ended up in the police station,
I went to take a piss, and I got in to a police car.

The song can be found here

I wish you bluebirds in the spring

To give your heart a song to sing

And then a kiss, but more than this

I wish you love

And in July a lemonade

To cool you in some leafy glade

I wish you health

But more than wealth

I wish you love

My breaking heart and I agree

That you and I could never be

So with my best

My very best

I set you free

I wish you shelter from the storm

A cozy fire to keep you warm

But most of all when snowflakes fall

I wish you love

But most of all when snowflakes fall

I wish you love

I wish you love

I wish you love, love, love, love, love

I wish you love

She Moved Through the Fair
Irish traditional

My young love said to me,
My mother won’t mind
And my father won’t slight you
For your lack of kind.
And she laid her hand on me
And this she did say:
It will not be long, love,
Till our wedding day.

As she stepped away from me
And she moved through the fair
And fondly I watched her
Move here and move there.
And then she turned homeward,
With one star awake,
Like the swan in the evening
Moves over the lake.

The people were saying,
No two e’er were wed
But one had a sorrow
That never was said.
And I smiled as she passed
With her goods and her gear,
And that was the last
That I saw of my dear.

Last night she came to me,
My dead love came in.
So softly she came
That her feet made no din.
As she laid her hand on me,
And this she did say:
It will not be long, love,
‘Til our wedding day.

@flutherother I don’t often meet people who know the third verse of that. :)

I love the lyrics to “First Time Ever I Saw Your Face” it was my wedding song

“psycho killer, qu’est-que c’est”

“She’s well acquainted with the touch of the velvet hand
Like a lizard on a window pane”

“She came in through the bathroom window…”

another good one my friend Frank used to sing along to with the jukebox

Living On A Thin Line
Band: Kinks
Album: Word Of Mouth
Song: Living On A Thin Line

All the stories have been told
Of kings and days of old,
But there’s no england now.
All the wars that were won and lost
Somehow don’t seem to matter very much anymore.
All the lies we were told,
All the lies of the people running round,
They’re castles have burned.
Now i see change,
But inside we’re the same as we ever were.

Living on a thin line,
Tell me now, what are we supposed to do?
Living on a thin line,
Tell me now, what are we supposed to do?
Living on a thin line,
Living this way, each day is a dream.
What am i, what are we supposed to do?
Living on a thin line,
Tell me now, what are we supposed to do?

Now another century nearly gone,
What are we gonna leave for the young?
What we couldn’t do, what we wouldn’t do,
It’s a crime, but does it matter?
Does it matter much, does it matter much to you?
Does it ever really matter?
Yes, it really, really matters.

Living on a thin line,
Tell me now, what are we supposed to do?
Living on a thin line,
Tell me now, what are we supposed to do?

Now another leader says
Break their hearts and break some heads.
Is there nothing we can say or do?
Blame the future on the past,
Always lost in blood and guts.
And when they’re gone, it’s me and you.

Living on a thin line,
Tell me now, what are we supposed to do?
Living on a thin line,
Tell me now, what are we supposed to do?
Living on a thin line.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TvdBrbJnve8

“Pale September,
I wore the time like a dress that year.
The autumn days swung soft around me,
Like cotton on my skin.
But as the embers of the summer
Lost their breath and disappeared…
My heart went cold and
Only hollow rhythms resounded from within.
But then he rose
Brilliant as the moon in full
And sank in the burrows of my keep.
And all my armor falling down
In a pile at my feet
And my winter’s giving way to warm,
as I’m singing him to sleep.” Fiona Apple
——
“Under a dead Ohio sky,
Eleven has been and will be waiting,
Defending his light,
And wondering…
Where the hell have I been?
Sleeping, lost, and numb.
So glad that I have found you.
I am wide awake and heading home.” TOOL

——

“Don’t you worry there my honey,
We might not have any money…
But we’ve got our love to pay the bills.

Maybe I think you’re cute and funny,
Maybe I wanna do what bunnies do with you
if you know what I mean.” Ingrid Michaelson

——

Damn, this was really hard. I have too many.

We are the world( USA for Africa)

Leonard Cohen has to be one of the wittiest songwriters I know.

e.g.,
Everybody knows that you love me baby
Everybody knows that you really do
Everybody knows that you’ve been faithful
Ah give or take a night or two
Everybody knows you’ve been discreet
But there were so many people you just had to meet
Without your clothes
And everybody knows
-Everybody Knows

—-

I’m aching for you baby, I can’t pretend I’m not
I need to see you naked in your body and your thought
I’ve got you like a habit and I’ll never get enough
There ain’t no cure, there ain’t no cure, there ain’t no cure for love
– There Ain’t No Cure For Love

…

“You said,
‘Give us liberty
or give us death’
Now you got both
What do you want next?”
“Here Comes The War” – New Model Army

“I wish I was in Tijuana
Eating barbequed iguana”
“Mexican Radio” – Wall Of Voodoo

Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat by Roberto Zimmerman ;-)

“Well, I see you got your brand new leopard-skin pill-box hat

Well, you look so pretty in it
Honey, can I jump on it sometime?
Yes, I just wanna see
If it’s really that expensive kind
You know it balances on your head
Just like a mattress balances
On a bottle of wine

Well, I asked the doctor if I could see you
It’s bad for your health, he said
Yes, I disobeyed his orders
I came to see you
But I found him there instead
You know, I don’t mind him cheatin’ on me
But I sure wish he’d take that off his head
Your brand new leopard-skin pill-box hat

Well, I see you got a new boyfriend
You know, I never seen him before
Well, I saw him
Makin’ love to you
You forgot to close the garage door
You might think he loves you for your money
But I know what he really loves you for
It’s your brand new leopard-skin pill-box hat”

@lifeflame I love that song.

Here are three favorites from my unholy trinity.

Her beauty and the moonlight overthrew you
She tied you to a kitchen chair
She broke your throne, and she cut your hair
And from your lips she drew the Hallelujah
Hallelujah – Leonard Cohen

Mr Sandman, he has a certain appetite for Janie in respose
He digs her pretty knees and that she is completely naked underneath all her clothes
He likes to congregate around the intersection of Janie’s jeans, yeah
*Mr Sandman the inseminator opens her up like a love letter and enters her dream
Today’s Lesson – Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds

When the weather gets rough
And it’s whiskey in the shade
It’s best to wrap your savior up in cellophane
He flows like the big muddy
But that’s ok
Pour him over ice cream for a nice parfait.
Chocolate Jesus – Tom Waits

@TheOnlyNeffie I love Ingrid Michaelson’s You and I. It always puts a smile on my face

So close, no matter how far
Couldn’t be much more from the heart
Forever trusting who we are
and nothing else matters

Metallica, Nothing Else Matters

@fundevogel – yeah, Hallelujah definitely hits the spot. I once did a dance piece on it. I’m always amazed how he manages to segue from the sacred to the profane.

@lifeflame – I had a dude I was sweet on sing a bit of it to me a while back. I jumped his bones.

My Brother had a book he would hold with pride
A little red cover with a broken spine
On the back he hand wrote a quote inside
“When the rich wage war its the poor that die”

Meanwhile the leader just talks away
stuttering and mumbling for the nightly news to replay
And the rest of the world watching at the end of the day
Both scared and angry like “What did he say?”

Hands Held High by LInkin Park

Everybody’s got a thing
But some don’t know how to handle it
Always reachin’ out in vain
Accepting the things not worth having but

Don’t you worry ‘bout a thing
Don’t you worry ‘bout a thing, mama
Cause I’ll be standing on the side
When you check it out

They say your style of life’s a drag
And that you must go other places
But just don’t you feel too bad
When you get fooled by smiling faces but

Don’t you worry ‘bout a thing
Don’t you worry ‘bout a thing, mama
Cause I’ll be standing on the side
When you check it out
When you get off your trip

Don’t you worry ‘bout a thing
Don’t you worry ‘bout a thing

Don’t you worry ‘bout a thing
Don’t you worry ‘bout a thing, mama
Cause I’ll be standing on the side
When you check it out
When you get off your trip

Everybody needs a change
A chance to check out the new
But you’re the only one to see
The changes you take yourself through

Don’t you worry ‘bout a thing
Don’t you worry ‘bout a thing, pretty mama
Cause I’ll be standing in the wings
When you check it out
(Todo está bien chévere!)

Don’t You Worry ‘Bout A Thing – Stevie Wonder

I feel this says it all

Who’s Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses by U2 (partial lyrics that really got to me).

You’re dangerous ‘cause you’re honest
You’re dangerous, you don’t know what you want
Well you left my heart empty as a vacant lot
For any spirit to haunt

You’re an accident waiting to happen
You’re a piece of glass left there on the beach
Well you tell me things I know you’re not supposed to
Then you leave me just out of reach

Eleanor Rigby (by Lennon and McCartney)

Ah, look at all the lonely people
Ah, look at all the lonely people

Eleanor Rigby picks up the rice in the church where a wedding has been
Lives in a dream
Waits at the window, wearing the face that she keeps in a jar by the door
Who is it for?

All the lonely people
Where do they all come from ?
All the lonely people
Where do they all belong ?

Father McKenzie writing the words of a sermon that no one will hear
No one comes near.
Look at him working. Darning his socks in the night when there’s nobody there
What does he care?

All the lonely people
Where do they all come from?
All the lonely people
Where do they all belong?

Eleanor Rigby died in the church and was buried along with her name
Nobody came
Father McKenzie wiping the dirt from his hands as he walks from the grave
No one was saved

All the lonely people
Where do they all come from?
All the lonely people
Where do they all belong?

I cant make you love me if you dont…...

I know, I’ll make it
Love can last forever
Graceful swans of never topple to the earth
-Smashing Pumpkins

You want to jump and dance
But you sat on your hands and lost your only chance
Go back to your hometown
Get your feet on the ground, and stop floating around
I found a fatal flaw in the logic of love, and went out of my head
You love a sinking stone that will never elope
So get used to the lonesome, girl you must atone some
Don’t leave me no phone numbers there
-The Shins

I can feel one of my turns coming on
I feel…cold as a razor blade
Tight as a tourniquette
Dry as a funeral drum
-Pink Floyd

I’ve stared down the devil, had to look away
called out to the angels, no one ever came
laid out odd and even, double zero played
in all I’m a lucky one, oh such a fortunate son.

Bruce Hornsby

Happy Together

Everybody sing along….1…2…3…..

Imagine me and you, I do
I think about you day and night, it’s only right
To think about the girl you love and hold her tight
So happy together

If I should call you up, invest a dime
And you say you belong to me and ease my mind
Imagine how the world could be, so very fine
So happy together

I can’t see me lovin’ nobody but you
For all my life
When you’re with me, baby the skies’ll be blue
For all my life

Me and you and you and me
No matter how they toss the dice, it has to be
The only one for me is you, and you for me
So happy together

I can’t see me lovin’ nobody but you
For all my life
When you’re with me, baby the skies’ll be blue
For all my life

Me and you and you and me
No matter how they toss the dice, it has to be
The only one for me is you, and you for me
So happy together

Ba-ba-ba-ba ba-ba-ba-ba ba-ba-ba ba-ba-ba-ba
Ba-ba-ba-ba ba-ba-ba-ba ba-ba-ba ba-ba-ba-ba

Me and you and you and me
No matter how they toss the dice, it has to be
The only one for me is you, and you for me
So happy together

So happy together
How is the weather
So happy together
We’re happy together
So happy together
Happy together
So happy together
So happy together (ba-ba-ba-ba ba-ba-ba-ba)

I like certain lines from songs not necessarily worth posting the entire lyrics but…

Anastasia has a song about a break up called “overdue goodbye” and there’s a line that says “this is a calling not a conversation…. If love was a season, you were my winter” gotta love that.

That current song out right now (I forget the artist) where the guy is whining about how he gave his love and didn’t get it back so now he’s ready to blow himself up with a grenade and stand in front of a train etc. for her there’s a line “tell the devil I said hey when you get back to where you’re from” gotta love that one too.

And of course my theme song O.G. Bitch by Esthero “I’m the original bitch, I’m the original whore, I’m the girl that you just can’t admit you adore” Not that I’m into a whore reference but hey it rhymes LOL.

There’s also an old blues song (don’t know the artist) where the chorus lyrics are “your love is like tryin to light a fire with a wet match… you won’t even get a spark like that”

and one can’t help but laugh at Weird Al’s “You Don’t Love Me Anymore” lyrics http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kWD5gdpt4Dw

“Closing time
One last call for alcohol so finish your whiskey or beer
Closing time
You don’t have to go home but you can’t stay here”

Sinker – slash and burn

Do my… (do my)
do my eyes betray
how I feel?
I don’t think they can
I thought I put it as plainly
as possible
how much more can I say?
how can I make it clear to you..

Sometimes, when I spend too much time
in my head
I think I should depart from here
I realize I’m only setting myself up for a fall
but this is what I want

this is…what I want

I shut my eyes
and blindfold them three times over
I walk myself to you
I lay myself at your feet

I lay myself…

Slash and burn me
I’ll help you light the match
slash and burn me
just let me keep the ashes

Loreena McKennett’s hauntingly beautiful song “Bonny Portmore” is about the destruction of the last remaining old growth forest in England – it makes me cry each time I hear it.

O bonny Portmore, you shine where you stand
And the more I think on you the more I think long
If I had you now as I had once before
All the lords in Old England would not purchase Portmore.

O bonny Portmore, I am sorry to see
Such a woeful destruction of your ornament tree
For it stood on your shore for many’s the long day
Till the long boats from Antrim came to float it away.

O bonny Portmore, you shine where you stand
And the more I think on you the more I think long
If I had you now as I had once before
All the Lords in Old England would not purchase Portmore.

All the birds in the forest they bitterly weep
Saying, “Where will we shelter or where will we sleep?”
For the Oak and the Ash, they are all cutten down
And the walls of bonny Portmore are all down to the ground.

O bonny Portmore, you shine where you stand
And the more I think on you the more I think long
If I had you now as I had once before
All the Lords of Old England would not purchase Portmore.