OT: Song poetry

[wire chief]

Do you have a favorite lyric that's a cut above the usual mundane lines present in most songs?
The following is included in the Jane Olivor ballad, HONESTY.

"Like a merchant in a market of thieves, I come displaying my wares to you.
But you saw through all the fear in my heart and let me be who I am."
Neat, hah?

 

[VAMike23]

Moons and Junes and ferris wheels, the dizzy dancing way that you feel
as every fairy tale comes real; I've looked at love that way.
But now it's just another show. You leave 'em laughing when you go
and if you care, don't let them know, don't give yourself away.

I've looked at love from both sides now,
from give and take, and still somehow
it's love's illusions that I recall.
I really don't know love at all.

 

[johnnyc]

And now the purple dusk of twilight time
Steals across the meadows of my heart
High up in the sky the little stars climb
Always reminding me that we're apart

You wander down the lane and far away
Leaving me a song that will not die
Love is now the stardust of yesterday
The music of the years gone by

Stardust
Lyricist Mitchell Parrish

 

[8893]

From Lucinda Williams's latest album, her father's poem that she set to music:

As for individual lines, I have many favorites (Van, Dylan and Robert Hunter tops among them), but the best may be from CSN's Wooden Ships:

If you smile at me, I will understand
'Cause that is something everybody everywhere does
In the same language

 

[Zorro]

"All the snow has turned to water, Christmas days have come and gone.
Broken toys and faded colors are all that's left to linger on."
John Prine

 

[meyers7]

Really anything by Marillion, but I'm particular to this one. Not so "pretty" as interesting.

Garden Party
Garden party held today
Invites call the debs to play
Social climbers polish ladders
Wayward sons again have fathers
Hello, Dad, hello, dad
Edgy eggs and queuing cumbers
Rudely wakened from their slumbers
Time has come again for slaughter
On the lawns by still Cam waters
A slaughter, it's a slaughter

Champagne corks are firing at the sun again
Swooping swallows chased by violins again
Straafed by Strauss they sulk in crumbling eaves again
Oh God not again

Aperitifs consumed en masse
Display their owners on the grass
Couples loiter in the cloisters
social leeches quoting Chaucer

Doctor's son a parson's daughter
Well why not and should they oughta
Please don't lie upon the grass
Unless accompanied by a fellow
May I be so bold as to perhaps suggest Othello

Punting on the Cam is jolly fun they say
Beagling on the downs, oh please do come they say
Rugger is the tops, a game for men they say

I'm punting, I'm beagling, I'm wining, reclining, I'm rucking, I'm f#%$ing
So welcome, it's a party

Angie chalks another blue
Mother smiles she did it too
Chitters chat and gossips lash
Posers pose, pressmen flash

Smiles polluted with false charm, locking on to Royal arms
Society columns now ensured, returns to mingle with the crowds
Oh what a crowd

Punting on the Cam, oh please do come they say
Beagling on the downs, oh please so come they say
Garden party held today they say
Oh please do come, oh please do come, they say

 

[terif831]

One hand reaches out
And pulls a lost soul from harm
While a thousand more go unspoken for.
And they say,
"What good have you done by saving just this one?
It's like whispering a prayer
In the fury of a storm."

This heart still believes
That love and mercy still exist
While all the hatreds rage,
And so many say
That love is all but pointless
In madness such as this:
"It's like trying to stop a fire
With the moisture from a kiss."

And I hear them saying
"You'll never change things,
And no matter what you do
It's still the same thing."
But it's not the world that I am changing...
I do this so this world will know
That it will not change me.

--"The Change," recorded by Garth Brooks
R. Wayne Tester & Anthony Arata, songwriters

 

[BroadwayVa]

And now the purple dusk of twilight time
Steals across the meadows of my heart
High up in the sky the little stars climb
Always reminding me that we're apart

You wander down the lane and far away
Leaving me a song that will not die
Love is now the stardust of yesterday
The music of the years gone by

Stardust
Lyricist Mitchell Parrish

Music by Hoagy Carmichael (sp)!!

 

[BroadwayVa]

Who takes care of the caretakers daughter
While the caretakers busy taking care
Gee of gosh or gee how it worry's me

Johnny Mercer

Bee's do it
Even educated Fleas do it
Let's do it
Let's fall in love.

Cole Porter, while at Yale as a student

So I chaffed them and I gaily laughed
To think they could doubt my love
Yet today my love has flown away
I am without my love

Now laughing friends deride
Tears I can not hide
Oh, so I smile and say
When a lovely flame dies
Smoke gets in your eyes
Smoke gets in your eyes

More Porter

The guy had a way with words --too sophisticated for the critics

 

[BroadwayVa]

A TRUE CLASSIC

I'll tell you 'bout my night on shore if you will lend an ear
I stepped into a cabaret to get myself a beer
A pretty girl sat all alone and needed company
But when I got close, this girl a rose this is what she said to me
Now she said, "Whoa sailor, be careful what you do
In your eye there's a gleam
And to me it seems you're just like all the rest
With a wolfish eye and a line that's sly than a sailor's at his best"
"Now look here, babe, you've got me wrong, I'm not that kinda guy
I just got back from across the seas where there are no gals arie
Now let me talk to you a while, I'm sure you'll see my way"
But when I went to spout she turned about this is what she had to say
Now she said, "Whoa sailor, I've heard that line before
You'll look… into my eyes and tell me lies
And tales of the 7 sea's
But a sailors full of that
Kind of bull
So don't hand it to me!!
(more)
Hank Thompson--Oklahoma's son with the Brazo Valley boys.

 

[Intpseeker]

Breathe deep the gathering gloom,
Watch lights fade from every room.
Bedsitter people look back and lament,
Another day's useless energy spent.
Impassioned lovers wrestle as one,
Lonely man cries for love and has none.
New mother picks up and suckles her son,
Senior citizens wish they were young.
Cold hearted orb that rules the night,
Removes the colours from our sight.
Red is grey and yellow white,
But we decide which is right.
And which is an illusion? - Moody Blues Knights in White Satin (at 5:55}

 

[Intpseeker]

This always gets me. A turn of a prhase a word choice...

 

[Zorro]

"The pump don't work cause the vandals took the handle"
"He's sure got a lot of gall, to be so useless and all..."
"Ain't just like the night, playing tricks when you're trying to be so quiet."
"There's a hole in daddy's arm where all the money goes". (Prine-Sam Stone)
"A question ain't really a question, when you know the answer too". (Prine-Far from Me)

 

[johnnyc]

The cabaret was empty now, a sign said, “Closed for repair”
Lily had already taken all of the dye out of her hair
She was thinkin’ ’bout her father, who she very rarely saw
Thinkin’ ’bout Rosemary and thinkin’ about the law
But most of all she was thinkin’ ’bout the Jack of Hearts

Bob Dylan - Lily, Rosemary and the Jack of Hearts

 

[meyers7]

So if you meet me, have some courtesy
Have some sympathy and some taste
Use all your well learned politesse
Or I'll lay your soul to waste
Pleased to meet you, hope you guessed my name
But what's puzzling you, is the nature of my game.

Sympathy for the Devil (Rolling Stones)

 

[lne001]

Strange Fruit - Billie Holiday

 

[Bliss]

1. 1. 
      Artist: Simon & Garfunkel
      Album: Bridge over Troubled Water
      Released: 1970
      Lyrics: I'd rather be a sparrow than a snail / Yes I would, if I could, I surely would / I'd rather be a hammer than a nail / Yes I would, if I only could, I surely would… Full lyrics on Google Play
      
   
   
   
   

 

[wire chief]

Breathe deep the gathering gloom,
Watch lights fade from every room.
Bedsitter people look back and lament,
Another day's useless energy spent.
Impassioned lovers wrestle as one,
Lonely man cries for love and has none.
New mother picks up and suckles her son,
Senior citizens wish they were young.
Cold hearted orb that rules the night,
Removes the colours from our sight.
Red is grey and yellow white,
But we decide which is right.
And which is an illusion? - Moody Blues Knights in White Satin (at 5:55}

Yeah, and the ignoramuses won't let them in the R&R Hall of Fame.

 

[2ndCity]

Johnny Mercer→Autumn Leaves lyrics

The falling leaves
Drift by the window
The autumn leaves
Of red and gold
I see your lips
The summer kisses
The sunburned hands
I used to hold
Since you went away
The days grow long
And soon I'll hear
Old winter's song
But I miss you most of all
My darling
When autumn leaves
Start to fall

(Posted in loving memory of my beautiful wife, Gael)

 

[Scud49]

Yeah, and the ignoramuses won't let them in the R&R Hall of Fame.

A damn shame, and simply hard to believe that place continues to overlook these guys......year..... after year...... after year.

 

[Intpseeker]

Oh...Dylan...

I wish that for just one time
You could stand inside my shoes
And for just 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. Positively 4th Street

 

[rvwsleep]

Well they tell me of a pie up in the sky
Waiting for me when I die
But between the day you're born and when you die
They never seem to hear even your cry

Jimmy Cliff, The Harder They Come.



And, because the timing seems right.

It's coming on Christmas
They're cutting down trees
They're putting up reindeer
And singing songs of joy and peace
Oh I wish I had a river I could skate away on

But it don't snow here
It stays pretty green
I'm going to make a lot of money
Then I'm going to quit this crazy scene
Oh I wish I had a river I could skate away on

Joni Mitchell, River

 

[Replicant]

It was late last night
I was feeling something wasn't right
There was not another soul in sight
Only you, only you

So we walked along
Though I knew that there was something wrong
And a feeling hit me, oh so strong
About you

Then you gazed up at me
And the answer was plain to see
'Cause I saw the light
In your eyes, in your eyes

Though we had our fling
I just never would suspect a thing
Till that little bell began to ring
In my head, in my head

But I tried to run
Though I knew it wouldn't help me none
'Cause I couldn't ever love no one
Or so I said

'Cause my feelings for you
Were just something I never knew
Till I saw the light
In your eyes, in your eyes

But I love you best
It's not something that I say in jest
'Cause you're different, girl, from all the rest
In my eyes

And I ran out before
But I won't do it anymore
Can't you see the light in my eyes
In my eyes
In my eyes
In my eyes

 

[Frodo]

The existential lyrics of Billy Strayhorn's Lush Life...

I used to visit all the very gay places
those come what may places
where one relaxes on the axis of the wheel of life
to get the feel of life
from jazz and cocktails
the girls I knew had sad and sullen gray faces
with distingué traces
that used to be there you could see where
they'd been washed away
by too many through the day
twelve o'clocktails

then you came along with your siren's song
to tempt me to madness
I thought for a while that your pointed smile
was tinged with the sadness
of a great love for me
ah yes I was wrong
again I was wrong

life is lonely again
and only last year
everything seemed so assured
now life is awful again
and the thoughtful of heart
could only be a bore

a week in paris will ease the bite of it
all I care is to smile in spite of it
I'll forget you I will
and yet you are still
burning inside my brain

romance is mush
stifling those who strive
I'll live a lush
life in some small dive
and there I'll be
while I rot with the rest
of those whose lives are lonely too

 

[Replicant]

We want the best of both worlds
We want it slow and hot
We like to taste revenge, yeah
But we can't waste the shot

We want to see from both sides
We like it cool and fast
We want to get it over
We like to make it last

Keep it on
It's getting closer
The best of both worlds
Double fun

We'll make the most, girl
To get the best of both worlds
We must obey the law
What good's a place to stand up
Without a place to fall?

Two and one
Fast and slow girl
The best of both worlds
Double fun
I'd like to now propose a toast
To the best of both worlds

I think about the war that is no fight at all
I think about the peace that is a fight for all
The best of both worlds
Keep it on
Fast and slow girl
The best of both worlds
Tight as a drum, loose as a gun holster
Yeah, it's getting closer

Why do we waste our breath, child
On what we like the most
Seeing as we've wound up here
We ought to do them both

Back and forth
We get the most
Yeah, the best of both worlds
South and north
I'd like to now propose a toast
To the best of both worlds
Two and one
Fast and slow girl
The best of both worlds
Double fun
We'll make the most girl to get the best of both worlds