Lyrics that changed your world

[wateroftyne]

7 minutes ago, Japhet said:

Been mentioned already, but pretty much anything from Dark Side of the Moon. So much of is still very pertinent today over 40 years after it was written. Roger Waters was a lyrical genius back then.

He still is. His new album is mint.

[wateroftyne]

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

The wonderful Warren Zevon.

 

[Japhet]

5 minutes ago, wateroftyne said:

He still is. His new album is mint.

 

Have to say that none of Waters solo stuff or Floyd's stuff after he left has really done it for me. They were, to me, bigger than the sum of their parts (but I might give RW's latest album a go if you recommend it.

[phil.c60]

16 hours ago, mr zed said:

n a similar vein "shorter of breath, one day closer to death".

And "we're just two lost soles swimming in a fish bowl, year after year".

And "but for the price of tea and a slice, the old man died".

Class.

Pretty sure it's "souls", but then again, "soles" is quite a nice concept if you have a large enough fish bowl......

[wateroftyne]

6 minutes ago, Japhet said:

 

Have to say that none of Waters solo stuff or Floyd's stuff after he left has really done it for me. They were, to me, bigger than the sum of their parts (but I might give RW's latest album a go if you recommend it.

100% - like you, none of his solo stuff has done it for me, but this album is a corker. He doesn't try to hide the Floyd references, and IMO it's all the better for it.

[Geek99]

16 hours ago, mr zed said:

"And American businessmen buy up Van Gogh's for the price of a hospital wing".

del amitri

[wateroftyne]

5 minutes ago, Geek99 said:

del amitri

That popped up in the car on shuffle t'other day - Mrs. WoT & I hadn't heard it for years.

Musically it hasn't dated one jot, but we got talking about how the lyrics would be different in 2017. The line quoted above was one of the ones we agreed was 'of the time', and would probably more likely be Russian, Chinese etc. now.

I bet Mr. Currie didn't see that coming in 1989...

[mr zed]

1 hour ago, phil.c60 said:

Pretty sure it's "souls", but then again, "soles" is quite a nice concept if you have a large enough fish bowl......

Yes it is! Autocorrect is my excuse however it's probably more to do with posting on here on a phone whilst sitting on the bog! Glad there were no 'soles' living in there!

[Paul S]

I've known wise men and I've danced with fools
I was both in my life
Life's been hard
So have I
Had my share of strife
It's not the things you do
It's what you never get round to
That makes you sad

Wouldn't say that changed my view of the world but when I first listened to those lyrics 45 years ago they made me think about what it must be like to be old.  Now I am they have a certain poignancy.

From John Kongas' eponymous album, the track 'I Would Have Had a Good Time'

[PaulWarning]

17 hours ago, chris_b said:

She was just seventeen. You know what I mean.

Nothing was the same after that.

and also a fine example of why Macca's songs could be a bit corny without Lennon's input, originally it was "looked like a beauty Queen", apparently.

[Toddy17]

32 minutes ago, Paul S said:

I've known wise men and I've danced with fools
I was both in my life
Life's been hard
So have I
Had my share of strife
It's not the things you do
It's what you never get round to
That makes you sad

Wouldn't say that changed my view of the world but when I first listened to those lyrics 45 years ago they made me think about what it must be like to be old.  Now I am they have a certain poignancy.

From John Kongas' eponymous album, the track 'I Would Have Had a Good Time'

That’s heavy stuff, loving that

[Johnny Wishbone]

As someone who has suffered from depression from my mid-teens, this sums up my life in general for many years. I always assumed this song would be my epitaph, but a few years into recovery I can now think way beyond this. That said, I have yet to hear a better vocalisation of the loneliness and isolation that depression brings.

FYI I’d now choose “Madness” by Madness as my funeral song ?

[lurksalot]

Not exactly changed my world at the time , but certainly let me know I wasn't alone in it , which helps sometimes  

billy bragg , a New England 

[gjones]

 

 

Keep you doped with religion and sex and TV
And you think you're so clever and classless and free
But you're still f*****g peasants as far as I can see
A working class hero is something to be
A working class hero is something to be

Edited December 8, 2017 by gjones

[Skol303]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bHWp6x24yRM

This and pretty much everything else by Half Man Half Biscuit around that time.

‘Life changing’ lyrics for me and my mates, in that they made us realise songs didn’t have to be deep and meaningful, and could instead just be about stupid, mundane stuff.

Totally transformed the music we were writing at the time - probably for the worse in hindsight! - and took our teenage garage band in a totally new direction, which led to loads fun.

“Would you mind, dear sir, if I asked you a question?
If music be the food of love, are you the indigestion?”

...and:

"Frank was going through a state of depression in his bedroom
When he reached out for the jar
He swallowed every last pill and he lay back on his duvet
A Haliborange overdose is perhaps not the right way"

...at a time when Bono et al were singing songs that we were supposed to take seriously. So it was the perfect tonic to all that '80s self importance.

I hear a lot of Half Man Half Biscuit in what the Sleaford Mods are doing now. Another band who I think have broken the mould at just the right time.

 

Edited December 9, 2017 by Skol303

[Skol303]

I've also always liked this opening to 'Teardrop' by Massive Attack; a clever little couple of lines:

"Love, love is a verb
Love is a doing word"

Edited December 9, 2017 by Skol303

[Dad3353]

8 minutes ago, Skol303 said:

...Love is a doing word"

Is that 'doing' as in 'boing'..? 

[Cato]

I wouldn't say that any lyrics have changed my world but I've always been very impressed with Billy Bragg's skills.

In the modern era Alex Turner of Arctic Monkeys is head and shoulders above his peers.

Honorable mention for Maximo Park.

 

[wateroftyne]

Lindisfarne's Alan Hull was a genius too.

Love is such a small word for something that is so vast /
But in it lies the future, the present and the past

Wonderful.
 

[Skol303]

8 hours ago, Dad3353 said:

Is that 'doing' as in 'boing'..? 

Haha! If you hear the world through Benny Hill’s ears then quite possibly, yes  

The full lyrics are actually quite poetic:

Love, love is a verb
Love is a doing word
Fearless on my breath
Gentle impulsion
Shakes me, makes me lighter
Fearless on my breath
Teardrop on the fire
Fearless on my breath

[TheGreek]

Morrisey is often quoted as a master wordsmith yet no examples yet cited...

Please don't feel obliged to find something.

[DarkHeart]

Cannons roared, in the valley they thundered
While the guns lit up the night
Then it rained and both sides wondered
Who is wrong and who is right?

On the wire like a ragged old scarecrow
Bloody hands and broken back
When they fire, see him pirouette solo
Jump in time to the rat-a-tat

What a night though it's one of seven
What a night for the dancing dead
What a night to be called to heaven
What a picture to fill your head
To fill your head

By the wall in silhouette standing
Through a flash of sudden light
Cigarette from his mouth just hanging
Paper square to his heart pinned tight

Gather 'round, reluctant marksmen
One of them to take his life
With a smile he gives them pardon
Leaves the dark and takes the light

What a night though it's one of seven
What a night for the dancing dead
What a night to be called to heaven
What a picture to fill your head
To fill your head

They dispatch their precious cargo
And knock him back right off his feet
And they pray may no one follow
Better still to face the beast

When the field has become a garden
And the wall has stood the test
Children play and the dogs run barking
Who would think or who would guess?

What a night though it's one of seven
Le mort dansant
What a night for the dancing dead
What a night to be called to heaven
What a picture to fill your head
To fill your head
 

 

Les Morts Dansant by Magnum, the most thought filling lyrics i`ve ever heard and a brilliant song to boot.

[grumpyguts]

They tell me what they think but they stink and I really don't care. 

 

[Deep Thought]

Well our toilet went crazy yesterday afternoon 

The plumber he said ‘never flush a tampon’

This great information cost me half a week’s pay 

And the toilet blew up later on the next day

Frank Zappa

[kodiakblair]

I keep wanting to quote Zodiac Mindwarp lyrics but it'd lower the tone a bit   Lou Reed wrote a few that stuck with me.

"The bias of the father runs on through the son
And leaves him bothered and bewildered
The drugs in his veins only cause him to spit
At the face staring back in the mirror

How can he tell a good act from the bad?
He can't even remember his name
How can he do what needs to be done
When he's a follower and not a leader?

The sickness of the mother runs on through the girl
Leaving her small and helpless
Liquor files through her brain with the force of a gun
Leaving her running in circles

How can she tell a good act from the bad
When she's flat on her back in her room?
How can she do what needs to be done
When she's a coward and a bleeder?

The man if he marries will batter his child
And have endless excuses
The woman sadly will do much the same
Thinking that it's right and it's proper

Better than their mommy or their daddy did
Better than the childhood they suffered
The truth is they're happier when they're in pain
In fact, that's why they got married"

 

All cheery stuff from Endless Cycle