stewblack Posted October 11, 2020 Share Posted October 11, 2020 Next to the bass the most interesting part of any song is, for me, the words. So what couplet or 3 or 4 lines do you treasure? Not whole songs, just the little gems of wordsmithery that leap out at you. I'll start with Elvis. Honestly the King Of The Couplet the Vizier of the Verse, for me - I could easily just quote him all day. So to get the ball rolling, from The Loved Ones : "Don't get smart or sarcastic he snaps back just like elastic, Spare us the theatrics and the verbal gymnastics we break wise guys just like matchsticks" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geek99 Posted October 11, 2020 Share Posted October 11, 2020 “You are the church of love and suddenly I’m feeling holy” - voices of the beehive - I think their songwriter is/was a member 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Newfoundfreedom Posted October 11, 2020 Share Posted October 11, 2020 I always thought this was a clever little lyric from the late, great, Kirsty MacColl. I saw two shooting stars last night I wished on them but they were only satellites It’s wrong to wish on space hardware I wish, I wish, I wish you’d care 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Man Riva Posted October 11, 2020 Share Posted October 11, 2020 Bowie - Drive-In Saturday ”His name was always buddy And he'd shrug and ask to stay She'd sigh like twig the wonder kid And turn her face away. She's uncertain if she likes him But she knows she really loves him It's a crash course for the ravers It's a drive-in Saturday...” 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Man Riva Posted October 11, 2020 Share Posted October 11, 2020 Joni Mitchell - Hejira “I know, no one's going to show me everything We all come and go unknown Each so deep and superficial Between the forceps and the stone...” 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrCrane Posted October 11, 2020 Share Posted October 11, 2020 (edited) 21 minutes ago, Newfoundfreedom said: I always thought this was a clever little lyric from the late, great, Kirsty MacColl. I saw two shooting stars last night I wished on them but they were only satellites It’s wrong to wish on space hardware I wish, I wish, I wish you’d care Wonderful song , but on a point of order, that verse is by Billy Bragg (on the original Life's a Riot with Spy vs Spy) The extra verse(s) on Kirsty's cover were "My dreams were full of strange ideas My mind was set despite my fears. But other things got in my way I never asked that boy to stay. Once upon a time at home I sat beside the telephone Waiting for someone to pull me through When at last it didn't ring I knew it wasn't you" These were also written by Billy, but adapted by Kirsty. On a related note, I'd propose "There's a guy works down the chip shop, swears he's Elvis Just like you swore to me that you'd be true There's a guy works down the chip shop, swears he's Elvis But he's a liar and I'm not sure about you." Edited October 11, 2020 by MrCrane 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davepb24 Posted October 11, 2020 Share Posted October 11, 2020 If you pass through my soul tonight Gather all his troubles Tomorrow's long eternal night Gather for tomorrow "Love Under Will" Fields Of the Nephilim...their definitive track lyrically and musically to me 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woodinblack Posted October 11, 2020 Share Posted October 11, 2020 1 minute ago, davepb24 said: "Love Under Will" Fields Of the Nephilim...their definitive track lyrically and musically to me And me Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jus Lukin Posted October 12, 2020 Share Posted October 12, 2020 (edited) - Edited March 9, 2022 by Jus Lukin 1 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul_5 Posted October 12, 2020 Share Posted October 12, 2020 “Nw I guess I’ll have to tell ‘em That I got no cerebellum” Joey Ramone’s finest, courtesy of ‘Teenage Lobotomy’. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpondonBassed Posted October 12, 2020 Share Posted October 12, 2020 Good as some of the quotes are... they don't quite hold up when they're there in black and white. In fact some of them can look quite pretentious, especially when taken out of context like this. I think a great vocalist can make ANY combination of words sound good however. Consider: Quote Tank fly boss walk jam nitty gritty You're listening to the boy from the big bad city This is jam hot This is jam hot Then listen to the narrative. The Boy has little to do with the story. The narrative is by a girl who doesn't care about her bo's reputation, she is that hot for him. She then goes on: Quote Love is a game of chances So I'll take my chance with you And you I won't try to change We talk about it and I'd Rather have a piece of you Than all of nothing Oh really? You mean you won't become a bunny boiler somewhere down the line? Okayyyyyyy. Quote Friends are always telling me you're a user I don't care what you do to them Just be good to me Just be good to me Takes one to know one duck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpondonBassed Posted October 12, 2020 Share Posted October 12, 2020 5 hours ago, Old Man Riva said: twig the wonder kid Is that a reference to Twiggy? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bassfinger Posted October 12, 2020 Share Posted October 12, 2020 Do you still remember December's foggy freeze When the ice that clings on to your beard Was screaming agony. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oopsdabassist Posted October 12, 2020 Share Posted October 12, 2020 Love me a bit of Tull, Ian Anderson writes some telling lyrics! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Earbrass Posted October 12, 2020 Share Posted October 12, 2020 "He had slyly inveigled her up to his flat, To view his collection of stamps; And he said as he hastened to put out the cat, The wine, his cigar, and the lamps:" from "Have Some Madeira M'Dear" by Flanders and Swann 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bassace Posted October 12, 2020 Share Posted October 12, 2020 (edited) ‘There’s no love song finer But how strange the change from major to minor Ev’ry time we say goodbye’ Cole Porter Edited October 12, 2020 by bassace Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Man Riva Posted October 12, 2020 Share Posted October 12, 2020 3 hours ago, SpondonBassed said: Is that a reference to Twiggy? It is! He wasn’t shy in referencing actual people in his lyrics - on Aladdin Sane (the album that Drive-In Saturday comes from) there are name checks for Twiggy, Che Guevara, Benny Goodman and Mick Jagger. From the same album, The Jean Genie is apparently inspired by Iggy Pop, and Lady Grinning Soul by Claudia Lennear, but neither are mentioned by name. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leonard Smalls Posted October 12, 2020 Share Posted October 12, 2020 I tend to find lyrics of the "She Loves me/She Doesn't love me" type to be just that bit trite while pretending to be deep... I personally don't really care either way about some singer's love life! However, if you're going to have lyrics I'd prefer them to be either powerful, or witty... Here's powerful: You're a star-belly sneech You suck like a leech You want everyone to act like you Kiss donkey while you beach So you can get rich While your boss gets richer off you Well, you'll work harder With a gun in your back For a bowl of rice a day Slave for soldiers 'Til you starve Then your head is skewered on a stake Now you can go, where the people are one Now you can go where they get things done What you need, my son What you need, my son Is a Holiday in Cambodia Where people are dressed in black A Holiday in Cambodia Where you'll kiss donkey or crack Witty, or just downright daft: Now this is what I want you all to do: If you got faults, defects or shortcomings, You know, like arthritis, rheumatism or migraines, Whatever part of your body it is, I want you to lay it on your radio, let the vibes flow through. Funk not only moves, it can re-move, dig? The desired effect is what you get When you improve your Interplanetary Funksmanship. Sir Lollipop Man! Chocolate coated, freaky and and habit forming. Doin' it to you in 3-D, So groovy that I dig me. Once upon a time called Now! Somebody say, "Is there funk after death?" I say, "Is Seven Up?" Yeah, P-Funk! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeftyJ Posted October 12, 2020 Share Posted October 12, 2020 I studied silence to learn the music I joined the sinful to regain innocence From "Dead to the world" by Nightwish. I don't listen to it much anymore, but that bit always stuck with me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Man Riva Posted October 12, 2020 Share Posted October 12, 2020 Apologies, it’s Bowie again (and more than just a few lines!). I love the opening lines/verse to Young Americans. It sets the scene perfectly and is almost like the opening lines to a novel or a screenplay... “They pulled in just behind the bridge He lays her down, he frowns ‘Gee my life's a funny thing, am I still too young?’ He kissed her then and there She took his ring, took his babies It took him minutes, took her nowhere Heaven knows, she'd have taken anything, but...” Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nail Soup Posted October 12, 2020 Share Posted October 12, 2020 9 hours ago, paul_5 said: “Nw I guess I’ll have to tell ‘em That I got no cerebellum” Joey Ramone’s finest, courtesy of ‘Teenage Lobotomy’. One of my favourites too,........ .........but (pedant on) I think that was a Dee-Dee Ramone lyric (and music). As I understand it: if the Ramones song is about love etc then it's probably Joey.... all the Geeks, Cretins, Lobotomies and general Ramones-world stuff are probably Dee-Dee. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeftyP Posted October 12, 2020 Share Posted October 12, 2020 From "Don't Rain On My Parade" But whether I'm the rose Of sheer perfection Or freckle on the nose Of life's complexion Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kendall Posted October 12, 2020 Share Posted October 12, 2020 I'm a huge fan of Andrew Eldritch (Sisters of Mercy) when it comes to lyrics, there are many. But I've always loved the sting in the tail that he put at the end of Under The Gun. forget the many steps to heaven it never happened and it ain't so hard happiness is a loaded weapon and a short cut is better by far explosive bolts, ten thousand volts at a million miles an hour abrasive wheels and molten metals it's a semi-automatic, get in the car corrosive heart and frozen heat we're worlds apart where we could meet where the street fold round and the motors start and the idiot wields the power where the chosen hold the highest card on the field of honour where the ground is hard so the highest hand is joking wild and the house soon fold and no-one stand I put my finger on and dialled the tower, the moon, the gun, and nine nine nine, singer down cloudburst and all around the first are last, the blessed get wired the best is yet to come I put my finger on and fired heat-seeking, out of the sun you can set the controls for the heart or the knees and the meek'll inherit what they damn well please get ahead, go figure, go ahead and pull the trigger everything under the gun Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrCrane Posted October 12, 2020 Share Posted October 12, 2020 One from Tom Lehrer Sleep, baby, sleep, in peace may you slumber, No danger lurks, your sleep to encumber. We've got the missiles, peace to determine, And one of the fingers on the button will be German. Why shouldn't they have nuclear warheads? England says no, but they all are soreheads. I say a bygone should be a bygone, Let's make peace the way we did in Stanleyville and Saigon. Once all the Germans were warlike and mean, But that couldn't happen again. We taught them a lesson in 1918 And they've hardly bothered us since then. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stewblack Posted October 12, 2020 Author Share Posted October 12, 2020 3 hours ago, Earbrass said: "He had slyly inveigled her up to his flat, To view his collection of stamps; And he said as he hastened to put out the cat, The wine, his cigar, and the lamps:" from "Have Some Madeira M'Dear" by Flanders and Swann Peerless genius. The Slow Train works as a poem in its own right. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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