Two favorites:

A single lyric that I've always loved is from The Boxer by Simon and Garfunkel:

"After changes upon changes we are more or less the same"

For a whole song, one of my favorites is John Mayer's Comfortable, because it perfectly captures the feeling of still loving someone when you are supposed to have moved on.

"I just remembered, that time at the market
snuck up behind me and jumped on my shopping cart
And rode down, isle 5
you looked behind you to smile back at me
crashed into a rack full of magazines
they asked us, if we could leave.

Can't remember, what went wrong last September
though i'm sure you'd remind me, if you had to

Our love was, comfortable and
so broken in

I sleep with this new girl i'm still getting used to
my friends all approve, say 'shes gonna be good for you'
they throw me, high fives

She says the bible is all that she reads
and prefers that I not use profanity
your mouth was, so dirty

Life of the party
and she swears that she's artsy
but you could distinguish
Miles from Coltrane

Our love was, comfortable and
so broken in
she's perfect, so flawless
or so they say, say

She thinks I can't see the smile that shes faking
and poses for pictures that aren't being taken
I loved you
grey sweat pants, no makeup, so perfect

Our love was, comfortable and
so broken in
she's perfect, so flawless
I'm not impressed, I want you back."

That's from the verse that isn't on the album version, isn't it? I remember seeing this tape of some reuinion concert, and they started singing this verse I'd never heard, and when they said "After changes upon changes, we are more than less the same" they seemed to glance at each other in a touching moment, realizing how the lyrics applied to them at the moment.

My favorite lyric from The Boxer though is 'What are promises, all lies and jest, still a man hears what he wants to hear and disregards the rest'.

OK, here's a few of my favorites:

Hello Ma'am, would you be interested
In some sexual positions and emotional investments?
- Atmosphere, "Trying To Find a Balance"

Well I want to drink it up and swim in it until I drown
My moral standing is lying down
- Nine Inch Nails, "The Only Time"

But I gotta be careful...
Careful of the Devil and be prayerful.
The phallanges of St. Vitus
Were stricken with arthritis
So he lobbed them off and left them on the table.
- Th' Legendary Shack*Shakers, "Where's the Devil... When You Need Him?"

I love the morbid humor in that last one.

quote:

Originally posted by Bobthespirit:
That's from the verse that isn't on the album version, isn't it? I remember seeing this tape of some reuinion concert, and they started singing this verse I'd never heard, and when they said "After changes upon changes, we are more than less the same" they seemed to glance at each other in a touching moment, realizing how the lyrics applied to them at the moment.

My favorite lyric from The Boxer though is 'What are promises, all lies and jest, still a man hears what he wants to hear and disregards the rest'.

I think the lyric is from the Central Park concert recording. I wonder if that is the same tape that you are talking about. I'll have to look back through the album notes to make sure I have the quote exactly right! I also like your quote from The Boxer.

Another favorite quote of mine is from Pink Floyd's "Wish You Were Here": "A smile from a veil -- do you think you could tell?"

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Elle,

Agree or Disagree: the lyrics of "The Boxer" are about Bob Dylan.

In keeping with the current micro-theme of lyrics about other musicians, Peter Gabriel's "Solsbury Hill"

Today I don’t need a replacement
I’ll tell them what the smile on my face meant
My heart was going boom boom boom
Hey, I said, you can keep my things, they’ve come to take me home.

Now Playing: NPR's Morning Edition

quote:

Originally posted by paxsoprano:
Agree or Disagree: the lyrics of "The Boxer" are about Bob Dylan.

Disagree. Interesting to think about, though.

What do you think, paxsoprano?

Two Headed Boy Part II - Neutral Milk Hotel
Not sure it's actually the lyrics themselves or where they sit in the song, but I get goosebumps where it goes-

"And in my dreams you're alive and you're crying,
as your mouth moves in mine, soft and sweet,
Rings of flowers round your eyes and
I'll love you for the rest of your life (when you're ready)"

WRT "The Boxer" lyrics, I think Paul Simon might have been thinking of Dylan, especially in the first and last verses.

"I have squandered my resistance
For a pocketful of mumbles"

That seems to speak directly about Dylan's forsaking the protest movement in favor of surrealist poetry. And in the last verse:

"In the clearing stands a boxer
And a fighter by his trade
And he carries the reminders
Of every glove that laid him down
Or cut him till he cried out
In his anger and his shame
'I am leaving, I am leaving'
But the fighter still remains"

He is basically saying that criticism doesn't affect him and that he'll keep on going. I doubt Simon sat down one day and thought, "I'm going to write a song about Bob Dylan," but the parallels are obvious.

And Istanbullies, I also love Two Headed Boy pt. 1 and 2 lyrics.

"And they'll be lacing fingers through the notches in your spine."

quote:

Originally posted by paxsoprano:
WRT "The Boxer" lyrics, I think Paul Simon might have been thinking of Dylan, especially in the first and last verses.

"I have squandered my resistance
For a pocketful of mumbles"

That seems to speak directly about Dylan's forsaking the protest movement in favor of surrealist poetry. And in the last verse:

"In the clearing stands a boxer
And a fighter by his trade
And he carries the reminders
Of every glove that laid him down
Or cut him till he cried out
In his anger and his shame
'I am leaving, I am leaving'
But the fighter still remains"

He is basically saying that criticism doesn't affect him and that he'll keep on going. I doubt Simon sat down one day and thought, "I'm going to write a song about Bob Dylan," but the parallels are obvious.

And Istanbullies, I also love Two Headed Boy pt. 1 and 2 lyrics.

"And they'll be lacing fingers through the notches in your spine."

Actually there's also a reference to Dylan's "My Back Pages" in the Boxer...and the content is similar to what Dylan says - "In a soldier's stance I aimed my hand at the mongrel dogs who teach...fearing not I'd become my enemy in the instant that I preach"...incidentally "Another Side of Bob Dylan" is my favourite of his.

Dylan had to cover "The Boxer" in Self-Portrait.

"I've seen some things I thought I never saw ... covered in hair!"

"Monsters in the Parasol" -- Queens of the Stone Age.

I've never been able to decide whether this is the most disturbing, or most hilarious, lyric I've ever heard.

quote:

So I've got a plan, it's the best than I can do.
You say "It's in God's Hands",
But God doesn't always have the best goddamn plans does he?

- Wolf Parade "Dear Sons and Daughters of Hungry Ghosts"

quote:

And I’m found too fast, called too fond of flames, and then I’m phoning my friends, and then I’m shouldering the blame, while you’re picking pebbles out of the drain, miles ago. You’re out singing songs, and I’m down shouting names at the flickerless screen, going fucking insane.

-Okkervil River "A Stone"

quote:

I like the peace
in the backseat,
I don’t have to drive,
I don’t have to speak,
I can watch the country side,
and I can fall asleep.

My family tree’s
loosing all it’s leaves,
crashing towards the driver’s seat,
the lightning bolt made enough heat
to melt the street beneath your feet.

Alice died
in the night,

I’ve been learning to drive.
My whole life,
I’ve been learning.

-Arcade Fire "In the Backseat"

quote:

When you were young
You were the king of carrot flowers
And how you built a tower tumbling through the trees
In holy rattlesnakes that fell all around your feet

And your mom would stick a fork right into daddy's shoulder
And your dad would throw the garbage all across the floor
As we would lay and learn what each other's bodies were for

And this is the room
One afternoon I knew I could love you
And from above you how I sank into your soul
Into that secret place where no one dares to go

And your mom would drink until she was no longer speaking
And dad would dream of all the different ways to die
Each one a little more than he could dare to try

-Neutral Milk Hotel "King of Carrot Flowers Pt. 1"

Ok, so I've posted only 3-4 times now, but it's always this song that makes me give my two cents. Istanbullies, I agree with you on the goosebumps from listening to "Two Headed Boy, pt. 2", but for me it's the final verse that does it:

"two headed boy she is all you could need
she will feed you tomatoes and radio wires and
retire to sheets safe and clean, but don't hate her when she gets up to leave."

...and it's still not even my favorite song on that album.

I've been reading a Clash bio and listening to a lot of Clash, and I'm reminded of this brilliant couplet from "Death or Glory":

"I believe in this, and it's been tested by research/He who f**ks nuns will later join the Church"

quote:

"two headed boy she is all you could need
she will feed you tomatoes and radio wires and
retire to sheets safe and clean, but don't hate her when she gets up to leave."

I really don't know what the hell most of the lyrics on that album mean, despite extensive analysis. Despite my cluelessness as to their meaning, I really like a lot of them. I guess they just conjure images and feelings in me that I find fascinating and enjoyable. One example:

"He didn't mean to make you cry / with sparks that ring and bullets fly / on empty rings around your heart / the world just screams and falls apart"

ravinglunatic makes a good point in that lyrics dont necessarily have to make sense in order to be good; if it makes sense musically and sounds good, than the lyrics is good:

Some brimstone baritone anti-cyclone rolling stone preacher from the east
He says: "Dethrone the dictaphone, hit it in its funny bone, that's where they expect it least"
-Blinded by the Light, Bruce Springsteen


... but truly great lyrics have to help convey the premise of the song, like I feel these do:

Who cares for medication
When you've worn away the cure?
-Wearing and Tearing, Led Zeppelin

Despite all the amputations,
you know you could just go out
And dance to a rock 'n roll station
and It was alright.
-Rock and Roll, The Velvet Underground

I Gotta stay awake, gotta try and shake off this creeping malaise
If I don't stand my own ground, how can I find my way out of this maze?
-Dogs, Pink Floyd

quote:

Originally posted by St. Ides Heaven:

"Everything that keeps me together is falling apart." - Modest Mouse "Third Planet"

I never realised how brilliant that line is...


hmm...

Belle + Seb-'Lazy Line Painter Jane'

"Being a rebel's fine, but you go all the way to being brutal"

Radiohead-'How To Disappear Completely'

"I go
Where I please
I walk through walls
I float down the Liffey "

countless Kinks songs...countless Leonard Cohen songs...

Red House Painters-'Katy Song'

"you've got some kind of family there to turn to and that's more than i could ever give you"

and many other crushingly sad Kozelek gems...

and my favourite...

Tindersticks-'My Sister'

"Do you remember my sister? How many mistakes did she make with those never
blinking eyes? I couldn't work it out. I swear she could read your mind, your
life, the depths of your soul at one glance. Maybe she was stripping herself
away, saying
Here I am, this is me
I am yours and everything about me, everything you see...
If only you look hard enough
I never could.
Our life was a pillow-fight. We'd stand there on the quilt, our hands clenched
ready. Her with her milky teeth, so late for her age, and a Stanley knife in
her hand. She sliced the tyres on my bike and I couldn't forgive her.
She went blind at the age of five. We'd stand at the bedroom window and she'd
get me to tell her what I saw. I'd describe the houses opposite, the little
patch of grass next to the path, the gate with its rotten hinges forever wedged
open that Dad was always going to fix. She'd stand there quiet for a moment. I
thought she was trying to develop the images in her own head. Then she'd say:
I can see little twinkly stars,
like Christmas tree lights in faraway windows.
Rings of brightly coloured rocks
floating around orange and mustard planets.
I can see huge tiger striped fishes
chasing tiny blue and yellow dashes,
all tails and fins and bubbles.
I'd look at the grey house opposite, and close the curtains.
She burned down the house when she was ten. I was away camping with the scouts.
The fireman said she'd been smoking in bed - the old story, I thought. The cat
and our mum died in the flames, so Dad took us to stay with our Aunt in the
country. He went back to London to find us a new house. We never saw him again.
On her thirteenth birthday she fell down the well in our Aunt's garden and
broke her head. She'd been drinking heavily. On her recovery her sight
returned, a fluke of nature everyone said. That's when she said she'd never
blink again. I would tell her when she started at me, with her eyes wide and
watery, that they reminded me of the well she fell into. She liked this, it
made her laugh.
She moved in with a gym teacher when she was fifteen, all muscles he was. He
lost his job when it all came out, and couldn't get another one. Not in that
kind of small town. Everybody knew everyone else's business. My sister would
hold her head high, though. She said she was in love. They were together for
five years until one day he lost his temper. He hit over the back of the neck
with his bullworker. She lost the use of the right side of her body. He got
three years and was out in fifteen months. We saw him a while later, he was
coaching a non-league football team in a Cornwall seaside town. I don't think
he recognized her. My sister had put on a lot of weight from being in a chair
all the time. She'd get me to stick pins and stub out cigarettes in her right
hand. She'd laugh like mad because it didn't hurt. Her left hand was pretty
good though. We'd have arm wrestling matches, I'd have to use both arms and
she'd still beat me.
We buried her when she was 32. Me and my Aunt, the vicar, and the man who dug
the hole. She said she didn't want to be cremated and wanted a cheap coffin so
the worms could get to her quickly. She said she liked the idea of it, though I
thought it was because of what happened to the cat, and our mum. "

"Let fury have the hour
Anger can be power
D'you know that you can use it?"

- "Working for the Clampdown" , the Clash

"I can't believe life's so complex
When I just want to sit here and watch you undress"

- "This is Love", PJ Harvey

"Papa died Sunday and I understood
All dead white boys say God is good"

- "Sodom, South Georgia", Iron and Wine

"I can't live forever, I can't always be
One day I'll be sand on a beach by the sea"

- "Calendar Girl", Stars

"Park that car
Drop that phone
Sleep on the floor
Dream about me"

- "Anthems for a Seventeen Year Old Girl", Broken Social Scene

I'm missing quite a few, and it's really bugging me that I can't remember which ones...

I should have mentioned these in my first post...

quote:

The King's crossing was the main attraction
Dominoes falling in a chain reaction
The scraping subject ruled by fear told me
Whiskey works better than beer
The judge is on vinyl, decisions are final
And nobody gets a reprieve
And every wave is tidal
If you hang around you're going to get wet
I can't prepare for death any more than I already have
All you can do now is watch the shells
The game looks easy that's why it sells
Frustrated fireworks inside your head
Are going to stand and deliver talk instead
The method acting that pays my bills
Keeps the fat man feeding in Beverly Hills
I got a heavy metal mouth, it hurls obscenity
And I get my check from the trash treasury
Because I took my own insides out
It don't matter cause I have no sex life
And all I wanna do now is inject my ex-wife
I've seen the movie
And I know what happens
It's Christmas time
And the needles on the tree
A skinny Santa is bringing something to me
His voice is overwhelming
But his speech is slurred
And I only understand every other word
Open your parachute and grab your gun
Falling down like an omen, a setting sun
Read the part and we turn out fine
It's a hell of a role if you can keep it alive
But I don't care if I f**k up
I'm going on a date
With a rich white lady
Ain't life great?
Gimme one good reason not to do it
This is the place where time reverses
And dead men talk to all the pretty nurses
Instruments shine on a silver tray
Don't let me get carried away
Don't let me get carried away
Don't let me be carried away

quote:

drink up, baby, stay up all night
the things you could do, you won't but you might
the potential you'll be, that you'll never see
the promises you'll only make

drink up with me now and forget all about the pressure of days
do what I say and I'll make you okay and drive them away
the images stuck in your head

people you've been before that you don't want around anymore
that push and shove and won't bend to your will
I'll keep them still

drink up, baby, look at the stars
I'll kiss you again between the bars where I'm seeing you
there with your hands in the air, waiting to finally be caught

drink up one more time and I'll make you mine
keep you apart deep in my heart separate from the rest
where I like you the best and keep the things you forgot

the people you've been before that you don't want around anymore
that push and shove and won't bend to your will
I'll keep them still

can't believe I used to think that was a love song...

quote:

I'm waiting for the train
The subway that only goes one way
The stupid thing that will come to pull us apart
And make everybody late
You spent everything you had
Wanted everything to stop that bad
And now I'm a crushed credit card registered to smith
Not the name that you call me with
You turned white like a saint
I�m tired of dancing on a pot of gold flake paint
Oh we're so very precious, you and i
And everything that you do makes me want to die
Oh I just told the biggest lie
I just told the biggest lie
The biggest lie

I could go on...Elliott Smith is the greatest songwriter of this generation. And that's saying something.

This is a lyric, which I believe properly explains how despair, sadness and loss can be turned into anger.
It's from Rage Against the Machine's "Battle of Los Angeles" in a song called "Ashes in the Fall":
"A mass of tears has transformed to stone, now
Sharpened on suffering and woven into slings"

Just fucking brilliant, if you'll pardon my German..