Songs with wonderful lyrics ?

For some reason, I know not why , I never really listened to the lyrics of songs . I might occasionally notice a particular sentence or would remember a chorus but whether I loved a song or not really depended on the general sound/ rhythm rather than the lyrics which often passed me by .
I was always bemused by people who could easily sing along to whole songs and recently realized I was perhaps missing out.
Not long ago I started a thread on existentialism /depression etc and someone mentioned the song by Pink Floyd .. Time. I knew the song but not what it was about so googled the lyrics and became enlightened .
What song lyrics do you find particularly amazing ? .. life changing ?
I guess it depends on what stage of life you are at but I particularly love lines containing wisdom .
An example that touched me being an often depressed soul was “who wants to live forever ” and “the show must go on” by Freddie. Another one .. perhaps more so because of the the music was “the power of love” by FGTH.
Even “Angels” by RW moved me and I wouldn’t have believed that an ex punk rocker from the 70’s. Must be getting soft!
Any recommendations much appreciated.
Thanks
Bill

Deacon Blue – Dignity springs to mind.

When I was younger, I was more drawn to sings that tell a story. Lots of They Might Be Giants, Beautiful South and some old classics like Running Bear, Tell Laura I Love Her, Boy Named Sue, Big Bad John.

Try ‘Life’, by Des’ree. Beautifully crafted.

The blim holes in my shell suit,
Formed into an absolute,
Fell apart one day.

Mario Man by The Super Furry Animals.

funnily enough I was reading this article about Howard devoto’s best lyrics the other day. Good introduction to Magazine, one of the greatest Manchester bands

Devoto is a clever wry bastard

Discover Magazine’s Howard Devoto through his 10 best lyrics

Deacon Blue – Dignity springs to mind.

Good choice.

When I was younger, I was more drawn to sings that tell a story.

I still am, and this is one of my favourite examples

(and everything else off that album)

Also a fan of a story in a song too. Half Man Half Biscuit are the masters at this, (though not sure they could be described as life changing) as are Pulp  and the Arctic Monkeys  Whatever you say I am…

‘ oh the snot has caked against my pants, it’s turning into crystal’

Arthur Lee, ‘live and let live’ 1967

I’d much rather listen to lyrics. Happy to sacrifice some tunefulness for a good story eg Bob Dylan or Billy Bragg. I like a bit of Chumbawamba too. All those are stuffed full of good lyrics

I love the lyrics in Enjoy the Silence by Depeche Mode. Land of Confusion seems to stay very current as well lyrics wise.

Kyoto by Phoebe Bridgers is brilliant lyrically, but contains one of the best lines ever

I’m going to kill you…
if you don’t beat me to it

Reminds me of various relationships I had when I was younger

And this is just a piece of lyrical wonderfulness that always makes me smile. The whole thing is a little slice of joy

So I bide my time with philosophical questions
Not for nothing, but what came first?
The chicken nugget or the Egg McMuffin?

On Guy Garvey’s album… Courting the Squall – the lyric is “In the hills it’s an overcoat colder”

I think anyone who lives outside a big city can relate to that

Also a fan of a story in a song too. Half Man Half Biscuit are the masters at this

I was just going to say the same. Two works of utter genius off the wonderfully titled ‘Nobody cares about your creative hub, so get your ****ing hedge cut’

A man of constant sorrow (with a garage in constant use)

And Renfields Afoot (definitely NSFW as its very sweary)

A lyric that’s stuck with me, and applies quite well to some of the threads on here:

I believe I’ve passed the age
of consciousness and righteous rage.
I find that just surviving is a noble fight

I once believed in causes too,
had my pointless point of view.
But life went on matter who was wrong or right

These

Too many to mention. Try this one by Bonnie prince Billie

Well, you’re my friend
And can you see
Many times, we’ve been out drinkin’
Many times we shared our thoughts
But did you ever, ever notice
The kind of thoughts I got?
Well, you know I have a love
A love for everyone I know
And you know I have the drive
To live, I won’t let go
But can you see its opposition
Comes rising up sometimes?
That it’s dreadful imposition
Comes blacking in my mind?
And that I see a darkness
And that I see a darkness
And that I see a darkness
And that I see a darkness
Did you know how much I love you?
Here’s a hope that somehow you
Can save me from this darkness

This.

It’s pretty much perfect in every way.

And this

Get me. Every damn time.

Lord knows why but for the school run this morning I could not get the lyrics ‘Hot dog, jumping frog, Alberquerque’ out of my head.

At one point I sang the lyrics out loud to which my nine year old asked ‘What’s Alberquerque?’, which then precipitated a conversation about US states,

Which led to a conversation about UK counties

Which led to how and why we write addresses

Which led to postcodes

Which led to the NATO alphabet

Which led to the situation in Ukraine…….

The school run is an interesting episode in my day.

Elbow – Scattered Black and Whites.

I really love Elbow/Guy. But this one makes me quite emotional, instantly throws me back to detailed memories of my dear Grandad, and all the adventures he took us on.

“A high-back chair, he sits and stares
A thousand yards and whistles marching-band
Kneeling by and speaking up
He reaches out and I take a massive hand
Disjointed tales that flit between
Short trousers and a full dress uniform
And he talks of people ten years gone
Like I’ve known them all my life
Like scattered black & whites
I come back here from time to time
I shelter here somedays”

The Beatles’ For No-one with that immortal line ‘You won’t forget her’ sung in Scouse

I think there’s a “the music is just there to carry the lyrics” camp and “the words are just sounds to go with the music” camp. I’m mostly in the latter category but sometimes enjoy a well fashioned phrase – like the Phoebe Bridgers one.
But I can’t listen to Into Your Arms with dry eyes

Common People by Pulp

A Hard Rain’s Gonna Fall by Bob Dylan. For a wonderful piece of storytelling, Hurricane by the same artist.

I tend to be drawn towards songs & artists that are a little melancholic. Even those artist famed for their melancholiness occasionally hit you with such a lovely song.

This for instance if you can get by the sad voice lies imo a beautiful song

And this one!

Dire Straits, Brothers in Arms, always gets to me.
And it’s rather appropriate with everything that’s going on in Ukraine just now

These mist covered mountains
Are a home now for me
But my home is the lowlands
And always will be
Someday you’ll return to
Your valleys and your farms
And you’ll no longer burn to be
Brothers in arms
Through these fields of destruction
Baptisms of fire
I’ve witnessed your suffering
As the battle raged high
And though they did hurt me so bad
In the fear and alarm
You did not desert me
My brothers in arms
There’s so many different worlds
So many different suns
And we have just one world
But we live in different ones
Now the sun’s gone to hell and
The moon’s riding high
Let me bid you farewell
Every man has to die
But it’s written in the starlight
And every line in your palm
We’re fools to make war
On our brothers in arms

Bon Iver: Holocene

Loads of Stevie Wonder come to mind, how about

If it’s Magic (Songs In The Key of Life)

and Mercy Mercy Me by Marvin Gaye is genius

Billy Bragg has written some great lyrics about being a normal human being.

Life With The Lions

I hate the arsehole I become
Every time I’m with you
You know you’ve got me on the run
But let me make it clear to you
It’s taken two fools such as we
To make love deaf, dumb and blind
Now you’re upset ’cause I can’t read your mind love
You’re upset ’cause I can’t read your mind
I hate the arsehole I become
Every time I’m with you
I get the feeling looking in your eyes
That somehow I should forgive you
I know that I’m guilty but I don’t know what I’ve done
You’re not about to let me join in the fun are you
You’re not about to let me join in the fun
I hate the arsehole I become
Every time I’m with you
I hate the way you try to give me back
All the things I give to you
I know when I leave the room
They say what’s up with him
But love is not a game you play to win girl
Love is not a game you play to win
If that face of yours could only talk
The stories it could tell
The chase is always better than the kill, love
The chase is always better than the kill

The Great Leap Forwards

It may have been Camelot for Jack and Jacqueline
But on the Che Guevara highway filling up with gasoline
Fidel Castro’s brother spies a rich lady who’s crying
Over luxury’s disappointment
So he walks over and he’s trying
To sympathize with her but he thinks that he should warn her
That the Third World is just around the corner
In the Soviet Union a scientist is blinded
By the resumption of nuclear testing and he is reminded
That Dr. Robert Oppenheimer’s optimism fell
At the first hurdle
In the Cheese Pavilion and the only noise I hear
Is the sound of someone stacking chairs
And mopping up spilled beer
And someone asking questions and basking in the light
Of the fifteen fame-filled minutes of the fanzine writer
Mixing pop and politics he asks me what the use is
I offer him embarrassment and my usual excuses
While looking down the corridor
Out to where the van is waiting
I’m looking for the great leap forward
Jumble sales are organized
And pamphlets have been posted
Even after closing time there’s still parties to be hosted
You can be active with the activists
Or sleep in with the sleepers
While you’re waiting for the great leap forwards
One leap forward, two leaps back
Will politics get me the sack?
Waiting for the great leap forwards
Well, here comes the future and you can’t run from it
If you’ve got a blacklist, I want to be on it
Waiting for the great leap forwards
Oh, it’s a mighty long way down rock ‘n roll
From “Top of the Pops” to drawing the dole
You’re waiting for the great leap forwards
If no one out there understands
Then start your own revolution and cut out the middleman
Waiting for the great leap forwards
In a perfect world we’d all sing in tune
But this is reality so give me some room
Waiting for the great leap forwards
So join the struggle while you may
The revolution is just a t-shirt away
Waiting for the great leap forwards
Waiting for the great leap forwards
Waiting for the great leap forwards
Waiting for the great leap forwards
(Baby, I’m strutting) waiting for the great leap forwards
Waiting for the great leap forwards
Waiting for the great leap forwards
Waiting for the great leap forwards
Waiting for the great leap forwards
Waiting for the great leap forwards

My favourite lines of his come from New England

I saw two shooting stars last night
I wished on them but they were only satellites
Is it wrong to wish on space hardware
I wish, I wish, I wish you’d care

https://youtu.be/vOYI85anqmQ

“Today’s the fourth of July

Another June has gone by

And when they light up our town

I just think what a waste of gunpowder and sky”

There are so many great lyricists that it seems a bit pointless to list them all – plenty mentioned above.

Sometimes though, you hear a lyric in a song that means something personal. It might be because of where you are in life, or where you are in the world, or just because it suits the exact situation you find yourself. Other times, other places, it might have left you emotionless.

One for me is because I heard it a lot one sunny summer driving through leafy North Devon, missing my wife who was at home 200 miles away:

And what’s a song without you?
When every song I write is about you
When I can’t hold myself without you
And I can’t change the day I found you

On these roads
Out of love
So it goes
How it feels when we fall, when we fold
How we lose control

It means nothing when read out without the setting.

Willie Nelson wrote the song but Al is the man with his band to make it sound so good

Kris Kristofferson putting on his cleanest dirty shirt

I’m not really a country fan but two cracking songs
Almost forgot

Culture Shock:

Sometimes you despise yourself – you are not alone
Everyone needs someone else – you are not alone

Blyth Power:

Do you believe in high ideals?
Or in a white chalk horse upon a distant hill
Do you place your trust in paramilitary skills
Or powder and pills?

Subhumans:

You don’t know who you might have been or who you now should be
Or what you ought to write on walls or why you wanna be free
And then you start to panic ’cause the inspiration’s there
But your not sure how to use it anyway and no one seems to care

You’re the classic all-round failure who never seems to win
You’d like to write a book but you’re not sure how to begin
It’s the story of your life
And the end of it’s your death
And every word that’s in between is just a waste of breath

Such simple lyrics but they manage to convey so much and cover such a long period of time.
Sang so simply, beautifully and with such feeling too.
Always makes me melancholy when I hear it.

Tell Laura I Love Her

GReat song see also Johnny remember me.

On a similar vein,

Richard Thomson Beeswing and 52 black lightning

Nancy sinatra is a good shout

it’s been said a million times but lyrics aren’t poetry. They need the music and the voice to work, and you don’t even need to be able to hear the words clearly. Which is why poems set to music never really work – a good poem just has too much in it. That said I’m in the like lyrics camp and do have a memory for them. So I dunno

I met this girl she looked like Axl Rose,
Got drunk took her home and we slept in our clothes.

always raises a tear.

(From “I don’t miss Julieanne” Ben Folds 5)

On the other end of the scale, I’ll admit to enjoying Eminem – Fack a bit more than I should.

The Band Sang Waltzing Matilda

Probably the Pogues version is the best know
Witten by Eric Bogle

Kris Kristofferson putting on his cleanest dirty shirt

Such a great song!