Songs with wonderful lyrics ?

Townes Van Zandt To Live is to Fly.
Kristofferson favourite is Here comes the rainbow

Townes Van Zandt To Live is to Fly.

Tecumseh Valley is another great of his. And he has many.

Can I have two?

This really speaks to me, though the writer/singer now hates it. He deconstructs it whenever he sings it, like in this performance. Still, this lyric from it I adore: “The most remarkable thing about you standing in the doorway is that it’s you, and that you’re standing in the doorway.”

This is just such a great story, and ‘inspired by real life events’. “And when I killed her, it was so easy, that I wanted to kill her again.”

And if I’m feeling sad, this’ll drag me down further and bring me out the other side – definitely one that needs the music though, so I won’t pull out a lyric and write it here.

How can I not include this? “Are you aching for the grave? That’s okay, we’re insured.”

Sorry, that was four.

It’s early morning
No one is awake
I’m back at my cliff
Still throwing things off
I listen to the sounds they make
On their way down
I follow with my eyes till they crash
I imagine what my body would sound like
Slamming against those rocks

And when it lands
Will my eyes be closed or open?

I’m often drawn to a lyric that makes me chuckle. Definitely makes you feel better, along with good music of course.

A couple spring to mind straight away and maybe unsurprisingly, they come from uk rap.
Full of tongue in cheek and humour.

To my mind, one of the best opening lines ever.

Dizraeli and the Small Gods

You might see me walking round with a slight limp, it’s not a G-thing bruv I done me ankle in…

The second just seems to raise an uncontrollable lol from me every time. 😂

The Streets

Philosophy and history, Kant said to do is to be, Nietzsche to be is to do, Frank Sinatra-Doo-be-do…

Richard Thomson Beeswing and 52 black lightning

I was scrolling down the thread thinking that surely Thomson would be mentioned by now. Beeswing is one of my faves, but so many more.

To get really crusty, I am fond of a bit of Clive James/Pete Atkin, eg

The Secret Drinker

This one too
</iframe>”>Go Solo – Tom Rosenthal

“you are repressed…
…but you’re remarkably dressed”

Kant said to do is to be, Nietzsche to be is to do, Frank Sinatra-Doo-be-do…

I shouldn’t be too impressed, my mum’s had a fridge magnet with that on for about 15 years.

pretty much anything by Kirsty MacColl or Thea Gilmore. My favourite line that immediately came to mind on seeing the thread title:

“You know my character witness just went down for perjury”
Saviours and All: Thea Gilmore

Pretty well much anything by Squeeze

The Boxer by Simon and Garfunkel

National Express by Divine Comedy

Neighbourhood by Space

I like a bit of politics in my Lyrics, “ghost town”, “fortunate son” or “born in the usa” spring to mind. But I think my absolute favourite lyrics are “in the gheto” (and I probably hate everything else elvis has done).

too many to quote a few…

then theres Elvis again too many to quote

A New England by Billy Bragg

So many to chose from, how about
The Devine Comedy – National Express, this always makes me smile
or for something a little angrier
Kae Tempest – Europe is Lost

National Express by Divine Comedy

@johndoh – Pretty much anything by Divine Comedy. This is my favourite. Its a list of things he’s left on buses and trains, yet its achingly beautiful. How do you even do that? Utter genius!

Pete Docherty gets a lot of grief but he’s the best songwriter of his generation by a mile

A time for Heroes is pure poetry, but in particular the line:

There’s fewer more distressing sights than that
Of an Englishman in a baseball cap

Pretty much anything by Divine Comedy

Yeah – a new starter at work loves Divine Comedy and he said the same just last week when we got talking about music – I will have to listen to some more.

Another lyrical masterclass by Mr Hannon.

This is fantastic .. so many suggestions to listen to ..really looking forward to a new experience. My initial examples were pretty pathetic I guess but they were songs that induced that shiver down the spine .. not just because of the lyrics but as was mentioned earlier .. the combination of voice, lyric and music.
I often find it hard to hear the lyrics .. do you guys and gals actually take it all in simply by listening or do you Google when something appeals ?

Kant said to do is to be, Nietzsche to be is to do, Frank Sinatra-Doo-be-do…

I shouldn’t be too impressed, my mum’s had a fridge magnet with that on for about 15 years.

Oh well. It’s a great line for a song.

I love this one, so beautiful, musically and lyrically.

And how about a bit of Bruce?

Now there’s a beautiful river in the valley ahead
There ‘neath the oak’s bough soon we will wed
Should we lose each other in the shadow of the evening trees
Girl I’ll wait for you, I fall behind wait for me

Blimey! No Bruce yet. Good call! My personal favourite. Its beautiful and miles better in this studio outtake …

Inside I felt like I was carrying the broken spirits
Of all the other ones who lost

Excellent thread.  Can’t really get on with ‘beeswing’ but love a bit of Leonard Cohen and Dignity is great.  I really hate how missed so many really powerful lyrics when I was younger as I just couldn’t hear what was being said.

I often find it hard to hear the lyrics .. do you guys and gals actually take it all in simply by listening or do you Google when something appeals ?

I always listen to lyrics and sometimes look them up. My wife is the polar opposite – she NEVER listens to them at all.

Another one I really like is She’s Electric by Oasis.

Ohh! Ohh!

How could I forget – surely some of the best lyrics ever…

Sign o’ the Times by Prince.

Hurricane Annie ripped the ceiling of a church and killed everyone inside
You turn on the telly and every other story is tellin’ you somebody died
A sister killed her baby ’cause she couldn’t afford to feed it
And yet we’re sending people to the moon
In September, my cousin tried reefer for the very first time
Now he’s doing horse, it’s June

And there are very few lyricists as good as Peter Gabriel. This is basically a poem, and a very fine one (and was inspired by the life and death of a poet).

My favourite line I reckon

And that old time feelin’ rocks and spits and cries
Like an old lover rememberin’ the girl with the clear blue eyes

I often find it hard to hear the lyrics .. do you guys and gals actually take it all in simply by listening or do you Google when something appeals ?

I have a great ear for listening to words. I can usually remember whole songs after a few listens. But 95% of the time it’s just sounds and I never actually ‘process’ the words as they are.

I’m definitely in the camp of enjoying the music and the lyrics and can honestly give or take.

The first Foo Fighters album apparently has completely meaningless words. Grohl self-consciously avoiding discussing Cobain’s death, apparently.

So as an antithesis to all you wannabe poets, I present:

Fingernails are pretty
Fingernails are good
Seems that all they ever wanted was a market 🤘🤘🤘

Too many to mention. I love effective and affecting lyrics.

The Aimee Mann lines already mentioned are as close to perfection as lyrics writing gets I reckon.

Fyfe Dangerfield has a real way with simple words too. Some of his lines have been my personal email signature for years now…

“And to those of you who moan your lives through one day to the next
Well, let them take you next
Can’t you live and be thankful you’re here?
See it could be you tomorrow next year”

In a similar vein, Frank Turner turns plain words into good things…

“I’m not convinced of the existence of these things that don’t exist
Yeah, by Jewish boys with big ideas and scratches on their wrist
By a loving or a vengeful God, or one who condescends
Who’ll wash his hands down in the mire among the misery of men
Or by ever turning circles hanging timeless in the sky
Like a dream catcher distracting from the fact you’re gonna die

But I place one foot before the other, confident because
I know that everything we are right now is everything that was
That Wat Tyler, Woody Guthrie, Dostoevsky and Davy Jones
Are all dissolved into the ether and have crept into my bones
And all the cells in all the lines upon the backs of both my hands
Were once carved into the details of two feet upon the sand,”

And, much as he wrote some pretentious dross at times (and I’m saying that as a huge Manics fan), Richey Edwards quite often found a vein of lyrical gold…

“No one likes looking at you
Your lack of ego offends male mentality
They need your innocence
To steal vacant love and to destroy
Your beauty and virginity used like toys
My mind is dead, everybody loves me
Wants a slice of me
Hopelessly passive and compatible
Need to belong, oh, the roads are scary
Hold me in your arms
I wanna be your only possession
Used, used, used by men
Used, used, used by men
All they leave behind is money
Paper made out of broken twisted trees
Your pretty face offends
Because it’s something real that I can’t touch
Eyes, skin, bone, contour, language as a flower
No god reached me, faded films and loving books
Black and white TV
All the world does not exist for me
If I’m starving, you can feed me lollipops
Your diet will crush me
My life, just an old man’s memory
Little baby, nothing
Loveless slavery, lips kissing empty
Dress your life in loathing
Breaking your mind with Barbie Doll futility
Little baby nothing
Sexually free, made-up to breakup
Assassinated beauty
Moths broken up, quenched at last
The vermin allowed a thought to pass them by
You are pure, you are snow
We are the useless sluts that they mould
Rock ‘n’ roll is our epiphany
Culture alienation, boredom and despair
You are pure, you are snow
We are the useless sluts that they mould
Rock ‘n’ roll is our epiphany
Culture alienation, boredom and despair”

I often find it hard to hear the lyrics .. do you guys and gals actually take it all in simply by listening or do you Google when something appeals ?

I always listen really carefully to lyrics. Why wouldn’t you.

I think the reason that Coldplay really irritate the **** out of me is that Chris Martin sings like his imbuing the lyrics with some kind of meaning, when in reality when you listen to them they are utter and complete meaningless drivel. Almost a random selection of words, really badly thrown together

I think the reason that Coldplay really irritate the **** out of me is that Chris Martin sings like his imbuing the lyrics with some kind of meaning, when in reality when you listen to them they are utter and complete drivel

They irritate me simply because they are shit.

Has there ever been a more beautiful and simple opening lyric to a love song than this?

Athlete – Wires

When you really listen to the lyrics the song can bring you to tears.

Athlete – Wires

When you really listen to the lyrics the song can bring you to tears.

Agreed. Didn’t he write that about his wife in intensive care?

then theres Bert the old maestro

Agreed. Didn’t he write that about his wife in intensive care?

I thought it was his newborn daughter in SCBU but you may be right.

I am going to start blubbing…
First night of your life
Curled up on your own
Looking at you now
You would never know

Richard Thomson Beeswing and 52 black lightning

I was going to say ANY Richard Thomson, but that one is a belter. Some very “thoughtful” stuff on “The Old Kitbag” album, e.g. A Love You Can’t Survive.

all lyric…