Music has many devices that can draw your ear in for a listen, but I think the most subtle way is through the lyrics. While a great guitar riff or a pounding beat can catch your interest immediately, it takes time to draw you in with lyrics. If lyrics are really great, they can pull you in with their imagery, their story, their statement about our world, and sometimes with their wit and humor.
Tom Waits is an amazing lyricist, especially when it comes to creating imagery. He seems to effortlessly paint a picture with his words. A perfect example of this is the song "Time". The entire song is brilliant, but here is an exerpt from it: "You're east of East St. Louis and the wind is making speeches, and the rain sounds like a round of applause. Napoleon is weeping in the Carnival saloon, his invisible fiancee is in the mirror. The band is going home, it's raining hammers, it's raining nails. Yes, it's true, there's nothing left for him down here."
Kris Kristofferson is probably not someone that immediately jumps to mind as being a gifted writer, but one of my favorite story-telling songs was penned by him. He wrote the song "Sunday Morning Coming Down" as popularized by Johnny Cash. Take a gander at these lyrics: "Well, I woke up Sunday Morning with no way to hold my head that didn't hurt. And the beer I had for breakfast wasn't bad, so I had one more for dessert. Then I fumbled through my closet for my clothes and found my cleanest dirty shirt. Then I washed my face and combed my hair and stumbled down the stairs to meet the day."
Ani Difranco is a great example of someone that can write lyrics as a commentary on the world around us. In the song "Fuel" she points out how ridiculous a world we live in: "And I wonder who's gonna be president, Tweedle Dumb or Tweedle Dumber? And who's gonna have the big blockbuster box office this summer ... Except all the radios agree with all the TV's, and all the magazines agree with all the radios, and I keep hearing that same ****** song everywhere I go."
One artist that can certainly turn a witty phrase is Paul Westerberg, former frontman of The Replacements. He has made an art form out of turning a phrase on its head and is one of my most favorite lyricists. Some examples of Westerberg's extreme genius:
"A person can work up a mean, mean thirst after a hard day of nothin' much at all."
- Here Comes a Regular by The Replacements
"Jesus rides beside me, but never buys any smokes." - Can't Hardly Wait by The Replacements
"Psychopharmacology works wonders, wonder will it work on me?" - Psychopharmacology by Grandpaboy
"If being wrong's a crime, I'm serving forever, if being strong's your kind, then I need help here with this feather; if being afraid is a crime, we hang side by side, at the swingin' party down the line" - Swinging Party by The Replacements
The artists listed above are just a few of my favorite lyricists. There are many others like John Lennon, Jim Morrison, Leonard Cohen, and many more I'm sure I'll think of later that have blown me away with their words.
What kind of lyrics make you perk up your ears and listen? What are some of your favorite song lyrics and song writers?
Gone savage for teenagers...
Back to page topGone savage
for teenagers with
automatic weapons and
boundless love
gone savage for
teenagers who are
aesthetically pleasing
in other words
fly
Los Angeles beckons
the teenagers
to come to her
on buses;
Los Angeles loves
love
Screenwriter's Blues - Soul Coughing
When it comes to great...
Back to page topWhen it comes to great lyrics, nothing beats Green Day.
The start of the song, "Jesus of Suburbia."
I'm the son of rage and love
The Jesus of Suburbia
From the bible of none of the above
On a steady diet of soda pop and Ritalin
No one ever died for my sins in hell
As far as I can tell
At least the ones I got away with
And there's nothing wrong with me
This is how I'm supposed to be
In a land of make believe
That don't believe in me
And this from later in the same song.
Dearly beloved are you listening?
I can't remember a word that you were saying
Are we demented or am I disturbed?
The space that's in between insane and insecure
Oh therapy, can you please fill the void?
Am I retarded or am I just overjoyed
Nobody's perfect and I stand accused
For lack of a better word, and that's my best excuse
Love these lyrics from the...
Back to page topLove these lyrics from the Dixie Chicks (my favorite group).
It's from "Not Ready to Make Nice."
I made my bed and I sleep like a baby
With no regrets and I don't mind sayin'
It's a sad sad story when a mother will teach her
Daughter that she ought to hate a perfect stranger
And how in the world can the words that I said
Send somebody so over the edge
That they'd write me a letter
Sayin' that I better shut up and sing
Or my life will be over
Hard-hitting lyrics,...
Back to page topHard-hitting lyrics, especially when you know they are based on personal experience.
I really like a lot of Wilco...
Back to page topI really like a lot of Wilco frontman Jeff Tweedy's lyrics:
"The ashtray says
You were up all night
When you went to bed
With your darkest mind
Your pillow wept
And covered your eyes
And you finally slept
While the sun caught fire
You've changed"
-- A Shot in the Arm by Wilco
"How to fight loneliness
Smile all the time
Shine your teeth till meaningless
Sharpen them with lies
And whatever's going down
Will follow you around
That's how you fight loneliness
You laugh at every joke
Drag your blanket blindly
Fill your heart with smoke
And the first thing that you want
Will be the last thing you ever need
That's how you fight it ...
Just smile all the time"
-- How to Fight Loneliness by Wilco
For those who grew up in the...
Back to page topFor those who grew up in the 1970's, a great moment was during Bruce Springsteen's classic "Thunder Road"......
The screen door slams,
Mary's dress waves
Like a vision she dances across the porch
as the radio plays
Roy Orbison singing for the lonely
Hey, that's me and I want you only
Don't turn me home again, I just can't face myself alone again
Let's not forget about Marky...
Back to page topLet's not forget about Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch.
I challenge you to come up with better lyrics than this masterpiece.
Vibrations good like Sunkist
Many wanna know who done this
Marky Mark and I'm here to move you
Rhymes will groove you
And I'm here to prove to you
That we can party on the positiive side
And pump posititve vibes
So come along for the ride
Making you feel the rhythm is my occupation
So feel the vibration
I'm aware that some people...
Back to page topI'm aware that some people really dislike showtunes, but the RENT soundtrack has some of the best lyrics. If your not familiar with the story line, it's about a group of 20-somethings living in NYC in the 1980s when AIDS was really taking the mainstage. It's about love, life, loss and alternative living. It's based on Giacomo Puccini's opera "La bohème." Anyway, the whole soundtrack is filled with amazing and very relateable lyrics.
These lyrics are from a duet of Roger and Mimi, called "Another Day."
The heart may freeze or it can burn
The pain will ease if I can learn
There is no future
There is no past
I live this moment as my last
There's only us
There's only this
Forget regret
Or life is yours to miss
No other road
No other way
No day but today
No contest-American...
Back to page topNo contest-American Pie
Verse 1
A long long time ago
I can still remember how that music used to make me smile
And I knew if I had my chance
That I could make those people dance
And maybe they'd be happy for a while
But February made me shiver
With every paper I'd deliver
Bad news on the doorstep
I couldn't take one more step
I can't remember if I cried
When I read about his widowed bride
But something touched me deep inside
The day the music died
{Refrain}
So, bye-bye, Miss American Pie
Drove my chevy to the levee
But the levee was dry
And them good old boys were drinkin' whiskey and rye
Singin' this'll be the day that I die
This'll be the day that I die
Verse 2
Did you write the Book of Love
And do you have faith in God above
If the Bible tells you so
Do you believe in rock n' roll
Can music save your mortal soul
And can you teach me how to dance real slow
Well, I know that you're in love with him
'Cause I saw you dancin' in the gym
You both kicked off your shoes
Man, I dig those rhythm & blues
I was a lonely, teenage broncin' buck
With a pink carnation and a pickup truck
But I knew I was out of luck
The day the music died
I started singin'
{Refrain}
Verse 3
Now for ten years we've been on our own
And moss grows fat on a rollin' stone
But that's not how it used to be
When the Jester sang for the King and Queen
In a coat he borrowed from James Dean
In a voice that came from you and me
Oh, and while the King was looking down
The Jester stole his thorny crown
The courtroom was adjourned
No verdict was returned
And while Lenin read a book on Marx
The quartet practiced in the park
And we sang dirges in the dark
The day the music died
We were singin'
{Refrain}
Verse 4
Helter Skelter in a summer swelter
The birds flew off with a fallout shelter
Eight miles high and falling fast
It landed foul on the grass
The players tried for a forward pass
With the Jester on the sidelines in a cast
Now the half-time air was sweet perfume
While the Sergeants played a marching tune
We all got up to dance
Oh but we never got the chance
'Cause the players tried to take the field
The marching band refused to yield
Do you recall what was revealed
The day the music died
We started singing
{Refrain}
Verse 5
Oh, and there we were, all in one place
A generation lost in space
With no time left to start again
So come on, Jack, be nimble, Jack be quick
Jack Flash sat on a candlestick
'Cause fire is the devils only friend
Oh, and as I watched him on the stage
My hands were clenched in fists of rage
No angel born in Hell
Could break that Satan's spell
And as flames climbed high into the night
To light the sacrificial rite
I saw Satan laughing with delight
The day the music died
He was singing
{Refrain}
Verse 6
I met a girl who sang the blues
And I asked her for some happy news
But she just smiled and turned away
I went down to the sacred store
Where I'd heard the music years before
But the man there said the music wouldn't play
And in the streets the children screamed
The lovers cried, and the poets dreamed
But not a word was spoken
The church bells all were broken
And the three men I admire most
The Father, Son and the Holy Ghost
They caught the last train for the coast
The day the music died
And they were singin'
{Refrain}
Bye-bye, Miss American Pie
Drove my chevy to the levy
But the levy was dry
And them good old boys were drinking whiskey and rye
Singing this'll be the day that I die
They were singin'
Bye-bye, Miss American Pie
Drove my chevy to the levy
But the levy was dry
And them good old boys were drinking whiskey and rye
Singing this'll be the day that I die