# best lyrics?? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 8, 1999, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-lyrics/7838 "1999-09-08T22:56:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![chief](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df788c/32.png) [@chief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chief)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 1999, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-lyrics/7838/1 "1999-09-08T22:56:00Z")
## which lyrics to songs do you think are the best? Chief’s Domain - [http://www.seas.ucla.edu/~ravi](http://www.seas.ucla.edu/~ravi) ---
**Author:** ![Persephone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ecc23a/32.png) [@Persephone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Persephone)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 1999, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-lyrics/7838/2 "1999-09-08T23:12:00Z")
Always liked “Rhapsody in Blue,” myself. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 1999, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-lyrics/7838/3 "1999-09-08T23:28:00Z")
Lots of possibilities: Cole Porter – Let’s Do It Noel Coward – Mad Dogs and Englishmen Ira Gershwin – Let’s Call the Whole Thing Off Al Dubin – Honeymoon Hotel or Shuffle Off to Buffalo Stephen Sondheim – America (he’s a mediocre songwriter, but when he works with good composer, he can be brilliant). Billy Joel – Still Rock and Roll To Me John Lennon – I am the Walrus Frank Loesser – It’s Been a Long Day Few rock musicians have any real talent for lyrics, unfortunately. * * * [www.sff.net/people/rothman](http://www.sff.net/people/rothman) ---
**Author:** ![MrKnowItAll](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrknowitall/32/87_2.png) [@MrKnowItAll](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrKnowItAll)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 1999, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-lyrics/7838/4 "1999-09-09T00:32:00Z")
Emily Saliers of Indigo Girls is an excellent lyricist. Nearly any of her songs would make a great poem. An example from “The Language or the Kiss” from _Swamp Ophelia_: I don’t know if it was real or in a dream. Lately waking up I’m not sure where I’ve been. There was a table set for six, and five where there. I stood outside alone and looked in on that empty chair. And there was steam on the windows from the kitchen. Laughter like a language I once spoke with ease. But I’m made mute by the virtue of decision. I choose most of your life goes on without me. Oh, the fear I’ve known That I might reap the praise of strangers And end up on my own. All I’ve sown was a song But maybe I was wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troy_mcclure_sf/32/4150_2.png) [@Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Troy_McClure_SF)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 1999, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-lyrics/7838/5 "1999-09-09T01:11:00Z")
On behalf of my friend Marty- Aerosmith “Love in an Elevator Livin it up when I’m going down” * * * JJMcC from SFCA [http://members.tripod.com/~weirdstuff/index.html](http://members.tripod.com/~weirdstuff/index.html) ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 1999, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-lyrics/7838/6 "1999-09-09T04:49:00Z")
**John Prine** : all-around best lyricist of any musical style, ever. P.S. For those of you unfamiliar, his style is folk/rock/country/gospel/blues but kind of hard to categorize. ---
**Author:** ![BunnyGirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@BunnyGirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BunnyGirl)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 1999, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-lyrics/7838/7 "1999-09-09T13:54:00Z")
If any of you have Don McClean’s _American Pie_ album, listen beyond the cover song. He is an INCREDIBLE lyricist. “… the fragrance of your flowers blooms beneath my head, a sympathy bouquet left for a love that’s dead…” (talking about the smell of his lover’s perfume on the pillow. “When the wars of our nation did beckon, a man barely twenty did answer the call. Proud of the trust he placed in our nation…he’s gone.” The rest of this song is incredibly poetic with some beautiful alliteration ("…morgue of marines…"). Give it a shot! He’s amazing! ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 1999, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-lyrics/7838/8 "1999-09-09T13:56:00Z")
Some nice candidates, but really, folks: In tropical clime there comes a time of day. When all the citizens retire to tear their clothes off and perspire. It’s one of those rules that the simplest fool obeys. Because the sun is oh so sultry and one must avoid its ultraviolet rays. … Mad dogs and Englishment go out in the midday sun. The Japanese don’t care to. Chinese wouldn’t dare to. Hindus and Argentines sleep soundly from twelve to one. But Englishmen detest a Siesta. (That last couplet alone trumps anything else here.) More: In the Philippines they have lovely screens that protect them from the glare. In the Malay States that have hats like plates that the Britishers won’t wear. In Bangkok at twelve o’clock they foam at the mouth and run. But mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the midday sun. ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 1999, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-lyrics/7838/9 "1999-09-09T14:27:00Z")
One recent song, “This Kiss” by Faith Evans (?) has a great pair of lines… Cinderella said so Snow White, “How does love get so off-course… All I wanted was a white kinght with a good heart, soft touch, fast horse…” * * * Chaim Mattis Keller [ckeller@schicktech.com](mailto:ckeller@schicktech.com) “Sherlock Holmes once said that once you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the answer. I, however, do not like to eliminate the impossible. The impossible often has a kind of integrity to it that the merely improbable lacks.” – Douglas Adams’s Dirk Gently, Holistic Detective ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 1999, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-lyrics/7838/10 "1999-09-09T14:27:00Z")
Ouch! Make that knight, please… Chaim Mattis Keller ---
**Author:** ![SqrlCub](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea5d25/32.png) [@SqrlCub](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SqrlCub)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 1999, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-lyrics/7838/11 "1999-09-09T18:06:00Z")
Ed’s Reedeeming Qualities: Waiter I never look for romance I just let it sneak upon me If all I wanted was in your pants, I would have stole your laundry. I could put it in a letter But I’d rather sing this song If you think you know me better Than I know myself you’re wrong I’m the first to know Whatever I am thinkin’ I’m Platonic as Plato And honest as Lincoln. I make money waiting tables And I don’t know what you do. I’ve been a waiter all my life, I can wait a while for you… ---
**Author:** ![voltaire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voltaire/32/313_2.png) [@voltaire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voltaire)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 1999, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-lyrics/7838/12 "1999-09-09T18:55:00Z")
I’ve got to nominate Robert Smith of the Cure. Whoever’s friend said Aerosmith should be drawn and quartered. ---
**Author:** ![MissTangerine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/dc4da7/32.png) [@MissTangerine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MissTangerine)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 1999, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-lyrics/7838/13 "1999-09-09T19:49:00Z")
Paul Simon and Bob Dylan definatly. . . ---
**Author:** ![Coldfire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a587f6/32.png) [@Coldfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coldfire)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 1999, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-lyrics/7838/14 "1999-09-09T20:07:00Z")
A lot of Rush songs are quite good. Make that very good ! Even if the music doesn’t apeal to you, try and read the text somtime. For a brilliant and striking example see my signature 🙂 Coldfire * * * “You know how complex women are” - Neil Peart, Rush (1993) ---
**Author:** ![AWB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bb73d2/32.png) [@AWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AWB)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 1999, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-lyrics/7838/15 "1999-09-09T20:42:00Z")
\*Coldfire: A lot of Rush songs are quite good. Make that very good ! Even if the music doesn’t apeal to you, try and read the text somtime. \* Hear hear! Their “Hemispheres” LP (album, CD, whatever) is one of my favorites. “Cygnus X-1 Book II” is a great epic story; “Trees” is a metaphor of race relations. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 1999, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-lyrics/7838/16 "1999-09-09T21:20:00Z")
Uh, “The Trees” is a metaphor for socialism vs capitalism. “And the Trees were all kept equal - by hatchet, axe and saw” ---
**Author:** ![BurnMeUp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@BurnMeUp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BurnMeUp)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 1999, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-lyrics/7838/17 "1999-09-09T21:25:00Z")
Any XTC song. for example check the following out: That’s really super, supergirl [http://www.nonsuch.dircon.co.uk/dict/lyrics/skylark.htm#3](http://www.nonsuch.dircon.co.uk/dict/lyrics/skylark.htm#3) Wrapped in grey [http://www.nonsuch.dircon.co.uk/dict/lyrics/nonsuch.htm#13](http://www.nonsuch.dircon.co.uk/dict/lyrics/nonsuch.htm#13) Books are burning [http://www.nonsuch.dircon.co.uk/dict/lyrics/nonsuch.htm#16](http://www.nonsuch.dircon.co.uk/dict/lyrics/nonsuch.htm#16) Another Satellite [http://www.nonsuch.dircon.co.uk/dict/lyrics/skylark.htm#9](http://www.nonsuch.dircon.co.uk/dict/lyrics/skylark.htm#9) * * * I like to hide behind my glasses when I feel uptight. I like to hide behind my glasses when I’m trippin in the strobe light. ---
**Author:** ![Sassy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e47c2d/32.png) [@Sassy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sassy)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 1999, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-lyrics/7838/18 "1999-09-09T22:02:00Z")
Melissa Etheridge > [@](#): > > O Cupid, you foolish boy - you should take better care with your brand new toy * * * The reason gentlemen prefer blondes is that there are not enough redheads to go around. ---
**Author:** ![PunditLisa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4af34b/32.png) [@PunditLisa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PunditLisa)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 1999, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-lyrics/7838/19 "1999-09-10T02:28:00Z")
Paul Simon is definitely a great lyricist. “And restless dreams I’ve walked alone, narrow streets of cobblestone.” It’s poetry set to music. His work is simply timeless. It’ll be great in twenty years. He is also responsible for the gem (from The Boxer), “…still a man hears what he wants to hear and disregards the rest.” Even the title “The Sound of Silence” is an awesome use of language. On a side note, I think Garfunkel’s voice was the perfect complement to Simon’s lyrics, but I suppose that’s between the two of them. I also like a lot of Don Henley’s lyrics, like “They’re beating plowshares into swords for that tired old man that they elected king.” A reverse biblical reference that is a shot at (I believe) Ronald Reagan, who was known for his conservative, biblical if you will, stance. Yet Reagan wanted to divert more and more money into defense. Anyway, while I don’t necessarily agree with Henley’s politics, he certainly has an eloquent way of putting his message across. ---
**Author:** ![Omniscient](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omniscient/32/3290_2.png) [@Omniscient](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omniscient)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 1999, 7:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-lyrics/7838/20 "1999-09-10T07:25:00Z")
\ **Say Goodbye** \ \So here we are tonight You and me together The storm outside, the fire is bright And in your eyes I see What’s on my mind You’ve got me wild Turned around inside And then desire, see, is creeping Up heavy inside here And know you feel the same way I do now Now let’s make this an evening Lovers for a night, lovers for tonight Stay here with me, love, tonight Just for an evening When we make Our passion pictures You and me twist up Secret creatures And we’ll stay here Tomorrow go back to being friends Go back to being friends But tonight let’s be lovers, We kiss and sweat We’ll turn this better thing To the best Of all we can offer, Just a rogue kiss Tangled tongues and lips, See me this way I’m turning and turning for you Girl just tonight Float away here with me An evening just wait and see But tomorrow go back to your man I’m back to my world And we’re back to being friends Wait and see me, Tonight let’s do this thing All we are is wasting hours until the sun comes up it’s all ours On our way here Tomorrow go back to being friends Go back to being friends Tonight let’s be lovers, say you will And hear me call, soft-spoken whispering love A thing or two I have to say here Tonight let’s go all the way then Love I’ll see you, Just for this evening Let’s strip down, trip out at this One evening starts with a kiss Run away And tomorrow back to being friends Lovers…love…lovers Just for tonight, one night…love you And tomorrow say goodbye\ If Dave Matthews doesn’t get you turned on and make that girl melt in your arms there is something seriouly amiss. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-lyrics/7838.md?page=2)