“In this dirty old part of the city
Where the sun refused to shine
People tell me, there ain’t no use in tryin’”
An underrated classic
Wings Wetted Down by Blue Öyster Cult
Flights of black horseman soar over churches
Pursued by an army of birds in the rain
None of them can see the clouds, the polished wings don’t care
Animal ways through the hazy dreams full of pain
I’ve always envisaged that as an opening scene to a medieval gothic horror film
Springsteen’s got a bunch. He really has the touch
Got a wife and kids in Baltimore, Jack
I went out for a ride and I never went back
Like a river that don’t know where it’s flowing
I took a wrong turn and I just kept going
I knew someone that left his wife that way, IRL.
Based on a real event.
Nobody writes about desperate people better than Bruce.
“is a dream a lie if it don’t come true/or is it something worse”
Tom Waits - Mr. Siegel
“I spent all my money in a Mexican whorehouse
Across the street from the Catholic church
I wiped off my revolver
And buttoned up my burgundy shirt”
That’s a great one!
In all three examples, the lyrics get better as the song progresses:
Yeah, I can see it now
The distant red neon shivered in the heat
I was feeling like a stranger in a strange land
You know, where people play games with the night
God, it was too hot to sleep
Robbie Robertson, “Somewhere Down the Crazy River”
She’ll let you in her house
If you come knockin’ late at night
She’ll let you in her mouth
If the words you say are right
Bruce Springsteen, “Secret Garden”
Well, I don’t want skinny woman (repeat)
Meat don’t shake (repeat)
Meat (repeat)
R.L. Burnside, “Skinny Woman”
Darlin’, remember when you come to me
I’m the pretender and not what I’m supposed to be
But who could know if I’m a traitor?
Time’s the revelator
Gillian Welch -Time (The Revelator)
I’m goin’ out on the higway, gonna listen to them big trucks whine
I’m goin’ out on the higway, gonna listen to them big trucks whine
And that White Freightliner gonna steal away my mind.
White Frieghtliner - Townes Van Zandt
I was all night long
Broken glass
Livin’ in a medicine chest.
Meditermeranian hotel back
Sprawled across a roll-top desk.
That ol’ monkey rode the blade on an
overhead fan.
They paint the donkey blue if you pay.
Tom Waits - Telephone call from Istanbul
Beat you to it. See post #58
I hate this couch, I hate this chair,
I’m so lonely I’m getting scared,
It’s not a living room,
Without you.
Oh, says Red Molly to James “That’s a fine motorbike.
A girl could feel special on any such like”
Says James to Red Molly "My hat’s off to you
It’s a Vincent Black Lightning, 1952.
Has anyone mentioned this brilliant opener?
Alright stop, collaborate and listen
Somehow, he has been unfortunately pigeon-holed into some sort of folk/folk-rock/pop category that has caused him to be lesser-known than he really should be. I think that he’s a fantastic lyricist and that he is every bit as capable as the likes of Bob Dylan. I think that he is also a very under-rated guitarist, to the extent that had he gone down a different path he could probably be recognized as a “guitar-god”.
You should give “Gavin’s Woodpile” a listen.
Damn you. I didn’t even know what I was reading until I got to “listen”, then the synth started up in my head.
Since I went down that path, how about this equally brilliant opener:
We’re no strangers to love
You know the rules and so do I
It’s a lovely song that should be on everyone’s playlist.
Oh, now this is abuse!
But I did continue on to the second line. So, probably self abuse.
Don’t know much about dancin’,
that’s why I write this song.
One of my legs is shorter
than the other
and both of my feet’s
too long.
'course now right along with’em,
I got no natural ryhthm.
But I go dancin’ every night,
hopin’ one day I might get it right.
Frank Zappa, “Dancing Fool”
Sailin’ heart ships through broken harbors
Out on the waves in the night
Still the searcher must ride the dark horse
Racing alone in his fright
Niel Young, “Tell Me Why”
Well, I don’t know why we come here
Guess I just needed the bang
We walk in the beef, and then we pull on the rope
And then the, then the hammer comes down
Big Black, “Cables”
Yeah!
He was a plug-ugly son of a bitch
With a fist where most folks get their face
Big Black, “Deep Six”
This is the day of the expanding man
That shape is my shade
There where I used to stand
It seems like only yesterday
I gazed through the glass
At ramblers, wild gamblers
That’s all in the past
Steely Dan, “Deacon Blues”
Hello one and all
Was it you I used to know
Can’t you hear me call
On this old ham radio
All I got to say
I’m alive and feeling fine
If you come my way
You can share my poison wine
Steely Dan, “King of the World”
…and one of my all time faves…
A squid eating dough in a polyethylene bag is fast and bulbous, got me?
Captain Beefheart, “Pachuco Cadaver”
Styx’s “Snowblind”
Mirror, mirror on the wall
The face you show me scares me so
Thought that I could call your bluff
But now the lines are clear enough
Yes the words are great, AND melody they’re sung to is in IMO the most beautiful bit of music in the entire Beatles catalogue. The modulation during the line I bolded is breathtaking.