Astronomy - Blue Oyster Cult
The clock strikes twelve and moondrops burst
Out at you from their hiding place
Like acid and oil on a madman’s face
His reason tends to fly away
Like lesser birds on the four winds
Like silver scrapes in May
Now, the sands become a crust
And most of you have gone away
Every line is a good one…
Well, we’re big rock singers
We got golden fingers
And we’re loved everywhere we go
We sing about beauty and we sing about truth
At ten thousand dollars a show
And they still didn’t get their picture on the cover.
It’s really hard to separate what is the beginning/middle/end of this song. So, I’ll just quote this:
Dan Deacon - When I Was Done Dying
(which also has a pretty amazing animated video (and some live versions are even better))
Got several:
*Well, I beat the drum and hold the phone
The sun came out today
We’re born again, there’s new grass on the field
A-roundin’ third, I’m headed for home
It’s a brown-eyed handsome man
Anyone can understand the way I feel
Oh, put me in coach, I’m ready to play today
Put me in coach, I’m ready to play today
Look at me, I can be centerfield*
Centerfield by John Forgarty
There she was just a-walkin’ down the street, singin’
‘Do wah diddy diddy dum diddy do’
Snappin’ her fingers and shufflin’ her feet, singin’
‘Do wah diddy diddy dum diddy do’
She looked good (Looked good)
She looked fine (Looked fine)
She looked good, she looked fine
And I nearly lost my mind
Do Wah Diddy Diddy by Manfred Mann
Revvin’ up your engine
Listen to her howlin’ roar
Metal under tension
Beggin’ you to touch and go
Highway to the Danger Zone
Ride into the Danger Zone
Danger Zone by Kenny Loggins
Ground Control to Major Tom
Ground Control to Major Tom
Take your protein pills and put your helmet on
Ground Control to Major Tom
Commencing countdown engines on
Check ignition and may God’s love be with you
Major Tom, David Bowie
Yeah, here comes Amos
Now Amos Moses was a Cajun
He lived by himself in the swamp
He hunted alligator for a living
He’d just knock them in the head with a stump
The Louisiana law gonna get you, Amos
It ain’t legal hunting alligator down in the swamp, boy
Amos Moses by Jerry Reed
“The Boxer” by Simon & Garfunkel:
I am just a poor boy, though my story’s seldom told;
I have squandered my resistance for a pocket full of mumbles, such are promises
All lies and jest, still a man hears what he wants to hear, and disregards the rest
Lana! LANA!! LANA!!!
Running Man
Al Stewart
Before the phone hits the receiver
You’re halfway to the door.
The voice said get out while you can
There’s just 10 minutes, nothing more.
Time for only the essentials,
Better gather them and run.
False name inside tha passport,
The gold bars and the gun.
Elvis Costello was mentioned upthread, but I’d like to mention his Deep Dark Truthful Mirror:
“One day you’re gonna have to face a deep, dark, truthful mirror, and it’s going to tell you things that I still love you too much to say”
Speaking of Al Stewart, I’ve always liked Year of the Cat:
On a morning from a Bogart movie
In a country where they turn back time
You go strolling through the crowd like Peter Lorre
Contemplating a crime
She comes out of the sun in a silk dress running
Like a watercolor in the rain
Don’t bother asking for explanations
She’ll just tell you that she came
In the year of the cat
Veteran of the Psychic Wars
Blue Oyster Cult
You see me now, a veteran
Of a thousand psychic wars
I’ve been living on the edge so long
Where the winds of limbo roar
And I’m young enough to look at
And far too old to see
All the scars are on the inside
I’m not sure if there’s anything left of me
Don’t let these shakes go on
It’s time we had a break from it
It’s time we had some leave
We’ve been living in the flames
We’ve been eating up our brains
Oh, please, don’t let these shakes go on
I’m the Slime
Frank Zappa
I am gross and perverted, I’m obsessed 'n deranged
I have existed for years But very little had changed
I am the tool of the Government, And industry too
For I am destined to rule And regulate you
I may be vile and pernicious But you can’t look away
I make you think I’m delicious With the stuff that I say
I am the best you can get, Have you guessed me yet?
I am the slime oozin’ out From your TV set!
Look at me
I’m as helpless as a kitten up a tree
And I feel like I’m clinging to a cloud
I can’t understand
I get misty, just holding your hand
(Errol Garner’s Misty as sung by Johnny Mathis)
I personally have always liked the opening line of Strong Enough by Sheryl Crow:
“God, I feel like hell tonight”
Police - Synchronicity 2. Amazing lyrics throughout with a great mystery opener…
Another suburban family morning
Grandmother screaming at the wall
We have to shout above the din of our rice crispies
We can’t hear anything at all
Well, my daddy left home when I was three
And he didn’t leave much to ma and me
Just this ol’ guitar and an empty bottle of booze
A Boy Named Sue - Johnny Cash
I used to think this song was too pop-y. I heard it again today and realized it’s actually pretty good songwriting (and not nearly so cheery as I assumed it was). I give you the first lines of Snowbird:
Beneath this snowy mantle cold and clean
The unborn grass lies waiting
For its coat to turn to green
The guy who wrote this song must have just gone through a rough patch.
"There was a friend of mine on murder
And the judge’s gavel fell’
AC/DC Jailbreak
First line to a song written to his young daughter. Singer had a checkered past. I appreciate the unabashed honesty:
Everything you heard about me is true
Little Margarita by Bloodkin.
Margarita, ah
Margarita, ah
It was in Pittsburgh late one night
I lost my hat, got into a fight
I rolled and tumbled till I saw the light
Went to the big apple, took a bite
“I feel like a quote out of context”