“I wish I was like you - easily amused”
-Nirvana, All Apologies
“You’re such an inspiration for the way that I would never ever choose to be”
–A Perfect Circle, Judith
“So I opened the door to my enemies
And I asked could we wipe the slate clean
But they tell me to please go f*ck myself
You know you just can’t win”
–Pink Floyd, Lost for Words
“We are young - wandering the face of the earth
Wondering what our dreams might be worth
Learning that we’re only immortal
For a limited time”
–Rush, Dreamline
I could be at this all night, but I’ll stop for now…
“Well, the girls would turn the color of a…avocado
When he would drive down their street in his…El Dorado
He was only five foot three but girls could not resist his stare…
Pablo Picasso never got called an asshole…
Not like you.”
Why don’t we get stoned and screw?
I just bought a pound
of the best shit in town
And I’d like to smoke it with you.
If we can wiggle when we get trough with that shit
I tell ya what let’s do
Why don’t we get drunk and screw.
However, my favorite is:
I wasn’t knee crawlin’, slip slidin’, Reggie Youngin’,
Commode huggin’ drunk. I was God’s own drunk and a fearless man.
People should get beat up for statin’ their beliefs.
—They Might Be Giants, *Shoehorn with Teeth
Nobody knows what it’s really like
But everyone says it’s great…
This could lead to excellence
Or serious injury;
Only one way to know.
Go, go, go,
Go ahead and wreck your life,
That might be good;
Who can say what’s wrong or right?
Nobody can…
And now that you’ve tried it, you’re back to report
That the spiralling shape was a fraud and a fake
You didn’t enjoy it, you never believed it
There won’t be a refund, you’ll never go back…
Don’t spend the rest of your life wondering.*
—They Might Be Giants, The Spiraling Shape
There’s only one thing that I know how to do well,
And I’ve often been told that there’s only one thing that you know how to do well,
And that’s be you,
Be what you’re like,
Be like yourself,
And there’s only one thing that I like,
And that is whistling in the dark…
“I feel summer creeping in
And I’m tired of this town again” Tom Petty, Mary Jane’s Last Dance
“Like a rhythm unbroken
Like drums in the night
Like sweet soul music
Like sunlight
I need your love” U2, Hawkmoon 269
“I disappeared in you
You disappeared from me
I gave you everything you ever wanted
It wasn’t what you wanted” U2, So Cruel. Lots and lots and lots of good lyrics from them.
“You want to suck on my breasts,
It’s no surprise that you do,
I’m the source and the force
You owe your life to, brother” The Pretenders, I’m A Mother
“The colors of the piece of time
Are still so fresh inside my mind
It makes the movie of my life seem pale
With all the games I have to play
I’ve got to give a lot of me away
but the part with us will never be for sale” Concrete Blonde, I Don’t Need A Hero
“I want to look at life
In the available light” Rush, Available Light. There’s so many, I don’t even want to try and list them all. In my opinion, Neil Peart is one of the greatest songwriters in rock history.
*I chose my apparel, wore a beer barrel
And they rolled me to the very first row
I held a big sign that said “Kiss me I’m a baker,
and Monty I sure need the dough!”
Then I grabbed that sucker by the throat
Until he called on me
Cause my whole world lies waiting behind door number three *
**Door Number Three ** Ceilin’ fan stirs the air
Cigar smoke did swirl,
A fragrance on the pillow case
And he thinks about the girl.
Spillin’ wine wine and sharin’ good times
She sure could make him smile.
He pays her well but what the hell
He’ll be movin’ in a little while, Havana daydreamin’,
Havana daydreamin’
Oh he’ll be dreamin’ his life away
To avoid copyright infringement issues, I present you with this here link, to Thomas Dolby’sAliens Ate My Buick masterpiece, ***The Key To Her Ferrari*** Beatnik audio clips are also available on the site.
I can’t believe no-one has mentioned one of the greatest lyricists/poets of our time…
*
Everybody knows that the dice are loaded
Everybody rolls with their fingers crossed
Everybody knows that the war is over
Everybody knows the good guys lost
Everybody knows the fight was fixed
The poor stay poor, the rich get rich
That’s how it goes
Everybody knows
Everybody knows that the boat is leaking
Everybody knows that the captain lied
Everybody got this broken feeling
Like their father or their dog just died
Everybody talking to their pockets
Everybody wants a box of chocolates
And a long stem rose
Everybody knows…
*
And, ever since being introduced to him by the board:
The piano has been drinking, my necktie is asleep
And the combo went back to New York, the jukebox has to take a leak
And the carpet needs a haircut, and the spotlight looks like a prison break
And the telephone’s out of cigarettes, and the balcony is on the make
"Never realized the passing hours of evening showers
Slipnoose hanging in my darkest dreams
And stunted by your haunted social scene
Just a pawn outplayed by a dominating queen
It’s 4:00 in the morning, dammit!
Listen to me good. I’m sleeping with myself tonight
Saved in time, thank God my music’s still alive.
Someone Saved My Life Tonight* - Bernie Taupin
“Still a man hears what he wants to hear and disregards the rest.” and
“After changes upon changes, we are more or less the same.”