# Incredibly beautiful song lyrics (But no love songs! We spit on love songs!) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 6, 2008, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incredibly-beautiful-song-lyrics-but-no-love-songs-we-spit-on-love-songs/444182 "2008-04-06T14:22:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2008, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incredibly-beautiful-song-lyrics-but-no-love-songs-we-spit-on-love-songs/444182/21 "2008-04-06T19:10:20Z")
**sunnyphilly43** ’s lyrics put me in mind of the song _Wires_ by Athlete. > [@](#): > > You’ve got wires, going in, > You’ve got wires, coming out of your skin. > You’ve got tears, making tracks, > I’ve got tears, that are scared of the facts. > … > I see hope is here, in a plastic box. > I’ve seen Christmas lights, reflect in your eyes. [Offical video on YouTube](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uriGngTXyrE). It’s a pretty damn fine song on its own, but becomes especially moving when you know that it’s aboutthe singer’s baby daughter, who was born prematurely and very ill, and spent time in an incubator in intensive care. ---
**Author:** ![ZebraShaSha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/eada6e/32.png) [@ZebraShaSha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZebraShaSha)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2008, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incredibly-beautiful-song-lyrics-but-no-love-songs-we-spit-on-love-songs/444182/22 "2008-04-06T19:25:47Z")
Reading over the thread, one word: bleh. Neutral Milk Hotel is sort of the be all, end all to this discussion. “Follow me through a city of frost covered angels I swear I have nothing to prove I just want to dance in your tangles” [LYRICS DELETED] Etc etc. [Link.](http://neutralmilkhotel.net/lyrics.html) ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2008, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incredibly-beautiful-song-lyrics-but-no-love-songs-we-spit-on-love-songs/444182/23 "2008-04-06T19:30:34Z")
“The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald” by Gordon Lightfoot. > [@](#): > > Superior, it’s said, never gives up her dead, > When the gales of November come early. ---
**Author:** ![MadTheSwine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MadTheSwine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MadTheSwine)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2008, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incredibly-beautiful-song-lyrics-but-no-love-songs-we-spit-on-love-songs/444182/24 "2008-04-06T19:34:39Z")
[QUOTE=ZebraShaSha] Reading over the thread, one word: bleh. Neutral Milk Hotel is sort of the be all, end all to this discussion. "Follow me through a city of frost covered angels I swear I have nothing to prove I just want to dance in your tangles To give me some reason to move [LYRICS DELETED] " Etc, etc. [Link.](http://neutralmilkhotel.net/lyrics.html) [/QUOTE] BLEH ---
**Author:** ![Rico](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rico/32/3582_2.png) [@Rico](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rico)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2008, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incredibly-beautiful-song-lyrics-but-no-love-songs-we-spit-on-love-songs/444182/25 "2008-04-06T19:37:31Z")
My personal favorite, Dean Friedman, has some wonderful lyrics. Here’s a bit from [The Letter]([Dean Friedman Music Website](http://www.deanfriedman.com/lyrics/lyrics_main.html#The) Letter): > [@](#): > > Autumn seems awful lonely here whenever we think of you. > Last night the sky turned purple and we wanted to share the view. > [LYRICS DELETED] The entire song is just as beautifully descriptive. ---
**Author:** ![ZebraShaSha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/eada6e/32.png) [@ZebraShaSha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZebraShaSha)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2008, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incredibly-beautiful-song-lyrics-but-no-love-songs-we-spit-on-love-songs/444182/26 "2008-04-06T20:20:36Z")
[QUOTE=MadTheSwine] BLEH [/QUOTE] 😃 FTR, _American Pie_ was my favorite album for several years. ---
**Author:** ![Defensive\_Indifference](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/defensive_indifference/32/6502_2.png) [@Defensive\_Indifference](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Defensive_Indifference)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2008, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incredibly-beautiful-song-lyrics-but-no-love-songs-we-spit-on-love-songs/444182/27 "2008-04-06T20:54:13Z")
Harry Chapin can turn a phrase. In his otherwise rambling, uneven epic “There Only Was One Choice,” he spends a couple stanzas in self-doubt wondering if he’s just another hypocritical rock and roller, ending with these brilliant lines: Am I observer or participant or huckster of belief making too much of a life so mercifully brief? And in “Story of a Life,” maybe his best tune, he sings: So you settle down and the children come and you find the place you’ve come from you’re wand’rin is done and all your dreams of open spaces you find in your children’s faces one by one Stan Roger’s [“Northwest Passage”](http://www.songlyrics.com/song-lyrics/Rogers_Stan/Northwest_Passage/Northwest_Passage/95330.html) is fine poetry, and Springsteen’s["Paradise"](http://brucespringsteen.net/songs/Paradise.html) is terriby haunting. ---
**Author:** ![Made\_in\_Macau](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eada6e/32.png) [@Made\_in\_Macau](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Made_in_Macau)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2008, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incredibly-beautiful-song-lyrics-but-no-love-songs-we-spit-on-love-songs/444182/28 "2008-04-06T22:41:43Z")
OK so its absolutely subjective but here’s my favourite lyric of all. Its about how words are useless sometimes. XTC’s No Language in Our Lungs. I thought I had the whole world in my mouth I though I could say what I wanted to say For a second that thought became a sword in my hand I could slay any problem that would stand in my way [LYRICS DELETED] MiM ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2008, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incredibly-beautiful-song-lyrics-but-no-love-songs-we-spit-on-love-songs/444182/29 "2008-04-06T22:45:57Z")
[QUOTE=Made in Macau] OK so its absolutely subjective but here’s my favourite lyric of all. Its about how words are useless sometimes. [/quote] Can you express that sentiment without them? Or a middle-finger-salute smiley ---
**Author:** ![Made\_in\_Macau](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eada6e/32.png) [@Made\_in\_Macau](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Made_in_Macau)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2008, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incredibly-beautiful-song-lyrics-but-no-love-songs-we-spit-on-love-songs/444182/30 "2008-04-06T23:54:35Z")
[QUOTE=Skald the Rhymer] Can you express that sentiment without them? Or a middle-finger-salute smiley [/QUOTE] okay… ---
**Author:** ![Made\_in\_Macau](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eada6e/32.png) [@Made\_in\_Macau](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Made_in_Macau)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2008, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incredibly-beautiful-song-lyrics-but-no-love-songs-we-spit-on-love-songs/444182/31 "2008-04-06T23:56:12Z")
[QUOTE=Skald the Rhymer] Can you express that sentiment without them? Or a middle-finger-salute smiley [/QUOTE] Um - that’s kind of the point. I’m confused by your ‘middle finger smiley’ - to whom is it aimed? Me or the lyric? In terms of your opening question; I think this lyric is achingly beautiful. It points out the futility of language while recognising it is dealing in the same. I love it for many reasons but don’t feel like sharing them right now. I started by saying it was subjective but you still seem to be calling me out on it? Ok - it’s your thread. MiM ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2008, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incredibly-beautiful-song-lyrics-but-no-love-songs-we-spit-on-love-songs/444182/32 "2008-04-06T23:59:54Z")
[QUOTE=Made in Macau] Um - that’s kind of the point. I’m confused by your ‘middle finger smiley’ - to whom is it aimed? Me or the lyric? In terms of your opening question; I think this lyric is achingly beautiful. It points out the futility of language while recognising it is dealing in the same. I love it for many reasons but don’t feel like sharing them right now. I started by saying it was subjective but you still seem to be calling me out on it? Ok - it’s your thread. MiM [/QUOTE] I apologize if I seemed to be calling you out; that was not my intent. I was saying that my request that you express the sentiment without words was snarkish and, let’s be frank, assholish, so you would be entirely justified in replying with a middle-finger-salute smiley, if one existed. No one gets my humor. ---
**Author:** ![outlierrn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/outlierrn/32/3005_2.png) [@outlierrn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/outlierrn)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2008, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incredibly-beautiful-song-lyrics-but-no-love-songs-we-spit-on-love-songs/444182/33 "2008-04-07T00:10:15Z")
She comes out of the sun in a silk dress running like a watercolor in the rain ---
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2008, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incredibly-beautiful-song-lyrics-but-no-love-songs-we-spit-on-love-songs/444182/34 "2008-04-07T00:11:48Z")
For some reason, this song has always reminded me of Thomas Hardy. I like Eva Cassidy’s version of it best. Sting’s Fields of Gold (sorry if it’s too lover-ish) Youll remember me when the west wind moves Upon the fields of barley Youll forget the sun in his jealous sky As we walk in the fields of gold [LYRICS DELETED] “Little Girl Please Wait”: She helps set the table, antique lace, sterling silver, her grandmothers’ china You tell her the tales, women strong, women frail, like hand-me-downs and heirlooms A chip in the cup, a stain on the cloth, a useful existence [LYRICS DELETED] ---
**Author:** ![phungi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/phungi/32/395_2.png) [@phungi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phungi)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2008, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incredibly-beautiful-song-lyrics-but-no-love-songs-we-spit-on-love-songs/444182/35 "2008-04-07T00:13:29Z")
[QUOTE=Made in Macau] OK so its absolutely subjective but here’s my favourite lyric of all. Its about how words are useless sometimes. XTC’s No Language in Our Lungs. I thought I had the whole world in my mouth I though I could say what I wanted to say For a second that thought became a sword in my hand I could slay any problem that would stand in my way [LYRICS DELETED] MiM [/QUOTE] I never expected someone would steal my thunder with _this_ song, but am pleasantly surprised! I also love this part, just before your snip: > [@](#): > > there is no language in our lungs > there is no muscle in our tongues > to tell the world what’s in our hearts > no we’re leaving nothing > just chiselled stones > no chance to speak before we’re bones [Linkety link](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K9Idn4WpZYc) to a YouTube video from a 1980 concert. ---
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2008, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incredibly-beautiful-song-lyrics-but-no-love-songs-we-spit-on-love-songs/444182/36 "2008-04-07T00:14:25Z")
[QUOTE=outlierrn] She comes out of the sun in a silk dress running like a watercolor in the rain [/QUOTE] I love that line. …Well, morning comes and you’re still with her And the bus and the tourists are gone And you’ve thrown away the choice and lost your ticket So you have to stay on [LYRICS DELETED] Al Stewart–that takes me back! ---
**Author:** ![Doug\_Bowe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df788c/32.png) [@Doug\_Bowe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doug_Bowe)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2008, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incredibly-beautiful-song-lyrics-but-no-love-songs-we-spit-on-love-songs/444182/37 "2008-04-07T00:27:41Z")
I vote for an old standard…“Moonlight in Vermont.” I got so caught up in the picture it painted that I never realized it didn’t rhyme. When someone pointed this out I had to pull it out and listen again…sure enough. Wiki says: \*The lyrics are very unusual for an American pop song of the 1940s, because they do not rhyme and are impersonal, focusing mostly on the sensory appeal of the Vermont countryside while alluding briefly to romance. The lyrics are also metrically subtle: Each verse (not counting the bridge) is a haiku. \* ---
**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:** [April 7, 2008, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incredibly-beautiful-song-lyrics-but-no-love-songs-we-spit-on-love-songs/444182/38 "2008-04-07T00:55:32Z")
Here’s one from one of my favorite songwriters: _Mexican Home_ by **John Prine** _It got so hot, last night, I swear You couldn’t hardly breathe Heat lightning burnt the sky like alcohol [LYRICS DELETED]_ Tell me you can’t just just feel that scene. I grew up on a farm in an old, non-airconditioned house, and I remember those hot summer afternoons, with the doors and windows propped open, hearing nothing but flies buzzing around… And then an afternoon thunderstorm would roll in, and you could smell the ozone in the air and a cool breeze would kick up… That song just brings every emotion of that time back to me. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2008, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incredibly-beautiful-song-lyrics-but-no-love-songs-we-spit-on-love-songs/444182/39 "2008-04-07T01:02:53Z")
Fall Of Troy by Tom Waits has some beautiful, heartbreaking lyrics. > **[Fall of Troy lyrics by Tom Waits from Dead Man Walking soundtrack.](https://www.stlyrics.com/lyrics/deadmanwalking/falloftroy.htm)** > > Fall of Troy lyrics: It’s the same with men as with horses and dogs Nothing wants to die Ethel and James they killed in a game With guns too big for their hands Just off St. Charles in no man’s land And you’ll have It’s hard to say grace and to sit in the place Of someone missing at the table Mom’s hair sprayed tight and her face in her hands Watching TV for answers to me After all she’s only human And she’s trying to find her own way home, boys She’s trying to find her own way home. ---
**Author:** ![Drain\_Bead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e47774/32.png) [@Drain\_Bead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drain_Bead)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2008, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incredibly-beautiful-song-lyrics-but-no-love-songs-we-spit-on-love-songs/444182/40 "2008-04-07T01:05:35Z")
Bright Eyes has some astonishgly good lyrics: > [@](#): > > You follow the footsteps > echoes leading down a hall > to a room with music playing > tiny bells with moving parts. > [LYRICS DELETED] [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incredibly-beautiful-song-lyrics-but-no-love-songs-we-spit-on-love-songs/444182.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incredibly-beautiful-song-lyrics-but-no-love-songs-we-spit-on-love-songs/444182.md?page=3)