# 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:** 3
**Author:** ![JThunder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e95f7d/32.png) [@JThunder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JThunder)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2008, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incredibly-beautiful-song-lyrics-but-no-love-songs-we-spit-on-love-songs/444182/41 "2008-04-07T02:08:21Z")
_Part of Your World_ by Ashman and Menken. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2008, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incredibly-beautiful-song-lyrics-but-no-love-songs-we-spit-on-love-songs/444182/42 "2008-04-07T02:45:06Z")
[QUOTE=Bayard] Harry Chapin can turn a phrase. In his otherwise rambling, uneven epic “There Only Was One Choice,” [/QUOTE] No love for the dry cleaner from Dayton, Ohio? _…he also was a baritone who sang while hanging clothes. He practiced scales while pressing tails and sang at local shows. His friends and neighbors praised the voice that poured out from his throat. They said that he should use his gift instead of cleaning coats._ Cliched, perhaps, using a Hallmark Card rhyme scheme? Maybe. But taken together with the gorgeous rendition of “Oh Night Divine” by the baritone in the background, the lyrics that Harry Chapin uses to tell the story of Mr. Martin Tanner of Dayton, Ohio, are, IMHO, indeed beautiful. Thanks for reminding me about Chapin. ---
**Author:** ![Zakalwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zakalwe/32/270_2.png) [@Zakalwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zakalwe)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2008, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incredibly-beautiful-song-lyrics-but-no-love-songs-we-spit-on-love-songs/444182/43 "2008-04-07T02:58:48Z")
> [@Dire Straits](#): > > These mist covered mountains > Are a home now for me > But my home is the lowlands > And always will be > Some day youll return to > Your valleys and your farms > And youll no longer burn > To be [brothers in arms](http://www.lyricsfreak.com/d/dire+straits/brothers+in+arms_20040736.html) Gives me chills (although in fairness, it’s not just the lyrics - that guitar in the background is haunting)… ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2008, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incredibly-beautiful-song-lyrics-but-no-love-songs-we-spit-on-love-songs/444182/44 "2008-04-07T03:11:05Z")
\*And when the world began I’d been asleep forever I opened one eye 'Twas then it was I Got the whim to wake And when the weight of space Rolled like it was an ocean One became one Father and son Watched the sunrise break\* -Pete Townshend’s wonderful tribute, “God Speaks of Marty Robbins” [Solo acoustic 2005](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p_w_1dlwP48) ---
**Author:** ![Her\_Royal\_IMFness](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/f07891/32.png) [@Her\_Royal\_IMFness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Her_Royal_IMFness)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2008, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incredibly-beautiful-song-lyrics-but-no-love-songs-we-spit-on-love-songs/444182/45 "2008-04-07T03:11:24Z")
“Many people are happy And many people are sad Some people have many things That others can only wish they had” [LYRICS DELETED] ~“This One’s For the Children” by the New Kids on the Block. This one has been a favorite song of mine just because of the strong message it sends, telling the listener to reach out to those around and try to be a rock for those cared about. “525,600 minutes, 525,000 moments so dear. 525,600 minutes - how do you measure, measure a year?” [LYRICS DELETED] ~“Seasons of Love” from the musical, Rent. I know, I know, “We spit on love songs!” But, I don’t believe this song sings of a romance between a man and a woman insomuch as it sings about the strength in loving life itself. ---
**Author:** ![Talon\_Karrde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Talon\_Karrde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Talon_Karrde)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2008, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incredibly-beautiful-song-lyrics-but-no-love-songs-we-spit-on-love-songs/444182/46 "2008-04-07T03:30:16Z")
[QUOTE=ZebraShaSha] Reading over the thread, one word: bleh. Neutral Milk Hotel is sort of the be all, end all to this discussion. [/QUOTE] As much as I like NMH, you are wrong. Leonard Cohen is the be all, end all. “Now Suzanne takes your hand And she leads you to the river She is wearing rags and feathers From Salvation Army counters” [LYRICS DELETED] ---
**Author:** ![Askance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askance/32/8281_2.png) [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2008, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incredibly-beautiful-song-lyrics-but-no-love-songs-we-spit-on-love-songs/444182/47 "2008-04-07T04:17:44Z")
Indeed. > [@](#): > > Now I’ve heard there was a secret chord > That David played, and it pleased the Lord … [LYRICS DELETED] ---
**Author:** ![appleciders](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85f322/32.png) [@appleciders](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/appleciders)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2008, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incredibly-beautiful-song-lyrics-but-no-love-songs-we-spit-on-love-songs/444182/48 "2008-04-07T05:02:55Z")
[QUOTE=spoke-] R.E.M. - _Nightswimming_ The most powerfully nostalgic lyrics in pop music. [/QUOTE] Good choice! How about “Hear You Me” by _Jimmy Eat World_? _There’s no one in town I know You gave us some place to go. I never said thank you for that. I thought I might get one more chance._ This song is so beautifully haunting and spectacularly in a medium-slow 3/4 time that I’m going to have to go find a girl to dance with right now. (I don’t think it’s a love song or song about a snogging partner’s general rockingness. I always heard it as a friend who died, but maybe it’s a partner.) ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2008, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incredibly-beautiful-song-lyrics-but-no-love-songs-we-spit-on-love-songs/444182/49 "2008-04-07T05:38:03Z")
_Angels never know it’s time To close the book and gracefully decline, The song has found a tale. My, what a jealous pool is she. [LYRICS DELETED]_ “Ripples” - Genesis ---
**Author:** ![Bambi\_Hassenpfeffer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Bambi\_Hassenpfeffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bambi_Hassenpfeffer)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2008, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incredibly-beautiful-song-lyrics-but-no-love-songs-we-spit-on-love-songs/444182/50 "2008-04-07T05:41:00Z")
Aimee Mann’s got a bunch, but here are two that I like. They both resonate with me deeply, and they feel right when you sing them. “Humpty Dumpty”, about a drug addict \*Say you were split, you were split in fragments And none of the pieces would talk to you Wouldn’t you want to be who you had been? Well, baby I want that too. . . . Get out while you can Baby, I’m pouring quicksand And sinking is all I had planned So better just go.\* “High on Sunday 51”, concerning the addict’s relationship with her SO _We have crossed the Rubicon Our ship awash, our rudder gone The rats have fled but I’m hanging on Let me try, baby, try._ * * * Another one with personal resonance. I was in a relationship that I was determined to save single-handedly once, before I ever heard this song. The first time I heard it, I was crying by the end. Alanis Morissette, “That Particular Time”: \*I’ve always wanted for you what you’ve wanted for yourself and yet I wanted to save us high water or hell and I kept on ignoring the ambivalence you felt and in the meantime I lost myself in the meantime I lost myself I’m sorry I lost myself . . . at that particular moment I knew staying with you meant deserting me that particular month was harder than you’d believe but I still left at that particular time\* Next up is a Dido song, “Do You Have a Little Time?” Another very personal song, as I have often felt myself on the periphery of the people I care about. _If you should stop for a while You will find me standing by Over here at the side of your life I’d like to hold you still, remind you of all you’ve missed If you have a little time If you have a little time that is_ Then we have some in Spanish, with non-professional personal translations: Gloria Estefan, “No Llores” (Don’t Cry) **Si vas a entregar el alma** _If you’re going to hand over your soul_ **Hazlo libre de temores** _Do it without any worries_ **Si del amar mucho se aprende** _If there’s much to be learned from love_ **Se aprende más de los errores** _You’ll learn more from the mistakes_ La Quinta Estación, “Para No Decirte Adíos” (So I Didn’t Have To Tell You Goodbye) **Y no Me dejaste otra opción** _And you didn’t leave me another choice_ **Que arrancarme la piel y aguantar el dolor** _Than to rip it off my skin and bear the pain_ **Y no Escuché al corazón** _And I didn’t listen to my heart_ **Sí, borré de mi memoria el recuerdo de tu voz** _Yeah, I erased the memory of your voice from my mind_ **Me marché sin hacer ruido para no decirte adiós.** _I took off without making a sound so I didn’t have to tell you goodbye_ I know I have others, but it’s late and I’m starting to feel that Ativan I just took, so this is it for today. ---
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2008, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incredibly-beautiful-song-lyrics-but-no-love-songs-we-spit-on-love-songs/444182/51 "2008-04-07T05:43:20Z")
[QUOTE=Askance] Indeed. [/QUOTE] I was going to post this if no one else did. ---
**Author:** ![Savannah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b3f665/32.png) [@Savannah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Savannah)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2008, 6:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incredibly-beautiful-song-lyrics-but-no-love-songs-we-spit-on-love-songs/444182/52 "2008-04-07T06:05:57Z")
What, no Joni Mitchell yet? - Peridots and periwinkle blue medallions Gilded galleons spilled across the ocean floor Treasure somewhere in the sea and he will find where [LYRICS DELETED] I met you on a midway at a fair last year And you stood out like a ruby in a black man’s ear You were playing on the horses, you were playing on the guitar strings You were playing like a devil wearing wings, wearing wings [LYRICS DELETED] Out of the fire like Catholic saints Comes Scarlett and her deep complaint Mimicking tenderness she sees In sentimental movies [LYRICS DELETED] Out in the wind in crinolines Chasing the ghosts of Gable and Flynn Through stand-in boys and extra players Magnolias hopeful in her auburn hair [LYRICS DELETED] Edith in his bed A plane in the rain is humming The wires in the walls are humming Some song some mysterious song [LYRICS DELETED] I’m porous with travel fever But you know I’m so glad to be on my own Still somehow the slightest touch of a stranger Can set up trembling in my bones [LYRICS DELETED] I’ll ply the fire with kindling now I’ll pull the blankets up to my chin I’ll lock the vagrant winter out and I’ll fold my wandering in [LYRICS DELETED] \* And Janis Ian/Kye Fleming: _The seagulls of summer have flown The sailors have wintered their boats Come sit by the fire And tell me your secrets Love isn’t kept easily [LYRICS DELETED]_ All quotations are partial lyrics only, not complete songs. ---
**Author:** ![Crocodiles\_And\_Boulevards](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ee7513/32.png) [@Crocodiles\_And\_Boulevards](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crocodiles_And_Boulevards)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2008, 8:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incredibly-beautiful-song-lyrics-but-no-love-songs-we-spit-on-love-songs/444182/53 "2008-04-07T08:10:02Z")
I’ve always loved this song. [QUOTE=The Wallflowers] _ **One Headlight** _ She said it’s cold It feels like Independence Day And I can’t break away from this parade[LYRICS DELETED] [/QUOTE] This next song, I only enjoy the first part of it. I actually don’t really like the rest of it, but I always thought these beginning lyrics were great: [QUOTE=Blue October] **Hate Me** I have to block out thoughts of you So I don’t lose my head They crawl in like a cockroach Leaving babies in my bed [LYRICS DELETED] [/QUOTE] And to prove that I haven’t managed to kill that hopeless romantic streak inside of me, this Regina Spektor song’s lyrics always struck a chord with me: [QUOTE=Regina Spektor] **On the Radio** this is how it works you’re young until you’re not you love until you don’t you try until you can’t [LYRICS DELETED] [/QUOTE] I also would like to echo that **Eva Cassidy** rendition of _Fields of Gold_. That’s a beautiful cover of a beautiful song. ---
**Author:** ![Raguleader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/258eb7/32.png) [@Raguleader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raguleader)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2008, 8:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incredibly-beautiful-song-lyrics-but-no-love-songs-we-spit-on-love-songs/444182/54 "2008-04-07T08:45:21Z")
Big and Rich -\*\* Live This Life\*\*: _Met a kid on a bridge last night Contemplating freedom Met a kid on a bridge last night And he said I’m tired of this maddening life And I’m ready to go meet Jesus And I said he’s a friend of mine Met him just last night And it’s alright Yeah it’s all right Yeah_ For some reason, I always get some dust in my eye at “And it’s all right”, I just picture the singer reaching a hand out to this kid in need. Another Big and Rich song - **8th of November** _He said goodbye to his mamma As he left South Dakota To fight for the Red, White, and Blue. He was nineteen and green with a new M-16 Just doing what he had to do._ First off, this song is just a sad song, about an American Airborne brigade being ambushed in Vietnam, and one of the survivors of that battle sitting in a bar remembering it. Also, since I joined the military recently, this verse strikes a particular chord with me. I remember the day after I graduated from Basic, spending my last day of Town Pass with my family, and looking down at my service blues that I was wearing and thinking “What the hell have I gotten myself into!?” as the commitment I had made finally sunk in with me. ---
**Author:** ![Gymnopithys](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/fbc32d/32.png) [@Gymnopithys](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gymnopithys)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2008, 9:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incredibly-beautiful-song-lyrics-but-no-love-songs-we-spit-on-love-songs/444182/55 "2008-04-07T09:03:46Z")
_O beautiful, for spacious skies, For amber waves of grain, For purple mountain majesties Above the fruited plain!_ … ---
**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, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incredibly-beautiful-song-lyrics-but-no-love-songs-we-spit-on-love-songs/444182/56 "2008-04-07T14:42:42Z")
slight hijack: can anyone translate this Linda Ronstadt song for me? (thanks)–this is first verse: Lo siento mi vida Yo sé que ya terminó Corazones quebrados Esperanza que se fué Cuando brille la luna Yo sé que no dormirás Ni tú Ni yo Ya ha llegado el triste pesar Debemos siempre separarnos And from Snow Patrol, one of my all-time favorite songs: “Chasing Cars” I need your grace To remind me To find my own ---
**Author:** ![RiverRunner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/977dab/32.png) [@RiverRunner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RiverRunner)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2008, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incredibly-beautiful-song-lyrics-but-no-love-songs-we-spit-on-love-songs/444182/57 "2008-04-07T15:40:06Z")
I sing in a gospel quartet, and I can think of tons of songs that would fit this thread. One example: when we do our monthly sing a a nursing home, we allow time in the middle for requests. Someone _always_ requests _How Great Thou Art_. I like those lyrics. Another song that comes to mind is _The Bold Fenian Men_: > [@](#): > > Some died on the glenside, some died near a stranger > And wise men have told us their cause was a failure > But they fought for old Ireland and never feared danger > Glory O, Glory O, to the bold Fenian men > [LYRICS DELETED] RR ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2008, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incredibly-beautiful-song-lyrics-but-no-love-songs-we-spit-on-love-songs/444182/58 "2008-04-07T15:48:16Z")
It was Happy Dance Time when I stumbled across [The Waters of March](http://www.des.emory.edu/mfp/waters.html) Afloat, adrift, A flight, a wing, A hawk, a quail, The promise of spring And the riverbank talks of the waters of March, It’s the promise of life It’s the joy in your heart ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2008, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incredibly-beautiful-song-lyrics-but-no-love-songs-we-spit-on-love-songs/444182/59 "2008-04-07T15:53:40Z")
**Cat Stevens** _The Wind_ _I listen to my words but They fall far below I let my music take me where My heart wants to go_ I love that stanza- it makes me want to be a musician and be able to coomunicate through music. ---
**Author:** ![Windwalker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/5e9695/32.png) [@Windwalker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Windwalker)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2008, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incredibly-beautiful-song-lyrics-but-no-love-songs-we-spit-on-love-songs/444182/60 "2008-04-07T16:37:08Z")
[QUOTE=Crocodiles And Boulevards] And to prove that I haven’t managed to kill that hopeless romantic streak inside of me, this Regina Spektor song’s lyrics always struck a chord with me: \*\*\*Originally Posted by Regina Spektor On the Radio \*\* [/QUOTE] Wow! I have been grooving to this song for several weeks now, to the point where, well… look at my location. It has a remarkable ability to lift my spirits, no matter how many times I hear it. Can’t believe you actually selected it. And I love **One Headlight** , too. Do you want to be my music buddy? I guess I’ll contribute to the thread with an Elliott Smith song, **King’s Crossing**. It’s always struck me as the most beautifully desperate song I’ve heard, with images that are all over the place, yet relentlessly push forward a certain grim fatalism that reaches out just a little as well. [QUOTE=Elliott Smith] King’s Crossing Lyrics The King’s crossing was the main attraction Dominoes falling in a chain reaction The scraping subject ruled by fear told me Whiskey works better than beer [LYRICS DELETED] [/QUOTE] [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incredibly-beautiful-song-lyrics-but-no-love-songs-we-spit-on-love-songs/444182.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incredibly-beautiful-song-lyrics-but-no-love-songs-we-spit-on-love-songs/444182.md?page=4)