# Pithy song lyrics you wish you'd written?... **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 8, 2001, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pithy-song-lyrics-you-wish-youd-written/92312 "2001-11-08T23:49:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Halfpint](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/f0a364/32.png) [@Halfpint](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Halfpint)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2001, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pithy-song-lyrics-you-wish-youd-written/92312/81 "2001-11-11T16:01:15Z")
Milo - thanks for link. It **was** Billy Bragg - "Greetings to the New Brunette (Shirley), including some more favourite lyrics: Sometimes when we’re as close as this It’s like we’re in a dream How can you lie there and think of England When you don’t even know who’s in the team Shirley, your sexual politics have left me all of a muddle Shirley, we are joined in the ideological cuddle I’m celebrating my love for you With a pint of beer and a new tattoo And if you haven’t noticed yet I’m more impressionable when my cement is wet Shirley, you really know how to make a young man angry Shirley, can we get through the night without mentioning family The people from your church agree - it’s not much of a career Trying the handles of parked cars. Whoops, there goes another year Whoops, there goes another pint of beer 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![NightRabbit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/bbce88/32.png) [@NightRabbit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NightRabbit)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2001, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pithy-song-lyrics-you-wish-youd-written/92312/82 "2001-11-11T19:52:03Z")
Is it special when you’re lonely Will you spend your whole life In a studio apartment with a cat for a wife -Pedro the Lion Every night these silhouettes appear above my bed Little angels of the silence that climb into my head -Counting Crows ---
**Author:** ![Angel\_of\_the\_Lord](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/angel_of_the_lord/32/2949_2.png) [@Angel\_of\_the\_Lord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Angel_of_the_Lord)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2001, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pithy-song-lyrics-you-wish-youd-written/92312/83 "2001-11-12T01:36:14Z")
_“If you ever need anything, please don’t hesitate to ask someone else first.”_ --Nirvana, _Very Ape_ _“Call my name, and here I come Your last-ditch lay, will I never learn? Caramel turn on a dusty apology.”_ --REM, _Tongue_ _“Every day, every passing face feels like such a blur I long to be home silently lying next to her.”_ --The Offspring, _Million Miles Away_ _“The way you were long before you were a walking civil war.”_ --Mercury Rev, _Tonite it Shows_ _“Despite all my rage, I am still just a rat in a cage.”_ --Smashing Pumpkins, _Bullet with Butterfly Wings_ ---
**Author:** ![Cardinal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardinal/32/4000_2.png) [@Cardinal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardinal)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2001, 7:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pithy-song-lyrics-you-wish-youd-written/92312/84 "2001-11-12T07:02:58Z")
“No one gets a lifetime rehearsal.” - Indigo Girls “Please let me be right for once, 'cause right now all I feel I do is wrong.” - Paul Young “I beg your pardon, but who promised you a garden? You’re arrogant to presuppose there’s bliss.” - the 77s “And if I swallow anything evil, put your finger down my throat.” - the Who “The lust, the flesh, the eyes, and the pride of life drain the life right out of me.” - the 77s “We thought that we had the answers. It was the questions we had wrong.” - U2 “But wherever I have run, I was sure to find myself there.” - Social Distortion ---
**Author:** ![Tanaqui](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3bc359/32.png) [@Tanaqui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tanaqui)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2001, 7:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pithy-song-lyrics-you-wish-youd-written/92312/85 "2001-11-12T07:16:31Z")
“Hello, hello, hello, how low” - Nirvana “The light that fueled our fire then has burned a hole between us so, we cannot see to reach an end” - Tool (A lot more by Tool as well - I thought of Hooker w/ a Penis too, but someone’s already mentioned that) “And every time you speak her name Does she know how you told me you’d hold me Until you died, til you died But you’re still alive” - Alanis Morisette (Yes, I love Alanis, if you think her lyrics suck, you are obviously not intelligent enough to appreciate their genius 😉 and that was sarcasm in case you still couldn’t tell) “In the name of love, what more in the name of love” - U2 ---
**Author:** ![SwimmingRiddles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/43a26b/32.png) [@SwimmingRiddles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SwimmingRiddles)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2001, 8:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pithy-song-lyrics-you-wish-youd-written/92312/86 "2001-11-12T08:30:16Z")
“You are a china shop And I am a bull. You’re really good food And I am full.” ani difranco She moved so easily, all I could think of was sunlight. - Paul Simon Rather than post the whole song, here’s the link: [Indigo Girls](http://www.sing365.com/music/lyric.nsf/SongUnid/680A7826807101EE482568D8000DE864) . The whole damn song is pithy, and beautiful. “Come mothers and fathers Throughout the land And don’t criticize What you can’t understand Your sons and your daughters Are beyond your command” Dyan (times they are a’ changin’) You don’t have to be a weatherman to know which way the wind blows - Subterranian Homesick Blues, Dylan (I assume it was a cliche before him, but it is used so perfectly in this song, that I nominate it, anyway…) And despite Tanquai’s saracasm, I DO enjoy a good Alanis pithy lyric: “You held your breath, and the door for me.” “Eleanor Rigby picks up the rice in the church where a wedding has been Lives in a dream Waits at the window, wearing the face that she keeps in a jar by the door Who is it for?” Ah, John, ya genius. If it wasn’t as late as it is, I could think of more. ---
**Author:** ![Enuma\_Elish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5e9695/32.png) [@Enuma\_Elish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enuma_Elish)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2001, 11:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pithy-song-lyrics-you-wish-youd-written/92312/87 "2001-11-12T11:38:14Z")
“The love you take is equal to the love you make” ``` John Lennon ``` “Don’t your feet get cold in the wintertime? The sky won’t snow and the sun won’t shine it’s hard to tell the night time from the day You’re losin’ all your highs and lows Ain’t it funny how the feeling goes away?” ``` from Desperado by The Eagles ``` “There’s a hole in my heart where the wind blows through” (post country song, just can’t think of the artist at the moment.) ---
**Author:** ![Living\_Dead\_Girl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ecb155/32.png) [@Living\_Dead\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Living_Dead_Girl)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2001, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pithy-song-lyrics-you-wish-youd-written/92312/88 "2001-11-12T12:34:10Z")
“Well, no-one knows Where our secrets go.” - _Mayonaise_, **Smashing Pumpkins**. “So you can make me come That doesn’t make you Jesus.” - _Precious Things_, **Tori Amos** “Give me life, give me pain Give me myself again.” - _Little Earthquakes_, **Tori Amos**. “All our lives we love illusion, neatly caught between confusion and the need to know we are alive.” - _Pain and Pleasure_, **the Residents** “I love the way you love But I hate the way I’m supposed to love you back.” - _Miss You Love_, **Silverchair** “I know you better than you fake it.” - _1979_, **Smashing Pumpkins** ---
**Author:** ![Pashnish\_Ewing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8797f3/32.png) [@Pashnish\_Ewing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pashnish_Ewing)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2001, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pithy-song-lyrics-you-wish-youd-written/92312/89 "2001-11-12T17:50:27Z")
_I shouted out “Who killed the Kennedys?” When after all… it was you and me_ [sub]and[/sub] _Just as every cop is a criminal and all the sinners saints_ Sympathy for the Devil **The Rolling Stones** _You ask me to enter, but then you make me crawl_ One **U2** _I walked out this mornin’, and I wrote down this song I just can’t remember who to send it to_ Fire and Rain **James Taylor** – as for **Alanas** , I would also include: _And every time I scratch my nails down someone else’s back I hope you feel it. Well can you feel it?_ Pash ---
**Author:** ![Venkman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/ec9cab/32.png) [@Venkman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Venkman)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2001, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pithy-song-lyrics-you-wish-youd-written/92312/90 "2001-11-12T18:00:19Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by SwimmingRiddles \* > \*\*“Eleanor Rigby picks up the rice in the church where a wedding has been > Lives in a dream > Waits at the window, wearing the face that she keeps in a jar by the door > Who is it for?” Ah, John, ya genius. > \*\* John Lennon was an absolute genius, but Paul wrote Eleanor Rigby. Suddenly I feel like I’m picking on John, 'cause that’s twice in this thread someone quoted lyrics they thought he wrote and I’ve pointed out that in fact he didn’t write those lines. Here’s one he did write: “Words are flowing out like endless rain into a paper cup”, Across the Universe. And a couple of others I’ve always liked: “My name is Bill and I’m a head case”, I’m a Boy, The Who. “I’ll get all my papers and smile at the sky, for I know that the hypnotized never lie”, Won’t Get Fooled Again, The Who. “I’m gonna hurl myself against the wall, 'cause I’d rather feel bad than not feel anything at all”, Ain’t That Pretty at All, Warren Zevon ---
**Author:** ![MJH2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a698b9/32.png) [@MJH2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MJH2)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2001, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pithy-song-lyrics-you-wish-youd-written/92312/91 "2001-11-12T18:28:35Z")
**StellaBlue** , isn’t that Concrete Blonde song _Tomorrow, Wendy_ from _Bloodletting_? Friends and family The branches of the tree Sheltered in the rain Telling me again No matter how the raindrops run The world will turn Turn back to the sun A trick of light upon our eyes A trick of time upon our lives Ancient songs cry out to you Surely this sweet sand is slipping through. – “Sand”, Ann Wilson/Nancy Wilson/Sue Ennis Sorry that your mother dropped you on your head Maybe her mother dropped her too In the end we all get dropped We all get black and blue – “Didn’t I?”, Carly Simon ---
**Author:** ![RaCha\_ar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c2a13f/32.png) [@RaCha\_ar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RaCha_ar)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2001, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pithy-song-lyrics-you-wish-youd-written/92312/92 "2001-11-12T19:39:55Z")
When it’s all said and done, it’s real and it’s been fun, but was it all real fun? -Green Day, “P.O.D.” Was my yearbook quote senior year. Now I see a face before me could launch a thousand ships To bring your heart back to my island, as the sand beneath me slips As I burn up in your presence, I know now how it feels To be weakened like Achilles with you always at my heels My bitter pill to swallow is the silence that I keep It poisons me, I can’t swim free, the river is too deep Though I’m baptised by your touch, I am no worse than most In love with your ghost -Indigo Girls, “Ghost” Watching stars without you, my soul cries. -Des’ree, “Kissin’ You” The musical _RENT_ is chock full of pithy lyrics. I’ll pick a few. You don’t want baggage without lifetime guarantees. -Mimi, “Goodbye Love” I can’t control my destiny I trust my soul – my only goal is just to be. and Forget regret, or life is yours to miss. -Mimi et al. To days of inspiration, playing hooky, making something out of nothing, the need to express - to communicate, to going against the grain, going insane, going maaaaad… -Mark, “La Vie Boheme” Great, now I hafta listen to my _RENT_ CD. Look what you made me do! ---
**Author:** ![Purd\_Werfect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e47c2d/32.png) [@Purd\_Werfect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Purd_Werfect)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2001, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pithy-song-lyrics-you-wish-youd-written/92312/93 "2001-11-12T19:52:36Z")
**Gadarene** , great call on Momus! One of the most literate and pointed lyricists there is. I don’t like all his stuff, but the stuff I do like, I like very much. ---
**Author:** ![Ivar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/51bf81/32.png) [@Ivar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ivar)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2001, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pithy-song-lyrics-you-wish-youd-written/92312/94 "2001-11-12T19:58:47Z")
How about some Luna, from “California (All the Way)” he asked her please stop quotin’ rod mc kuen in your post cards can’t understand it anymore and if your gonna read your poetry aloud to me i’ll have to show you to the door why can’t we smile just like we used to why don’t you figure anymore why has my sympathy now turned to malice it doesn’t matter any more or how about some Descendents “Sour Grapes” Sour grapes you leave such a bad taste. and a bit of ALL she’ll be my ex until the end cuz i know i’ll never feel this way again. ---
**Author:** ![jinty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/dbc845/32.png) [@jinty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jinty)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2001, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pithy-song-lyrics-you-wish-youd-written/92312/95 "2001-11-12T20:53:13Z")
“You see the president…is in trouble, Every cent you make is floating in a bubble” - Cibo Matto “Riding on the rocket, Cheers to the planet Earth” - Shonen Knife ---
**Author:** ![MJH2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a698b9/32.png) [@MJH2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MJH2)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2001, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pithy-song-lyrics-you-wish-youd-written/92312/96 "2001-11-12T20:53:40Z")
… if we’re bringing musicals into it, the song _Nobody’s Side_ from _Chess_ has some pretty cynically pithy lyrics, _e.g._: Never take a stranger’s advice Never let a friend fool you twice Nobody’s on nobody’s side And a few choice post-break-up lyrics which hit the mark: It’s so strange when you’re down and lying on the floor How you rise, shake your head, get up and ask for more Clear-headed and open-eyed with nothing left untried Standing calmly at the crossroads No desire to run There’s no hurry anymore When all is said and done – Benny Andersson/Bjorn Ulvaeus (of Abba) No more words tonight, no more words I don’t ever want to hear you say you love me one more time No more words tonight, no more words I’ll forever keep the silence, you can keep your lies – Luba ---
**Author:** ![ThunderBunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/73ab20/32.png) [@ThunderBunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThunderBunny)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2001, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pithy-song-lyrics-you-wish-youd-written/92312/97 "2001-11-12T23:53:28Z")
God have mercy on the man who doubts what he’s sure of. _Springsteen, Brilliant Disguise_ Poncho needs your prayers, it’s true. But save a few for Lefty too. _Willie Nelson & Merle Haggard – Ballad of Poncho and Lefty_ If I made you feel second best, I’m so sorry I was blind. You were always on my mind. _Willie Nelson, Always on My Mind_ (Describing Heaven): The waves are perfect and the sun will always shine But there’s got to be more to death than surfing all the time … And yeah, I found love here, but I bet you’ll find it there where they don’t always make the same joke: “Gee, you make a Heavenly pair!” _Dar Williams, Allelulia_ Does it feel that your life’s become a catastrophe? Oh, well it has to be, for you to grow boy. When you look through the years and you see what you could have been, oh, what you might have been, if you’d have had more time. So when the day comes to settle down, Who’s to blame if you’re not around. You took the long way home. _Supertramp, Long Way Home_ [sub]Gawd how that last song haunts me. If my life had a soundtrack, it would be my theme song.[/sub] ---
**Author:** ![Algernon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a183cd/32.png) [@Algernon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Algernon)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2001, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pithy-song-lyrics-you-wish-youd-written/92312/98 "2001-11-13T00:23:54Z")
**Thunderbunny’s** Supertramp lyric reminded me of these gems… Now some they do and some they don’t. And some you just can’t tell. And some they will and some they won’t. With some it’s just as well. (Supertramp) Take a look at my girlfriend. She’s the only one I got. Not much of a girlfriend. Never seem to get a lot. (Supertramp) Their album “Breakfast In America” came out when I was having a few relationship issues… so these resonated with me. ---
**Author:** ![utilityplayer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/49beb7/32.png) [@utilityplayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/utilityplayer)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2001, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pithy-song-lyrics-you-wish-youd-written/92312/99 "2001-11-13T01:55:33Z")
_my picks…_ Hey girl, as I’ve always said I prefer you lips red. Not what the good Lord made, but what He intended. -_Rodger Waters_ I’ve got wild staring eyes I’ve got a strong urge to fly But I’ve got nowhere to fly to -_Rodger Waters/Pink Floyd_ and if I show you my dark side will you still hold me tonight and if I open my heart to you and show my weak side what would you do would you sell your story to rolling stone would you take the children away and leave me alone and smile in reassurance as you whisper down the phone would you send me packing or would you take me home -_Rodger Waters/Pink Floyd_ and we’ll put our dark glasses on and we’ll make love till our stregnth is gone and when the morning comes streaming in we’ll get up and do it again amen -_Jackson Browne_ I’m sittin’ down by the highway Down by that highway side Everybody’s going somewhere Ridin’ just as fast as they can ride I guess they got a lot to do before they can rest assured their lives are justified Pray to God for me babe He can let me slide -_Jackson Browne_ That’s enough for now ---
**Author:** ![Stellablue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f19dbf/32.png) [@Stellablue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stellablue)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2001, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pithy-song-lyrics-you-wish-youd-written/92312/100 "2001-11-13T02:13:30Z")
MJH2- Yes that is the song. Wendy really KICKS, doesn’t it? Always gives me shivers. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pithy-song-lyrics-you-wish-youd-written/92312.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pithy-song-lyrics-you-wish-youd-written/92312.md?page=6)