# 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:** 6
**Author:** ![SwimmingRiddles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/43a26b/32.png) [@SwimmingRiddles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SwimmingRiddles)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2001, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pithy-song-lyrics-you-wish-youd-written/92312/101 "2001-11-13T04:01:54Z")
Sorry about the paul/john snafu. I’ll do that occationally. Feh. Today’s selections of pithiness: Look over there! (Where?) Here comes Jeanie with her new boyfriend They say that looks don’t count for much If so, there goes your proof - Joe Jackson I crack a window and feel the cool air cleanse my every pore As I pour my poor heart out To a radio song that’s patient and willing to listen My volume drowns it out But that’s OK cause I sound better then him anyway any day Yeah my voice is sweet as salt I search for comfort and I’ve found it where I’ve found it many times before Times before can be forgotten - Eve 6 I love you I am the milkman of human kindness I will leave an extra pint - ::thump:: \<–me jumping on the Billy Bragg bandwagon. ---
**Author:** ![DPWhite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d26b3c/32.png) [@DPWhite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPWhite)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2001, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pithy-song-lyrics-you-wish-youd-written/92312/102 "2001-11-13T04:35:29Z")
“Once in a while you get shown the light, in the strangest of places if you look at it right.” Robert Hunter, lyricist for the Grateful Dead. Scarlett Begonias. ---
**Author:** ![Kyomara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/8edcca/32.png) [@Kyomara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyomara)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2001, 5:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pithy-song-lyrics-you-wish-youd-written/92312/103 "2001-11-13T05:59:32Z")
I’m sure Alanis Morisette is a very nice person, but I’m sick and tired of trying to talk some sense into her fans. Hey. That’s pretty pithy. Maybe I’ll make it into a lyric. “Songs mean a lot When songs are bought. And so are you.” –Pavement “You want the rock that breaks your back To be polished and without cracks You want a love to save your life But of a certain shape and size.” –Superchunk “Everyone has a dollar sign after their name. When somebody wants you, you treat 'em just the same.” –Elliot Smith via Mary Lou Lord “If the ground’s not cold, Everything is gonna burn We’ll all take turns. I’ll get mine, too.” –Pixies (In a song concerning mas-true-bation) “My hand’s a five-leaf clover It’s Palm Sunday over and over.” “You don’t need a brain to have a stroke of genius Or a beautiful girl to let down your curls.” –Jellyfish And just because it’s on my mind today, though it is hardly “pithy:” “Cut yourself up and down your arms. Both arms! If it makes you feel better! They’re your arms! And it’s none of my business! It’s none of my business! If it makes you feel better…” –Shellac ---
**Author:** ![Monkey\_Chews](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/65b543/32.png) [@Monkey\_Chews](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monkey_Chews)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2001, 6:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pithy-song-lyrics-you-wish-youd-written/92312/104 "2001-11-13T06:16:20Z")
Any promise we make is as easy to break As the plastic people on a wedding cake - _Concrete Blonde_ ---
**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 13, 2001, 8:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pithy-song-lyrics-you-wish-youd-written/92312/105 "2001-11-13T08:28:12Z")
but a goodie: "You shake my bones and you rattle my brain. Too much lovin’ drives a man insane. You broke my will, but what a thrill! Goodness gracious **great balls of fire** ``` *Jerry Lee Lewis* ``` ---
**Author:** ![rmbnxs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b9e5f3/32.png) [@rmbnxs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rmbnxs)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2001, 9:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pithy-song-lyrics-you-wish-youd-written/92312/106 "2001-11-13T09:01:13Z")
“But I believe in this, and it’s been tested by research: He who fucks nuns will later join the church.” —The Clash ---
**Author:** ![Jervoise](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d2c977/32.png) [@Jervoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jervoise)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2001, 11:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pithy-song-lyrics-you-wish-youd-written/92312/107 "2001-11-13T11:41:49Z")
A bit of a mix: “I couldn’t care less now I’m here with you, We’re the only ones left and we’re flat on our backs, Taking the rest of the day off.” – Neil Finn, _Rest of the Day Off_ "Last night I was East with them, but West within Trying to be for you what you want to see – Ben Folds Five, _Best Imitation of Myself_ But I can’t help the feeling I could blow through the ceiling If I just turn and run – Radiohead, _Fake Plastic Trees_ ---
**Author:** ![tapioca\_tundra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a88e57/32.png) [@tapioca\_tundra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tapioca_tundra)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2001, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pithy-song-lyrics-you-wish-youd-written/92312/108 "2001-11-13T12:54:42Z")
~~Don’t know if anyone has listed Mad Season’s River of Deceit \*My pain is self-chosen At least, so The Prophet says I could either burn Or cut off my pride and buy some time A head full of lies is the weight, tied to my waist The River of Deceit pulls down The only direction we flow is down My pain is self-chosen At least I believe it to be I could either drown Or pull off my skin and swim to shore Now I can grow a beautiful shell for all to see\* ---
**Author:** ![Darqangelle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecccb3/32.png) [@Darqangelle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darqangelle)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2001, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pithy-song-lyrics-you-wish-youd-written/92312/109 "2001-11-13T13:06:12Z")
“In my dreams, I was drowning my sorrows but my sorrows, they learned to swim” -U2 ---
**Author:** ![Politzania](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3ab097/32.png) [@Politzania](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Politzania)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2001, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pithy-song-lyrics-you-wish-youd-written/92312/110 "2001-11-14T15:29:26Z")
Couldn’t wait to read all the pages… There is freedom within, there is freedom without Try to catch the deluge in a paper cup – Crowded House “Don’t Dream It’s Over” If I’m again beside your body, don’t tell me where it’s been It’s cruel, unusual punishment to kiss fingerprinted skin – BareNaked Ladies “The Wrong Man Was Convicted” Now I’m a New Kid on the Block, well I’m twenty-three and they won’t let me grow up. – BareNaked Ladies “New Kid on the Block” You signed your picture with an O and X I bet you don’t write “love” each time you sign your cheques. – BNL (again) “Straw Hat and Old Dirty Hank” I could quote these guys all day (but I won’t) ---
**Author:** ![MJH2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a698b9/32.png) [@MJH2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MJH2)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2001, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pithy-song-lyrics-you-wish-youd-written/92312/111 "2001-11-14T18:02:22Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Stellablue \* > \*\*MJH2- Yes that is the song. Wendy really KICKS, doesn’t it? > Always gives me shivers. \*\* Yeah, same here… _God Is A Bullet_ has some great lyrics, too, but I can’t remember them off the top of my head. More of my favorites: Sometimes to be near you Is to be unable to hear you, my love I’m a few years older than you… – “Edge of Seventeen”, Stevie Nicks No I will not lay down I will not live my life Like a ghost in this town I am not lonely, swear to God, I’m just alone – “The Sound Of”, Jann Arden No wind when I took the watch My ship was still and waiting I lay on that mirrored sky A restless sailor, waiting I closed my eyes, said the words of Will For the gentle breathing that moves the sea Make my sails fill… – “Mistral Wind”, Ann Wilson/Nancy Wilson/Sue Ennis Some things seem so sacred Like a loaded question The power of suggestion Like the face of danger The kindness of a stranger Like a Judas kiss Like pleasure and a little pain Immaculate seduction, absolute corruption Ice and fire counter-act Like black on black – “Black on Black II”, Ann Wilson/Nancy Wilson/Lisa Dalbello The only comfort is the moving of the river You enter into me, a lie upon your lips Offer what you can, I’ll take all that I can get Only a fool is here to stay – “Ice”, Sarah McLachlan Got a pocket full of power Got a handle on control Take a better man than you babe To rectify the damage to my soul 'Cause you took me down so easy Got the devil in your brain I may remember what was good But I won’t forget the pain – “High Road Easy”, Sass Jordan Too many doubts, too much fear, too much danger When society constricts our human nature Live by the rules, live by the laws, live by commandments Notions preconceived can lead to utter madness Let it go – “Let It Go”, Luba ---
**Author:** ![peanut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b5e925/32.png) [@peanut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peanut)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2001, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pithy-song-lyrics-you-wish-youd-written/92312/112 "2001-11-15T14:17:11Z")
“Car” Built to Spill you get the car / I’ll get the night off / you’ll get the chance to take the world apart and figure out how it works / don’t let me know what you find out / I need a car / you need a guide / who needs a map / if I don’t die or worse I’m gonna need a nap / at best I’ll be asleep when you get back / I wanna see it when you find out what comets, stars and moons are all about / I wanna see their faces turn to backs of heads and slowly get smaller / I wanna see it now I want specifics on the general idea / I wanna think what I should know / I want you to do me what to show / I wanna see movies of my dreams / I wanna see movies of my dreams / I wanna see movies of my dreams / I wanna see movies of my dreams / I wanna see it when you get stoned on a cloudy desert breezy afternoon / I wanna see it untame itself and break its owner / I wanna see it now / I wanna see it now Doug Martsch is the King of Pithy Lyrics. ---
**Author:** ![bibliophile](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e36b37/32.png) [@bibliophile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophile)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2001, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pithy-song-lyrics-you-wish-youd-written/92312/113 "2001-11-22T15:09:49Z")
sweetness i was only joking when i said i’d like to mash every tooth in your head -the smiths at my most beautiful, i count your eyelashes secretly with every one whisper i love you i’ll let you sleep i know you’re closed-eye watching me, listening i thought i saw a smile - rem mother dear, the world’s gone cold no one cares about love anymore what would you say, when you see my face - jeff buckley remember when i moved in you and the holy ghost was moving too and every breath we drew was hallejuah - i’m pretty sure leonard cohen wrote this one but it’s been covered several times ---
**Author:** ![bibliophile](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e36b37/32.png) [@bibliophile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophile)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2001, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pithy-song-lyrics-you-wish-youd-written/92312/114 "2001-11-22T17:16:27Z")
ok, i’ve got some more too young to hold on too old to just break free and run sometimes a man get carried away when he feels like he should be having his fun much too blind to see the damage he’s done sometimes a man must wait to find that really he has no one -jeff buckley i’ll take one, one, one cuz you left me and two, two, two for my family and three, three, three for my heartarche and four, four, four for my headache and five, five, five for lonely and six, six, six for i’m sorry and seven, seven, seven, no tommorrow and eight, eight, eight i forgot what eight was for and nine, nine, nine, cuz i lost out ten, ten ten eveything everthing everything -the violent femmes please please please let me get what i want lord knows it would be the first time -the smiths ---
**Author:** ![Maeglin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8baadc/32.png) [@Maeglin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maeglin)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2001, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pithy-song-lyrics-you-wish-youd-written/92312/115 "2001-11-22T18:40:46Z")
Good call on the Femmes, **biblio**. I would have used that passage myself. I will try to keep these short. Here’s a little **Dead Kennedys** action: “A stare is worth a thousand biting phrases See how stupid you are!” “When I’m rich and meet Bob Hope We’ll shoot some golf and shoot some dope.” "Carter power will soon go away, I will be Fuhrer one day! I will command all of you, The kids will meditate in school! California Uber Alles!" "You’re a star-belly sneech You suck like a leech You want everyone to act like you Kiss ass while you bitch So you can get rich But your boss gets richer off you Well you’ll work harder With a gun in your back For a bowl of rice a day Slave for soldiers Till you starve Then your head is skewered on a stake" Lots more DK, but I’ll save 'em for another post. This phrase by **Operation Ivy** has always captured my imagination: “The course of human progress staggers like a drunk Its steps are quick and heavy and its mind is slow and blunt.” The following are gems from **Foetus** “Step outside godboy You think I’m unreliable? Well when you quote the bible Is when I load my rifle” “My dreams overflow With heights and malt liquor Elastic forms of escape From twenty-year-old threads And parasitic dread Why do I bother?” “Might whity stand erect Don’t gotta be politically correct Hands against the wall and spread em Your cracker ass is goin to ARMAGEDDON” And the last are from **Marc Almond** , whose imagination is easily as twisted as my own. “I’m pulled each way by wild dogs And I sway just like a corpse upon a rope Turning green with nausea And a shade of white with anger A touch of purple right round the throat Then wallow in my sea of doom A stretch out in a brightened tomb A man in grey to come and get me soon Come and get me Come and get me soon A rhapsody of suffering As a thousand wailing souls Hold out their hand For bits of me To pin up as morbid mementos in their rooms.” "On Sunday, the bulls get so bored And they’re asked to drop dead for us The sword will plunge down And the mob will drool And the blood will pour down And turn the sand to mud Ole! The moment of triumph When all street thugs become Nero The moment of triumph When the girls scream And shout the name of their hero And when finally they fell Did the bulls dream of a hell Where man and boy Matadors still rule Or perhaps with their last breath Would not they pardon us their death Knowing what we did at Carthage Waterloo Berlin Stalingrad Hiroshima Hiroshima Saigon Ole!" Ok, I lied, that was not short. 😉 One more, I promise. “And this town is a potpourri of disease Can you smell the herpes from the scum-sucking fucks That hang around the same suckers each mid-night You were being your photo And spouting your promo Flicking back your limp quiff That’s as limp as your dick Irritating your greedy cross-eyed sight Oh Christ and you’re greasing up now To the creepy old cow.” Enjoy! MR ---
**Author:** ![ChristmasEve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/97f17d/32.png) [@ChristmasEve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ChristmasEve)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2001, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pithy-song-lyrics-you-wish-youd-written/92312/116 "2001-11-22T22:24:12Z")
“To tell the truth our Mum went off with someone else’s father Went for two weeks holiday in Taramasalata Daddy went out with the rubbish and just kept on walking Between Mum and the walls God only knows who does the talking” The World and his Wife - Elvis Costello And then there’s Graham Parker on the subject of his fallout with Mercury Records: “I’ve got a dinosaur for a representative It’s got a small brain and refuses to learn” Probably not very well known, but Doll by Doll, a British band from the 1980s, had some amazing lyrics. Jackie Leven’s voice was changed forever after he had his throat slashed in a late night attack, but he is still performing, mostly acoustic, in small venues across Europe. “I want to be there with you At the place that you go in your eyes When they fade away” Endgame - Doll by Doll (Jackie Leven) "When the management had turned out the lights Silent people had walked back into the night I thought of you Still living alone. From Tokyo to Soho Ladies are doing the same dance A fear of distance Masquerading as romance As we all go Down to the stripshow" Stripshow - Doll by Doll ---
**Author:** ![OxyMoron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/e9a140/32.png) [@OxyMoron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OxyMoron)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2001, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pithy-song-lyrics-you-wish-youd-written/92312/117 "2001-11-23T02:37:30Z")
_It’s like drinking gasoline To quench a thirst Until there’s nothing there left at all_ **Suzanne Vega** , Knight Moves _Sons of true love and sons of regret All of their sons you cannot forget Some built the roads, some wrote the poems Some went to war, some never came home Sons of your sons or sons passing by Children we lost in a lullaby_ **Jacques Brel** , Sons of… (translated for “Jacque Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris.” The original, “[Fils de](http://www.paroles.net/text/F/JacBre36.htm),” is even more gorgeous. A **Smiths** trifecta: _I’ve come to wish you an unhappy birthday because you’re evil and you lie and if you should die I may feel slightly sad (but I won’t cry)_. -from Unhappy Birthday _and the pain was enough to make a shy, bald buddhist reflect and plan a mass-murder_ -from Stop Me if You Think That You’ve Heard This One Before _nothing’s changed, I still love you, oh, I still love you but only slightly only slightly less than I used to, my love_ -id. Ah what the hell, some more French: _Derrière un Kleenex je saurais mieux Comment te dire adieu_ **Serge Gainsbourg, sung by Françoise Hardy** (roughly, from behind a kleenex I would know better how to tell you goodbye.) ---
**Author:** ![John\_Carter\_of\_Mars](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/2bfe46/32.png) [@John\_Carter\_of\_Mars](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Carter_of_Mars)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2001, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pithy-song-lyrics-you-wish-youd-written/92312/118 "2001-11-23T05:38:19Z")
“My tires and tubes are doin’ fine but the air is showin’ through”- Hank Williams “She paid ten dollars for a ten-cent hat and got some store bought catfood for her mean-eyed cat”-Johnny Cash “I am not a negro, but a millionaire, as you can plainly see”- Randy Newman “Weather is here, wish you were beautiful”-Jimmy Buffett ---
**Author:** ![VarlosZ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d78d45/32.png) [@VarlosZ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VarlosZ)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2001, 11:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pithy-song-lyrics-you-wish-youd-written/92312/119 "2001-11-23T11:38:11Z")
“Power can be such a tease, you’re always wanting more It’s good to know that, just like sex, it can be paid for” – Pedro the Lion, _Simple Economics_ “Got a cheerleader here, wants to help with my paper Let her do all the work and maybe later I’ll rape her” – Frank Zappa, _Bobby Brown Goes Down_ “Oh God, I am the American Dream With a spindle up my butt till it makes me scream Oh God, Oh God I’m so fantastic Thanks to Freddy I’m a sexual spastic!” – Ibid. “The piano has been drinking . . . not me.” – Tom Waits, _The Piano Has been Drinking_ “She was just seventeen, you know what I mean” – Lennon/McCartney, _I Saw Her Standing There_ (Paul wrote the song, but John added the “you know what I mean,” substituting it for Paul’s, “never been a beauty queen”). Finally, there’s my sig line, takne from _Bob Dylan’s 115th Dream_. ---
**Author:** ![igloorex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/858c86/32.png) [@igloorex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/igloorex)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2001, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pithy-song-lyrics-you-wish-youd-written/92312/120 "2001-11-23T18:01:07Z")
Camper Van Beethoven, from Sweethearts (about a B-52 raid): “On a mission over China The lady opens up her arms The flowers bloom where you have placed them And the lady smiles, just like mom” I’ll try to keep it to one & two liners: Cowboy Junkies from This Street, That Man, This Life “This street holds its secrets like a cobra holds its kill” Bruce Springsteen from 4th of July Asbury Park “The circuit’s full of switchblade lovers, so fast, so shiny, so sharp.” Dire Straights from Romeo & Juliet: “Now you just say ‘oh yeah Romeo, I used to have a scene with him.’” Elvis Costello from I Hope You’re Happy Now “And you thought like frozen food, our love would last forever.” “You can’t call it cheating if she reminds me of you” Fountains of Wayne from Denise “She got a heart made of gravel” Great thread! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pithy-song-lyrics-you-wish-youd-written/92312.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pithy-song-lyrics-you-wish-youd-written/92312.md?page=7)