Pithy song lyrics you wish you'd written?...

Cafe Society
81

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
:slight_smile:

82

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

83

“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

84

“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

85

“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 :wink: and that was sarcasm in case you still couldn’t tell)

“In the name of love, what more in the name of love” - U2

86

“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 . 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.

87

“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.)

88

“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
89

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

90

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

91

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

92

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!

93

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.

94

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.

95

“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

96

… 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

97

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]

98

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.

99

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

100

MJH2- Yes that is the song. Wendy really KICKS, doesn’t it?
Always gives me shivers.