Tried hard to find a woman,
but all I could find was a wife,
she had me convinced I was no one,
and I had her convinced she was right.
Michael Franks, Born with the Moon in Virgo
Ice is forming on the tips of my wings
Unheeded warnings, I thought I thought of everything
No navigator to find my way home
Unladen, empty, and turned to stone
A soul in tension that’s learning to fly
Condition: grounded - determined to try
Can’t keep my eyes from the circling skies
Tongue-tied and twisted; just an earth-bound misfit, I
“Learning to Fly”
Pink Floyd
Ah, but I was so much older then,
I’m younger than that now.
“My Back Pages”
Bob Dylan, but made famous by The Byrds
Another vote for that one.
This one I didn’t understand until I was older:
Stop trying to be something you’re not.
Hard, cold, cruel is the man
Who paid too much for what he got.
“Ain’t No Way”
Aretha Franklin
Double post.
Teacher told us
The Romans built this place.
They built a wall and a temple
In an.edge of the empire garrison town.
They lived and they died
Made prayers to their gods
But their stone gods did not make a sound.
And their empire crumbled till all that was left
Were the stones some workmen found.
Sting, “All This Time.”
I don’t know a soul who’s not been battered
I don’t have a friend who feels at ease
I don’t know a dream that’s not been shattered
Or driven to its knees
From An American Tune by Paul Simon. I learned it when I was six or seven, from my sister, before I knew much about disappointment or brokenness. I love Paul Simon, and I really love this one of his.
Mine are not quite as poetical as others posted here but I can’t even think these lyrics without crying because they mean a lot to me personally…
Settle down, it’ll all be clear
Don’t pay no mind to the demons they fill you with fear
The trouble it might drag you down
If you get lost, you can always be found
Just know you’re not alone
Cause I’m going to make this place your home
–Phillip Phillips, Home
Seriously I’m turning into a pile of goo right now because I just typed those lyrics.
Too many hands on my time
Too many feelings
Too many things on my mind
When I leave I don’t know what I’m hoping to find
When I leave I don’t know what I’m leaving behind
Rush, Analog Kid
We’re not pawns in a game
We’re not tools of bigger men
There’s only one who can really move us all
The Who, Naked Eye
You’re soft as glass
And I’m a gentle man;
We got the sky to talk about
And the earth to lie upon.
Townes Van Zandt, “To Live Is To Fly”
If I needed you would you come to me,
Would you come to me, and ease my pain?
If you needed me
I would come to you
I’d swim the seas for to ease your pain
Townes Van Zandt, “If I Needed You”
And I’ll find strength in pain
And I will change my ways
I’ll know my name as it’s called again
Mumford & Sons, “The Cave”
'Cause tonight I’ll be on that hill 'cause I can’t stop
I’ll be on that hill with everything I got
Lives on the line where dreams are found and lost
I’ll be there on time and I’ll pay the cost
For wanting things that can only be found
In the darkness on the edge of town
In the darkness on the edge of town
Bruce Springsteen, “Darkness On The Edge Of Town”
Plus all the Floyd stuff already listed.
I am as God made me, I have no desire
For mouth at my breast, or a pot on the fire
…
And they won’t call me mother, or sister, or wife
They will know me or not by the strength of my life
I will burn with a light of my own
They’ll know me as Joan.
“Joan” by Heather Dale.
Personally, I think that Jehanne d’Arc was batshit crazy, but she did accomplish a great deal, and was at least known by her own name, not the name of her husband or father. In her time, that was a great deal.
I’ve only recently discovered Heather Dale.
I always loved this from Eric Clapton:
*Standing at the crossroads, trying to read the signs
To tell me which way I should go to find the answer,
And all the time I know,
Plant your love and let it grow.
"Mmmbop, ba duba dop
Ba du bop, ba duba dop
Ba du bop, ba duba dop
Ba du
Yeah
Oh yeah
In an Mmmbop they’re gone
Yeah yeah."
That really got me through some tough times, man.
Nothing worth having comes without some kind of fight
Got to kick at the darkness 'til it bleeds daylight
Bruce Cockburn - Lovers in a dangerous time
Nowhere is the dreamer or the misfit so alone
Rush - Subdivisions
Sometimes someone controls everything about you
And when they tell you that they just can’t live without you
They ain’t lyin’, they’ll take pieces of you
And they’ll stand above you and walk away
That’s right and take a part of you with them
“Missing Pieces” Jack White
I was sitting in the Hollywood Hawaiian Hotel
I was staring in my empty coffee cup
I was thinking that the gypsy wasn’t lyin’
All the salty margaritas in Los Angeles
I’m gonna drink 'em up
And if California slides into the ocean
Like the mystics and statistics say it will
I predict this motel will be standing until I pay my bill
“Desperados Under The Eaves”-Warren Zevon
