Wow! Holly Dunn. I loved her. Not many people even seem to know who she is anymore.
The song that does it for me is " Nothing Compares 2 U" by Sinead O’Connor.
Bob Dylan’s Girl From the North Country
Always got to me, but even more so since I moved south (obviously, she didn’t).
I had never heard Amazing Grace sung so sweetly than at my step-fathers funeral three years ago. I still cannot hear it without crying.
Amazing Grace
Amazing grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wreck like me.
I once was lost, but now I’m found, was blind but now I see.
Twas grace that thought my heart to fear, and grace my fears relieved.
How precious did that grace appear, the hour I first relieved.
Thro’ many dangers, toils and snares, I have already come.
This grace hath brought me safe thus far, and grace will lead me home.
When we’ve been there ten thousand years, bright shining as the sun.
We’ve no less days to sing God’s praise, then when we first begun.
Is it over yet
Wynonna Judd
Tell me when I can open my eyes
I don’t want to watch you walk out that door
There’s no easy way to get through goodbye
I’d probably try and talk you into staying once more
Or I’d lie and say it’s all for the best
Wish you luck and say I have no regrets
But I’m not up to being strong
So I’ll wait until you’re gone
Is it over yet, is it over yet?
A taxi’s waiting in the driveway for you
You call my name, I guess your ready to leave
I’d like to help you with a suitcase or two
But I’m afraid I’m gonna wind up down on my knees
I should tell you that I want you to go
I really need to spend some time on my own
Smile and say goodbye
So you don’t see me dying inside
Is it over yet, is it over yet?
I should lie and say it’s all for the best
Wish you luck and say I have no regrets
But I’m not up to being strong
So I’ll wait until your gone
Is it over yet, is it over yet?
Oops :o
The above post by Sealemon was suppposed to have been mine, I thought I had switched over to my name.
Sorry Seale!
Mine are “No man’s land”, mentioned by matt_mcl above (but here in this graveyard, it’s still no man’s land/ the countless white crosses in mute witness stand/ to Man’s cruel indifference to his fellow man/ to a whole generation that was butchered and damnned) and another Irish song called “Killkelly, Ireland”. I don’t remember the exact words, but it’s based on a series of letters the musician found in his attic to one of his ancestors, the first to come to the states. Each verse is a letter, and starts off something like “Killkelly, Ireland, eighteen and sixty, my dear son John” and asking how he’s doing, and when he’ll come home, until the last verse is “Killkelly, Ireland, Eighteen and Eighty-two, my dear brother John/ I’m sorry I didn’t write sooner, but our dear Mother passed on”
I have to admit, though, that “He stopped loving her today” that Krispy posted got to me, too, even without hearing it.
For me, it’s “Comfortably Numb” by Pink Floyd, 'specially these lyrics:
“When I was a child I caught a fleeting glimpse
Out of the corner of my eye
I turned to look but it was gone
I cannot put my finger on it now
The child is grown
The dream is gone.”
Always moistens the ol’ peepers.
I have to agree with Fair and Tender Ladies only I didn’t know it was an old Irish song because I heard it played by The Rankin Family.
With the second song I put in who sings what so you get an idea of it. It makes more sense that way. But these ones get me as well as Angel by Sarah McLachlan and some others as well but I can’t think of them right off the bat. Oh wait also Memories as sung by Grizabella in Cats.
Toad the wet spockets 'walk on the ocean’and Jeffery Gaines (?) ‘Hero in me’ always make me tear up.
I second Amazing Grace. It was sung a cappella at the funeral of a very close friend of mine a few months ago. I will never forget the beautiful simplicity of it.
John Denver:
You done stomped on my heart
And you mashed that sucker flat
You just sorta
Stomped on my aorta
You started going out with guys
I felt us drift apart
And every step you took
Was a stomp upon my heart
Romeo’s Heart
There’s no hero in this story
and the ending is so sad
In the ruins of my dreams we lie
I would kill to win you back
I could send you fields of roses
Say I’ll always wish you well
But I have cast you as Juliet
And you have cast me into hell
For those who have been wounded
Where love has missed it’s mark
Bow your head and say a prayer
Tonight for Romeo’s heart
In this wine I taste your kisses
With this bread I break my word
I will not die upon this cross for you
All I feel for you is hurt
Oh I know the moon will rise again
But there will be no starlight in my eyes.
For those who have been wounded
Where love has missed it’s mark
Bow your head and say a prayer
Tonight for Romeo’s heart
sigh
And “Throw Your Arms Around Me” always reminds of me of a wonderful Danish girl who I still miss.
Recently my best friend introduced me to a song by Savage Garden that, well - could have been written specifically for me and my exgirlfriend. I thought so anyway and it seems she did also.
I DON’T KNOW YOU ANYMORE
I would like to visit you for a while
Get away and out of this city
Maybe I shouldn’t have called but someone had to be the first to break
We can go sit on your back porch
Relax
Talk about anything
It don’t matter
I’ll be courageous if you can pretend you’ve forgiven me
Because I don’t know you anymore
I don’t recognize this place
The picture frames have changed and so has your name
We don’t talk much anymore
We keep running from the pain
But what I wouldn’t give to see your face again
I know I let you down
Again and again
I know I never really treated you right
I’ve paid the price
I’m still paying for it every day
So maybe I shouldn’t have called
Was it too soon to tell?
Oh what the hell
It doesn’t really matter
How do you redefine something that never really had a name?
Has your opinion changed?
Because I don’t know you anymore
I don’t recognize this place
The picture frames have changed and so has your name
We don’t talk much anymore
We keep running from the pain
But what I wouldn’t give to see your face again
I see your face
I see your face
http://www.luke-for-god.itgo.com
change is coming
“Sam Stone,” “He stopped loving her today,” and anything sung by Patsy Cline. How that woman made it through a concert without putting her head in an oven is beyond me. Although I think it’s her delivery, not the lyrics. She sounds so bereft that my heart breaks for her.
I came across a cache of old photos
And invitations to teenage parties
“Dress in white”, one said, with quotations
From someone’s wife, a famous writer
In the nineteen-twenties
When you’re young you find inspiration
In anyone who’s ever gone
And opened up a closing door
She said, We were never feeling bored
*
cho:
Cause we were never being boring
We had too much time to find for ourselves
And we were never being boring
We dressed up and fought, and thought Make amends
And we were never holding back, worried that
Time would come to an end…
*
When I went I left from the station
With a haversack and some trepidation
Someone said, If you’re not careful
You’ll have nothing left and nothing to care for
In the nineteen-seventies
But I said back, I’m looking forward,
My shoes were high and I had scored
I bolted through a closing door
I would never find myself being bored
*
cho:
Cause we were never being boring
We had too much time to find for ourselves
And we were never being boring
We dressed up and fought, and thought Make amends
And we were never holding back, worried that
Time would come to an end
We were always hoping that, looking back,
You could always rely on a friend…
*
Now I sit with different faces
In rented rooms and far-off places
All the people I was kissing
Some are here and some are missing
In the nineteen-nineties
I never dreamt that I would get to be
The creature that I always meant to be
But I thought, in spite of dreams,
You’d be sitting somewhere here with me…
*
cho:
Cause we were never being boring
We had too much time to find for ourselves
And we were never being boring
We dressed up and fought, and thought Make amends
And we were never holding back, worried that
Time would come to an end
We were always hoping that, looking back,
You could always rely on a friend
And we were never being boring
We were never being bored
And we were never being boring
We were never being bored…*
I’m having this played at my funeral to put everyone in the proper mood.
I agree about Amazing Grace. I can’t hear that song without my eyes welling up. Krispy, you just made me cry with the song you posted, too.
Here are my entries: (Sorry, there are 3 so this is gonna be kindof long)
Cats In The Cradle
Harry & Sandy Chapin
My child arrived just the other day
He came to the world in the usual way
But there were planes to catch and bills to pay
He learned to walk while I was away
And he was talkin’ 'fore I knew it, and as he grew
He’d say “I’m gonna be like you dad
You know I’m gonna be like you”
And the cat’s in the cradle and the silver spoon
Little boy blue and the man on the moon
When you comin’ home son?
I don’t know when, but we’ll get together then
You know we’ll have a good time then
My son turned ten just the other day
He said, “Thanks for the ball, Dad, come on let’s play
Can you teach me to throw”, I said “Not today
I got a lot to do”, he said, “That’s ok”
And he walked away but his smile never dimmed
And said, “I’m gonna be like him, yeah
You know I’m gonna be like him”
And the cat’s in the cradle and the silver spoon
Little boy blue and the man on the moon
When you comin’ home son?
I don’t know when, but we’ll get together then
You know we’ll have a good time then
Well, he came home from college just the other day
So much like a man I just had to say
“Son, I’m proud of you, can you sit for a while?”
He shook his head and said with a smile
“What I’d really like, Dad, is to borrow the car keys
See you later, can I have them please?”
And the cat’s in the cradle and the silver spoon
Little boy blue and the man on the moon
When you comin’ home son?
I don’t know when, but we’ll get together then
You know we’ll have a good time then
I’ve long since retired, my son’s moved away
I called him up just the other day
I said, “I’d like to see you if you don’t mind”
He said, “I’d love to, Dad, if I can find the time
You see my new job’s a hassle and kids have the flu
But it’s sure nice talking to you, Dad
It’s been sure nice talking to you”
And as I hung up the phone it occurred to me
He’d grown up just like me
My boy was just like me
And the cat’s in the cradle and the silver spoon
Little boy blue and the man on the moon
When you comin’ home son?
I don’t know when, but we’ll get together then
You know we’ll have a good time then
TAXI
Harry Chapin
It was raining hard in 'Frisco,
I needed one more fare to make my night.
A lady up ahead waved to flag me down,
She got in at the light.
Oh, where you going to, my lady blue,
It’s a shame you ruined your gown in the rain.
She just looked out the window, and said
“Sixteen Parkside Lane”.
Something about her was familiar
I could swear I’d seen her face before,
But she said, “I’m sure you’re mistaken”
And she didn’t say anything more.
It took a while, but she looked in the mirror,
And she glanced at the license for my name.
A smile seemed to come to her slowly,
It was a sad smile, just the same.
And she said, “How are you Harry?”
I said, “How are you Sue?
Through the too many miles
and the too little smiles
I still remember you.”
It was somewhere in a fairy tale,
I used to take her home in my car.
We learned about love in the back of the Dodge,
The lesson hadn’t gone too far.
You see, she was gonna be an actress,
And I was gonna learn to fly.
She took off to find the footlights,
And I took off to find the sky.
Oh, I’ve got something inside me,
To drive a princess blind.
There’s a wild man, wizard,
He’s hiding in me, illuminating my mind.
Oh, I’ve got something inside me,
Not what my life’s about,
Cause I’ve been letting my outside tide me,
Over 'till my time, runs out.
Baby’s so high that she’s skying,
Yes she’s flying, afraid to fall.
I’ll tell you why baby’s crying,
Cause she’s dying, aren’t we all.
There was not much more for us to talk about,
Whatever we had once was gone.
So I turned my cab into the driveway,
Past the gate and the fine trimmed lawns.
And she said we must get together,
But I knew it’d never be arranged.
And she handed me twenty dollars,
For a two fifty fare, she said
“Harry, keep the change.”
Well another man might have been angry,
And another man might have been hurt,
But another man never would have let her go…
I stashed the bill in my shirt.
And she walked away in silence,
It’s strange, how you never know,
But we’d both gotten what we’d asked for,
Such a long, long time ago.
You see, she was gonna be an actress
And I was gonna learn to fly.
She took off to find the footlights,
And I took off for the sky.
And here, she’s acting happy,
Inside her handsome home.
And me, I’m flying in my taxi,
Taking tips, and getting stoned,
I go flying so high, when I’m stoned.
THE WRECK OF THE EDMUND FITZGERALD
Words and music by Gordon Lightfoot
The legend lives on from the Chippewa on down
Of the big lake they called ‘Gitche Gumee’
The lake, it is said, never gives up her dead
When the skies of November turn gloomy
With a load of iron ore twenty-six thousand tons more
Than the Edmund Fitzgerald weighed empty.
That good ship and crew was a bone to be chewed
When the gales of November came early.
The ship was the pride of the American side
Coming back from some mill in Wisconsin
As the big freighters go, it was bigger than most
With a crew and good captain well seasoned
Concluding some terms with a couple of steel firms
When they left fully loaded for Cleveland
And later that night when the ship’s bell rang
Could it be the north wind they’d been feelin’?
The wind in the wires made a tattle-tale sound
And a wave broke over the railing
And every man knew, as the captain did too,
T’was the witch of November come stealin’.
The dawn came late and the breakfast had to wait
When the Gales of November came slashin’.
When afternoon came it was freezin’ rain
In the face of a hurricane west wind.
When suppertime came, the old cook came on deck sayin’.
Fellas, it’s too rough to feed ya.
At Seven P.M. a main hatchway caved in, he said
Fellas, it’s been good t’know ya
The captain wired in he had water comin’ in
And the good ship and crew was in peril.
And later that night when his lights went outta sight
Came the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald.
Does any one know where the love of God goes
When the waves turn the minutes to hours?
The searches all say they’d have made Whitefish Bay
If they’d put fifteen more miles behind her.
They might have split up or they might have capsized;
May have broke deep and took water.
And all that remains is the faces and the names
Of the wives and the sons and the daughters.
Lake Huron rolls, Superior sings
In the rooms of her ice-water mansion.
Old Michigan steams like a young man’s dreams;
The islands and bays are for sportsmen.
And farther below Lake Ontario
Takes in what Lake Erie can send her,
And the iron boats go as the mariners all know
With the Gales of November remembered.
In a musty old hall in Detroit they prayed,
In the Maritime Sailors’ Cathedral.
The church bell chimed till it rang twenty-nine times
For each man on the Edmund Fitzgerald.
The legend lives on from the Chippewa on down
Of the big lake they call ‘Gitche Gumee’.
Superior, they said, never gives up her dead
When the gales of November come early!
The Living Years – Mike and the Mechanics, I agree is good for that.
from A boy and his frog – Tom Smith, If Jim Henson was a major influence when you were growing up, this song really hits home.
THE DARK NIGHT OF THE SOUL (6:44)
Music by Loreena McKennitt. Words by St. John of the Cross and arranged and adapted by Loreena McKennitt
Upon a darkened night
the flame of love was burning in my breast
And by a lantern bright
I fled my house while all in quiet rest
Shrouded by the night
And by the secret stair I quickly fled
The veil concealed my eyes
while all within lay quiet as the dead
CHORUS
Oh night thou was my guide
of night more loving than the rising sun
Oh night that joined the lover
to the beloved one
transforming each of them into the other
Upon that misty night
in secrecy, beyond such mortal sight
Without a guide or light
than that which burned so deeply in my heart
That fire t’was led me on
and shone more bright than of the midday sun
To where he waited still
it was a place where no one else could come
CHORUS
Within my pounding heart
which kept itself entirely for him
He fell into his sleep
beneath the cedars all my love I gave
From o’er the fortress walls
the wind would his hair against his brow
And with its smoothest hand
caressed my every sense it would allow
CHORUS
I lost myself to him
and laid my face upon my lover’s breast
And care and grief grew dim
as in the morning’s mist became the light
There they dimmed amongst the lilies fair
there they dimmed amongst the lilies fair
there they dimmed amongst the lilies fair
(Shanin: It’s OK. Blond moments happen to everyone, even brunettes! :D)
Maybe it’s just the way Toni Braxton sings it but Unbreak My Heart gets me snifflin’. I also choke up for Long Black Veil.
Weirddave, the River and especially that verse sends shivers down my spine every damn time! Good call, mate.
Also, all these posts have resurected my approval of Mark Knopfler’s lyrics. Having said that, I humbly submit:
Dire Straits, Telegraph Road