# Songs you love because of the lyrics. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 15, 2005, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-love-because-of-the-lyrics/299428 "2005-04-15T03:23:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Lakai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9de0a6/32.png) [@Lakai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lakai)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2005, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-love-because-of-the-lyrics/299428/1 "2005-04-15T03:23:50Z")
I’m sure this has been done, but this time it will be different if you post 2-4 lines from the song. I heard that you can’t post lyrics to full songs, which would really be pointless anyway. People won’t read your lyrics anyway. They might read 2-4 lines however. No less than two. No more than four. Here goes. Beach Boys- God Only Knows. If you should ever leave me Well life would still go on believe me The world could show nothing to me So what good would living do me Johnny Cash- Cocaine Blues Early one mornin’ while makin’ the rounds I took a shot of cocaine and I shot my woman down Johnny Cash- A Boy Named Sue My name is Sue! How do you do! Now you gonna die! ---
**Author:** ![shadowfax33](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/65b543/32.png) [@shadowfax33](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shadowfax33)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2005, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-love-because-of-the-lyrics/299428/2 "2005-04-15T03:51:35Z")
“We Didn’t Start the Fire”–Billy Joel Harry Truman, Doris Day, Red China, Johnny Ray South Pacific, Walter Winchell (sp?), Joe DiMaggio …and so forth “She Moves in Mysterious Ways”–U2 To touch is to heal, to hurt is to steal If you want to kiss the sky, better learn how to kneel On your knees, boy “City of New Orleans”–Steve Goodman And the sons of pullman porters and the sons of engineers Ride their father’s magic carpets made of steel Mothers with their babes asleep are rockin’ to the gentle beat And the rhythm of the rails is all they feel. “The Coast”–Paul Simon We are standing in the sunlight The early morning sunlight In the harbor church of St. Cecilia To praise a soul’s returning to the earth To the rose of Jericho and the bougainvillea There are soooo many by Paul Simon, but I’ve got to include “The Boxer” I am just a poor boy, though my story’s seldom told. I have squandered my resistance, For a pocketful of mumbles, such are promises. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2005, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-love-because-of-the-lyrics/299428/3 "2005-04-15T04:06:06Z")
“How Dare You” by Basia. It’s basically about a woman (the “narrator”) whose boyfriend is pretty nasty to her, but it ends up as one of the great “Fuck You!” songs ever. The chorus through most of the song starts: _So now you think I’m yours And you don’t have to try Seems nothing I do is right_ On the last verse (which I’ve always seen as sort of the final straw for her) it actually goes: _So now you think I’m yours And you don’t have to try Seems nothing **you** do is right_ Another one I like for the same reason is a song from _My Fair Lady_, after Eliza runs away from Higgins’ house after the Embassy Ball, called “Without You”. \*Without you’re pulling it, the tide comes in, Without your twirling it the Earth can spin, Without your pushing them, the clouds roll by, If they can do without you, ducky, so can I \* And, just to cheapen my reputation, there’s one line in Cher’s “Life After Love” that I adore… _’cos I’ve had time to think it trough And maybe I’m too good for you, ooh_ I’m seeing a pattern here… ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2005, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-love-because-of-the-lyrics/299428/4 "2005-04-15T04:08:53Z")
That would be Cher’s “Believe”… :smack: I think I need to hand in my gay card… ---
**Author:** ![pesch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pesch/32/4925_2.png) [@pesch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pesch)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2005, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-love-because-of-the-lyrics/299428/5 "2005-04-15T04:09:42Z")
From “Voice from the Beehive” an '80s girl group that had maybe three records but couldn’t catch fire. Their “Honey Lingers” album is still one of my all-time favorites. The song “Look at Me” is a real cynical take on how preoccupied we are with ourselves. The first stanza is a not-too-subtle reference to Tammy Bakker (remember, this was written when the televangelists was a big issue): \*Psycho-eyes and monster thighs, she preaches from the TV “Just give me some money and I swear I’ll save your soul, it’s easy!” You can read the Good Book til you feel bad about yourself And just one small donation will save you from burning down in hell But everyone thinks that we’re the next best thing to heaven Do a little looking, we do not look so good We’re all so busy with our problem-drama stories We’re all so busy with our failures, and all our glories And everybody’s saying ‘Look at me’ ‘Look at me" Everybody looking for somethin’ no one else can see The earth is dyin’, babies are cryin’ And everybody’s sayin’ “Oh, yeah, but look at me”\* ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2005, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-love-because-of-the-lyrics/299428/6 "2005-04-15T04:37:31Z")
**Good Intentions** - by Toad the Wet Sprocket from the **In Light Syrup** album. Describes my life perfectly. _I’m not afraid things won’t get better But it feels like this has gone on forever You have to cry with your own blue tears Have to laugh with your own good cheer_ [full lyrics](http://www.lyricsfreak.com/t/toad-the-wet-sprocket/137992.html) ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2005, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-love-because-of-the-lyrics/299428/7 "2005-04-15T04:40:20Z")
> [@Lakai](#): > > Johnny Cash- A Boy Named Sue Lyrics by Shel Silverstein, actually. > [@Tori Amos](#): > > Give me life > Give me pain > Give me myself again > > -Little Earthquakes ---
**Author:** ![fishbicycle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aeb1de/32.png) [@fishbicycle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fishbicycle)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2005, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-love-because-of-the-lyrics/299428/8 "2005-04-15T05:14:40Z")
Oh, where to start! **Snack Attack** by Godley & Creme I feel like Kojak sitting in a Cadillac, I gotta eat, I gotta eat a flapjack A stack, a rack, a six-pack, Jack, just call me Jack Kerouac Click clack, open up the hatchback, I could eat a bubble car or a packamack Patty cake, patty cake, Big Mac, good god it’s a snack attack! (the lyrics to this song stand on their own, without music. It’s about a fat guy with his jaw wired shut to make him lose weight, and he can only suck liquids through a straw.) ---
**Author:** ![ddgryphon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/8c91f0/32.png) [@ddgryphon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ddgryphon)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2005, 6:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-love-because-of-the-lyrics/299428/9 "2005-04-15T06:34:00Z")
[Vincient (Starry, Stary Night)](http://www.lyricsdownload.com/don-mcclean-vincent-starry-starry-night-lyrics.html) - Don McClean - Starry, starry night Portraits hung in empty halls Frameless heads on nameless walls With eyes that watch the world and can’t forget Like the strangers that you’ve met The ragged men in ragged clothes The silver thorn, a bloody rose Lie crushed and broken on the virgin snow\* [America](http://www.lyricsfreak.com/p/paul-simon/105970.html) - Paul Simon _Kathy, I’m lost, I said, though I knew she was sleeping I’m empty and aching and I don’t know why_ [Stranger To The Rain](http://www.musicalschwartz.com/children-of-eden-songs.htm) - Stephen Schwartz _OH, SHED NO TEARS FOR ME LIGHT NO CANDLE FOR MY SAKE THIS JOURNEY I’LL BE MAKING IS ONE WE ALL MUST MAKE SHOULDER TO THE WIND I’LL TURN MY FACE INTO THE SPRAY AND WHEN THE HEAVENS OPEN LET THE DROPS FALL WHERE THEY MAY IF THEY FINALLY WASH AWAY THE STAIN FROM A DAUGHTER OF THE RACE OF CAIN I AM NOT A STRANGER TO THE RAIN LET IT RAIN …_ [Blackbird](http://www.lyrics-4all.net/Blackbird_Lyrics.html) - Lennon and McCartney _Blackbird singing in the dead of night Take these broken wings and learn to fly All your life You were only waiting for this moment to arise._ [My Funny Valentine](http://www.lyricsfreak.com/f/frank-sinatra/55420.html) - Rodgers/Hart _My funny valentine Sweet comic valentine You make me smile with my heart_ [Take This Waltz](http://www.oldielyrics.com/lyrics/leonard_cohen/take_this_waltz.html) - Leonard Cohen _Now in Vienna there’s ten pretty women There’s a shoulder where Death comes to cry There’s a lobby with nine hundred windows There’s a tree where the doves go to die There’s a piece that was torn from the morning And it hangs in the Gallery of Frost Ay, Ay, Ay, Ay Take this waltz, take this waltz Take this waltz with the clamp on its jaws_ So many incredible songwriters, far too many to list here, and don’t get me wrong, I love funny songs too – Tom Lehrer and Al Yankovic being some of the funniest and brightest writers of humorous lyrics. There are great lyrics if you look for them – there are bad ones too ---
**Author:** ![Imasquare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Imasquare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Imasquare)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2005, 6:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-love-because-of-the-lyrics/299428/10 "2005-04-15T06:35:41Z")
Old Man by Neil Young. ---
**Author:** ![scabpicker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scabpicker/32/8268_2.png) [@scabpicker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scabpicker)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2005, 6:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-love-because-of-the-lyrics/299428/11 "2005-04-15T06:40:39Z")
The Oblivions “Bad Man” Time was in a vacuum, when I wanted to be free. But now my adolescence has all but left me. I could have stayed another day, it would be wrong. And you would just grow tired of me, before too long. I say no. I must go. I’m not the one you want, though I know you think so I’m a bad man I’m a bad man I’m a bad man I’m a bad man But I’m… Too good for you My Suzie true. Time is an obsession, and that is just for me. You can tell by the sound of my shoes baby I am gonna leave. Even if you plead to me, and say you were so true. It’s too late for long goodbyes… we are through. Yeah, it’s just a breakup song, but I love way that the perception of time in the first and the last verse are described. ---
**Author:** ![bclouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e19adc/32.png) [@bclouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bclouse)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2005, 7:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-love-because-of-the-lyrics/299428/12 "2005-04-15T07:03:32Z")
**Do You Realize?** by **The Flaming Lips** _You realize that life goes fast It’s hard to make the good things last You realize the sun doesn’t go down It’s just an illusion caused by the world spinning round_ and ends with _Do You Realize - that you have the most beautiful face_ I love the line about the sun setting being an illusion. I wish all pop songs were this clever. And the way he sings the last line puts a lump in my throat. ---
**Author:** ![bclouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e19adc/32.png) [@bclouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bclouse)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2005, 7:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-love-because-of-the-lyrics/299428/13 "2005-04-15T07:13:46Z")
**The Boxer** by **Simon & Garfunkel** _In the clearing stands a boxer and a fighter by his trade, And he carries the reminders of every glove that laid him down, Or cut him 'til he cried out in his anger and his shame, “I am leaving, I am leaving.” But the fighter still remains._ I love everything about this song. The despair and loneliness of the lyrics with the emotion and power of the music. I find it to be a very overwhelming song. ---
**Author:** ![roger\_thornhill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d9b06d/32.png) [@roger\_thornhill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/roger_thornhill)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2005, 7:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-love-because-of-the-lyrics/299428/14 "2005-04-15T07:36:34Z")
**Deep and meaningful** Eagles: _The Last Resort_ And you can see them there On Sunday mornings Stand up and sing about What it’s like up there They call it paradise I don’t know why Call someplace paradise Kiss it goodbye **Gibberish and meaningless** Bee Gees: _Don’t Forget to Remember_ You’re the mirror of my soul So take me out of my hole **Funniest** Les Mis: _Master of the House_ This weighs a ton Travel’s a curse But here we strive To lighten your purse Here the goose is cooked Here the fat is fried And nothing’s overlooked Till I’m satisfied “Master of the house?” Isn’t worth me spit! “Comforter, philosopher” And lifelong shit! Cunning little brain Regular Voltaire Thinks he’s quite a lover But there’s not much there What a cruel trick of nature Landing me with such a louse God knows how I’ve lasted Living with this bastard in the house! ---
**Author:** ![Fern\_Forest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/71c47a/32.png) [@Fern\_Forest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fern_Forest)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2005, 8:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-love-because-of-the-lyrics/299428/15 "2005-04-15T08:38:52Z")
> [@](#): > > Rudolph Valentino looks very much alive. > And he looks up lady’s desses as they sadly pass him by. > Avoid stepping on Bela Lugosi cause he’s libel to turn and bite. > But stand close by Bettie Davis because her’s was such a lonely life. from Celluloid Heroes by The Kinks. I want a 50 minute version of this song. It makes me sad he only touched on 7 stars. > [@](#): > > And when you ran to me Your cheeks flushed with the night. > We walked on frosted fields of juniper and lamplight, I held your hand. > And when I awoke and felt you warm and near, I kissed your honey hair with my grateful tears. > Oh I love you, girl. from “For Emily, Whenever I May Find Her” by Simon & Garfunkel. The imagery just makes me so hungry for a woman to wake up with. ---
**Author:** ![roger\_thornhill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d9b06d/32.png) [@roger\_thornhill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/roger_thornhill)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2005, 8:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-love-because-of-the-lyrics/299428/16 "2005-04-15T08:51:14Z")
**Best Self-Deprecatory Lyrics** Doctor Hook: _Cover of the Rolling Stone_ Well, we’re big rock singers, we got golden fingers and we’re loved everywhere we go We sing about beauty and we sing about truth at ten thousand dollars a show We take all kinds of pills, that give us all kind of thrills but the thrill we’ve never known Is the thrill that’ll get you when you get your picture on the cover of The Rolling Stone Chorus: Rolling Stone, wanna see my picture on the cover Wanna buy five copies for my mother Wanna see my smilin’ face, on the cover of The Rolling Stone ---
**Author:** ![SnakesCatLady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4af34b/32.png) [@SnakesCatLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SnakesCatLady)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2005, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-love-because-of-the-lyrics/299428/17 "2005-04-15T13:09:17Z")
“I was God’s Own Drunk! And a fearless man… it hung 'im up.” - Don’t know who wrote it - Buffett used to perform it. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2005, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-love-because-of-the-lyrics/299428/18 "2005-04-15T13:29:29Z")
The Assasscin Song"–Tim Rice/Stephen Oliver from the musical “Blondel” I preferred a little murder. If I am coin a phase, for killing I have a yen. Being naughty is my forte. I’m an A-double-S, an A-double-S-I-N. ---
**Author:** ![Mycroft\_Holmes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a5b964/32.png) [@Mycroft\_Holmes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mycroft_Holmes)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2005, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-love-because-of-the-lyrics/299428/19 "2005-04-15T14:38:42Z")
Since we already had some **Man in Black** , my favourites are: _When I was just a baby, My Mama told me, “Son, Always be a good boy, Don’t ever play with guns,” But I shot a man in Reno, Just to watch him die_ And: _We got married in a fever, hotter than a pepper sprout, We’ve been talkin’ 'bout Jackson, ever since the fire went out._ followed a little later in the same song by: _When I breeze into that city, people gonna stoop and bow. (Hah!) All them women gonna make me, teach 'em what they don’t know how_ Johnny Cash is the epitome of cool. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2005, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-love-because-of-the-lyrics/299428/20 "2005-04-15T14:41:55Z")
**Sister Golden Hair** - by America _Now I ain’t ready For the altar But I do agree there’s times When a woman sure can be a freind of mine_ Another song that has me pegged. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-love-because-of-the-lyrics/299428.md?page=2)