# Your Favorite Lyrics **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 13, 2008, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-lyrics/467761 "2008-10-13T19:49:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Frustrated\_Wonderer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a4c791/32.png) [@Frustrated\_Wonderer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frustrated_Wonderer)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2008, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-lyrics/467761/1 "2008-10-13T19:49:58Z")
Songs are a great way of communicating various types of messages. Some artists are great at expressing thoughts through lyrics. Which lyrics do you use often/ have impacted the way you view things? ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2008, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-lyrics/467761/2 "2008-10-13T21:38:33Z")
I always smile when I hear “They didn’t want it, but he built it anyway” in _Alec Eiffel._ ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2008, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-lyrics/467761/3 "2008-10-13T21:51:48Z")
_Maybe a lover comes along, Maybe in story or in song, Maybe the heart is really strong, A million lemmings can’t be wrong._ ---
**Author:** ![Cuckoorex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ad7895/32.png) [@Cuckoorex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cuckoorex)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2008, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-lyrics/467761/4 "2008-10-13T21:52:52Z")
Lots of songs have inspired me in various ways over the years, but two in particular really stood out for me: Ani DiFranco’s _Out of Range_: _I was locked Into being my mother’s daughter I was just eating bread and water Thinking nothing ever changes And I was shocked To see the mistakes of each generation Will just fade like a radio station If you drive out of range_ (This despite me not being a male and therefore not anyone’s daughter, of course.) and The Gathering’s _Waking Hour_: _Falling down Start again Life can bring you down The monumental truth Of elegance in you Falling for A part of who you are Makes you shine inside_ Which to me is the simple message that people need to love some part of themselves, and when things seem dark and depressing, that is what will sustain you. ---
**Author:** ![KRC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/45deac/32.png) [@KRC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KRC)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2008, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-lyrics/467761/5 "2008-10-13T22:28:54Z")
Ay muerte tan rigarosa, deja me vivir un dia “Un dia no puede ser, una hora tienes de vida” (Okay, I’m not exactly sure of all the spelling, but it translates as “Death, so terrifying, allow me to live a day! A day isn’t possible. You have an hour to live.”) ---
**Author:** ![Paladud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Paladud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paladud)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2008, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-lyrics/467761/6 "2008-10-13T22:52:09Z")
From Vysotsky’s “Fires.” In the course of the song, the imagery gradually devolves from grandeur and glory. Doverchivuyu smert’ krug pal’tsa obernuli - Zameshkalas’ ona, zabyv mahnut’ kosoi. Uzhe ne dogonyali nas i otstavali puli… Udastsa li umytsya nam ne krov’yu a rosoi? Which translates as: That gullible old Death we easily outwitted, It hesitated some and swung its scythe no more. For once, the bullets lagged behind and in the distance flitted… Perhaps we’ll have a chance to wash with dew instead of gore? ---
**Author:** ![Stauderhorse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce7236/32.png) [@Stauderhorse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stauderhorse)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2008, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-lyrics/467761/7 "2008-10-13T23:37:57Z")
This is going to sound cheesy and fangirly as hell, but I _love_ Garth Brooks’s lyrics. If you’re not very familiar with him, take a look: “The River”: > [@](#): > > Trying to learn from what’s behind you > And never knowing what’s in store > Makes each day a constant battle > Just to stay between the shores That snippet sounds kind of lame by itself, but just take a second and read the [lyrics](http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/garthbrooks/theriver.html) for the whole song. They’re _amazing_. Or take “Standing outside the fire”: > [@](#): > > But you’ve got to be tough when consumed by desire > 'Cause it’s not enough just to stand outside the fire … > [@](#): > > \*\*Life is not tried, it is merely survived \*\* > If you’re standing outside the fire If you’ve never heard “The Change”, here’s a quick sample of the lyrics: > [@](#): > > And I hear them saying youll never change things and no matter > What you do its still the same thing > But its not the world that I am changing I do this so this > World will know that it will not change me. or have a [listen](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pMuQ7gjwBds&feature=related). (The linked video has 9/11 footage) The song is basically about how life goes on after tragedy and how you can’t let anything get in the way of your faith in humanity. Or how about a song of heartache and a love you haven’t quite gotten over? “What she’s doing now”: > [@](#): > > ‘Cause what she’s doin’ now is tearin’ me apart > Fillin’ up my mind and emptyin’ my heart > I can hear her call each time the cold wind blows > And I wonder if she knows…what she’s doin’ now Absolutely, breathtakingly beautiful lyrics. I don’t know if he writes the lyrics himself, but I have mad respect for whoever does. If I’ve broken any rules in quoting all these lyrics, I apologize. They’re all four lines each, so there shouldn’t be a problem. ---
**Author:** ![lucky\_henry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/bc8723/32.png) [@lucky\_henry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lucky_henry)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2008, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-lyrics/467761/8 "2008-10-14T00:47:14Z")
From “Lucky Henry” by Walter Becker: Dusted down in shanty town behind a sky of red Hoist upon some frozen dawn exploding in my head Fast asleep in trouble deep or wide awake and burning Stuck inside some stranger’s hide whose karma keeps returning Where you trail that holy grail of darkness and despair Way cross town, now up now down, as though you’d really care On the bus across from us seen once in silhouette The old man’s face you couldn’t place that now you can’t forget Down and dirty There you go Lucky Henry says hello ---
**Author:** ![HoboStew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/f17d59/32.png) [@HoboStew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HoboStew)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2008, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-lyrics/467761/9 "2008-10-14T00:54:32Z")
**Modest Mouse** has the best lyrics of any rock band ever. [Styrofoam Boots](http://www.songmeanings.net/lyric.php?lid=15932) is probably the best, but just about any song is amazing lyrically. > [@](#): > > I’m in heaven > Trying to figure out which stack > They’re going to stuff us atheists into > When Peter and his monkey laugh > And I laugh with them > I’m not sure what at > They point and say > “We’ll keep you in the back > Polishing halos, baking manna and gas” ---
**Author:** ![Defensive\_Indifference](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/defensive_indifference/32/6502_2.png) [@Defensive\_Indifference](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Defensive_Indifference)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2008, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-lyrics/467761/10 "2008-10-14T01:47:57Z")
This one is probably only cool in context. Near the end of a rambling, eleven-minute epic in which he expresses all kinds of self doubt, Harry Chapin wails: Am I observer or participant or huckster of belief, making too much of a life so mercifully brief? ---
**Author:** ![Harry1945](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e47c2d/32.png) [@Harry1945](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harry1945)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2008, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-lyrics/467761/11 "2008-10-14T02:25:02Z")
Emmylou Harris, from _Easy From Now On_: “Raw as a whip; clean as bone; soft to the touch when you take me home…” One of the lines from the chorus is: “A quarter-moon in a ten-cent town…” From “Icy Blue Heart:” “She came onto him like a slow moving cold front. His beer was warmer than the look in her eye…” ---
**Author:** ![vivalostwages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d07c76/32.png) [@vivalostwages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vivalostwages)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2008, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-lyrics/467761/12 "2008-10-14T03:18:06Z")
When you live in Butt Town You gotta get down. –Iggy Pop ---
**Author:** ![Telcontar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3bc359/32.png) [@Telcontar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telcontar)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2008, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-lyrics/467761/13 "2008-10-14T03:47:23Z")
“Where There’s a Whip There’s a Way” Meaningful on several levels including the obvious (I’m a graduate student), the obvious (absent a whip there sometimes really isn’t a way…witness the condition of my desk), and the…oops-wrong forum :-P. [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/YdXQJS3Yv0Y/hqdefault.jpg "Where there's a whip, there's a way!") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdXQJS3Yv0Y) ---
**Author:** ![ToeJam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dfb087/32.png) [@ToeJam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ToeJam)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2008, 6:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-lyrics/467761/14 "2008-10-14T06:41:42Z")
I love the entire set of lyrics to Sublime’s “What I got” actually, but here are a few gems: “I can play the guitar like a motherf\*cking riot.” - I have no idea why i love that line, but I REALLY REALLY do love it, and no… I cannot play the guitar like a MF’ing Riot, but I’m learning! “Life is… too short, So love the one you got, Because you might get run over Or you might get shot.” -That’s the more meaningfull portions of the song, but for some reason I just love that other line more so. ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2008, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-lyrics/467761/15 "2008-10-14T12:50:36Z")
> [@Harry1945](#): > > From “Icy Blue Heart:” > > “She came onto him like a slow moving cold front. > His beer was warmer than the look in her eye…” Words and music by John Hiatt, one of my personal favorites. ---
**Author:** ![Frustrated\_Wonderer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a4c791/32.png) [@Frustrated\_Wonderer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frustrated_Wonderer)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2008, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-lyrics/467761/16 "2008-10-14T14:01:18Z")
Well, let me participate! 😛 “For long you live and how you fly the smilesm you´ll give and the tears you´ll cry all you touch and all you see is all your life will ever be” - Pink Floyd and “You can get just so much from a good thing you can linger too long in your dreams say good bye to the oldies but goodies cause´the good ole´days weren´t always good and tommorow ain´t as bad as it seems…” - Billy Joel ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2008, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-lyrics/467761/17 "2008-10-14T14:37:25Z")
“Dear Mr. President” What kind of father would take his own daughter’s rights away? And what kind of father might hate his own daughter if she were gay? I can only imagine what the first lady has to say You’ve come a long way from whiskey and cocaine. ---
**Author:** ![Estilicon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/848f3c/32.png) [@Estilicon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Estilicon)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2008, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-lyrics/467761/18 "2008-10-14T17:53:26Z")
> [@KRC](#): > > Ay muerte tan rigarosa, deja me vivir un dia > “Un dia no puede ser, una hora tienes de vida” > > (Okay, I’m not exactly sure of all the spelling, but it translates as “Death, so terrifying, allow me to live a day! A day isn’t possible. You have an hour to live.”) “Ay muerte rigurosa” doesn’t mean “Death so terrifying”. Rigurosa has many possible translations. In this context it means punctual, strict, rigid. Carry on. ---
**Author:** ![Carnacki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b5e925/32.png) [@Carnacki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carnacki)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2008, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-lyrics/467761/19 "2008-10-14T19:16:54Z")
"I’ve been waiting for the sun to come up, Waiting for the showers to stop, Waiting for the penny to drop, One time. And I’ve been standing in a cloud of plans, Standing in the shifting sands, Hoping for an open hand, One time." From King Crimson’s “One Time” And of course, from B.B. King (not sure who wrote the lyric): "Nobody loves me but my mother… …and she could be jivin’ too". ---
**Author:** ![ivan\_astikov](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/58f4c7/32.png) [@ivan\_astikov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivan_astikov)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2008, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-lyrics/467761/20 "2008-10-14T19:31:53Z")
**"Love me, love me, love me. Say you do. Let me fly away with you. For my love is like the wind, and wild is the wind, wild is the wind"** D. Bowie **"Here are the young men, the weight on their shoulders, Here are the young men, well where have they been? We knocked on the doors of Hell’s darker chamber, Pushed to the limit, we dragged ourselves in, Watched from the wings as the scenes were replaying, We saw ourselves now as we never had seen. Portrayal of the trauma and degeneration, The sorrows we suffered and never were free."** Decades - Joy Division **"If I hadn’t seen such riches, I could live with being poor."** Sit Down - James immediately spring to mind. I’ll have a think and pop back in. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-lyrics/467761.md?page=2)