# Your favorite songs - from the lyrics **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 18, 2010, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-songs-from-the-lyrics/547088 "2010-07-18T02:52:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![crypto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b3f665/32.png) [@crypto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crypto)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2010, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-songs-from-the-lyrics/547088/1 "2010-07-18T02:52:57Z")
There are a number of songs that I like, not necessarily for the music, but for the lyrics… the story the song tells, and how well it tells it. Much music (to me, anyway) is just noise, and the lyrics often play the role of another instrument, that allow people to sing along, but mean little or nothing in reality. The best songs are the ones that provide a story along with the tune. So, what are your favorites? I’ll start the list with 5 songs, in no particular order. I have always been curious if other people listen as closely to lyrics as I do. Rules: 1. They can be from any genre (they must have words!) 2. You must name at least one song… 3. Please provide a link! 4. [A Fool In The Rain](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t2015S3A-lg) - Led Zepplin 5. [What a Fool Believes](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y7-BBADPAvE) - Doobie Brothers 6. [Brandi, You’re A Fine Girl](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N-tRXewCAmU) - Looking Glass 7. [Smoke From A Distant Fire](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xy8ba2eL7cI) - Sanford Townsend Band 8. [Cherry Bomb](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KF0gsbQKhD8&feature=PlayList&p=82E3C12F291166FD&playnext_from=PL&index=34) - John Mellencamp ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2010, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-songs-from-the-lyrics/547088/2 "2010-07-18T04:19:11Z")
[My Back Pages](http://www.bobdylan.com/#/songs/my-back-pages) - Bob Dylan [The Price You Pay](http://www.sing365.com/music/lyric.nsf/The-Price-You-Pay-lyrics-Bruce-Springsteen/B971A5B5CAECDCF64825687100158B1E) - Bruce Springsteen [I’ll Feel A Whole Lot Better](http://www.cowboylyrics.com/lyrics/byrds/ill-feel-a-whole-lot-better-12189.html) - Byrds [Before the Deluge](http://www.lyricsfreak.com/j/jackson+browne/before+the+deluge_20068553.html) - Jackson Browne [Souvenirs](http://www.metrolyrics.com/souvenirs-lyrics-suzy-bogguss.html) - Suzy Bogguss ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2010, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-songs-from-the-lyrics/547088/3 "2010-07-18T13:49:22Z")
Lyrics are of supreme importance to me in music as well. I can’t tell if you’re soliciting songs based on appreciation for their meaning or appreciation for the quality of writing. A lot of my favorite songs, lyrically, aren’t necessarily the best written, they just happen to perfectly express some thing I feel. Other songs I love have amazingly well-written lyrics about otherwise mundane topics. If you’re talking about lyrics on the force of quality alone, I’d nominate: **Rush** - [Freewill.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OnxkfLe4G74) Obviously it comes with a brilliant message. **Eve 6** - [Promise.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sF5O0qH4LLQ) Eve 6 is one of those vastly underrated bands who really know how to turn a phrase. > [@](#): > > I spit and stutter stuff and clutter > worries in my worried corner > Maladjusted Just untrusted Rusted > Sometimes brilliant busted thoughts > Think I’ll stay for a while > I’m intrigued and I’m > Red as a newborn, white as a corpse This is one of my favorite love songs because it captures so well that bewilderment and elation and anxiety and confusion that is falling in love. For more well-written lyrics by Eve 6, try [Girl Eyes](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R_XdM8wdgm0), which invents the marvellous word, ‘‘Vodkareening’’ to describe reckless drunkenness. This song sounds like being drunk. In a good way. **Atmosphere** - [Trying to Find a Balance](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gbEwHJX95QE) All Atmosphere does is turn out lyrically amazing songs. Most of their stuff reminds me of beat poetry. This one has more of a mainstream feel, but I love how palpable the frustration is. Finally, another lyrical genius, Tori Amos, with [Mother](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ptDNwU5bJU8). > [@](#): > > Here here now > Don’t cry > You raised your hand for the assignment > Tuck those ribbons under your helmet > Be a good soldier > First my left foot > Then my right behind the other > Pantyhose > Running in the cold This song _kills_ me. Full lyrics [here](http://www.sing365.com/music/lyric.nsf/Mother-lyrics-Tori-Amos/E83DF4267C2E4BFE4825688F002718EA). If you want good storytelling, you must hear Amos’ album _Little Earthquakes_. [Every song](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S6kvysYPe9E) is like a chapter in a book of short stories. I could keep going. My entire music library is basically artists whose lyrics I love. ---
**Author:** ![Tehanu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ee7513/32.png) [@Tehanu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tehanu)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2010, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-songs-from-the-lyrics/547088/4 "2010-07-18T14:37:26Z")
Assemblage 23 [Disappoint](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JVKszGGQXAM) - anyone who has lost someone suddenly will understand this song. It was written by the artist after his father committed suicide VNV Nation [Illusion](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pu-8wGbWMro&a) - this song means a lot to a lot of people Interface [Never Say Farewell](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MpLayDqNsko) - I heard the artist say he wrote this song after seeing a friend go through a very rough time Project Pitchfork [Renascence](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JpRcbQXlSjM) - I used to bawl my eyes out every time I heard this song. Talk about powerful story telling! Full lyrics below, because I love them so much: Ajam lives in the steppe he loves the rolling hills the warm dry winds but his wife’s love touches his heart the most her grace surpasses even the brightness of the stars her gentle voice soothes his mind [[SHORTENED QUOTE]] ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2010, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-songs-from-the-lyrics/547088/5 "2010-07-18T17:54:27Z")
**Tehanu** , your last contribution reminds me of Paula Cole’s [Hush, Hush, Hush](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q9qr3NHhg2s), the story of a gay man dying of AIDS in his father’s arms. (audio quality on YouTube is crappy.) > [@](#): > > long white arms > losing their strength and form > sixty year man on twenty year old skin > skeleton your eyes have lost their warmth > look to your father for some support > > hush hush hush > says your daddy’s touch > sleep sleep sleep > says the hundredth sheep > peace peace peace > may you go in peace ---
**Author:** ![Labdad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/439d5e/32.png) [@Labdad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labdad)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2010, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-songs-from-the-lyrics/547088/6 "2010-07-18T20:53:05Z")
Bob Dylan, [_Highway 61 Recisited_](http://www.bobdylan.com/#/songs/highway-61-revisited) Oh God said to Abraham, “Kill me a son” Abe says, “Man, you must be puttin’ me on” God say, “No.” Abe say, “What?” God say, “You can do what you want Abe, but The next time you see me comin’ you better run” Well Abe says, “Where do you want this killin’ done?” God says, “Out on Highway 61” Little Feat, [_Dixie Chicken_](http://www.guntheranderson.com/v/data/dixiechi.htm): Yeah well, we made all the hot spots, my money flowed like wine And then that low-down Southern whiskey began to fog my mind And I don’t remember church bells or the money I put down On the white picket-fence and boardwalk of the house at the edge of town Oh, but boy do I remember the strain of her refrain And the nights we spent together and the way she called my name ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2010, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-songs-from-the-lyrics/547088/7 "2010-07-18T20:58:55Z")
A friendly reminder: SDMB policy is that if a song is under copyright, please don’t quote more than approximately one verse. Thank you. ---
**Author:** ![Busy\_Scissors](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/d78d45/32.png) [@Busy\_Scissors](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Busy_Scissors)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2010, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-songs-from-the-lyrics/547088/8 "2010-07-18T21:52:56Z")
I’ve been listening to a lot of Irish folk music over the past couple of years, where it’s all about the lyrics. Too many classics to name - here’s a few Dubliners tracks that tell great stories. [The louse house of Kilkenny](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QAQ2kiT3buk) [McAlpine’s Fusiliers](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pkuuAGr22jk) [The Auld Orange FLute](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gSatdW0EfPU) [The Ragman’s Ball](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hF777yGo5tQ) [Raglan Rd](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EuafmLvoJow) The last one is a rare example. The lyrics are a poem by a bona fide master - Patrick Kavanagh, and it’s been sung by the mighty Luke Kelly. This confluence of legends has to be unusual, in any genre of music. One of my all time favourite songs. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2010, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-songs-from-the-lyrics/547088/9 "2010-07-18T22:29:46Z")
If you know Irish history, [Outlaws](http://www.elyrics.net/read/c/capercaillie-lyrics/outlaws-lyrics.html) by Capercaillie speaks volumes. ---
**Author:** ![Serenata67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/serenata67/32/10646_2.png) [@Serenata67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Serenata67)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2010, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-songs-from-the-lyrics/547088/10 "2010-07-20T12:40:18Z")
[American Pie](http://www.lyrics007.com/Don%20McLean%20Lyrics/American%20Pie%20Lyrics.html) by Don McLean… classic story song. My favorite line of a song ever is “the players tried to take the field, the marching band refused to yield.” I’m such a band geek. [Book of Love](http://www.stlyrics.com/lyrics/shallwedance/bookoflove.htm) as done by Peter Gabriel. I know he covered it, so we probably can’t credit him with the lyrics, but the way he does the lyrics is awesome. [I Will Follow You Into The Dark](http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/deathcabforcutie/iwillfollowyouintothedark.html) by Death Cab for Cutie. Simple, beautiful, darkly romantic. [Where Does the Good Go](http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/teganandsara/wheredoesthegoodgo.html) by Tegan and Sara. It really got me through a bad time. [Hallelujah](http://www.sing365.com/music/lyric.nsf/hallelujah-lyrics-jeff-buckley/d0720188d8c780ff4825688400270d36)by Jeff Buckley. Haunting, beautiful, moving. I listened to it almost non-stop after I miscarried a few years back. It’s about breaking up, but something in the song’s lyrics touched me at that time. ---
**Author:** ![Duke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e8c25b/32.png) [@Duke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2010, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-songs-from-the-lyrics/547088/11 "2010-07-20T13:08:48Z")
Everything by Joe Pernice, whether it’s him as the Pernice Brothers, Big Tobacco/Chappaquiddick Skyline, or solo always gets me with his lyrics. [Somerville](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gRzVhrPOhOY) is a good example of how he wrings gold from the mundane: > [@](#): > > I left there with bitter words > I go back with cabin hand > And launder the bed I made, hurtful things said > Pick up where I began ---
**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:** [July 20, 2010, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-songs-from-the-lyrics/547088/12 "2010-07-20T13:32:45Z")
[The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald](http://home.pacbell.net/chabpyne/lyrics.html) ---
**Author:** ![kelly5078](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/6f9a4e/32.png) [@kelly5078](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kelly5078)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2010, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-songs-from-the-lyrics/547088/13 "2010-07-20T14:54:27Z")
“Beeswing” - Richard Thompson “Desolation Row” - Bob Dylan “Tomorrow Never Knows” - The Beatles “Village Green Preservation Society” - The Kinks “A Case of You” - Joni Mitchell ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2010, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-songs-from-the-lyrics/547088/14 "2010-07-20T15:27:52Z")
I’ve always loved great lyrics. Some of my favorites include: “[They Can’t Take That Away from Me](http://www.lyricsdownload.com/gershwin-george-they-can-t-take-that-away-from-me-lyrics.html)” – Ira Gershwin “[You’re the Top](http://www.stlyrics.com/lyrics/de-lovely/yourethetop.htm)” – Cole Porter “[She’s no Lady](http://www.cowboylyrics.com/lyrics/lovett-lyle/shes-no-lady-1067.html)” – Lyle Lovett “[School Days](http://www.cduniverse.com/lyrics.asp?id=12894556)” – Loudon Wainwright III “[She Wandered Through the Garden Fence](http://www.procolharum.com/w/w0102.htm)” – Keith Reid (Procol Harum). I could probably list another ten songs from these lyricists alone. ---
**Author:** ![Pandoranoid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce73a5/32.png) [@Pandoranoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pandoranoid)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2010, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-songs-from-the-lyrics/547088/15 "2010-07-20T17:47:56Z")
‘The Moon’ by Cat Power ‘So Misunderstood’ by Wilco ‘Kiss With a Fist’ by Florence + the Machine ‘Time’ by Tom Waits And for when I just want to bawl my eyes out, all of the album ‘Electro-Shock Blues’ by the Eels, especially ‘3 Speed’: ‘…I looked into the mirror last night/and I thought I saw a bomb/Why won’t you just/Tell me what’s going on?..’ ‘I Don’t Know How to Post Links and I Don’t Care’, by Pandoranoid ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2010, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-songs-from-the-lyrics/547088/16 "2010-07-20T18:04:17Z")
Two songs leapt immediately to mind when I read the thread. I think they’re absolutely great songs, and a major part of that is because they have interesting lyrics: Lola, by The Kinks, and You’re So Vain, by Carly Simon. ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2010, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-songs-from-the-lyrics/547088/17 "2010-07-20T18:16:27Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > If you know Irish history, [Outlaws](http://www.elyrics.net/read/c/capercaillie-lyrics/outlaws-lyrics.html) by Capercaillie speaks volumes. Not sure why that’s specifically Irish history? I tend not to focus too closely on lyrics, as a rule, but I do like Shane MacGowan’s way with words. [The Pogues - Rainy Night in Soho](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=55Yp8vecWXM) > [@](#): > > Now the song is nearly over > We may never find out what it means > Still there’s a light I hold before me > You’re the measure of my dreams > The measure of my dreams ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_A.Robrin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sam_a.robrin/32/14497_2.png) [@Sam\_A.Robrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_A.Robrin)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2010, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-songs-from-the-lyrics/547088/18 "2010-07-21T04:28:19Z")
The Supremes: “Love Child” [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=\_IluVWcNtR8](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_IluVWcNtR8) None of the “Poor, pitiful me” glurge that race hustlers devolved the Civil Rights movement into. This one makes the rare statement that “I’m going to learn from my own and others’ mistakes, and take responsibility for my life.” The message a lot of poor kids ought to be hearing, but it would leave no room for the power-mad to push in and take over. Lou Christie: “Lightnin’ Strikes” [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LyRqdzF8swY](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LyRqdzF8swY) The most honest and accurate depiction of male - female relations that I’ve ever heard. I don’t have to like it–and I don’t–but it really is just this way. The Beatles: “Revolution” [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KrkwgTBrW78](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KrkwgTBrW78) So clever and articulate an encapsulation of 1960s political consciousness that I can scarcely believe John Lennon really wrote it–a supposition backed by his addition of “and in” to most versions subsequent to the original 45 rpm release. No one who had written those lyrics could possibly be ambivalent on the topic. Joni Mitchell: “Both Sides Now” [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bcrEqIpi6sg](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bcrEqIpi6sg) Brilliantly structured as she moves from the quotidian to the profound, finding the parallels. Carefully selected imagery for the most compact possible illustration. But you have to listen to the composer’s own recording, and not the hit Judy Collins had with it, because Collins fluffs the lyrics, blowing the sublime triplet of “I’ve looked at clouds from both sides now, / From **up and down** ” / “I’ve looked at love from both sides now, / From **give and take** ” / “I’ve looked at clouds from both sides now, / From **win and lose**.” Mitchell does something very similar in “Marci” with the “red and green” imagery, and I almost chose that song, but “Marci” is one person’s story, and “Both Sides” covers all of existence. (Almost all–I wrote a fourth verse to cover religion, but that one seems to get no mention in the official canon . . .) The Rolling Stones: “Ruby Tuesday” [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W6buA4TOjHE&feature=related](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W6buA4TOjHE&feature=related) To know her was to love her (always against your better judgment), but to love her was to lose her (forever to your ambivalent regret). Do I have to stop at five? ---
**Author:** ![kelly5078](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/6f9a4e/32.png) [@kelly5078](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kelly5078)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2010, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-songs-from-the-lyrics/547088/19 "2010-07-21T05:04:26Z")
I forgot: “Slip Slidin’ Away” by Paul Simon. And “Louisiana, 1927” by Randy Newman. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2010, 12:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-songs-from-the-lyrics/547088/20 "2010-07-21T12:21:10Z")
“[Mad Dogs and Englishmen](http://www.lyricsmania.com/mad_dogs_englishmen_lyrics_noel_coward.html)” by Noel Coward. "[Brush Up Your Shakespeare](http://www.guntheranderson.com/v/data/brushupy.htm) by Cole Porter (again) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-songs-from-the-lyrics/547088.md?page=2)