THE GREAT LYRICS THREAD

A thread to list some of your favorite lyrics

I'll start with some of the best from the Boss

One Step Up - Bruce Springsteen

It's the same thing night on night/Who's wrong baby who's right
Another fight and I slam the door on/Another battle in our dirty little war
When I look at myself I don't see/The man I wanted to be
Somewhere along the line I slipped off track/I'm caught movin' one step up and two steps back

There's a girl across the bar/I get the message she's sendin'
Mmm she ain't lookin' to married/And me well honey I'm pretending
Last night I dreamed I held you in my arms/The music was never-ending
We danced as the evening sky faded to black/One step up and two steps back

Brilliant Disguise - Bruce Springsteen

Now you play the loving woman/I'll play the faithful man
But just don't look too close/into the palm of my hand
We stood at the alter/the gypsy swore our future was right
But come the wee wee hours/Well maybe baby the gypsy lied
So when you look at me/you better look hard and look twice
Is that me baby/or just a brilliant disguise

Tonight our bed is cold/I'm lost in the darkness of our love
God have mercy on the man/Who doubts what he's sure of

No Surrender - Bruce Springsteen

I want to sleep beneath peaceful skies in my lover's bed
with a wide open country in my eyes
and these romantic dreams in my head

Thunder Road - Bruce Springsteen

And in the lonely cool before dawn
You hear their engines roaring on
But when you get to the porch they're gone on the wind
So Mary climb in
It's a town full of losers
And I'm pulling out of here to win

"Thunder Road - Bruce Springsteen

And in the lonely cool before dawn
You hear their engines roaring on
But when you get to the porch they're gone on the wind
So Mary climb in
It's a town full of losers
And I'm pulling out of here to win"

Excellent choice...pure goosebump material every single time I hear it!

One of my favorite songs ever by Derek and The Dominoes has great lyrics, simple but sweetly expressed.

Bell bottom blues, you made me cry.
I don't want to lose this feeling.
And if I could choose a place to die
It would be in your arms.
Do you want to see me crawl across the floor to you?
Do you want to hear me beg you to take me back?
I'd gladly do it because
I don't want to fade away.
Give me one more day, please.
I don't want to fade away.
In your heart I want to stay.
It's all wrong, but it's all right.
The way that you treat me baby.
Once I was strong but I lost the fight.
You won't find a better loser.
Do you want to see me crawl across the floor to you?
Do you want to hear me beg you to take me back?
I'd gladly do it because
I don't want to fade away.
Give me one more day, please.
I don't want to fade away.
In your heart I want to stay.

Love Bell Bottom Blues. Fantastic song.

Love Bell Bottom Blues. Fantastic song.

Outside of U2, it's my all-time fav. I wore out 3 of those albums!

In honour of the Tragically Hip's Gord Downie who died yesterday

Grace, Too

He said I'm fabulously rich
C'mon just let's go
She kinda bit her lip
Geez, I don't know
But I can guarantee
There'll be no knock on the door
I'm total pro that's what I'm here for
I come from downtown
Born ready for you
Armed with will and determination
And grace, too
The secret rules of engagement
Are hard to endorse
When the appearance of conflict
Meets the appearance of force
But I can guarantee
There'll be no knock on the door
I'm total pro
That's what I'm here for
I come from downtown
Born ready for you
Armed with skill and it's frustration
And grace, too

Speaking of Bruce, these are some of his most meaningful (as sung on the 1975-85 live album.)

Down in the shadow of the penitentiary
Out by the gas fires of the refinery
I'm ten years burning down the road
Nowhere to run ain't got nowhere to go

Speaking of Bruce, these are some of his most meaningful (as sung on the 1975-85 live album.)

Down in the shadow of the penitentiary
Out by the gas fires of the refinery
I'm ten years burning down the road
Nowhere to run ain't got nowhere to go

Yup, that whole song has great lyrics. A few others I love from Bruce

Darkness on the Edge of Town

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

Badlands

For the ones who had a notion
A notion deep inside
That it ain't no sin to be glad you're alive
I wanna find one face that ain't looking through me
I wanna find one place
I wanna spit in the face of these badlands

The Rising

Spirits above and behind me
Faces gone, black eyes burnin' bright
May their precious blood forever bind me
Lord as I stand before your fiery light

Living Proof

You shot through my anger and rage
To show me my prison was just an open cage
There were no keys no guards
Just one frightened man and some old shadows for bars

Love Thunder Road - I parted ways with Bruce when I didn’t like the lucky town/human touch combo but I’ve been catching up lately and The Rising and GOTJ are both very interesting works


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

How’s this:

Unicorns and cannonballs, palaces and piers,
trumpets, towers and tenements, wide oceans full of tears,
flags, rags, ferry boats, scimitars and scars,
every precious dream and vision underneath the stars

Yes you climbed on a ladder with the wind in your sail
You came like a comet blazing your trail

Too high, too far, too soon
You saw the whole of the moon

Love that U2 honored this song on the JT tour by one of my other favorite 80s bands




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Tool's Maynard James Keenan has written some incredible lyrics in his time with a couple of different bands; these are my favorite from the song "10,000 Days":

We listen to the tales and romanticize,
How we'd follow the path of the hero.

Boast about the day when the rivers overrun,
How we rise to the height of our halo.

Listen to the tales as we all rationalize,
Our way into the arms of the savior.

Feigning all the trials and the tribulations.
None of us have actually been there,
Not like you...

Ignorant siblings in the congregation.
Gather around spewing sympathy,
Spare me...

None of them can even hold a candle up to you.
Blinded by choice, these hypocrites won't see.

But enough about the collective Judas.
Who could deny you were the one who illuminated
Your little piece of the divine?

And this little light of mine, a gift you passed on to me
I'm gonna let it shine
To guide you safely on your way.

Your way home...

Oh, what are they gonna do when the lights go down?
Without you to guide them all to Zion?
What are they gonna do when the rivers overrun
Other than tremble incessantly?

High is the way,
But our eyes are upon the ground.
You are the light and the way.
They'll only read about.
I only pray heaven knows,
When to lift you out.

10,000 days in the fire is long enough.
You're going home...

You're the only one who can hold your head up high.
Shake your fist at the gates saying,
"I've come home now!
Fetch me the spirit, the son and the father.
Tell them their pillar of faith has ascended.

It's time now!
My time now!
Give me my
Give me my wings!"

Give me my [5x]

Give me my wings

You are the light, the way,
That they will only read about.

Set as I am in my ways and my arrogance.
Burden of proof tossed upon non-believers.
You were my witness, my eyes, my evidence,
Judith Marie, unconditional one.

Daylight dims leaving cold fluorescence.
Difficult to see you in this light.
Please forgive this bold suggestion.
Should you see your maker's face tonight,
Look him in the eye.
Look him in the eye and tell him,
"I never lived a lie, never took a life,
But surely saved one.

Hallelujah
It's time for you to bring me home."

I am the one, Orgasmatron, the outstretched grasping hand
My image is of agony, my servants rape the land
Obsequious and arrogant, clandestine and vain
Two thousand years of misery and torture in my name
Hypocrisy made paramount, paranoia the law
My name is called Religion - sadistic, sacred whore

I twist the truth, I rule the world, my crown is called deceit
I am the emperor of lies, you grovel at my feet
I rob you and I slaughter you, your downfall is my gain
and still you play the sycophant and revel in your pain
And all my promises are lies, all my love is hate
I am the Politician, and I decide your fate

I stand before a martyred world, an army for the fight
I sing of great heroic days, of victory and might
I hold a banner drenched in blood, I urge you to be brave
I lead you to your destiny, I lead you to your grave
Your bones will build my palaces, your eyes will stud my crown
For I am Mars, the God of War, and I will cut you down

Lemmy wrote those words in some hotel room after a show while touring Europe in 1985, and he never remembered doing it. He woke up the next afternoon and there they were. There are lots of songs that have sections of lyrics way better than anything in this song (Exhibit A: the bridge lyrics to "Mofo"), but this is the best set of lyrics taken as a whole to me.

Imaginary friend how random that we both love this. Other than the song title - which strikes me as a publicity ploy rather than anything related but I could be wrong - this is the greatest metal song of all time for me....

Since this is "general" I assume U2s massive collection of amazing lyrics is off limits here....so....how this? Led Zep, Rain song

It is the springtime of my loving
The second season I am to know
You are the sunlight in my growing
So little warmth I've felt before
It isn't hard to feel me glowing
I watched the fire that grew so low

I could get stuck here for days but I'll start with a very short and sweet lyric from one of my all time favorite singer songwriters: Elvis Costello

You were the spice of life
The gin in my vermouth

(Indoor Fireworks)

I could get stuck here for days but I'll start with a very short and sweet lyric from one of my all time favorite singer songwriters: Elvis Costello

You were the spice of life
The gin in my vermouth

(Indoor Fireworks)

Elvis Costello might just be my favorite lyricist ever. The man has a way with words that's unparalleled, with these being one of my favorites:

Brilliant Mistake

She Said that she was working for the ABC News
It was as much of the alphabet as she knew how to use

Man Out of Time


But for his private wife and kids somehow
Real life becomes a rumour
Days of dutch courage
Just three French letters and a German sense of humour
He`s got a mind like a sewer and a heart like a fridge
He stands to be insulted and he pays for the privilege

Everyday I Write the Book

Don't tell me you don't know the difference
Between a lover and a fighter
With my pen and my electric typewriter
Even in a perfect world where everyone was equal
I'd still own the film rights and be working on the sequel


Deep Dark Truthful Mirror

One day you're going to have to face
A deep dark truthful mirror
And it's going to tell you things that I still love you too much to say
The sky was just a purple bruise, the ground was iron
And you fell all around the town until you looked the same

I Felt the Chill Before the Winter Came

I felt the chill before the winter came
I suffered the guilt and then accepted the blame
I wanted you before you ever spoke my name
But I knew that we would go wrong
Just as they do in all in those old tragic songs
Did that melody haunt your mind?
Just like a linger of perfume
Now you're in someone else's arms
Locked up in another room