Lyrics That Matter

[Goldtop]

This is one that really does it for me. Depending on the day, or my mood, or whatever, someone could ask me 'who are you?' and I would tell them to go listen to this. It's on my Final Party list.

I Stood there boldly
Sweatin' in the sun
Felt like a million
Felt like number one
The height of summer
I'd never felt that strong
Like a rock

I was eighteen
Didn't have a care
Working for peanuts
Not a dime to spare
But I was lean and
Solid everywhere
Like a rock

My hands were steady
My eyes were clear and bright
My walk had purpose
My steps were quick and light
And I held firmly
To what I felt was right
Like a rock

Like a rock, I was strong as I could be
Like a rock, nothin' ever got to me
Like a rock, I was something to see
Like a rock

And I stood arrow straight
Unencumbered by the weight
Of all these hustlers and their schemes
I stood proud, I stood tall
High above it all
I still believed in my dreams

Twenty years now
Where'd they go?
Twenty years
I don't know
I sit and I wonder sometimes
Where they've gone

And sometimes late at night
When I'm bathed in the firelight
The moon comes callin' a ghostly white
And I recall
I recall

Like a rock. standin' arrow straight
Like a rock, chargin' from the gate
Like a rock, carryin' the weight
Like a rock

Lihe a rock, the sun upon my skin
Like a rock, hard against the wind
Like a rock, I see myself again
Like a rock

Lloyd

[Boogie]

This song leveled me after my divorce. It was a song I had heard 100 time prior - but heard it again, for the first time, when it applied to me.

Thanks very much for this one, Mr. Henley.

That song has deep meaning for everyone, I think. One of my all-time favorites. Thanks for reminding me.

[alantig]

So many that can be listed here...

Jill Sobule's "Vrbana Bridge", which was inspired by a series of news photos from Serbia. It was two young lovers who were trying to escape across the bridge, but were shot down. The young man died instantly, but the young woman crawled back to him and died hugging him.

Warren Zevon - good lord, there are so many, especially from the last couple albums. "My Sh*t's F*cked Up", "Don't Let Us Get Sick", "Please Stay", and especially "Keep Me In Your Heart For A While".

And Meat Loaf's "For Crying Out Loud". Gives me chills every time I hear it.

[Hopeful Sinner]

Dylan (Subterranean Homesick Blues, 1965):

"Maggie comes fleet foot
Face full of black soot
Talkin' that the heat put
Plants in the bed but
The phone's tapped anyway
Maggie says that many say
They must bust in early May
Orders from the DA
Look out kid
Don't matter what you did
Walk on your tip toes
Don't try, 'No Doz'
Better stay away from those
That carry around a fire hose
Keep a clean nose
Watch the plain clothes
You don't need a weather man
To know which way the wind blows."

Here's that song with the piece of Subterranean Homesick Blues in the break down...

Terrell - Shoutin' Ground

Enjoy!

[Aahzz]

This song leveled me after my divorce. It was a song I had heard 100 time prior - but heard it again, for the first time, when it applied to me.

It's amazing how music can hit you during something as traumatic as a divorce. This song helped me survive mine:

We've been avoiding this for so long,
Luxury is temporary than it's gone.
I thought that we would happen,
I guess I'm wrong.
We'll say hi on the street,
Then we'll move along.
I know this will be awkward,
But not for long.
Cause soon you'll have a new boy,
To sing you songs.

(Chorus)
I will not forgive you,
Nor will I accept the blame.
I will see you on Good Friday,
On Good Friday...
I'm sorry I couldn't do this yesterday,
And tomorrow I am busy and what
It is I can't say.
And Saturday's no good is no good,
We got a show.
So it has to be Good Friday,
Then it's so long...

I will not forgive you,
Nor will I accept the blame.
I will see you on Good Friday,
On Good Friday...

You, You come and go when you please,
I know unfulfilled needs
I know you do too
Oh But I, you know I never see
Things through,
I didn't paid attention to you
But honey I tried...

I will not forgive you,
Nor will I accept the blame.
I will see you on Good Friday,
On Good Friday
On Good Friday
On Good Friday...

[Aahzz]

A lovestruck romeo sings the street a serenade
Laying everybody low with me a lovesong that he made

Onew of my all-time favorites, but it moves me so much that I have a hard time listening to it. Powerful stuff!

[]-[ @ n $ 0 |v| a T ! ©]

I used to sing to her
it used to make her smile
and she knew all the words
for a while

[Goldfixer]

A lot of incredible lyrics have been posted in this thread... yet no one has posted the deep insight of John Mayer

"Say what you mean to say
Say what you mean to say
Say what you mean to say
Say what you mean to say"
repeat until nausea sets in...then repeat again and again

[Goldtop]

This song leveled me after my divorce. It was a song I had heard 100 time prior - but heard it again, for the first time, when it applied to me.

Thanks very much for this one, Mr. Henley.

This is a big one for me too Hans. For slightly different reasons maybe, but still. One of my favorite albums ever.

Years ago back when I was married, my wife and I took a day trip in a new/used car she had, sort of a 'let's go somewhere and test it out' kind of thing. The cassette I grabbed on the way out the door was one I had burned of this album. That whole day I was thinking to myself that things had changed to the point where we were never going back, and I just couldn't bring myself to say it. I now know that she didn't feel the same way I did then, but eventually she would.

Thanks for posting this. Lloyd

[Mikegarveyblues]

Songwriters: LENNON, JOHN / MCCARTNEY, PAUL

In penny lane there is a barber showing photographs
Of every head he's had the pleasure to have known.
And all the people that come and go
Stop and say hello.

On the corner is a banker with a motorcar,
The little children laugh at him behind his back.
And the banker never wears a mack
In the pouring rain, very strange.

Penny lane is in my ears and in my eyes.
There beneath the blue suburban skies
I sit, and meanwhile back

In penny lane there is a fireman with an hourglass
And in his pocket is a portrait of the queen.
He likes to keep his fire engine clean,
It's a clean machine.

Penny lane is in my ears and in my eyes.
A four of fish and finger pies
In summer, meanwhile back

Behind the shelter in the middle of a roundabout
The pretty nurse is selling poppies from a tray
And tho' she feels as if she's in a play
She is anyway.

In penny lane the barber shaves another customer,
We see the banker sitting waiting for a trim.
And then the fireman rushes in
From the pouring rain, very strange.

Penny lane is in my ears and in my eyes.
There beneath the blue suburban skies
I sit, and meanwhile back.
Penny lane is in my ears and in my eyes.
There beneath the blue suburban skies,
Penny lane.

Sort of reminds me of being a teenager and warm sunny days, though I wasn't into the Beatles when I was younger.

-------------------------------------------

Another Beatles one with powerful lyrics that I can relate to is Yesterday:

Songwriters: LENNON, JOHN / MCCARTNEY, PAUL

Yesterday,
All my troubles seemed so far away,
Now it looks as though they're here to stay,
Oh, I believe in yesterday.

Suddenly,
I'm not half the man I used to be,
There's a shadow hanging over me,
Oh, yesterday came suddenly.

Why she
Had to go I don't know, she wouldn't say.
I said,
Something wrong, now I long for yesterday.
Yesterday,
Love was such an easy game to play,
Now I need a place to hide away,
Oh, I believe in yesterday.

Why she
Had to go I don't know, she wouldn't say.
I said,
Something wrong, now I long for yesterday.

Yesterday,
Love was such an easy game to play,
Now I need a place to hide away,
Oh, I believe in yesterday.

Mm-mm-mm-mm-mm-mm-mm.

---------------------------------------------------

And the Lennon song that has some meaning perhaps...

I was dreaming of the past
And my heart was beating fast
I began to lose control
I began to lose control
I didn't mean to hurt you
Im sorry that I made you cry
Oh no, I didn't want to hurt you
Im just a jealous guy

I was feeling insecure
You might not love me anymore
I was shivering inside
I was shivering inside

I didn't mean to hurt you
Im sorry that I made you cry
Oh no, I didn't want to hurt you
Im just a jealous guy

I didn't mean to hurt you
Im sorry that I made you cry
Oh no, I didn't want to hurt you
Im just a jealous guy

I was trying to catch your eyes
Thought that you was trying to hide
I was swallowing my pain
I was swallowing my pain

I didn't mean to hurt you
Im sorry that I made you cry
Oh no, I didn't want to hurt you
Im just a jealous guy, watch out
Im just a jealous guy, look out babe
Im just a jealous guy

[Goldtop]

This may fall under the the heading of TMI, so please forgive me if it does. Here is another song that really speaks to me, and it has since the first time I heard it. At this point in my life, I'm pretty comfortable with who and what I am, but there was a time when I was painfully uncomfortable with myself. I've always felt like an outsider, and I still do. But the difference now is that I accept it as a simple fact. For whatever reason, it's just the way life is for me.

Anyway, this isn't a forum about therapy - although it is very theraputic to me in a wonderful way - so I'll leave it at that. This is by Boston, and if I'm not mistaken, it was written by Tom Scholz.

Lloyd

If I said what's on my mind
You'd turn and walk away
Disappearing way back in your dreams
It's so hard to be unkind
So easy just to say
That everything is just the way it seems

You look up at me
And somewhere in your mind you see
A man I'll never be

If only I could find a way
I'd feel like I'm the man you believe I am
It's getting harder every day for me
To hide behind this dream you see
A man I'll never be

I can't get any stronger
And I can't climb any higher
You'll never know just how hard I've tried
Cry a little longer
And hold a little tighter
Emotions can't be satisfied

You look up at me
And somewhere in your mind you still see
A man I'll never be

If only I could find a way
I'd feel like I'm the man you believe I am
And it gets harder every day for me
To hide behind this dream you see

I can't get any stronger
I can't climb any higher
You'll never know just how hard I've tried
Cry a little longer
And hold a little tighter
Emotions can't be satisfied

You look up at me
And somewhere in your mind you still see
A man I'll never be

If only I could find a way
I'd feel like I'm the man you believe I am
And it gets harder every day for me
I can't keep hidin' this feeling

[11top]

STARS by Grace Potter and the Nocturnals

I lit a fire with the love you left behind,
And it burned wild and crept up the mountainside.
I followed your ashes into outer space
I can't look out the window,
I can't look at this place,

I can't look at the stars,
They make me wonder where you are
Stars,
Up on heaven's boulevard
And if I know you at all,
I know you've gone too far
So I, I can't look at the stars

All those times we looked up at the sky,
Looking out so far,
We felt like we could fly.
And now I'm all alone in the dark of night,
The moon is shining,
But I can't see the light,
And I can't look at the

Stars,
They make me wonder where you are
Stars,
Up on heaven's boulevard
And if I know you at all,
I know you've gone too far
So I, I can't look at the stars

Stars,
Stars,
They make me wonder where you are
Stars,
Up on heaven's boulevard
And if I know you at all,
I know you've gone too far
So I can't look at the stars.

[Goldtop]

A little different approach... These are lines from various writers and performers.

Goldtop

'I'd like to believe we could reconcile the past
Resurrect those bridges with an ancient glance'

'Try to find a woman who's never, never, never been born'

'I am just a red brassiere to all the boys in town
Put this bus in top gear; get me out of here'

'Politicians kissing babies for good luck
TV preachers sell salvation for a buck'

'I have no reason to be over-optimistic
But somehow, when you smile, I can brave bad weather'

'I'm still lookin' for the answer
God, I guess I haven't learned a thing'

'If we make it through December
Everything's gonna be alright I know'

'Don't change for you
Don't change a thing for me'

[]-[ @ n $ 0 |v| a T ! ©]

Where are the dreams that we once had?
This is the time to bring them back
What were the promises
caught on the tips of our tongues?

Do we forget or forgive?
There's a whole other life waiting to be lived when...
One day we're brave enough
To talk with Conviction of the Heart.

And down your streets I've walked alone,
As if my feet were not my own
Such is the path I chose
doors I have opened and closed

I'm tired of living this life,
Fooling myself
believing we're right, when...
I've never given love
With any Conviction of the Heart

One with the earth, with the sky
One with everything in life
I believe we'll survive
If we only try...

How long must we all wait to change
This world bound in chains that we live in
To know what it is to forgive,
And be forgiven?

too many years of taking now.
Isn't it time to stop somehow?
Air that's too angry to breathe
water our children can't drink

You've heard it hundreds of times
You say your aware, believe, and you care, but...
Do you care enough
Where's your conviction of the Heart?

[Goldtop]

"Angie" by Jagger/Richards

Angie, Angie, when will those clouds all disappear?
Angie, Angie, where will it lead us from here?
With no loving in our souls and no money in our coats
You can't say we're satisfied

But Angie, Angie, you can't say we never tried
Angie, you're beautiful, but ain't it time we said good-bye?
Angie, I still love you, remember all those nights we cried?
All the dreams we held so close seemed to all go up in smoke
Let me whisper in your ear:
Angie, Angie, where will it lead us from here?

Oh, Angie, don't you weep, all your kisses still taste sweet
I hate that sadness in your eyes
But Angie, Angie, ain't it time we said good-bye?
With no loving in our souls and no money in our coats
You can't say we're satisfied

But Angie, I still love you, baby
Ev'rywhere I look I see your eyes
There ain't a woman that comes close to you
Come on Baby, dry your eyes
But Angie, Angie, ain't it good to be alive?
Angie, Angie, they can't say we never tried

[11top]

Hans:
Maybe my favorite Loggin's song, and I also like that Bryan White song.

[Mikegarveyblues]

"Angie" by Jagger/Richards

Angie, Angie, when will those clouds all disappear?
Angie, Angie, where will it lead us from here?
With no loving in our souls and no money in our coats
You can't say we're satisfied

But Angie, Angie, you can't say we never tried
Angie, you're beautiful, but ain't it time we said good-bye?
Angie, I still love you, remember all those nights we cried?
All the dreams we held so close seemed to all go up in smoke
Let me whisper in your ear:
Angie, Angie, where will it lead us from here?

Oh, Angie, don't you weep, all your kisses still taste sweet
I hate that sadness in your eyes
But Angie, Angie, ain't it time we said good-bye?
With no loving in our souls and no money in our coats
You can't say we're satisfied

But Angie, I still love you, baby
Ev'rywhere I look I see your eyes
There ain't a woman that comes close to you
Come on Baby, dry your eyes
But Angie, Angie, ain't it good to be alive?
Angie, Angie, they can't say we never tried

Good tune!

[docbennett]

"Angie" by Jagger/Richards

Angie, Angie, when will those clouds all disappear?
Angie, Angie, where will it lead us from here?
With no loving in our souls and no money in our coats
You can't say we're satisfied

But Angie, Angie, you can't say we never tried
Angie, you're beautiful, but ain't it time we said good-bye?
Angie, I still love you, remember all those nights we cried?
All the dreams we held so close seemed to all go up in smoke
Let me whisper in your ear:
Angie, Angie, where will it lead us from here?

Oh, Angie, don't you weep, all your kisses still taste sweet
I hate that sadness in your eyes
But Angie, Angie, ain't it time we said good-bye?
With no loving in our souls and no money in our coats
You can't say we're satisfied

But Angie, I still love you, baby
Ev'rywhere I look I see your eyes
There ain't a woman that comes close to you
Come on Baby, dry your eyes
But Angie, Angie, ain't it good to be alive?
Angie, Angie, they can't say we never tried

Good tune!

Don't tell that to David Bowie.

[Goldtop]

I almost felt you touching me just now
I wish I knew which way to turn and go
I feel so good, and then then I feel so bad
I wonder what I ought to do

If I could only fly, if I could only fly
I'd bid this place goodbye, to come and be with you
But I can hardly stand, and I got no where to run
Another sinking sun, and one more lonely night

The wind keeps blowing somewhere everyday
They tell me things get better somewhere up the way
Just dismal thinking on a dismal day
And sad songs for us to bear

If I could only fly
If we could only fly
If we could only fly
There'd be no more lonely nights

You know sometimes I write happy songs
Then some little thing goes wrong
I wish they all could make you smile

I'm coming home soon and I wanna stay
Maybe we can somehow get away
I wish you could come with me when I go again

[Rosewoodsteel]

Joni Mitchell, Lennon and McCartney, Bob Dylan, Paul Simon, Sting- The Masters.