Whilst we all like 'a nice tune' I have always been one of those who think that the words are equally important and as such I thought would ask for some of your favourite lyrics and whilst my favourite lyricist is obvious (and I will be sharing some of his) I am sure that they plenty of others that people would like to share, whether they be soppy and sentimental or hard hitting political observation. Now I could have started by posting all of Down In A Tubestation at Midnight or That's Entertainment which both rank in my opinion amongst the best. But instead I will start with these 4 lines from one of Wellers less well known on songs We'll smile but only for seconds, For to be caught smiling is to acknowledge life, A brave but useless show of compassion, And that is forbidden in this drab and colourless world.
I always thought it was awfully late to be having a curry and would it be cold when he got home and most of all what wine was he drinking with the curry
Another songs lyrics come to mind . American tune by Paul Simon And I don't know a soul who's not been battered I dont have a friend who feels at ease I don't know a dream that's not been shattered Or driven to its knees
Billy is another fabulous lyricist She danced with me and I still hold that memory Soft and sweet And I stare up at her window As I walk down her street But I never made the first team, I just made the first team laugh And she never came to the phone She was always in the bath In the end, it took me a dictionary To find out the meaning of unrequited While she was giving herself for free At a party to which I was never invited
Saturday boy ? I could go with many more of Billy's songs , little snippets come to me in everyday life I'm celebrating my love for you With a pint of beer and a new tattoo And if you haven't noticed yet I'm more impressionable when my cement is wet
I love Jello Biafra's lyrics and top of the lot has to be...California Über Alles... I am Governor Jerry Brown My aura smiles and never frowns Soon I will be president... Carter power will soon go 'way I will be Führer one day I will command all of you Your kids will meditate in school Your kids will meditate in school California Über Alles California Über Alles Über Alles California Über Alles California Zen fascists will control you Hundred percent natural You will jog for the master race And always wear the happy face Close your eyes, can't happen here Big Bro' on white horse is near The hippies won't come back, you say Mellow out or you will pay Mellow out or you will pay California Über Alles California Über Alles Über Alles California Über Alles California Now it is 1984 Knock-knock at your front door It's the suede denim secret police They have come for your uncool niece Come quietly to the camp You'd look nice as a drawstring lamp Don't you worry, it's only a shower For your clothes, here's a pretty flower Die on organic poison gas Serpent's egg's already hatched You will croak, you little clown When you mess with President Brown When you mess with President Brown California Über Alles California Über Alles Über Alles California Über Alles California
From Billy Bragg, I'd have to include the sensational Levi Stubb's tears... With the money from her accident She bought herself a mobile home So at least she could get some enjoyment Out of being alone No one could say that she was left up on the shelf It's you and me against the World kid she mumbled to herself When the world falls apart some things stay in place Levi Stubbs' tears run down his face She ran away from home in her mother's best coat She was married before she was even entitled to vote And her husband was one of those blokes The sort that only laughs at his own jokes The sort a war takes away And when there wasn't a war he left anyway Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong Are here to make everything right that's wrong Holland and Holland and Lamont Dozier too Are here to make it all okay with you One dark night he came home from the sea And put a hole in her body where no hole should be It hurt her more to see him walking out the door And though they stitched her back together they left her heart in pieces on the floor When the world falls apart some things stay in place She takes off the Four Tops tape and puts it back in its case When the world falls apart some things stay in place. She takes off the Four Tops tape and puts it back in its case When the world falls apart some things stay in place Levi Stubbs' tears...
This has to go in too... Father mows the lawn and mother peels potatoes Grandma lays the table alone And adjusts a photograph of the unknown soldier In this Holy of Holies, the Home And from the TV an unwatched voice Suggests the answer is to plant more trees The scrawl on the wall says what about the workers And the voice of the people says more salt please Mother shakes her head and reads aloud from the newspaper As Father puts another lock on the door And reflects upon the violent times that we are living in While chatting to the wife beater next door If paradise to you is cheap beer and overtime Home truths are easily missed Something that every football fan knows It only takes five fingers to form a fist And when it rains here It rains so hard But never hard enough to wash away the sorrow I'll trade my love today for a greater love tomorrow The lonely child looks out and dreams of independence From this family life sentence Mother sees but does not read the peeling posters And can't believe that there's a world to be won But in the public schools and in the public houses The Battle of Britain goes on The constant promise of jam tomorrow Is the New Breed's litany and verse If it takes another war to fill the churches of England Then the world the meek inherit, what will it be worth Mother fights the tears and father, his sense of outrage And attempts to justify the sacrifice To pass their creed down to another generation 'Anything for the quiet life' In the Land of a Thousand Doses Where nostalgia is the opium of the age Our place in History is as Clock watchers, old timers, window shoppers. Father mows the lawn and Mother peels potatoes Grandma lays the table alone Where's that photograph of the unknown soldier In this Holy of Holies, the Home Father mows the lawn and Mother peels potatoes Grandma lays the table alone Where's that photograph of the unknown soldier In this Holy.....
Jarvis Cocker writes some absolute ****ing belters. Misshapes, Do You Remember The First Time, Sorted For E's and Whizz...and a whole load more. But king of the lot has to be Common People... She came from Greece she had a thirst for knowledge She studied sculpture at Saint Martin's College That's where I Caught her eye She told me that her dad was loaded I said, in that case I'll have rum and Coca-Cola She said fine And then in thirty seconds time she said I wanna live like common people I wanna do whatever common people do Wanna sleep with common people I wanna sleep with common people Like you Oh what else could I do I said I'll, I'll see what I can do I took her to a supermarket I don't know why But I had to start it somewhere So it started there I said pretend you've got no money She just laughed and said Oh you're so funny I said; yeah I can't see anyone else smiling in here Are you sure? You wanna live like common people You wanna see whatever common people see Wanna sleep with common people You wanna sleep with common people Like me But she didn't understand She just smiled and held my hand Rent a flat above a shop Cut your hair and get a job Smoke some ***s and play some pool Pretend you never went to school But still you'll never get it right 'Cause when you're laid in bed at night Watching roaches climb the wall If you called your dad he could stop it all, yeah You'll never live like common people You'll never do whatever common people do You'll never fail like common people You'll never watch your life slide out of view And you dance and drink and screw Because there's nothing else to do Sing along with the common people Sing along and it might just get you through Laugh along with the common people Laugh along even though they're really laughing at you And the stupid things that you do Because you think that poor is cool Like a dog lying in a corner They will bite you and never warn you Look out, they'll tear your insides out 'Cause everybody hates a tourist Especially one who thinks it's all such a laugh Yeah and the chip stains and grease Will come out in the bath You will never understand How it feels to live your life With no meaning or control And with nowhere left to go You are amazed that they exist And they burn so bright Whilst you can only wonder why Rent a flat above a shop Cut your hair and get a job Smoke some ***s and play some pool Pretend you never went to school But still you'll never get it right 'Cause when you're laid in bed at night Watching roaches climb the wall If you called your dad he could stop it all Yeah Never live like common people Never do what common people do Never fail like common people You'll never watch your life slide out of view And then dance and drink and screw Because there's nothing else to do Wanna live with common people like you (x7) Oh, la, la, la, la Oh, la, la, la, la Oh, la, la, la, la Oh, la, la, la, la Oh you.............
