Poetry and Lyrics

[Tathagata]

What a Day That Was - David Byrne

Well, I’m dressed up so nice
An’ I’m doin’ my best
Yes I’m startin’ over..
Startin’ over in another place

Lemme tell you a story
Big chief with a golden crown
He’s got rings on his finger
And then he walks up, up to the throne

He’s makin’ shapes with his hands
An’ don’t choo dare sit down
Now don’t choo dare jump back
And don’t choo dare stick out!

And on the first day, we had everything we could hold
Ooh and then we let it fall
And on the second day, there was nothing else left to do
Ooh what a day that was.

There are 50,000 beggars
Roaming in the streets
They have lost all their possessions
They have nothing left to eat

Down come a bolt of lightning
Now an electrical storm
Starts a chain reaction
Go pull a fire alarm

I’m dreaming of a city
It was my own invention
And I put the wheels in motion
A time for big decisions

And on the first day, we had everything we could stand
Ooh and then we let it fall
And on the second day, there was nothing else left to do
Ooh what a day that was.

Oh a day that was
Ooh that’s the way it goes
There’s a million ways- to get things done
There’s a million ways- to make things work out.

Well I’m going right trough
And the light came down
Well they’re roundin’ ’em up
From all over town

They’re movin’ forward and back
They’re movin’ backwards and front
And they’re enjoying themselves
Moving in ev’ry direction

So if you feel like you’re in a whirlpool
You feel like going home
And if you feel like talking to someone
Who know the difference between right and wrong

And on the first day, we had everything we could hold
Ooh and then we let it fall
And on the second day, there was nothing else left to do
Ooh what a day that was.

We’re go(in’) boom boom boom that’s the way we live
And in a great big room and that’s the way we live.

 

[mysticmoon]

I dearly love Silly Wizard, a Celtic group that disbanded in the late 80's. Pretty much all of the band members went on to fairly successful solo careers, though they're all pretty much friends. Most of their lyrics were written by Scott Cunningham, and my goodness! That man can turn a lyric! His songs read as good as they play. They also did a lot of traditional tunes, and recorded in both the Scots dialect of Gaelic and the Irish dialects, as well as English. I've been listening to them a lot lately, after hearing a dear sweet friend from Ireland performing "Lover's Heart" at an open mike night at a local coffee shop. Here's some of their lyrics:

The Chill Eastern Winds

Prepare you sweet flowers, for winter advances
And drink well the sunlight that touches your form.
Draw strength from the earth and repay her with beauty,
For the dark days are comin', oh, and they'll do you harm.

When the chill eastern winds replace summer breezes,
And the long summer days are remembered no more,
Then you'll know how it feels when a woman's love changes,
When at last she has told you she loves you no more.

I saw her today, when she walked with her new love,
In all the fine places that we'd walked before.
They kissed by the rocks where she told me she loved me,
And soon she'll be using those same words once more.

There's none that could blame me for wanting her beauty,
But it lies like a snowflake in the hands of a child.
When the warmth of my love tried to reach out and hold her,
It's then she was gone, to prove she's still wild.


Lover's Heart

She was in the flowery garden when first she caught my eye
And I just a marching soldier she smiled as I passed by
The flowers she held were fresh and fair, her lips were full and red
And as I passed that shady bower, these words to me she said

(Chorus)

Last night we spoke of love, now we're forced to part
You leave to the sound of a marching drum and the beat of a lovers heart

She was by the shore in the evening when next I saw my dear
Running barefoot by the waterside, she called as I drew near
The sunlight glanced at the water's edge making fire of her auburn hair
My young heart danced at her parting words that hung in the evening air

(Chorus)

She was on the Strand next morning when orders came to sail
And as we slipped our ropes away I watched her from the rail
She threw me a rose, which fell between us, and floated on the Bay
And as our shippulled from the shore, I heard her call and say

(Chorus)

Now the soldier's life won't suit me, sweet music is my trade
For I'd rather melt the hardest heart than pierce it with a blade
Let the time be short till I return to my home in the mountains high
And the loving girl who stole my heart with these words as I passed by

​

 

[Rumpleteazer]

The Dead Flag Blues

by Godspeed You Black Emeperor

the car's on fire and there's no driver at the wheel
and the sewers are all muddied with a thousand lonely suicides
and a dark wind blows
the government is corrupt
and we're on so many drugs
with the radio on and the curtains drawn

we're trapped in the belly of this horrible machine
and the machine is bleeding to death

the sun has fallen down
and the billboards are all leering
and the flags are all dead at the top of their poles

it went like this:

the buildings tumbled in on themselves
mothers clutching babies picked through the rubble
and pulled out their hair

the skyline was beautiful on fire
all twisted metal stretching upwards
everything washed in a thin orange haze

i said: "kiss me, you're beautiful -
these are truly the last days"

you grabbed my hand and we fell into it
like a daydream or a fever

we woke up one morning and fell a little further down -
for sure it's the valley of death

i open up my wallet
and it's full of blood

 

[Bill Dada]

Big Ol’ White Boys
By Terry Allen

Sittin’ here on the banks of the river
Lookin’ out at the other side
Wonderin’ if we’re ever gonna get there
Wonderin’ why we’re never satisfied

Big ol’ white boys cross the ocean
In little bitty ships the whole world round
Got no notion where they’re going
What they’re doin’ or what they’ve found

White boys tame the mountains and the prairies
Makin’ rules and buildin’ towns
If it’s alive it’s better off buried
If it stands you better knock it down

White boys we’re not Mexican, Blacks or Indians
We’re white boys
We’re not Arabs, Jews or Asians
Big white boys
Big ol’ white European Caucasions
And white girls too

Sittin’ here on the banks of the river
Lookin’ out at the other side
Wonderin’ if we’re ever gonna get there
Wonderin’ why we’re never satisfied

Big ol’ white boys fat with plunder
Satisfying our every need
Rule the world while we get dumber
In the name of our Lord and greed

Sittin’ here on the banks of the river
Lookin’ out at the other side
Wonderin’ if we’re ever gonna get there
Wonderin’ why we’re never satisfied

 

[Bill Dada]

Martin Scorsese

by John S. Hall

He makes the best fucking films
He makes the best fucking films
If I ever meet him I'm gonna grab his fuckin' neck and just shake him
And say thank you thank you for makin' such excellent fuckin' movies
Then I'd twist his nose all the way the fuck around
And then rip off one of his ears and throw it
Like a like a like a fuckin' frisbee
I wanna chew his fuckin' lips off and grab his head and suck out one of his
eyes and chew on it and spit it out in his face
And say thank you thank you for all of your fuckin' films
Then I'd pick him up by the hair swing him over my head a few times
And throw him across the room and kick all his fuckin' teeth in and then
stomp on his face 40 or 50 times
Cuz he makes the best fucking films he makes the best fucking films
I've ever seen in my life
I fuckin love him
I fuckin love him

 

[RoniB]

Waye, CHANTAL KREVIAZUK

shadow

 

[GuiltyPleasure]

Fairytale of New York

The Pogues

It was Christmas Eve babe
In the drunk tank
An old man said to me, won't see another one
And then he sang a song
The Rare Old Mountain Dew
And I turned my face away
And dreamed about you

Got on a lucky one
Came in eighteen to one
I've got a feeling
This year's for me and you
So happy Christmas
I love you baby
I can see a better time
When all our dreams come true

They've got cars
Big as bars
They've got rivers of gold
But the wind goes right through you
It's no place for the old

When you first took my hand
On a cold Christmas Eve
You promised me
Broadway was waiting for me

You were handsome
You were pretty
Queen of New York City
When the band finished playing
They howled out for more
Sinatra was swinging
All the drunks they were singing
We kissed on the corner
Then danced through the night

The boys of the NYPD choir
Were singing 'Galway Bay'
And the bells were ringing
Out for Christmas day

You're a bum
You're a punk
You're an old slut on junk
Living there almost dead on a drip
In that bed

You scum bag
You maggot
You cheap lousy faggot
Happy Christmas your arse
I pray God
It's our last

I could have been someone
So could anyone
You took my dreams
From me when I first found you
I kept them with me babe
I put them with my own
Can't make it all alone
I've built my dreams around you




​

 

[RoniB]

Fairytale

shadow

 

[Bill Dada]

Pepper

The Butthole Surfers

Marky got with Sharon
Sharon got Cherice
She was sharin' Sharon's outlook on the topic of disease
Mikey had a facial scar
Bobby was a racist
They were all in love with dyin'
They were doin' it in Texas
Tommy played piano like a kid out in the rain
Then he lost his leg in Dallas
He was dancin' with a train
They were all in love with dyin'
They were drinking from a fountain
That was pourin' like an avalanche comin' down the mountain

I don't mind the sun sometimes
The images it shows
I can taste you on my lips and
Smell you in my clothes
Cinnamon and sugary
Like softly spoken lies
You never know just how you look
Through other people's eyes

Some will die in hot pursuit
In firey auto crashes
Some will die in hot pursuit
While sifting through my ashes
Some will fall in love with life and drink it from a fountain
That is pouring like an avalanche comin' down the mountain

I don't mind the sun sometimes
The images it shows
I can taste you on my lips and
Smell you in my clothes
Cinnamon and sugary
Like softly spoken lies
You never know just how you look
Through other people's eyes

[Chorus Backwards]

Another Mikey caught a knife
While arguing in traffic
Flipper died a natural death
He caught a nasty virus
Then there was the ever present
Football player-rapist
They were all in love with dyin'
They were doin' it in Texas
Billy caught a bullet
But it only hit his leg
Well, it should have been a better shot
And got him in the head
They were all in love with dyin'
They were drinkin' from a fountain
That was pourin' like an avalanche comin' down the mountain

 

[Bill Dada]

Angry Johnny

Poe

Johnny, Angry Johnny, this is Jezebel in Hell
I wanna kill you, I wanna blow you...away

I can do it you gently
I can do it with an animal's grace
I can do it with precision
I can do it with gormet taste

Chorus:
But either way
Either (way), either way
I wanna kill you
I wanna blow you...
Away

I can do it to your mind
I can do it to your face
I can do it with integrity
I can do it with disgrace

Chorus

Johnny, Angry Johnny, this is Jezebel in Hell
Johnny, Angry Johnny, this is Jezebel in Hell

I can do it in a church
I can do it any time or place
I can do it like an angel
To quiet down your rage

Chorus

I can do it in the water
I can do on dry land
I can do it with instruments
I can do it with my own bare hands

But either way
Either way, you know where it stands
I wanna kill you
I wanna blow you...
Away

Johnny, Angry Johnny, this is Jezebel in Hell
Johnny, oh my Johnny

Where did your pleasure go
When the pain came through you
Where did your happiness go
This force is running you around now
Getting you down now
Where is your pleasure now Johnny
Where has your pleasure gone now

Johnny, Angry Johnny

 

[GuiltyPleasure]

...Tristesse2, thanks for reminding me that i have to acquire "if i should fall from grace with God" again. Somebody pinched it from me a few years back.

The Pogues' brilliance, like many artists', is so overwhelmingly underappreciated. And having Kirstie MacColl sing with them is yet another stroke of brilliance (another underappreciated artist she is; but not by Morrissey).


And i'll add a quickie here (although it runs about 3:30 on the record) ... the entire lyric of the song is:

You are so beautiful to me. Can't you see?
You're everything i hope for, everything i need.

Sir Joseph Cocker

Made all the more poignant since her death. Glad I reminded you of a lost treasure, hope you can replace it soon.

 

[RoniB]

shadow

 

[starrkers]

Peter Gabriel - Games without Frontiers

Hans plays with Lotte, Lotte plays with Jane
Jane plays with Willi, Willi is happy again
Suki plays with Leo, Sacha plays with Britt
Adolf builts a bonfire, Enrico plays with it
-Whistling tunes we hid in the dunes by the seaside
-Whistling tunes we're kissing baboons in the jungle
It's a knockout
If looks could kill, they probably will
In games without frontiers-war without tears
Games without frontiers-war without tears

Jeux sans frontieres

Andre has a red flag, Chiang Ching's is blue
They all have hills to fly them on except for Lin Tai Yu
Dressing up in costumes, playing silly games
Hiding out in tree-tops shouting out rude names
-Whistling tunes we hide in the dunes by the seaside
-Whistling tunes we piss on the goons in the jungle
It's a knockout
If looks could kill they probably will
In games without frontiers-wars without tears
If looks could kill they probably will
In games without frontiers-war without tears
Games without frontiers-war without tears

Jeux sans frontieres

 

[ishtat]

Sappho 2004

My heart has become heavy, my legs do not carry me
Which were once swift to dance,like young fawns
I often bemoan this, but what can I do?
Be ageless? that,a mortal cannot become.
for they said of Tithonus that dawn with her pinkarms,
Was once smitten with love and took him off to the ends of the earth
As he wass fair and young - but in time, grey old age seized him
Though he had a wife who was immortal...


Sappho circa 600 BCE, Cologne Papyrus first published 2004


I suppose she could claim to be the first lyricist!

 

[RhymeFairy]

NATALIE MERCHANT
"Build A Levee"

When I was just a little girl my mamma said to me,
"beware of the devil my child
In the dark rocky places he'll keep
Beware of the devil my child
Beware of his charming ways
You'll fall under an evil spell
Just looking at his beautiful face
You gotta build yourself a levee deep inside"

"don't go walking by the riverside
Alone in the pale moonlight
He'll come up upon you girl
With no earthy body in sight
Come up upon you girl
And he'll whisper something sweet
Then take you where the waters rise
So high and run so deep."

"you gotta build yourself a levee deep inside
Gotta build yourself a levee deep inside
Build yourself a levee girl when the waters run high"

Now when I was just a little girl my mamma said to me,
"beware of the devil my child
But if by chance you should meet
Beware of his cold dark eyes full of bold and unholy deceit
He'll tempt you with a whirling pool of lies and promises
He'll deny or that he will never keep"

"you gotta build yourself a levee deep inside
Gotta build yourself a levee deep inside
Build yourself a levee girl when the waters run high"



..

 

[RhymeFairy]

"It Is Not a Word"


It is not a word spoken,
Few words are said;
Nor even a look of the eyes
Nor a bend of the head,

But only a hush of the heart
That has too much to keep,
Only memories waking
That sleep so light a sleep.



~ Sarah Teasdale

 

[RhymeFairy]

If You Forget Me


I want you to know
one thing.

You know how this is:
if I look
at the crystal moon, at the red branch
of the slow autumn at my window,
if I touch
near the fire
the impalpable ash
or the wrinkled body of the log,
everything carries me to you,
as if everything that exists,
aromas, light, metals,
were little boats
that sail
toward those isles of yours that wait for me.

Well, now,
if little by little you stop loving me
I shall stop loving you little by little.

If suddenly
you forget me
do not look for me,
for I shall already have forgotten you.

If you think it long and mad,
the wind of banners
that passes through my life,
and you decide
to leave me at the shore
of the heart where I have roots,
remember
that on that day,
at that hour,
I shall lift my arms
and my roots will set off
to seek another land.

But
if each day,
each hour,
you feel that you are destined for me
with implacable sweetness,
if each day a flower
climbs up to your lips to seek me,
ah my love, ah my own,
in me all that fire is repeated,
in me nothing is extinguished or forgotten,
my love feeds on your love, beloved,
and as long as you live it will be in your arms
without leaving mine.


~ Pablo Neruda

 

[RhymeFairy]

Clenched Soul


We have lost even this twilight.
No one saw us this evening hand in hand
while the blue night dropped on the world.

I have seen from my window
the fiesta of sunset in the distant mountain tops.

Sometimes a piece of sun
burned like a coin in my hand.

I remembered you with my soul clenched
in that sadness of mine that you know.

Where were you then?
Who else was there?
Saying what?
Why will the whole of love come on me suddenly
when I am sad and feel you are far away?

The book fell that always closed at twilight
and my blue sweater rolled like a hurt dog at my feet.

Always, always you recede through the evenings
toward the twilight erasing statues.



~~ Pablo Neruda

 

[RhymeFairy]

this, really sets a mood.

I Melt
Rascal Flatts



When you light those candles,
Up there on that mantle, settin' the mood.
Well, I just lie there starin',
Silently preparin' to love on you.
Well, I can feel the heat from across the room.
Ain't it wild what a little flame can make you wanna do?

I melt every time you look at me that way.
It never fails, anytime, any place.
This burnin' me is the coolest thing I've ever felt.
I melt.

Don't know how you do it.
I love the way I lose it every time.
What's even better is,
Knowin' that, forever, you're all mine.
The closer you get, the more my body aches.
One little stare from you is all it takes.

I melt every time you look at me that way.
It never fails, anytime, any place.
This burnin' me is the coolest thing I've ever felt.
I melt.


I melt every time you look at me that way.
It never fails, anytime, any place.
This burn in me is the coolest thing I've ever felt.
I melt.
(I melt.)
I just melt.

Every time you look at me that way.
(I just melt.)
I melt.
(I just melt.)

I melt.

 

[tungtied2u]

The Revolution Starts Now
Steve Earle

I was walkin’ down the street
In the town where I was born
I was movin’ to a beat
That I’d never felt before
So I opened up my eyes
And I took a look around
I saw it written ‘cross the sky
The revolution starts now
Yeah, the revolution starts now

The revolution starts now
When you rise above your fear
And tear the walls around you down
The revolution starts here
Where you work and where you play
Where you lay your money down
What you do and what you say
The revolution starts now
Yeah the revolution starts now

Yeah the revolution starts now
In your own backyard
In your own hometown
So what you doin’ standin’ around?
Just follow your heart
The revolution starts now

Last night I had a dream
That the world had turned around
And all our hopes had come to be
And the people gathered ‘round
They all brought what they could bring
And nobody went without
And I learned a song to sing
The revolution starts now

 

[RhymeFairy]

"Every Day You Play"
By Pablo Neruda


Every day you play with the light of the universe.
Subtle visitor, you arrive in the flower and the water.
You are more than this white head that I hold tightly
as a cluster of fruit, every day, between my hands.

You are like nobody since I love you.
Let me spread you out among yellow garlands.
Who writes your name in letters of smoke among the stars of the south?
Oh let me remember you as you were before you existed.

Suddenly the wind howls and bangs at my shut window.
The sky is a net crammed with shadowy fish.
Here all the winds let go sooner or later, all of them.
The rain takes off her clothes.

The birds go by, fleeing.
The wind. The wind.
I can contend only against the power of men.
The storm whirls dark leaves
and turns loose all the boats that were moored last night to the sky.

You are here. Oh, you do not run away.
You will answer me to the last cry.
Cling to me as though you were frightened.
Even so, at one time a strange shadow ran through your eyes.

Now, now too, little one, you bring me honeysuckle,
and even your breasts smell of it.
While the sad wind goes slaughtering butterflies
I love you, and my happiness bites the plum of your mouth.

How you must have suffered getting accustomed to me,
my savage, solitary soul, my name that sends them all running.
So many times we have seen the morning star burn, kissing our eyes,
and over our heads the gray light unwind in turning fans.

My words rained over you, stroking you.
A long time I have loved the sunned mother-of-pearl of your body.
I go so far as to think that you own the universe.
I will bring you happy flowers from the mountains, bluebells,
dark hazels, and rustic baskets of kisses.
I want
to do with you what spring does with the cherry trees.



...


beautiful visuals here ...

 

[RhymeFairy]

KENNY ROGERS
You Decorated My Life
(Debbie Hupp/Bob Morrison)


All my life was a paper once plain, pure and white
Till you moved with your pen changin' moods now and then
Till the balance was right
Then you added some music, ev'ry note was in place
And anybody could see all the changes in me by the look on my face

And you decorated my life, created a world where dreams area apart
And you decorated my life by paintin' your love all over my heart
You decorated my life

Like a rhyme with no reason in an unfinished song
There was no harmony life meant nothin' to me, until you cam along
And you brought out the colors, what a gentle surprise
Now I'm able to see all the things life can be shinin' soft in your eyes

And you decorated my life, created a world where dreams are a part
And you decorated my life by paintin' your love all over my heart
You decorated my life






apt ... for Valentines Day ~~~~

 

[RhymeFairy]

You will remember...


You will remember that leaping stream
where sweet aromas rose and trembled,
and sometimes a bird, wearing water
and slowness, its winter feathers.
You will remember those gifts from the earth:
indelible scents, gold clay,
weeds in the thicket and crazy roots,
magical thorns like swords.
You'll remember the bouquet you picked,
shadows and silent water,
bouquet like a foam-covered stone.
That time was like never, and like always.
So we go there, where nothing is waiting;
we find everything waiting there.


-- Pablo Neruda



...

 

[RhymeFairy]

Civil War Letter/ love poem in prose

Not poetry per say
.... but what visuals and love ... I like ~~




Sullivan Ballou's Letter to his Wife




July the 14th, 1861

Washington DC



My very dear Sarah:



The indications are very strong that we shall move in a few days - perhaps tomorrow. Lest I should not be able to write you again, I feel impelled to write lines that may fall under your eye when I shall be no more.



Our movement may be one of a few days duration and full of pleasure - and it may be one of severe conflict and death to me. Not my will, but thine 0 God, be done. If it is necessary that I should fall on the battlefield for my country, I am ready. I have no misgivings about, or lack of confidence in, the cause in which I am engaged, and my courage does not halt or falter. I know how strongly American Civilization now leans upon the triumph of the Government, and how great a debt we owe to those who went before us through the blood and suffering of the Revolution. And I am willing - perfectly willing - to lay down all my joys in this life, to help maintain this Government, and to pay that debt.



But, my dear wife, when I know that with my own joys I lay down nearly all of yours, and replace them in this life with cares and sorrows - when, after having eaten for long years the bitter fruit of orphanage myself, I must offer it as their only sustenance to my dear little children - is it weak or dishonorable, while the banner of my purpose floats calmly and proudly in the breeze, that my unbounded love for you, my darling wife and children, should struggle in fierce, though useless, contest with my love of country?



I cannot describe to you my feelings on this calm summer night, when two thousand men are sleeping around me, many of them enjoying the last, perhaps, before that of death -- and I, suspicious that Death is creeping behind me with his fatal dart, am communing with God, my country, and thee.



I have sought most closely and diligently, and often in my breast, for a wrong motive in thus hazarding the happiness of those I loved and I could not find one. A pure love of my country and of the principles have often advocated before the people and "the name of honor that I love more than I fear death" have called upon me, and I have obeyed.



Sarah, my love for you is deathless, it seems to bind me to you with mighty cables that nothing but Omnipotence could break; and yet my love of Country comes over me like a strong wind and bears me irresistibly on with all these chains to the battlefield.



The memories of the blissful moments I have spent with you come creeping over me, and I feel most gratified to God and to you that I have enjoyed them so long. And hard it is for me to give them up and burn to ashes the hopes of future years, when God willing, we might still have lived and loved together and seen our sons grow up to honorable manhood around us. I have, I know, but few and small claims upon Divine Providence, but something whispers to me - perhaps it is the wafted prayer of my little Edgar -- that I shall return to my loved ones unharmed. If I do not, my dear Sarah, never forget how much I love you, and when my last breath escapes me on the battlefield, it will whisper your name.



Forgive my many faults, and the many pains I have caused you. How thoughtless and foolish I have oftentimes been! How gladly would I wash out with my tears every little spot upon your happiness, and struggle with all the misfortune of this world, to shield you and my children from harm. But I cannot. I must watch you from the spirit land and hover near you, while you buffet the storms with your precious little freight, and wait with sad patience till we meet to part no more.



But, O Sarah! If the dead can come back to this earth and flit unseen around those they loved, I shall always be near you; in the garish day and in the darkest night -- amidst your happiest scenes and gloomiest hours - always, always; and if there be a soft breeze upon your cheek, it shall be my breath; or the cool air fans your throbbing temple, it shall be my spirit passing by.



Sarah, do not mourn me dead; think I am gone and wait for thee, for we shall meet again.



As for my little boys, they will grow as I have done, and never know a father's love and care. Little Willie is too young to remember me long, and my blue eyed Edgar will keep my frolics with him among the dimmest memories of his childhood. Sarah, I have unlimited confidence in your maternal care and your development of their characters. Tell my two mothers his and hers I call God's blessing upon them. O Sarah, I wait for you there! Come to me, and lead thither my children.



Sullivan

 

[tungtied2u]

Let it Roll

George Harrison

Let it roll across the floor
Through the hall and out the door
To the fountain of perpetual mirth
Let it roll for all it’s worth

Find me where ye echo lays
Lose ye bodies in the maze
See the lord and all the mouths he feeds
Let it roll among the weeds
Let it roll

Let it roll down through the caves
Ye long walks of coole and shades
Through ye woode, here may ye rest awhile
Handkerchiefs to match your tie
Let it roll

Let it roll, let it roll
Let it roll, let it roll

Fools illusions everywhere
Joan and molly sweep the stairs
Eyes that shining full of inner light
Let it roll into the night

Let it roll, let it roll
Let it roll, let it roll
Let it roll, let it roll