whats your all time favorite classic lyrics??

betsy

New member
heres mine...

Bye Bye Johnny
The Rolling Stones

Well she drew out all her money out from southern trust
And put a little boy aboard a greyhound bus
Leaving Lousiana for the golden west
Down came her tears from her happiness
Her own little son named Johnny B Goode
Was gonna make some motion pictures out in Hollywood

Bye bye bye bye
Bye bye bye bye
Bye bye Johnny bye bye Johnny B Goode

Well she remember taking money out from gathering crops
And buying Johnny's guitar at a broker shop
As long as he could play it by the railroad side
And wouldn't get in trouble she'd be satisfied
Never thought there'd ever come a day like this
When she would gladly give her son a goodbye kiss

Bye bye bye bye
Bye bye bye bye
Bye bye Johnny bye bye Johnny B Goode

Well she finally got the letter she was dreaming of
Johnny wrote and told her he had fell in love
As soon as he was married he would bring her back
And build a mansion for her by the railroad tracks
And everytime they heard the locomotive roar
They'd be a standing, waving in the kitchen door

Howling bye bye bye bye
Now bye bye bye bye
Bye bye Johnny bye bye Johnny B Goode
 

marionette

New member
it's changing all the time , but for now ... From sentenced,

The Rain Comes Falling Down

now every single cloud becomes a raging storm
as I go seeking for the one I used to live for...
since your love was taken away
my heart's been beating empty beats
well, it will end tonight...
the blade shall set me free
a steady hand with this sharpened cold steel
will help me wipe away this pain that I feel
the rain comes falling down
my life flows to the ground
no longer feeling the pain
my flame now fading away
the rain comes falling down
my life flows to the ground
no longer feeling the pain
my flame now fading away
so here I'm lying on these dead and bloody autumn leaves
waiting for death to take me where I want to be...
a steady hand with this sharpened hard steel
will help me wipe away this agony I feel
the rain comes falling down
my life flows to the ground
no longer feeling the pain
My flame now fading away
the rain comes falling down
my life flows to the ground
no longer feeling the pain
these leaves now becoming my grave
no longer feeling the flame
no longer feeling the rain
 

Procella

New member
Dirge by Bob Dylan

I hate myself for lovin' you and the weakness that it showed
You were just a painted face on a trip down Suicide Road.
The stage was set, the lights went out all around the old hotel,
I hate myself for lovin' you and I'm glad the curtain fell.

I hate that foolish game we played and the need that was expressed
And the mercy that you showed to me, who ever would have guessed?
I went out on Lower Broadway and I felt that place within,
That hollow place where martyrs weep and angels play with sin.

Heard your songs of freedom and man forever stripped,
Acting out his folly while his back is being whipped.
Like a slave in orbit, he's beaten 'til he's tame,
All for a moment's glory and it's a dirty, rotten shame.

There are those who worship loneliness, I'm not one of them,
In this age of fiberglass I'm searching for a gem.
The crystal ball up on the wall hasn't shown me nothing yet,
I've paid the price of solitude, but at last I'm out of debt.

Can't recall a useful thing you ever did for me
'Cept pat me on the back one time when I was on my knees.
We stared into each other's eyes 'til one of us would break,
No use to apologize, what diff'rence would it make?

So sing your praise of progress and of the Doom Machine,
The naked truth is still taboo whenever it can be seen.
Lady Luck, who shines on me, will tell you where I'm at,
I hate myself for lovin' you, but I should get over that.

 
doctortornface

doctortornface

New member
SHOUTING IN A BUCKET BLUES

By Kevin Ayers from the album BANANAMOUR

Sometimes I get too drunk,
I feel so goddamned low
I have no place to go, no one to turn to
I think about your loving arms, where I'd like to be
But it's selfish as can be, and I know it
And if I'm sorry for myself, I'm sorry for you too
'Cause I'm the same as you, and I'm burning

So I sing for everyone who feels there's no way out
So maybe if you all shout someone will hear you
Listen to them shout

I won't say that I love you, 'cause that would be a lie
I can only say I try, and you know it
Love is something more or less than words can hope to say
It's something day to day in the life we're living
Lovers come and lovers go but friends are hard to find
Yes I can count all mine on one finger

So I sing for everyone who feels there's no way out
So maybe if you all shout someone will hear you
Listen to them shout

The distance that's between us, it just never seems to change
There's a whole mountain range of misunderstanding

So I sing for everyone who feels there's no way out
So maybe if you all shout someone will hear you
Listen to them shout
 
methodistgirl

methodistgirl

New member
My favorite classic lyrics

Bridge over Troubled water
By paul simon and Art Garfunkle

When you're weary, feeling small,
when tears are in your eyes,
I will dry them all.

I'm on your side,
Oh when times gets rough.
And friends just can't be found
like a bridge over troubled water.
I will ease your mind.}

I'm sorry I can't remember the rest. But it is a beautiful song.:cry:
Judy tooley
 
pnoom

pnoom

New member
Leaving early, just before the hour
A few moments won't make any difference
Not to me, anyway

The early bird catches the worm

I don't really want to go in tomorrow
The man will tell me off for leaving early yesterday

Close your eyes dear, never mind

And there's voices inside me
They're screaming and telling me;
"That's the way we all go"
There's thousands of people just like me all over
But that's the way we all go

What can I do, when everyones been so helpful
How can I have the right to say
I'm different to you?

(Oh......)

But I'm lost not for words or for kindness or sympathy
That's the way we all go
And if you're bigger you fall a bit harder
But that's the way we all go

There's a pain in my side it's a lesson I learned from a while ago
(That's the way we all go)
I'll be screaming inside I'll be biting my nails but it won't show
(That's the way we all go)
There's a knock at my door as I fall to the floor but I still don't know
(That's the way we all go)
That the people outside shed a tear for my pride but they still won't go
(That's the way we all go)
Why should I think I'm alone the whole factory thinks;
"That's the way we all go"
Then there's Washington, Tokyo, New York and Moscow
But that's the way we all go
They're all crying and arguing down the telephone
But that's the way we all go
Then there's me standing here with my whole life to spare

That's the way we all go
That's the way we all go
That's the way we all go
That's the way we all go
That's the way we all go

It's easier when you know how obviously but that's how it goes
(That's the way we all go)
Look at me now I know something that you don't 'cos
That's the way we all go
The turning wheel reeks of the whale and the whaler
But that's the way we all go
The early bird catches the worm does the worm think that
That's the way we all go?



Cardiacs - A Little Man and a House

Especially the last line


eat, drink and be merry
for tomorrow we die
eat electricity
drink five of the seven seas
here is a paralyzed sleet
here is a bubble bath rain
acrid stench and festering tongue
new york, moscow, nairobi in flames

i don't know either, what is the answer?
we were told to expect more
and now that we've got more
we want more, we want more

we have moved from a to x
this welfare state is our progress
the size of it all carries us all along
more equals better, it's what we want
our energy is endless it seems
it's there when we need it
we've got men on the job

we finance clinics to research
a cure for cancer, our least vague fear
a new kind of water
a new way of breathing
always somehow a wonder cure all
turns up when we need it
we've got men on the job

you know from experience
the creature comforts, a house that's warm
your body would choose all this
of course! it's innate we're selfish
but what if there's not enough to go round?
defence is needed
we've got some odd men in odd jobs

we have moved from a to z
this nuclear state is our demise
fly away peter, hide away paul
who can watch as the earth burns, shatters and dies?
failsafe, foolproof, we've heard that before
good sense is needed
let's hope we've got men on the job

the size of it all carries us along
more is better, it's what we want
you know from experience
your body would choose all this


This Heat - A New Kind of Water

It's tremendously moving when sung, particularly the line "fly away peter, hide away paul."



More to come.
 
Chi_townPhilly

Chi_townPhilly

Sr. Regulator
Sr. Regulator
Oh, I think I could take something virtually at random from Becker and Fagen (the creative duo from Steely Dan) or Difford & Tillbrook (the leading lights from Squeeze) and do okay with this category.:cool: The challenge is limiting the choices. In the case of the latter, there's Goodbye Girl, Cool for Cats, Up the Junction, & Black Coffee in Bed. For the former, selections include Kid Charlemagne, Black Cow, Deacon Blues, & Gaucho.:crazy:

Might as well give an excerpt:
(selections from) Deacon Blues- Steely Dan:

This is the day
of the expanding man
That shape is my shade
there where I used to stand
Seems like only yesterday
I gazed through the glass
at ramblers- and gamblers
That's all in the past...

(CHORUS)
I'll learn to work- the saxophone
And I'll play just what I feel
And drink Scotch Whiskey- all night long
and die behind the wheel
They got a name for the winners in the world
and I want a name when I lose
They call Alabama the Crimson Tide
They'll call me Deacon Blues...
 
Chi_townPhilly

Chi_townPhilly

Sr. Regulator
Sr. Regulator
dll927 said:
If these lyrics are "classical", somebody has a different definition than I do.
Click to expand...
Well, since this thread was in the 'General Rock' forum, I thought I correctly surmised the original poster's intent was to ask about "Classic-Rock lyrics.":rolleyes:

For all-time Classical lyrics, I'd probably put in a word for Walter's Prize Song from Wagner's Die Meistersinger, or maybe the Abschied from Mahler's Das Lied von der Erde, but I think they'd be a little off-topic here...:whistle:
 
White Knight

White Knight

Spectral Warrior con passion
all time favorite classic lyrics

Could somebody please define "classic"; in what context is this term being used?:confused:
 
Soubasse

Soubasse

New member
I go with Chi-townPhilly's post: "Classic-Rock lyrics"

Not really "rock" per se but from a classic album: The Grave from Don McLean's American Pie album.

The grave that they dug him had flowers
Gathered from the hillsides in bright summer colors,
And the brown earth bleached white at the edge of his gravestone.
He’s gone.

When the wars of our nation did beckon,
A man barely twenty did answer the calling.
Proud of the trust that he placed in our nation,
He’s gone,
But eternity knows him, and it knows what we’ve done.

And the rain fell like pearls on the leaves of the flowers
Leaving brown, muddy clay where the earth had been dry.
And deep in the trench he waited for hours,
As he held to his rifle and prayed not to die.

But the silence of night was shattered by fire
As guns and grenades blasted sharp through the air.
And one after another his comrades were slaughtered.
In a morgue of marines, alone standing there.

He crouched ever lower, ever lower with fear.
"they can’t let me die! the can’t let me die here!
I’ll cover myself with the mud and the earth.
I’ll cover myself! I know I’m not brave!
The earth!
The earth!
The earth is my grave."

The grave that they dug him had flowers
Gathered from the hillsides in bright summer colors,
And the brown earth bleached white at the edge of his gravestone.
He’s gone.
Click to expand...

Simple lyrics and an excellent song to listen to, the instrumental arrangement is superbly well done the way it builds into the penultimate verse's "I'll cover myself. I know I'm not brave!". I first heard this when I was quite a young boy and it really scared me, making me realise that war was not the "big adventure" that some movies at the time made it out to be. This song drove home the terror and futility of war. I still think it works well by today's standards, and for my ears, McLean penned a mini-masterpiece here, poetically and musically.
 
White Knight

White Knight

Spectral Warrior con passion
Again, I am not quite certain what the original poster was aiming for when she used the term "classical lyrics". I, for one, would be much more comfortable with the term "classic lyrics" to denote those lyrics which are enduring and meaningful no matter which generation of listeners is hearing them.
In this more constricted definition then, I would nominate--for their political commentaries inherent in the songs--"Sympathy For The Devil" by the Rolling Stones, "Fortunate Son" by CCR, "I Ain't Marching Anymore" by Phil Ochs, "Children of Darkness" by Joan Baez and "Find The Cost Of Freedom" by CSNY.

 
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Chi_townPhilly

Chi_townPhilly

Sr. Regulator
Sr. Regulator
white knight said:
"Find The Cost Of Freedom" by CSNY.
Click to expand...
Funny. I was going to mention this one by CSN (sans 'Y,' at least at the time of its release on the "Daylight Again" album) as bearing similarities to the McLean lyrics cited above. If you're into that sentiment progged up and sprinkled with a little irony, I guess there's "Lucky Man" by ELP, too.

Can't say I ever saw political commentary woven into "Sympathy for the Devil," but then again, I'm not a 'Stones' enthusiast and might be well-advised to defer to those who are with regard to such matters.

For anthemic agit-Rock, there aren't many who did that better than "The Alarm." Example- 'Where Were You Hiding When the Storm Broke." Excerpt:

After all time building up comes inevitable knocking down
Comes receivers, liars, gamblers- pickpocket entourage
Selling out is a Cardinal sin- sinning with a safety net
They say that all things come in threes...
well here comes the third degree:
Where were you hiding when the storm broke
When the rains began to fall
Where the thunder and the lightning struck
And the rain- and the four winds did howl
 
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