Lyrically Speaking
I was sick last week. Third time in as many months, and I'm telling you I'm getting tired of sounding like Lucille Ball at 70.
The thing that I hate the most about getting sick is I can't sing like I normally do. Sure, the Kim Carnes and Bonnie Tyler tunes sound great, but there's only so many times you can sing "I Need a Hero" before the roommates revolt.
Also, like I've said before, I usually need to like the lyrics of a song if it's going to make it on my personal playlist. Of course I've got to like the tune and melody, too, but lyrics are important. Say, that gives me an idea...
Five Songs I Love Mostly Because of Their Lyrics
1. Straight in at 37 by the Beautiful South. I love a band that can make fun of the whole reason they're a band. Beautiful South have great cynical lyrics in most of their songs, but I like this one especially. Even if it didn't make fun of Simon LeBon and Paul Young you get to sing "Shall we dance again in our special way with our trousers down round our knees?"
I loved bands like this when I was in high school/university. I mean, let's face it. As a teenager I was a bit Adrian Mole, Aged 13 3/4 and thought myself quite the intellectual. I absolutely hated what we called "wanker" bands like Guns 'N Roses, Bon Jovi, Van Halen, Poison, all the cock-rock crap. I don't mind it as much now, 'specially since the roommates are huge wankers themselves and I've had it forced on me over the last five years.
But I was definitely more into The Smiths, Morrissey, the Cure, alternative rock bands, probably because every once in a while I'd have to look up a word in the lyrics. Which is such horrible teenage elitism, but whatareyagonnado?
Also, the fact is I could relate to a song about cynicism and existential dread more than a song about Sex, Drugs and Rock 'n Roll, which is possibly the saddest thing of all, wouldn't you agree?
Anyway.
My favourite part of this song (and others to follow) is in bold:
Why don't you sing 'I need you baby'?
'Cause it rhymes with crazy and it rhymes with maybe
It rhymes with lady and much much more
And it doesn't rhyme with the 'f' word
Well Simon le Bon stayed round my house before
And he was sick on the plants and he was sick on the floor
And he wouldn't go home until he'd sung his song
With a backing harmony from Paul Young
Shall we dance again?
In our special way
With our trousers round
our knees
Why don't your videos have dancing girls?
With hips that curve and lips that curl
Legs are where the heartbeat starts
It's low in neckline and high in charts
But it's the partially clothed for the partially sighted
Behind over matter keeps the crowds delighted
We want Rambo in a ra-ra skirt
Nastassia Kinski in a Brazilian shirt
Shall we dance again?
In our special way
With our trousers round
our knees
I have to say it's hard to pick an ultimate favourite out of their lineup, I quite like the way they write a song. But I've only got five spots on this little list and this will have to do. Oh, and if you're into ironic covers, check out Beautiful South's version of Pebbles' "Girlfriend". It's a hoot.
2. Tomorrow Wendy by Concrete Blond. Ah, so deliciously blasphemous! It's hard for those of us who attended Catholic schools not to grasp hungrily at such a great line as my favourite one highlighted below...
It is complete now - two ends of time
Are neatly tied
A one-way street, she’s walking to the
End of the line
And there she meets the faces she sees in
Her heart and mind
They say - goodbye - tomorrow wendy’s
Going to die
Underneath the chilly grey november sky
We can make believe
That kennedy is still alive
We’re shooting for the moon and smiling
Jackie’s driving by
They say - good try -
Tomorrow wendy’s going to die
I told the priest - don’t count on
Any second coming.
God got his ass kicked the first time he
Came down here slumming
He had the balls to come, the gall to die
And then forgive us -
No, I don’t wonder why
I wonder what he thought
It would get us - hey hey, good try -
Tomorrow wendy’s going to die
But God says jump,
so I set the time
'cause if He ever saw her
it was through these eyes of mine
and if He ever suffered
it was me who did His crying...
Hey, hey, good bye...
I mean, I like the rest of the song, but that there's the part that sealed it for me. Yeah, what I wouldn't have given to sing that loud enough for a Basilian Father at Assumption High School to hear as he passed me in the hall. "Ha ha, you can't kick me out of your religion, Padre. I ain't even Catholic!" I would say cheekily.
Of course, I never would have had the guts to do that. I probably wouldn't even do it to this day. Those priests still scare me.
3. Blues in the Night sung by Dinah Washington. Well, jazzy blues of any kind is great to sing when you're feeling a little down, but I like this song especially because it releases so much of that all-too-familiar relationship frustration in a couple of well-phrased lines.
My mama done tol’ me, when I was in pigtails
My mama done tol’ me, "hon a man's gonna sweet talk"
And give ya the big eye, but when all that sweet talkin’s done
A man is a two-face, he's a worrisome thing who’ll
Leave ya to sing the blues in the night
Now the rain’s a-fallin’, hear the train’s a-callin,
"whooee!" (my mama done tol’ me)
hear dat lonesome whistle blowin’ down the trestle,
"whooee!" (my Mama done tol’ me)
a-whooee-ah-whooee ol’ clickety-clack’s a-echoin’ back
th’ blues in the night
The evenin’ breeze’ll start the trees
to cryin’ and the moon’ll hide it’s light
when you get the blues in The night
Take my word, the mockingbird’ll sing the saddest kind o’ song,
he knows things are wrong, Lord, and he’s right
From Natchez to Mobile, from Memphis to St. Joe
wherever the four winds blow
I been in some big towns, an’ heard me some big talk,
but there is one thing I know
A man is a two-face, he's a worrisome thing
who’ll leave ya to sing the blues in the night
My mama was right, there’s blues in the night.
Mm, mm, mm. Sing it to me, Dinah! The cool thing about this song is that 8,000 artists have covered it from Frankie to Ella, pick your favourite one. Plus, it was actually written about a woman, so both sexes can release their "I been done wrong" angst in a safe and acceptable manner, leaving you free to deal with any relationship issues you may still have in a mature and healthy way. Yay!
4. Doing the Unstuck by the Cure. I know everybody thinks that The Cure are this terribly mopey band, but I really don't see it. They've got lots of songs about love or dancing or kitties... Sure, they dressed in black and also sing about death and broken hearts and stuff, but that's life, baby. It can't be all lemonade and crop-tops, you know.
Anyway, this has got to be one of the most fun songs to sing, especially the ultra-quick lines in bold (of course I have yet to actually sing them right).
Okay, yes, the song talks about arson. But it's a metaphorical arson, it's more about setting a fire under yourself and getting the hell out into the world and challenging all the stuff you take for granted. And it's about dancing for god's sake...
It's a perfect day for letting go
For setting fire to bridges, boats
And other dreary worlds you know
Let's get happy!
It's a perfect day for making out
To wake up with a smile
Without a doubt
To burst grin giggle bliss skip jump sing and shout
Let's get happy!
"But it's much too late" you say
"For doing this now
We should have done it then"
Well it just goes to show
How wrong you can be
And how you really should know
That it's never too late
To get up and go...
It's a perfect day for kiss and swell
For rip-zipping button-popping kiss and well...
There's loads of other stuff can make you yell
Let's get happy!
It's a perfect day for doing the unstuck
For dancing like you can't hear the beat
And you don't give a further thought
To things like feet
Let's get happy!
"But it's much too late" you say
"For doing this now
We should have done it then"
Well it just goes to show
How wrong you can be
And how you really should know
That it's never too late
To get up and go...
Kick out the gloom
Kick out the blues
Tear out the pages with all the bad news
Pull down the mirrors and pull down the walls
Tear up the stairs and tear up the floors
Oh just burn down the house!
Burn down the street!
Turn everything red and the beat is complete
With the sound of your world
Going up in the fire
It's a perfect day to throw back your head
And kiss it all goodbye!
It's a perfect day for getting wild
Forgetting all your worries
Life
And everything that makes you cry
Let's get happy!
It's a perfect day for dreams come true
For thinking big
And doing anything you want to do
Let's get happy!
"But it's much too late" you say
"For doing this now
We should have done it then"
Well it just goes to show
How wrong you can be
And how you really should know
That it's never too late
To get up and go...
Every time I hear this song I just want to hug Robert Smith. And dance like a madwoman. Then hug Robert again and advise him as a friend that the lipstick has to go now.
Seriously, dude. You're 45. Let it go.
5. Nick of Time by Bonnie Raitt. This song came out when I was about 19 years old, but I don't think it entered into my consciousness until I was about 23 or so. I heard it on the radio, some easy-listening station and it caught my attention. I was by no means in the demographic for this song to ring really true with me, but there was something so honest and soulful about the lyric highlighted below that it stuck with me and made me really like the song.
Now that I'm in my mid-thirties the song is even more poignant to me. The passage of time can be a scary thing and these few lines acknowlege that sentiment very well without being maudlin. And the overall mood of the song is hopeful, which I also like a lot.
A friend of mine she cries at night, and she
Calls me on the phone
Sees babies everywhere she goes and she
Wants one of her own.
She’s waited long enough she says
And still she can’t decide
Pretty soon she’ll have to choose and it tears her up inside...
She’s scared...scared she’ll run out of time.
I see my folks, they’re getting old, I watch their bodies change...
I know they see the same in me, and it makes us both feel strange...
No matter how you tell yourself, it’s what we all go through...
Those lines get pretty hard to take when they’re staring’ back at you.
Scared you’ll run out of time.
When did the choices get so hard?
With so much more at stake.
Life gets mighty precious when there’s less of it to waste.
Hummmm...scared she’ll run out of time.
Just when I thought I’d had enough
All my tears were shed...
No promise left unbroken,
There were no painful words unsaid.
You came along and showed me
How to leave it all behind....
You opened up my heart again and then much to my surprise.
I found love, love in the nick of time.
Now, actually buying these cds was a very big deal for me because Bonnie was placed in th Country & Western section at the first store I went to. In deference to my teenage pledge of hating everything my mother likes* I had been very anti-country-western up until this point. Thankfully, however, after 30 I began expanding what I will allow myself to appreciate and I can actually listen to music that might feature a steel guitar without questioning my place in the world.
Plus, Bonnie Raitt is actually more blues than anything, so ha!
*I would like it known that I never actually made a pledge like this, but it's something that my mom used to swear I lived by when I was younger. I have no excuse for this except to say that I was a teenager. Everybody knows they are horrible, horrible things and should be put to death the first time they use the word "Mother!" instead of Mom. She really only has herself to blame.
If my rigid and completely professional Five-List standards allowed it, I would also have listed Ms. Raitt's version of "I Can't Make You Love Me". That's another great staring-yourself-in-the-face song that talks about accepting the brutal truth. She didn't write it, but the way she sings it, man, you believe she could have.
Of course, there are many, many more songs that I love the lyrics to. But this gives you a pretty good range and idea of the sort of song I like. Generally one that is insightful, expressive, sometimes funny, definitely something that evokes feeling, and something that you can tell took some time and honesty to write. There's a place for Dove, Love, Above songs in my world, too, but overall my favourites will always say a little more.
The thing that I hate the most about getting sick is I can't sing like I normally do. Sure, the Kim Carnes and Bonnie Tyler tunes sound great, but there's only so many times you can sing "I Need a Hero" before the roommates revolt.
Also, like I've said before, I usually need to like the lyrics of a song if it's going to make it on my personal playlist. Of course I've got to like the tune and melody, too, but lyrics are important. Say, that gives me an idea...
Five Songs I Love Mostly Because of Their Lyrics
1. Straight in at 37 by the Beautiful South. I love a band that can make fun of the whole reason they're a band. Beautiful South have great cynical lyrics in most of their songs, but I like this one especially. Even if it didn't make fun of Simon LeBon and Paul Young you get to sing "Shall we dance again in our special way with our trousers down round our knees?"
I loved bands like this when I was in high school/university. I mean, let's face it. As a teenager I was a bit Adrian Mole, Aged 13 3/4 and thought myself quite the intellectual. I absolutely hated what we called "wanker" bands like Guns 'N Roses, Bon Jovi, Van Halen, Poison, all the cock-rock crap. I don't mind it as much now, 'specially since the roommates are huge wankers themselves and I've had it forced on me over the last five years.
But I was definitely more into The Smiths, Morrissey, the Cure, alternative rock bands, probably because every once in a while I'd have to look up a word in the lyrics. Which is such horrible teenage elitism, but whatareyagonnado?
Also, the fact is I could relate to a song about cynicism and existential dread more than a song about Sex, Drugs and Rock 'n Roll, which is possibly the saddest thing of all, wouldn't you agree?
Anyway.
My favourite part of this song (and others to follow) is in bold:
Why don't you sing 'I need you baby'?
'Cause it rhymes with crazy and it rhymes with maybe
It rhymes with lady and much much more
And it doesn't rhyme with the 'f' word
Well Simon le Bon stayed round my house before
And he was sick on the plants and he was sick on the floor
And he wouldn't go home until he'd sung his song
With a backing harmony from Paul Young
Shall we dance again?
In our special way
With our trousers round
our knees
Why don't your videos have dancing girls?
With hips that curve and lips that curl
Legs are where the heartbeat starts
It's low in neckline and high in charts
But it's the partially clothed for the partially sighted
Behind over matter keeps the crowds delighted
We want Rambo in a ra-ra skirt
Nastassia Kinski in a Brazilian shirt
Shall we dance again?
In our special way
With our trousers round
our knees
I have to say it's hard to pick an ultimate favourite out of their lineup, I quite like the way they write a song. But I've only got five spots on this little list and this will have to do. Oh, and if you're into ironic covers, check out Beautiful South's version of Pebbles' "Girlfriend". It's a hoot.
2. Tomorrow Wendy by Concrete Blond. Ah, so deliciously blasphemous! It's hard for those of us who attended Catholic schools not to grasp hungrily at such a great line as my favourite one highlighted below...
It is complete now - two ends of time
Are neatly tied
A one-way street, she’s walking to the
End of the line
And there she meets the faces she sees in
Her heart and mind
They say - goodbye - tomorrow wendy’s
Going to die
Underneath the chilly grey november sky
We can make believe
That kennedy is still alive
We’re shooting for the moon and smiling
Jackie’s driving by
They say - good try -
Tomorrow wendy’s going to die
I told the priest - don’t count on
Any second coming.
God got his ass kicked the first time he
Came down here slumming
He had the balls to come, the gall to die
And then forgive us -
No, I don’t wonder why
I wonder what he thought
It would get us - hey hey, good try -
Tomorrow wendy’s going to die
But God says jump,
so I set the time
'cause if He ever saw her
it was through these eyes of mine
and if He ever suffered
it was me who did His crying...
Hey, hey, good bye...
I mean, I like the rest of the song, but that there's the part that sealed it for me. Yeah, what I wouldn't have given to sing that loud enough for a Basilian Father at Assumption High School to hear as he passed me in the hall. "Ha ha, you can't kick me out of your religion, Padre. I ain't even Catholic!" I would say cheekily.
Of course, I never would have had the guts to do that. I probably wouldn't even do it to this day. Those priests still scare me.
3. Blues in the Night sung by Dinah Washington. Well, jazzy blues of any kind is great to sing when you're feeling a little down, but I like this song especially because it releases so much of that all-too-familiar relationship frustration in a couple of well-phrased lines.
My mama done tol’ me, when I was in pigtails
My mama done tol’ me, "hon a man's gonna sweet talk"
And give ya the big eye, but when all that sweet talkin’s done
A man is a two-face, he's a worrisome thing who’ll
Leave ya to sing the blues in the night
Now the rain’s a-fallin’, hear the train’s a-callin,
"whooee!" (my mama done tol’ me)
hear dat lonesome whistle blowin’ down the trestle,
"whooee!" (my Mama done tol’ me)
a-whooee-ah-whooee ol’ clickety-clack’s a-echoin’ back
th’ blues in the night
The evenin’ breeze’ll start the trees
to cryin’ and the moon’ll hide it’s light
when you get the blues in The night
Take my word, the mockingbird’ll sing the saddest kind o’ song,
he knows things are wrong, Lord, and he’s right
From Natchez to Mobile, from Memphis to St. Joe
wherever the four winds blow
I been in some big towns, an’ heard me some big talk,
but there is one thing I know
A man is a two-face, he's a worrisome thing
who’ll leave ya to sing the blues in the night
My mama was right, there’s blues in the night.
Mm, mm, mm. Sing it to me, Dinah! The cool thing about this song is that 8,000 artists have covered it from Frankie to Ella, pick your favourite one. Plus, it was actually written about a woman, so both sexes can release their "I been done wrong" angst in a safe and acceptable manner, leaving you free to deal with any relationship issues you may still have in a mature and healthy way. Yay!
4. Doing the Unstuck by the Cure. I know everybody thinks that The Cure are this terribly mopey band, but I really don't see it. They've got lots of songs about love or dancing or kitties... Sure, they dressed in black and also sing about death and broken hearts and stuff, but that's life, baby. It can't be all lemonade and crop-tops, you know.
Anyway, this has got to be one of the most fun songs to sing, especially the ultra-quick lines in bold (of course I have yet to actually sing them right).
Okay, yes, the song talks about arson. But it's a metaphorical arson, it's more about setting a fire under yourself and getting the hell out into the world and challenging all the stuff you take for granted. And it's about dancing for god's sake...
It's a perfect day for letting go
For setting fire to bridges, boats
And other dreary worlds you know
Let's get happy!
It's a perfect day for making out
To wake up with a smile
Without a doubt
To burst grin giggle bliss skip jump sing and shout
Let's get happy!
"But it's much too late" you say
"For doing this now
We should have done it then"
Well it just goes to show
How wrong you can be
And how you really should know
That it's never too late
To get up and go...
It's a perfect day for kiss and swell
For rip-zipping button-popping kiss and well...
There's loads of other stuff can make you yell
Let's get happy!
It's a perfect day for doing the unstuck
For dancing like you can't hear the beat
And you don't give a further thought
To things like feet
Let's get happy!
"But it's much too late" you say
"For doing this now
We should have done it then"
Well it just goes to show
How wrong you can be
And how you really should know
That it's never too late
To get up and go...
Kick out the gloom
Kick out the blues
Tear out the pages with all the bad news
Pull down the mirrors and pull down the walls
Tear up the stairs and tear up the floors
Oh just burn down the house!
Burn down the street!
Turn everything red and the beat is complete
With the sound of your world
Going up in the fire
It's a perfect day to throw back your head
And kiss it all goodbye!
It's a perfect day for getting wild
Forgetting all your worries
Life
And everything that makes you cry
Let's get happy!
It's a perfect day for dreams come true
For thinking big
And doing anything you want to do
Let's get happy!
"But it's much too late" you say
"For doing this now
We should have done it then"
Well it just goes to show
How wrong you can be
And how you really should know
That it's never too late
To get up and go...
Every time I hear this song I just want to hug Robert Smith. And dance like a madwoman. Then hug Robert again and advise him as a friend that the lipstick has to go now.
Seriously, dude. You're 45. Let it go.
5. Nick of Time by Bonnie Raitt. This song came out when I was about 19 years old, but I don't think it entered into my consciousness until I was about 23 or so. I heard it on the radio, some easy-listening station and it caught my attention. I was by no means in the demographic for this song to ring really true with me, but there was something so honest and soulful about the lyric highlighted below that it stuck with me and made me really like the song.
Now that I'm in my mid-thirties the song is even more poignant to me. The passage of time can be a scary thing and these few lines acknowlege that sentiment very well without being maudlin. And the overall mood of the song is hopeful, which I also like a lot.
A friend of mine she cries at night, and she
Calls me on the phone
Sees babies everywhere she goes and she
Wants one of her own.
She’s waited long enough she says
And still she can’t decide
Pretty soon she’ll have to choose and it tears her up inside...
She’s scared...scared she’ll run out of time.
I see my folks, they’re getting old, I watch their bodies change...
I know they see the same in me, and it makes us both feel strange...
No matter how you tell yourself, it’s what we all go through...
Those lines get pretty hard to take when they’re staring’ back at you.
Scared you’ll run out of time.
When did the choices get so hard?
With so much more at stake.
Life gets mighty precious when there’s less of it to waste.
Hummmm...scared she’ll run out of time.
Just when I thought I’d had enough
All my tears were shed...
No promise left unbroken,
There were no painful words unsaid.
You came along and showed me
How to leave it all behind....
You opened up my heart again and then much to my surprise.
I found love, love in the nick of time.
Now, actually buying these cds was a very big deal for me because Bonnie was placed in th Country & Western section at the first store I went to. In deference to my teenage pledge of hating everything my mother likes* I had been very anti-country-western up until this point. Thankfully, however, after 30 I began expanding what I will allow myself to appreciate and I can actually listen to music that might feature a steel guitar without questioning my place in the world.
Plus, Bonnie Raitt is actually more blues than anything, so ha!
*I would like it known that I never actually made a pledge like this, but it's something that my mom used to swear I lived by when I was younger. I have no excuse for this except to say that I was a teenager. Everybody knows they are horrible, horrible things and should be put to death the first time they use the word "Mother!" instead of Mom. She really only has herself to blame.
If my rigid and completely professional Five-List standards allowed it, I would also have listed Ms. Raitt's version of "I Can't Make You Love Me". That's another great staring-yourself-in-the-face song that talks about accepting the brutal truth. She didn't write it, but the way she sings it, man, you believe she could have.
Of course, there are many, many more songs that I love the lyrics to. But this gives you a pretty good range and idea of the sort of song I like. Generally one that is insightful, expressive, sometimes funny, definitely something that evokes feeling, and something that you can tell took some time and honesty to write. There's a place for Dove, Love, Above songs in my world, too, but overall my favourites will always say a little more.
posted by Alanis at
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