Lyrics that stand out

[thousandshirts]

Lots of good ones. Two I heard again recently:

"The planet is a gunboat in a sea of fear / And where are you?"

"Is that supposed to be your poker face / Or was someone run over by a train?"

[KT66]

There once was a note, pure and easy,
Playing so free, like a breath rippling by.
The note is eternal, I hear it, it sees me,
Forever we blend it, forever we die.

I listened and I heard music in a word,
And words when you played your guitar,
The noise that I was hearing was a million people cheering,
And a child flew past me riding in a star.

As people assemble,
Civilization is trying to find a new way to die,
But killing is really merely scene changer,
All men are bored with other men's lies.

I listened and I heard music in a word,
And words when you played your guitar,
The noise that I was hearing was a million people cheering,
And a child flew past me riding in a star.

Gas on the hillside, oil in the teacup,
Watch all the chords of life lose their joy,
Distortion becomes somehow pure in its wildness,
The note that began all can also destroy.

We all know success when we all find our own dreams,
And our love is enough to knock down any walls,
And the future's been seen as men try to realize,
The simple secret of the note in us all.

I listened and I heard music in a word,
And words when you played your guitar,
The noise that I was hearing was a million people cheering,
And a child flew past me riding in a star.

There once was a note, pure and easy,
Playing so free, like a breath rippling by.

There once was a note, listen (x 18)

If this was the only thing Pete ever wrote I would still think he is a genius.

Such beautiful imagery and raw rock and roll power. If the fade out repeated 100 times I would love it even more.

[mhuss]

"But I was so much older then, I'm younger than that now." BD

"1, 2, 3, What are fightin' for? Don't ask me, I don't give a damn." CJ&TF

"I went to my congressman, he said, quote, I'd like to help you, son, but you're too young to vote." EC

"But don't ask me what I think of you, I might not give the answer that you want me to." FM

"Don't tell me what I will do, 'cause I won't. Don't tell me to believe in you, 'cause I don't." PG

"I found it hard, it's hard to find, oh well, whatever, nevermind." N

--mark

[CaseyJones]

"It's better to burn out... than to fade away..." N.Y.

Of course you'd have to segue to "Not Fade Away". Then "Willie and the Hand Jive".

[gregarious]

Well my friends are gone and my hair is gray
I ache in the places where I used to play
And I'm crazy for love but I'm not coming on
I'm just paying my rent every day
Oh in the tower of song

I said to Hank Williams: how lonely does it get?
Hank Williams hasn't answered yet
But I hear him coughing all night long
A hundred floors above me
Right here in the tower of song

I was born like this, I had no choice
I was born with the gift of a golden voice
And twenty-seven angels from the great beyond
They tied me to this table right here
In the tower of song

Now you can say that I've grown bitter but of this you may be sure
The rich have got their channels in the bedrooms of the poor
And theres a mighty judgment coming, but I may be wrong
You see, you hear these funny voices
In the tower of song

I see you standing on the other side
I don't know how the river got so wide
I loved you baby, since a way back when
Bridges are burning that we might have crossed
I feel so close to everything that we lost
We'll never, never have to lose it again

Now I bid you farewell, don't know when I'll be back
There moving us tomorrow to a tower down the track
You'll be hearing from me baby, long after I'm gone
Ill be speaking to you sweetly
From a window in the tower of song

Yeah my friends are gone and my hair is gray
I ache in the places where I used to play
And I'm crazy for love but I'm not coming on
I'm just paying my rent every day
In the tower of song


This is a great song, helped along, in my experience by a local band's strapping rendition - easily one of Leonard's best work.... Definitely has more appeal for the seasoned individual.

[benoit]

"We're half awake in our fake empires." The National

[CaseyJones]

Well my friends are gone and my hair is gray
I ache in the places where I used to play
And I'm crazy for love but I'm not coming on
I'm just paying my rent every day
Oh in the tower of song

Dave Alvin, "Ashgrove" makes the hair stand up on my neck...

(good thing, too 'cuz I got none left on me head!)

Well when I was a young boy
I used to slip away
Down to the Ashgrove
To hear the old blues men play
There was Big Joe and Lightnin’
And Reverend Gary too
Well I’d sit and stare and dream
Of doin’ what they could do.

Well it’s been thirty years since the Ashgrove burned down
And I’m out on this highway travelin’ town to town
Tryin’ to make a livin’
Tryin’ to pay the rent
Tryin’ to figure out where my life went.

I wanna go back to the Ashgrove
That’s where I come from
I wanna go back to the Ashgrove
That’s where I belong.

Well you don’t have to go searchin’
Pretend to put on airs
‘Cause the blues are gonna find you someday, somewhere
Now my mother’s gone
Now my father’s gone
And all the old blues men have all passed on
And I’m out on this highway travelin’ town to town
Settin’ up my gear and then I’m tearin’ it down
Turnin’ up my guitar
Standin’ on the stage
I’m just tryin’ to raise the ghosts up out of their graves.

I wanna go back to the Ashgrove
That’s where I come from
Yeah I wanna go back to the Ashgrove
That’s where I belong.

Well I can’t say I been all sinner
Can’t say I been all saint
I’ve done some good deeds and I’ve made big mistakes
I been in and out of love
Said words I regret
I been drunk, been sober
Smoked too many cigarettes
And I’m out on this highway travelin’ town to town
And the news on the radio just brings me down
Intolerance and fear
Ignorance and lies
It’s the same old same old I heard a million times
And I’m thinkin’ of friends and lovers
And how they come and go
Like look-alike houses on the side of the road
Full of everyday people tryin’ to get ahead
Tryin’ to find a reason just to get out of bed
‘Cause we all need somethin’ just to get us through
Well I’m gonna play the blues tonight man
‘Cause that’s what I do.

I’m goin’ back to the Ashgrove
That’s where I come from
I’m goin’ back to the Ashgrove
That’s where I belong.

[Tubetwang]

Lucinda Williams comes to mind...

Dwight Yoakam could also be considered...

Raw guitars also help.

Twang

[Buschman]

I wish you would
come pick me up
take me out
fk me up
steal my records
screw all my friends
they're all full of shit
with a smile on your face
and then do it again


Ryan Adams

Not a guitar song but one of my favorites

[lyman]

Maybe there's a God above
but all I ever learned from love
Was how to shoot at someone who outdrew you
- L. Cohen


we were born to f*ck each other
one way or another
- Iron & Wine


While one who sings with his tongue on fire
Gargles in the rat race choir
Bent out of shape from society's pliers
Cares not to come up any higher
But rather get you down in the hole
That he's in.
- B. Dylan



And some slightly more optimistic lyrics:

You realize the sun doesn't go down
It's just an illusion caused
by the world spinning round
- Flaming Lips


And every time you feel like crying,
I'll try and make you laugh.
And if I can't, if it just hurts too bad,
then we'll will wait for it to pass
and I will keep you company
through those days so long and black.

And we'll keep working on the problem we know we'll never solve
Of Love's uneven remainders, our lives are fractions of a whole.
But if the world could remain within a frame like a painting on a wall.
Then I think we would see the beauty.
Then we would stand staring in awe
- Bright Eyes