23 replies to this topic

[Sci-Fi Girl]

Poetry in Lyrics:

I love music, and am very often struck by the wonderful poetry in song-writing.  I thought I would share some favorites here, or at least some of whatever I am enjoying at the moment.  This is a companion thread to my folk music thread, but please feel free to appreciate the lyrics I post for poetry's sake alone, even if you do not like folk music.

SFG

[Sci-Fi Girl]

Quote

All That Is
by Garnet Rogers

Who can tell when in love you'll finally fall?
Some live in vain and never love at all
but as lightning strikes
or as a small insistent voice
if we are blessed
we will hear and heed the call

Give your love and never count the cost
Lose your heart and never call it lost
May your love be your shelter
to the ending of your days
love is all that is, all that ever was

May your love grow strong and always kind
May your hearts grow forever more entwined
In the brightest day or the stillness of the night
May it be each others hand you seek and find

Give your love and never count the cost
Lose your heart and never call it lost
May your love be your shelter
to the ending of your days
love is all that is, all that ever was

Never more to be alone
Ever closer you have grown
Forever now may no distance come between
And in each other's loving hearts you find a home

Give your love and never count the cost
Lose your heart and never call it lost
May your love be your shelter
to the ending of your days
love is all that is, all that ever was

Edited by Sci-Fi Girl, 26 November 2010 - 11:06 AM.

[M.E.]

That's really pretty.

Thanks for sharing, SFG.

[Orpheus]

I was reminded of Bob Lind's "Elusive Butterfly" a few days ago, and I've been musing on it since. I do recall feeling as a kid that a couple of the lines marred its innocence by being vaguely creepy (which I now realize was the intent) -- I guess the [unnamed] notion of stalking was in the Zeitgeist even then, but since the Rebecca Shaeffer incident in 1989, I find it hard to enjoy. Is it just me?

It's not exactly a favorite, just a song I liked before kindergarten, but maybe posting it will get it out of my head

You might wake up some mornin'
To the sound of something moving past your window in the wind
And if you're quick enough to rise
You'll catch a fleeting glimpse of someone's fading shadow
Out on the new horizon
You may see the floating motion of a distant pair of wings
And if the sleep has left your ears
You might hear footsteps running through an open meadow

Don't be concerned, it will not harm you
It's only me pursuing somethin' I'm not sure of
Across my dreams with nets of wonder
I chase the bright elusive butterfly of love

You might have heard my footsteps
Echo softly in the distance through the canyons of your mind
I might have even called your name
As I ran searching after something to believe in
You might have seen me runnin'
Through the long-abandoned ruins of the dreams you left behind
If you remember something there
That glided past you followed close by heavy breathin'

Don't be concerned, it will not harm you
It's only me pursuing somethin' I'm not sure of
Across my dreams with nets of wonder
I chase the bright elusive butterfly of love

[Instrumental Interlude]

Across my dreams with nets of wonder
I chase the bright elusive butterfly of love

-- Orpheus "apparently I was hopeless even before kindergarten"

[Nonny]

It never occurred to me that lyrics were poetry when I was young, even though so many songs grabbed me by the heart.  I recognized that a good tune beautifully played could elevate the words to just about any song, and often elevated the quite mundane lyric.  It wasn't until I was taking voice classes that I discovered that the gorgeous Italian ariettas that we sang didn't always have much to say, and that the lyrics to some arias were downright revolting.  Soon after that I discovered that Jim Morrison had quite a huge following of young college students, was considered a poet, so I began to listen to more of the rock and roll of my youth for the words.  

That said, I love and have always loved folk music of all kinds.  I'll post lyrics one of these days, and read and enjoy those you post.

[Sci-Fi Girl]

Quote

Summer Lightning
by Garnet Rogers


I was driving west
through the Bighorn Mountains
The hills were heavy with new-fallen snow
And the sun-bright hills
were dappled like a pony
I was driving hard, I had miles to go

And a magpie flew
across the mountain highway
It flashed and tumbled
through the golden trees
And I thought of you
and my heart was lifted
and floated with that magpie, on the morning breeze

For where I go
You go with me
Thought the miles keep us apart
Your kiss is on my lips and your face before me
And your gentle hand, always on my heart

We are brief as summer lightning
We are swift as swallow's flight
We are sparks that spiral upward in the darkness in the night
We are frost upon a window
We won't pass this way again
In the end only love remains

Tonight the harvest moon
hangs across the valley
I see the hills shine in its silvery light
It's the same old moon
That shines upon you
It'll light my way until I'm by your side
Well, who scattered these diamonds
Through the vault of heaven?
Who drew the curve of the magpie's wing?
Who shaped your face?
What made you love me?
Where is the spark of every living thing?

Well, I guess I don't know
Don't care either
I know you love me
How could I not see?
And I am yours, now and forever
til my lips fall silent and my eyes can't see

We are brief as summer lightning
We are swift as swallow's flight
We are sparks that spiral upward in the darkness in the night
We are frost upon a window
We won't pass this way again
In the end, dear, only love remains

We are brief as summer lightning
We are swift as swallow's flight
We are sparks that spiral upward in the darkness in the night
We are frost upon a window
We won't pass this way again
In the end, dear, only love remains

[Nonny]

Quote

              Hard Times Come Again No More

    Let us pause in life's pleasures and count its many tears,
    While we all sup sorrow with the poor;
    There's a song that will linger forever in our ears;
    Oh Hard times come again no more.
    Chorus:

        Tis the song, the sigh of the weary,
        Hard Times, hard times, come again no more
        Many days you have lingered around my cabin door;
        Oh hard times come again no more.

    While we seek mirth and beauty and music light and gay,
    There are frail forms fainting at the door;
    Though their voices are silent, their pleading looks will say
    Oh hard times come again no more.
    (Chorus)

    There's a pale drooping maiden who toils her life away,
    With a worn heart whose better days are o'er:
    Though her voice would be merry, 'tis sighing all the day,
    Oh hard times come again no more.
    (Chorus)

    Tis a sigh that is wafted across the troubled wave,
    Tis a wail that is heard upon the shore
    Tis a dirge that is murmured around the lowly grave
    Oh hard times come again no more.
    (Chorus)

                            Stephen Foster's original lyrics

Amen to that!

[Sci-Fi Girl]

My favorite lyrics are those that have beautiful imagery and/or storytelling in them.  I always have loved lyrics, even before I knew why.  I was fascinated by sad songs starting when I was small, and at one point I even started to wonder why.  I was told it was because "sad songs are pretty", but that was really only part of it.  It took me a long time to figure out that it was because they were profound!  

Strangely enough, it was a line in Doctor Who that made me realize that, and I hadn't even thought about it in years.  From the episode "Blink":

Quote

Kathy Nightingale: What did you come here for anyway?
Sally Sparrow: I love old things. They make me feel sad.
Kathy Nightingale: What's good about sad?
Sally Sparrow: It's happy for deep people.

SFG

Edited by Sci-Fi Girl, 29 November 2010 - 10:06 AM.

[Sci-Fi Girl]

Quote

Phone Booth
by Garnet Rogers


How many times has he picked up the phone
To call her, when he's had too much to drink at night?
Whisky singing in his veins,
He dials her number once again
In the ghostly phone booth light
He hears her phone ring through the static
She picks it up and says, "hello"
And with shaking hands and pounding heart
He asks her again, "why do we have to be apart this way?"

He hears her silence, then she clears her throat
And while he finds the bottle hidden in his coat
She says, "you know we've been through this before."
The silence grows, moments pass
His fear has clouded up the glass
Inside the phone booth door
Tonight his words won't go the distance
He had so much he meant to say
They listen to each other breathe
Then she finally speaks and says
"I had to leave, you know it's best this way."

He's fighting for some words to say
Some perfect phrase to win her back
Or sway her to her side
Still the silence grows, it fills the phone
And it chills him to his very bones,
And leaves him with no pride
"Does it not matter that I love you?
Don't you love me anymore?"
She takes a breath and then says, "no,
I used to; that was long ago.
Don't call here anymore."

He bows his head, replaces the receiver
Trying hard not to believe there's no hope anymore
And he waits until his tears have passed
His forehead pressed up against the glass
And then he opens up the door
And the nightwind greets him like a lover;
Her cold fingers brush against his cheek
Then she chases papers down the street
Past doorways, where lovers meet
And huddle in the night
Then he puts one hand up against the wall
And drains the whiskey
Trying not fall on his stupid face
And the wind it makes a mocking sound
Across the bottle's mouth
As he stumbles down to watch the river race
In his heart he knows she loves him
If he could only make her see
With his sleeve he wipes his streaming eyes;
Finds a quarter; he'll give it one more try
To  make her see the light.

Edited by Sci-Fi Girl, 01 December 2010 - 09:49 AM.

[D.Rabbit]

By Grindl

Quote

Inside of YouThe day's gone quiet now, the sun is going down
Everywhere that you look, there's beauty to be found

No you don't have to go anywhere to find out your truth
It's living inside of you, inside of you, inside of you

Be like the morning sun, be new with every day
Live your dreams and your wishes in your very own way

No you don't have to go anywhere to find out your truth
It's living inside of you, inside of you, inside of you

Be like the morning sun, be new with every day
Live your dreams and your wishes in your very own way

[Tricia]

No time to search up and share some of my fave lyrics...but I occasionally use a bit of a lyric I like in my sig.

I have gotten to be just as interested in the songwriter now as the singer/s  thanks to a show that was on GAC a couple of years back.  Might be remembering the name wrong but I think that show was called "The HitMen of Music Row"  Four guys who write a lot of songs in the country genre (and not the old twangy things you're likely thinking of), songs that are sometimes --IMHO anyway--so lyrically beautiful.  They've had over a hundred #1's between them.  

That show made me start actually looking for who wrote the song now. (GAC puts the songwriters's names at the end of the videos)  Sometimes now I can hear a song and guess correctly who had some part in writing it.  A little harder with pop and rock etc songs to find the songwriters name .

BTW--I listen to everything from country to pop to R&B and sometimes even a little rap. Very ecletic here.

[JudasRimmer]

Short but sweet - "Dover Beach" by the Bangles. May not be 100% accurate...


If I had the time
I would run away with you
To a perfect world
We'd suspend all that is duty or required.

Late last night you cried
And I couldn't come to you
But on the other side
You and I, inseparable and walking.

Yeah, oh woe.

If we could steal away
Like jugglers and thieves
But we could come and go
Oh, and talk of Michaelangelo.

Oh woe.

If we had the time (we had the time)
We had the time.

The day you looked at me
And it was on your mind
The world is no one's dream
We will never ever find the time.

Oh woe.

If we had the time
I would run away with you
To a perfect world
(To a perfect world).


Dave.

[Orpheus]

For SparkyCola, lonely and homesick in New Zealand: (who knows the source)

Quote

Tell me all the things you would change
I don't pretend to know what you want
When you come around and spin my top
Time and again, time and again

No fire where I lit my spark
I am not afraid of the dark
Where your words devour my heart
And put me to shame, put me to shame

When your seven worlds collide
Whenever I am by your side
The dust from a distant sun
Will shower over everyone

You're still so young to travel so far
Old enough to know who you are
Wise enough to carry the scars
Without any blame, there's no one to blame

It's easy to forget what you learned
Waiting for the thrill to return
Feelin' your desire burn
And drawn to the flame

When your seven worlds collide
Whenever I am by your side
The dust from a distant sun
Will shower over everyone

The dust from a distant sun
Will shower over everyone

And I'm lying on the table
Washed out in a flood
Like a Christian fearing vengeance from above
I can't pretend to know what you want but I offer love

Seven worlds will collide
Whenever I am by your side
The dust from a distant sun
Will shower over everyone

As time slips by
[Incomprehensible]
As time slips by
[Incomprehensible]

[Sci-Fi Girl]

Tricia, on 01 December 2010 - 10:57 AM, said:

No time to search up and share some of my fave lyrics...but I occasionally use a bit of a lyric I like in my sig.

I have gotten to be just as interested in the songwriter now as the singer/s  thanks to a show that was on GAC a couple of years back.  Might be remembering the name wrong but I think that show was called "The HitMen of Music Row"  Four guys who write a lot of songs in the country genre (and not the old twangy things you're likely thinking of), songs that are sometimes --IMHO anyway--so lyrically beautiful.  They've had over a hundred #1's between them.  

That show made me start actually looking for who wrote the song now. (GAC puts the songwriters's names at the end of the videos)  Sometimes now I can hear a song and guess correctly who had some part in writing it.  A little harder with pop and rock etc songs to find the songwriters name .

BTW--I listen to everything from country to pop to R&B and sometimes even a little rap. Very ecletic here.

Sometimes I discover artists in roundabout ways.  I'll fall in love with a song, then hear it sung by several different people.  Then I find out who wrote it.  When I finally hear it sung by the author, I  wonder why I ever bothered to listen to all those other wonderful versions, because the original is even better!   And then I'm a fan of that artist for life!  

I also like funny songs as well as pretty ones.  A while ago I learned that Shel Silverstein had written number of country songs, the most famous being "A Boy Named Sue".  So if you hear a silly one now and then, it's probably one of his!  

SFG

[Sci-Fi Girl]

Orpheus, on 08 December 2010 - 06:10 PM, said:

For SparkyCola, lonely and homesick in New Zealand: (who knows the source)

Maybe I should hold off on posting lyrics for a bit, as my favorites tend to be rather depressing.  

[Sci-Fi Girl]

Quote

I Would I Were
by James Keelaghan


I would I were a robin's song borne upon the wind
Lilting light through morning bright
Soaring from the limb
And if I were that robin's song I'd soar without delay
And be the first thing that you hear
As you begin your day

I wish the Northern Lights were of a fabric apprehended
That from these earthbound human hands
Those lights could be suspended
I wish the northern lights were mine to hem and sew and weave
I'd make a cloak for you to wear
To keep you from the breeze

Oh all of the questions
All of the stars in the sky
Oh never the answers
Always the wondering why

I wish my hand could touch the place within your heart that's hidden
And go to you as if some ghost
That by you had been bidden
And though this world is touch and go I cannot but believe
Of all the things that touch us first
Love is the last to leave
Of all the things that touch us first

[QuiGon John]

I've always been drawn to the poetry of Bruce Springsteen's lyrics.  One of my favorites:

Brilliant Disguise

Quote

I hold you in my arms
as the band plays
What are those words whispered baby
just as you turn away
I saw you last night
out on the edge of town
I wanna read your mind
To know just what I've got
In this new thing I've found
So tell me what I see
when I look in your eyes
Is that you baby
or just a brilliant disguise

I heard somebody call your name
from underneath our willow
I saw something tucked in shame
underneath your pillow
Well I've tried so hard baby
but I just can't see
What a woman like you
is doing with me
So tell me who I see
when I look in your eyes
Is that you baby
or just a brilliant disguise

Now look at me baby
struggling to do everything right
And then it all falls apart
when out go the lights
I'm just a lonely pilgrim
I walk this world in wealth
I want to know if it's you I don't trust
'cause I damn sure don't trust myself

Now you play the loving woman
I'll play the faithful man
But just don't look too close
into the palm of my hand
We stood at the alter
the gypsy swore our future was right
But come the wee wee hours
Well maybe baby the gypsy lied
So when you look at me
you better look hard and look twice
Is that me baby
or just a brilliant disguise

Tonight our bed is cold
I'm lost in the darkness of our love
God have mercy on the man
Who doubts what he's sure of

Edited by John Burke, 20 December 2010 - 12:31 PM.

[Sci-Fi Girl]

Quote

Canned Goods
By Greg Brown


Let those December winds bellow 'n' blow
I'm as warm as a July tomato.

Peaches on the shelf
Potatoes in the bin
Supper's ready, everybody come on in
Taste a little of the summer,
Taste a little of the summer,
You can taste a little of the summer
my grandma's put it all in jars.

Well, there's a root cellar, fruit cellar down below
Watch you head now, and down you go

And there's Peaches on the shelf
Potatoes in the bin
Supper's ready, everybody come on in
Taste a little of the summer,
Taste a little of the summer,
You can taste a little of the summer
my grandma's put it all in jars.


Maybe you're weary an' you don't give a damn
I bet you never tasted her blackberry jam.

Peaches on the shelf
Potatoes in the bin
Supper's ready, everybody come on in
Taste a little of the summer,
Taste a little of the summer,
You can taste a little of the summer
my grandma's put it all in jars.

Ah, she's got magic in her - you know what I mean
She puts the sun and rain in with her green beans.

Peaches on the shelf
Potatoes in the bin
Supper's ready, everybody come on in
Taste a little of the summer,
Taste a little of the summer,
You can taste a little of the summer
my grandma's put it all in jars.

What with the snow and the economy and ev'ry'thing,
I think I'll jus' stay down here and eat until spring.

Peaches on the shelf
Potatoes in the bin
Supper's ready, everybody come on in
Taste a little of the summer,
Taste a little of the summer,
You can taste a little of the summer
my grandma's put it all in jars.

When I go to see my grandma I gain a lot of weight
With her dear hands she gives me plate after plate.
She cans the pickles, sweet & dill
She cans the songs of the whippoorwill
And the morning dew and the evening moon
'N' I really got to go see her pretty soon
'Cause these canned goods I buy at the store
Ain't got the summer in them anymore.

You bet, grandma, as sure as you're born
I'll take some more potatoes and a thunderstorm.

Peaches on the shelf
Potatoes in the bin
Supper's ready, everybody come on in, now
Taste a little of the summer,
Taste a little of the summer,
Taste a little of the summer,
My grandma put it all in jars.

Let those December winds bellow and blow,
I'm as warm as a July tomato.

Peaches on the shelf
Potatoes in the bin
Supper's ready, everybody come on in
Taste a little of the summer,
Taste a little of the summer,
You can taste a little of the summer
my grandma's put it all in jars.

SFG

[Sci-Fi Girl]

Quote

The Black Horse
By Archie Fisher


When I rode the grey horse that carried Merlin's name
I broke the wizard's curse to make the bold moss-troopers claim
Again I rode a lean grey in the mountains of the west
Through hanging bog and corry to Garry Goul-logs crest
I've swung to many's the saddle since on bay and chestnut too
But I will ride the black horse 'til I ride home to you

And I will ride the black horse with a lurcher at his heel
From Lammermuir to Cheviot and along by Teviotdale
Across the windy Minchmoor and down through Liddesdale
And o'er the crag of Ruberslaw to Bowmont and to Kale
For I will take the long track where every day is new
And I will ride the black horse 'til I ride home to you
And I will ride the black horse all the summer long
To hear a distant echo join the chorus of a song
And when I cross the Ettrick or ford the Yarrow's flood
In the autumn woods of Tweedsdale I'll feel you in my blood
And as the winter westerlies come howling through Traquair
I'll turn his head into the wind to taste you in the air
And when spring creeps o'er Soutra Hill and nature loves anew
Then I will mount the white horse and I'll ride home to you

Archie recites this one as poetry on his CD, he calls it "a song without a melody".    (I hope all the spelling is correct, the words weren't in the CD booklet.   I got these from the internet. )

SFG

Edited by Sci-Fi Girl, 21 February 2011 - 07:36 PM.

[Sci-Fi Girl]

Quote

I CAME TO A WESTERN ISLAND
By Archie Fisher


I came to a western island as far as a man can walk is my land
I cleared ten acres and a house I built, into the side of the hill

The roof leaks, the windows rattle and the grass in the high ground won't feed cattle
The west wind blowin' off the sea makes it hard to grow a tree

One cow in a lean-to bier, a spring close by and a driftwood fire
A clear view of the settin' sun and 12 gauge hammer gun

I keep sheep, I fish deep water in a high bowed boat called the Neptune's daughter
She will ride any western gale and can carry a stack of sails

Some nights when the bright lights flicker I sail to the mainland for my liquor
I haven't got a woman to call my own but I never wake up alone

A man needs to feel the ground and wind to tell him that the world spins round
To watch the stars and taste the sea, and woman to keep him free

I came to a western island, as far as a man can walk is my land
I cleared ten acres and a house I built, into the side of the hill

SFG