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NFT: Songs whose lyrics got you thinking.

Ira : 4/13/2019 6:37 pm
Please post a link and feel free to either explain or not. This song is called 'This Moment' by The Incredible String Band. The album (I Looked Up) is listed as having come out in 1970, but they sang This Moment at Woodstock. Maybe it came out as a single before the album came out. I think the lyrics speak for themselves.
Link - ( New Window )
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Rush  
Trainmaster : 4/13/2019 6:47 pm : link
Free Will.

One of my all time favorites.
Free Will (With Lyrics) - ( New Window )
Everybody Hurts.  
Ryan in Albany : 4/13/2019 6:54 pm : link
R.E.M.
From 1967  
Dave on the UWS : 4/13/2019 6:56 pm : link
"In the Year 2525" by Zager and Evans. Prophetic
Biting Your Tail by Iron and Wine  
j_rud : 4/13/2019 7:14 pm : link
A parents hopes for their children (daughters, specifically, but it all applies) from a guy who really might be the best songwriter of this era of music.


may your eyes be wide and seeing
may you learn from the view where you're kneeling
know the fear of the world that you're feeling
is the fear of a slave

may you know how the fight was started
and want as much from the snake as the garden
and wear them both like a glove
that you can wave

may your mouth betray your wisdom
may you get what they fail to mention
may your love be your only religion
and preach it to us all

may you lose what you offer gladly
and may you worship the time and its passing
the stars won't ever wait for you
to watch them fall

we're the smoke on a burned horizon
we're the boat on a tide that's rising
both the post and the pig you're untying
the butcher gone for the blade

someday we may all be happy
someday all make a face worth slapping
someday we may be shocked to be laughing
at the way we behave

may your hands be strong and willing
and may you know when to speak and to listen
may you find every friend that you're missing
theres no check in the mail

may you end there bruised and purple
and know that peace is the shape of a circle
‘cuz round and round you’ll go
biting your tail

we're the children the wind is whipping
the short hands on the clock still ticking
both the egg and the red fox grinning
his belly full for the day

someday we may all want nothing
and all forget we'll get what’s coming
someday all say the world was something
that we just couldn’t change

may your tongue be something wicked
and know your part in the calf and the killing
and see straight through the captain you're kissing
the helm lose in his hands

may your words be well worth stealing
and put your hand on your heart when you’re singing
the choir’s sick of the song
but they still gotta stand

Link - ( New Window )
Come  
Bill in UT : 4/13/2019 7:22 pm : link
A Little Bit Closer, Jay and the Americans
Hate me  
superspynyg : 4/13/2019 7:25 pm : link
Blue October
Eleanor Rigby - The Beatles  
Steve in ATL : 4/13/2019 7:37 pm : link
.
Link - ( New Window )
Cats in the Cradle  
Matt in SGS : 4/13/2019 7:39 pm : link
by Harry Chapin

When I had my kids and was commuting to the City, I was leaving the house at 7 AM and home at 8 PM. When they were very little, a few times they went to bed early and I never saw them. I quit my job and found a different job in NJ so I could be there at their school events and coach them in baseball, basketball, soccer, etc. Took a paycut, but not everything is money.
RE: Everybody Hurts.  
Diver_Down : 4/13/2019 7:39 pm : link
In comment 14385223 Ryan in Albany said:
Quote:
R.E.M.


Everybody Hurts - The Corrs
John Prine - Illegal Smile  
Ira : 4/13/2019 7:48 pm : link
"But fortunately I have the key to escape reality
And you may see me tonight with an illegal smile
It don't cost very much, but it lasts a long while
Won't you please tell the man I didn't kill anyone
No I'm just tryin' to have me some fun"
Link - ( New Window )
Table for One  
Steve in ATL : 4/13/2019 7:51 pm : link
Liz Phair

I'm walking down in the basement
I'm leaning on the washing machine
I'm reaching back through a hole in the wall's insulation
I'm pulling out a bottle of vodka
Replacing that with a pint of Jim Beam
I'm lying down on the floor until I feel better

It's morning and I pour myself coffee
I drink it til the kitchen stops shaking
I'm backing out of the driveway
And into creation

And the loving spirit that follows me
Watching helplessly, will always forgive me

Oh, I want to die alone
With my sympathy beside me
I want to bring down all those demons who drank with me
feasting gleefully
On my desperation

I hide all the bottles in places
They find and confront me with pain in their eyes
And I promise that I'll make some changes

But reaching back it occurs to me
There will always be some kind of crisis for me

Oh, I want to die alone
With my sympathy beside me
I want to bring back all those moments they stole from me
In my reverie
Darkening days end

Oh, I want to die alone
With my memories inside me
I want to live that life
When I could say people had faith in me
I still see that guy in my memory

Oh, I want to die alone
With my sympathy beside me
I want to bring down all those people who drank with me
Watching happily
My humiliation

Link - ( New Window )
Head On - Jesus and Mary Chain  
pjcas18 : 4/13/2019 8:04 pm : link
the line "And the way I feel tonight
I could die and I wouldn't mind" sometimes when I would feel melancholy that line would go through my mind. Not in a suicidal way at all, just in a self-reflective kind of way.

The more recent song that I get mesmerized by is Hard to Find by the National.

Just a simple song about fleeting love. the one who got away. the one you think about when your mind wanders - not a sign of discontent, just a sign that you have a past. With a Violent Femmes lyrical tribute.

I can see the glowing lights
I can see them every night
Really not that far away
I could be there in a day

I wonder if you live there still
I kinda think you always will
If I tried you'd probably be
Hard to find

What I feel now about you then
I'm just glad I can explain
You're beautiful and close and young
In those ways we were the same

There's a lot I've not forgotten
I let go of other things
If I tried they'd probably be
Hard to find

They can all
Just kiss off into the air
They can all
Just kiss off into the air

I don't know why we had to lose
The ones who took so little space
They're still waiting for the east
To cover what we can't erase

I'm not holding out for you
I'm still watching for the signs
If I tried you'd probably be
Hard to find

They can all
Just kiss off into the air
They can all
Just kiss off into the air
RE: John Prine - Illegal Smile  
j_rud : 4/13/2019 8:05 pm : link
In comment 14385263 Ira said:
Quote:
"But fortunately I have the key to escape reality
And you may see me tonight with an illegal smile
It don't cost very much, but it lasts a long while
Won't you please tell the man I didn't kill anyone
No I'm just tryin' to have me some fun" Link - ( New Window )


You dig into the depths of prine's vast and storied catalog and that's the one you pick? I mean to each his own but of all the topics hes simply yet profoundly expounded upon Id like to thinm we can go deeper then some cute little ditty about getting high.
Louie Louie  
gtt350 : 4/13/2019 8:11 pm : link
got me thinking what are the lyrics
RE: Louie Louie  
pjcas18 : 4/13/2019 8:13 pm : link
In comment 14385305 gtt350 said:
Quote:
got me thinking what are the lyrics


nobody knows the actual lyrics.
Cult of Personality  
Daniel in Kentucky : 4/13/2019 8:23 pm : link
Sums up my political view.
Link - ( New Window )
RE: RE: John Prine - Illegal Smile  
Ira : 4/13/2019 9:40 pm : link
In comment 14385292 j_rud said:
Quote:
In comment 14385263 Ira said:


Quote:


"But fortunately I have the key to escape reality
And you may see me tonight with an illegal smile
It don't cost very much, but it lasts a long while
Won't you please tell the man I didn't kill anyone
No I'm just tryin' to have me some fun" Link - ( New Window )



You dig into the depths of prine's vast and storied catalog and that's the one you pick? I mean to each his own but of all the topics hes simply yet profoundly expounded upon Id like to thinm we can go deeper then some cute little ditty about getting high.


There's nothing more important than being happy.
RE: Rush  
jnoble : 4/13/2019 10:21 pm : link
In comment 14385220 Trainmaster said:
Quote:
Free Will.

One of my all time favorites. Free Will (With Lyrics) - ( New Window )


There's a bunch of great lyrical Rush songs. Although I lean heavier towards the 70s and 80s stuff than Pearts last few albums where he came across like an old grump who doesn't like most people or religion.

If you want to get really deep and obscure, The Fountain Of Lamneth suite is a good one...its all a big metaphor for being born, the stages of life, and then growing old
Blowin' In The Wind  
PEEJ : 4/13/2019 10:26 pm : link
.
One of my favorites has always been...  
Vinny from Danbury : 4/13/2019 10:28 pm : link
King Crimson - Epitaph.
"I'm Amazed" by My Morning Jacket  
rebel yell : 4/13/2019 10:30 pm : link
[Verse 1]
I'm amazed at the quiet ocean
I'm amazed at your wrong devotion
I'm amazed at what the people saying
I'm amazed by a divided nation
Like the rhythm of the earth
I get disrupted

[Verse 2]
I'm amazed at all that has been
I'm amazed at all who be
I'm amazed at the TV stations
I'm amazed what they want me to believe
After all is said and done
Where is the justice

[Verse 3]
I'm amazed, the lack of evolution
I'm amazed at the lack of faith
I'm amazed at the love we're rejectin'
I'm amazed that we accepted this place
Like the rhythm of the earth and the rhythm of the ages
Like a rhythm I get disrupted
Elton John's...  
bw in dc : 4/13/2019 11:51 pm : link
"Someone Saved My Life Tonight"...
SugarBear... - ( New Window )
RE: One of my favorites has always been...  
jnoble : 4/14/2019 12:00 am : link
In comment 14385499 Vinny from Danbury said:
Quote:
King Crimson - Epitaph.

I've been meaning to get into that band
RE: Elton John's...  
jnoble : 4/14/2019 12:02 am : link
In comment 14385529 bw in dc said:
Quote:
"Someone Saved My Life Tonight"... SugarBear... - ( New Window )

I just listened to the Capt Fantastic album start to finish today for the first time in a long time. We All Fall In Love Sometimes & Tower Of Babel are my two favs from that album
Do you like Phil Collins?  
DCGMan : 4/14/2019 1:03 am : link
I think Invisible Touch was the group's undisputed masterpiece. It's an epic meditation on intangibility. At the same time, it deepens and enriches the meaning of the preceding three albums. Christy, take off your robe.

Listen to the brilliant ensemble playing of Banks, Collins and Rutherford. You can practically hear every nuance of every instrument. Sabrina, remove your dress. In terms of lyrical craftsmanship, the sheer songwriting, this album hits a new peak of professionalism. Sabrina, why don't you, uh, dance a little. Take the lyrics to Land of Confusion. In this song, Phil Collins addresses the problems of abusive political authority. In Too Deep is the most moving pop song of the 1980s, about monogamy and commitment. The song is extremely uplifting. Their lyrics are as positive and affirmative as anything I've heard in rock....
A couple of songs:  
Gregorio : 4/14/2019 3:15 am : link
Subdivisions, Rush
Great to see more Rush fans in this thread! Life in the dreary suburbs. (Freewill, Limelight and others also get me thinking but this one stands out)
https://youtu.be/Vf8jvSPA3XQ

Whiter Shade Of Pale
Just a common story of a drunken man trying to seduce a woman, but told with clever lyrics and interesting references
https://youtu.be/_BADDeIQWVQ

Cats In The Cradle
https://youtu.be/KUwjNBjqR-c

Lying Eyes, Eagles
Story of betrayal
https://youtu.be/Sucm1hOcf80
"Ripple" Grateful Dead "American Beauty" album  
BlueLou'sBack : 4/14/2019 4:44 am : link
If my words did glow with the gold of sunshine
And my tunes were played on the harp unstrung
Would you hear my voice come through the music
Would you hold it near as it were your own?
It's a hand-me-down, the thoughts are broken
Perhaps they're better left unsung
I don't know, don't really care
Let there be songs to fill the air
Ripple in still water
When there is no pebble tossed
Nor wind to blow
Reach out your hand if your cup be empty
If your cup is full may it be again
Let it be known there is a fountain
That was not made by the hands of men
There is a road, no simple highway
Between the dawn and the dark of night
And if you go no one may follow
That path is for your steps alone
Ripple in still water
When there is no pebble tossed
Nor wind to blow
You who choose to lead must follow
But if you fall you fall alone
If you should stand then who's to guide you?
If I knew the way I would take you home
Songwriters: Jerome J. Garcia / Robert C. Hunter
Ripple lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
BlueLou, that's one of my favorites too  
Ira : 4/14/2019 5:33 am : link
.
Simon & Garfunkel - The 59th Street Bridge Song  
Ira : 4/14/2019 5:48 am : link
Slow down, you move too fast
You got to make the morning last
Just kicking down the cobblestones
Looking for fun and feeling groovy
Ba da-da da-da da-da, feeling groovy
Hello lamppost, what'cha knowing
I've come to watch your flowers growin'
Ain't you got no rhymes for me?
Doo-ait-n-doo-doo, feeling groovy
Ba da-da da-da da-da, feeling groovy
I got no deeds to do, no promises to keep
I'm dappled and drowsy and ready to sleep
Let the morningtime drop all its petals on me
Life, I love you, all is groovy
Link - ( New Window )
Ave Maria  
idiotsavant : 4/14/2019 9:30 am : link
Unbroken Chain

The Unforgiven

Hehehe
The Beatles  
Gman11 : 4/14/2019 9:52 am : link
Come Together

Basically, it was WTF are they singing about until I read that they admitted that the lyrics were just a bunch of nonsense.
Send in the Clowns  
Jay in Toronto : 4/14/2019 10:36 am : link
one of the best ever.

Listened to Sarah Vaughan's interpretation yesterday.

Wow.

Rush again  
Bill in Del : 4/14/2019 10:38 am : link
Enemy within - always related this my anxiety attacks

Analog kid - cause that's just who I am.
any of maybe 50 Springsteen songs  
gtt350 : 4/14/2019 11:42 am : link
.
David Gilmour - On an Island  
XBRONX : 4/14/2019 11:54 am : link
Remember that night
White steps in the moonlight
They walked here too
Through empty playground, this ghosts' town
Children again, on rusting swings getting higher
Sharing a dream, on an island, it felt right
We lay side by side
Between the moon and the tide
Mapping the stars for a while
Let the night surround you
We're halfway to the stars
Ebb and flow
Let it go
Feel her warmth beside you
Remember that night
The warmth and the laughter
Candles burned
Though the…
Sanctus Real  
tony stg : 4/14/2019 1:40 pm : link
Lead Me

Link - ( New Window )
Almost anything by Jason Isbell  
rnargi : 4/14/2019 1:41 pm : link
But particularly "Elephant"
RE: David Gilmour - On an Island  
rnargi : 4/14/2019 1:42 pm : link
In comment 14385872 XBRONX said:
Quote:
Remember that night
White steps in the moonlight
They walked here too
Through empty playground, this ghosts' town
Children again, on rusting swings getting higher
Sharing a dream, on an island, it felt right
We lay side by side
Between the moon and the tide
Mapping the stars for a while
Let the night surround you
We're halfway to the stars
Ebb and flow
Let it go
Feel her warmth beside you
Remember that night
The warmth and the laughter
Candles burned
Though the…


I absolutely love that album
"Depreston" by the phenomenal Courtney Barnett  
Go Terps : 4/14/2019 1:54 pm : link
.
RE:  
j_rud : 4/14/2019 2:07 pm : link
In comment 14386015 Go Terps said:
Quote:
.


Experienced this song in the past year. Feeling less hip with a couple of kids. Want more space. House hunting in the suburbs. Quiet. Fairly rural (compared to what we were used to). The one we settled on was owned by an elderly woman whose husband recently passed. Felt odd walking around and seeing their pictures everywhere. Bathroom literally had the hand rail in the shower. Every time we change something I feel...I dunno. Not "guilty". But at times it doesn't quite feel like its ours yet. Great tune.
"Depreston" really strikes a chord.  
bceagle05 : 4/14/2019 2:36 pm : link
My grandmother died last summer at the age of 90 - never easy to lose a loved one, but she lived a long, healthy life so the wake/funeral was a little more celebratory in nature. I felt the loss a lot more when we cleared out her house and put it up for sale. She lived in this little house in Belleville for 60 years (with my grandfather, who died 20 years ago), and I of course have tons of memories there. Going through that process is very sobering. Realtor comes in with a to-do list, and it's straight business from there. Still feels strange to know different folks are living there.
Seasons in the Sun  
Klaatu : 4/14/2019 2:45 pm : link
Had me thinking about sticking ice picks in my ears.
Can't stop at one.  
MOOPS : 4/14/2019 2:45 pm : link
Canadian Railroad Trilogy-Gordon Lightfoot
America-Paul Simon
Cold Missouri Waters-James Keelaghan
Roll Me Away-Bob Seger

Off the top of my head.
Here is another one  
pjcas18 : 4/14/2019 7:25 pm : link
sort of a dot connecting thing though.

Ana Ng by they might be giants. the whole song is thought provoking, but right before the final verse they say:

"When I was driving once I saw this painted on a bridge:
"I don't want the world, I just want your half"" and I found that to be an interesting lyric and used to wonder about it.

and this song was always a favorite of mine and my wife's from the time we were dating. She lived in RI, I lived in CT - we met in college. During the summer of my senior year in college (right after we met) I would make that drive back and forth often and once during the brutal drive from RI along the CT coast to my house I passed a bridge near New London, CT and it was spray painted with the following:

"What's gonna set you free?"

Every time I passed that bridge (probably a few hundred times from that point on through the rest of my life) I'd see that question and ponder what is gonna set me free.

I don't think it referenced the sleepy head song, I think it was just a random thing painted on a bridge.

At our wedding we had a DJ and had Ana Ng on our play list, major crowd pleaser

Anyway, Ana Ng, which I don't hear nearly enough anymore, always makes me think of that question. And it's a good question to contemplate IMO.
In my life  
speedywheels : 4/14/2019 7:39 pm : link
Beatles
Any song  
BobOnLI : 4/14/2019 7:40 pm : link
By Phil Ochs.
These lyrics..  
FatMan in Charlotte : 4/14/2019 7:50 pm : link
always got me thinking - "What the fuck kind of gibberish are these guys spewing"??

Quote:
There is freedom within, there is freedom without
Try to catch the deluge in a paper cup
There's a battle ahead, many battles are lost
But you'll never see the end of the road
While you're traveling with me

Hey now, hey now
Don't dream it's over


Now I'm towing my car, there's a hole in the roof
My possessions are causing me suspicion but there's no proof
In the paper today tales of war and of waste
But you turn right over to the T.V. page

Now I'm walking again to the beat of a drum
And I'm counting the steps to the door of your heart
Only shadows ahead barely clearing the roof
Get to know the feeling of liberation and release

Old Admirals  
section125 : 4/14/2019 8:00 pm : link
by Al Stewart
If We Were Vampires  
Tim in Capital City : 4/15/2019 7:32 am : link
By Jason Isbell (with his wife singing backups on the choruses) has crushed me since I first heard it.

It's not the long, flowing dress that you're in
Or the light coming off of your skin
The fragile heart you protected for so long
Or the mercy in your sense of right and wrong
It's not your hands searching slow in the dark
Or your nails leaving love's watermark
It's not the way you talk me off the roof
Your questions like directions to the truth

It's knowing that this can't go on forever
Likely one of us will have to spend some days alone
Maybe we'll get forty years together
But one day I'll be gone
Or one day you'll be gone

If we were vampires and death was a joke
We'd go out on the sidewalk and smoke
And laugh at all the lovers and their plans
I wouldn't feel the need to hold your hand
Maybe time running out is a gift
I'll work hard 'til the end of my shift
And give you every second I can find
And hope it isn't me who's left behind
It's knowing that this can't go on forever

Likely one of us will have to spend some days alone
Maybe we'll get forty years together
But one day I'll be gone
Or one day you'll be gone
It's knowing that this can't go on forever
Likely one of us will have to spend some days alone
Maybe we'll get forty years together
But one day I'll be gone
One day you'll be gone
And on the John Prine front,  
Tim in Capital City : 4/15/2019 7:35 am : link
You could pick dozens (more?) songs, but Hello In There has been affecting me lately.

We had an apartment in the city
Me and Loretta liked living there
Well, it'd been years since the kids had grown
A life of their own left us alone
John and Linda live in Omaha
And Joe is somewhere on the road
We lost Davy in the Korean war
And I still don't know what for, don't matter anymore

Ya' know that old trees just grow stronger
And old rivers grow wilder ev'ry day
Old people just grow lonesome
Waiting for someone to say, "Hello in there, hello"

Me and Loretta, we don't talk much more
She sits and stares through the back door screen
And all the news just repeats itself
Like some forgotten dream that we've both seen
Someday I'll go and call up Rudy
We worked together at the factory
But what could I say if asks "What's new?"
"Nothing, what's with you? Nothing much to do"

So if you're walking down the street sometime
And spot some hollow ancient eyes
Please don't just pass 'em by and stare
As if you didn't care, say, "Hello in there, hello"
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