Great songs with vague lyrics

[jchitty]

Everything is so literal now with regard to lyrics in songs....well, at least in the commercial play formats, especially country. Does anyone have a list of songs (or a song) they really like that had vague lyrics? Lyrics that you spent time trying to figure out?Here's one off the top of my head I can think of...... "A Horse With No Name."

[Mark Kaufman]

"A Whiter Shade of Pale" always springs to mind.The truth is, MOST rock-oriented songs of the late-60's and early-70's (my favorite and most self-influential period) were vague. From the Beatles to Pink Floyd, Elton John, Zeppelin, Yes, Grateful Dead, T.Rex...on and on...it was hard to find lyrics that made a lot of sense. No doubt it had a lot to do with the drug culture.Here is a fine example of a ROCKIN' great song! Robin Trower from the Bridge of Sighs album. It's called "Day of the Eagle". I have a feeling Robin didn't spend a whole ton of time on these lyrics. I absolutely love this song...I have no idea what it means...I saw a light just up aheadBut I couldn't seem to rise up from my bedI'm not alone, then I amPeople seem to think I'm supermanBut I watch for the loveI'm living in the day of the eagle, the eagle not the doveIts like a weight that brings me downIf I don't move I'm on the groundIts in my mind, Its in my soulIts telling me the things I can't be toldIts a watch for the loveLiving in the day of the eagle, eagle not the doveAnother day, another nightI want to love, they want to fightI need the time, I got to be aloneI got to meet a lover on my ownI watch for the loveLiving in the day of the eagle, eagle not the doveEDIT - Back when I used to sing this in a band, I used to think the dramatic ending line was "Living in the day of the eagle, the eagle of LOVE!" Ah yes, the eagle of love. ...if there's a bustle in your hedgerow...

[billg]

Well, Van Morrison's Astral Weeks has always been a fav of mine. ____________________________ If I ventured in the slipstreamBetween the viaducts of your dreamWhere immobile steel rims crackAnd the ditch in the back roads stopCould you find me? Would you kiss-a my eyes? To lay me downIn silence easyTo be born againTo be born againFrom the far side of the oceanIf I put the wheels in motionAnd I stand with my arms behind meAnd I’m pushin’ on the doorCould you find me? Would you kiss-a my eyes? To lay me downIn silence easyTo be born againTo be born againThere you goStandin’ with the look of avariceTalkin’ to huddie ledbetterShowin’ pictures on the wallWhisperin’ in the hallAnd pointin’ a finger at meThere you go, there you goStandin’ in the sun darlin’With your arms behind youAnd your eyes beforeThere you goTakin’ good care of your boySeein’ that he’s got clean clothesPuttin’ on his little red shoesI see you know he’s got clean clothesA-puttin’ on his little red shoesA-pointin’ a finger at meAnd here I amStanding in your sad arrestTrying to do my very bestLookin’ straight at youComin’ through, darlin’Yeah, yeah, yeahIf I ventured in the slipstreamBetween the viaducts of your dreamsWhere immobile steel rims crackAnd the ditch in the back roads stopCould you find meWould you kiss-a my eyesLay me downIn silence easyTo be born againTo be born again

[billg]

I'll hog the thread . . . Bob Dylan's "It's All Over Now Baby Blue"_____________________________________________________You must leave now, take what you need, you think will last.But whatever you wish to keep, you better grab it fast.Yonder stands your orphan with his gun,Crying like a fire in the sun.Look out all the saints are comin' throughAnd it's all over now, Baby Blue.The highway is for gamblers, better use your sense.Take what you have gathered from coincidence.The empty-handed painter from your streetIs drawing crazy patterns on your sheets.This sky, too, is folding over youAnd it's all over now, Baby Blue.All your seasick sailors, they are rowing home.Your empty-handed armies, they are going home.The lover who just walked out your doorHas taken all his blankets from the floor.The carpet, too, is moving under youAnd it's all over now, Baby Blue.Leave your stepping stones behind, there's something that calls for you.Forget the dead you've left, they will not follow you.The vagabond who's rapping at your doorIs standing in the clothes that you once wore.Strike another match, go start anewAnd it's all over now, Baby Blue

[billg]

Better still, Dylan's "Desolation Row"______________________ Theyre selling postcards of the hangingTheyre painting the passports brownThe beauty parlor is filled with sailorsThe circus is in townHere comes the blind commissionerTheyve got him in a tranceOne hand is tied to the tight-rope walkerThe other is in his pantsAnd the riot squad theyre restlessThey need somewhere to goAs lady and I look out tonightFrom desolation rowCinderella, she seems so easyIt takes one to know one, she smilesAnd puts her hands in her back pocketsBette davis styleAnd in comes romeo, hes moaningYou belong to me I believeAnd someone says, youre in the wrong place, my friendYou better leaveAnd the only sound thats leftAfter the ambulances goIs cinderella sweeping upOn desolation rowNow the moon is almost hiddenThe stars are beginning to hideThe fortunetelling ladyHas even taken all her things insideAll except for cain and abelAnd the hunchback of notre dameEverybody is making loveOr else expecting rainAnd the good samaritan, hes dressingHes getting ready for the showHes going to the carnival tonightOn desolation rowNow ophelia, shes neath the windowFor her I feel so afraidOn her twenty-second birthdayShe already is an old maidTo her, death is quite romanticShe wears an iron vestHer professions her religionHer sin is her lifelessnessAnd though her eyes are fixed uponNoahs great rainbowShe spends her time peekingInto desolation rowEinstein, disguised as robin hoodWith his memories in a trunkPassed this way an hour agoWith his friend, a jealous monkHe looked so immaculately frightfulAs he bummed a cigaretteThen he went off sniffing drainpipesAnd reciting the alphabetNow you would not think to look at himBut he was famous long agoFor playing the electric violinOn desolation rowDr. filth, he keeps his worldInside of a leather cupBut all his sexless patientsTheyre trying to blow it upNow his nurse, some local loserShes in charge of the cyanide holeAnd she also keeps the cards that readHave mercy on his soulThey all play on penny whistlesYou can hear them blowIf you lean your head out far enoughFrom desolation rowAcross the street theyve nailed the curtainsTheyre getting ready for the feastThe phantom of the operaA perfect image of a priestTheyre spoonfeeding casanovaTo get him to feel more assuredThen theyll kill him with self-confidenceAfter poisoning him with wordsAnd the phantoms shouting to skinny girlsGet outa here if you dont knowCasanova is just being punished for goingTo desolation rowNow at midnight all the agentsAnd the superhuman crewCome out and round up everyoneThat knows more than they doThen they bring them to the factoryWhere the heart-attack machineIs strapped across their shouldersAnd then the keroseneIs brought down from the castlesBy insurance men who goCheck to see that nobody is escapingTo desolation rowPraise be to neros neptuneThe titanic sails at dawnAnd everybodys shoutingWhich side are you on? And ezra pound and t. s. eliotFighting in the captains towerWhile calypso singers laugh at themAnd fishermen hold flowersBetween the windows of the seaWhere lovely mermaids flowAnd nobody has to think too muchAbout desolation rowYes, I received your letter yesterday(about the time the door knob broke)When you asked how I was doingWas that some kind of joke? All these people that you mentionYes, I know them, theyre quite lameI had to rearrange their facesAnd give them all another nameRight now I cant read too goodDont send me no more letters noNot unless you mail themFrom desolation row

[linziellen]

Hi there,My name is Linzi (a bit vague) Ellen, shall I post my lyrics now ... Great thread, there are bits to pick at in all of these lyrics but nothing solid. I quite like that idea. Maybe it's good to get lost sometimes, could that be when our heart and soul is truly free!?I'm a big fan of Bjork, yes Bjork! I love to sing her lyrics, however delirious they may seem I think they are at the same time very powerful, especially with the music."Joga" produces the most amazing state of emergency, I love it!But here's ...Bjork Hyper Balladwe live on a mountainright at the topthere's a beautiful viewfrom the top of the mountainevery morning i walk towards the edgeand throw little things offlike:car-parts, bottles and cutleryor whatever i find lying aroundit's become a habit a way to start the dayi go through this before you wake upso i can feel happierto be safe up here with youit's real early morningno-one is awakei'm back at my cliffstill throwing things offi listen to the sounds they makeon their way downi follow with my eyes 'til they crashimagine what my body would sound likeslamming against those rocksand when it landswill my eyesbe closed or open?i'll go through all thisbefore you wake upso i can feel happierto be safe up here with youI get it, without getting to the point where it's bland and obvious.PS - if anyone can better Bills examples I'll just go pickle my brain

[lqrose]

Well, I've been out of the loop for a while, crazy busy, but I had to chime in here, with one of my favorite singer/songwriters...Regina SpektorHey, Linzi, I know you like Regina ... how much more vague can you get....and I love every one of them.20 Years of Snow He's a wounded animal He lives in a matchbox He's a wounded animal And he's been coming around here He's a dying breed He's a dying breed His daughter is twenty years of snow falling She's twenty years of strangers looking into each other's eyes She's twenty years of clean She never truly hated anyone or anything She's a dying breed She's a dying breed She says I'd prefer the moss I'd prefer the mouth A baby of the swamps A baby of the south I'm twenty years of clean And I never truly hated anyone or anything Twenty years of clean Twenty years of clean But I got to get me out of here This place is full of dirty old men And the navigators with their mappy maps And moldy heads and pissing on sugarcubes But I got to get me out of here This place is full of dirty old men And the navigators with their mappy maps And moldy heads and pissing on sugarcubes While you stare at your boots And the words float out like holograms And the words float out like holograms And the words float out like holograms They say, feel the waltz, feel the waltz Come on, baby, baby, now feel the waltz Feel the waltz, feel the waltz Come on, baby, baby, now feel

[Mark Kaufman]

Billg, I want my record collection back...Oh and by the way, Why Don't We Do WHAT In The Road????

[diogenes]

Anything by Pearl Jam, Nirvana, Soundgarden.

[linziellen]

Jun 10, 2008, 12:03pm, lqrose wrote:Well, I've been out of the loop for a while, crazy busy, but I had to chime in here, with one of my favorite singer/songwriters...Regina SpektorHey, Linzi, I know you like Regina ... how much more vague can you get....and I love every one of them.Hi Lqrose Regina - she's just beautiful. Her mind must be a maze of ideas. Hey, listen to "Music box" that's a great one for us lot! Regina SpektorMusic box Life inside the music box ain't easyThe mallets hit, the gears are always turningAnd everyone inside the mechanismIs yearningTo get outAnd sing another melody completelySo different from the one they're always singingI close my eyes and think that i have found meBut then i feel mortality surround meI want to sing another melodySo different from the one i always singBut when i do the dishesI run the water very very very hotAnd then i fill the sink to the top with bubbles of soapAnd then i set all the bottle caps i own afloatAnd it's the greatest voyage in the history of plasticAnd then i slip my hands in and start to make wavesAnd then i dip my tongue in a take a tasteIt tastes like soap but it doesn't really taste like soapAnd then i lower in my whole mouth and take a gulpand start to feel mortality surround meI close my eyes and think that i have found meBut life inside the music box ain't easyThe mallets hit, the gears are always turningAnd every one inside the mechanismIs yearning to get outAnd sing another melody completelyIs yearning to get outIs yearning to get out Is yearning to get out Brilliant!