"Well I woke up Monday morning wondered if Tuesday would be this bad, yeah I woke up Monday morning wondered if Tuesday would be this bad Well I let that thing about last night ohhhhh... the bad whiskey I had
Ants in the sugar bowl weebles in the cornmeal I got ants in the sugar bowl weebles in the cornmeal, My old lady said "let's sleep late" I said "honey I believe I will"
The third verse of Iris Dement’s "No Time To Cry", one of my absolute favorite songs:
"I sit down on the sofa and I watch the evening news
There’s a half a dozen tragedies from which to pick and choose
The baby that was missing was found in a ditch today
And there’s bombs a’flying, and people dying, not so far away
And I take a beer from the ’fridgerator and go sit out in the yard
And with a cold one in my hand I’m gonna bite down and swallow hard
Because I’m older now, I’ve got no time to cry"
Reading the lyrics doesn’t come close to conveying the devastating heartbreak in Iris’ singing of them. The song has been recorded by two of my all-time favorite singers, Merle Haggard and Kasey Chambers, both of them also superior songwriters themselves. You can hear the song on You Tube, and then go buy the album it is on, Iris’ My Life. Not a single bad song on it, one of my "Perfect Albums".
"I was sitting home alone one night in L.A. Watching old Cronkite on the seven o'clock news It seems there was an earthquake that Left nothing but a Panama hat And a pair of old Greek shoes Didn't seem like much was happening So I turned it off and went to grab another beer Seems like every time you turn around There's another hard-luck story that you're gonna hear And there's really nothing anyone can say And I never did plan to go anyway To Black Diamond Bay"
Lyrics: Bob Dylan - Black Diamond Bay from Desire
Not to step on your post, bdp. Couldn't resist posting based on the (slight) similarity. Never heard the Iris Dement tune. Guessing it conveys a less jaded attitude than what Bob conveys.
ghosthouse, I’ve long been intrigued by the subject of the genesis of songs, not possessing that gift and talent myself. I’m sure Iris has heard "Black Diamond Bay", but she didn’t write "No Time To Cry" until almost twenty years after that song came out. The songs share the TV news theme, but the sentiment of the two is very different. Both great songwriters!
Or in other words, “Talent borrows. Genius Steals!” Something Dylan himself understood only too well. Talking of Bob,
The guilty undertaker sighs The lonesome organ grinder cries The silver saxophones say I should refuse you The cracked bells and washed-out horns Blow into my face with scorn, but it’s Not that way, I wasn’t born to lose you I want you I want you I want you, so bad Honey, I want you The drunken politician leaps Upon the street where mothers weep And the saviors who are fast asleep, they wait for you And I wait for them to interrupt Me drinkin’ from my broken cup And ask me to open up the gate for you I want you I want you Yes I want you, so bad Honey, I want you How all my fathers, they’ve gone down True love they’ve been without it But all their daughters put me down ’Cause I don’t think about it Well, I return to the Queen of Spades And talk with my chambermaid She knows that I’m not afraid to look at her She is good to me and there’s Nothing she doesn’t see She knows where I’d like to be but it doesn’t matter I want you I want you Yes I want you, so bad Honey, I want you Now your dancing child with his Chinese suit he Spoke to me, I took his flute No, I wasn’t very cute to him, was I? But I did it, because he lied and Because he took you for a ride And because time was on his side and Because
I want you I want you Yes I want you, so bad Honey, I want you
@rlb61 , it’s funny how despite me feeling symbiotically linked to the Beatles, (like no doubt many, many others), I just can’t think of many lyrics that I consider great.
The magic of the Beatles is a most mysterious one. It’s not exclusively in the lyrics nor in the musicianship or even the image. It’s seems to be some wonderful combination of almost everything, especially the tunes.
Favourite lines don’t ring like poetry,
"Everywhere there’s lots of piggies Living piggy lives You can see them out for dinner With their piggy wives Clutching forks and knives to eat their bacon"
"People running round it’s five o’clock Everywhere in town it’s getting dark Everyone you see is full of life It’s time for tea and Meet The Wife"
"There’s people standing round Who’ll screw you in the ground They’ll fill you in with all their sins you see"
"I’m fixing a hole where the rain gets in And stops my mind from wandering Where it will go"
"Semolina Pilchard Climbing up the Eiffel tower Elementary penguin singing Hare Krishna Man, you should have seen them kicking Edgar Allen Poe"
and finally perhaps the best pure lyric they ever came up with,
"Words are flowing out like endless rain into a paper cup They slither while they pass, they slip away across the universe Pools of sorrow waves of joy are drifting through my opened mind Possessing and caressing me Jai guru deva om
Nothing’s gonna change my world Nothing’s gonna change my world Nothing’s gonna change my world Nothing’s gonna change my world
Images of broken light which dance before me like a million eyes They call me on and on across the universe Thoughts meander like a restless wind Inside a letter box they Stumble blindly as they make their way Across the universe Jai guru deva om
Nothing’s gonna change my world Nothing’s gonna change my world Nothing’s gonna change my world Nothing’s gonna change my world
Sounds of laughter shades of life are ringing Through my open ears inciting and inviting me Limitless undying love which shines around me like a million suns And calls me on and on across the universe Jai guru deva om
Nothing’s gonna change my world Nothing’s gonna change my world Nothing’s gonna change my world Nothing’s gonna change my world Nothing’s gonna change my world Nothing’s gonna change my world Nothing’s gonna change my world Nothing’s gonna change my world
Jai guru deva Jai guru deva Jai guru deva Jai guru deva"
"I work mornings in the old yard, digging in the ground, but I moonlight as an astronaut, mostly just sit around and howl, won't you come to my house tonight, we could sleep on the floor, I got this window that looks out to Orion, I paid extra for, oh don't forget about the sun, he's forgotten us by now, kiss me so I remember how, we'll turn these sorrows into strangers, buy them a ticket on the train, drop 'em off at the station, watch 'em ride far away, far away"
"Not a day goes by that I don't think about you You left your mark on me. It's permanent, a tattoo, Pierce the skin and the blood runs through Oh my baby
(The way you move, it's right on time The way you move, it's right on time, It's right on time with me.)
I stand over the stove in the kitchen watch the water boil and I listen Turn off the television Oh my baby,
(chorus)
I take off my watch and my earrings my bracelets and everything Lie on my back and moan at the ceiling Oh my baby"
"Here comes the helicopter second time today everybody scatters and hopes it goes away, how many kids they murdered only God can say
(if I had a rocket launcher....I'd make somebody pay)
I don't believe in guarded borders and I don't believe in hate I don't believe in generals or their stinking tortured states and when I talk with the survivors of things too sickening to relate
(if I had a rocket launcher...I would retaliate)
on the rio lacant'un one hundred thousand wait to fall down from starvation or some less human fate cry for Guatemala with a corpse in every gate
(if I had a rocket launcher...I would not hesitate)
I want to raise every voice at least I've got to try every time I think about it water rises to my eyes situation desperate echoes of the victims' cry
(if I had a rocket launcher...some son of a bitch would die)
Two from the Queen of Folk - so much talent in one person. Sometimes I wish she’d taken the road of success rather than activism. Still, I think most of what she sought came to be. I certainly hope so.
"Like these flowers at your door and scribbled notes about the war We’re only saying the time is short and there is work to do And we’re still marching in the streets with little victories and big defeats"
"Now I see you standing With brown leaves falling around And snow in your hair Now you’re smiling out the window Of that crummy hotel Over Washington Square Our breath comes out white clouds Mingles and hangs in the air Speaking strictly for me We both could have died then and there"
"Woke up on Monday and wrote you a love song, a love song well the pen stopped and the paper flew out the window and the notes rang down the road I don't know where they'll go, get caught in the trees I suppose ripped apart by the birds and the winter winds whisper good bye to your love..."
"Idiot wind Blowing through the buttons of our coats Blowing through the letters that we wrote Idiot wind Blowing through the dust upon our shelves We're idiots, babe It's a wonder we can even feed ourselves"
Dylan's final verse always comes to mind each time some new realisation gradually dawns upon me.
"I was drivin’ home, early Sunday mornin’, through Bakersfield listenin’ to gospel music on a colored radio station and the preacher said, you know, you’ll ALWAYS have the LORD by your side, I was so pleased to be informed of this, that I ran twenty red-lights in his honor,
(Thank you Jesus, thank you Lord)
I had arrangements to meet a girl, and I was kind of late... I thought by the time I got there, she’d be off... she’d be off with the Nearest truck driver she could find much to my surprise, there she was, sittin’ in the corner, little bleary, worse for wear and tear was the girl... FAR away eyes
chorus so if you’re dowwwn on your luck and you can’t quite harmonize find a girl, with faaar away eyes
and if you’re down right disgusted and life ain’t worth a dang get a girl, with faaar away eyes"
Well the preacher kept right on sayin’ that all I had to do was send ten dollars to the Church of the Sacred Bleeding Heart of Jesus located somewhere in Los Angelis California and next week they’d say my payer on the RAdio and all my dreams would COME true
know next week I got a praaayer I got a Girrl… You know what kind of eyes she got? A Girrl, with far away eyes.
Following on from Warren Zeavon's Play It All Night Long, here's one of his I can never tire of,
Werewolves of London
"I saw a werewolf with a Chinese menu in his hand Walking through the streets of Soho in the rain He was looking for the place called Lee Ho Fooks For to get a big dish of beef chow mein
Ah-hooo, werewolves of London, ah-hooo Ah-hooo, werewolves of London, ah-hooo
You hear him howling around your kitchen door You better not let him in Little old lady got mutilated late last night Werewolves of London again
Ah-hooo, werewolves of London, ah-hooo Ah-hooo, werewolves of London, ah-hooo, huh
He's the hairy-handed gent who ran amok in Kent Lately he's been overheard in Mayfair You better stay away from him He'll rip your lungs out, Jim Huh, I'd like to meet his tailor
Ah-hooo, werewolves of London, ah-hooo Ah-hooo, werewolves of London, ah-hooo
Well, I saw Lon Chaney walking with the Queen Doin' the werewolves of London I saw Lon Chaney Junior walking with the Queen, uh Doin' the werewolves of London I saw a werewolf drinkin' a piña colada at Trader Vic's And his hair was perfect, na
Ah-hooo, werewolves of London Heh, draw blood Ah-hooo, werewolves of London"
Apparently there really was a place called Lee Ho Fooks! Continuing in the theme of great London songs here's a 1980s Pogues classic you won't often hear on the radio.
The Old Main Drag
When I first came to London, I was only sixteen With a fiver in my pocket and my ol' dancin' bag I went down to the dilly to check out the scene But I soon ended upon the old main drag
There the he-males and the she-males paraded in style And the old man with the money would flash you a smile In the dark of an alley you'd work for a five For a swift one off the wrist down on the old main drag
In the cold winter nights, the old town, it was chill But there were boys in the cafes who'd give you cheap pills If you didn't have the money, you'd cajole or you'd beg There was always lots of tuinol on the old main drag
One evening as I was lyin' down in Leicester Square I was picked up by the coppers and kicked in the balls Between the metal doors at Vine Street, I was beaten and mauled And they ruined my good looks for the old main drag
In the tube station, the old ones who were on the way out Would dribble and vomit and grovel and shout And the coppers would come along and push them about And I wished I could escape from the old main drag
And now I'm lyin' here, I've had too much booze I've been spat on and shat on and raped and abused I know that I am dyin' and I wish I could beg For some money to take me from the old main drag
@slaw Yep, the late great Warren Zevon. Play It All Night Long. Chorus: "Sweet Home Alabama" Play That Dead Band's Song Turn Those Speakers Up Full Blast Play It All Night Long.
There is just too many to list, haha! I bet you wouldn't recognize some of the more obscure bands I listen to... I was even surprised when I found them here: https://musiety.com
"The Mona Lisa’s sister doesn’t smile she tried to pose, but only for a while Leonardo sent her home since then she has lived alone with her few belongings and a copy of a painting of herself unhappy she is going to burn it when she’s ready
Chorus:
Get started...Start a fire Get started...Start a fire
Marylin was lying all alone with an empty bottle by the phone Kennedy was not around She was cold when she was found but she’d gone were the goddesses are sleeping where the molten tougues of flames are weeping or when the angels hearts are beating
chorus
Joan of Arc was burning at the stake somebody had made a big mistake She lit a cigarette in an airport where you get your fingers taken off for smoking meanwhile up the road a factory is choking the one’s who killed her work there, I’m not joking
Shane McGowan is certainly one candidate for the greatest lyricist the UK has produced, but another songwriter, his one-time friend Elvis Costello (also of Irish descent like Morrissey too), has probably has put down more clever couplets and phrases than anyone.
Here's just a of the few memorable ones.
'Nice girls not one with a defect Cellophane shrink-wrapped, so correct Red dogs under illegal legs She looks so good that he gets down and begs'
'She's been a bad girl. She's like a chemical. Though you try to stop it, she's like a narcotic. You wanna torture her. You wanna talk to her. All the things you bought for her, putting up your temp'rature.'
'You either shut up or get cut up; they don't wanna hear about it. It's only inches on the reel-to-reel. And the radio is in the hands of such a lot of fools tryin' to anaesthetise the way that you feel'
'And it's the damage that we do And never know It's the words that we don't say That scare me so
Somehow I found myself down at the dockside Thinking of the old days of Liverpool and Rotherhide The transparent people who live on the other side Living a life that is almost like suicide'
'Your body speaks much louder than your voice You let it do the talking so I don't have any choice'
'But if your patience is exhausted and you still cannot decide You're sitting in the garage contemplating suicide And you have no motivation you can't even catch your breath All of this acceleration is driving you to death'
'When I said that I was lying I might have been lying Never let me hear you say you're not trying'
'So in this almost empty gin palace Through a two-way looking glass You see your Alice'
'There's a tuppeny hapenny millionaire Looking for a fourpenny one With a tight grip on the short hairs Of the public imagination'
'They talked to the sister, the father and the mother With a microphone in one hand and a chequebook in the other'
'I saw a newspaper picture from the political campaign A woman was kissing a child, who was obviously in pain She spills with compassion, as that young child's face in her hands she grips Can you imagine all that greed and avarice coming down on that child's lips?'
'Two newspaper editors like playground sneaks Running the book on which of them is going to last the week One of them calls to me And he says, "I know you" "You gave me this tattoo back in '82" "You were a spoilt child then with a record to plug" "And I was a shaven headed seaside thug" "Things haven't really changed that much" "One of us is still getting paid too much"'
"Mama looked down and spit on the ground every time my name gets mentioned Papa said "Oy! if I get that boy I'm gonna stick him in the house of detention"
- Me and Julio Down By the Schoolyard by Paul Simon -
"They called me up in Tennessee They said "Tammy, stand by the JAMs" But if you don’t like what they’re going to do, You better not stop them ’cause they’re coming through (bring the beat back) (Hey hey) All bound for Mu Mu Land (justified!) (Hey hey) All bound for Mu Mu Land (justified!) Mu Mu Land Mu Mu Land All bound for Mu Mu Land They’re Justified, and they’re Ancient, And they drive an ice cream van. (just roll it from the top) They’re Justified and they’re Ancient, With still no master plan."
The trip of a lifetime for Tammy Wynette who later said,
"I really don’t know why they (KLF) chose me. I was apprehensive at first, but I’m really excited with the way it’s all turned out", Wynette said. "Mu Mu Land looks a lot more interesting than Tennessee.... But I wouldn’t want to live there."
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