Good Lyrics Hall of Fame

Best line Robert Hunter ever wrote for Jerry Garcia:

"Half of my life, I've spent doin' time for some other fucker's crime.
The other half found me stumblin' around drunk on burgundy wine."

 

Black Rose -- Sung best by Waylon Jennings, written by Billy Joe Shaver.

Way down in Virginia
Amongst the tall grown sugar canes
Lived a simple man and a dominiker hen
And a rose of a different name

Well, the first time I felt lightning
I was standing in the drizzling rain
With a trembling hand and a bottle of gin
And a rose of a different name

Well, the Devil made me do it the first time
The second time I done it on my own
Lord, put a handle on a simple headed man
And help me leave that black rose alone

When the Devil made that woman
Lord, it threw the pattern away
She was built for speed with the tools you need
To make a new fool every day

Way down deep and dirty
On the darker side of shame
I caught a cane cuttin' man and a bottle of gin
With a rose of a different name

The Devil made me do it the first time
The second time I done it on my own
Lord, put a handle on a simple headed man
Help me leave that black rose alone .... (repeat)

Either about heroin or interracial sex, depending on who's doing the defining.

 

I edited this song in on my post on the previous page, but maybe you didn't see it.

Always thought it was strange that Jennings changed "Louisiana" to "Virginia" in his version. There is no sugar cane in Virginia.

I'd always heard it was about Shaver having the hots for a black chick, but maybe that was too literal.

Anyway, Shaver's one of the more underrated song writers of our time and still tours the club scene, though mostly in Texas these days. His "Live at Smith's Olde Bar" is a tremendous live album.

 

Missed it. Sorry. Great minds think alike, etc.

 

All the Mike Cooley and DBT love makes me smile. I also really loved Jason Isbell's work with the band. Outfit is by far my favorite, especially these verses. Another case where a few words tell a longer story:

Six months in a St. Florian foundry, they call it Industrial Park.
Then hospital maintenance and Tech School just to memorize Frigidaire parts.
But I got to missing your Mama and I got to missing you too.
So I went back to painting for my old man and I guess that's what I'll always do

So don't try to change who you are boy, and don't try to be who you ain't.
And don't let me catch you in Kendale with a bucket of wealthy-man's paint.


I think my all-time favorite single song lyric comes Modest Mouse's Bukowski:

If God takes life, he's an Indian giver.

Probably my favorite current lyricist is Matt Berenger of the National. Slow Show is probably the ultimate song for a 20-something, middle-class guy with social anxiety issues.


Standing at the punch table swallowing punch
can't pay attention to the sound of anyone
a little more stupid, a little more scared
every minute more unprepared

I made a mistake in my life today
everything I love gets lost in drawers
I want to start over, I want to be winning
way out of sync from the beginning

I wanna hurry home to you
put on a slow, dumb show for you
and crack you up
so you can put a blue ribbon on my brain
god I'm very, very frightening
I'll overdo it

Looking for somewhere to stand and stay
I leaned on the wall and the wall leaned away
Can I get a minute of not being nervous
and not thinking of my dick
My leg is sparkles, my leg is pins
I better get my shit together, better gather my shit in
You could drive a car through my head in five minutes
from one side of it to the other

I wanna hurry home to you
put on a slow, dumb show for you
and crack you up
so you can put a blue ribbon on my brain
god I'm very, very frightening
I'll overdo it

You know I dreamed about you
for twenty-nine years before I saw you
You know I dreamed about you
I missed you for
for twenty-nine years

You know I dreamed about you
for twenty-nine years before I saw you
You know I dreamed about you
I missed you for
for twenty-nine years

 

Some favorites that come immediately to mind:

Innocence, it don’t come easy; in a sense it never will
Accidents mean no one’s guilty, ignorance means someone’s killed…
(Counting Down the Hours; Ted Leo & the Pharmacists – 2005)

I can’t forget the sound, cause it’s here to stay
The sound of people chasing money, and money getting away…
(Whiskey Bottle; Uncle Tupelo – 1990)

The ones who love us best are the ones we’ll lay to rest
And visit their graves on holidays at best
The ones who love us least are the ones we’ll die to please…
(Bastards of Young; The Replacements – 1985)

His wife was a spent piece of used jet trash
Made good bloody marys, kept her mouth shut most of the time…
(Frank’s Wild Years; Tom Waits – 1983)

Gonna put on my hot pants and promenade down funky Broadway until the cows come home…
(Moonshine Whiskey; Van Morrison – 1973)

And a bit overplayed at this point, but a great finishing line:

Meet the new boss; same as the old boss
(Won’t Get Fooled Again, The Who – 1971)

 

Good pull. I feel like we could have a whole Tom Waits thread...

 

No doubt. I was torn on which lines to pull just from that song.

 

"Cruelty to Animals" by the Pernice Brothers.

She won't mind if the place we stand is marked by ash.
She believes what doesn't kill her only takes more time to kill her.
Then she smiles as she paints her lips and does her lashes.
Stunning as a taxidermy victim in a silver cage.

I'm arrested by an aria brought from the country.
Stuck in dumb amazement like a dog who's told to levitate.
This smash number-one goes to her lover in the belfry,
Singing like a bird in flames and headed for the window pane.

In the coming years, let's try and milk a fortune off them.
I think we're qualified by now.

Alouette, gentille alouette.
Head to toe so thoroughly until we're both dismembered.
Alouette, gentille alouette.
Naive, yes, but none the worse, spinning glue back into horses.
I'll never leave the place where you are.

Hand-in-hand into a rented car.
Merrily into the abattoir.
Spilling out all over, I'll be Noah on the storm.
And two-by-two in love we'll speed back into bed and never leave it.

In the coming years, let's try and milk a fortune off them.
I think you're qualified by now.

Alouette, gentille alouette.
Head to toe so thoroughly until we're both dismembered.
Alouette, gentille alouette.
Naá¯ve, yes, but none the worse, spinning glue back into horses.
Alouette, gentille alouette.
Head to toe so thoroughly until we're both dismembered.
Alouette, gentille alouette.
Alouette, gentille alouette.

 

All the gold.
And the guns.
In the world.
All the gold.
And the guns.
And the girls.
Couldn't get you off.
All the boys.
All the choices in the world.
I remember when you were gambling to win.
Everybody else said better luck next time.
I don't want to bend, let the bad girls bend.
Is it ever gonna be enough?
Is it ever gonna be enough?
Is it ever gonna be enough?
...
All the lace.
And the skin.
In the shop.
Couldn't get you off.
All the toys.
And the tools.
In the box.
Couldn't get you off.
All the noise.
All the voices never stop.
...
Is it ever gonna be enough?
Is it ever gonna be enough?
Is it ever gonna be enough?
...
More and more and more and more and more and more ...
...
Is it ever gonna be enough?

 

The Wu is too slamming for these Cold Chilling labels
Some ain't had hits since I seen Aunt Mabel
Be doing artists in like Cain did Abel
Now they money's gettin stuck to the gum under the table
That's what you get when you misuse what I invent
Your empire falls and you lose every cent
For trying to blow up a scrub
Now that thought was just as bright as a 20-watt light bulb
Should've pumped it when I rocked it
Niggas so stingy they got short arms and deep pockets
This goes on in some companies
With majors they're scared to death to pump these
First of all, who's your A&R
A mountain climber who plays an electric guitar
But he don't know the meaning of dope
When he's looking for a suit and tie rap
that's cleaner than a bar of soap
And I'm the dirtiest thing in sight
Matter of fact bring out the girls and let's have a mud fight

 

Joe Pernice has done some terrific stuff.

I couldn’t find any confirmation on these lyrics, but I think they’re close to correct:

Timid chivalry at the turnstile; the slightest smirk, was that a smile made?
I want to be as deep as skin, I’ll know for certain if she lets me in
She yawns and the whole train lurches; I want to gum up her plans
Would that I was a book in her hands
Christ she’s reading Ford Madox Ford and Jacqueline Susann

Follow her to the escalator,
follow her up the escalator,
follow her down the escalator
And watch her walk!