| The Clash – I Fought the Law (The Crickets cover) Lyrics | 13 years ago |
| Also, it's pretty obvious that the Clash based their cover more from the Crickets version than the Bobby Fuller Four version, even though those two sound pretty similar. The Crickets version has the triplet rhythms that the Clash cover has and the Bobby Fuller Four version doesn't. | |
| The Clash – I Fought the Law (The Crickets cover) Lyrics | 13 years ago |
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Lot of misinformation going around, here... This song was written by Sonny Curtis, who was a friend of Buddy Holly. He joined the Crickets after Holly died, and they did record "I Fought the Law." The old version that everybody knows, though, is by the Bobby Fuller Four, which was a 60s group with a heavy Buddy Holly & the Crickets influence (both from Texas). They had a hit with "I Fought the Law" and Holly's own "Love's Made a Fool of You," in addition to "Let Her Dance" which they wrote themselves. |
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| Arctic Monkeys – Red Light Indicates Doors Are Secured Lyrics | 13 years ago |
| It's definitely "wait, how come it's already two pound fifty? We've only gone about a yard." He's having the classic taxi dilema, which is "how the hell did the fare get that high already?" | |
| Black Rebel Motorcycle Club – Promise Lyrics | 14 years ago |
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Had I the heavens' embroidered cloths, Enwrought with the golden and silver light, The blue and the dim and the dark cloths Of night and light and half-light, I would spread the cloths under your feet But I, being poor, have only my dreams; I have spread my dreams beneath your feet; Tread softly because you tread on my dreams... William Butler Yeats |
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| U2 – New Year's Day Lyrics | 14 years ago |
| Happy New Year :P | |
| Taylor Swift – Untouchable Lyrics | 14 years ago |
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She gets co-writing credit on her version of this song and it's easy to see why: she gave it a completely different arrangement (and melody, in fact). Calling it a cover is a bit misleading because her writing and arranging skills are showcased on this track perhaps more clearly than anywhere else. |
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| Bruce Springsteen – Terry's Song Lyrics | 14 years ago |
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He's not trying to say his friend is more "important" than any of the various people/monuments/etc. he references. He's using this familiar things to say his friend was irreplaceable (like the Mona Lisa, the David, and so on) and unlike the "objects." It's a beautiful song with strikingly simple, direct lyrics, but still, the ending lines have always puzzled me. "Bad attitude's a power stronger than death, oh I've been burning or stone cold?" Anybody have any guesses about that? Also, the line "where you're still young and hard and cold" strikes me as a bit out of place. You don't generally hear someone refer to their recently passed friend as cold in a positive way. I don't mean to sound like I'm nitpicking though, I just find those lines interesting. I'd say this is probably the greatest song of its kind ever written. |
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| Styrofoam – Couches in Alleys (feat. Ben Gibbard) Lyrics | 15 years ago |
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Having established who Jack is and why that's relevant to the song, I just wanted to throw out my two cents on what this song is about. I think it goes a little further than themes of loneliness and trying to escape problems by running away. It may just be me, but the song feels a lot like reflections on mortality. He's using the road as a metaphor for something greater (like Jack did), so the references to the 'wheels ceasing to spin' and the 'end of this road' seem deliberate, and coupled with the fact that he's seeking advice from a man who met an untimely end (which he also makes reference to), I'm led to believe this song is concerned with death. The way the first verse is repeated at the end in that more processed and distant vocal, with the round of "hey Jack, it's me..." over and over also adds to this feeling for me. |
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| Bruce Springsteen – Bobby Jean Lyrics | 15 years ago |
| Absolutely brilliant, definitely about Van Zandt (albeit masked), and definitely modeled both musically and thematically after The Clash's "Stay Free." References to meeting in school and not being like the others, growing up, playing music, drifting apart, and ending on a killer, super poignant lyric that shows the singer knowing he should leave things unresolved ("and if you're in the Crown tonight have a drink on me, but go easy, step lightly, stay free." - "Stay Free"). Both end neatly in a similar rhyme scheme and with the last words being the song's title, no less. | |
| The Clash – Stay Free Lyrics | 15 years ago |
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As someone pointed out a bit further up, this song and Springsteen's "Bobby Jean" extremely similar in many ways; I'd be willing to bet Springsteen took direct inspiration from this song, in fact, given his love for the Clash and all. Both songs are really impressive in their ability to convey this sort of poignant reality of growing up...that you may still care, and you may feel like you're the same person you were, but you're not, and that might be a good thing. Springsteen's ending lyric of "I'm just calling one last time, not to change your mind, but just to say I miss you babe, good luck, goodbye, Bobby Jean" is such a near mirror of Jones' "if you're in the Crown tonight have a drink on me, but go easy, step lightly, stay free" that it's pretty clear Bruce modeled his song after this. Two great songs from two great songwriters. |
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| Elvis Costello – No Hiding Place Lyrics | 15 years ago |
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No comments? Definitely one of the best tracks of the last year, and probably Costello's best in a good long while. Anyway, it's pretty clearly a critique of modern society, but a friend of mine had a more specific theory about what may have inspired Costello to write this song- the internet. If it seems strange, read through and think about it! |
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| Glasvegas – Geraldine Lyrics | 15 years ago |
| Whether or not the real Geraldine was a social worker is definitely interesting, but keep in mind that it's written in as a metaphor. It's basically a song about someone being someone else's guardian angel (figuratively speaking), except he decided to use "social worker" instead (because Geraldine apparently was one), which adds an element of sadness to this [freakin amazing] song. | |
| M83 – Kim & Jessie Lyrics | 15 years ago |
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Better lyrics without the insight about the drugs...the "somebody lurks in the shadows" is more mysterious without knowing it's about people doing something that's actually forbidden. I do still think it's a love song though. I see the reference about passing a bottle, of course, but the line "crazy about romance and illusion" seems to direct the meaning more toward most people's interpretation, which is that it's a love song. |
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| M83 – Run Into Flowers Lyrics | 15 years ago |
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I agree 100% that it's "I wanna run into." The point is that it's not a complete sentence. It's just psychedelic. It's called "Run Into Flowers" and the only lyric is an incomplete sentence that just gives a sort of 'feeling.' |
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| The Rolling Stones – I Just Want To See His Face Lyrics | 15 years ago |
| These are the lyrics to the Stones' "I Got the Blues," which is a much more serious and sad song than the title would imply....but anyway, this track is a key part in what makes a record like Exile so cool. Sounds like it was recorded on some 1930s equipment or something. | |
| The Rolling Stones – Brown Sugar Lyrics | 15 years ago |
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It seems kinda silly to me that some of the people posting here are wondering if it's about slavery or at least a metaphor using slavery considering the first lines are "Gold coast slave ship bound for cotton fields, sold in a market down in New Orleans." Anyway, it's hard to know exactly what Mick is getting at. I'm willing to bet he just got a kick out of writing some bizarre lyrics, here. I mean, ok...we've got a slave ship arriving, slaves being sold, white guy having sex with black slaves, his wife being pissed about it but saying nothing, the "house boy" (black servant) who's also apparently banging somebody in the house, and then at the end, Mick in modern times saying something to the effect of "hey, I like black girls!" I think the point is that people have always liked black/white sex. Whether it was the slaver presumably forcing it, or the "house boy" who was banging the housewife voluntarily, or Mick in 1970 liking black women. The heroin stuff...I dunno about all that. If Mick said heroin had something to do with it, it's probably because he was thinking about things that are somewhat forbidden that people like, but have an ugly side (addiction/rape). |
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| The Rolling Stones – Country Honk Lyrics | 15 years ago |
| The horn beeping is priceless | |
| The Rolling Stones – Wild Horses Lyrics | 15 years ago |
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Keith came up with the title and chorus for the song...he wrote it about his son. Mick wrote the verses. One of the saddest and greatest songs of all time. Actually, this IS the greatest song of all time (tied for first place with at least a dozen others though, of course haha)... |
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| Ryan Adams – Crossed Out Name Lyrics | 15 years ago |
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Yep, it's "Manhattan." A bunch of other stuff is slightly off or missing here; I'll submit the right ones and see what happens. Beautiful song though...lonely as hell! |
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| My Morning Jacket – Librarian Lyrics | 15 years ago |
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Great song, beautiful recording....but the best part is the fact that he says "interweb!" Ok, maybe that's not the BEST part, but it's hilarious and awesome. |
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| Keane – Perfect Symmetry Lyrics | 15 years ago |
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There's a reason he wrote "pieces of pieces of rush hour buses" after the line about spineless dreamers. It's not about religion in general, it's about people who hide behind religion and use it to commit violence. This song is brilliant, perfect, totally appropriate for this day and age...really impressive. |
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| Ryan Adams – How Do You Keep Love Alive? Lyrics | 15 years ago |
| One of the saddest, most beautiful songs there is. This is the kind of thing that makes a strong case for Ryan Adams being the best songwriter of all time...or at least tied with the greats. | |
| Phoenix – Alphabetical Lyrics | 15 years ago |
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I love how strange these lyrics are given that it's such a beautiful and lightly sad song. It almost seems like some things were lost in translation considering they're French, but yet their other lyrics tend to be very coherent. The best part is when he says "everybody says I shouldn't mess with you no more"...so direct and a little heartbreaking after all that odd stuff about 'files being deleted' and 'being recruited by someone.' |
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| Weezer – The Angel and the One Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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Absolutely, stunningly, ridiculously awesome from start to finish. Personally, I love the "peace, shalom, peace, peace" bit, dunno why anyone wouldn't! This must be the most powerful song Weezer have ever recorded, hands down. |
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| Bob Dylan – Workingman's Blues #2 Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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Kyle and practicepreacher- good call. I'd say the reference to the Robert Johnson song is used here as an expression to show the house is small, whereas in Johnson's it's about the girl being tall. Same idea. Great song. I like these lyrics because it reads like when a person sits down just sort of generally inspired. There's a loose idea about workingman's struggles, but he just drifts in and out of reflections on random things that are important to him. |
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| Tom Petty – The Waiting Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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" "...I might have chased a couple women around All it ever got me was down Then there were those that made me feel good But never as good as I'm feeling right now Baby you're the only one that's ever known how To make me wanna live like I wanna live now" The way he delivers those lines is so sincere. If HE wasn't singing them, perhaps we wouldn't believe them?" I agree with this completely. This is one of the most rock n roll moments in history...the delivery of these lines is absolutely perfect. Stars must have aligned or something, haha. I was just listening to it and decided to come on here and read the lyrics specifically because of how much I love that verse! |
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| Tupac Shakur – Picture Me Rollin' Lyrics | 16 years ago |
| This is more than a "fuck you" to "the haters." I mean, yeah, that's his overall point, but read the first verse. He's talking about moral conflicts and what his lifestyle has done to him. It's not glorified. The only thing glorified is being free and trying to live legitimately. | |
| Bruce Springsteen – Magic Lyrics | 16 years ago |
| Isn't it "soon i'll slip them and be gone, chain me in a box in the river, and I'll rise singing this song?" | |
| Bruce Springsteen – Streets of Fire Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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When the night's quiet and you don't care anymore And your eyes are tired and there's someone at your door And you realize you wanna let go And the weak lies and cold walls you embrace eat at your insides And baby I ain't no liar I walk streets of fire Streets of fire Now I'm wandering, a loser down the track And I'm (?)lyin(?), but baby I can't go back Cos in the darkness I hear somebody call my name Yeah and you realize how they tricked you this time And it's all lies, but I'm stung out on the wire In these streets of fire Streets of fire I live now only with strangers I talk to only strangers I walk with angels that have no place And don't look me in my face, don't I'm coming home (?)first(?) Cos I'm strung out on the wire Across streets of fire Streets of fire A few words are pretty impossible to make out for sure, but I think I've got them right. I'm sure about all the ones that don't have the question marks near them, plus there's the entire extra verse that's left out of the one that was posted. |
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| Gram Parsons – Drug Store Truck Drivin' Man Lyrics | 16 years ago |
| About what puppyfat said...the idea that this song is about Ronald Reagan makes no sense. None of the language used even implies anything about him. Even if you think he was a racist, which he wasn't, it wouldn't make any sense for them to have not have written in one single reference to anything else about him. Using a DJ as a metaphor for a governor and talking about whether or not he likes your music doesn't exactly make sense. | |
| Dire Straits – Romeo And Juliet Lyrics | 16 years ago |
| Ah man, how can you miss the line "all I do is kiss you through the bars of a rhyme?" One of the best in the song. That's definitely the line because it follows the other references to expressing feelings through a song. "All I do is keep the beat"...also, I think it's "the band accompanies." But anyway, yeah, definitely "through the bars of a rhyme." | |
| The Replacements – Can't Hardly Wait Lyrics | 16 years ago |
| I think the line "I'll be home when I'm sleeping" just means he dreams of home. He's tired of being away doing the same old things and is anticipating relief from it. The preceding lines seem to describe a sort of crappy living situation, maybe hotels in towns away from home. | |
| Bruce Springsteen – The Rising Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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Dan105- I'd say you're overthinking this. "The Rising" is pretty clearly a literal story of a firefighter making a sacrifice in the face of great danger and evil. There's nothing "corny" or "embarrassing" about that. He CERTAINLY isn't singing about what the towers 'represented,' at least as far as American capitalism is concerned. He's using the story of the firefighter to tell the story of what he hopes for the country. He does this sort of thing repeatedly throughout the Rising and, in fact, throughout his career. He'll take a power story, give it a literal meaning, and make it a statement about something much more broad. Here he's talking about faith, redemption, sacrifice, hope, and forgiveness. On a song like "Born in the USA," for example, he tells the story of a Vietnam vet rather than stand on a soapbox and say "hey some of these policies are unfair and un-American." The real corniness would have come if he'd spent the album grandstanding. Instead, he tells powerful stories for every day people. It's rock and roll, it's brilliant, and it's not about just about the imagery and characters he uses, whether it be the story of a firefighter or Biblical allusions. As for what you're saying are references to the story about pushing the stone up the hill....well, maybe you're right. But if that was a conscious thing, it was because he wanted to illustrate the idea that people will do things that are required of them even when they can't say for sure it's going to be worth it. The firefighter goes into the building not knowing what lies ahead, unable to see. America unites and rebuilds in the face of adversity. People heal. |
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| Whiskeytown – Houses On The Hill Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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Just heard this song for the first time last night...blew me away. So I'm assuming the letters he found we written to the woman's house for the man who was away at war and she didn't know how to respond because he was possibly dead, so she just packed them away. My favorite part is the "there were stars in the sky, there were bunkers on the hill and caskets to fill where he would lie, shrouded in the red, white and blue with the stripes"...wow. It's really powerful how you don't know that the man broke her heart by dying until the end. |
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| Bruce Springsteen – Terry's Song Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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"he talks about all these great buildings and art pieces and how they can be rebuilt, but there is no way to bring his friend back." I don't think he's talking about bringing his friend back so much as how there won't ever be another like him. He seems to use the art pieces to represent the irreplaceable and the monuments to represent the so-called "wonders" that could always be rebuilt. "sometimes something comes along and you know it's for sure the only one; The Mona Lisa, the David, the Sistine Chapel, Jesus, Mary, and Joe; And when they built you, brother, they broke the mold" |
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| Whiskeytown – I Hope It Rains At My Funeral Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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Not sure if the lyrics were changed a little in the Whiskeytown version, but I doubt it! The only big mistake is that it should be: So let me say this, I never tried to hurt anybody Though I guess theres a few that I still couldnt look in the eye If Ive got one wish, I hope it rains at my funeral For once, Id like to be the only one dry Originally by Tom T. Hall by the way. |
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| Bruce Springsteen – I'll Work For Your Love Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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This might be the catchiest song Springsteen has ever written. My God, that melody.... I wish I could contribute some insight about the lyrics, but I'm a little lost. Obviously there's a comparison being drawn between love and salvation, but I'm not clear on the specific imagery, especially the part about "seven drops of blood." Anybody? |
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| The Band – The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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Couple things to add....I think The Band's version does say "the Robert E. Lee," so it's not the actual man being referred to. Also, the thing about tearing up railway tracks was mostly to interrupt Confederate supply lines, but it did damage the lives of every day people, too. I think somebody wrote in one of these posts that the Union continued to destroy and embarrass the South as the war was ending, but as far as I know that isn't true. I think the burning of towns and similar activities was pretty much limited to Sherman in South Carolina because he was angry at them for basically starting the war. Generally speaking, the South was not punished very harshly following the war, not even the Confederate Generals. I don't quite understand the chorus though. Who was singing? Is he in the North and hearing a celebration or were there cases of Southerners being relieved that the war was over? |
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| Bruce Springsteen – Jackson Cage Lyrics | 17 years ago |
| Yeah these are great lyrics. Basically it's just a comparison between a place that someone is stuck living in and a jail. That line about being judged and handed life is an awesome one, because it drives home that concept of a town like jail and also the notion that sometimes you can feel stuck because of forces outside your control, almost like a punishment for something you don't know you did. | |
| Bruce Springsteen – American Skin (41 Shots) Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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Pdm's interpretation is ridiculous to a point that makes me feel a little bad for him. This song has nothing to do with America exporting a violent pop culture. In fact, that isn't even remotely implied by the lyrics. Beyond the sorely lacking ability to understand art, PDM's idea that America somehow forces this violent culture on the rest of the world and needed to be put in check by Islamic fundamentalist terrorists, of all people, borders on insane. |
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| Bruce Springsteen – Lonesome Day Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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This song starts out sounding like it's about a girl, but by the end you see it's about America...each verse takes that a little further. Remember The Rising was strong on September 11 themes, and even though some are not directly referencing that day, this is track one to the record, so it's safe to say it's gonna set the framework for the rest. In the first he's implying that something made him realize what he/we take for granted. In the second he's talking about danger at home or in the country and the impulse to strike back. The third verse is a direct warning about waging war. GREAT hooks in this song, too. |
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| Whiskeytown – Jacksonville Skyline Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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I know it's easy to say "such and such might be the best such and such of all time" but seriously....this song must have one of the top 5 ending lines of all time. "Somewhere the night sky hangs like a blanket, shoot it with my cap gun just to make it seem like stars" It paints such a meaningful vision, and it almost seems out of place in the song. It's 100% perfect. |
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| Whiskeytown – Reasons to Lie Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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What's funny is that I was listening to this tonight and decided to come here just to see if anyone had commented on the "then it wouldn't be somebody else that you'd grow accustomed to" line...I'm glad somebody did. That line is so amazing. If anybody's reading this and wondering why, it's all about how it fits in the song. Listen to it immediately! So freakin lonely, such a simple sentiment that says so much about dissolving relationships. I think some of these lyrics might be a bit off though! |
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| Bob Dylan – My Back Pages Lyrics | 17 years ago |
| To the guy who said the story of the booing isn't true...you can find the video on YouTube....they interviewed people as they left the show and many of them did HATE it. It's so funny, they act like sheep who lost their shepherd or something. It wasn't the sound quality; people absolutely thought he sold out. Remember, the famous moment is when they heckler yells "JUDAS!" That's not about a PA system. | |
| Bruce Springsteen – Highway Patrolman Lyrics | 17 years ago |
| I love how at the end of the first couple choruses the line about a man turning his back on his family sound like him justifying his support for his screwup brother, but then at the end it has a double meaning...him refusing to take his brother's freedom, and his brother favoring his criminal life to his family. Sad as hell. | |
| Paul McCartney – The Back Seat of My Car Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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Amazing song! Perfectly put together, especially at the spot where he delivers that first "we believe that we can't be wrong." It's definitely an American-style love song...the lyrics and even the title caught me by surprise coming from Paul. A great idea and a great song. The line "we believe that we can't be wrong" doesn't sound like it would be aimed at John, though. It's a response to the earlier line "making love is wrong." But they're in the back seat and believe that they can't be wrong. Also, as far as communicating through songs...even John would later say that "How Do You Sleep" was more about himself than it was Paul. You can see this in the "so Sgt. Pepper took you by surprise?" line. Paul certainly wasn't surprised by Sgt. Pepper- it was his concept. No question that it was probably mostly written out of spite for Paul, though. |
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| The Hold Steady – First Night Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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"Don't bother talking to those sequencer and beats boys, when they kiss they spit white noise" No sh*t! That's an awesome line! I was wondering what he was saying there. That makes perfect sense. This is songwriting at its best. He's really giving his idol Springsteen a run for his money on this one. What really gets me is when the backing vocals come in on "white noise." It's easy to get on him for being nearly unable to write a song that deals with getting drunk or high, but he makes it mean so many different things. And hey, even Springsteen relies on references to the road and driving in half his songs. |
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| The Hold Steady – Southtown Girls Lyrics | 17 years ago |
| I've heard people outside CA say "the _____," although I can't give an example of where they're from. Friends of friends from outta town at the colleges around here will say "the 490" etc., bugs the crap outta me! But anyway, no, it's not exclusive to California. | |
| The Libertines – What A Waster Lyrics | 17 years ago |
| Hmm...I hear "you've pissed it all up the ward" not "wall." I think it's meant to be an internal rhyme with "the city's hard," maybe? | |
| Charles Manson – Cease to exist Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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These posts are hilarious. Let me attempt to interject with a little bit of simple fact: You're calling this man- who ordered the slaughter of a group of people (including a women...a pregnant woman, no less) he knew nothing about other than the fact that they lived in a house someone he didn't like used to live in, and whose guiding idea was that a racewar was going to happen soon that would result in the takeover of the country by blacks who he could tell to "pick cotton like good little n*ggers" and proceed rule over them- a genius. I can't even deliver a worthy punchline. The premise of the entire line of thinking half of you subscribe to is just too ridiculous, and I'm left to assume that you MUST be no older than 14 and in the midst of your "I think further outside the box and am more capable of understanding morality and justice to abstract concepts than anyone who as come before me" phases. Funny how you've got it all backward in the end. |
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