submissions

Squeeze – Piccadilly Lyrics	2 years ago
A date that starts to go wrong turns out all right. Such great details: the subway busker; the neon signs advertising sleazy entertainment; having to endure annoying, nattering people while standing in line; "We kissed to the sound of the silence that we'd hired" = paid younger sibling to buzz off. And "the invite of eyes" is such a nice phrase.

submissions

Randy Newman – Rednecks Lyrics	2 years ago
The song starts as a broad lampoon of an ignorant, bigoted Southerner, but by the end the tables are subtly turned to point the finger at Northern hypocrisy.

submissions

Randy Newman – God's Song (That's Why I Love Mankind) Lyrics	2 years ago
Newman at his best was diabolically clever. By singing from God’s perspective – and portraying him as having nothing but disregard and contempt for humanity – he sent a much stronger message than he ever could with a straight atheist broadside.

submissions

Squeeze – Vanity Fair Lyrics

2 years ago

If there was ever a male pop lyricist who wrote with more detail and empathy about female subjects, I’d love to know about him. A neglected housewife, a single mom navigating a new relationship, a woman spitting nails after a harsh breakup, and in this case a young lady slow to realize that her life is going nowhere. All rendered with remarkable precision and compassion for a man in his 20s. God bless Chris Difford.

submissions

Squeeze – Vanity Fair Lyrics

2 years ago

If there was ever a male pop lyricist who wrote with more detail and empathy about female subjects, I’d love to know about him. A neglected housewife, a single mom navigating a new relationship, a woman spitting nails after a harsh breakup, and in this case a young lady slow to realize that her life is going nowhere. All rendered with remarkable precision and compassion for a man in his 20s. God bless Chris Difford.

submissions

Nick Lowe – The Beast in Me Lyrics	2 years ago
As Lowe tells the story, he had one verse of this done and sang it for his then-father-in-law, Johnny Cash. Cash nodded and didn't say much, but then every time the two saw each other he would ask, "Nick, how's 'The Beast in Me' coming?" Lowe eventually understood what Cash was saying to him: "That's a great song, dummy. Finish it!"

submissions

Nick Lowe – Marie Provost Lyrics	2 years ago
A few creative liberties taken here. She died in January, not July; Lowe misspells her surname; and her dog didn’t nibble on her corpse, but only sent out an alert by barking. Lowe, as many of us did, took the tall tales in ‘Hollywood Babylon’ as gospel. Still, when the fact becomes legend, print (or record) the legend. Poor Marie.

submissions

The English Beat – Click Click Lyrics	2 years ago
There are lots of sad songs about suicide, but the singer encouraging the protagonist to go through with it is downright sinister.

submissions

Squeeze – Woman's World Lyrics	2 years ago
Do I infer from the singer's brief reference to himself during the bridge ("Out of her heart I catch a spark, and being smart...") that he's ruefully admitting he exploited this woman's loneliness for sex? That might explain why she comes home smashed.

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