The Ghost

By The Books

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By The Books Lyrics

This one is by the books/
Chapter for chapter/
Word for word/
This formula in disguise/
Now I'm shaking watching what they buy/
This one is so expected/
Line for line/
Move for move/
This falsity in disguise/
Now I'm shaking watching what they buy/
With stale words you kick it when it's down/
No substance, this is the death of sound/
One pioneer finds the new ground/
So copy up and break it down/
In your town they're dropping names like dropping bombs/
Hey product these chords the will not become plastic/
You front what you can't back up/
Repeat everything that you hear/
There is nothing left here/
You trust everything/
We've lost everything and ducking punches/
You cheer anything/
False idols they cheer it with you/
Sound for sound it's killing me without sympathy/
My ears are deaf as of now/
This one it has no use/
Line for line/
Move for move/
This uniform in disguise/
And now I'm shaking/
Conformist spies/
Time will come when you get what you deserve/

Submitted by

aafafi On Mar 04, 2002

Red Slippers, Red Wheels

A Letter From God

Banished and Loving It

...And Now for My Disappearing Act

A New Trick For The Old Dog

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Keep it true to the song

Fix what’s wrong, but don’t rewrite what the artist wrote. Stick to the official released version — album booklet, label site, verified lyric video, etc. If you’re guessing, pause and double-check.

Respect the structure

Songs have rhythm. Pages do too. Leave line breaks where they belong. Don’t smash things together or add extra empty space just for looks.

Punctuation counts (but vibe-editing doesn’t)

Correct typos? Yes. Re-punctuating a whole verse because it ‘looks better’? Probably not. Keep capitalization and punctuation close to the official source.

Don’t mix versions

If you’re editing the explicit version, keep it explicit. If it’s the clean version, keep it clean. No mashups.

Let the lyrics be lyrics

This isn’t the place for interpretations, memories, stories, or trivia — that’s what comments are for. Keep metadata, translations, and bracketed stage directions out unless they’re officially part of the song.

Edit lightly

If two lines are wrong… fix the two lines. No need to bulldoze the whole page. Think ‘surgical,’ not ‘remix.’

When in doubt, ask the crowd

Not sure what they’re singing in that fuzzy bridge? Drop a question in the comments and let the music nerds swarm. Someone always knows.

aafafi

Submitter

2002-03-04 20:20:53

2 Meanings

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Cover art for By The Books lyrics by Ghost, The

by flynnordie

24y ago

i love this song. i especially love th part when he starts screaming this part. Hey product these chords the will not become plastic/ You front what you can't back up/ Repeat everything that you hear/ its fucken rad.

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by phirewire

24y ago

this is a great song and it has total relevance to the music world today. this song is about kids these days getting into certain kinds of music just because thats whats "in" at the time. that came strait from Brian so thats what its about

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