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Ben Elliot
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3/24/2008 12:57:26 PM
---- Updated 3/24/2008 1:04:02 PM
What are the best lyrics you've ever written?
Everyone has different opinions what good lyrics are. Some like them simple and obvious, some like them cryptic and thought provoking. Some are inspiring, some you feel you can really relate to, and some mean nothing at all. I know what does it for me, but writing them myself is another story.
In this topic Id like to find out what you consider you best lyrics to be and why. I understand that some people may not want to participate in this topic as their lyrics are their business, but anyone who is up for sharing, please do.
Ill start...
And You Are? - This song is about not fading into the background, having your say and make sure people pay attention. Im sure its a confidence thing but people always talk over me and disregard what I have to say, regardless of how confidently I put my point across. On a larger scale its about making the most of life, you only get one crack at it, so make sure you make the most of it. If you want it, then get it, dont let anyone else undermine what you have to give.
Sitting in a darkened room, with alcahol in tow,
Making conversation with a man that I don't know.
He said 'I could talk for hours now'
This impromtu conversation's slowly getting out of hand.
He said 'Oh my god, You'll love this..'
Then followed with an anecdote with an explicit twist.
I said 'God, no stop please. Let me stop you there. Lets move subject matter to the people sitting here'
Ask us who we are, and I'll say 'Don't you people know?'
Everybody talks about us, even on the radio.
He meets all kinds of friends as he goes sailing from the coast to other lands,
He knows hes well respected as he's shaking all their hands.
The time has come for moving on, I blurt out as he starts another story of the sea.
You havn't spent a single moment ask about me
'Apologies my friend' he says, 'I must be quite a bore'
Then started telling tales about a friend whos based in law,
I said 'You don't even care to humour me'
I picked up my belongings and was straight out of the door.
Ask us who we are, and I'll say 'Don't you people know?'
Everybody talks about us, even on the radio.
Oh, well sit tight,
There's story still to come.
Turning round the corner watching people in the bars having fun.
They make me feel like I can't be the person that I really am.
'Cos they're all at the party, everybody's living it up,
And I don't care to show my face,
'Cos I've been feeling low.
I don't like the feeling,
It wipes the smile right off of my face and I know,
Its time to make a drastic change.
Ask us who we are, and I'll say 'Don't you people know?'
Everybody talks about us, even on the radio.
Dearly Beloved - The lyrics in this song are probably the most straight forward I have written, I usually like to encode my lyrics but the subject of this one was too intense to hide behind anything. Im sure you can work it out for yourself, but its about when me and my long term girlfriend split up for a short while.
Wishing away, you will not say
'Maybe the time has come for moving on'
I can't believe this dream could ever end
Wishing away, you will not say
'Baby we're strangers now I cant allow
This strained and ugly great facade 'cos..
All my friends say 'The writing's on the wall'
They don't realise, the graded hearts are on their way to fall
Just close your eyes, what do you see?
Think of those memories of times gone by,
Thats why I find it hard
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Ben Elliot
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3/24/2008 1:08:18 PM
Theyre awesome. Witty and straight to the point. I dont thing anyone will misunderstand what inspired this one.
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Steve Ison
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3/24/2008 4:00:09 PM
Yeh,those are cool lyrics Ben..thanks for sharing..
Alot of my lyrics are so tied up with the tune its very difficult to seperate them as just lyrics..There's definitely certain LINES i really love from different songs that have a real evocative quality or alot of meaning to me..
'Down the street i can see her running-as the cruising cars start to slow.
How they'd all love to take her someplace-but they've got nowhere new to go..'
'The poet dreams of long forgotten places,
walking thru deserted streets the tourist never faces'
'Tommorows obvious comes from what is weird today'
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JOHN FRY
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3/24/2008 4:57:28 PM
I was not suicidal when I wrote this (trust me) I was picturing a western movie in my head at the time.
tight went the knot as he swung by the rope. chances of life lay not a hope. the ground swirled beneath him, as the clouds moved above. a torn picture in his
pocket of someone he loved. ( I know it's sad, sorry)
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Bat Lenny
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3/24/2008 6:27:56 PM
Hi Ben and Larree and Steve and John -
Those are all great examples of lyric writing, showing some really different styles. I tend to lean towards thought provoking words. I tend to write about anxiety and fear, because I'm a nervous wreck. I also like to glorify the mundane, like about how many times a fly's wings flap per second. Here are the lyrics I wrote for There Go I, - which just so happens to be our nominated song!
There Go I
I shot an arrow into the sky. I know not where it will land
Far away or nearby? By my feet, or in my eye?
The road is narrow, with dangerous curves
I keep my hands on the wheel, and I keep my nerve ...And try not to swerve
But the sun's in the sky
and the wings on a fly flap 200 time a second
By the grace of God there go I
And the plum's in the pie
and the lids on my eyes flap 12 times a minute
By the grace of God there go I There go I There go I
Well my glass is half empty. Or is it half full?
Either way, I enjoyed half a glass
And half remains still ...As long as I don't spill
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LyinDan
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3/24/2008 6:38:25 PM
"Girl, you better boil it, I dipped your toothbrush in the toilet"
"Eat my pickle, til it just makes you sickle."
So hard to decide my best work.
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SILVERWOODSTUDIO
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3/24/2008 8:05:12 PM
just these 2 lines-------------------
from "Strange Times"
Strange times, white is turning back---
The Devil goes to church, with guards to watch his back----
about (You know who!)
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3/24/2008 8:42:19 PM
These aren't the best lyrics, impossible to decide that... they are good for this song and what I was trying to put across however. Just something someone said that sparked some poetry from me that turned into a song. There are never enought ways to describe love this is just another one. The song is called Nature Becomes you and it's actually my favourite musically also at the moment.
CH.
Nature becomes you, changing yet constant
Power and providence at your fingertips
Green is my valley, fertile and beautiful
touched by the promise of your lips
V1
Oh you, you water my deserts
and you, you make my forests grow
you bring life to my seeds of love
and you make my emotional rivers flow
You pour rain on my parched dry earth
Make the flowers bloom on my bare plateau
You warm the love that I'd planted deep
and forgotten about long ago
V2
Oh you will be my oasis
I will bear the fruit of your verdant trees
You make my world rich and flourishing
And you carry new life in your warm soft breeze
You sprinkle your magic dust
and you nourish all of my dying dreams
You watch and wait with me
You're the gold in my bounteous harvest - it seems
Jillianne Wright 2008
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the Rivergods
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3/24/2008 9:02:18 PM
OK, I'll share. though I haven't recorded this, I've sort of worked it out fingerpicking acoustic guitar in David Crosby's "Guinnevere" tuning. The images that inspired the lyric were the cover of a psychology book given me one Christmas by a gal I don't see any more. At the same time, I was wondering what was the significance of Peter Pan's shadow. The two names Kaffee and Eenie I took from caffieine (and still sounds better than Wendy and Peter):
CRACK IN THE SKY EBDGAD
Kaffee drew Eenie a crack in the sky
Crooked and blue with her finger
Singing this side is me, that side is you
And the space in between where you linger
Is closing around you, robbing the light from your eyes
A neon red dragonfly flirts with her knee
Paying no mind she continued
There’s a little white bird in a bruise purple cloud
Living without and within you
Your spring is eternal but summer is passing you by
Would you care for a fresh cup of coffee
With a slice of homemade apple pie?
Do you remember
How to fly?
Kaffe, you know I’m a man of few words
Most of them simple, it’s true
The vision you share with me speaks to my heart
But I do not share your point of view
We stand either side of a moonbeam that leads to the garden
And I’m waiting just outside your window
And I watch as you patiently bind
An impulse, a boy and his shadow
With a thimble, a needle and twine
Tell me how does one sever the silver thread
Without leaving a shadow behind?
Do you remember
How to fly?
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srm
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3/25/2008 4:04:59 AM
Here's a couple of my favourite verses, from "Family Values":
As Tony stumbles through the doorway,
Maria asks him where he's been.
And when the words won't come he hits her-
As little Johnny drinks it in.
A sponge to soak the hatred in.
When Tony falls into a stupor,
Maria cracks to ease the pain.
And Johnny sits alone between them.
The "Family Unit" whole, again.
And so the darkness closes in.
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Pulse Eternal
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3/25/2008 4:34:02 AM
Hey guys,
What a great topic! There's some really cool lyrics here. Larree, Big Oil is awesome!
I haven't written my best lyrics yet but my second best lyrics came to me in a dream.
Here's the lyrics to my song 'Blue' and the notes on their inspiration....
This song literally came to me in a dream. I woke up several times writing down the lyrics in my head for a new verse each time. When I awoke fully, I expected what I had written to be gibberish but I was pleasantly surprised by the coherency of it all!! I also still had the music clearly in my head and managed to transcribe it from the lucid, astral world of my dream to my multitrack intact!
SuperPuss - Blue
Song lyrics
Drifting into the night,
a familiar sight,
faces that I feel I know.
My angel and guide,
are there by my side,
Aglow.
They speak of a place,
a wide open space,
somewhere they know I have been.
I recall the plan,
of a luminous land,
I've seen.
Gathered on the edge,
of a mountain ledge,
a scene from a memory of a dream.
Fading away,
at the end of the day,
my thoughts give way to a theme.
Here another way,
as a shadow fades to grey,
a distant sound echoes through the sky.
Shifting in time,
feeling sublime,
A birdsong invites me to fly.
Blue
Blue
Blue
Drifting into the night,
a familiar sight,
faces that I feel I know.
My angel and guide,
are there by my side,
Aglow.
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Hop On Pop
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3/25/2008 5:37:29 AM
I don't know.
But my drummer (who has his MFA in Literature from University Of Chicago) seems to think that these are pretty swell:
(Pease note that I have a fondness for a certain lyrical device that you have to hear to appreciate: the last word of one verse is also the first word of the next verse. I use that in "Ashes On the Water", and probably a couple other tunes, too.)
1.
I looked at myself
With my own eyes
And said, "You'd better do something"
I took my life
In my own hands
And felt it's weight
And then I threw it as far as (I could)
(I could) feel my hot breath on my neck
And so I set that all aside
I got shook down
When I looked around
I found that I lost my life
2.
I had to get it back
But didn't know
Where to start looking
So I wandered aimlessly
Saw some old friends
But they didn't know me
So I broke down
Sat on the ground
And I heard something snap
So I got up
And sure enough
It was broken, but I got it back
I got it back
3.
Now I watch it twice as hard
In doing that
I think I'm loosing
What I've been dedicated to
And cannot loose
Because I'll never find it (again)
(Again) I'm lost
And I know this time
I'll never get it back
It was held too tight
With all my might
And now it's more than cracked
But I got it back
(reprise)
I looked at myself
With my own eyes
And said, "You'd better do something"
I took my life
In my own hands
And felt it's weight
And then I threw it as far as I could
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Susan Raven
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3/25/2008 6:52:01 AM
A most enjoyable thread, we are a talented bunch here at IAC!
Not sure if this is my "best" set of lyrics, but I really like this song. It's from my newest album "Ravensong" and is called "I Know What It Is"
Verse 1) Standing on the corner looking back on my old home I think of all I've done
In the one room facing west I made my plans with the course of the setting sun
Refrain 1) And I have cause to be happy this day
And I have cause to be happy this way
Bridge 1) Because my fallen angel and my wise girl met
They made a vow of friendship and to leave regret
Behind the old wooden doors on the chapel floor, and there’ll be no more
I am the distance I have flown, carved in flesh and bone...
Chorus 1) And I know what it is to cry
I know what it is to lose a dream and watch it fly away
On the wind, but new dreams are born from tears cried alone
Verse 2) Lying still beneath the copper leaves I watch the sun rays dance in the high summer heat
And all the ammunition, retribution and revenge just look like a sad defeat
Refrain 2) 'cos I have cause to be happy this day
And I have cause to be happy this way
Bridge 2) Because my White Horse Rider came with words of Light
And with his friend the piper they played through the night
A melody of the four winds blew and I sang too, it was all for you
I am the distance I have flown, carved in words and tone...
Chorus 2) And I know what it is to cry
I know what it is to lose a dream and watch it fly away
On the wind, but new dreams are born from tears cried alone
Verse 3) Standing tall upon the wrought work of the Earth I feel the wind in the north east blow
And you say “Come away my love, come away my love, come away and see the gateway to the universe again...”
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Hugh Hamilton
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3/25/2008 8:14:14 AM
Wow - this thread could take a whole day to read and consider properly...
Momentary digression - my favorite Ison lyrics - "I Know A Good Thing" - and the lyrics and the melody are intertwined like lusty lovers, which is in fact the point - best line in the song, perhaps, though difficult for me to judge -
"So go and find the river,
Near the tide;
And let it take these tears we've
Cried..."
I have a few songs I consider to be equally poignant, and which I am astonished I was able to muster. Perhaps the two top ones are:
"Glen Hill" - the story of my childhood home, slightly modified for Art's Sake. This took 40 years to simmer and brew, but was delivered in whole cloth one morning when it finally bubbled over...(Caution: mixed metaphor zone!)
"Men of Religion" - succinctly conveys my frustration with liars, molesters and thieves of all sorts (whether religious or not, in fact)
In another couple of days this blog could take an entire WEEK to read properly!
:)
H
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Jo Ellen
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3/25/2008 10:02:30 AM
I don't know if they are the best I've ever written (very subjective), but they are my favorite. Here is an excerpt from one of the first songs I wrote entitled, "The Groom" (I was 1995 when I wrote...)
VS. 1
A rush of warmth
Deeper than the light of day
Swept across my soul
When I knelt to pray
I heard His gentle voice
Speak my name
A glow lit my cheek
Every time He came
I gazed into the eyes
Of the Master of all Time
I took His Precious hands
My heart skipped in surprise
My Groom, here am I
Chorus:
He is the reason to be
All that I am
He is the reason I strive
To do the best that I can
The love that I feel
Has doubled over again
He died for me
So I live for Him
*Lyrics Copyright Jo Ellen Tarbox
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Steve Ison
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3/25/2008 10:10:35 AM
Thanks Hugh..I'm very flattered:)
I've actually changed that line when i sing it now to 'FREE the tide' as i thought it was better...
But the words were sung exactly as they are recorded when i put the original idea down..I didn't change a word-and wasn't consciously even trying to fashion a lyric at the time..
I wish that happened more often!
But yeh,the point you make about the lyric and melody blending as one is always a main thing i'm aiming for too-Tho usually that takes alot more work..
First and foremost for me is its gotta sound natural-and the best lyrics in the world are useless if they sound clumbsy n crowbarred onto the music..
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3/25/2008 10:21:41 AM
I wouldn't classify any as the best I've written, would probably depend on the mood I'm in. Here's some that I wrote about love for a song called The Ride but my friend Carol Lowery put a meaning on them related to indie music which I thought was cool.
We're leaving
We've worn out our own welcome
We can't stay here any longer
This place in time has seen its better days
and no, it's not a phase
For once we're really movin' on
I know our money won't last long
but hey our youth is almost gone
so we will get there
I could do
the same as Admiral Byrd did
take a North Pole expedition
and find a passage to the hollow earth
but what would that be worth
if our own sun would not be shining ?
If our lives aren't intertwining
this old raft will not be winding down the river
It does get lonely
sometimes when you are riding
out in the middle of nowhere
but we will have each other all the time
We'll go together
towards our destination
We're leaving
Our lifeboat's on the water
Time has come to cut us loose now
It's best we leave the anchor on the dock
The money's in my sock
We have no worries for the moment
I don't know if it's an omen
but the rapids have been foamin' since we boarded
We might get lucky
and stay forever searching
I doubt we'll ever accept it
but we found all we needed long ago
that is, each other
The ride, it hardly mattered
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Hugh Hamilton
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3/25/2008 10:35:07 AM
It's fun seeing everybody's take on their own work - nice thread, Ben...
Wanted to clarify my use of "equally poignant" above - I meant mine are equal with each other, but I rank Steve I's tune slightly higher...well, maybe not slightly...lol.
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Magnetfisch
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3/25/2008 11:21:58 AM
in our band, Seline writes all the lyrics, but for your thread, Ben, I will take the enigmatic, personal lyrics from "China":
China
I dreamt of China last night
I laid on a field, wide plain
and felt the earth
she throbbed deep down in the core
I ran in circles last night
got smaller and smaller, tight, cramped
and felt the earth
she throbbed on the surface and she tore
I stood in the middle last night
erupted, lifted up high, endlessly
and felt the earth
she throbbed right around me more and more
Underneath, invisible
big as the nameless
passionate, intimate
rock on!
Magnetfisch
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Hop On Pop
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3/25/2008 11:41:37 AM
Time, itself, whispers by
But drags us along
Howling in protest
Creating a beautiful cacophony
Whose echoes we call “life”
-Todd Leiter-Weintraub
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The Man With No Band
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3/25/2008 2:49:58 PM
My what a bunch of very good lyricist we have assembled here ... I enjoyed reading these lines very much ! ...
I would like to think my best lyrics are yet to come
I write nearly every day and it always seems, that for me, no matter what I write one line usually comes from nowhere and stands above the rest ...
From "Thinkin' 'bout You" ... I awoke this mornin'... sometime after noon
From "Get Through This" ... Look way down deep in your eyes, where everything meaningful lyes, undisguised and naked
From "Rock in My Pocket" ... Cuz nothin' worthwhile can be boughten ... and it ain't really real, if it ain't free
From "False Bottoms" ... and where is low as low as low can be
From "Her Babies" ... and when she gets up in the middle of the night... to get high, well I'll understand
From "Whiskey Symphony" ... and then he tipped his hat, grabbed the bottle of Jack and headed up on stage
From "Whispers of an Angel" ... I thought I heard, the whispers of an angel, So I raised my head just long enough to see if I was dead
From "She's in the Rain" ... and everything that was not there was so beautiful
From "Unwritten Laws" ... together they set out on a journey ... to find a place of refuge for their Love
From "Don't Mind Me" ... I won't leave behind a single trace of evidence ... I have no fingerprints or no DNA
From "When You Were Younger" ... and every time I saw a falling star ... I wished that she loved me like she did in my dreams
From "Winches Of Oz" ...
Now I know how the tin man felt, when Dorothy Gail awakened his heart ... only to leave him standing alone, with the pain of having it ripped apart
From "Hey Girl" ... Hey girl, why don't you -n- me just dissapear, hey girl things are gettin way to crazy round here
From "Old Vet" ...
one said she found somethin' better, one said I wasn't any good at all, one she didn't say anything, she just drove off in my shiny brand new car ... that's how I got all these scars
From "Explainin'" ...
I've tried drinkin' and drugs but nothin's driven her outta my system ...
well I guess that explains why God gave us guitars and the Blues
From "Flicker" ...
and as the soft light slowly, begins to fill your room ...
lay back and relax now baby ...
and let the shadows on the wall dance for you
From "My Sweet Verity" ...
I'm still in need of a little direction
but at least everything is no longer headed south
From "Everybody's Got a Song" ...
It made me feel better than who I am
but I'll be damned if I can recall the name
From "When The Last Beatle is Gone" ...
The 8th of December ... 1980 of our Lord
The world changed forever ... three left from Abbey road
November 29th ... the year 2001
We lost another piece ... of our rubber soul
and I have many more ... this last one I have posted before and is the only one that I feel is my best work from beginning to end...
The Loneliest Man In The Universe
To whom shall I speak today ... My most intimate friend's gone away
I'm feelin' so helpless and I'm lost and I'm sad
Nothin' makes any sense and I'm hurt and I'm mad
I've just become the loneliest man .... In the universe
Oh I miss ya so much ..... Cindy Dianne
My words have no destination ... Silently drifting unheard proclamations
With no one to hear about my hopes and my dreams
Or share in a discussion about life's little things
This emptiness is more than I can stand ... and it's getting worse
Oh I miss ya so much ..... Cindy Dianne
Who's gonna represent the other side
Tell me when I'm wrong agree with me when I'm right
Hold my hand and walk with me in the rain
Celebrate my triumphs, gently ease my pains
You were the best friend that I'll ever have ... on this earth
Oh I miss ya so much ..... Cindy Dianne
Well if you were only here today
I know just exactly what you'd say
Boy quit your whinin' you'll be O.K.
Time will heal the grief makin' you feel this way
Even the blues will get ol
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Chris Hance
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3/25/2008 3:48:29 PM
OK, someone once said this was a good song;
The City I Lived.
The company man
the company man
was easily impressed
by figures and statistics
the company man
Express yourself,
not what you saw on
television last night
Before educating others
we have to learn ourselves
Exploration of our latent abilities
Spiritual depths from the times before machines
Currency was easy
no economic crisis waiting to explode
The company man
was left wing in his ideals
but he was right wing in his policies
controlling the political influence of youth
through clever marketing of pop culture
Every one of us is the same nowadays
none of us looks to the sun
preferring instead to scrape the seeds from the earth
in pursuit of wealth to bleed out the guts of the one.
Do you often tell yourself you're not insane
sane is your only perception of sanity
Believe all of the tales of the television
You will get schizophrenia at the very least
In the city I lived jazz was banned
the legacy of contemporary society
everyone read exactly the some book
no-one was allowed to think
the artists were satans
persecuted into using the same ink
stimulants were illegal
except caffiene tobacco and drink
This is the way of the modern world
this is the way to think
Turn up all the power
and into the ocean we sink........................
The City I Lived, Clik 2 Hear
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Andy Broad
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3/25/2008 4:44:11 PM
I still quite the first verse of my song Pretty Nose
though I don't like the title! Maybe I need to think of a better one..
From the tip of your pretty nose,
down to your painted toes.
I adored you
From the tip of your pretty nose,
down to your painted toes.
I adored you
But when you opened your heart to sing,
I felt that I could see within.
That's when I loved you.
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the kozy king
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3/25/2008 11:03:03 PM
I've resisted posting to this blog for long enough!
Although my last song was not so well-received I am extremely proud of the lyrics because of Rob's (silverwood) review which simply invites you to:
"Close your eyes and imagine".
Thanks Rob! Exactly what I had in mind when I chose not to write a melody.
http://iacmusic.com/songs.aspx?SongID=56416&ArtistID=63558
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Jeff Allen Myers
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3/26/2008 2:55:38 AM
This is a hard question,...I would say my song "Hide". It's an introspective song that relates how I was reluctant to trust another person after being betrayed and hurt in the past. It is basically a Love song to my wife, and how I ultimately gave my heart to her...
Here is a line...
"I've been building walls... awake but sleeping, alive not breathing"
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