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Bob Elliott
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4/3/2016 11:22:33 AM
Perfect Lyrics
The thing about perfect lyrics is they render you unable to say exactly why they are perfect. You can talk about them: rhyme, rhythm, vowel sound etc. ,and it will all be part of the reason, but other lyrics not so perfect will share some of those qualities. The perfect lyrics will be better, and it will be impossible to say just why.
These are perfect:
Night and day, you are the one
Only you 'neath the moon or under the sun
Whether near to me or far
It's no matter, darling, where you are
I think of you day and night
Night and day, why is it so
That this longin' for you follows wherever I go ?
In the roarin' traffic's boom
In the silence of my lonely room
I think of you day and night
Night and day, under the hide of me
There's an oh, such a hungry yearnin' burnin' inside of me
And its torment won't be through
Till you let me spend my life makin' love to you
Day and night, night and day
I love lyrics. I'm looking in the creative soul to make mine better.
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Father Time
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4/3/2016 11:31:56 AM
Here's some of mine I'm proud of.
When the Bubble Bursts
Oh I know you've come so far
and you like it where you are
Yeah you've found your own respective calling
and you know you're good in your neighborhood
but a time is gonna come
in your quiet world when some heartbeat's
gonna start to pound
when the space around you
starts closin in
and the air gets thin
But I don't wanna be there
I don't wanna be there
I don't wanna be there when the bubble bursts, when the bubble bursts
I don't wanna be there
I don't wanna be there
I don't wanna be there when the bubble bursts
Oh you never missed a class
never let a moment pass
Yeah by now you've gone thru all the motions
and you've paid your dues, but I've got bad news
Seems you've got a bridge to cross
and this time it's gonna cost too much
as you realize they false advertise
in the magazine where you found your dream
and I don't wanna be there
I don't wanna be there
I don't wanna be there when the bubble bursts, when the bubble bursts
I don't wanna be there
I don't wanna be there
I don't wanna be there when the bubble bursts
This whole scenario, it sounds so familiar to me
but I know you can only find out for yourself
and that'll be such a sad sight to see
Oh you think I'll get a buzz
sayin' I told you so about the way it was
but I myself never did recover
from the times I saw when I hit the wall
Wish I knew how to get through
I would shout all night but you can't hear
past the books you've read
printed in your head
past some TV show
all the things you know
Oh, I don't wanna be there
I don't wanna be there
I don't wanna be there when the bubble bursts, when the bubble bursts
I don't wanna be there
I don't wanna be there
I don't wanna be there when the bubble bursts
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4/3/2016 11:47:37 AM
---- Updated 4/3/2016 10:42:28 PM
I'm glad you appreciate Cole Porter songs Bob, Some of his that are faves for me are "Anything Goes" "Let's do it" "You do something to me" "I've got you under my skin" Oh there are far too many to mention here, all perfect and precise... I think I know all the words to those old songs you hear in old films of the 1930s, 40s and 50s.... not so much after that. I pay a lot of attention to my lyric writing.
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The Man With No Band
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4/3/2016 12:53:46 PM
I love words and words are best when they become lyrics ! ... enjoyed reading those above ... Sometimes they just roll off the tongue, but over the last couple years I've enjoyed working on mine until they fit well, (or at least seem to in my mind) ... it's an art form I haven't mastered yet and it's tough to know what's over-done or under-done to precisely get the meaning to the masses so they "feel" it, yet not insult their intelligence ... :)
Ado Due to Lou's Adieu ...
Rainbows and Constellations
Particles of Poetry
Perpetual Emotions
Tamper with the Timbre of my Vertebrae
Synasthetic Commotion
Beautiful Guest, I bow to thee
I felt your Reverb oe'r the Radio
It was a Perfect Day
So I dropped out of school
& I went searchin' for cool
I found a spike and a spoon
shot my way to the moon
Where I swear I heard the colored girls go ...
do do do do do do do do ... do do do do do
do do do do do do do do ... do do do do do
do do do do do do do do ... do do do do do
do do do do do do do do ... do do do do do
Flood Lamps and Augmentation
Exploding Plastic at the Factory
Conceptual Propulsions
Fiddled with the Faddle deep inside my Brain
Symbiotic Corrosion
Life needs Death, to complete the Thing
I see your Reverb oe'r the Radio
It is a Perfect Day
to hear the colored girls go...
do do do do do do do do ... do do do do do
do do do do do do do do ... do do do do do
do do do do do do do do ... do do do do do
do do do do do do do do ... do do do do do
--- SaM CaT
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Hop On Pop
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4/3/2016 3:44:22 PM
Perfect lyrics is a good topic, Bob. There are probably a few that I can think of.
This one might be a bit cliché to mention, but I think that the reason that it is so is because this song IS so perfect. Particularly the lyrics:
Now I've heard there was a secret chord
That David played, and it pleased the Lord
But you don't really care for music, do you?
It goes like this
The fourth, the fifth
The minor fall, the major lift
The baffled king composing Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Your faith was strong but you needed proof
You saw her bathing on the roof
Her beauty and the moonlight overthrew you
She tied you to a kitchen chair
She broke your throne, and she cut your hair
And from your lips she drew the Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah
You say I took the name in vain
I don't even know the name
But if I did, well really, what's it to you?
There's a blaze of light
In every word
It doesn't matter which you heard
The holy or the broken Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah
I did my best, it wasn't much
I couldn't feel, so I tried to touch
I've told the truth, I didn't come to fool you
And even though it all went wrong
I'll stand before the Lord of Song
With nothing on my tongue but Hallelujah
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Hop On Pop
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4/3/2016 4:32:30 PM
More perfection.
This one is from Nick Cave, who wrote what is probably the most-perfect love song that I have ever heard:
It's up in the morning and on the downs
Little white clouds like gambolling lambs
And I am breathless over you
And the red-breasted robin beats his wings
His throat it trembles when he sings
For he is helpless before you
The happy hooded bluebells bow
And bend their heads all a-down
Heavied by the early morning dew
At the whispering stream, at the bubbling brook
The fishes leap up to take a look
For they are breathless over you
Still your hands
And still your heart
For still your face comes shining through
And all the morning glows anew
Still your mind
Still your soul
For still, the fare of love is true
And I am breathless without you
The wind circles among the trees
And it bangs about the new-made leaves
For it is breathless without you
The fox chases the rabbit round
The rabbit hides beneath the ground
For he is defenceless without you
The sky of daytime dies away
And all the earthly things they stop to play
For we are all breathless without you
I listen to my juddering bones
The blood in my veins and the wind in my lungs
And I am breathless without you
Still your hands
And still your heart
For still your face comes shining through
And all the morning glows anew
Still your soul
Still your mind
Still, the fire of love is true
And I am breathless without you
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Hop On Pop
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4/3/2016 4:39:39 PM
And, if I didn't mention this one, I would be a fool. Written by Smokey Robinson, who seemed to be channeling Cole Porter, the way that these words flow.
And, realized and performed to perfection by The Temptations who, rightfully, made it a huge hit:
You got a smile so bright
You know you could have been a candle
I'm holding you so tight
You know you could have been a handle
The way you swept me off my feet
You know you could've been a broom
The way you smell so sweet
You know you could've been some perfume
Well you could've been anything that you wanted to
And I can tell
The way you do the things you do, ah baby (the way you do the thing you do, the way you do the things you do)
As pretty as you are
You know you could've been a flower
If good looks were minutes
You know that you could be an hour
The way you stole my heart
You know you could have been a crook
And baby your so smart
You know you could have been a school book
Well you could've been anything that you wanted to
And I can tell
The way you do the things you do, ah baby (the way you do the thing you do, the way you do the things you do)
You make my life so rich
You know you could've been some money
And baby you're so sweet
You know you could have been some honey
Well you could've been anything that you wanted to
And I can tell
The way you do the things you do
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Two Silo Complex
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4/3/2016 4:50:52 PM
Hop on pop the smokey robinson reference was perfect. Well done.
Ken
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Richard Scotti
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4/3/2016 7:01:15 PM
Rogers and Hart came up with some very unique and touching lyrics with this gem:
My Funny Valentine
My funny valentine
Sweet comic valentine
You make me smile with my heart
Your looks are laughable
Un-photographable
Yet, you're my favorite work of art
Is your figure less than Greek?
Is your mouth a little weak?
When you open it to speak
Are you smart?
But don't change a hair for me
Not if you care for me
Stay little valentine, stay
Each day is Valentines Day
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Hop On Pop
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4/3/2016 7:07:47 PM
Speaking of Rogers & Hart... how about a great tune from South Pacific?
Love these lyrics (despite some of the stilted dialect, these are perfect):
Happy talk, keep talkin happy talk
Talk about thing you like to do
You got to have a dream...
If you don't have a dream..
How you gonna have a dream come true?
Talk about the moon..
Floating in the sky
Lookin like a lilly on a lake
Talk about a bird
Learning how to fly
Makin all the music he can make
Happy talk, keep talkin happy talk
Talk about thing you like to do
You got to have a dream...
If you don't have a dream..
How you gonna have a dream come true?
Talk about the stars
Looking like a toy
Peaking through the branches of a tree
Talk about the girl
Talk about the guy
Counting all the ripple on the sea
Happy talk, keep talkin happy talk
Talk about thing you like to do
You got to have a dream...
If you don't have a dream..
How you gonna have a dream come true?
Talk about a boy
Saying to a girl
"golly bibby im a lucky cuss"
Talk about a girl
Saying to the boy
"you and me is likey to be US!"
Happy talk, keep talkin happy talk
Talk about thing you like to do
You got to have a dream...
If you don't have a dream..
How you gonna have a dream come true?
If you don't talk happy
And you never have a dream
Then you'll never have a dream come true
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Bob Elliott
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4/3/2016 8:59:32 PM
Yes, My Funny Valentine has perfect lyrics, and Hallelujah.
The Beatles were very good.
Big fan of Dylan.
Night and Day, the song I posted above, fascinates me. Not a wasted move in there.
I like how each verse starts with " night and day" and ends with "day and night."
I like how it's about so little, a thing that means so much. Feels good rolling off your tongue if you know the tune ( probably everyone does?).
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Bob Elliott
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4/3/2016 9:08:17 PM
Neil Young and McCartney are masters of missing information. I love a thing like She Came inThrough the Bathroom Window or Out on the Weekend.
I think the vital quality of great lyrics is no wasted moves.
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Father Time
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4/3/2016 11:59:32 PM
Elvis Costello is a pretty great lyricist.
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Hop On Pop
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4/4/2016 4:50:23 AM
"I think the vital quality of great lyrics is no wasted moves."
An excellent observation. And one with which I concur, wholeheartedly.
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Bob Elliott
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4/4/2016 3:04:42 PM
Yeah, when I read those "Night and Day" lyrics it is kind of inevitable like going down a slide. Each verse is like down the slide-you just slide through them so naturally with eas from the top of the verse and out the bottom: day and night. That's the quality I'm after.
Heavyweight thoughts are of little interest to me compared to that undefinable
quality of slipping through your mind with such rightness. I think that quality says things to our souls which have way deeper meaning than our 'answers' we might try to slip the listener.
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Hop On Pop
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4/7/2016 11:53:14 AM
This one just occurred to me. Gotta love Lyle. And these lyrics are absolutely perfect:
She hates my mama
She hates my daddy too
She loves to tell me
She hates the things I do
She loves to lie beside me
Almost every night
She's no lady she's my wife
The preacher asked her
And she said I do
The preacher asked me
And she said yes he does too
And the preacher said
I pronounce you 99 to life
Son she's no lady she's your wife
And I can't remember
How I met her
Seems like she's always just been hanging here off my right arm
And I can't remember
How I ever
Thought that I just couldn't live without a woman's charm
And even though
She loves the smell of French perfume
And even though
She walks around in high-heel shoes
All I know
Is I'm the one who pays her price
Man she's no lady she's my wife
And I can't remember
How I met her
Seems like she's always just been hanging here off my right arm
And I can't remember
How I ever
Thought that I just couldn't live without a woman's charm
Yea she hates my mama
She hates my daddy too
She loves to tell me
She hates the things I do
She loves to lie beside me
Almost every night
She's no lady she's my wife
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Psyche's Muse
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4/11/2016 2:45:26 AM
Anatomy Of God
God is a tit. Suck it.
God is a dick. Fuck it.
God is water. Drink it.
God is air. Breath it.
God is thought. Think it.
God is sight. See it.
God is all around. Be it.
Be it!
You’re it!
You are woman in travail.
You are bearing a witness.
You’re witness is bare.
Do you care?
(Bare and empty moments flow into the unquenchably thirsty mouth of Now)
New, unused moments
keep popping right up there
at the opening of the eternal orifice...
that Maternal Orifice.
It’s an oral fixation in the extreme.
And you scream,
“It’s only a dream!”
...only a dream?
Merrily,
Merrily,
Merrily,
Life is but Death
...upon a string.
And at the end of all our ropes
Death is the King.
We are all sheltered
beneath His wing.
The idea of peace
and rest is comforting.
And in Your honor we shall sing...
for the joy of the world;
for the joy of all;
for the joy of all
the world without end.
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Bob Elliott
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4/15/2016 4:47:27 PM
Then the blue shadows will fall all over town
Any day now, love will let me down
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Richard Scotti
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4/16/2016 10:57:07 AM
How about "Stand By Me?" ~ The first apocalyptic pop song!
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Bob Elliott
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4/16/2016 12:26:03 PM
I got a bird that whistles
I got a bird that sings
I got a bird that whistles
I got a bird that sings
But I ain't got Corinna
Life don't mean a thing
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