Your favourite non-Morrissey lyrics

lnathan

New Member
I am sure most people here thinks Morrissey is the best lyricist there is, but there must be others you like. Please share them here and maybe we can all discover something new.

My first contribution is this brilliant song by Nick Cave from the album No More Shall We Part. Every single song on this album is great but this one stands out.

Hallelujah

On the first day of May I took to the road
I'd been staring out the window most of the morning
I'd watched the rain claw at the glass
And a vicious wind blew hard and fast
I should have taken it as a warning
As a warning As a warning
As a warning

I'd given my nurse the weekend off
My meals were ill prepared
My typewriter had turned mute as a tomb
And my piano crouched in the corner of my room
With all its teeth bared
All its teeth bared All its teeth bared
All its teeth bared.

Hallelujah Hallelujah
Hallelujah Hallelujah

I left my house without my coat
Something my nurse would not have allowed
And I took the small roads out of town
And I passed a cow and the cow was brown
And my pyjamas clung to me like a shroud
Like a shroud Like a shroud
Like a shroud

There rose before me a little house
With all hope and dreams kept within
A woman's voice close to my ear
Said, "Why don't you come in here?"
"You looked soaked to the skin"
Soaked to the skin Soaked to the skin
Soaked to the skin

Hallelujah Hallelujah
Hallelujah Hallelujah

I turned to the woman and the woman was young
I extended a hearty salutation
But I knew if my nurse had been here
She would never in a thousand years
Permit me to accept that invitation
Invitation That invitation
That invitation

Now, you might think it wise to risk it all
Throw caution to the reckless wind
But with her hot cocoa and her medication
My nurse had been my one salvation
So I turned back home
I turned back home I turned back home
Singing my song

Hallelujah
The tears are welling in my eyes again
Hallelujah
I need twenty big buckets to catch them in
Hallelujah
And twenty pretty girls to carry
them down
Hallelujah
And twenty deep holes to bury them in
Hallelujah
The tears are welling in my eyes again
Hallelujah
I need twenty big buckets to catch them in
Hallelujah
And twenty pretty girls to carry them down
Hallelujah
And twenty deep holes to bury them in
 
Syd Barrett - It Is Obvious. Not sure why, but this always hits the mark.


So equally over a valley, a hill
wood on quarry stood, each of us crying
a velvet curtain of gray
mark the blanket where the sparrows play
and the trees by the waving corn stranded
my legs move the last empty inches to you
the softness, the warmth from the weather in suspense
mote to a grog - the star a white chalk
minds shot together, our minds shot together...
 
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Basically anything by City and Colour aka Dallas Green :thumb::rock::pray:
 
Candy Says -VU

Candy says I've come to hate my body
and all that it requires in this world
Candy says I'd like to know completely
what others so discreetly talk about

I'm gonna watch the blue birds fly over my shoulder
I'm gonna watch them pass me by
Maybe when I'm older
What do you think I'd see
If I could walk away from me

Candy says I hate the quiet places
that cause the smallest taste of what will be
Candy says I hate the big decisions
that cause endless revisions in my mind

I'm gonna watch the blue birds fly over my shoulder
I'm gonna watch them pass me by
Maybe when I'm older
What do you think I'd see
If I could walk away from me


and there's a line in the VU song "Rock and Roll" that I think is really great

Then one fine mornin' she puts on a New York station
You know, she don't believe what she heard at all
She started dancin' to that fine fine music
You know her life was saved by rock 'n' roll
 
Candy Says -VU

Candy says I've come to hate my body
and all that it requires in this world
Candy says I'd like to know completely
what others so discreetly talk about

I'm gonna watch the blue birds fly over my shoulder
I'm gonna watch them pass me by
Maybe when I'm older
What do you think I'd see
If I could walk away from me

Candy says I hate the quiet places
that cause the smallest taste of what will be
Candy says I hate the big decisions
that cause endless revisions in my mind

I'm gonna watch the blue birds fly over my shoulder
I'm gonna watch them pass me by
Maybe when I'm older
What do you think I'd see
If I could walk away from me


and there's a line in the VU song "Rock and Roll" that I think is really great

Then one fine mornin' she puts on a New York station
You know, she don't believe what she heard at all
She started dancin' to that fine fine music
You know her life was saved by rock 'n' roll

That reminds me of the song Candy by Morphine:

Candy told me nothing really matters anymore
And when I asked her what she means
She said I ought to know.

Candy said she's made arrangements
For me in the sand
And Candy said she wants me with her
Down in Candyland

Candy said she wonders why we try
I couldn't think of what to say
I had no ready reply

But Candy said I'd like it where she is
She says:
It's an opportuniuty that I don't want to miss

Candy asked me if she died,
If I could go on
Of course I said I couldn't
And of course we know that's wrong

But Candy, I said, Candy no
You can't do that to me
Because you love me way too much
For you to ever leave

Candy said she's made arrangements
For me in the sand
And Candy said she wants me with her
Down in Candyland


P.S. Nugz I thought for sure you were going to say something by E. Smith...
 
Syd Barrett - It Is Obvious. Not sure why, but this always hits the mark.


So equally over a valley, a hill
wood on quarry stood, each of us crying
a velvet curtain of gray
mark the blanket where the sparrows play
and the trees by the waving corn stranded
my legs move the last empty inches to you
the softness, the warmth from the weather in suspense
mote to a grog - the star a white chalk
minds shot together, our minds shot together...

Hi Arnold, are you a Chochords fan? I normally don't really like comedy songs but theirs are hilarious, I love them.

The Most Beautiful Girl In The Room

Looking at the room, I can tell that you.
Are the most beautiful girl in the...room.
(In the whole wide room).
And when you're on the street, depending on the street.
I bet you are definitely in the top three.
Good lookin' girls on the street.
(Depending on the streets).
And when I saw you at my mate's place.
I thought...what, is she, doing...at my mate's place.
How did he get a hottie like that to a party like this?
Good one, Dave.
(Ooh, you're a legend, Dave).

I asked Dave if he's going to move on you.
He's not sure.
I said "Dave, do you mind if I do?"
He says he doesn't mind.
But I can tell he kind of minds.
But I'm going to do it anyway.

I see you standing all alone by the stereo.
I dim the lights down to very low, here we go
You're so beautiful.
You could be a waitress.
You're so beautiful.
You could be a air hostess in the 60s.
You're so beautiful.
You could be a part-time model.
But then I seal the deal, I do my moves.
I do my dance moves.

Lets travel through, just me and you.
As other dudes around you on the dance floor.
I draw you near, lets get out of here.
Lets get in a cab. I'll buy you a kabob.
I can't believe. I'm sharing a kabob.
With the most beautiful girl I have ever seen with a kabob.
Oh, why don't we leave?
Lets go to my house.
We can feel each other up on the couch.
Oh no, I don't mind taking it slow.

Cause you're so beautiful...
Like a tree. Or a high class prostitute.
You're so beautiful.
You could be a part time model.
But you'd probably still have to keep your normal job.
A part time model.
Spend part of your time modeling.
And part of your time next to me.

My place is usually a bit tidier than this.
 
Arab Strap - New Birds

You just have to be sure you're doing the right thing.
I mean it's very easy to forget - she's just sitting there in the pub with her new friends and her new life and her new hair, and it's been five years but you'd know just to look at her.

I wasn't even sure it were her at first, I was ready to walk away but she smiled and called me over and we said hello for a bit. When we back to our tables we were trying not to look over at each other and told our friends to stop staring. I didn't see her for the rest of the night, but by closing time the beer's kicked in so I go up and speak to her and we end up talking about our new homes, our new jobs and our new birds.

She says she's been going out with him now for about two and a half years, but they don't live together so he'd never find out. And you think about chasing her about school when you were wee and lying in your bed and listening to love songs and pretending they were about you. And the first time you asked her out she said no but one night you went to a wedding and when you came back to the pub she's changed her mind and you went out. You remember the way she swung her arms when she held your hand but you can't remember how she kissed and now you've got the chance to find out.

But you have to remember there's this other kiss. She's at home, wondering where you are and what you're doing. And you work hard on this kiss and you know it inside out, it's as much yours as it is hers,And it took a long time to get right, it took months of practice and months of embarrassment but now you've got it perfected and you've been looking forward to that kiss all week.

You can see her breath in the air between your faces as you stand in the leaves and she just asks you straight out if you want to come and stay at her flat. But you make sure you get separate taxis and you go home and there might be a slight regret and you might wonder what you missed but you have to remember the kiss you worked so hard on - and you'll know you've done the right thing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DGoz5oeXlgY&feature=related
 
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Blue Lips by Regina Spektor is perfect. :sweet:

he stumbled into faith and thought,
this is all there is
the pictures in his mind arose
and began to breathe
and all the gods in all the worlds
began colliding on a backdrop of blue

blue lips
blue veins

he took a step but then felt tired
he said, I'll rest a little while
but when he tried to walk again
he wasn't a child
and all the people hurried past
real fast and no one ever smiled

blue lips
blue veins
blue, the color of the planet from far, far away

he stumbled into faith and thought,
this is all there is
the pictures in his mind arose
and began to breathe
and no one saw and no one heard
they just followed lead
the pictures in his mind awoke
and began to breed

they started off beneath the knowledge tree
then they chopped it down to make white picket fences
they marched along the railroad tracks
and smiled real wide for the camera lenses
they made it past the enemy lines
just to become enslaved in the assembly lines

blue lips
blue veins
blue, the color of the planet from far, far away...

blue...the most human color...

blue lips
blue veins
blue, the color of our planet from far, far away
 
The first lyrics to come to mind are these:

Anna brings me fireflies
She breaks the jar just to free the light
And I tear my skin when she begins
No, don't tell me that you know me
No, don't tell me that you talk to God
'cause I know my name
I just don't know my place


"Anna O.," by Far Too Jones

http://www.fileden.com/files/2006/6/13/65147/Anna O.mp3

This is one of my favorite songs, ever.
 
Scarling. - In the Pretend World


But in the real world
Where fools tormented for sport
We just stitch up our mouths
So we cant admit or retort
You see I cannot say this
Please don't ask me why
In the real world
We cant deny

The lead singer is such a firecracker.
 
Berkertex bribe by CRASS

Berkertex bribe. Oh! Berkertex bribe.

The object unsoiled is packed ready and waiting,
For the moment of truth in this spiritual mating.
The object unsoiled is packed ready and waiting,
To be owned, to be cherished, to be f***ed for the naming.
The public are shocked by the state of society,
But as for you, you're a breath of purity.
Well don't give me your morals, they're filth in my eyes,
You can pack them away with the rest of your lies.
Your painted mask of ugly perfection,
The ring on your finger, the sign of protection,
Is the rape on page 3, it the soldiers obsession,
How well you've been caught to support your oppression.
One god. One church. One husband. One wife.

Sordid sequences in brilliant life,
Supports and props and punctuation
To our flowing realities and realisations.
We're talking with words that have been used before
To describe us as goddesses, mother and whores,
To describe us as women, describe us as men,
To set out the rules of this ludicrous game,
And it's played very carefully, a delicate balance,
A masculine/feminine perfect alliance.
Does the winner take all? What love in your grasping?
What vision is left and is anyone asking?
What vision is left and is anyone asking?

She's a Berkertex bribe... Bribe. Bribe...
 
Oh so many favourite songs.
There are really so,so,many.
So I'll just say this one.
The opening lines of

"Werewolves of London"
By Warren Zevon

"I saw a werewolf with a Chinese menu in his hand
Walking through the streets of Soho in the rain
He was looking for a place called Lee Ho Fook's
Gonna get a big dish of beef chow mein"



----------------
Now playing: Warren Zevon - Werewolves of London
via FoxyTunes
 
from: The Convalescent - Manics

"Kleenex Kitchen Towels and Teletext TV - My favorite inventions of the 20th century."
 
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