"In other words . . . "

[Justin D.]

Many times, I find that someone else has expressed exactly how I feel through his or her words, whether they be in a poem, song, an excerpt from a novel, or dialogue in a movie. I thought I'd start a thread where people can let others speak for them. We quote others many times in other threads so why not a thread devoted to it? However, this is not just an excuse to fill a thread up with a bunch of random quotes just for the heck of it. Put up something that expresses what you're feeling or thinking because the quote says it in such a way that you can't think of many other ways to say it better. I'll start because I heard this on XM Radio the other day, and it's been stuck in my head since.

You Scare the Shit Out of Me
by The Frantics

I'm not afriad of wild crocodiles, caribou, or man-eating bees
I'm not afraid of death or early morning breath
but you scare the shit out of me

I thought that I was a he-man
handsome and virile and free
but I'd rather die
than look you in the eye
cause you scare the shit out of me

you were the best woman I ever met
you could run, skeet shoot, and dance
I remember the time
you borrowed a dime
and I had to go change my pants

Well, I thought that I was a he-man
handsome and virile and free
but I'd rather die
than look you in the eye
cause you scare the shit out of me

I remember
the last time I saw you
there we both stood face to face
You said you seem so alone
let me take you home
won't you come with me
back to my place
I said no, you scare the shit out of me!
You scare the shit out of meeeee!

Ooooh, I'd rather die
than look you in the eye
cause you scare the shit out of me

I said great god above
I must be in love
because you
scare the shit
out of meeeeee

Here's a link to the song. (http://www.madmann.com/sound/scare.m3u) Much more impact when you hear The Frantics sing it. Now, obviously, not everything in that song express my thoughts and feelings, but some of it is definitely true. And I'm actually happy about those that are true too.

Your turn.

[Dennis K]

"I never forget a face, but in you're case I'll make an exception." ~ Bugs Bunny

[Pól Rua]

She's Too Good For Me - Warren Zevon

I could hold my head up high and say that I left first
Or I can hang my head and cry
Tell me which is worse

If you go and ask her why
She might say she's not sure
Trust me when I tell you I'm not good enough for her

I want her to be happy
I want her to be free
I want her to be everything she couldn't be with me

I'd wait here for a thousand years if she'd come back to me
I have everything she wants but nothing that she needs

I want her to be happy
I want her to be free
I want her to be everything she couldn't be with me

I could hold my head up high and say that I left first
Or I can hang my head and cry
Tell me which is worse

If you go and ask her why
She might say she's not sure
Trust me when I tell you I'm not good enough for her

[StoneGold]

"So you think I'm a loser? Just because I have a stinking job that I hate, a family that doesn't respect me, a whole city that curses the day I was born? Well, that may mean loser to you, but let me tell you something. Every morning when I wake up, I know it's not going to get any better until I go back to sleep again. So I get up, have my watered down Tang and still-frozen Pop Tart, get in my car with no upholstery, no gas and six more payments to fight traffic just for the privilege of putting cheap shoes on the cloven hooves of people like you. I'll never play football like I thought I would, I'll never know the touch of a beautiful woman, and I'll never again know the joy of driving without a bag on my head. But I'm not a loser. 'Cause despite it all, me and every other guy who'll never be what he wanted to be, are still out there, being what we don't wanna be, forty hours a week, for life. And the fact that I haven't put a gun to my mouth, you pudding of a woman, makes me a winner!"

-Al Bundy

[Dennis K]

Ever have one of those days?

Fenster: "Man, I had a finger up my asshole tonight!"
Hockney: "Is it Friday already?"


- The Usual Suspects

[Pól Rua]

(from Ron Hitler-Barassi, lead vocalist of TISM)

I’d rather be a cack-eyed awkward knob than you, for all your perfect teeth and hand-jobs.
I’d rather be the silently resentful, weird one than the backslapped, chest-poking young gun.
For every moment you’ve had of adolescent bliss, I’ve spent ten regretting everything I’ve missed.
For every stroke, every goal, every glance and kiss, there were blows, failure, mockery and less.
Yet I’d rather be me.
You preening, dumb tool.
You vacuous, confident, ignorant, poor dumb tool.
Who wants to be me? No-one.
You? They sell magazines with how-to guides.
People shell out money, jog, get surgery, but mainly just dream of the day they will be more like you.
Grass green, never greener, grows over the fence between us.
They didn’t break the mould when they made you, mate.
That mould was mass-produced.
Does it grate that on every corner and every bar, there’s you?
You have never said one thing completely new, not thought on thought not thought before, you Cleo Mag, Channel V, As-Seen-On-TV bore.
You schoolkid’s idea of bliss.
You teen idol,
package,
construct,
robot,
product,
lackey,
baggage.
I would rather be me, despite my self-disappointment.
I would rather be me because of that disappointment.
I would rather be me, unknown, bent, weak and poor.
I would rather be me, with every mistake and flaw.
I would rather be me, because in the whole universe of us, in the galaxies of people, in the glowing incalculable nimbus, you provide the great system with nought, whilst, from afar, burning, lonely, and nearly invisible …
I,
A star.

[thehod]

There's only one way of life.
And that's your own, that's your own, that's your own.

The Levellers

[Justin D.]

Quote by Al Bundy

Holy shit, Al Bundy was deep.

Pol, that first one is a real doozy that strikes a chord all too familiar.

So far, most of these are of the cynical or depressed kind. Well, I just spent the past couple of hours in a cool 24-hour cafe a few blocks from my new place in Austin where I had an ok sandwich, some great hot tea, listened to good music, and started reading what seems to be a good, short book so far. My stroll from my apartment to the cafe and back was leisurely as I listened to music on my MyFi and generally thought about my new situation in life. I wouldn't call what I'm feeling necessarily bliss, but it is ... peaceful. All that said, I couldn't decide which quote to use so I'm using all three.

"Nothing is permanent in this wicked world - not even our troubles." - Charlie Chaplin

"If you cannot find peace within yourself, you will never find it anywhere else." - Marvin Gaye

“What is heard has to be pondered over. What is pondered over has to be put into practice. It is only when all three are accomplished that the realization of Bliss can be attained.” - Swami

[StoneGold]

So far, most of these are of the cynical or depressed kind.
What do you expect, I just went from working 65 hours a week for the last 8 months or so to working 0 hours a week.

[howyadoin]

my new situation in life.What's this, now?

[Justin D.]

Here, Stone, this one's for the both of us.

A lot of fellows nowadays have a B.A., M.D., or Ph.D. Unfortunately, they don't have a J-O-B. ~ "Fats" Domino

This next one is for me.

Results! Why, man, I have gotten a lot of results. I know several thousand things that won't work. - Thomas A. Edison




Howy, I'll put up a thread soon answering your question.

[Dreadstar]

It took the manic-depression roller coaster after divorce for me to finally really GET this song, but this is me, in a nutshell.

Desperado ----Eagles

Desperado, why don't you come to your senses?
You been out ridin' fences for so long now
Oh, you're a hard one
I know that you got your reasons
These things that are pleasin' you
Will hurt you somehow

Don't you draw the queen of diamonds boy
She'll beat you if she's able
You know the queen of hearts is always your best bet

Now it seems to me, some fine things
Have been laid upon your table
But you only want the ones that you can't get

Desperado, oh, you ain't gettin' no younger
Your pain and your hunger, they're drivin' you home
And freedom, oh freedom well, that's just some people talkin'
Your prison is walking through this world all alone

Don't your feet get cold in the winter time?
The sky won't snow and the sun won't shine
It's hard to tell the night time from the day
You're losin' all your highs and lows
Ain't it funny how the feeling goes away?

Desperado, why don't you come to your senses?
Come down from your fences, open the gate
It may be rainin', but there's a rainbow above you
You better let somebody love you
(let sombody love you)
You better let somebody love you
before it's too late.

Yeah, it is funny how the feeling goes away after a while.

[Pól Rua]

You know I've never really heard those lyrics before.
ow.

[Conn Seanery]

Walking home after work one night a few months ago, Johnny Cash's cover of NiN's "Hurt" started playing on my mp3 player, and I just sort of had a moment where I really listened to the lyrics (not that I never have, but they really resonated this time). I started thinking about myself, my friends, my family, my life, and just went "Sh*t, that's me." Or was me (the "me" I'd been trying to break out of since a few months prior). I ended up taking an extra lap around the block just so I could listen to it again before I went home.

Anyway, i'm sure i'm not the first person with some degree of angst or self-loathing that suddenly claimed this song as theirs (whether it's Reznor or Cash singing), but there you have it.

I hurt myself today
to see if I still feel
I focus on the pain
the only thing that's real
the needle tears a hole
the old familiar sting
try to kill it all away
but I remember everything

what have I become?
my sweetest friend
everyone I know
goes away in the end
and you could have it all
my empire of dirt
I will let you down
I will make you hurt

I wear this crown of thorns
upon my liar's chair
full of broken thoughts
I cannot repair
beneath the stains of time
the feelings disappear
you are someone else
I am still right here

what have I become?
my sweetest friend
everyone I know
goes away in the end
and you could have it all
my empire of dirt
I will let you down
I will make you hurt

if I could start again
a million miles away
I would keep myself
I would find a way

[Rae Rodriguez]

"Oh mister wait until you see
What I'm gonna be...

I've got a plan, a demand and it just began
And if you're right, you'll agree

Here's coming a better version of me..."
Better Version of Me by Fiona Apple

[howyadoin]

Now it seems to me, some fine things
Have been laid upon your table
But you only want the ones that you can't getShit, that one hits pretty close to home.

[Puma]

"What kind of human creates his own policeman?"
"One who fears the dark"
"And so he should," said the entity, with satisfaction.
"Indeed. But I think you misunderstand. I am not here to keep the darkness out. I'm here to keep it in."

Thud - Terry Pratchett

[Winslow]

Shit, that one hits pretty close to home.

Yeah, the Stones said it this way:

No, you can't always get what you want
You can't always get what you want
You can't always get what you want
And if you try sometime you find
You get what you need

[Dreadstar]

I wear this crown of thorns
upon my liar's chair
full of broken thoughts
I cannot repair
beneath the stains of time
the feelings disappear
you are someone else
I am still right here

I find it really interesting that that's almost an iteration of the gist of Desperado.

[Dreadstar]

Shit, that one hits pretty close to home.


Yep. The problem is, we convince ourselves that there's always something better (and usually, we've seen the grass on the other side of the fence, in reinforcement of the enticement) and we rationalize it into "not settling."

I sometimes wonder why the hell I need a Holy Grail when all I'm gonna do is drink cheap beer out of it anyway...

[Winslow]

I sometimes wonder why the hell I need a Holy Grail when all I'm gonna do is drink cheap beer out of it anyway...

That's classic.

I may even put that in my sig . . . .

[TheDarkestHorse]

I can't remember the whole quote, but I was getting over this whole F-ed up girl situation a few years ago, and I happened across Chasing Amy on TV. The part where The Affleck tells the girl that no matter if he loses her completely, he has to tell her his true feelings, and 'I am forever changed for having known you.' That really hit home for me. I cried a little.

What, The Affleck's never made you cry? riiiiight...

[Dan Apodaca]

These thoughts are old
Let's keep it cold
Dry lines on me
Dry history
Dryology

That stupid sound
That awful feel
don't bring them down
And it never will
No it never will
No it never will
No it never will

Hard to believe
That after all this time
That after all this I'm
still me
No one wants to hear
what you dreamt about
unless you dreamt about them
Don't let that stop you
Tell them anyway
and you can make it up
as you go

I'm already gone now
You were outside just waiting
I'm already nothing
You just noticed me fading
It takes a lot to make me crazy
and a lot is always going on

Made-Up Dreams - Built to Spill

[Noah Johnson]

For the depressing lyrics that say it just right, I think Concrete Blonde nailed an exact shade of poverty and loneliness:

Well, outside in the hall there's a catfight
It's just after midnight
I guess I'll be all right
I'm layin' out on the floor
Drunk and poor
How much longer how much more
Oh, rock me to sleep
Strong and deep
Screaming cats they give me the creeps
But aside from all that I feel no pain
Staring up at the ceiling stain

Neon in the window
Sirens far away
News on the radio
Happy birthday
Happy birthday
Happy birthday


For life, though, I gotta go with my pops:

We are as gods, and might as well get good at it.

[Rae Rodriguez]

Not a song but it's good anyway:
"I drink to drown my sorrows but the sons of bitches have learned to swim" - Frida Kahlo

[Justin D.]

Not a song but it's good anyway:
"I drink to drown my sorrows but the sons of bitches have learned to swim" - Frida Kahlo

Well, that's just plain sad. Having a bad day, are you? Also, the quotes don't have to come from songs. Those just seem to be the most popular. Like this:

This is just the verse first in Brendan Benson's What I'm Looking For.

Well I don't know what I'm looking for
But I know that I just wanna look some more
And I won't be satisfied
'Till there's nothing left that I haven't tried
For some people it's an easy choice
But for me there's a devil and an angel's voice
Well I don't know what I am looking for
But I know that I just wanna look some more

I think that aptly suits my current situation since I just picked up and moved to Austin.