Most Meaningful lines in Music

[seaflower]

What are the most meaningful lines in music have you ever heard? Do you have any lines of songs that you ponder or you think sums up an aspect of life pretty well?

Guns and Rose --- Civil War

"My hands are tied
For all I've seen has changed my mind
But still the wars go on as the years go by
With no love of God or human rights
'Cause all these dreams are swept aside
By bloody hands of the hypnotized
Who carry the cross of homicide
And history bears the scars of our civil wars"

Pink Floyd --- Vera

"Does anybody here remember Vera Lynn?
Remember how she said,
That we would meet again,
Some sunny day.
Vera!
Vera!
What has become of you?
Does anybody else in here feel the way I do?"

Ok....that's the whole song...Shorts but sums up what happens to me when I think about old friends.

Janis Joplin --- Bobby McGee

"He’s looking for that home and I hope he finds it,
But I’d trade all of my tomorrows for one single yesterday
To be holding bobby’s body next to mine.

Freedom is just another word for nothing left to lose,
Nothing, that’s all that bobby left me, yeah,"


Jeremy Fisher --- Shooting Star

"Count my blessings, the same way I count the stars
When I look up I wonder how many there are,
Just like anything, gets lost between the lines,
You read the book and put it down before it smacks you right between the eyes

In spite of it all, what can I even say,
There’s nothing I can do for you yesterday,
In spite of it all, everybody says,
There’s nothing I can do for you yesterday"

[Pepsigirl]

For some reason I read the thread title as Most Meaningless Lines in Music and thought, "Those lines don't seem all that meaningless to me..."

[seaflower]

For some reason I read the thread title as Most Meaningless Lines in Music and thought, "Those lines don't seem all that meaningless to me..."

HEHEHEHEHEH

I read things like that all the time.

Hey do you have any lines you want to share?

[Patrick Ferguson]

Good thread. You know, your inclusion of "Civil War" reminds me -- GN'R is funny, because they have some wonderfully written songs with great lyrics. But they also have a handful of embarrassingly bad stuff in the lyrics department. There are songs where I actually cringe when I hear them ("Shotgun Blues," for example -- I don't care that it's angry or offensive, just that it's a piece of crap song). It makes you wonder if they just weren't trying sometimes or if they simply lacked consistant inspiration.

"Civil War" does have some nice stuff, if a couple awkward elements, too.

But "Dead Horse?" Ugh.

[seaflower]

Good thread. You know, your inclusion of "Civil War" reminds me -- GN'R is funny, because they have some wonderfully written songs with great lyrics. But they also have a handful of embarrassingly bad stuff in the lyrics department. There are songs where I actually cringe when I hear them ("Shotgun Blues," for example -- I don't care that it's angry or offensive, just that it's a piece of crap song). It makes you wonder if they just weren't trying sometimes or if they simply lacked consistant inspiration.

"Civil War" does have some nice stuff, if a couple awkward elements, too.

But "Dead Horse?" Ugh.

What are the lines that have meaning for you?

[Ilash]

Pretty much the entirety of The Who's Quadrophenia qualifies for this as far as I'm concerned. Actually, Pete Townshend is generally the guy who writes stuff that is most meaningful to me, which is one of the main reasons why I consider the Who to be on the same level as the Beatles and the Rolling Stones despite being slightly weaker than both of them on a purely musical - as in musical composition - level (though they are still better than just about everyone else).

On a similar note, George Harrison's All Things Must Pass is also supremely meaningful an album. And a lot of Dylan's more personal, less oblique stuff too, come to think of it.

I'm not going to actually post any specific lyrics right now because I am much too tired but I will say what kind of lyrics I don't usually find that meaningful: those socially conscious lyrics that U2 (for instance) love so much. Music is at its most meaningful for me when the artist writes lyrics that are personal to him/her, rather than some distant, anthemic words that are written more for other people. I mentioned U2 because they best exemplify (spelling? Like I said, very tired) the latter and it's a big part of why I simply don't rate them much at all. Of course, the most meaninful lyrics are those that start out as completely personal and intimate and then go on to become universal anthems (Paul McCartney's Let It Be and Hey Jude are both classic examples of this.)

Okay, I'll cave. Here's one of my favourite lyrics from one of the less well known songs on Quadrophenia, Sea and Sand about, basically, unrequited love (I especially love that last verse):

The girl I love
Is a perfect dresser,
Wears every fashion
Gets it to the tee.
Heavens above,
I got to match her
She knows just how
She wants her man to be
Leave it to me.

My jacket's gonna be cut slim and checked
Maybe a touch of seersucker with an open neck
I ride a G.S. scooter with my hair cut neat
I wear my wartime coat in the wind and sleet.

I see her dancing
Across the ballroom
UV light making starshine
Of her smile.
I am the face,
She has to know me,
I'm dressed up better than anyone
Within a mile.

So how come the other tickets look much better?
Without a penny to spend they dress to the letter.
How come the girls come on oh so cool
Yet when you meet 'em, every one's a fool?

[Core]

There are quite a few Pink Floyd songs that carry great, sometimes idiosyncratic, meaning for me. "Time" has, for years and years now, been one of my favorites, and I apreciate it in new and unexpected ways as I grow older.

Ticking away the moments that make up a dull day
You fritter and waste the hours in an offhand way
Kicking around on a piece of ground in your home town
Waiting for someone or something to show you the way

Tired of lying in the sunshine staying home to watch the rain
And you are young and life is long and there is time to kill today
And then one day you find ten years have gone behind you
No one told you when to run, you missed the starting gun

And you're on the run to catch up with the sun, but it's sinking
Racing around to come up behind you again
The sun is the same in a relative way, but you're older
Shorter of breath and one day closer to death

Every year is getting shorter, never seem to find the time
Plans that either come to naught or half a page of scribbled lines
Hanging on in a quiet desperation is the English way
The time is gone, the song is over, thought I'd something more to say.

[Ilash]

There are quite a few Pink Floyd songs that carry great, sometimes idiosyncratic, meaning for me. "Time" has, for years and years now, been one of my favorites, and I apreciate it in new and unexpected ways as I grow older.

Ticking away the moments that make up a dull day
You fritter and waste the hours in an offhand way
Kicking around on a piece of ground in your home town
Waiting for someone or something to show you the way

Tired of lying in the sunshine staying home to watch the rain
And you are young and life is long and there is time to kill today
And then one day you find ten years have gone behind you
No one told you when to run, you missed the starting gun

And you're on the run to catch up with the sun, but it's sinking
Racing around to come up behind you again
The sun is the same in a relative way, but you're older
Shorter of breath and one day closer to death

Every year is getting shorter, never seem to find the time
Plans that either come to naught or half a page of scribbled lines
Hanging on in a quiet desperation is the English way
The time is gone, the song is over, thought I'd something more to say.

Yeah. Great pick. I have to admit though that Roger Waters runs hot and cold for me as far as lyrics go because while he is capable of stuff as great as Time, I do often find his lyrics to be naively pessimistic (for lack of a better definition), especially on the Wall.

[ocelotrevs]

Well this song is about just thinking about life, it's a love song but a bit of a life song as well.

It's by the Flaming Lips

Do You Realize - that you have the most beautiful face
Do You Realize - we're floating in space -
Do You Realize - that happiness makes you cry
Do You Realize - that everyone you know someday will die

And instead of saying all of your goodbyes - let them know
You realize that life goes fast
It's hard to make the good things last
You realize the sun doesn't go down
It's just an illusion caused by the world spinning round

Do You Realize - Oh - Oh - Oh
Do You Realize - that everyone you know
Someday will die -

And instead of saying all of your goodbyes - let them know
You realize that life goes fast
It's hard to make the good things last
You realize the sun doesn't go down
It's just an illusion caused by the world spinning round

Do You Realize - that you have the most beautiful face
Do You Realize

[Core]

Yeah. Great pick. I have to admit though that Roger Waters runs hot and cold for me as far as lyrics go because while he is capable of stuff as great as Time, I do often find his lyrics to be naively pessimistic (for lack of a better definition), especially on the Wall.

Oh, totally. The Wall and The Final Cut are both stuck in that daddy-died-and-left-me vein of whining that can get kind of bothersome.

[Eric D.]

Do do do do dingle zing a dong bong
Ba di ba da ba zumba crunga cong gone bad

RHCP - "Soul To Squeeze"



i really dislike this song because of these lyrics.

[Ziggy Stardust]

I always found the lyrics in this song to sort of drive home a point about war.....

Kill for gain, shoot to maim
We don't need a reason
The Golden Goose is on the loose
Never out of season

Blackened pride burns inside
Shell of bloody treason
Here's my gun for a barrel of fun
For the love of living death

The killer's breed or the demon's seed
The glamor, the fortune, the pain
Go to war again, blood is freedom's stain
Don't you pray for my soul anymore

2 minutes to midnight
The hands that threaten doom
2 minutes to midnight
To kill the unborn in the womb

The blind men shout, ?Let the creatures out?
Let's show the unbelievers
The napalm screams of human flames
Of a prime time Belsen feast

As the reasons for the carnage
Cut their meat and lick the gravy
We oil the jaws of the war machines
And feed them with our babies

The killer's breed or the demon's seed
The glamor, the fortune, the pain
Go to war again, blood is freedom's stain
Don't you pray for my soul anymore

2 minutes to midnight
The hands that threaten doom
2 minutes to midnight
To kill the unborn in the womb

Body bags and little rags
Of children torn in two
The jellied brains of those who remain
Put the finger right on you

As the madmen play on words
And make us all dance to their song
To the tune of starving millions
To make a better kind of gun

The killer's breed or the demon's seed
The glamor, the fortune, the pain
Go to war again, blood is freedom's stain
Don't you pray for my soul anymore

2 minutes to midnight
The hands that threaten doom
2 minutes to midnight
To kill the unborn in the womb

[McFarlane's Green Hulk]

A lot of GN'R "Illusion" album stuff comes to mind:

Don't Damn Me:
"But look at what we've done
To the innocent and young
Whoa listen to who's talking
'Cause we're not the only ones
The trash collected by the eyes
And dumped into the brain
Said it tears into our
conscious thoughts
You tell me who's to blame"

Breakdown:
"I've come to know the cold
I think of it as home
When there ain't enough of me to go around
I'd rather be left alone
But if I call you out of habit I'm out of love and
I gotta have it
Would you give it to me if I fit you needs
Like when we both knew we had it
But now the damage's done
And we're back out on the run
Fun how ev'rything was roses
When we held on to the guns
Just because you're winnin'
Don't mean you're the lucky ones"

That part about how everything was roses when we held onto the guns -- fits the AFD lineup and era to a tee. Raw, hungry and the best at what they were doing.

[Karl O'Neill]

"Because the streets is a short stop
Either you're slingin crack rock or you got a wicked jumpshot"

The Notorious BIG.

[Ilash]

You might have to dig a bit to get the meaning but this is genuine, flat out genius:

Darkness at the break of noon
Shadows even the silver spoon
The handmade blade, the child’s balloon
Eclipses both the sun and moon
To understand you know too soon
There is no sense in trying

Pointed threats, they bluff with scorn
Suicide remarks are torn
From the fool’s gold mouthpiece the hollow horn
Plays wasted words, proves to warn
That he not busy being born is busy dying

Temptation’s page flies out the door
You follow, find yourself at war
Watch waterfalls of pity roar
You feel to moan but unlike before
You discover that you’d just be one more
Person crying

So don’t fear if you hear
A foreign sound to your ear
It’s alright, Ma, I’m only sighing

As some warn victory, some downfall
Private reasons great or small
Can be seen in the eyes of those that call
To make all that should be killed to crawl
While others say don’t hate nothing at all
Except hatred

Disillusioned words like bullets bark
As human gods aim for their mark
Make everything from toy guns that spark
To flesh-colored Christs that glow in the dark
It’s easy to see without looking too far
That not much is really sacred

While preachers preach of evil fates
Teachers teach that knowledge waits
Can lead to hundred-dollar plates
Goodness hides behind its gates
But even the president of the United States
Sometimes must have to stand naked

An’ though the rules of the road have been lodged
It’s only people’s games that you got to dodge
And it’s alright, Ma, I can make it

Advertising signs they con
You into thinking you’re the one
That can do what’s never been done
That can win what’s never been won
Meantime life outside goes on
All around you

You lose yourself, you reappear
You suddenly find you got nothing to fear
Alone you stand with nobody near
When a trembling distant voice, unclear
Startles your sleeping ears to hear
That somebody thinks they really found you

A question in your nerves is lit
Yet you know there is no answer fit
To satisfy, insure you not to quit
To keep it in your mind and not forget
That it is not he or she or them or it
That you belong to

Although the masters make the rules
For the wise men and the fools
I got nothing, Ma, to live up to

For them that must obey authority
That they do not respect in any degree
Who despise their jobs, their destinies
Speak jealously of them that are free
Cultivate their flowers to be
Nothing more than something they invest in

While some on principles baptized
To strict party platform ties
Social clubs in drag disguise
Outsiders they can freely criticize
Tell nothing except who to idolize
And then say God bless him

While one who sings with his tongue on fire
Gargles in the rat race choir
Bent out of shape from society’s pliers
Cares not to come up any higher
But rather get you down in the hole
That he’s in

But I mean no harm nor put fault
On anyone that lives in a vault
But it’s alright, Ma, if I can’t please him

Old lady judges watch people in pairs
Limited in sex, they dare
To push fake morals, insult and stare
While money doesn’t talk, it swears
Obscenity, who really cares
Propaganda, all is phony

While them that defend what they cannot see
With a killer’s pride, security
It blows the minds most bitterly
For them that think death’s honesty
Won’t fall upon them naturally
Life sometimes must get lonely

My eyes collide head-on with stuffed
Graveyards, false gods, I scuff
At pettiness which plays so rough
Walk upside-down inside handcuffs
Kick my legs to crash it off
Say okay, I have had enough, what else can you show me?

And if my thought-dreams could be seen
They’d probably put my head in a guillotine
But it’s alright, Ma, it’s life, and life only

That would be It's Alright Ma by Bob Dylan.

[dupersuper]

"Some day I'll wear pajamas in the daytime"-Afternoons and Coffeespoons, Crash Test Dummies
"God shuffled his feet, and glanced around, at them; the people stood waiting, and glanced right back, at him"-God Shuffled His Feet, Crash Test Dummies

[Eric D.]

I think is probably my favorite Dylan song.
his masterpiece, i believe.

"But even the president of the United States sometimes must have to stand naked"



You might have to dig a bit to get the meaning but this is genuine, flat out genius:

Darkness at the break of noon
Shadows even the silver spoon
The handmade blade, the child’s balloon
Eclipses both the sun and moon
To understand you know too soon
There is no sense in trying

Pointed threats, they bluff with scorn
Suicide remarks are torn
From the fool’s gold mouthpiece the hollow horn
Plays wasted words, proves to warn
That he not busy being born is busy dying

Temptation’s page flies out the door
You follow, find yourself at war
Watch waterfalls of pity roar
You feel to moan but unlike before
You discover that you’d just be one more
Person crying

So don’t fear if you hear
A foreign sound to your ear
It’s alright, Ma, I’m only sighing

As some warn victory, some downfall
Private reasons great or small
Can be seen in the eyes of those that call
To make all that should be killed to crawl
While others say don’t hate nothing at all
Except hatred

Disillusioned words like bullets bark
As human gods aim for their mark
Make everything from toy guns that spark
To flesh-colored Christs that glow in the dark
It’s easy to see without looking too far
That not much is really sacred

While preachers preach of evil fates
Teachers teach that knowledge waits
Can lead to hundred-dollar plates
Goodness hides behind its gates
But even the president of the United States
Sometimes must have to stand naked

An’ though the rules of the road have been lodged
It’s only people’s games that you got to dodge
And it’s alright, Ma, I can make it

Advertising signs they con
You into thinking you’re the one
That can do what’s never been done
That can win what’s never been won
Meantime life outside goes on
All around you

You lose yourself, you reappear
You suddenly find you got nothing to fear
Alone you stand with nobody near
When a trembling distant voice, unclear
Startles your sleeping ears to hear
That somebody thinks they really found you

A question in your nerves is lit
Yet you know there is no answer fit
To satisfy, insure you not to quit
To keep it in your mind and not forget
That it is not he or she or them or it
That you belong to

Although the masters make the rules
For the wise men and the fools
I got nothing, Ma, to live up to

For them that must obey authority
That they do not respect in any degree
Who despise their jobs, their destinies
Speak jealously of them that are free
Cultivate their flowers to be
Nothing more than something they invest in

While some on principles baptized
To strict party platform ties
Social clubs in drag disguise
Outsiders they can freely criticize
Tell nothing except who to idolize
And then say God bless him

While one who sings with his tongue on fire
Gargles in the rat race choir
Bent out of shape from society’s pliers
Cares not to come up any higher
But rather get you down in the hole
That he’s in

But I mean no harm nor put fault
On anyone that lives in a vault
But it’s alright, Ma, if I can’t please him

Old lady judges watch people in pairs
Limited in sex, they dare
To push fake morals, insult and stare
While money doesn’t talk, it swears
Obscenity, who really cares
Propaganda, all is phony

While them that defend what they cannot see
With a killer’s pride, security
It blows the minds most bitterly
For them that think death’s honesty
Won’t fall upon them naturally
Life sometimes must get lonely

My eyes collide head-on with stuffed
Graveyards, false gods, I scuff
At pettiness which plays so rough
Walk upside-down inside handcuffs
Kick my legs to crash it off
Say okay, I have had enough, what else can you show me?

And if my thought-dreams could be seen
They’d probably put my head in a guillotine
But it’s alright, Ma, it’s life, and life only

That would be It's Alright Ma by Bob Dylan.

[elbobbo]

Only God says, "Jump!"
So I set the time
'Cause if he ever saw
It was through these eyes of mine
And if he ever suffered it was me who did his crying
Oh, yeah! Good-bye!

and

I told the priest, "Don't plan on any second comings. God got his ass kicked the first time he came down here slumming. He had the balls to come, the gall to die, and then forgive us."
No, I don't wonder why
I wonder what he thought it'd get us.

both from Tomorrow Wendy by Andy Prieboy these lines pretty much some up the futility of organized religion while facing tragedy or, in the case of the song, one's own mortality

[Ziggy Stardust]

The Animals - Sky Pilot

He blesses the boys as they stand in line
The smell of gun grease and the bayonets they shine
He's there to help them all that he can
To make them feel wanted he's a good holy man
Sky pilot.....sky pilot
How high can you fly
You'll never, never, never reach the sky

He smiles at the young soldiers
Tells them its all right
He knows of their fear in the forthcoming fight
Soon there'll be blood and many will die
Mothers and fathers back home they will cry
Sky pilot.....sky pilot
How high can you fly
You'll never, never, never reach the sky

He mumbles a prayer and it ends with a smile
The order is given
They move down the line
But he's still behind and he'll meditate
But it won't stop the bleeding or ease the hate
As the young men move out into the battle zone
He feels good, with God you're never alone
He feels tired and he lays on his bed
Hopes the men will find courage in the words that he said
Sky pilot.....sky Pilot
How high can you fly

You'll never, never, never reach the sky
You're soldiers of God you must understand
The fate of your country is in your young hands
May God give you strength
Do your job real well
If it all was worth it
Only time it will tell

In the morning they return
With tears in their eyes
The stench of death drifts up to the skies
A soldier so ill looks at the sky pilot
Remembers the words
"Thou shalt not kill"
Sky pilot.....sky pilot
How high can you fly
You never, never, never reach the sky

[steve2275]

twisted sister.....i believe in you
why does no one seem to understand
that it's more than love i need
it's so hard to keep your faith alive
when nobody else believes
oh i need someone there for me
need someone who can see
need someone to show me
ohhhh, that they are there to help me fight
if i fall, to set me right
someone there to hold the light
won't someone say

i believe in you
i believe in you
i believe in you
i believe in you

it's so hard to do it all yourself
fighting for your dreams alone
when the toy's upon the highest shelf
a child's tears soon become stone
oh why does no one lend a hand
why does no one understand
why i need to make a stand
ohhhh,it's so hard to carry on
when all your hope is gone
all your dreams have come undone
i need to hear

i believe in you
i believe in you
i believe in you
i believe in you

why won't someone say these words
are they really so absurd?
must they always go unheard?
ohhhh, if someone needed the light
i'd be there to help them fight
if they fell, i'd set them right
and then i'd say

i believe in you
i believe in you
i believe in you
i believe in you
i believe in you
won't someone say i believe in you
i believe in you
won't someone say i believe in you
i need to hear i believe in you
i believe in you

[jessecuster3]

Take me to the place where you go
Where nobody knows if it's night or day
Please don't put your life in the hands
Of a Rock n Roll band
Who'll throw it all away





Oasis - Don't Look Back in Anger

[maniacthw]

Hot Water Music puts out one of the most powerful lines in music: "Give me a reason not to lash out, 'Cause I see no reason now."

[hugh45]

PE-Fight The Power (nuff said)

[Melanieshaman]

Second Chance by Shinedown
Has a TON of meaning for me, and where I am in my life, and what I face directly in front of me

My eyes are open wide
By the way I made it through the day
I watch the world outside
By the way I'm leaving out today

I just saw Haley's Comet, she waved
Said, "Why are you always running in place?"
Even the man in the moon disappeared
Somewhere in the stratosphere

Tell my mother, tell my father I've done the best I can
To make them realize this is my life, I hope they understand
I'm not angry, I'm just saying
Sometimes goodbye is a second chance

Please don't cry one tear for me
I'm not afraid of what I have to say
This is my one and only voice
So listen close, it's only for today

I just saw Haley's Comet, she waved
Said, "Why are you always running in place?"
Even the man in the moon disappeared
Somewhere in the stratosphere"

Tell my mother, tell my father I've done the best I can
To make them realize this is my life, I hope they understand
I'm not angry, I'm just saying
Sometimes goodbye is a second chance

Here is my chance
This is my chance

Tell my mother, tell my father I've done the best I can
To make them realize this is my life, I hope they understand
I'm not angry, I'm just saying
Sometimes goodbye is a second chance
Sometimes goodbye is a second chance
Sometimes goodbye is a second chance

Melanie

[Catman_3]

And in the end
The love you take
Is equal to the love
You make

The End- The Beatles

[PaddyN]

Pretty much anything Bruce Springsteen writes eg.

The River

I come from down in the valley where mister when you're young
They bring you up to do like your daddy done
Me and mary we met in high school when she was just seventeen
Wed ride out of that valley down to where the fields were green

Wed go down to the river
And into the river wed dive
Oh down to the river wed ride

Then I got mary pregnant and man that was all she wrote
And for my nineteen birthday I got a union card and a wedding coat
We went down to the courthouse and the judge put it all to rest
No wedding day smiles no walk down the aisle
No flowers no wedding dress
That night we went down to the river
And into the river wed dive
On down to the river we did ride

I got a job working construction for the johnstown company
But lately there aint been much work on account of the economy
Now all them things that seemed so important
Well mister they vanished right into the air
Now I just act like I don't remember, mary acts like she don't care
But I remember us riding in my brothers car
Her body tan and wet down at the reservoir
At night on them banks I'd lie awake
And pull her close just to feel each breath she'd take
Now those memories come back to haunt me, they haunt me like a curse
Is a dream a lie if it don't come true
Or is it something worse that sends me
Down to the river though I know the river is dry
Down to the river, my baby and i
Oh down to the river we ride

Simple and to the point but haunting.

Youngstown

Here in northeast Ohio, back in eighteen-o-three
James and Danny Heaton found the ore that was linin‘ yellow creek
They built a blast furnace here along the shore
And they made the cannonballs that helped the Union win the war

Here in Youngstown, here in Youngstown
My sweet Jenny I’m sinkin‘ down, here darlin‘ in Youngstown

Well my daddy worked the furnaces, kept them hotter than hell
I come home from Nam worked my way to scarfer, a job that’d suit the devil as well
Taconite coke and limestone fed my children and made my pay
Them smokestacks reached like the arms of god into a beautiful sky of soot and clay

Here in Youngstown, here in Youngstown
My sweet Jenny I’m sinkin‘ down, here darlin‘ in Youngstown

Well my daddy come home from Ohio works when he came home from World War 2
Now the yard’s just scrap and rubble
He said: "Them big boys did what Hitler couldn’t do“
These mills they built the tanks and bombs that won these country’s wars
We sent our sons to Korea and Vietnam now we’re wonderin‘ what they were dyin’for

Here in Youngstown, here in Youngstown
My sweet Jenny I’m sinkin‘ down, here darlin‘ in Youngstown

From the Monongahela valley to the Mesabi iron range
To the coal mines of Appalachia the story’s always the same
Seven hundred tons of metal a day now sir you tell me the world’s changed
Once I made you rich enough rich enough to forget my name

And Youngstown, and Youngstown
My sweet Jenny I’m sinkin‘ down, here darlin‘ in Youngstown

When I die I don’t want no part of heaven, I would not do heaven’s work well
I pray the devil comes and takes me to stand in the fiery furnaces of hell

Johnny 99

Well they closed down the auto plant in Mahwah late that month
Ralph went out lookin' for a job but he couldn't find none
He came home too drunk from mixin' Tanqueray and wine
He got a gun shot a night clerk now they call him Johnny 99
Down in the part of town where when you hit a red light you don't stop
Johnny's wavin' his gun around and threatenin' to blow his top
When an off-duty cop snuck up on him from behind
Out in front of the Club Tip Top they slapped the cuffs on Johnny 99

Well the city supplied a public defender but the judge was Mean John Brown
He came into the courtroom and stared young Johnny down
Well the evidence is clear gonna let the sentence son fit the crime
Prison for 98 and a year and we'll call it even Johnny 99

A fist fight broke out in the courtroom they had to drag Johnny's girl away
His mama stood up and shouted "Judge don't take my boy this way"
Well son you got a statement you'd like to make
Before the bailiff comes to forever take you away

Now judge I had debts no honest man could pay
The bank was holdin' my mortgage and they were gonna take my house away
Now I ain't sayin' that makes me an innocent man
But it was more `n all this that put that gun in my hand

Well your honor I do believe I'd be better off dead
So if you can take a man's life for the thoughts that's in his head
Then sit back in that chair and think it over judge one more time
And let `em shave off my hair and put me on that killin' line


All of the Ghost of Tom Joad and Nebraska albums

[Ziggy Stardust]

Pretty much anything Bruce Springsteen writes eg.

The River

I come from down in the valley where mister when you're young
They bring you up to do like your daddy done
Me and mary we met in high school when she was just seventeen
Wed ride out of that valley down to where the fields were green

Wed go down to the river
And into the river wed dive
Oh down to the river wed ride

Then I got mary pregnant and man that was all she wrote
And for my nineteen birthday I got a union card and a wedding coat
We went down to the courthouse and the judge put it all to rest
No wedding day smiles no walk down the aisle
No flowers no wedding dress
That night we went down to the river
And into the river wed dive
On down to the river we did ride

I got a job working construction for the johnstown company
But lately there aint been much work on account of the economy
Now all them things that seemed so important
Well mister they vanished right into the air
Now I just act like I don't remember, mary acts like she don't care
But I remember us riding in my brothers car
Her body tan and wet down at the reservoir
At night on them banks I'd lie awake
And pull her close just to feel each breath she'd take
Now those memories come back to haunt me, they haunt me like a curse
Is a dream a lie if it don't come true
Or is it something worse that sends me
Down to the river though I know the river is dry
Down to the river, my baby and i
Oh down to the river we ride

Simple and to the point but haunting.



This is one of my favorite songs that the Boss does.

And haunting is right because how many of us have come close to having this happen to us?