Song lyrics for Nikol

[dumblemop]

Because Nikol asked, and my favorites don't fit in 129 characters. Pick and choose as your need suits you!

Good

Richard Shindell, "Are You Happy Now?"
...in your haste on Halloween
You left your camera on the bed
Where we played roles in black and white
You left a roll of black and white
I set the timer thought of you
Put the lens up to my head
I took a photograph for you
What comes out gray is really red
...
You always asked why I had not
Written you a verse or two
Since that's the one thing I regret
I dedicate this one to you

Dave Matthews, "Gravedigger"
Gravedigger
When you dig my grave
Can you make it shallow
So that I can feel the rain

Most of Tom Lehrer ever.

Ani Difranco, "Little Plastic Castle"
they say goldfish have no memory
i guess their lives are much like mine
the little plastic castle
is a surprise every time
it's hard to say if they are happy
but they don't seem much to mind
...
people talk about my image
like i come in two dimensions
like lipstick is a sign of my declining mind
like what i happen to be wearing the day
that someone takes my picture
is my new statement for all womankind

April March, "Chick Habit"
oh, how your bubble's gonna burst
when you meet another nurse
she'll be driving in a hearse

Belle and Sebastian, "I Don't Love Anyone"
I don't love anything
No, not even Christmas
Especially not that
I don't love anything

I don't love anyone
Well, maybe my sister
Maybe my baby brother too
I don't love anyone

Belle and Sebastian, "If You're Feeling Sinister"
But if you are feeling sinister
Go off and see a minister
Chances are you'll probably feel better
If you stayed and played with yourself

Emerald Rose, "Goth Baby"
Now I've got one heart beating
Two holes in my neck
And for three nights running
I've been a nervous wreck
Won't you come and get me honey
For all eternity
You know I've got to love you
You made a vampire out of me

Carly Simon, "You're So Vain"
You're so vain
You probably think this song is about you
Don't you?
Don't you?

Citizen Cope, "Pablo Picasso"
Helicopters and cameras all shottin' for the station
They say that a wild man defending his lady
But for some odd reason they keep calling you a painting

Dar Williams, "As Cool As I Am"
You look out of the kitchen window and you shake your head and say low,
’if I could believe that stuff, I’d say that woman has a halo,’
And I look out and say, ’yeah, she’s really blond,’

The Dresden Dolls, "The Jeep Song"
i've been driving around town
with my head spinning around
everywhere i look i see
your '96 jeep cherokee

you're a bully and a clown
you made me cry and put me down
after all that ive been through
you'd think i'd hate the sight of you

but with every jeep i see
my broken heart still skips a beat
i guess its just my stupid luck
that all of boston drives that same black fucking truck

it could be him or am i tripping
and i'm crashing into everything
and thinking about skipping town a while
until these cars go out of style...

i try to see it in reverse
it makes the situation hundreds of times worse
when i wonder if it makes you want to cry
every time you see a light blue volvo driving by

so dont tell me that you're off to see the world
i know you wont get very far
dont call me if you get another girl baby
just call me if you get another car

the number of them is insane
every exit's an exboyfriend memory lane
every major street's a minor heart attack
i see a red jeep and i want to paint it black

it could be him or am i tripping
and i'm crashing into everything
i can't wait til you trade that fucker in
by then they will have stuck me in the looney bin

it could be him my heart is pounding
its just no use i'm surrounded
but someday i'll steal your car and switch the gears
and drive that cherokee straight off this trail of tears

The Dresden Dolls, "Perfect Fit"
i used to be the tight one
the perfect fit
funny how those compliments can
make you feel so full of it

Bad

I love them, but They Might Be Giants has some really bad lyrics. "I turned off my hearing aid," "What's that blue thing doing there," "Please pass the milk please," "Mysterious whisper," etc.

I'm trying to think of something that's not completely obvious--I can't even listen to a lot of modern popular music because they lyrics are so inane.

I also love Ben Folds, and I enjoy "Song for the Dumped," but I can't honestly say the lyrics are good.
Give me my money back
I want my money back
Give me my money back, you bitch
And don't forget to give me back my black T-shirt

Then there's Neutral Milk Hotel. Love them--but their lyrics make no sense. They sound great, but if you just look at the words your brain wants to run away and hide. Example from "Two Headed Boy":
Two headed boy
With pulleys and weights
Creating a radio played just for two
In the parlor with a moon across her face
And through the music he sweetly displays
Silver speakers that sparkle all day
Made for his lover who's floating and choking with her hands across her face
And in the dark we will take off our clothes
And they'll be placing fingers through the notches in your spine

As I understand it, the lyrics of Pearl Jam's "Yellow Ledbetter" aren't the point of the song--which is good, because I really struggle to find the story in them. The song is good, but the lyrics appear to be gibberish.
Unsealed
On a porch a letter sat
Then you said I wanna leave it again
Once I saw her on a beach of weathered sand
And on the sand I wanna leave it again... yeah
On a weekend I wanna wish it all away yeah...
And they called and I said that I want what I said
And then I call out again
And the reason oughta leave her calm I know
I said I don't know whether
I'm the boxer or the bag
Can you see them
Out on the porch
But they don't wave
I see them round the front way yeah
And I know I don't want to stay

Comments

[notoriousbrb.livejournal.com]

You are and over acheiver to be sure.

Thanks a million!

[camdown1.livejournal.com]

this is an awesome idea. and seriously, most peral jam takes forever to even try and understand. i can only begin to pick it apart now after having several courses in language, text, and discourse.

[piper-lee.livejournal.com]

Aw, I love Gravedigger. D:


I think the lyrics from Neutral Milk Hotel's In The Aeroplane Over The Sea are pretty good.

What a beautiful face
I have found in this place
That is circling all round the sun
What a beautiful dream
That could flash on the screen
In a blink of an eye and be gone from me
Soft and sweet
Let me hold it close and keep it here with me

And one day we will die
And our ashes will fly from the aeroplane over the sea
But for now we are young
Let us lay in the sun
And count every beautiful thing we can see
Love to be
In the arms of all I'm keeping here with me

What a curious life we have found here tonight
There is music that sounds from the street
There are lights in the clouds
Anne's ghost all around
Hear her voice as it's rolling and ringing through me
Soft and sweet
How the notes all bend and reach above the trees

Now how I remember you
How I would push my fingers through
Your mouth to make those muscles move
That made your voice so smooth and sweet
And now we keep where we don't know
All secrets sleep in winter clothes
With one you loved so long ago
Now he don't even know his name

What a beautiful face
I have found in this place
That is circling all round the sun
And when we meet on a cloud
I'll be laughing out loud
I'll be laughing with everyone I see
Can't believe how strange it is to be anything at all

[piper-lee.livejournal.com]

BTW, keep writing entries. D:

[thetimecamel.livejournal.com]

if it helps any, that song is from the album that jeff mangum wrote after reading the diary of anne frank. but nmh's lyrics are pretty crazy.

[dumblemop.livejournal.com]

I thought they seemed unusually obsessed with Anne Frank but that's the only album I have.

[thetimecamel.livejournal.com]

weeellll...

http://www.sendspace.com/file/hg1slo
nmh - accordian peas

http://www.mediafire.com/?5hdx1szmryz
nmh - on avery island

http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?b0celtfclk0
nmh - when it all caved in

just for fun :)