What are your favourite lyrics?
Now, despite loving singing and songs, and as well as having a near photographic memory, I do find it difficult to pick apart lyrics for an entire song in a first listen – finding favourite lyrics can be tough. So when a lyric really sticks in my mind on first listen I KNOW I’ve got something I want to listen to again and again.
“Yes I know the name, sounds a little bit familiar, like a melody to a dream,
Yes I know, he wore the same face the same clothes, but that was so long ago”
‘Ghosts’ – Chris Cornell
This one (today) is one of my favourite lyrics because I felt it ‘revealed’ the nature of the whole song in a single phrase (the bridge). I felt it summed up what I felt the whole vibe of the song was about… the idea that someone is looking for a person they knew, but that person has left their old life behind and ‘isn’t there anymore’. Beautiful concept and wonderfully captured in song.
“Gentleness, sobriety, so rare in this society, at night a candle’s brighter than the sun”
‘Englishman in New York’ – Sting
Ah another set of favourite lyrics. I like this one because for the longest time I didn’t understand the link between the first half of the line and the second half. Then it dawned on me that (at least in my interpretation) that it was meant to convey the idea that being something rare stands out like a sore thumb. Nice combination of literal and metaphorical in the same line as well… a real eye/ear-opener for me.
“You can’t trust freedom when it’s not in your hand, when everybody’s fighting for the promised land”
‘Civil War’ – Guns N’ Roses
I don’t know what it is about this line that I love, I think it’s the raw visceral energy of the line… coupled with the strong rhyme between ‘hand’ and ‘land’. It just resolves perfectly, both musically and lyrically… yea… it’s a great song!
“You never thought you’d be alone, this far down the line, I know what’s been on your mind… you’re afraid it’s all been wasted time”
‘Wasted Time’ – The Eagles
This is another one that just transcended words for me, I felt it captured a moment into the life of a person (or both people) coming out of a broken relationship. The idea that the time spent on that relationship is lost, dead, wasted time. But the song wraps around on itself by the end and says ‘y’kno what, maybe it hasn’t all been wasted time’. And I like that ‘turnaround’ aspect… a lot!
“But is the best you can be, the best thing to be”
‘Crossroads’ – The Offspring
Great songwriters. I just love the play on words. Is the best you can be, really the best thing to be? I stopped paying attention to the song at that point because I was just totally lost in the world of that one lyric. Wonderful stuff.
There we have it, my favourite five lyrics. Why not share yours below?
Nik Kershaw – All Is Fair
it’s the rhyme for me!
So ask her out, you’ll never guess
She could say no, she could say yes
But you won’t see the show unless
You buy a ticket
Will she fall under your spell
Will she blush and say farewell
Or will she smile at you and tell
You where to stick it?
Nice! I’ll need to listen to more Kershaw.
One of my favourite lyrics is from Pet Shop Boys – The Resurrectionist:
“We’ve all got to want ourselves a living,
All it takes is a little bit of digging.”
The song is based on the story of people who dug up dead bodies to sell for medical science. Those lyrics make me smile as I know what the subject matter is.