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Most Genius Lyrics You've Ever Heard


Flavia2112
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What are the most mind-blowing, clever, rewind-and-listen-to-the-song-again lyrics you've ever heard?

 

I know this is The Rush Forum, and Neil wrote a lot of genius lyrics, so most of these responses will be Rush lyrics, but mine... isn't :blink:. It's from the song "Broken Places" by the Roches.

 

"When the chips are down, we play our aces

Hiding them in our broken places"

 

What's a broken place? A heart. A broken heart. But you don't hide aces in your heart--you hide them up your sleeve. So if an ace is up your sleeve and that's your heart, you're wearing your heart on your sleeve.

That took me around ten years to figure out and blew my mind.

 

Also worth mentioning is "The hopeful depend on a world without end/Whatever the hopeless may say" from "Manhattan Project"--however you feel about nuclear technology, I've always liked the double meaning of "hopeless."

 

:haz:

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The closing statement of In the Beginning, by the Moody Blues:

 

"There you go man.

Keep as cool as you can.

Face piles of trials with smiles; it riles

them to believe that you perceive the web they weave,

and keep on thinking free."

Edited by pjbear05
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Dylan, "Highlands" -

 

Insanity is smashin' up against my soul

You could say I was on anything but a roll

If I had a conscience, well I just might blow my top

What would I do with it anyway, maybe take it to the pawn shop.

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I'm not a big believer in the idea that musicians are particularly insightful about the human condition, a lot of times I think pretty simplistic lyrics masquerade as poignant, particularly if you happen to love the song.

 

That said, ironically enough, a line from an Aerosmith song I don't really care for (Amazing) has what I think is a pretty good way of looking at things, especially as you get older and your life becomes more busy:

 

"Life's a journey, not a destination." It's really just a version of "take time to stop and smell the roses," but I still like it.

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I'm not a big believer in the idea that musicians are particularly insightful about the human condition, a lot of times I think pretty simplistic lyrics masquerade as poignant, particularly if you happen to love the song.

 

That said, ironically enough, a line from an Aerosmith song I don't really care for (Amazing) has what I think is a pretty good way of looking at things, especially as you get older and your life becomes more busy:

 

"Life's a journey, not a destination." It's really just a version of "take time to stop and smell the roses," but I still like it.

 

"The point of the journey...is not to arrive"

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From The Rainmakers "Another Guitar":

 

"There's just something

in that music that makes us

do that dance

in that special brew of tears and

beer and fear and romance."

 

From The Drive-by Truckers "Gravity's Gone":

 

 

"So I'll meet you at the bottom if there really is one

They always told me when you hit it you'll know it

But I've been falling so long it's like gravity's gone and I'm just floating."

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From The Rainmakers "Another Guitar":

 

"There's just something

in that music that makes us

do that dance

in that special brew of tears and

beer and fear and romance."

 

From The Drive-by Truckers "Gravity's Gone":

 

 

"So I'll meet you at the bottom if there really is one

They always told me when you hit it you'll know it

But I've been falling so long it's like gravity's gone and I'm just floating."

DBT's have a lot of very quotable lines. You could post all the lyrics from The Dirty South!
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How I wish, how I wish you were here

We're just two lost souls

Swimming in a fish bowl

Year after year

Running over the same old ground

What have we found?

The same old fears

Wish you were here

Pink Floyd - Wish You Were Here

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Remember when the days were long

And rolled beneath a deep blue sky

Didn't have a care in the world

With mommy and daddy standing by

When "happily ever after" fails

And we've been poisoned by these fairy tales

The lawyers dwell on small details

Since daddy had to fly

Don Henley - The End Of The Innocence

Edited by zepphead
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Remember when the days were long

And rolled beneath a deep blue sky

Didn't have a care in the world

With mommy and daddy standing by

When "happily ever after" fails

And we've been poisoned by these fairy tales

The lawyers dwell on small details

Since daddy had to fly

Don Henley - The End Of The Innocence

 

You don't see no hearses with luggage racks

 

A man with a briefcase can steal more money than any man with a gun

 

 

 

The cowboy’s name was jingo

And he knew that there was trouble

So in a blaze of glory

He rode out of the west

 

No one was ever certain

What it was that he was sayin’

But they loved it when he told them

They were better than the rest

Edited by driventotheedge
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Send me money, send me green, heaven you will meet

Make a contribution and you'll get the better seat

Lie, lie, lie, lie, lie, lie, lie, lie

Edited by driventotheedge
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Charlie Daniels

 

People say I'm no good and crazy as a loon

'Cause I get stoned in the morning

And get drunk in the afternoon

Kinda like my old blue tick hound

I like to lay around in the shade

And I ain't got no money but I damn sure got it made

'Cause I ain't asking nobody for nothin'

If I cant get it on my own

If you don't like the way I'm livin'

You just leave this long-haired country boy alone

Preacher man talking on T.V.

Puttin' down the rock and roll

Wants me to send a donation

'Cause he's worried about my soul

He said Jesus walked on the water

And I know that it's true

But sometimes I think that preacherman

Would like to do a little walking too

But I ain't asking nobody for nothin'

If I cant get it on my own

If you don't like the way I'm livin'

You just leave this long-haired country boy alone

A poor girl wants to marry

And a rich girl wants to flirt

A rich man goes to college

And a poor man goes to work

A drunkard wants another drink of wine

And a politician wants a vote

I don't want much of nothin' at all

But I will take another toke

But I ain't asking nobody for nothin'

If I can't get it on my own

If you don't like the way I'm livin'

You just leave this long-haired country boy alone

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And bandmate Grant Hart

It was his aluminum

That attracted her to him

And quite a day there did unfold

Turning garbage into gold

Charity, chastity, prudence, and hope

Charity, chastity, prudence, and hope

She took that money in a trunk

And bought a bunch of worthless junk

And now they're back where they began

Digging through the trash for cans

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This song is so meta.

This song has nothing tricky about it

This song ain't black or white and as far as I know

Don't infringe on anyone's copyright, so

This song, we'll let be

This song is in E

This song is for you and

This tune has nothing bright about it

This tune ain't bad or good and come ever what may

My expert tells me it's okay

As this song came to me

Unknowingly

This song could be you could be, ooh

This riff ain't trying to win gold medals

This riff ain't hip or square, well-done or rare

May end up one more weight to bear

But this song could well be

A reason to see

That without you there's no point to this song

Ooh, ooh

But this song could well be

A reason to see

That without you there's no point to this song

Edited by invisible airwave
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Mostly rap lyrics tend to make me do double takes moreso than any other style of vocals. There's just a lot more of an opportunity for internal rhyme on top of double entendre on top of poignance or interesting observations when rapping. Dylan comes close sometimes though since he crams so many words into his songs, and since he's a genius.

 

Here's a verse by André 3000 from an OutKast song I really love called Elevators (Me And You)

 

 

Got stopped at the mall the other day

Heard a call from the other way that I just came from

Some n**** was saying something, talking 'bout smoke something "Hey, man, you remember me from school?"

"No, not really"

But he kept smiling like a clown, facial expression looking silly

And he kept asking me, "What kinda car you drive?

I know you paid, I know y'all got beaucoup hoes

From all them songs that y'all done made"

And I replied that I had been going through the same things that he had

True, I've got more fans than the average man

But not enough loot to last me to the end of the week

I live by the beat like you live check-to-check

If it don't move your feet, then, I don't eat, so we like neck-to-neck

Yes, we done come a long way like them slim-ass cigarettes

From Virginia, this ain't gon' stop, so we just gon' continue

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Okay, right after I created this thread I listened to Power Windows, and now I've got another genius lyric to add. I can't believe I've been obsessed with the song "Territories" for like forever and only realized this now.

 

The whole wide world, an endless universe

Yet we keep looking through the eyeglass in reverse

 

For the longest time I just thought Neil meant a spyglass, instead of an eyeglass. Like a telescope. And then I realized it could actually mean eyeglasses. If you're looking through your eyeglasses in reverse, you're looking at yourself.

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