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Under-appreciated lyricists and lyrics!


Entre_Perpetuo
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So you all know the greats, but this isn't for them. Leave Dylan out of it! :P

 

Here's the place to appreciate some of the more under-appreciated lyricists and their verses.

 

 

For me today it has to be Kerry Livgren of Kansas (with Steve Walsh and his fellow collaborators when applicable). Listening to Leftoverture right now, and it's just now striking me how key the lyrics are to these songs. They're as vital and poignant as the music itself in many cases, and I feel like no one ever talks about that.

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Peter Hammill and Van Der Graaf Generator, some of the darkest and greatest lyrics that I love.

 

Listen to A plague of light house keepers

 

I know that there's no time

I know that there's no rhyme...

false signs find me

I don't want to hate,

I just want to grow;

why can't I let me

live and be free?..but I die very slowly alone.

I know no more ways,

I am so afraid,

myself won't let me

just be myself and so I am completely alone....

The maelstrom of my memory

is a vampire and it feeds on me

now, staggering madly, over the brink I

fall.

vi. (Custard's) Last Stand

Lighthouses might house the key

but can I reach the door?

I want to walk on the sea

so that I may better find ashore...

but how can I ever keep my feet dry?

I scan the horizon

I must keep my eyes on all parts of me.

Looking back on the years

it seems that I have lost

the way:

Like a dog in the night, I have run to a manger

...now I am the stranger I stay in.

All of the grief I have seen

leaves me chasing solitary peace;

but I hold experience in my head....

I'm too close to the light

I don't think I see right, for I blind me....

vii. The Clot Thickens

WHERE is the God that guides my hand?

HOW can the hands of others reach me?

WHEN will I find what I grope for?

WHO is going to teach me?

I am me/me are we/we can't see

any way out of here.

Crashing sea/atrophied history:

Chance has lost my Guinevere....

I don't want to be one wave in the water

But sea will drag me deep

One more haggard DROWNED MAN...

I can see the Lemmings coming, but I know I'm just a man;

Do I join or do I founder? Which can is the best I may?

viii. Land's End (Sineline)/We Go Now

Oceans drifting sideways, I am pulled into the spell;

I feel you around me...I know you well.

Stars slice horizons where the lines stand much too stark;

I feel I am drowning...hands stretch in the dark.

Camps of panoply and majesty, what is Freedom of Choice?

Where do I stand in the pageantry...whose is my voice?

It doesn't feel so very bad now: I think the end is the start.

Begin to feel very glad now:

ALL THINGS ARE A PART

ALL THINGS ARE APART

ALL THINGS ARE A PART.

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I'm going through a singer/songwriter phase at the moment, and two guys that I have really come to appreciate are Steve Forbert and Steve Earle ... I think Forbert esp is very underrated

I saw Steve Forbert in concert once years ago and he was excellent. I always thought he would end up bigger.

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Peter Hammill and Van Der Graaf Generator, some of the darkest and greatest lyrics that I love.

 

Listen to A plague of light house keepers

 

I know that there's no time

I know that there's no rhyme...

false signs find me

I don't want to hate,

I just want to grow;

why can't I let me

live and be free?..but I die very slowly alone.

I know no more ways,

I am so afraid,

myself won't let me

just be myself and so I am completely alone....

The maelstrom of my memory

is a vampire and it feeds on me

now, staggering madly, over the brink I

fall.

vi. (Custard's) Last Stand

Lighthouses might house the key

but can I reach the door?

I want to walk on the sea

so that I may better find ashore...

but how can I ever keep my feet dry?

I scan the horizon

I must keep my eyes on all parts of me.

Looking back on the years

it seems that I have lost

the way:

Like a dog in the night, I have run to a manger

...now I am the stranger I stay in.

All of the grief I have seen

leaves me chasing solitary peace;

but I hold experience in my head....

I'm too close to the light

I don't think I see right, for I blind me....

vii. The Clot Thickens

WHERE is the God that guides my hand?

HOW can the hands of others reach me?

WHEN will I find what I grope for?

WHO is going to teach me?

I am me/me are we/we can't see

any way out of here.

Crashing sea/atrophied history:

Chance has lost my Guinevere....

I don't want to be one wave in the water

But sea will drag me deep

One more haggard DROWNED MAN...

I can see the Lemmings coming, but I know I'm just a man;

Do I join or do I founder? Which can is the best I may?

viii. Land's End (Sineline)/We Go Now

Oceans drifting sideways, I am pulled into the spell;

I feel you around me...I know you well.

Stars slice horizons where the lines stand much too stark;

I feel I am drowning...hands stretch in the dark.

Camps of panoply and majesty, what is Freedom of Choice?

Where do I stand in the pageantry...whose is my voice?

It doesn't feel so very bad now: I think the end is the start.

Begin to feel very glad now:

ALL THINGS ARE A PART

ALL THINGS ARE APART

ALL THINGS ARE A PART.

 

That literally reads like some of my more convoluted poems, but I think it's awesome! I'll have to check that song out. Now that Halloween has passed, I might slip back into some comfortable prog Rock and see how much farther out I can get before another taste attracts my attention. Kansas and Genesis sounded great and refreshing today.

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Peter Hammill and Van Der Graaf Generator, some of the darkest and greatest lyrics that I love.

 

Listen to A plague of light house keepers

 

I know that there's no time

I know that there's no rhyme...

false signs find me

I don't want to hate,

I just want to grow;

why can't I let me

live and be free?..but I die very slowly alone.

I know no more ways,

I am so afraid,

myself won't let me

just be myself and so I am completely alone....

The maelstrom of my memory

is a vampire and it feeds on me

now, staggering madly, over the brink I

fall.

vi. (Custard's) Last Stand

Lighthouses might house the key

but can I reach the door?

I want to walk on the sea

so that I may better find ashore...

but how can I ever keep my feet dry?

I scan the horizon

I must keep my eyes on all parts of me.

Looking back on the years

it seems that I have lost

the way:

Like a dog in the night, I have run to a manger

...now I am the stranger I stay in.

All of the grief I have seen

leaves me chasing solitary peace;

but I hold experience in my head....

I'm too close to the light

I don't think I see right, for I blind me....

vii. The Clot Thickens

WHERE is the God that guides my hand?

HOW can the hands of others reach me?

WHEN will I find what I grope for?

WHO is going to teach me?

I am me/me are we/we can't see

any way out of here.

Crashing sea/atrophied history:

Chance has lost my Guinevere....

I don't want to be one wave in the water

But sea will drag me deep

One more haggard DROWNED MAN...

I can see the Lemmings coming, but I know I'm just a man;

Do I join or do I founder? Which can is the best I may?

viii. Land's End (Sineline)/We Go Now

Oceans drifting sideways, I am pulled into the spell;

I feel you around me...I know you well.

Stars slice horizons where the lines stand much too stark;

I feel I am drowning...hands stretch in the dark.

Camps of panoply and majesty, what is Freedom of Choice?

Where do I stand in the pageantry...whose is my voice?

It doesn't feel so very bad now: I think the end is the start.

Begin to feel very glad now:

ALL THINGS ARE A PART

ALL THINGS ARE APART

ALL THINGS ARE A PART.

 

Wow... that song made me want to buy that album and get into VDGG. Patience will now be key.

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But as far as Livgren is concerned, this is masterful:

I'm woven in a fantasy,

I can't believe the things I see

The path that I have chosen now has led me to a wall

And with each passing day I feel a little more like something dear was lost

 

It rises now before me,

A dark and silent barrier between,

All I am, and all that I would ever want to be

It's just a travesty,

Towering, marking off the boundaries my spirit would erase

 

To pass beyond is what I seek,

I fear that I may be too weak

And those are few who've seen it through to glimpse the other side,

The promised land is waiting like a maiden that is soon to be a bride

 

The moment is a masterpiece,

The weight of indecision's in the air

Standing there,

The symbol and the sum of all that's me

It's just a travesty,

Towering, blocking out the light and blinding me

I want to see

 

Gold and diamonds cast a spell,

It's not for me, I know it well

The riches that I seek are waiting on the other side

There's more than I can measure in the treasures of the love that I can find

 

And though it's always been with me,

I must tear down the wall and let it be

All I am, and all that I was ever meant to be,

In harmony

Shining true and smiling back at all who wait to cross

There is no loss

 

"The Wall"

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Matt Bellamy (Muse)

 

Chase your dreams away

 

Glass needles in the hay

 

The sun forgives the clouds

 

You are my holy shroud

 

I just don't care if it's real

 

That won't change how it feels

 

I just don't care if it's real

 

That won't change how it feels

 

No, it doesn't change

 

And you can't resist

 

Making me feel

 

Eternally missed

 

And you can't resist

 

And you can't resist

 

Making me feel

 

Chase your dreams away

 

Glass needles in the hay

 

The sun forgives the clouds

 

You are my holy shroud

 

I just don't care if it's real

 

That won't change how it feels

 

I just don't care if it's real

 

That won't change how it feels

 

No, it doesn't change

 

And you can't resist

 

Making me feel

 

Eternally missed

 

You can't resist

 

You can't resist

 

Making me feel

 

You can't resist

 

Making me feel

 

Eternally missed

 

You can't resist

 

You can't resist

 

Making me feel

 

You can't resist

 

Making me feel

 

Eternally missed

 

And you can't resist

 

And you can't resist

 

Making me feel

Edited by Boots
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Matt Bellamy (Muse)

 

Chase your dreams away

 

Glass needles in the hay

 

The sun forgives the clouds

 

You are my holy shroud

 

I just don't care if it's real

 

That won't change how it feels

 

I just don't care if it's real

 

That won't change how it feels

 

No, it doesn't change

 

And you can't resist

 

Making me feel

 

Eternally missed

 

And you can't resist

 

And you can't resist

 

Making me feel

 

Chase your dreams away

 

Glass needles in the hay

 

The sun forgives the clouds

 

You are my holy shroud

 

I just don't care if it's real

 

That won't change how it feels

 

I just don't care if it's real

 

That won't change how it feels

 

No, it doesn't change

 

And you can't resist

 

Making me feel

 

Eternally missed

 

You can't resist

 

You can't resist

 

Making me feel

 

You can't resist

 

Making me feel

 

Eternally missed

 

You can't resist

 

You can't resist

 

Making me feel

 

You can't resist

 

Making me feel

 

Eternally missed

 

And you can't resist

 

And you can't resist

 

Making me feel

 

Nice cut! Definitely one that should've made the album.

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Hard to get better than David Coverdale

 

I believe my love for you

Is a love that will last forever,

An' I'm here to testify

I'm a prisoner of your heart

Baby don't you believe

When I tell you I love you

That I really mean it,

Don't you walk away,

Don't you turn your back on me

 

or Sammy Hagar

 

Mmm, slip n' slide, push it in, uh

A-bitch sure got the rhythm

Holdin' back, yeah I got control

Oh, hooked into her system, uh

 

Maybe Brian Johnson

 

Let me put my love into you, babe

Let me put my love on the line

Let me put my love into you, babe

Let me cut your cake with my knife

;)

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Hard to get better than David Coverdale

 

I believe my love for you

Is a love that will last forever,

An' I'm here to testify

I'm a prisoner of your heart

Baby don't you believe

When I tell you I love you

That I really mean it,

Don't you walk away,

Don't you turn your back on me

 

or Sammy Hagar

 

Mmm, slip n' slide, push it in, uh

A-bitch sure got the rhythm

Holdin' back, yeah I got control

Oh, hooked into her system, uh

 

Maybe Brian Johnson

 

Let me put my love into you, babe

Let me put my love on the line

Let me put my love into you, babe

Let me cut your cake with my knife

;)

 

Johnson's grasp of pentameter is more than masterful, it's shameless.

Edited by vaportrailer
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Hard to get better than David Coverdale

 

I believe my love for you

Is a love that will last forever,

An' I'm here to testify

I'm a prisoner of your heart

Baby don't you believe

When I tell you I love you

That I really mean it,

Don't you walk away,

Don't you turn your back on me

 

or Sammy Hagar

 

Mmm, slip n' slide, push it in, uh

A-bitch sure got the rhythm

Holdin' back, yeah I got control

Oh, hooked into her system, uh

 

Maybe Brian Johnson

 

Let me put my love into you, babe

Let me put my love on the line

Let me put my love into you, babe

Let me cut your cake with my knife

;)

 

Funny how you didn't list Bon Scott... probably because his innuendo filled, outlaw, overtly sexual, violent brand of lyricism was actually poetically nuanced and totally entertaining. Bon Scott = great lyricist

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Hard to get better than David Coverdale

 

I believe my love for you

Is a love that will last forever,

An' I'm here to testify

I'm a prisoner of your heart

Baby don't you believe

When I tell you I love you

That I really mean it,

Don't you walk away,

Don't you turn your back on me

 

or Sammy Hagar

 

Mmm, slip n' slide, push it in, uh

A-bitch sure got the rhythm

Holdin' back, yeah I got control

Oh, hooked into her system, uh

 

Maybe Brian Johnson

 

Let me put my love into you, babe

Let me put my love on the line

Let me put my love into you, babe

Let me cut your cake with my knife

;)

 

Funny how you didn't list Bon Scott... probably because his innuendo filled, outlaw, overtly sexual, violent brand of lyricism was actually poetically nuanced and totally entertaining. Bon Scott = great lyricist

 

Scott, like David Lee Roth and Steven Tyler, was more of a "sly" lyricist. Coverdale, Hagar and Johnson are ham handed or sappy.

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Crowded House - Four Seasons in one Day

 

Four seasons in one day

Lying in the depths of your imagination

Worlds above and worlds below

The sun shines on the black clouds hanging over the domain

 

Even when you're feeling warm

The temperature could drop away

Like four seasons in one day

 

Smiling as the shit comes down

You can tell a man from what he has to say

Everything gets turned around

And I will risk my neck again, again

 

You can take me where you will

Up the creek and through the mill

Like all the things you can't explain

Four seasons in one day

 

Blood dries up

Like rain, like rain

Fills my cup

Like four seasons in one day

 

It doesn't pay to make predictions

Sleeping on an unmade bed

Finding out wherever there is comfort there is pain

Only one step away

Like four seasons in one day

 

Blood dries up

Like rain, like rain

Fills my cup

Like four seasons in one day

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24 posts, and no one has mentioned Gene Summons or Paul Stanley?

 

Examples are too many to list, but they give Hagar a run for his money. (Sorry, can't mention Simmons without using a cliche or mentioning money)

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