psionic11 Posted October 12, 2007 Share Posted October 12, 2007 Neil is human, and not all his lyrics are great. Since the thread of least favorite songs had pretty good responses, I'm curious to see what the reactions to this post are going to be. One of Neil's strengths is his ability to play with words. And weave new concepts out of sterile terms. Sometimes it backfires and flops. A quality of justice A quantity of light A particle of mercy Makes the color of right Dog years - It's the season of the itch Dog years - With every scratch it reappears Dog years - For every sad son of a bitch Dog years - With his tail between his ears Net boy, net girl Send your impulse 'round the world Put your message in a modem And throw it in the Cyber Sea Stay! Go! Work! No! Learn! Live! Earn! Give! Stay or fight? What's right? Listen! FACE UP - Or you can only back down FACE UP - Hit the target, or you better hit the ground FACE UP - There's still time to turn the game around FACE UP - Turn it up - Or turn that wild card down Turn it up Don't complain Don't explain I don't think my new resolve Can stand the strain SNAP! Hide in your shell, let the world go to hell It's like Russian roulette to you SNAP! Sweat running cold, you can't face growing old It's a personal threat to you SNAP! The world is a cage for your impotent rage But don't let it get to you SNAP! Truth is false and logic lost Now the fourth dimension is crossed One, two, three - Add without subtraction Sound on sound Multiplied reaction H to O No flow without the other He's got a force field and a flexible plan He's got a date with fate in a black sedan He plays fast forward for as long as he can But he won't need a bed - Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snowdog2112 Posted October 12, 2007 Share Posted October 12, 2007 I don't have any problem with people criticizing Neil's lyrics but with so many songs it's a little unfair to expect everything to be universally considered great. He's written so much that's astonishingly good that some ordinary lyrics suffer by comparison. Think about this for a moment, I'm a huge Van Halen fan, but these are the lyrics they came up with for one of those three relatively new songs they made three years ago. These are what most rock lyrics are: "Well! She treat me like a personal Jesus Got the hand...put it where its gonna heal ya Got the finger...put it right there on the trigger Well, pump it up, pump it up Baby make it bigger Well... Im Going crazy Pumping it up, pumping it up (ewww ohhh ya) It's gonna heal ya She put the cream in my coffee (first thing in the morning) Put that butter on my biscuit (honeydew my melons) Cherries on bananas (gonna need a second helpin') You know I'm up for breakfast so early in the morning Lock the front ...Leave the back door open Hot tub loosen up ...baby been soaking Been tokin'...been sippin' Slip slide slippin ... all got me tripping Well... Im Going crazy Keeping it up... pumping it up, pumping it up Aint gonna kill ya She put the cream in my coffee (first thing in the morning) Spread that butter on my biscuit (honeydew my melon) Put berries on bananas (I need a second helping) That's why I'm up for breakfast so early in the morning Wake me up babe Hold me up, wake me up... Gotta get [ Lyrics provided by www.mp3lyrics.org ] up, gotta get up, gotta get up, gotta get up. [ GUITAR SOLO ] She put the cream in my coffee (first thing in the morning) Spread hot butter on my biscuit (honeydew my melon) Like them cherries on bananas (gonna need a second helping) Thats why I'm up for breakfast so early in the morning Got bacon on the table (first thing in the morning) Squeeze some honey on my biscuit (honeydew my melon) Spread some cream on my bananas (I need a second helping) You know I'm up for breakfast so early in the mornin' Hot sweet sticky Get it up, get it up, get it up Wake me up babe Wake me up babe Lift me up baby Gotta get up, Gotta get up Hot coffee first thing in the morningGotta get up" Imagine Neil writing these and all of a sudden everything you listed looks like Shakespeare. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deadwing2112 Posted October 12, 2007 Share Posted October 12, 2007 "We are strangers to the same chromosome." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeddyRulz Posted October 12, 2007 Share Posted October 12, 2007 QUOTE (snowdog2112 @ Oct 11 2007, 09:01 PM) Imagine Neil writing these and all of a sudden everything you listed looks like Shakespeare. True! Even Neil's worst lyrics say more than your typical Cock Rocker band. But... I see red It hurts my head Couldn't we talk about something else instead? Sounds like the poem of an 8th grader. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deadwing Posted October 12, 2007 Share Posted October 12, 2007 QUOTE (psionic11 @ Oct 11 2007, 09:47 PM) Neil is human, and not all his lyrics are great. Since the thread of least favorite songs had pretty good responses, I'm curious to see what the reactions to this post are going to be. One of Neil's strengths is his ability to play with words. And weave new concepts out of sterile terms. Sometimes it backfires and flops. A quality of justice A quantity of light A particle of mercy Makes the color of right Dog years - It's the season of the itch Dog years - With every scratch it reappears Dog years - For every sad son of a bitch Dog years - With his tail between his ears Net boy, net girl Send your impulse 'round the world Put your message in a modem And throw it in the Cyber Sea Stay! Go! Work! No! Learn! Live! Earn! Give! Stay or fight? What's right? Listen! FACE UP - Or you can only back down FACE UP - Hit the target, or you better hit the ground FACE UP - There's still time to turn the game around FACE UP - Turn it up - Or turn that wild card down Turn it up Don't complain Don't explain I don't think my new resolve Can stand the strain SNAP! Hide in your shell, let the world go to hell It's like Russian roulette to you SNAP! Sweat running cold, you can't face growing old It's a personal threat to you SNAP! The world is a cage for your impotent rage But don't let it get to you SNAP! Truth is false and logic lost Now the fourth dimension is crossed One, two, three - Add without subtraction Sound on sound Multiplied reaction H to O No flow without the other He's got a force field and a flexible plan He's got a date with fate in a black sedan He plays fast forward for as long as he can But he won't need a bed - I think that pretty much covers all of the ones I don't like. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WCFIELDS Posted October 12, 2007 Share Posted October 12, 2007 Nobody's Hero You Bet Your Life Dog Years Virtuality are a few that come to mind.......lots of "sections" in other songs also....... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WCFIELDS Posted October 12, 2007 Share Posted October 12, 2007 I like that show where they solve all the murders An heroic point of view It's got justice and vengeance too At least so the story goes I like that story, makes a satisfying case But there's a messy point of view That's sadly just as true For so many among us Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scottw Posted October 12, 2007 Share Posted October 12, 2007 For me, it's War Paint. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Owl Posted October 12, 2007 Share Posted October 12, 2007 I have never understood why some hate Nobody's Hero, personally I love the lyrics in the song. well to each his own Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
psionic11 Posted October 12, 2007 Author Share Posted October 12, 2007 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snowdog2112 Posted October 12, 2007 Share Posted October 12, 2007 QUOTE "We are strangers to the same chromosome." Good grief, if you're going to pick on his lyrics you should at least know what they are. What you wrote makes no sense. The actual line is "You and I, we are strangers by one chromosome". It's a creative way to separate men from women. Alien Shore is my favorite song on Counterparts musically and lyrically and one of my all-time favorite Rush songs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
psionic11 Posted October 12, 2007 Author Share Posted October 12, 2007 Alien Shore is definitely a winner in several categories. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snowdog2112 Posted October 12, 2007 Share Posted October 12, 2007 Fair points psionic, I think that most of that just has to to with who Neil is. He is comfortable with structure and formality for the most part and that can be a strength or a weakness depending on what you like. It appeals to me personally more because I guess I'm kind of a control freak who appreciates order more than chaos. I'm not saying that makes it better though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PuppetKing2112 Posted October 12, 2007 Share Posted October 12, 2007 Keeping with the "Alien Shore" trend: QUOTE For you and me, we hold these truths to be self-evident For you and me, we'd elect each other president Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snowdog2112 Posted October 12, 2007 Share Posted October 12, 2007 QUOTE "I'm doper than fly as I holla out to the schnizzle shorties" By the way, I laughed out loud when I read this, thanks. I'm so un-hip though that these could be real lyrics and I wouldn't know the difference. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
softfilter Posted October 12, 2007 Share Posted October 12, 2007 QUOTE (psionic11 @ Oct 11 2007, 08:47 PM) Stay! Go! Work! No! Learn! Live! Earn! Give! Stay or fight? What's right? Listen! Ya know , I'm almost ashamed to say but up to just now, I was never able to decipher Geddy on Didacts and Narpets except... LISTEN!!!!!! Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deadwing Posted October 12, 2007 Share Posted October 12, 2007 QUOTE (psionic11 @ Oct 12 2007, 12:48 AM) What other lyricist is mentioned more in English class? (Dylan? Lennon? McCartney?) Actually as a matter of fact, yes, Dylan for his poetry book Tarantula and his lyrics, and particularly John Lennon and Paul McCartney. There are university English courses offered at Cambridge and Oxford and a few schools in Canada and the United States that consist entirely of analysing Beatles lyrics, "Eleanor Rigby" being one of them as an apparent perfect study of loneliness, as well as Lennon's books that he has written. And don't forget Leonard Cohen, both a master writer of novels and poems and a great lyricist. He's constantly studied in both high school and university for both sides of his writing personality. I still really like your post though, and still think most of Neil's work is top notch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Owl Posted October 12, 2007 Share Posted October 12, 2007 Even with the "Bad lyrics" of some of the songs you mention, I still listen to the songs. I may not care for the lyrics, but I enjoy the music very much. I just try in these instances to listen past the lyrics. I like "Dog years" very much....musically speaking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theanalogkid Posted October 12, 2007 Share Posted October 12, 2007 God, I have always wanted them to re-do Virtuality with mew lyrics. I LOVE the riffs and music to the song, but the lyrics certainly turn me off. Peart's cerebral lyric writing is a BIG part of why I love Rush, but I do have to admit, there are some less-than-strong examples in the catalog. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
King Rygar Posted October 12, 2007 Share Posted October 12, 2007 I knew that he was gay But that didn't bother me I went to his gay parties as the straight minority never seemed a threat to my masculinity he only introduced me to men all on their knees Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snowdog2112 Posted October 12, 2007 Share Posted October 12, 2007 QUOTE I have never understood why some hate Nobody's Hero, personally I love the lyrics in the song. well to each his own QUOTE I knew that he was gay But that didn't bother me I went to his gay parties as the straight minority never seemed a threat to my masculinity he only introduced me to men all on their knees Nobody's Hero was discussed on another thread and when someone asked why it wasn't more popular I responded that a lot of it has to do with homophobic attitudes. Almost every time I hear NH referenced outside of Rush fan boards (and sometimes on the boards) it's referred to as "that gay song". Then someone on that thread said I was being offensive by suggesting that if you don't like NH then you're a homophobe. That's not what I said but anyone who denies that it's one of the main issues must be blind. I don't know if King Rygar is making fun of the song here or making fun of people's attitudes toward the song but it's almost always the focal point of the criticism. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JDL2112 Posted October 12, 2007 Share Posted October 12, 2007 QUOTE (psionic11 @ Oct 11 2007, 09:56 PM) Alien Shore is definitely a winner in several categories. This is a great song! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frankie7 Posted October 12, 2007 Share Posted October 12, 2007 QUOTE (King Rygar @ Oct 12 2007, 10:58 AM) I knew that he was gay But that didn't bother me I went to his gay parties as the straight minority never seemed a threat to my masculinity he only introduced me to men all on their knees Sorry, but that's just dumb. Do you feel threatened by homosexuality or something? You should be happy there are gays, leaves more women for the rest of you guys (if you're indeed a man ). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edie Posted October 12, 2007 Share Posted October 12, 2007 QUOTE (King Rygar @ Oct 12 2007, 03:58 PM) I knew that he was gay But that didn't bother me I went to his gay parties as the straight minority never seemed a threat to my masculinity he only introduced me to men all on their knees Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mustard Death Posted October 12, 2007 Share Posted October 12, 2007 QUOTE (GeddyRulz @ Oct 11 2007, 10:25 PM) QUOTE (snowdog2112 @ Oct 11 2007, 09:01 PM) Imagine Neil writing these and all of a sudden everything you listed looks like Shakespeare. True! Even Neil's worst lyrics say more than your typical Cock Rocker band. But... I see red It hurts my head Couldn't we talk about something else instead? Sounds like the poem of an 8th grader. What's wrong with a little simplicity from time to time? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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