[zman102]

"American Pie" by Don McLean has always been one of my favorite songs. Before the internet I didn't realize how the lyrics referred mostly to rock-n-roll groups and their songs (as interpreted by various folks (don't believe Don McLean has ever stated much except to say the song was dedicated to Buddy Holly)).

I tended to interpret the lyrics in my own reference (as I guess we all do). The lines "the birds flew off with a fallout shelter. Eight miles high and falling fast" meant to me the very real fears that we had during the fifties and sixties of having a hydrogen bomb dropped on us. But folks think it refers to the Byrds who had a song "Eight miles high". That makes sense, but I didn't know about the reference for about 35 years. Anyway, I think the song was written about 1969-1971 and if you have never heard it you might enjoy listening to the song. It is long, over 5 minutes, but it is, I think, my all time favorite.


American Pie lyrics

A long long time ago
I can still remember how that music used to make me smile
And I knew if I had my chance
That I could make those people dance
And maybe they'd be happy for a while.
But February made me shiver
With every paper I'd deliver
Bad news on the doorstep
I couldn't take one more step
I can't remember if I cried
When I read about his widowed bride
But something touched me deep inside
The day the music died

{Refrain}
So bye-bye, Miss American Pie
Drove my chevy to the levee
But the levee was dry
And them good old boys were drinkin' whiskey and rye
Singin' this'll be the day that I die
This'll be the day that I die

Did you write the Book of Love
And do you have faith in God above
If the Bible tells you so
Do you believe in rock 'n roll
Can music save your mortal soul
And can you teach me how to dance real slow
Well, I know that you're in love with him
'Cause I saw you dancin' in the gym
You both kicked off your shoes
and I digged those rhythmy blues
I was a lonely teenage broncin' buck
With a pink carnation and a pickup truck
But I knew I was out of luck
The day the music died

I started singin'
{Refrain}

Now for ten years we've been on our own
And moss grows fat on a rollin' stone
But that's not how it used to be
When the jester sang for the King and Queen
In a coat he borrowed from James Dean
And a voice that came from you and me
Oh, and while the King was looking down
The jester stole his thorny crown
The courtroom was adjourned
No verdict was returned
And while Lenin read a book of Marx
The quartet practiced in the park
And we sang dirges in the dark
The day the music died

We were singing
{Refrain}

Helter Skelter in a summer swelter
The birds flew off with a fallout shelter
Eight miles high and falling fast
It landed foul out on the grass
The players tried for a forward pass
With the jester on the sidelines in a cast
Now the half-time air was sweet perfume
While the Sergeants played a marching tune
We all got up to dance
Oh, but we never got the chance
'Cause the players tried to take the field
The marching band refused to yield
Do you recall what was revealed
The day the music died

We started singing
{Refrain}

Oh, and there we were all in one place
A generation Lost in Space
With no time left to start again
So come on, Jack be nimble, Jack be quick
Jack Flash sat on a candlestick
'Cause fire is the Devil's only friend
Oh, and as I watched him on the stage
My hands were clenched in fists of rage
No angel born in hell
Could break that Satan's spell
And as the flames climbed high into the night
To light the sacrificial rite
I saw Satan laughing with delight
The day the music died

He was singing
{Refrain}

I met a girl who sang the blues
And I asked her for some happy news
But she just smiled and turned away
I went down to the sacred store
Where I'd heard the music years before
But the man there said the music woudn't play
And in the streets the children screamed
The lovers cried, and the poets dreamed
But not a word was spoken
The church bells all were broken
And the three men I admire most
The Father, Son and the Holy Ghost
They caught the last train for the coast
The day the music died

And they were singing
{Refrain}

They were singing bye-bye, Miss American Pie
Drove my chevy to the levee
But the levee was dry
Them good old boys were drinking whiskey and rye
Singin' this'll be the day that I die

[gwnn]

you aaaask yourself
who'd watch for me
your only friend, who could it be?
well I hate to say it
but I have to say it
it's probably me.

[Al_U_Card]

Philosophically, something that makes you think...when you drink.

Immanuel Kant was a real pissant
Who was very rarely stable
Heidegger, Heidegger was a boozy beggar
Who could think you under the table
David Hume could out-consume
Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel
And Wittgenstein was a beery swine
Who was just as schloshed as Schlegel

There's nothing Nietzsche couldn't teach ya
'Bout the raising of the wrist
Socrates himself was permanently pissed

John Stuart Mill, of his own free will
With half a pint of shandy got particularly ill
Plato, they say, could stick it away
Half a crate of whiskey every day
Aristotle, Aristotle was a bugger for the bottle
Hobbes was fond of his dram
And Rene Descartes was a drunken fart
"I drink therefore I am"

Yes, Socrates himself is particularly missed
A lovely little thinker but a bugger when he's pissed

[Winstonm]

1) And when I die, and when I'm gone, there'll be one child born in this world to carry on, to carry on.

2) Oh bla di, oh bla da, yeah, la la la la life goes on.

3) All in all you're just another brick in the wall.

4) Go away from my window, leave at your own chosen speed, I'm not the one you want, babe, I'm not the one you need. You say you wanted someone who was never weak but always strong, someone to defend you and protect you, whether you are right or wrong, someone to open each and every door, well, it ain't me, babe, a no, no, no it ain't me, babe, it ain't me you're looking for, babe.

[Lobowolf]

Well I'll be damned
Here comes your ghost again
But that's not unusual
It's just that the moon is full
And you happened to call
And here I sit
Hand on the telephone
Hearing a voice I'd known
A couple of light years ago
Heading straight for a fall

As I remember your eyes
Were bluer than robin's eggs
My poetry was lousy you said
Where are you calling from?
A booth in the midwest
Ten years ago
I bought you some cufflinks
You brought me something
We both know what memories can bring
They bring diamonds and rust

Well you burst on the scene
Already a legend
The unwashed phenomenon
The original vagabond
You strayed into my arms
And there you stayed
Temporarily lost at sea
The Madonna was yours for free
Yes the girl on the half-shell
Would keep you unharmed

Now I see you standing
With brown leaves falling around
And snow in your hair
Now you're smiling out the window
Of that crummy hotel
Over Washington Square
Our breath comes out white clouds
Mingles and hangs in the air
Speaking strictly for me
We both could have died then and there

Now you're telling me
You're not nostalgic
Then give me another word for it
You who are so good with words
And at keeping things vague
Because I need some of that vagueness now
It's all come back too clearly
Yes I loved you dearly
And if you're offering me diamonds and rust
I've already paid


-Diamonds and Rust
Joan Baez

© 1975 Chandos Music (ASCAP)

[y66]

Brown Eyed Girl by Van Morrison. Do you remember when we used to sing sha la la la la ...?

Maggie May by Rod Stewart. Wake up Maggie I think I got something to say to you ...

Might have posted American Pie if zman hadn't already.

Diamonds and Rust? Have never heard all the words to that. Good stuff. It says a lot about Bob Dylan's charm that Joan Baez could have fallen so hard for him. Still hard to believe though.

[jonottawa]

She was a fast machine, she kept her motor clean, etc.

or maybe

I'm just a regular joe, with a regular job, I'm your average white, suburbanite slob, etc.

[mike777]

y66, on Mar 22 2010, 10:10 PM, said:

Brown Eyed Girl by Van Morrison. Do you remember when we used to sing sha la la la la ...?

Maggie May by Rod Stewart. Wake up Maggie I think I got something to say to you ...

Might have posted American Pie if zman hadn't already.

Diamonds and Rust? Have never heard all the words to that. Good stuff. It says a lot about Bob Dylan's charm that Joan Baez could have fallen so hard for him. Still hard to believe though.

Of course Louie Louie but cant go wrong with alot of these second choices


House of the Rising Sun, Satisfaction, Like a Rolling Stone...the list is endless but fun to discuss.

and as others mentioned....Brown Eyed Girl, Maggie May...

[jjbrr]

All I can say is that my life is pretty plain
I like watching the puddles gather rain

[mike777]

jjbrr, on Mar 22 2010, 11:12 PM, said:

All I can say is that my life is pretty plain
I like watching the puddles gather rain

this is a greatest lyric of all time? sigh....

[ggwhiz]

Shay Ruby shattered, shattered

Greatest refrain anyway and that I always sing to myself when anybody around me gets worked up.

[jjbrr]

mike777, on Mar 22 2010, 11:16 PM, said:

jjbrr, on Mar 22 2010, 11:12 PM, said:

All I can say is that my life is pretty plain
I like watching the puddles gather rain

this is a greatest lyric of all time? sigh....

yes. kind of like portraits of soup cans.

[y66]

mike777, on Mar 22 2010, 11:16 PM, said:

jjbrr, on Mar 22 2010, 11:12 PM, said:

All I can say is that my life is pretty plain
I like watching the puddles gather rain

this is a greatest lyric of all time? sigh....

Sigh indeed.

Somebody oughta fling that boy off the nearest cliff before it gets worse. Any christians on this thread?

[G_R__E_G]

Surprise You're Dead by Faith No More

Surprise! you're dead!
Ha ha! open your eyes
See the world as it used to be when you used to be in it
When you were alive and when you were in love
And when I took it from you!
It's not over yet
You don't remember?
I won't let you forget
The hatred I bestowed
Upon your neck with a fatal blow
From my teeth and my tongue
I've drank and swallowed, but it's just begun
Now you are mine
I'll keep killing you until the end of time
Surprise! you're dead!
Guess what?
It never ends...
The pain, the torment and torture, profanity
Nausea, suffering, perversion, calamity
You can't get away


I don't really think the lyrics are the greatest of all time but I thought I'd post it because it's such a happy little song.

[vuroth]

I'm far too young to pretend to know the greatest. Since I've enjoyed the thread, I'll pay back with some juxtaposition.


-----


Sun comes up, it's Tuesday morning
hits me straight in the eye
guess you forgot to close the blind last night
Oh, that's right, I forgot, it was me

I sure do miss the smell of black coffee in the morning,
the sound of water splashing all over the bathroom,
the kiss that you would give me even though I was sleeping,
but I kind of like the feel of this extra few feet in my bed
Telephone's ringing, but I don't answer it
'cause everybody knows that good news always sleeps till noon

Guess it's tea and toast for breakfast again
maybe I'll add a little T.V. too
No milk! God, how I hate that
Guess I'll go to the corner, get breakfast from Jenny
She's got a black eye this morning, `Jen how'd ya get it?'
she says, `Last night, Bobby got a little bit out of hand'

Lunchtime. I start to dial your number
then I remember so I reach for something to smoke
and anyways I'd rather listen to Coltrane
than go through all that ***** again

There's something about an afternoon spent doing nothing
Just listening to records and watching the sun falling
Thinking of things that don't have to add up to something
and this spell won't be broken
by the sound of keys scraping in the lock

Maybe tonight it's a movie
with plenty of room for elbows and knees
a bag of popcorn all to myself,
black and white with a strong female lead
and if I don't like it, no debate, I'll leave

Here comes that feeling that I'd forgotten
how strange these streets feel
when you're alone on them
Each pair of eyes just filled with suggestion
So I lower my head, make a beeline for home
Seething inside

Funny, I'd never noticed
the sound the streetcars make as they pass my window
Which reminds me that I forgot to close the blind again
Yeah, sure I'll admit there are times when I miss you
Especially like now when I need someone to hold me
but there are some things that can never be forgiven
and I just gotta tell you
that I kinda like this extra few feet in my bed


----


They met in a hurricane
Standing in the shelter out of the rain
She tucked a note into his hand
Later on they took his car
Drove on down where the beaches are
He wrote her name in the sand
Never even let go of her hand

Somehow they stayed that way
For those 5 days in May
Made all the stars around them shine
Funny how you can look in vain
Living on nerves and such sweet pain
A loneliness that cuts so fine
To find the face you've
seen a thousand times

Sometimes the world begins
To set you up on your feet again
It wipes the tears from your eyes
How will you ever know
The way that circumstances go
Always gonna hit you by surprise
I know my past
You were there
In everything I've done
You are the one

Looking back it's hard to tell
Why they stood while others fell
All I know is one cloudy day
They both just ran away
Rain on the windshield heading south
She loved the lines around his mouth

Sometimes the world begins
To set you up on your feet again
It wipes the tears from your eyes
How will you ever know
The way that circumstances go
Always gonna hit you by surprise
I know my past
You were there
In everything I've done
You are the one

[Al_U_Card]

A fave from my early teenage years:

Father
It's not time to make a change,
Just relax, take it easy.
You're still young, that's your fault,
There's so much you have to know.
Find a girl, settle down,
If you want you can marry.
Look at me, I am old, but I'm happy.

I was once like you are now, and I know that it's not easy,
To be calm when you've found something going on.
But take your time, think a lot,
Why, think of everything you've got.
For you will still be here tomorrow, but your dreams may not.

Son
How can I try to explain, when I do he turns away again.
It's always been the same, same old story.
From the moment I could talk I was ordered to listen.
Now there's a way and I know that I have to go away.
I know I have to go.

Father
It's not time to make a change,
Just sit down, take it slowly.
You're still young, that's your fault,
There's so much you have to go through.
Find a girl, settle down,
if you want you can marry.
Look at me, I am old, but I'm happy.
(Son-- Away Away Away, I know I have to
Make this decision alone - no)
Son
All the times that I cried, keeping all the things I knew inside,
It's hard, but it's harder to ignore it.
If they were right, I'd agree, but it's them They know not me.
Now there's a way and I know that I have to go away.
I know I have to go.
(Father-- Stay Stay Stay, Why must you go and
make this decision alone?)

[jjbrr]

Vuroth's first song has many similarities to this song, though you should note these lyrics are not the greatest:

Ain't no way to explain or say
How painful the hangover was today
In front of the toilet, hands and knees
Trying to breathe in between the dry heaves
My baby made me some coffee
Afraid that if I drink some it's probably coming right back out me
Couple of advil, relax and chill
At a standstill with how bad I feel
I think I need to smell fresh air
So I stepped out the back door and fell down the stairs
The sunlight hit me dead in the eye
Like it's mad I gave half the day to last night
My bad sight made me trip on my ass right into that patch of grass like that's life
All of a sudden, I realize something
The weather is amazing, even the birds are bumpin
Stood up and took a look and a breath
And there's that bike that I forgot that I possessed
Never really seen exercise as friendly
But I thing something's telling me to ride that ten speed
The brakes are broken, it's alright
The tires got air and the chain seems tight
Hopped on and felt the summertime,
It reminds me of one of them Musab lines like

[Chorus 2x]

Sunshine, sunshine, it's fine
I feel it in my skin, warming up my mind,
Sometimes you gotta give in to win,
I love the days when it shines, whoa let it shine

If I could I would keep this feeling in a plastic jar
Bust it out whenever someone's actin hard
Settle down, barbeque in the backyard
The kids get treats and old folks get classic cars
Every day that gets to pass is a success
Every woman looks better in a sun dress
The sunshine's an excuse to shoot hoops, get juice
Show improve their moves and let loose
I hear voices, I see smiles to match em
Good times and you can feel it in the fashion
Even though the heat cooks up the action
The streets still got butterflies
Enough kids to catch 'em
Ridin my bike around these lakes man
Feelin like I finally figured out my escape plan
Take it all and the day started off all wrong
Somehow now that hangover is all gone
Ain't nothing like the sound of the leaves
When the breeze penetrates these southside trees
Leanin' up against one, watchin the vibe
Forgettin' all about the stress, thanking god I'm alive
It's so simple, I had to keep the song simple
When I get home I'm gonna open all the windows
Feelin all right, stopped at a stop sign
A car pulled up, bumpin Fresh Prince's Summertime

[Chorus 2x]