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Jumpy · 08-04-2007 08:12 AM

Don Henley is far from my favorite lyricist, but his words can be clever and biting. I think his masterpiece by far is "The Last Resort," the song that closes Hotel California.

This composition is not only the most poetic thing Henley has written, but it's the perfect bookend to the song "Hotel California," which opens the album. In this song, Henley subtly refers back to the corruption and greed of the album's title track, and sadly notes the passing of the paradise that was California.

She came from Providence,
the one in Rhode Island
Where the old world shadows hang
heavy in the air
She packed her hopes and dreams
like a refugee
Just as her father came across the sea

She heard about a place people were smilin'
They spoke about the red man's way,
and how they loved the land
And they came from everywhere
to the Great Divide
Seeking a place to stand
or a place to hide

Down in the crowded bars,
out for a good time,
Can't wait to tell you all,
what it's like up there
And they called it paradise
I don't know why
Somebody laid the mountains low
while the town got high

Then the chilly winds blew down
Across the desert
through the canyons of the coast, to
the Malibu
Where the pretty people play,
hungry for power
to light their neon way
and give them things to do

Some rich men came and raped the land,
Nobody caught 'em
Put up a bunch of ugly boxes, and Jesus,
people bought 'em
And they called it paradise
The place to be
They watched the hazy sun, sinking in the sea

You can leave it all behind
and sail to Lahaina
just like the missionaries did, so many years ago
They even brought a neon sign: Jesus is coming
Brought the white man's burden down
Brought the white man's reign

Who will provide the grand design?
What is yours and what is mine?
'Cause there is no more new frontier
We have got to make it here

We satisfy our endless needs and
justify our bloody deeds,
in the name of destiny
and in the name of God

And you can see them there,
On Sunday morning
They stand up and sing about
what it's like up there
They call it paradise
I don't know why
You call someplace paradise,
kiss it goodbye

Edited By Jumpy on 1186244079

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TiedyeVikki · 08-05-2007 12:11 AM

James Taylor can write some pretty touching lyrics... this one is a classic for a reason...

Fire and Rain

Just yesterday morning they let me know you were gone
Susanne the plans they made put an end to you
I walked out this morning and I wrote down this song
I just can't remember who to send it to

I've seen fire and I've seen rain
I've seen sunny days that I thought would never end
I've seen lonely times when I could not find a friend
But I always thought that I'd see you again

Won't you look down upon me, Jesus
You've got to help me make a stand
You've just got to see me through another day
My body's aching and my time is at hand
And I won't make it any other way

Oh, I've seen fire and I've seen rain
I've seen sunny days that I thought would never end
I've seen lonely times when I could not find a friend
But I always thought that I'd see you again

Been walking my mind to an easy time my back turned towards the sun
Lord knows when the cold wind blows it'll turn your head around
Well, there's hours of time on the telephone line to talk about things to come
Sweet dreams and flying machines in pieces on the ground

Oh, I've seen fire and I've seen rain
I've seen sunny days that I thought would never end
I've seen lonely times when I could not find a friend
But I always thought that I'd see you, baby, one more time again, now

Thought I'd see you one more time again
There's just a few things coming my way this time around, now
Thought I'd see you, thought I'd see you fire and rain, now

And he can be comical too... I remember when I lived in Hagerstown MD I used to listen to a classic radio station out of Baltimore that used this song as an intro to their traffic report...

Traffic Jam

(chorus)
Damn this traffic jam
How I hate to be late
It hurts my motor to go so slow
Damn this traffic jam
Time I get home my supper'll be cold
Damn this traffic jam

Well I left my job about 5 o'clock
It took fifteen minutes go three blocks
Just in time to stand in line
With a freeway looking like a parking lot

- chorus -

Now I almost had a heart attack
Looking in my rear view mirror
I saw myself the next car back
Looking in the rear view mirror
'bout to have a heart attack
I said

- chorus -

Now when I die I don't want no coffin
I thought about it all too often
Just strap me in behind the wheel
And bury me with my automobile

- chorus -

Damn...

Now I used to think that I was cool
Running around on fossil fuel
Until I saw what I was doing
Was driving down the road to ruin

(mabewa, I thought you'd like that last verse! :D :p )

--Vik Cool

Jumpy · 08-05-2007 05:34 AM

I can't help noticing a recurring theme of loneliness and love gone bad in many of the favorite lyrics in this thread... you all ok? :D

**cevor** · 08-05-2007 05:37 AM

Jumpy Wrote:I can't help noticing a recurring theme of loneliness and love gone bad in many of the favorite lyrics in this thread... you all ok? :D

how long have you been married????? :p

TiedyeVikki · 08-05-2007 04:01 PM

I don't know how I went this long in this thread without mentioning this... one of my absolute favorite lyricists has to be Robert Hunter... his lyrics were a huge part of the The Grateful Dead's magic. Here are several of my favorites, and incidentally the first three below were written in the same afternoon, over a half bottle of retsina...

RIPPLE

If my words did glow with the gold of sunshine
And my tunes were played on the harp unstrung
Would you hear my voice come through the music
Would you hold it near as it were your own?

It's a hand-me-down, the thoughts are broken
Perhaps they're better left unsung
I don't know, don't really care
Let there be songs to fill the air

(Chorus)
Ripple in still water
When there is no pebble tossed
Nor wind to blow

Reach out your hand if your cup be empty
If your cup is full may it be again
Let it be known there is a fountain
That was not made by the hands of men

There is a road, no simple highway
Between the dawn and the dark of night
And if you go no one may follow
That path is for your steps alone

(Chorus)
Ripple in still water
When there is no pebble tossed
Nor wind to blow

You who choose to lead must follow
But if you fall you fall alone
If you should stand then who's to guide you?
If I knew the way I would take you home

BROKE-DOWN PALACE

Fare you well my honey
Fare you well my only true one
All the birds that were singing
Have flown except you alone

Goin to leave this Broke-down Palace
On my hands and my knees I will roll roll roll
Make myself a bed by the waterside
In my time - in my time - I will roll roll roll

In a bed, in a bed
by the waterside I will lay my head
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
to rock my soul

River gonna take me
Sing me sweet and sleepy
Sing me sweet and sleepy
all the way back back home
It's a far gone lullaby
sung many years ago
Mama, Mama, many worlds I've come
since I first left home

Goin home, goin home
by the waterside I will rest my bones
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
to rock my soul

Goin to plant a weeping willow
On the banks green edge it will grow grow grow
Sing a lullaby beside the water
Lovers come and go - the river roll roll roll

Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
to rock my soul

TO LAY ME DOWN

To lay me down
once more
To lay me down
with my head
in sparkling clover
Let the world go by
all lost in dreaming
To lay me down
one last time
To lay me down

To be with you
once more
To be with you
with our bodies
close together
Let the world go by
like clouds a-streaming
To lay me down
one last time
To lay me down

To lay me down
To lay me down
To lay me down
One last time
To lay me down

To lie with you
once more
to lie with you
with our dreams
entwined together
To lie beside you
my love still sleeping
to tell sweet lies
one last time
and say goodnight

to lay me down,
to lay me down
to lay me down
one last time
to lay me down
to lay me down
one last time
to lay me down

BOX OF RAIN

Look out of any window
any morning, any evening, any day
Maybe the sun is shining
birds are winging or
rain is falling from a heavy sky -
What do you want me to do,
to do for you to see you through?
this is all a dream we dreamed
one afternoon long ago

Walk out of any doorway
feel your way, feel your way
like the day before
Maybe you'll find direction
around some corner
where it's been waiting to meet you -
What do you want me to do,
to watch for you while you're sleeping?
Well please don't be surprised
when you find me dreaming too

Look into any eyes
you find by you, you can see
clear through to another day
I know it's been seen before
through other eyes on other days
while going home -
What do you want me to do,
to do for you to see you through?
It's all a dream we dreamed
one afternoon long ago

Walk into splintered sunlight
Inch your way through dead dreams
to another land
Maybe you're tired and broken
Your tongue is twisted
with words half spoken
and thoughts unclear -
What do you want me to do
to do for you to see you through
A a box of rain will ease the pain
and love will see you through

Just a box of rain -
wind and water -
Believe it if you need it,
if you don't just pass it on
Sun and shower -
Wind and rain -
in and out the window
like a moth before a flame

It's just a box of rain
I don't know who put it there
Believe it if you need it
or leave it if you dare
But it's just a box of rain
or a ribbon for your hair
Such a long long time to be gone
and a short time to be there

--Vik Cool

Dyolf · 08-05-2007 04:06 PM

More from the genius that is Jon Anderson:

<span style='font-size:10pt;line-height:100%'>Homeworld (The Ladder)</span>

Nothing can take us far enough
Emotion... far enough together
As the light shines so bright
Bright enough to let us in

Nothing can bridge our souls'
Devotion... fast enough together
As the power proves you right
Right enough to let you begin

So many displaced among the future dreamers
Realised their doubles
Took a new step
A question of origin

Only in the recent past
Seeking for to realise
Skyward shone
Like beacons
A question of origin

Ten thousand millions free
To the westward light
The dreamers represent
This arc of peace

As the poets entranced
The anchor redeemed
Secrets of science
The history of the future
Was surely made

Just what keeps us so alive
Just what makes us realise
Our home
Is our world, our life
Home is our world

Nothing can take us far enough
Emotion... far enough together
As the light shines so bright
Bright enough to let us in

Nothing can bridge our souls
Devotion... fast enough together
As the power proves you right
Right enough to let you begin

Speak so fast to the prophets
Of the living
Looking for the signs
Spanning out the centuries
Search for truth

Ancient ones... they watch
And listen
Carry our wishes...
Took upon themselves to guide us
Through the endless skies

Just what keeps us so alive
Just what makes us realise
Our home
Is our world, our life
Our hope is our world, our life

I have seen the passion
That's in the hope that everyone
Will find their way into
The secret of
The home of your heart

Living within the vision
Within the power, beyond belief
We see that hate destroys the soul
Of anyone who tries to teach i

I have seen the dream
That's in your heart
That's in your eyes
To bring you closer to the one

It's what keeps us so alive
It's what makes us realise
Our home is our world, our life
Just what keeps us so alive
Just what makes us realise
Our home
Is our world, our life
Home is our world, our life

Send, ascending to the secrets
All is pure and clear to resolve
Nothing can change us now
Send, ascending to the future
Nothing can ever change us now
We follow the sun
We follow the sun
We follow the sun

Truth is a simple place
Here for us all to see
Reach as it comes to you
As it comes to me
As I will always need you inside my heart

Peace is a word we teach
A place for us all to reach
Sing as it sings to you
As it sings to me
As I will always need you inside my heart

- Great song!

FLOYDFOLOWEROF11 · 08-05-2007 04:29 PM

I really like Ozzy's Killer of giants so here.

If none of us believe in war
Then can you tell me what the weapons for
Listen to me everyone
If the button is pushed
Therell be nowhere to run

Giants sleeping giants winning wars
Within their dreams
Till they wake when its too late
And in gods name blaspheme

Killer of giants threatens us all
Mountains of madness standing so tall
Marches of protest not stopping the war
Or the killer of giants
The killer of giants

Mother nature people state your case without its worth
Your seas run dry your sleepless eyes are turning red alert

Killer of giants threatens us all
Mountains of madness standing so tall
Rising so proudly it has nowhere to fall
This killer of giants
This killer of giants

Killer of giants threatens us all
Mountains of madness standing so tall
Marches of protest not stopping the war
Oh the killer of giants
Oh the killer of giants
Killer of giants
Killer of giants

TiedyeVikki · 08-05-2007 04:37 PM

I'm sorry, I can't help myself, I have to post some more Robert Hunter lyrics! :upside: See, Jumpy, they're not ALL about love gone bad... some are about death, lol...

DIRE WOLF

In the timbers of Fennario
the wolves are running round
The winter was so hard and cold
froze ten feet neath the ground

Don't murder me
I beg of you don't murder me
Please
don't murder me

I sat down to my supper
T'was a bottle of red whiskey
I said my prayers and went to bed
That's the last they saw of me

Don't murder me
I beg of you don't murder me
Please
don't murder me

When I awoke, the Dire Wolf
Six hundred pounds of sin
Was grinnin at my window
All I said was "come on in"

Don't murder me
I beg of you don't murder me
Please
don't murder me

The wolf came in, I got my cards
We sat down for a game
I cut my deck to the Queen of Spades
but the cards were all the same

Don't murder me
I beg of you don't murder me
Please
don't murder me

In the backwash of Fennario
The black and bloody mire
The Dire Wolf collects his due
while the boys sing round the fire

Don't murder me
I beg of you don't murder me
Please
don't murder me

BLACK PETER

All of my friends come to see me last night
I was laying in my bed and dying
Annie Beauneu from Saint Angel
say "the weather down here so fine"

Just then the wind
came squalling through the door
but who can
the weather command?
Just want to have
a little peace to die
and a friend or two
I love at hand

Fever roll up to a hundred and five
Roll on up
gonna roll back down
One more day
I find myself alive
tomorrow
maybe go
beneath the ground

See here how everything
lead up to this day
and it's just like
any other day
that's ever been
Sun goin up
and then the
sun it goin down
Shine through my window and
my friends they come around
come around
come around

People may know but
the people don't care
that a man could be
as poor as me...
"Take a look at poor Peter
he's lyin in pain
now let's go run
and see"

Run and see
hey, hey,
run and see

--Vik Cool

FLOYDFOLOWEROF11 · 08-05-2007 04:57 PM

mabewa · 08-05-2007 05:35 PM

I BELIEVE that the lyrics of Killer of Giants was actually written by Bob Daisley, who wrote most of Ozzy's early lyrics.

Yeah, Robert Hunter wrote some great stuff for the Greatful Dead. I'm not a huge Dead fan, but some of their stuff is great, and I really like his lyrics.

As for marriage, I've been married for years, and yet I can still relate to songs of lonliness. I guess... It's not that I miss the darkest times in my life, but I feel that it makes me more human to remember them, and music helps me do that.

But, to get back to the protest lyrics, here is an all-time great: John Fogerty of CCR. This guy definitely has a way with words:

Fortunate Son

Some folks are born
made to wave the flag,
Ooh, they're red, white and blue.
And when the band plays "Hail to the Chief",
they point the cannon right at you.

It ain't me,
it ain't me.
I ain't no senator's son.
It ain't me,
it ain't me.
I ain't no fortunate one.

Some folks are born
silver spoon in hand,
Lord don't they help themselves.
But when the tax man comes to the door,
Lord, the house looks like a rummage sale.

It ain't me,
it ain't me.
I ain't no millionaire's son.
It ain't me,
it ain't me.
I ain't no fortunate one.

Some folks inherit
star spangled eyes,
Ooh, they send you down to war.
And when you ask them,
"How much should we give?"
They only answer "More! More! More!"

It ain't me,
it ain't me.
I ain't no military son.
It ain't me,
it ain't me.
I ain't no fortunate one.

It ain't me,
it ain't me.
I ain't no Fortunate Son.

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