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Permalink Reply by Rudyjeep on January 11, 2013 at 5:24am

On the serious side.....

"Thousands Are Sailing"

The island it is silent now
But the ghosts still haunt the waves
And the torch lights up a famished man
Who fortune could not save

Did you work upon the railroad
Did you rid the streets of crime
Were your dollars from the white house
Were they from the five and dime

Did the old songs taunt or cheer you
And did they still make you cry
Did you count the months and years
Or did your teardrops quickly dry

Ah, No, says he 'twas not to be
On a coffin ship I came here
And I never even got so far
That they could change my name

Thousands are sailing
Across the Western Ocean
To a land of opportunity
That some of them will never see
Fortune prevailing
Across the Western Ocean
Their bellies full
And their spirits free
They'll break the chains of poverty
And they'll dance

In Manhattan's desert twilight
In the death of afternoon
We stepped hand in hand on Broadway
Like the first man on the moon

And "The Blackbird" broke the silence
As you whistled it so sweet
And in Brendan Behan's footsteps
I danced up and down the street

Then we said goodnight to Broadway
Giving it our best regards
Tipped our hats to Mister Cohan
Dear old Times Square's favourite bard

Then we raised a glass to J.F.K.
And a dozen more besides
When I got back to my empty room
I suppose I must have cried

Thousands are sailing
Again across the ocean
Where the hand of opportunity
Draws tickets in a lottery
Postcards we're mailing
Of sky-blue skies and oceans
From rooms the daylight never sees
Where lights don't glow on Christmas trees
But we dance to the music
And we dance

Thousands are sailing
Across the Western Ocean
Where the hand of opportunity
Draws tickets in a lottery
Where e'er we go, we celebrate
The land that makes us refugees
From fear of Priests with empty plates
From guilt and weeping effigies
Now we dance to the music
And we dance

On the playful side

"Punk Rockin' Honky Tonk Girl"

I used to have a car same color as her hair

And I used to wax it up with the kind of clothes she wear

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Permalink Reply by Will James on January 11, 2013 at 9:44am

The verse that Kris Kristofferson wants on his tombstone, from Leonard Cohen (either of whom has scores of songs that should fill pages of this thread).

Like a bird on a wire
Like a drunk in a midnight choir
I have tried in my way to be free.

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Permalink Reply by Jack on January 11, 2013 at 12:16pm

These have all caught my ear and stuck with me.  Not saying they are the greatest, just really effective.

Tom Russell, from The Sky Above, The Mud Below: "He was sheriff, judge, he owned the hearse - a man you do not anger"

Tom Russell, from Four Chambered Heart: we're "following corrupt wise men navigating by the wrong stars"

Joe Ely, from Mockingbird Hill: "I could use a double whiskey but it would not save my soul."

Chris Smither, from Caveman: "When I was a caveman, Paintin' on the walls, I never had a dollar, Man I had it all"

Chuck Prophet, from You Did:  "Who built the house and brought it down? Who raised the roof and never made a sound? You did....Who rose right out of the morning mist, Opened my heart like a baby's fist? You did.....Who put the "flip" in the flippity-flop? Who put the "hip" in the hippity-hop? Who put the "boom" in the boom-boom-shaka-laka? You did."

Bill Morrissey, from Barstow: “Don't the freight yard sound like a drunk in a metal shop.”

Michael Smith, from Gamble's Guitar:  "Sun beating down like a steel drum plays So bright that you couldn't see far".

Pat McLaughlin, from Hey Yeah: "you might get arrested for just being drunk and having nothing to worry about"

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Permalink Reply by steviedal on January 13, 2013 at 9:55am

One which i've always enjoyed , Townes Van Zandt describing (i think !) , a girl he loved who suffered from depression :

Endlessly sorrow rode high on the north wind

slashing and slicing to take him his toll

and endlessly creatures of darkness were cuttin'

their paths through the walls that sheltered her soul

From the song Many A Fine Lady.

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Permalink Reply by steviedal on January 13, 2013 at 10:00am

And of course there's always Leonard :

Tower Of Song

Well my friends are gone and my hair is gray
I ache in the places where I used to play
And I'm crazy for love but I'm not coming on
I'm just paying my rent every day in the tower of song

I said to Hank Williams, "How lonely does it get?"
Hank Williams hasn't answered yet
But I hear him coughing all night long
Oh, a hundred floors above me in the tower of song

I was born like this, I had no choice
I was born with the gift of a golden voice
And twenty-seven angels from the great beyond
They tied me to this table right here in the tower of song

So you can stick your little pins in that voodoo doll
I'm very sorry, baby, doesn't look like me at all
I'm standing by the window where the light is strong
Ah they don't let a woman kill you not in the tower of song

Now you can say that I've grown bitter but of this you may be sure
The rich have got their channels in the bedrooms of the poor
And there's a mighty judgment coming, but I may be wrong
You see, you hear these funny voices in the tower of song

I see you standing on the other side
I don't know how the river got so wide
I loved you baby, way back when
And all the bridges are burning that we might have crossed
But I feel so close to everything that we lost
We'll never, we'll never have to lose it again

Now I bid you farewell, I don't know when I'll be back
They're moving us tomorrow to that tower down the track
But you'll be hearing from me baby, long after I'm gone
I'll be speaking to you sweetly from a window in the tower of song

Yeah, my friends are gone and my head is gray
I ache in the places where I used to play
And I'm crazy for love but I'm not coming on
I'm just paying my rent every day in the tower of song

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Permalink Reply by William Puncheon on January 13, 2013 at 9:02pm

Change in direction for the thread, enjoy.........

I don't feel the suns comin' out today
its staying in, its gonna find another way.
As I sit here in this misery, I don't
think I'll ever see the sun from here.

And oh as I fade away,
they'll all look at me and say, and they'll say,
Hey look at him! I'll never live that way.
But that's okay
they're just afraid to change.

When you feel your life ain't worth living
you've got to stand up and
take a look around you then a look way up to the sky.
And when your deepest thoughts are broken,
keep on dreaming boy, cause when you stop dreamin' it's time to die.

And as we all play parts of tomorrow,
some ways will work and other ways we'll play.
But I know we all can't stay here forever,
so I want to write my words on the face of today.
and then they'll paint it

And oh as I fade away,
they'll all look at me and they'll say,
Hey look at him and where he is these days.
When life is hard, you have to change.

 

 

 

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