What are the best lyrics you've ever heard?

[Grazza]

Back in 2002, in my 51st post in these forums, I promised some Mother Gong lyrics, but felt the forum software wouldn't handle them. So here goes:

 

Wassilissa

Mother Gong : Fairy Tales

traditional Gilli Smyth / Harry Williamson

There was once a house near a big dark forest where a little girl called Wassilissa lived with her cruel step-mother and stepsisters. They made her do all the work while they painted their faces and admired themselves. Their father was away and her only friend was the doll her real mother had given her with her blessing before she died. One day, the fire went out. Her stepmother was very angry. 'Now look what you've done! You'll have to go into the wood and fetch fire from the Baba Yaga', and she pushed her out of the door and slammed it. Wassilissa walked for hours through the black wood, and just as Venus touched the horizon, she came to a path. The birds began to sing, and through the trees a man dressed in white rode past her on a beautiful white stallion, and the day came. Then the path became a wide track, she heard the sound of hooves again, and through a cloud of dust appeared a chariot drawn by winged horses. As it flew past she saw in it a man dressed in gold, who looked straight ahead and would not see her. The sun rose. She journeyed on all that day until twilight, when she could make out in the distance a twinkling of lights, which became a cottage surrounded by a fence of little lights. As she got closer she saw that each fence post was a bone topped by a grinning skulll, whose eyes glowed like dark coals. There was a rush of wind, and a great black warrior on a black horse carrying a silver scythe rushed by with hardly a sound, galloping straight into the cottage, and disappeared. Wassilissa crept closer to the house. She could see now the gate latch made of a human arm, and the lock, that was a grinning mouth, full of teeth. She was just about to run away when she heard another sound, and round the corner slithered a mortar, steered by a woman with six arms. She was brushing away her tracks at the same time with a broom made of cats. 'Aah, so you've come at last. Well, you shall have your fire, but you must work for it. Come in and serve me.' And Wassilissa followed her in. 'Bring me everything in the oven.' And she ate it all, leaving only some dry bread and water for Wassilissa. 'Tomorrow you must clean the house, sort the good corn from the bad in these four bushels, and cook me dinner by the time I come back, or I'll eat you'. Then she went upstairs. Wassilissa couldn't sleep for fear, until the Doll whispered in her ear, 'The morning is cleverer than the evening, go to sleep'. When she woke up the Doll had just finished sorting the last of the grain. So Wassilissa hurriedly cooked dinner and had just finished when the Baba Yaga returned. She was so angry when she found the house spotless, the corn sorted, and the dinner on the table, but she said nothing, just clapped her hands and the three pairs of bodyless hands appeared, took the good seed and started grinding it into flour. Wassilissa couldn't look away. 'What are you staring at? Why don't you say something?' 'Who were those riders I passed in the forest?' 'The white's the day, the gold's the sun, and the black's the night, of course'. 'Where do you go when you leave the house?' 'Be careful what you ask about other people's business; too much knowledge will make you old'. Wassilissa wanted to ask about the hands, but dared not, and so the Baba Yaga said, 'Very well, it's my turn, how did you manage to finish all the work in time?' 'O, it was with my mother's blessing'. 'I don't want blessings in my house. Tomorrow you will have to do all you did today again, and sort out these three sacks of poppyseed', Next day as the doll was finishing the work, Wassilissa was seized by a terrible curiosity to explore. So she went upstairs, and opening a huge iron door, found herself in the middle of a beautiful room full of strange things. In front of her was a mirror, and as she approached it she saw the reflections of a faraway town. In the foreground stood an old man, talking to an old woman dressed in rags. As Wassilissa leant forward to try to hear the conversation, the man looked straight at her. His face was so sad she took a moment to realise it was her father, and she had to turn away. Then she noticed an enormous copper-bound book on a table. She tried to open it, but it was locked. Then she noticed a little golden key lying beside it. It was very heavy, but with a great effort she managed it, and had to clasp her ears. The book shut. She backed away, only to bump into a pedestal on which was fixed a beautiful crystal. Smoke swirled there and as she gazed into the multicoloured depths she began to see wonderful landscapes from a great height. Looking down, she saw a forest, and in the forest was a little cottage, and going in through the door was the Baba Yaga, and she was going up the stairs and opening the large iron door. 'So this is your mother's blessing', and Wassilissa was seized by the hair and dragged into the mortar. 'Now you will see what you should not want to know'. And they slithered off through the forest. Soon they came to a large building which had strange smokes coming from it. Near a gaping mouth stood several large creatures. Some had animal heads on their bodies, others had too many legs and arms. They were grabbing bundles of people and throwing them into the mouth, which chewed them into small pieces. Suddenly Wassilissa felt a pair of claws take her feet, while something else coiled about her neck. She looked up to see a wolf and an eagle grinning down at her. She screamed and struggled for all she was worth, but the jaws came closer until they were all around her, and she felt no more. The next thing she knew she was flying high over a beautiful country. She saw the sun, racing across the sky trailing sparks everywhere, so that a day passed in a second. Trees, plants and buildings grew before her eyes and collapsed again. Wassilissa just wanted to hover there, as winter followed summer followed winter, and watch the world grow older and older. A moment later she was in the forest again, standing by a pond. She could hear the dreadful sound of the machinery in the distance, and was about to hide when she noticed her hands. They were full of deep wrinkles. She felt her face and the skin was ridged and rough to her touch. She looked in the still waters and saw the reflections of a bent old woman. Then the Baba Yaga appeared holding a skull on a pole with two glittering eyes... 'Now take your fire and go'. When she came to her stepmothers's house, Wassilissa was surprised at the kind welcome she received, because they did not see many strangers. She gave them the fire, and they set it in the hearth. It was after supper, when they were all sitting round the blazing fire, that Wassilissa realised they had not recognised her, for they were discussing her long absence. 'Maybe she met the Baba Yaga after all, and was turned into a stone.' 'Well, good riddance to her, is what I say'. 'But who will do the housework now she is gone?' 'Maybe my husband will return soon', said the stepmother, and they all laughed. They were all staring into the fire meanwhile, and every lie they told caused a flame to leap out at them. Soon their heads were surrounded by a cloud of little dancing flames, so they looked like demons. Then came a knock on the door. They opened it to see their father standing there, tired and dusty from his long journey. He seemed not to see the flames, but straightaway fell to asking about Wassilissa. 'For night after night I have been having the most terrible dreams. I became so fearful for my sweet daughter's life I have had to return, but I see she is not here'. 'We sent her to fetch fire from a friend in the wood, but she has not returned yet.' Then Wassilissa said, 'As I journeyed through the wood I passed a pretty girl on the track to the Baba Yaga's house. Maybe I may guide you there to rescue her. 'Let us start at dawn', said her father. And so they did. By mid morning they had come to the little cottage in the wood, but there was no-one there so they went on and came at last to the mill. There they saw the Baba Yaga directing her slaves. 'So you have come back, have you, and brought him with you? Seize them and throw them into the mill'. They were quickly surrounded by the horrible slimy forms and many hands gripped their arms and legs and dragged them down to the giant grinning mouth. But it was slowing down, and gradually it stopped, and then started again, in reverse. Struggle as they might, they soon felt that indescribable pain, and both lost consciousness. This time it seemed to Wassilissa that a stream was flowing up her back and into her head. It became stronger and stronger, becoming a river which swept all her experiences away into the ocean of oceans. Her hands and face felt young again, and beside her stood her father, wiser than ever before. The Baba Yaga appeared in the form of a goddess, beautiful and terrible. Her skin was smooth and black, and seemed to glow from within with a fire. In one of her hands she held a mirror, and in it they could see an image of their faraway home. There was no sign of the stepsisters and stepmother, but the skull was still burning, and where the women usually sat, there were some small piles of ashes. As she looked at them, the Baba Yaga said, 'Those who hate will be consumed by fire; to those who love, life is given again and again.'

 

 

[GooberMan]

Y'all motherfuckers need Jesus Leonard Cohen.
 

 

[Zerofuchs]

I'm amazed there's no mention of Bohemian Rhapsody.
Best is a bit hard to say for me, I'm often into songs as much for feel as for anything else. Hell I don't even need to understand the lyrics.
 

In terms of lyrics that do stick... VNV Nation's Illusion is a fairly powerful song, but like a lot of VNV Nation tracks it's not going to leave you in a better mood after listening:

Spoiler

I know it's hard to tell how mixed up you feel
Hoping what you need is behind every door
Each time you get hurt, I don't want you to change
Because everyone has hopes, you're human after all
The feeling sometimes, wishing you were someone else
Feeling as though you never belong
This feeling is not sadness, this feeling is not joy
I truly understand, please, don't cry now

Please don't go, I want you to stay
I'm begging you please, please don't leave here
I don't want you to hate
For all the hurt that you feel

The world is just illusion, trying to change you
 

Being like you are
Well this is something else, who would comprehend?
But some that do, lay claim
Divine purpose blesses them
That's not what I believe, and it doesn't matter anyway
A part of your soul ties you to the next world
Or maybe to the last, but I'm still not sure

But what I do know, is to us the world is different
As we are to the world but I guess you would know that

Please don't go, I want you to stay
I'm begging you please, please don't leave here
I don't want you to hate for all the hurt that you feel
The world is just illusion trying to change you
Please don't go, I want you to stay
I'm begging you please, oh please don't leave here

I don't want you to change
For all the hurt that you feel
This world is just illusion, always trying to change you
 

Please don't go, I want you to stay
I'm begging you please, please don't leave here
I don't want you to hate for all the hurt that you feel
The world is just illusion trying to change you
Please don't go, I want you to stay
I'm begging you please, oh please don't leave here
I don't want you to change
For all the hurt that you feel
This world is just illusion, always trying to change you

 

 

Sesto Rodriguez also has some fairly heavy songs lyrically. Sugarman is the one most would know I think, but establishment blues is also pretty heartfelt in it's genuine anger.

Spoiler

The mayor hides the crime rate, council woman hesitates
Public gets irate, but forgets the vote date
Weatherman complaining, predicted sun, it's raining
Everyone's protesting, boyfriend keeps suggesting
You're not like all of the rest

Garbage ain't collected, women ain't protected
Politicians using people, they're abusing
The mafia's getting bigger, like pollution in the river
And you tell me that this is where it's at

I woke up this morning with an ache in my head
I splashed on my clothes as I spilled out of bed
I opened the window to listen to the news
But all I heard was the Establishment's Blues

Gun sales are soaring, housewives find life boring
Divorce the only answer, smoking causes cancer
This system's gonna fall soon, to an angry young tune
And that's a concrete cold fact

The pope digs population, freedom from taxation
Teeny Bops are up tight, drinking at a stoplight
Miniskirt is flirting, I can't stop, so I'm hurting
Spinster sells her hopeless chest

Adultery plays the kitchen, bigot cops non-fiction
The little man gets shafted, sons and monies drafted
Living by a time piece, new war in the far east
Can you pass the Rorschach test?
It's a hassle, it's an educated guess
Well, frankly I couldn't care less

 

[Austrian Oak]

Take out the papers and the trash Or you don't get no spending cash If you don't scrub that kitchen floor You ain't gonna rock and roll no more Yakety yak Don't talk back

[whybmonotacrab]

My fav song is probably Get out the Car by Aesop Rock. Gets me every time:
 

Quote

 

Been a bit since Mu died

Been a lot more lost than awake

I recall thinking someday someone's gonna say it's all from the same cause and effect

And I just couldn't fathom

Blaming a whole new page on a made-up chain reaction

Each claim individual peaks and pockets

Pains in a slew of unique nuances

When you wake up eight years non responsive
It's a lot to process
Gone from a happier jack in a box
To a package of clogged up chakras
Oh shazbat
Not the everafter we wanted from the once upon a time

Dot-dot-dot
Once upon a time he was so much more than a punchline for his own potshots
Ah! Watch the Impossible Kid
Everything that he touch turns promptly to shit
If I zoom on out I can finally admit
It's all been a blur since Mu got sick

 

 

[Jello]

There's quite a few, but this lyrical beauty from Tom Waits on Heartattack and Vine always hits my idea of a perfect musical line just fine:

 

"Don't you know there ain't no devil, there's just God when he's drunk"

Edited June 5 by Jello

[DoomGappy]

Not ironically a lot of Ween's lyrics. My favorite being "If you could save yourself (you'd save us all)" which features the following verse:
 

Quote

The wheels fell off, the bottom dropped out
The checks all bounced, I came in your mouth
Your mother came calling but there was no one around
The trash caught fire when the leaves turned brown
The vultures were circling when the circus left town
I left you a note but I wrote it in disappearing ink

This "I came in your mouth" is delivered so bleakly that it doesn't register as offensive, or crude, or childish. And that's a great feat from a band with the type of humor Ween are believed to have. It just feels like a routine action a failing couple may be going through while trying to salvage the relationship, or another of those terrible situations that happen during life.

 

 

Alternatively, my favorite brazilian song ever:
 

 

Edited June 7 by DoomGappy

[Dubbag]

"If you don't live for something, you die for nothing!" - Hatebreed "Live for This"

 

Edited June 5 by Dubbag

[YouAreTheDemons]

"I tell you now from within my dreams, I've seen the very demons he described
And now the thing I fear the most, is where I’ll go when I die" - Space God Ritual "Mad Alhazred"

 

[The Royal We]

I can't answer that.
My whole life flashes back in my head with a question like that.
I can only share this image:
 

Edited June 5 by The Royal We

[SirPootis]

"Some are born to move the world

To live their fantasies

But most of us just dream about

The things we'd like to be

 

Sadder still to watch it die

Than never to have known it

 

For you, the blind who once could see

The bell tolls for thee

.

The bell tolls for thee"

-"Losing It", by Rush

 

(the whole song is just so good. gives me that good ol' existential dread we all crave before suddenly busting out a cathartic string solo in 11/8 time)

 

(also R.I.P. Neil Peart. One of the best to ever do it.)

 

 

Edited June 5 by SirPootis

[dial-up]

On 6/5/2024 at 1:13 PM, DoomGappy said:

his "I came in your mouth is delivered so bleakly that it doesn't register as offensice, or crude, or childish.

 

Hell yeah, Ween. I always thought this line was well done.

[yakfak]

i like: After this I saw multitudes
Forced from the land
Cleared away for the wool
Dispossessed, refugees
Who were told to be free
Free to starve or to Slave
Free to choose A or B
As we offered to labour or die
I saw cities explode with this freedom
And covered my eyes... AHHHHHHHH

 

i like: Now I don't want to start any blasphemous rumours but I think god's got a sick sense of humour and when I die, I'm sure to find him laughing lol

 

i like the first two verses of Wish You Were Here

 

i like: one day this chalk outline will circle this city

and I also like: You got a run on your pharmaceuticals, you better change it 'fore the night grows old, prescription's filled now cut yr suit-and-tie cuticles, you cut your fingernails way too shorrrrrt

 

i like: one you lock the target two you bait the line three you slowly spread the net and four you catch the man <3

 

edit: ooh hey I also like: The captain's free-hand is a cleaver
Which he fashions his beard, and he rations his jerky!
And carves his peg outta the finest mahogany!
Or was it Ebony?
Tallies up his loneliness, notch by notch
‘Cause the sea offers nothing to hold or touch
Notch by notch, winter by winter
Notch by notch, winter by winter
Now his leg is whittled, right down to a splinter

 

and I like: cube top, squared-off, eight corners, ninety degree angles, flat top, stares straight ahead, stock parts, blockhead!

 

and I like: futuristic bow-wow!

Edited June 8 by yakfak

[plums]

2 minutes ago, yakfak said:

i like: one you lock the target two you bait the line three you slowly spread the net and four you catch the man <3

Hah, I was listening to this track (and album) a lot a few months ago, like playing it every day.

 

I showed it to @DoomGappy and apparently the intro got used in some really popular Brazilian funk party song. Front 242 even sued them over it. It's so bizarre.

 

 

[DoomGappy]

22 minutes ago, plums said:

Hah, I was listening to this track (and album) a lot a few months ago, like playing it every day.

 

I showed it to @DoomGappy and apparently the intro got used in some really popular Brazilian funk party song. Front 242 even sued them over it. It's so bizarre.

 

This is like the quintessential funk song, still plays a lot in parties here in Brazil. 

[Naarok0fkor]

Ich bin der Welt abhanden gekommen
Mit der ich sonst viele Zeit verdorben
Sie hat so lange nichts von mir vernommen
Sie mag wohl glauben, ich sei gestorben!

Es ist mir auch gar nichts daran gelegen
Ob sie mich für gestorben hält
Ich kann auch gar nichts sagen dagegen
Denn wirklich bin ich gestorben der Welt!

Ich bin gestorben dem Weltgetümmel
Und ruh' in einem stillen Gebiet!
Ich leb' allein in meinem Himmel
In meinem Lieben, in meinem Lied!

[The Royal We]

6 hours ago, plums said:

Hah, I was listening to this track (and album) a lot a few months ago, like playing it every day.

 

I showed it to @DoomGappy and apparently the intro got used in some really popular Brazilian funk party song. Front 242 even sued them over it. It's so bizarre.

 

 

NO GOD
no god PLEASE no NO NO

NOOOOOOO-

 

(now it’s playing over and over inside my head)