Description
When you listen to a song sometimes the lyrics stand out
above all else for various reasons, they could make you think, they may shock
or disturb you, some just make you smile, a few you can’t help but sing. Due to
this I have put this mix together to show off these qualities and I think I
have covered some of the best. If you disagree please leave a comment or better
still put your mix together and submit it.
Leonard's lyrics are so clever throughout the song and who
could forget “There was a time when you let me know, What's really going on
below, But now you never show it to me, do you?” the sexual undertones of what
at first glance seems to be a religious song, listen again and you hear a love
story gone wrong.
David’s life on mars has some interesting outlooks on our
world, and with lyrics like “Oh man! Look at those cavemen go, it’s the
freakiest show, Take a look at the Lawman, Beating up the wrong guy, Oh man!
Wonder if he'll ever know, He's in the best-selling show”, even 44 years after
its original release the lyrics still hit home that we all live in a freak show
where the lawyers rule.
Plan B tell us a story of a crazy fan who is stalking
someone in the band, this highlight how obsessive fans can create issues and
false claims against someone in the public eye.
Fish has a knack of writing clever lyrics highlighting
issues of a personal and professional nature as well as highlighting what is
bad in our world. Cleverly written riddles and puns inserted logically to an underwhelming
musical background “Where beggars take cheques and children steal credit cards. From the pockets of wrecks that lie the road. I came to
in my future and that was just yesterday,Unsure of my past that's a knot in my gut.”
Power ballad at its best, something to believe in has it
all but the lyrics almost make you cry, “Their bullets took his best friend in
Saigon, Our lawyers took his wife and kids, no regrets, In a time I don't
remember, in a war he can't forget, He cried "Forgive me for what I've
done there, Cause I never meant the things I did".
Coconut skins has a rhythm that makes you want to dance
and the lyrics are a little off the wall but what made my ears prick up was
“You can lie between her legs and go looking for, Tell her you're searching for
her soul” what an image… also the chorus starts “you can sit on chimneys, Put
some fire up your ass” another great image yes?
Hello has Amy Lee’s haunting voice with a piano backdrop
delivering hard punchy lyrics like “Playground school bell rings again, Rain
clouds come to play again, has no one told you she's not breathing? Hello, I'm
your mind giving you someone to talk to, Hello” do a Google search find the
true meaning then tell me it does not bring tears to your eyes.
Pulp’s I Spy has a very sinister side, the cheat who does
not care and even hopes to be discovered let the lyrics speak for themselves
“You see you should take me seriously, Very seriously indeed, "Cause I've been
sleeping with your wife, For the past sixteen weeks, Smoking your cigarettes,
drinking your brandy, Messing up the bed that you chose together, And in all
that time I just wanted you, To come home unexpectedly one afternoon, And catch
us at it in the front room” the arrogance and sinister nature of this is just brilliant you can’t
help but love it.
The Eagles just produce good music but the lyrics in here
make me think of the film ‘From Dusk till Dawn’ the clever descriptions and
simple story will keep you humming for hours “And in the master's chambers,
They gathered for the feast, They stab it with their steely knives, But they
just can't kill the beast” genius?
Bill Withers this is one of them songs I forget about for
years at a time but when I hear it I remember every lyric and just want to sing
along, a simple but uplifting song that always makes me smile and think of my
friends.
James Blunt has managed to write a full suicide note into
a song, with these lyrics it’s hard not to get a lump in your throat “Remember
us and all we used to be, I've seen you cry, I've seen you smile. I've watched
you sleeping for a while.”
Finally Billy Joel gives us some beautiful poetry which
just flows but throughout delivering little gems of genius making us think and
wondering if there is more than two meanings being delivered here “And the
waitress is practicing politics, As the businessmen slowly get stoned, Yes,
they're sharing a drink they call loneliness, But it's better than drinkin'
alone”
Tracks
1. Leonard Cohen – Hallelujah
2. David Bowie – Life on Mars
3. Plan B – She said
4. Fish – The Company
5. Poison – Something to believe in
6. Damien Rice – Coconut Skins
7. Evanescence – Hello
8. Pulp – I Spy
9. Eagles – Hotel California
10. Bill Withers – Lean On Me
11. James Blunt – Goodbye my Lover
12. Billy Joel – Piano Man
Mix by Richard Sample