He read her like a book and the first few chapters were a little hard to understand

Yes, kids, that's right, it's time to play post your favourite lyrics thread! Here's mine, from Frost's Melodica. This is a really pretty album, kind of "downtempo" with mostly electronica underpinnings, and the girl has a high wispy breathy airy almost whispery voice. Highly recommended to fans of the likes of Halou, Laika, and Múm. Song is the name of "Duo":

She could go all the way
she'd love to hear him say that
who she was was fine
and all he ever needed in life

She hardly changed her looks
he read her like a book
and though the first few chapters
were a little hard to understand
he held her hand

One and one was still two
you came to me I came to you
bought me flowers, talked for hours
we were meant to be I know

One and one is still two
what would I be without you
another day that fades away
we were meant to be I know

Her head was in a cloud
and he was young, but not too proud
to whisper in her ears
all the thing she'd always longed for

Her goldfish drowned that day
he tried to kiss her tears away
and though her hands were cold
and he was as clumsy as a child
he held her hand

More here

Always lots of lyric fragments bouncing and rattling around in my head. Some very memorable ones this year from Califone and Songs: Ohia and Holopaw and a slew of others. But one of my favorites is one I mentioned in the post about my Season's Greetings 2003 comp from the wonderful Chutes Too Narrow album by the Shins. The song is "Young Pilgrims" and is probably my favorite on the album, due in no small part to the line that opens the second verse, "I fell into a winter slide / and ended up the kind of kid who goes down chutes too narrow". The lyrics throughout the album are very nice and fit well with the music.

I live in America
with a pair of Payless shoes
The Upper Peninsula
and the television news.
I've seen my wife at the K-Mart
In strange ideas, we live apart.

I live in a trailer home,
with a snowmobile, my car.
The window is broken out
and the interstate is far.
I drove all night to find my child.
In strange ideas, he's been reveiled.

In strange ideas, in stranger times,
I've no idea what's right sometimes.
I lost my mind, I lost my life.
I lost my job, I lost my wife

"The Upper Peninsula" by Sufjan Stevens

It definitely paints a picture of desperation and a bleak outlook, but is also very tied into the Michigan theme of his album. The song is just full of emotion.

Stone

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Stone

"The Upper Peninsula" by Sufjan Stevens

It definitely paints a picture of desperation and a bleak outlook, but is also very tied into the Michigan theme of his album. The song is just full of emotion.

Stone

---

Never heard of that one until now. Have to look for some samples. Are you gonna do a year-ender this time around? Those lyrics and your description remind me a lot of one of my favorite Modest Mouse songs, Trailer Trash. Kind of the same story, except presumably set in Washington, and like much of the album, probably an indictment of the California encroachment on Washington's commerce and people.

Eating snow flakes with plastic forks
And a paper plate of course
You think of everything

Short in love with a long divorce
And a couple of kids, of course
They don't mean anything

Live in trailers with no class
God damn, I hope I can pass
High school means nothing

Taking heartache with hard work
God damn, I am such a jerk
I can't do anything

And I shout that you're all fakes (fakes)
And you should've seen the look on your face
And I guess that's what it takes
When comparing your belly aches

And it's been a long time
Which agrees with this watch of mine
And I know that I missed you
and I'm sorry if I dissed you


Did you see the individual lists for the Pitchfork top 100? Much more interesting than the cumulative list, at least for me. I like the first guy up, William Bowers. He hits on many of my favorites right up front, including that Modest Mouse album which has gotten better and better over the years for me.

>> WILLIAM BOWERS
1. Pavement: Slanted & Enchanted [Matador]
2. Destoryer- City of Daughters
3. Bonnie Prince Billy- I See a Darkness
4. Public Enemy- Fear of a Black Planet
5. Smoke- Another Reason To Fast
6. Modest Mouse- The Lonesome Crowded West
7. Afghan Whigs- Gentlemen
8. Radiohead- OK You Zany Computer You
9. Neutral Milk Hotel- In The Aeroplane Over the Sea
10. Cat Power- Moon Pix
11. Flaming Lips- Soft Bulletin
12. Yo La Tengo- I Can Hear the Heart..
13. The Faint- Blank Wave Arcade
14. Dogbowl- Flan
15. Palace Music- Viva Last Blues
16. Broadcast- The Noise Made…
17. Morrissey- Bona Drag
18. Pavement- Crooked Rain
19. Guided By Voices- Bee Thousand
20. My Morning Jacket- Tennesse Fire
21. Silver Jews- American Water


Note the Cat Power and NMH and Whigs and YLT and Lips and double Pavement and Silver Jews and even Viva Last Blues! Yeah, Mr. Bowers! Surprised to see Destroyer in there so high though. Do you have that one?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Davey.

Did you see the individual lists for the Pitchfork top 100? Much more interesting than the cumulative list, at least for me. I like the first guy up, William Bowers. He hits on many of my favorites right up front, including that Modest Mouse album which has gotten better and better over the years for me.

Note the Cat Power and NMH and Whigs and YLT and Lips and double Pavement and Silver Jews and even Viva Last Blues! Yeah, Mr. Bowers! Surprised to see Destroyer in there so high though. Do you have that one?

---

Yeah, I did see the individual lists. They were pretty interesting. And now I understand how certain albums made it so high, while other very good albums were left off the cumulative list. I thought Bowers' list was good too, and a couple others (but I don't remember whose right now).

I don't have that Destroyer record. I have a couple other Destoyer records, but not that one. It looks like something I need to try to find, but I'm guessing it was in limited supply and is long OOP. Seeing the Destroyer record and others on so many people's lists makes me wonder if certain of these albums were making the rounds of the PF staff recently, and how that may have skewed the list(s).

Stone

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Davey.

Are you gonna do a year-ender this time around?

---

No, I don't think so. I'm going to be on the road for most of the month of December, so I won't be able to put together a comp any time soon.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Stone

No, I don't think so. I'm going to be on the road for most of the month of December, so I won't be able to put together a comp any time soon.

---

Boo...hisss...boo... :(

I was looking forward to your year-ender...now how am I going to know what to buy?

Mark

This seems to be a reccurring favorite of mine:

<b>"And if I pass this way again, you can rest assured/
I'll always do my best for her, on that I give my word/
In a world of steel-eyed death, and men who are fighting to be warm./
"Come in," she said, "I'll give you/
Shelter from the storm." ' </b>

<b>..."Well, the deputy walks on hard nails and the preacher rides a mount/
But nothing really matters much, it's doom alone that counts/
And the one-eyed undertaker, he blows a futile horn./
"Come in," she said, "I'll give you/
Shelter from the storm." ' </b>

That whole album was amazing actually, full of great imagery and themes. Gotta love Dylan.

http://bobdylan.com/albums/blood.html

A quick line that's been entertaining me lately...

"Jesus and his lawyer
Are coming back"

from the Eels: Novicane for the Soul

And, as long as Dylan's being brought up, a personal favorite of his for me has always been Positively Fourth Street:

You got a lotta nerve
To say you are my friend
When I was down
You just stood there grinning

You got a lotta nerve
To say you got a helping hand to lend
You just want to be on
The side that's winning

You say I let you down
You know it's not like that
If you're so hurt
Why then don't you show it

You say you lost your faith
But that's not where it's at
You had no faith to lose
And you know it

I know the reason
That you talk behind my back
I used to be among the crowd
You're in with

Do you take me for such a fool
To think I'd make contact
With the one who tries to hide
What he don't know to begin with

You see me on the street
You always act surprised
You say, "How are you?" "Good luck"
But you don't mean it

When you know as well as me
You'd rather see me paralyzed
Why don't you just come out once
And scream it

No, I do not feel that good
When I see the heartbreaks you embrace
If I was a master thief
Perhaps I'd rob them

And now I know you're dissatisfied
With your position and your place
Don't you understand
It's not my problem

I wish that for just one time
You could stand inside my shoes
And just for that one moment
I could be you

Yes, I wish that for just one time
You could stand inside my shoes
You'd know what a drag it is
To see you

OK...one more and I'll stop for a while anyway...

Lou Reed: Lisa Says

Lisa says that it's all right
When I take her home at night
Lisa says that she has her fun
And she'll do it with just 'bout anyone

Lisa says,...

Lisa says that she is on the run
Looking for that special one
Lisa says that every time she makes it straight
She knows her heart will break

Lisa says, ...

Looking for a party, some action
Gone to make it feel ok
But what do you mind
Where the time must come on down
Lookin' around

Lisa says, ...

He has a way of painting a picture with his words.

Oh come away from the day, here I stay
Living on the bottom of the sea.
Down metal snake corridors, steely grey
Engines hum for nobody but me
No sound comes from the sea above me
No message crackles through the radio leads
They'll never know, never no never
How strange life in dark waters can be

Oh Marines spare a thought when you pass
Those who live the submarine life
Far in the deep sonar eyes never sleep
Hiding like a shadow in the night
Jet planes nose through the clouds above me
They look for radar traces of me to see
They'll never know, never no never
How strange life in dark waters can be

Wonder what the stars look like
Coming out tonight
Tell my girl, she must be strong
She sits and waits all night long
Just looking for a better day
She'll have to find another way to go

No memory, tell me what's wrong with me
Why am I alone here with no rest
And now the name of the ship's not the same
How long has it been "Marie Celeste"?
Now there's nobody from the crew left
Five hundred years supply of food just for me
They'll never know, never no never
How strange life in dark waters can be.

I find those lyrics chilling.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by ForeverAutumn

He has a way of painting a picture with his words.
...
I find those lyrics chilling.

---

Doesn't hurt that that's a great song, too.

gotta add one more that I can't believe I forgot about earlier...

Frank's Wild Years - Tom Waits

Well Frank settled down in the Valley
and hung his wild years
on a nail that he drove through
his wife's forehead.
He sold used office furniture
out there on San Fernando Road
and assumed a $30,000 loan
at 15 1/4 % and put down payment
on a little two bedroom place.
His wife was a spent piece of used jet trash
made good bloody marys
kept her mouth shut most of the time
had a little Chihuahua named Carlos
that had some kind of skin disease
and was totally blind.
They had athoroughly modern kitchen
self-cleaning oven (the whole bit).
Frank drove a little sedan.
They were so happy.

One night Frank was on his way home
from work, stopped at the liquor store,
picked up a couple Mickey's Big Mouths
drank 'em in the car on his way
to the Shell station.
He got a gallon ofgas in a can,
drove home, dousedeverything in the house,
torched it, parked across the street laughing,
watching it burn,
all Halloween orange and chimney red.
Frank put on a top forty station
got on the Hollywood Freeway.
Headed north.

Never could stand that dog

:) If you're happy and you know it clap your hands :)

Whatchoo talkin' 'bout? nobody's sounded like a pretty happy song.

In a psychotic sort of way

...what the heck does the Parkaboy reference mean?

Bruce Robison has a song called "What Would Willie Do?" that's a play on the xtian WWJD thing. It was picked up by one of the mainstream Nashville a-holes, thus losing some of its charm. Still, there's some pretty good lines in there:

You know sometimes I wonder when I ain't gettin' nowhere
what would old Willie do when things get too much to bear
and I see him sittin' on his lonely old bus
and he's got his problems just like any of us
and I bet he'd just take a deep breath [pause...] and he'd let 'em all go
and then he'd take another deep breath [pause...] and he'd let 'em all go
and then he'd take another deep breath[pause...]
and he'd hold it...[longer pause...]

and then I bet he'd feel hungry in a way that seems strange
yes hungry for all the things he just can't change
like the time he passed out in his own bedroom
and his ex-wife sewed him up in the sheet and she beat him with a broom
and he forgave her and you think that that's rough,
then the IRS came and they took away all his stuff
they took his golf course and his recording studio
and he just went on out and did another show
...
he loves all the people no matter their races
Hell, he even made a hit country song with Julio Eglacias
and that ain't easy to do

John