Great Songs With Great Lyrics
Printed From: Progarchives.com
Category: Other music related lounges
Forum Name: General Music Discussions
Forum Description: Discuss and create polls about all types of music
URL: http://www.progarchives.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=124038
Printed Date: March 12 2025 at 01:01
Software Version: Web Wiz Forums 11.01 - http://www.webwizforums.com
Topic: Great Songs With Great Lyrics
Posted By: beholdtheman
Subject: Great Songs With Great Lyrics
Date Posted: September 14 2020 at 16:19
|
..I've long considered Hotel California to be a really great rock song. And I also consider it to have some of the best lyrics ever written. First because the lyrics inspire you to create your own mental images, of what's happening throughout the song. But also because the lyrics are wide open for personal interpretation. ..I could also say this about Stairway To Heaven. I've always thought of it as a great rock song. But I also think that it has great lyrics, that are also open to personal interpretation. ..I'm mentioning these two songs because they're widely known. And I would like to hear from anyone about any personal stories about these two songs. About any personal interpretations of any of the lyrics. And also tell me about any prog songs, that you think have a similar quality of composition and lyrical content. |
Replies:
Posted By: AFlowerKingCrimson
Date Posted: September 14 2020 at 16:31
Anything by Rush. 
|
Posted By: Boboulo
Date Posted: September 14 2020 at 16:31
| "I hope I die before I get old" |
Posted By: MortSahlFan
Date Posted: September 14 2020 at 16:51
|
Almost every Roger Waters-led Pink Floyd song... Certainly all of Meddle, Dark Side, WYWH, Animals, The Wall ------------- https://www.youtube.com/c/LoyalOpposition https://www.scribd.com/document/382737647/MortSahlFan-Song-List |
Posted By: Grumpyprogfan
Date Posted: September 14 2020 at 17:21
|
AFlowerKingCrimson wrote:Posted By: Manuel
Date Posted: September 14 2020 at 20:05
| Thick as a Brick and A Passion Play, even though some people considered them quite obscure (specially A Passion Play), they contain quite a lot of great poetry that blends well with the music, and is subject to your own interpretation. |
Posted By: JD
Date Posted: September 14 2020 at 20:12
|
Cold and misty morning, I heard a warning borne in the air About an age of power no one had an hour to spare Where the seeds have withered, silent children shivered, in the cold Now their faces captured in the lenses of the jackals for gold ELP https://genius.com/2477859/Emerson-lake-and-palmer-karn-evil-9/Now-their-faces-captured-in-the-lenses-of-the-jackals-for-gold" rel="nofollow - - ------------- Thank you for supporting independently produced music |
Posted By: Sacro_Porgo
Date Posted: September 14 2020 at 20:34
|
So much prog has a lot of lyrical beauty and mystique to offer. It would be a fool's task to try to account for it all. But of course there are some which invariably stand out. Peter Gabriel both in Genesis and as a solo artist is a master of lively storytelling and fantastic imagery. I point to Supper's Ready (of course) and Family Snapshot...and yeah In Your Eyes. Love that song. Neil Peart is of course my favorite lyricist of all time. There's not much substantial to say about him that hasn't been said many times, so I'll just mention a couple creme de la creme lyrics: Entre Nous, Bravado, Marathon, 2112, and The Garden Kerry Livgren of Kansas is particularly interesting in his lyrical dealings with faith, but otherwise another great lyricist. The Wall comes immediately to mind, as well as Portrait (He Knew), and of course Carry On Wayward Son. ------------- Porg for short. My love of music doesn't end with prog! Feel free to discuss all sorts of music with me. Odds are I'll give it a chance if I haven't already! :) |
Posted By: AFlowerKingCrimson
Date Posted: September 14 2020 at 20:36
Also early Marillion. I prefer the H era of Marillion but don't pay to close attention to the lyrics. I think the lyrics were great in the Fish era though. Also, Echolyn.
|
Posted By: rushfan4
Date Posted: September 14 2020 at 21:04
|
I know a lot of PAers think that they are cheesy, but I really enjoy Ayreon's albums for the lyrics and story telling. Especially, The Human Equation. And of course, I am all for mentioning Rush. ------------- 
|
Posted By: cstack3
Date Posted: September 14 2020 at 22:10
|
I consider Jon Anderson of Yes to be one of the greatest poets of the English language! I put him up with great romantic poets like Shelley, Keats etc. TFTO has some of his greatest work, this is from "The Revealing Science of God" Dawn of light lying between A silence and sold sources Chased amid fusions of wonder In moments hardly seen forgotten Colored in pastures of chance Dancing leaves cast spells of challenge Amused but real in thought We fled from the sea whole Dawn of thought transferred through moments Of days under searching earth Revealing corridors of time provoking memories Disjointed but with purpose Craving penetrations offer links With the self instructors sharp And tender love as we took to the air A picture of distance Dawn of our power we amuse Re descending as fast as misused Expression, as only to teach love as To reveal passion chasing Late into corners, and we danced from the ocean Dawn of love sent within us Colors of awakening among the many Won't to follow, only tunes of a different age As the links span our endless caresses For the freedom of life everlasting..... https://www.google.com/search?sxsrf=ALeKk00K0WkMVwPW5yesiG_PjrIKzc6LBg%3A1600142874250&source=hp&ei=Gj5gX8T0DJj6-gTztqW4CQ&q=the+revealing+science+of+god+lyrics&oq=The+revealing+scienc&gs_lcp=CgZwc3ktYWIQARgBMgUILhCTAjICCAAyAggAMgIIADICCAAyAggAMgIIADICCAA6BAgjECc6BQgAEJECOgQILhBDOgUILhCRAjoECAAQQzoECC4QJzoHCC4QsQMQQzoFCAAQsQM6AgguOgUILhCxAzoICC4QxwEQrwE6CAgAELEDEIMBOggILhCxAxCTAjoECC4QCjonCC4QxwEQrwEQFBCHAjoECAAQCjoKCC4QxwEQrwEQClCvCFjJLmCgQ2gCcAB4AYABjwKIAYQTkgEGOS4xMi4xmAEAoAEBqgEHZ3dzLXdpeg&sclient=psy-ab" rel="nofollow - the revealing science of god lyrics ------------- I am not a Robot, I'm a FREE MAN!! |
Posted By: Boboulo
Date Posted: September 14 2020 at 23:04
|
Posted By: A Crimson Mellotron
Date Posted: September 15 2020 at 01:36
I would add 'The Division Bell' also, sir. Has some fantastic lyrics.
|
Posted By: A Crimson Mellotron
Date Posted: September 15 2020 at 01:38
|
I personally love Steven Wilson's lyrics, anything on the classic VDGG albums, Belew's lyrics are always interesting, and the cringeworthy gush you get from Dream Theater's! |
Posted By: Frenetic Zetetic
Date Posted: September 15 2020 at 02:59
 !I'm also a massive Jon Anderson mark, as it is. I'm one of the few that actually prefer his amigious, mystical rantings! There's lucidity in these words, I swear!  .------------- "I am so prog, I listen to concept albums on shuffle." -KMac2021 |
Posted By: Boboulo
Date Posted: September 15 2020 at 03:27
|
Summer Song (in the Autumn) Summer song in the autumn, for you didn't catch the colour of the falling leaves. So many words have been spoken which you didn't understand and so couldn't believe. And the song that you're humming is yesterday's tune - Someone who you love is leaving you. You walking in sunshine by the sea with gull crying overhead; but now the skies are cloudy, and the love you had is dead. And the water recedes from the farthest dunes - Someone who you loved is leaving you. You remember the happiness you had as you laughed along in the sun but now your eyes are coming dull, there's a numbness on your tongue.... You look out at the water which is calling you over the wind, then you throw aside your handbag and slowly walk right in. And tomorrow you'll be in yesterday's news: someone who you loved has left you Peter Hammill
|
Posted By: Mormegil
Date Posted: September 15 2020 at 05:28
This. ------------- Welcome to the middle of the film. |
Posted By: SteveG
Date Posted: September 15 2020 at 06:27
------------- This message was brought to you by a proud supporter of the Deep State. |
Posted By: The Dark Elf
Date Posted: September 15 2020 at 07:39
|
The lyrics of Ian Anderson are superb. Witty, biting and literate. Not just anyone could write a full album satirization of medieval mystery and passion plays with allegorical asides, smatterings of Latin, references to obscure 15th century Everyman poems, and can rattle off a line such as: And your little sister's immaculate virginity Wings away on the bony shoulders Of a young horse named George Who stole surreptitiously Into her geography revision. The examining body examined her body.... ------------- ...a vigorous circular motion hitherto unknown to the people of this area, but destined to take the place of the mud shark in your mythology... |
Posted By: Grumpyprogfan
Date Posted: September 15 2020 at 08:16
| John Lennon - Imagine. Lyrics are outstanding. Also, Bob Dylan penned many great lyrics. |
Posted By: Cristi
Date Posted: September 15 2020 at 08:18
Bob Dylan I agree, but Imagine
 I disagree... |
Posted By: The Dark Elf
Date Posted: September 15 2020 at 08:24
From a non-prog standpoint, I think you would also have to add Paul Simon to that trio. Lennon, Dylan and Simon were all outstanding. ------------- ...a vigorous circular motion hitherto unknown to the people of this area, but destined to take the place of the mud shark in your mythology... |
Posted By: Woon Deadn
Date Posted: September 15 2020 at 08:47
|
Since you've mentioned Bob Dylan, in the USSR the singers of that kind who wrote and sang what they wrote and played the acoustic guitar or so, were called bards - a pretty familiar word for us all, right? Soviet bards created many great lyrics. Sometimes even the melodies were memorable (though usually not). The most popular Soviet bard was Vladimir Vysotsky - there's a whole site of translations of his songs to various languages: https://wysotsky.com/" rel="nofollow - https://wysotsky.com/ His notable tunes include: and like a hundred more ones. ------------- Favourite Band: Gentle Giant Favourite Writer: Robert Sheckley Favourite Horror Writer: Jean Ray Favourite Computer Game: Tiny Toon - Buster's Hidden Treasure (Sega Mega Drive/Genesis) |
Posted By: Woon Deadn
Date Posted: September 15 2020 at 09:21
|
... the Soviet songs practically always had meaningful to highly meaningful lyrics. There was, for example, sort of Soviet "My Way" - the song Nadezhda (Hope) prominently performed by Muslim Magomayev: Here's the English translation: https://lyricstranslate.com/en/%D0%BD%D0%B0%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%B6%D0%B4%D0%B0-hope.html-2#songtranslation" rel="nofollow - https://lyricstranslate.com/en/%D0%BD%D0%B0%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%B6%D0%B4%D0%B0-hope.html-2#songtranslation Btw, Mr. Magomayev performed My Way, too. ------------- Favourite Band: Gentle Giant Favourite Writer: Robert Sheckley Favourite Horror Writer: Jean Ray Favourite Computer Game: Tiny Toon - Buster's Hidden Treasure (Sega Mega Drive/Genesis) |
Posted By: beholdtheman
Date Posted: September 15 2020 at 11:29
|
..This became a really great discussion; very diverse. And some of your examples caused me to think of even more..... JD... Cold and misty morning, I heard a warning borne in the air Now their faces captured in the lenses of the jackals for gold
ELP
..I like how the first and fourth lines have internal rhymes. Then the end of those lines, rhyme with the end of the following line. Is there a name for that type of rhyme pattern?
Sacro_Porgo... Too many things, to respond to all of them. But now I want to go back and revisit some of the classic Genesis. And I also agree with "Wayward Son". That definitely deserves a mention.
cstack3... You reminded me of a couple things, that I've always liked. Long Distance Runaround..... Hot colour melting the anger to stone The Teacher The Preacher..... Sad preacher nailed upon the coloured door of time I don't really have a specific interpretation for these. But I just like the beauty and the flow of the words. Do you have any specific interpretation for any of the verses you presented?
A Crimson Mellotron... I also like Steve Wilson. I nearly referred to "Heart Attack In A Lay By" for the original post. That song always gets me. From there I would say anything from "In Absentia". All those songs are really well crafted.
Frenetic Zetetic... It seems that you have a stronger than average appreciation for words and word craft. I saw "verslibre" in your post, and I had to find it in a dictionary. That opened me up to a new concept for writing lyrics. Also saw the word "amigious" in your post, but couldn't find that anywhere. Did you mean to say "ambiguous"? I have a lot of curiosity and interest in words and word craft. I have about 20 different dictionaries of varying complexity, to help me in that pursuit. If this is also an interest of yours, then maybe you could tell me more about it. If you want to. |
Posted By: moshkito
Date Posted: September 15 2020 at 11:34
|
Hi, Strange not to see Roy Harper here ... he has a lot of great things in his many albums. I specially like his late 70's and 80's period. ------------- Music is not just for listening ... it is for LIVING ... you got to feel it to know what's it about! Not being told! www.pedrosena.com |
Posted By: Rednight
Date Posted: September 15 2020 at 13:54
|
Toy Matinee's Last Plane Out. Perhaps only bordering on great, it's both cheeky but pleasantly amusing. ------------- "It just has none of the qualities of your work that I find interesting. Abandon [?] it." - Eno |
Posted By: Earl of Mar
Date Posted: September 15 2020 at 14:45
|
Al Stewart-Roads to Moscow. Incredible and moving. In fact Al over the years has painted many historical pictures through his lyrics and music. |
Posted By: Blaqua
Date Posted: September 15 2020 at 16:27
|
Marillion, Hawkwind, Gnidrolog - I Could Never Be A Soldier, Pentacle, Alain Markusfeld – Dors! Madère & Les Têtes Molles. I find Jethro Tull and Yes rather pretentious in their lyrics. |
Posted By: Frenetic Zetetic
Date Posted: September 16 2020 at 00:21
Yes I meant "ambiguous"; I despise touch screen keyboards but I'm stuck with it when on iPad or iPhone! Thank you for the kind compliment. I write both articles and music regularly. Just one crazy moment while the dice are cast, He looks into the future and remembers what is past, Wonders what he's doing on this battlefield, Shrugs to his shadow, impatient, too proud yet to kneel. In his wake he leaves scorched earth and work in vain; Smoke drifts up behind him, he is free again, Free to run before the onslaught of a deadly foe, Leaving nothing fit for pillage, hardly leaving home. It's far too late to turn, unless it's to stone. Charging madly forward, tracks across the snow, Wind screams madness to him, ever on he goes Leaving spoor to mark his passage, trace his weary climb. Cross the moor and make the headland Stumbling, wayward, blind. In the end his footprints extend as one single line. This latest exponent of heresy is goaded into an attack, Persuaded to charge at his enemy. Too late, he knows it is, too late now to turn back, Too soon by far to falter. The past sits uneasily at his rear, He's walking right into the trap, Surrounded, but striving through will and fear. Ahead of him he knows there waits an ambuscade But the dice slip through his fingers And he's living from day to day, Carrying his world around upon his back, Leaving nothing behind but the tell-tale of his track. He will not be hostage, he will not be slave, No snare of past can trap him, though the future may. Still he runs and burns behind him in advanced retreat; Still his life remains unfettered, he denies defeat. It's far too late to turn, unless it's to stone. Leave the past to burn, at least that's been his own. Scorched earth, that's all that's left when he's done; Holding nothing but beholden to no-one, Claiming nothing, out of no false pride, he survives. Snow tracks are all that's left to be seen Of a man who entered the course of a dream, Claiming nothing but the life he's known This, at least, has been his own. ------------- "I am so prog, I listen to concept albums on shuffle." -KMac2021 |
Posted By: beholdtheman
Date Posted: September 17 2020 at 01:19
|
I also like Steve Wilson. I nearly referred to "Heart Attack In A Lay By" for the original post. That song always gets me. From there I would say anything from "In Absentia". All those songs are really well crafted. |
Posted By: JD
Date Posted: September 17 2020 at 09:22
For example here are the lyrics I wrote for a song called 'Aqua Terra Electrique' before I heard any of the music. In churning wakes as light recedes Guiding lights of emerald green And red that seems to bleed Pulled away in strange effect By force of nature, disconnect No Warning left to heed Slipped so quickly from my gaze Engulfed and swallowed by the haze Our life became unfurled Across the flats with careful haste We broke to land and then we faced Electric Water World © JD Dinsdale
------------- Thank you for supporting independently produced music |
Posted By: The Dark Elf
Date Posted: September 17 2020 at 10:01
They are referred to as "rhyme schemes". The Karn Evil example is AABB, in that the line 1 and 2 rhyme, and 3 and 4 rhyme. JD's example is AAB CCB, in which the first 2 lines rhyme (as do the 4th and 5th line), followed by 3 line that rhymes with the 6th line. ------------- ...a vigorous circular motion hitherto unknown to the people of this area, but destined to take the place of the mud shark in your mythology... |
Posted By: POTA
Date Posted: September 17 2020 at 16:13
Dylan is almost unanimously considered the greatest ever lyricist, so that's obvious. "Imagine" is pretty terrible though. Leonard Cohen I feel is up there among the best.
|
Posted By: Grumpyprogfan
Date Posted: September 17 2020 at 17:03
|
Posted By: The Dark Elf
Date Posted: September 17 2020 at 17:26
He has no idea. "Imagine" is one of the few songs that a conservative fundamentalist Republican will absently sing along with and not realize they're espousing anti-religious, anti-nationalistic, anti-conventional and anti-capitalistic themes. That in itself is worth the price of admission. Lennon knew what he had accomplished, and in a letter to Paul McCartney stated, ' "Imagine" was "Working Class Hero" with sugar on it for conservatives like yourself.' Oh, and "Working Class Hero"...another set of superb lyrics. ------------- ...a vigorous circular motion hitherto unknown to the people of this area, but destined to take the place of the mud shark in your mythology... |
Posted By: POTA
Date Posted: September 17 2020 at 20:22
Yes, your fabricated generalization of what neo-Cons do with this song really shows you have an idea, lol. Anyway, it isn’t bad because of its message. And I’m aware it’s considered one of the greats as far as lyrics go, but that’s only because of its social impact. It’s bad because its cheese level is on par with “We Are the World.” It has no wit or clever artistic expression. It’s just straightforward and on the head and ironically unimaginative. It sounds like a kid wrote it for a homework poetry assignment. |
Posted By: The Dark Elf
Date Posted: September 18 2020 at 00:31
Because I've actually heard people of that ilk singing, humming, swaying back and forth "Kumbayah"-style, and tapping their feet as if it was their favorite song of all time, dolt. It is the same lack of context and intellectual grasp that would have Donald Trump, with his five medical draft deferments fabricated by his wealthy father, playing CCR's "Fortunate Son" at a campaign rally. And that total blunder is not the first time his campaign was completely clueless to a song's message, they also played Neil Young's "Rockin' in the Free World", a savage indictment of George H.W. Bush's Republican administration and American throw-away capitalism, at several venues. This utter lack of context and historical place is evident in your statement below, and indicates to me that you were perhaps not even born when these lyrics were penned.
It is considered one of the great lyrics because of its social impact, and that is precisely due to its straightforward and seemingly simple message. I said "seemingly" because Lennon purposely crafted the song without allegorization or extraneous literary embellishment - the message mattered more than whatever inane "clever artistic expression" you think is missing. It was written in 1971 during the neverending Vietnam War and the UK's involvement in the Nigerian-Biafran civil war. Lennon was a very vocal proponent of the peace movement and associated with radical anti-war activists, so much so that the FBI had him under surveillance and the INS actually tried to deport him from New York. Lennon wrote "Imagine" in such a way that it would be accepted as a manifesto for peace and hope (which is why it is played so often after major tragedies). The political rhetoric is there, but it is not a rant or diatribe or call to arms, but rather a call to dream, to imagine the world as a better place -- a positive starting point for change. This is why it is one of the most covered songs of all time. In the same vein, Bob Dylan had hundreds of songs that were heavy on allegory and allusion, but the straightforward "Blowing in the Wind" was taken up as a peace anthem at the start of the anti-war movement ten years earlier, and the song will long outlive most of Dylan's other important songs. ------------- ...a vigorous circular motion hitherto unknown to the people of this area, but destined to take the place of the mud shark in your mythology... |
Posted By: Spacegod87
Date Posted: September 18 2020 at 09:24
|
The line, "Such a long, long time to be gone, but a short time to be there." by Grateful Dead in the song 'Box of Rain' always got me a bit teary-eyed. Beautiful song. I could name a lot of Dead songs to be honest, also, Starry Starry Night by Don Mclean and most songs written by Paul Simon. ------------- Levitating downwards, atomic feedback scream. |
Posted By: I prophesy disaster
Date Posted: September 18 2020 at 09:48
And one from his solo career: The current affair gets to be my business, I heard the news on the radio: the sun on earth... what is this? Is that the way that the crazy goes? Attention tuned to the satellites, looking down for an overview. In the chapel of space we are acolytes. In the battle of time we're all soldiers too and the relative choir push the energy higher Under fire. The sliding show in the macroscopic, finger on the button pointing to progress. The apparatus roll, no-one here can stop it, too busy learning more - always knowing less. Soon turkey-wrapped in the spaceman blanket we'll offer up lame duck apologies and settle down for the final banquet, the gourmet dish of technology... cryogenic device catches all human life under ice. The current affair gets to be all our business, it's filtered in through the T.V. screen. The norm, the average...what is this, when it goes blank what does that all mean? And what's the drive of each individual? And what's the way that the story ends? Is it Mr. X, left as the last residual holder of the flame, conscience of all men? But he's so tense to expire he throws himself on the wire under fire. Is this the way the world ends? Under ice, under fire? Has there been some mistaken design? Under ice got to find the human voice. Lord, deliver us from Babel. ------------- No, I know how to behave in the restaurant now, I don't tear at the meat with my hands. If I've become a man of the world somehow, that's not necessarily to say I'm a worldly man. |
Posted By: MaldonTerryWood
Date Posted: September 22 2020 at 07:09
|
Pete Brown's lyrics for Cream were good too. 'White Room', 'Deserted Cities of the Heart' etc |
Posted By: dr wu23
Date Posted: September 22 2020 at 08:57
|
All the usual suspects have been mentioned but just in case I'll mention these again... Andy Partridge Joni Mitchell Roy Harper ------------- One does nothing yet nothing is left undone. Haquin |
Posted By: satanellus
Date Posted: October 26 2020 at 23:42
|
Tom Waits |
Posted By: Green Shield Stamp
Date Posted: October 27 2020 at 03:26
Waits and his wife are gifted poets. ------------- Haiku Writing a poem With seventeen syllables Is very diffic.... |
Posted By: Green Shield Stamp
Date Posted: October 27 2020 at 03:30
|
Tom Waits’ song, Kentucky Avenue is like a novel in a song. It expresses so much - a fine piece of literature. ------------- Haiku Writing a poem With seventeen syllables Is very diffic.... |
Posted By: Ronstein
Date Posted: October 27 2020 at 03:54
I love the lyrics of Routine and The Raven Who Refused To Sing. Two incredible tracks (if you like misery) and the films that go with them are amazing too. My favorite lyricists are probably Leonard Cohen and Tom Waits. Re: Tull, I remember Iain Anderson saying in an interview that his relationship with Robert Plant went down the drain when he said, without thinking, that with his lyrics and Jimmy Page's music they'd have a great little band, quite forgetting that Robert Plant wrote the lyrics for Led Zep
 |