What is playing in your head today?
Our other song lyrics thread was getting long enough to be a bit unmanageable, so, let's begin afresh.


I went to see Laura Veirs last night at the Birchmere in Alexandria, VA. What a terrific show! Laura Veirs is from Colorado Srpings and study geology in college. You can really hear the time she spent as a geologist in her lyrics. Veirs has way a way with combining poetic lyrics and lush multi layered instrumentation. She uses her own voice like an instrument, adding to the intensity of the emotion expressed by the lyrics. Before I post a song, I want to acknowledge that lyrics alone on a page are tricky; they sometimes seem too spare.


I Can See Your Tracks

Oh I can see your tracks
But I won’t follow them
I’ll just hope for rain
Or some kind of crazy wind
To erase them
And chase them into oblivion

Oh I can smell the smoke
From your fire, babe
But I’ll leave you alone
And sleep in this lonely cave
And pray for
A storm to scrub this dirt away

Oh I can hear the snakes
Creeping cross the scene
I’m quaking in my boots
But you won’t hear me scream
You’re half way
Down to New Orleans
You’re half way
Down to New Orleans

I think I'll post two! Nightingale is a favorite song of mine.

Nightingale sing
Though it's blacker than the bog
Nightingale sing to me
I need to hear your song
Nightingale come
And perch upon my tree
A terrifying light's
Been flashing over me

I would not bear to rest
I would not dare to dream
Til the nightingale came
And sang a song for me

She'll sing above the blasts
And the clothing singed by fire
She'll sing above the black smoke
Rising from the funeral pyre
Her heart a field in bloom
Her heart a sacred snow
Her heart a mirror blinding
All the greedy as they go

I would not bear to rest
I would not dare to dream
Til the nightingale came
And sang a song for me

I cannot help but want
To solder all the parts
Solder back together
All the shattered hearts
Nightingale come
And perch upon my tree
The terrifying night's
Been crashing over me

I would not bear to rest
I would not dare to dream
Til the nightingale came
And sang a song for me

I would not bear to rest
I would not dare to dream
Til the nightingale came
And sang a song for me

Thanks Saffron, I like these Veirs songs, particularly I Can See Your Tracks. Her use of the "Oh" to start off each verse sets an interesting tone and I think is a clever device. I like the imagery of the tracks being washed away. There is a sense of wistfulness in this song but also strength and almost defiance. The use of place names in songs has a certain effect because of the connotation they have in the popular imagination and New Orleans is a very good example, San Francisco would be another.

I was at a music festival today. Justin Towns Earle was to play, sadly he entered rehab yesterday and will not be performing. Here is a beautiful little song written by Justin's name sake, Towns Van Zandt. It really does need its melody, but here are naked lyrics.

If I needed you would you come to me,
Would you come to me, and ease my pain?
If you needed me
I would come to you
I'd swim the seas for to ease your pain

In the night forlorn the morning's born
And the morning shines with the lights of love
You will miss sunrise if you close your eyes
That would break my heart in two

The lady's with me now since I showed her how
To lay her lily hand in mine
Loop and Lil agree she's a sight to see
And a treasure for the poor to find

My daughters and I went in 3 ways to buy the new Decemberist CD The King is Dead. My ears are full and my mind is so warm and easy listening -- happy.

So here is a spin for anyone reading. If only you could hear the rich warm guitar that accompanies Colin Meloy's voice --

Maybe you can: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XqDlTKqxu2w


January Hymn

On a winter Sunday I go
To clear away the snow
And green the ground below

April all an ocean away
Is this the better way to spend the day?
Keeping the winter at bay

What were the words I meant to say before you left?
When I could see your breath lead where you were going to

Maybe I should just "let it be”
and maybe it will all come back to me
Sing oh January oh!

How I lived a childhood in snow
And all my teens in tow
Stuffed in strata of glow

Hail the winter days after dark
Wandering the gray memorial park
A fleeting beating of hearts

What were the words I meant to say before she left?
When I could see her breath lead where she was going to

Maybe I should just "let it be”
And maybe it will all come back to me
Sing oh Janu...
Oh January oh

I was watching Labyrinth last night and As the World Falls Down by David Bowie has been going through my head ever since, along with the ballroom scene

As the World Falls Down:

There's such a sad love
deep in your eyes.
A kind of pale jewel
opened and closed within your eyes
I'll place the sky within your eyes.

There's such a fooled heart
beating so fast.
in search of new dreams
a love that will last within your heart
I'll place the moon within your heart.

As the pain sweeps through
makes no sense for you.
Every thrill he's caused
wasn't too much fun at all.
But I'll be there for you
as the world falls down.

I'll paint you mornings of gold
I'll spin you valentine evenings
though we're strangers till now
we're choosing the path between the stars
I'll lay my love between the stars.

As the pain sweeps through
makes no sense for you.
Every thrill he's caused
wasn't too much fun at all.
But I'll be there for you
as the world falls down.

I was listening to Tracy Chapman this morning and this song has stuck with me. It is a simple little song, but very hauntingly beautiful when she sings it.

Baby Can I Hold You

Sorry
Is all that you can't say
Years gone by and still
Words don't come easily
Like sorry like sorry

Forgive me
Is all that you can't say
Years gone by and still
Words don't come easily
Like forgive me forgive me

But you can say baby
Baby can I hold you tonight
Maybe if I told you the right words
At the right time you'd be mine

I love you
Is all that you can't say
Years gone by and still
Words don't come easily
Like I love you I love you

But you can say baby
Baby can I hold you tonight
Maybe if I told you the right words
At the right time you'd be mine

Souvenirs
By Dan Fogelberg

Here is a poem that my lady sent down
Some morning while I was away
Wrote on the back of a leaf that she found
Somewhere around Monterey

And here is the key to a house far away
Where I used to live as a child
They tore down the building when I moved away
And left the key unreconciled

And down in the canyon
The smoke starts to rise
It rides on the wind
Till it reaches your eyes
When faced with the past
The strongest man cries...

And here is a sunrise to set on your sill
The ghosts of the dawn moving near
They pass through your sorrow and leave you quite still
Sitting among souvenirs

children of the revolution
marc bolan

Yeah
Well you can bump and grind
if it's good for your mind
you can twist and shout let it all hang out
But you won't fool the children of the revolution

Well you can terraplane in the falling rain
I drive rolls royce 'cos it's good for my voice
But you won't fool the children of the revolution

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6u1CB5xz ... re=related

"Homeys' Worship" by Canton Jones.

We gone keep it goin... we gone keep it goin... we gone keep it goin all night long...
This is how the homeys worship; this is how the homeys worship...

Rocky Mountain High

by John Denver

He was born in the summer of his 27th year
Comin' home to a place he'd never been before
He left yesterday behind him, you might say he was born again
You might say he found a key for every door

When he first came to the mountains his life was far away
On the road and hangin' by a song
But the string's already broken and he doesn't really care
It keeps changin' fast and it don't last for long

But the Colorado rocky mountain high
I've seen it rainin' fire in the sky
The shadow from the starlight is softer than a lullabye
Rocky mountain high

He climbed cathedral mountains, he saw silver clouds below
He saw everything as far as you can see
And they say that he got crazy once and he tried to touch the sun
And he lost a friend but kept his memory

Now he walks in quiet solitude the forest and the streams
Seeking grace in every step he takes
His sight has turned inside himself to try and understand
The serenity of a clear blue mountain lake

And the Colorado rocky mountain high
I've seen it rainin' fire in the sky
You can talk to God and listen to the casual reply
Rocky mountain high

Now his life is full of wonder but his heart still knows some fear
Of a simple thing he cannot comprehend
Why they try to tear the mountains down to bring in a couple more
More people, more scars upon the land

And the Colorado rocky mountain high
I've seen it rainin' fire in the sky
I know he'd be a poorer man if he never saw an eagle fly
Rocky mountain high

It's Colorado rocky mountain high
I've seen it rainin' fire in the sky
Friends around the campfire and everybody's high
Rocky mountain high

A rather silly but enjoyable song that I heard recently and that was played over and over in our high school cafeteria in the 70's. If you heard it back then, it will all come back to you!


Ballroom Blitz

Are you ready, Steve? Aha.
Andy? Yeah! Mick? OK.
Alright, fellas, let's go!

Oh it's been getting so hard
Livin' with the things you do to me, aha
Oh my dreams are getting so strange
I'd like to tell you everything I see
Oh, I see a man at the back
As a matter of fact his eyes are red as the sun
And a girl in the corner let no one ignore her
'Cause she thinks she's the passionate one

Oh, yeah, it was like lightning, everybody was frightening
And the music was soothing, and they all started grooving

Yeah, Yeah, Yeah, Yeah, Yeah
And the man at the back said
Everyone attack and it turned into a ballroom blitz
And the girl in the corner said
Boy, I wanna warn ya, it'll turn into a ballroom blitz
Ballroom blitz, ballroom blitz, ballroom blitz
Ballroom blitz

I'm reaching out for something
Touching nothing's all I ever do
Oh, I softly call you over
When you appear there's nothing left of you, aha
Now the man in the back
Is ready to crack as he raises his hands to the sky
And the girl in the corner is ev'ryone's mourner
She could kill you with a wink of her eye

Oh yeah, it was electric, so frightfully hectic
And the band started leaving, 'cause they all stopped breathing

Refrain

Oh yeah, it was like lightning, everybody was frightening
And the music was soothing, and they all started grooving

Refrain

It's it's a ballroom blitz, it's it's a ballroom blitz
It's it's a ballroom blitz, yeah, it's a ballroom blitz

Yes, it does come right back! It was a song that was very over played, so much so, that even if you liked it, you wanted it to stop.

Here's what's playing in my mind today, thanks to a friend's comment bringing it to mind.


"Hallelujah"


I've heard there was a secret chord
That David played, and it pleased the Lord
But you don't really care for music, do you?
It goes like this
The fourth, the fifth
The minor fall, the major lift
The baffled king composing Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah

Your faith was strong but you needed proof
You saw her bathing on the roof
Her beauty and the moonlight overthrew you
She tied you
To a kitchen chair
She broke your throne, and she cut your hair
And from your lips she drew the Hallelujah

Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah

Maybe I have been here before
I know this room, I've walked this floor
I used to live alone before I knew you
I've seen your flag on the marble arch
Love is not a victory march
It's a cold and it's a broken Hallelujah

Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah

There was a time
You let me know
What's real and going on below
But now you never show it to me, do you?
And remember when I moved in you?
The holy dark was moving to
And every breath we drew was Hallelujah

Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah

Maybe there's a god above
And all I ever learned from love
Was how to shoot at someone who outdrew you
And it's not a cry you can hear at night,
It's not somebody who's seen the light
It's cold and it's a broken Hallelujah

Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah

"Hallelujah" is a brilliant Leonard Cohen song, I love his music … I thought his original would be the definitive version of this song but the kd lang version is pretty amazing, here it is on youtube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_NpxTWbovE