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What's playing in your head today?
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
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Re: What's playing in your head today?
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.
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Re: What's playing in your head today?
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
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Re: What's playing in your head today?
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.
_________________ When people walk away from you, let them go. Your destiny is never tied to anyone who leaves you, and it doesn't mean they are bad people. It just means that their part in your story is over. - Tony McCollum
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Re: What's playing in your head today?
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
Last edited by realiz on Wed Sep 07, 2011 1:05 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: What's playing in your head today?
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
_________________ Money is a lousy way of keeping score.
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Re: What's playing in your head today?
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
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Re: What's playing in your head today?
"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...
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Re: What's playing in your head today?
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
_________________ "From childhood's hour I have not been as others were I have not seen as others saw I could not bring my passions from a common spring From the same source I have not taken my sorrow I could not awake my heart to joy at the same tone And all I loved - I loved alone"
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Re: What's playing in your head today?
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
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Re: What's playing in your head today?
giselle wrote:
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
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.
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Re: What's playing in your head today?
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
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Re: What's playing in your head today?
"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:
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