From "The Ballad of Mott the Hoople".

I changed my name, in search of fame, to find the Midas touch.
Oh I wish I never wanted then, what I want now, twice as much.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sV_mFw6Jo_Y


The Beat of Black Wings
Joni Mitchell

I met a young soldier
He said his name was Killer Kyle
He was shakin' all over
Like a night-frightened child
This is his story
It's a tough one for me to sing
Hard as the squawk and the flap
And the beat of, the beat of black wings

"They gave me a gun, " he said
"They gave me a mission
For the power and the glory,
Propaganda, piss on 'em
There's a war zone inside me,
I can feel things exploding,
I can't even hear the fucking music playing
For the beat of, the beat of black wings."

He said, "I never had nothin',
Nothin' I could believe in
My girl killed our unborn child
Without even grievin'!
I put my hands on her belly
To feel the kid kickin', damn!
She'd been to some clinic
Oh, the beat of black wings."

"They want you, they need you,
They train you to kill,
To be a pin on some map,
Some vicarious thrill,
The old hate the young
That's the whole heartless thing
The old pick the wars
We die in 'em
To the beat of, the beat of black wings."
There's a man drawing pictures
On the sidewalk with chalk
Just as fast as he draws 'em
Rain come down and wash 'em off
"Keep the drinks comin' girl
'Til I can't feel anything
I'm just a chalk mark in a rainstorm
I'm just the beat of black wings."

Dan Seals - Bordertown

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5mRnEAMhK2o

In the quiet hours before the dawn
Buttons up his uniform
Takes out his badge and pins it on
For thirty years he's enforced the law
And he drives out on the Rio Grande
Across the dry and sunburned land
And on this side he takes his stand again

They won't get through this bordertown
He turns 'em back, he stands his ground
But still they come, because they know
Somewhere the streets are paved with gold
Somewhere beyond the sound of this bordertown

It's not his place to say what's fair
He's done his duty all these years
In his mind the law's the law
But then at dusk she wades across
And he sees the hope thats in her eyes
Child with dreams of a brand new life
It's not his job to say what's right or wrong

They won't get through this bordertown
He turns 'em back, he stands his ground
But still they come, because they know
Somewhere the streets are paved with gold
Somewhere beyond the sound of this bordertown

As night falls over Mexico
He waits there as she comes ashore
Finished, there's a moment of faith
He turns his back and he walks away

Foy Vance is one of my favorite artists of the last few years and I think the lyrics of this song are just incredible. And he can sing like very few others.

Regarding Your Lover

I was tired of you telling me you're leaving
Every time it came to blows
Is it not enough to say it when you mean it
And then pack your bags and go

And it was hard to be jealous
I was supposed to be having the time of my life
But now let me say
I would rather had you been vaporized
By a lunar reflection in the sky
Than to be beguiled by one so banal
I just never dreamed it could come to that

Well, darlin' I'm not angry
I'm just a little bit confused
Well she just chokes the jokes and the quotes of others
Though her eyes know not their truths
But still yet, as you lie there
May she find you in her arms
As a guiltless soul
A burning coal that is both hard to hold
And to put down

That's the way I held you
Though I never will again...

Yours faithfully, friend

meaningful?

Cats in the cradle. Hands down. A lesson to be learned by each generation.

'Cause the hardest part of this is leaving you

quote:

Originally posted by Rey HRH:
meaningful?

Cats in the cradle. Hands down. A lesson to be learned by each generation.

in the same vein...

The Living Years
Mike and the Mechanics

Every generation
Blames the one before
And all of their frustrations
Come beating on your door
I know that I'm a prisoner
To all my Father held so dear
I know that I'm a hostage
To all his hopes and fears
I just wish I could have told him in the living years

Oh, crumpled bits of paper
Filled with imperfect thought
Stilted conversations
I'm afraid that's all we've got
You say you just don't see it
He says it's perfect sense
You just can't get agreement
In this present tense
We all talk a different language
Talking in defence

Say it loud (say it loud), say it clear (oh say it clear)
You can listen as well as you hear
It's too late (it's too late) when we die (oh when we die)
To admit we don't see eye to eye

So we open up a quarrel
Between the present and the past
We only sacrifice the future
It's the bitterness that lasts
So don't yield to the fortunes
You sometimes see as fate
It may have a new perspective
On a different day
And if you don't give up, and don't give in
You may just be okay

So say it loud, say it clear (oh say it clear)
You can listen as well as you hear
Because it's too late, it's too late (it's too late) when we die (oh when we die)
To admit we don't see eye to eye

I wasn't there that morning
When my Father passed away
I didn't get to tell him
All the things I had to say
I think I caught his spirit
Later that same year
I'm sure I heard his echo
In my baby's new born tears
I just wish I could have told him in the living years

Say it loud, say it clear (oh say it clear)
You can listen as well as you hear
It's too late (it's too late) when we die (it's too late when we die)
To admit we don't see eye to eye
So say it, say it, say it loud (say it loud)
Say it clear (come on say it clear)

"Does anyone know where the love of God goes when the waves turn the minutes to hours?"

Those are two haunting song that I always pause and take time to listen
Mike

Also in the same vein: The Leader of the Band by Dan Fogelberg.

Leader of the Band
An only child alone and wild, a cabinet maker's son
His hands were meant for different work
And his heart was known to none
He left his home and went his lone and solitary way
And he gave to me a gift I know I never can repay

A quiet man of music denied a simpler fate
He tried to be a soldier once, but his music wouldn't wait
He earned his love through discipline, a thundering velvet hand
His gentle means of sculpting souls took me years to understand

The leader of the band is tired and his eyes are growing old
But his blood runs through my instrument and his song is in my soul
My life has been a poor attempt to imitate the man
I'm just a living legacy to the leader of the band

My brother's lives were different for they heard another call
One went to Chicago and the other to St Paul
And I'm in Colorado when I'm not in some hotel
Living out this life I've chose and come to know so well

I thank you for the music and your stories of the road
I thank you for the freedom when it came my time to go
I thank you for the kindness and the times when you got tough
And papa, I don't think I said I love you near enough

The leader of the band is tired and his eyes are growing old
But his blood runs through my instrument and his song is in my soul
My life has been a poor attempt to imitate the man
I'm just a living legacy to the leader of the band
I am a living legacy to the leader of the band


As an aside, the morning of my grandfather's funeral I had the radio on and all three of those songs were played consecutively. I was a wreck after that.

Man I love that song. ^^^^

An excerpt from Knopfler's Romeo and Juliet

I can't do the talk like they talk on TV
And I can't do a love song like the way it's meant to be
I can't do everything but I'd do anything for you
I can't do anything except be in love with you

And all I do is miss you and the way we used to be
All I do is keep the beat and bad company
All I do is kiss you through the bars of a rhyme
Julie I'd do the stars with you any time

More powerful lyrics are rare........

Pink Floyd
Fearless


You say the hill's too steep to climb,
Chiding!
You say you'd like to see me try,
Climbing!
You pick the place and I'll choose the time
And I'll climb
The hill in my own way
just wait a while, for the right day
And as I rise above the treeline and the clouds
I look down hear the sound of the things you said today

Occasionally I will reach back to my Detroit days and remember a line from Bob Seger:

quote:

I wish I didn't know now what I didn't know then.

But as they say youth is lost on the young.

The opening lines of I'll Be Here In The Morning - Townes Van Zant

There's no stronger wind than the one that blows
Down a lonesome railroad line
No prettier sight than looking back
On a town you left behind

quote:

Originally posted by heathtx:
An excerpt from Knopfler's Romeo and Juliet

I can't do the talk like they talk on TV
And I can't do a love song like the way it's meant to be
I can't do everything but I'd do anything for you
I can't do anything except be in love with you

And all I do is miss you and the way we used to be
All I do is keep the beat and bad company
All I do is kiss you through the bars of a rhyme
Julie I'd do the stars with you any time

More powerful lyrics are rare........

My favorite Dire Straits song. A band named Reckless Kelly covers this one in their live shows and is amazingly good at it.

Anyhow, I Love You--Guy Clark

I wish I had a dime for every bad time
But the bad times always seem to keep the change
You been all alone so you know what I'm sayin'
So when all you can recall is the pain

Just you wait until tomorrow when you wake up with me
At your side and find I haven't lied about nothin'
I wouldn't trade a tree for the way I feel about you
In the mornin', anyhow I love you

Everyday it gets just a little bit better
And half the gettin' there is knowin' where I been before
I'm sure you understand 'cause I ain't your first man
So when you feel like runnin' for the back door, don't

Just you wait until tomorrow when you wake up with me
At your side and find I haven't lied about nothin'
I wouldn't trade a tree for the way I feel about you
In the mornin', anyhow I love you

Anyhow, I Love You

quote:

Originally posted by Todd Huffman:

quote:

Originally posted by heathtx:
An excerpt from Knopfler's Romeo and Juliet

I can't do the talk like they talk on TV
And I can't do a love song like the way it's meant to be
I can't do everything but I'd do anything for you
I can't do anything except be in love with you

And all I do is miss you and the way we used to be
All I do is keep the beat and bad company
All I do is kiss you through the bars of a rhyme
Julie I'd do the stars with you any time

More powerful lyrics are rare........

My favorite Dire Straits song.

Same here. I think I first heard it after a bad breakup (is there any other kind?) and I was a wreck. Played it over and over and ....

I still think about her when I hear it. Funny how music sticks memories in your brain.

I'm woven in a fantasy, I can't believe the things I see
The path that I have chosen now has led me to a wall.
And with each passing day I feel like little more like something dear was lost.
It rises now before me, a dark and silent barrier between
All I am and all that I would ever want to be
It's just a travesty, towering, marking off the boundaries
My spirit would erase

To pass beyond is what I seek, I fear that I may be too weak
And those are few who've seen it through to glimpse the other side
The promised land is waiting like a maiden that is too soon to be a bride.
The moment is a masterpiece, the weight of indecision's in the air
It's standing there, the symbol and the sum of all that's me
It's just a travesty, towering, blocking out the light and blinding me
I want to see
Gold and diamonds cast a spell, it's not for me to know it well
The treasures that I seek are waiting on the other side
There's more that I can measure of the love that I can find
And although it's always been with me
I must tear down the wall let it be
all I am, and all that I was meant to be, in Harmony
Shining true and smiling back at all who wait to cross
There is no loss.

The Wall Kansas

Just because I rang her number by mistake today, she thinks I still care.