Recommend me a song based just on one line (or couplet) in its lyrics
I'm interested in finding more great songwriters across different genres and I want to defeat my own bias, so don't tell me the artist or genre (or maybe put it in <details> tags).
Here are a few of mine -
Emancipate yourself from mental slavery, none but ourselves can free our minds
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Bob Marley - Redemption SongIf you're really as tough as your defenses, you'd let them fall
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Jimmy Eat World - StopTried to deceive me, you only deceived you; what you thought was invisible was only see-through
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One Be Lo - DecepticonsI said, "If you won't save me, please don't waste my time"
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Oasis - Falling DownSong info
Curren$y - Airborne AquariumNothing no scary like a gunman voice when people beg a gunman think twice, and him say no
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Damian "Junior Gong" Marley - Gunman World (Is It Worth It?)To turn your sick soul inside out - so that the world, so that the world can watch you die
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Gil Scott-Heron - Home Is Where the Hatred Is
Coincidentally, not all those songs are necessarily at the top of my recommends, but they are the first memorable one-liners that came to mind. I won't mind if your picks aren't the greatest songs of all time either if the line still hits.
In memory of Neil Peart, an all-Rush list.
A thousand ten cent wonders, who could ask for more
A pocketful of silver, the key to heaven's door
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Nowhere is the dreamer or the misfit so alone
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I hear the sound of gunfire at the prison gate
Are the liberators here? Do I hope or do I fear?
Both of Geddy Lee's parents were Holocaust survivors. This song, though not explicitly set in any time period or place, is about people living in a concentration camp, and their thoughts as they try to survive and are eventually liberated.
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I now fully realize I've been an idiot for ignoring Rush all this time. Any guidance for how to educate myself should I just go through the entire catalog in chronological order?
I'd start with their golden years, 1974 - 1984, and listen chronologically. After that (starting with Power Windows in 1985) they're still good, but before that they're amazing. That 10 years also covers a big progression in their style:
What You're Doing from 1974 reminds me a lot of Led Zeppelin.
Here Again, also from 1974, is much slower and blues-rock-y.
The Fountain of Lamneth from 1975, clocking in at 20 minutes, is the start of their trippy prog-rock phase.
2112, 1976, also 20 minutes, is probably their most famous song from their prog-rock period. It's an adaptation of Ayn Rand's novella Anthem, about a guy living in a dystopian future who discovers an electric light and tries to convince the rulers of his society about his wonderful discovery.
Cygnus X-1 Book 1 and Book 2 are IMO the absolute pinnacle of prog-rock. Released on 2 separate albums, in 1977 and 1978, and almost 30 minutes long total. Book 1 tells the story of a guy who flies a spaceship into a black hole because he's curious what's on the other side. Book 2 tells the story of a civilization torn apart by following the competing suggestions of Apollo and Dionysus, which is a classic dichotomy in Greek mythology. The guy from Book 1 shows up, and realizes that after flying through the black hole he's become a god, with the power to balance out the Apollonian and Dionysian forces.
The Spirit of Radio from 1980 shows the start of their turn away from epic prog-rock songs and towards simpler, shorter, more radio-friendly songs.
Tom Sawyer from 1981 shows the start of their synth-heavy period in the 80s. The album this is from, Moving Pictures, is IMO their single best. They recorded a live version of the entire album in 2011 and it's absolutely fantastic.
Subdivisions (linked above) is peak "Rush & synthesizers". My other favorite song from that album (Signals, 1982) is Countdown, which was inspired by Rush getting to watch the first Space Shuttle launch in person. I work in the space industry and watch a lot of rocket launches, and this song captures the buildup and anticipation before a launch perfectly.
When you punish a person for dreaming his dream, don't expect him to thank or forgive you
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The Best Ever Death Metal Band in Denton by The Mountain Goats
"This is a song about hope in your life. There is a magnificent Mark Eitzel song title, 'It Is Important Throughout Your Life to Proclaim Your Joy.' It is also important to admit, on occasion, to the righteousness of your fury: The justness of your cause in the face of those who would do you wrong, and who would rob you of your youth, and who would ignore what's good and beautiful in you. And I know this is all corny, platitude stuff, but I know people who got sent to places, and it sucked for them. You can't even say how bad it was. Kirk Fitzpatrick, I remember when they sent you away, man. This is for you."
Well freaking said. I'm usually bored by indie folk/rock but I'll remember this.
Glad you enjoyed it :) John Darnielle is a different breed. Great podcast all about the song here
If the future's looking dark, we're the ones who have to shine
If there's no one in control, we're the ones who draw the line
Ahh ok, I'm impressed. Another band I've heard of forever and never delved into, but you've convinced me to change that. Cheers!
I'm glad you like it! They have a huge body of work, although a lot of it doesn't sound quite like that. Their drummer died on Tuesday and it was just announced today, so I and I'm sure a lot of people are going to put their stuff on repeat the next few days.
Endlessly gazing in nocturnal prime she spoke of her vice and broke the rhyme
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Face of Melinda by Opeth
Mikael Åkerfeldt is one of my all time favourite singer/songwriters. This is one of a very small number of times across his career he used simple rhyming verse in this way.
This is a concept album which tells a story from start to finish. Here our protagonist is meeting his forbidden love in her village from which he was banished long ago. One of my favourite albums, lyrically and musically, of all time.
Wow. That's one I have to let marinate, but I really like it, thanks.
Sorry this ones long but I love this whole section:
Swapping parts and roles is not acting but rather emancipation from expectation
Collectivism and autonomy are not mutually exclusive
Those who find discomfort in your goals of liberation will be issued no apology
And fuck Tom Brady!
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Parquet Courts - Total FootballAwesome choice! There are some great lines on this record. One of my favourites: "Travel where you are, tourism is sin. These are the ruins we left behind, you can’t take pictures of them."
Oh baby Tenderness is probably my favorite song on Wide Awake. They did not hold back at all with their lyrics for that album.
I actually know this one! I wouldn't have been able to recall the title or band name though. I'm actually a massive soccer fan and there's a lot of interesting cross-references made here that I have to follow up on, but it's cheating with so many lines. Anything else to recommend?
I'm not as familiar with them but IDLES has a similar post-punk, lyrically dense vibe that is comparable to Parquet Courts. Car Seat Headrest might be up your alley too, his songs are more personal, less political, but full of really clever references and word play.
I asked the painter why the roads are colored black. He said, "Steve, it's because people leave and no highway will bring them back".
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Random Rules by Silver Jews
I have no words to express what the late great David Berman means to me. A poet and one of the greatest songwriters of the last 50 years. This whole album is incredible. I would urge any of you reading this to give it a spin.
This kind of world-weary, lazy drawl indie rock is right up my alley, and I think this song has possibly the best opening line I've ever heard. Great stuff, thanks.
You're very welcome, I'm so glad you like it. Berman was something else, a tragic figure with an almost unreal knack for turning a phrase into something universal, hilarious and heart wrenching (sometimes all at once). I mean, "In 1984 I was hospitalised for approaching perfection", what's not to like about that? :)
The clock strikes twelve and moon drops burst out at you from their hiding place
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Astronomy by Blue Öyster Cult
Lyrically beautiful and, for me, obtuse, but amazing to relax to. I became aware of it originally from Metallica's cover of it from their Garage Inc. album
Wow, this is fantastic! I'd come across the name before but never checked them out, thanks!
Thank you for this. Going to work through their back catalogue now - really enjoyed that track.
Alright, you sold me with that line and I'm definitely digging the track. The lyric video helps a ton though, especially with the footnotes. Homeworkcore indeed, lol.
"Squeeze the juice out of all the suckers with power
And pour some back out, so as to water the flowers"
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Gang Starr - Robbin Hood Theory"My worst habit's waking up at least once a day
Balance barefoot on a needle, heaven's just a jump away"
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Eyedea and Abilities - Burn Fetish"Never get so attached to a poem
You forget truth that lacks lyricism"
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Joanna Newsom - "En Gallop"As a side note, this is actually really hard! Most of my favorite lyricists are really wordy, so finding a great line or two that gets across a whole thought is difficult.
I've chosen to embrace all these things that I cannot change but I'm not sure if this helps to relieve you from bitterness
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Bathyalpelagic I by The Ocean
Okay, I think I like it. Here's my (probably stupid) question - is death metal supposed to be so... overdone all the time? I usually like sections of death metal songs but not the overall compositions because they feel way too melodramatic to take seriously. To make it worse, the melodrama gets in the way of my understanding the lyricism.
Then again, I guess that might be the point of a genre called death metal?
I don't know too much about this band, but this album is some sort of concept album where from start to finish the track titles represent progressively deeper parts of the ocean and the music and vocals become progressively darker and heavier as it goes. On that basis I guess the melodrama is part and parcel of the ride!
That said, I do think that the grand orchestration of death metal and the drama in that is part of the appeal.
Hm. Well, I was asking about the genre in general more than specifically this song/suite. I do like the concept here. I find the "mood swings" in individual songs within the genre get old though, especially when I'm straining to decipher the Satan voice.
I guess it's all on a spectrum.
There's a band called Sikth that a friend of mine tried to introduce me to years ago. I couldn't be doing with it because it seemed so pointlessly chaotic and up and down. Besides that, on paper it ticked all of the standard boxes of what I was interested in, but I couldn't get right with it.
I suppose that's what you're hearing in the "moods swings".
I guess that spectrum is from "chiaroscuro" to "schizophrenic" and it's different for us all.
Short answer: yes. It's all about extreeeeeeme. In sound, and in lyrics.
Beard had him nervous at the straw purchase; I said, "It's not like she in the burka, rest assured." These is for regular murder
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Billy Woods - CrawlspaceThis is from the album Hiding Places, which has a lot of amazing lyricism and quips such as this.
Ha! The line sold me but the song disappointed. I'm not a big fan of rappity-rapping, too often the point (if any) gets lost.
I will say that is one of my least favorite songs from the album, but I chose to recommend it due to those lines in particular. I had to search for something as succinct and catching as this. Another thing to mention is that this artist's flow is a bit unorthodox, and on first listen a bit... jarring? It's hard to describe, but I think the style fits the lyrical content of the album.
More Thoughts
I usually find that Wood's lyrics are packed with meaning that exposes itself under closer examination. The themes in this album are expressed wonderfully, and the work as a whole outshines any individual song from it. I highly recommend giving Spider Hole and Houthi a listen, then skipping to Red Dust for an example of the complex self referential lyrics and themes of isolation, poverty, fear, and violence the album demonstrates.Woke from the dream and I was old, staring at the ass crack of dawn,
Walked these streets up and down, looking for Paul Simon
song details
This is from Horseshoe Crabs by Hop Along, an incredibly sad true story of a song. It’s about Jackson C. Frank, a folk singer in the 60’s who had a hit (Blues Run the Game, produced by Paul Simon), but then fell into depression and faded into obscurity. His life seemed to consist of one devastatingly sad event after another, including: his school burning down when he was 11; having his eye shot out by kids messing with a BB gun; going back to NYC and just wandering the streets, hoping to run into Paul Simon (the incident those lines are about). I guess it’s not a very uplifting message, but I think it speaks to a fear a lot of people have of waking up one day and finding that your life has run away from you without you noticing (see also: Pink Floyd - Time). Also, I love the ‘ass crack of dawn’ wordplay.Hmm. I liked the music but couldn't make out most of the words apart from the line you quoted. I'll have to come back to it... that story's pretty depressing though.
Probably my favorite song of all time. I could rave about how incredible this whole album is for days and how great of a closing song this is. It was hard to choose just one lyric so if you are interested in this lyric definitely listen to the whole song and look up all the lyrics:
So bury me in the memories of my friends and family
I just need to know that they were proud of me
Not gonna lie, sounds pretty generic on first impression... but I love the lines and the song title, and about 3/4 way through I connected the dots and realized what the concept of the album must be, so I'm gonna look it up. Thanks.
If you're going to listen to other songs, I would strongly suggest the devil in my bloodstream and passing through a screen door personally.
One that has always stuck with me for the past 10 or so years is this (which has nothing to do with recent events, I'll add):
Born to multiply
Born to gaze into night skies
All you want's one more Saturday
Perhaps it's the fun nature of the song, or the fact that I heard it during formative years, but it helped me deal with the absurdity we all experience in life.
The smell of your blood breathing
And its taste in the sea
In the South shining my feet
Till it seemed as if they were made with dew
There's pearls of huge beauty in the sunset
Current 93 has these images that get stuck in my head, even though I have no idea what they mean.
I do like it (and you're right about the imagery) but I'm gonna DQ this entry because it's too easy with so many lines. Have another go?
There must be more, much more, to life
than this electric, egocentric, current
circumstance...I find
myself a being of consuming flame and seeing
that the passions are deceived and maneuvered
by machines. As you journey on through these
modern times, walk light through the traps of
the age.
I don't normally care about lyrics, outside of punk, but a lot of the themes here really resonate to me. Agalloch have a similar effect, and aren't too dissimilar musically.
This sounds like the lyrics are probably the least consequential element of the song, judging from the difficulty to hear much of them.
That's why there's a lyrics sheet.
Oh man, this is the exact opposite to how I enjoy music. Good lyrics are just the cream on top, but it's all about the composition, production, and mastery for me.
Just literally earlier this week I was actually ugly crying because I gained a new understanding of the meaning of the themes in an entirely instrumental soundtrack.
Well, the actual importance of the lyrics can vary across genres, and I appreciate that. I just like to marvel at mastery in general and I'm coming from a lyric-heavy diet, so admiring great songwriting should be an easy way for me to get into something I'm not familiar with. Obviously it's best done when married with amazing music :)
What soundtrack was it, if you don’t mind me asking?
This one.
It's a very large soundtrack and you aren't likely to get everything if you don't have the added context of the game. So I figure it's best to explain what I was going through.
Love is one of the major themes of the game, and you have to enter into a relationship with several women in order to complete the game. There is not just one single love song in the game, instead there is a love theme that is put into a balanced song that matches the intracacy of each particular moment. None of them take the easy way out, and while there are plenty of major "happy" chords being played in these songs, they are also balanced with minor "sad" chords and are typically played fairly slowly.
YU-NO spoilers - it's much better to play the game first if you can.
So in the course of this game you sire a daughter, whom you raise and love. One day she is abducted and you go on a long journey to find her.The specific song in question is "Growth", and it plays when you have found her, after she has become an adult. And it's the love theme, except it's practically entirely major chords and played fast and with a positive beat. It's the most pure and most powerful expression of the theme in the entire soundtrack.
YU-NO is a long game. It's likely that by the time you actually get to this point, it's been a day or more since you have heard the last love theme. But since I was focusing on the music entirely, and the love themes especially, I was better able to understand the meaning that composer Ryu Umemoto was trying to insert into the song.
And from a personal perspective, I have never wanted to have a kid. Listening to this and hearing a purely emotional understanding of the value of this kind of relationship has made me seriously reconsider that position. The music was able to convey something that no words ever could.
This makes me so happy to read because I am also extremely passionate about video game soundtracks, they are my favorite kind of music to listen to and heavily inspire my own work as an artist. I love to analyze them and hear the intricacies of each track. I've never heard of this game before, but I'm glad that it was able to have such a profound effect on you.
Can't believe
How strange it is to be anything at all
The soundtrack to your life should not be background music.
Wrap your poetry around a war club.
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To Young Leaders - Guante & Big CatsI think Guante is a really interesting artist. He’s a poet, who does a lot of spoken word activism in Minneapolis, but he started doing hip hop (I think at this point around 15 years ago) with the producer Big Cats. He raps and writes about sexism, racism, power structures and police brutality, etc., and I think he’s surprisingly good at it without giving the sense of being preachy that a lot of activist musicians tend to struggle with.
The YouTube video works though:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k6gcQsroXmE
Every jumbled pile of person has a thinking part that wonders what the part that isn't thinking isn't thinking of.
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They Might Be Giants - Where Your Eyes Don't GoCorrect is consensus; everything else, nonsense
Forward is the hope , forget recompense
Peace and tranquility is only for the wealthy
Dearth for the masses and inequality
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Bad Religion - Strange DenialIt's the year of the silkworm
Everything I built burned yesterday
Let's display the purpose that these stilts serve
Elevate the spreading of the silk germ
Trying to weave a web but all that I believe in is dead
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Aesop Rock - 9-5ers AnthemGrave memorial, hewn white stone
Like the comforting caress of a mother
Or a friend you've always known
It evokes such pain and significance
What was once is reduced to remembrance
And the generations pass without recompense
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Bad Religion - CeaseLeaf by leaf and page by page
Throw this book away
All the sadness, all the rage
Throw this book away
Rip out the binding and tear the glue
And all the grief we never even
Knew we had it all along
Now it's smoke
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Ben Folds Five - Smoke