What song has good lyrics because of the idea/lesson/experience it shares?
In my opinion, most Mountain Goats songs. John Darnielle is an amazing songwriter, and he tackles very difficult subjects, especially in his earlier stuff. The Sunset Tree album is all about growing up with an abusive step-father, Tallahassee about a couple who fall apart, Full Force Galesburg about a small town you can disappear in, etc. Some of my favorites include “The Mess Inside” about two people that can’t find the love they lost, “No Children” about a couple that hate each other, and “Jeff Davis County Blues” about a sort of meditative experience after a breakup. I’d give it all a listen. To go even deeper, the albums All Hail West Texas and In League With Dragons have sort of companion podcast seasons (I Only Listen To The Mountain Goats) where Darnielle and Joseph Fink of Welcome to Nightvale go through each song, the inspiration, the meaning, stuff like that.
Darnielle is also a pretty good author, I liked his book Devil House
As I hurtle towards middle age, I find Time by Pink Floyd more and more relevant
Ticking away the moments that make up a dull day Fritter and waste the hours in an off-hand way Kicking around on a piece of ground in your home town Waiting for someone or something to show you the way Tired of lying in the sunshine staying home to watch the rain You are young and life is long and there is time to kill today And then one day you find ten years have got behind you No one told you when to run, you missed the starting gun And you run and you run to catch up with the sun but it's sinking Racing around to come up behind you again The sun is the same in a relative way, but you're older Shorter of breath and one day closer to death Every year is getting shorter, never seem to find the time Plans that either come to naught or half a page of scribbled lines Hanging on in quiet desperation is the English way The time is gone, the song is over, thought I'd something more to say Home, home again I like to be here when I can And when I come home cold and tired It's good to warm my bones beside the fire Far away, across the field The tolling of the iron bell Calls the faithful to their knees To hear the softly spoken magic spellThis was my answer. Particularly the line about every year getting shorter.
Piano Man by Billy Joel
The whole scene it sets, the mood, it’s all just so human.
Yes, they’re sharing a drink they call loneliness
But it’s better than drinking alone
Paramore - This is why
If you have an opinion
Maybe you should shove it
Or maybe you could scream it
Might be best to keep itTo yourself (to yourself)
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Another one of theirs that comes to mind is “Audience of One”. An excerpt from the middle verse and chorus:
Identities assume us. As 9 and 5 add up. Synchronizing watches to the seconds that we lost. I looked up and saw you, and I know that you saw me. We froze but for a moment… in empathy. I brought down the sky for you and all you did was shrug. You gave my emptiness a name.
Then you ran away. Now all my friends are gone. Maybe we’ve outgrown all the things that we once loved. Run away, but what are we running from? A show of hands from those in this audience of one. Where have they gone?
Billy Joel songs tend to have that character.
The entire Nurture album by Porter Robinson. Deals with loss, existence, joy, AI, etc.
Noah Kahan - Growing Sideways
And I divvied up my anger into thirty separate parts Keep the bad shit in my liver and the rest around my heart I’m still angry at my parents for what their parents did to them But it’s a start
The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald
Don’t go boating in a storm, folks.
Vienna by Billy Joel.
A nice reminder that life is for living.
Pumped up kicks.
Wait
Hero of war by rise against. -this is about the regrets of a soldier
When I’m gone by Phil Ochs -like this one a lot.
The globalist by muse -this one is about how an oppressed minority becomes the leading majority and nukes the whole world or something
Landslide by Fleetwood mac (I listen to the smashing pumpkins version)
“Oh, mirror in the sky What is love? Can the child within my heart rise above? Can I sail through the changin’ ocean tides? Can I handle the seasons of my life?”
Puscifer - Momma Sed
Wake up, son of mine Momma got something to tell you Changes come Life will have it’s way With your pride, son Take it like a man
Hang on, son of mine A storm is blowing up your horizon
Changes come Keep your dignity Take the high road Take it like a man
Listen up, son of mine Momma got something to tell you All about growing pains Life will pound away Where the light don’t shine, son Take it like a man
Suck it up, son of mine Thunder blowing up your horizon
Changes come (Changes come) Keep your dignity (Keep your dignity) Take the high road (Take the high road) Take it like a man (Take it like a man)
Momma said like the rain (This, too, shall pass) Like a kidney stone (This, too, shall pass) It’s just a broken heart, son This pain will pass away
Pretty much any RVIVR song, imo. I was going to include the best set of lyrics, but I can’t decide.
I’m partial to “goodbyes”, “cut the cord”, and “shaggy” from a lyrics+music standpoint, but find it difficult to separate the best lyrics without the music.
Ah, well, as they say, “we’re all adults here, we can choose”
Wrong Way/One Way, and Big Lie, too. You’re right, it’s hard to choose just one.
Oh, yeah! I love those tracks too.
Those lines in wrong way/one way: I touch the ground/send my roots deep down/try to stick around.
And these from big lie: Everything’s changing / there’s beauty between the lies
I’m massively indebted to the friend who introduced me to RVIVR. I think I love all of their music.
I once was able to participate in a live stream thing Erica did on Instagram; she asked for requests, and then played mine! I was on cloud nine for months after and still get giddy thinking about it. To be fair, I think she played all the requests, but still…
CSNY - Teach Your Children
