The song slowdown by the republic of loose has lyrics that really hit home for me. They aren't exactly poetic but they simply describe the predictament many people find themselves in. The whole thing about having a job and money but neither of them are good for you is very relevant to alot of people (I think?)

Despite a few criminal lyrics of late Noel Gallagher's early period writing (all done in a shed as legend goes) was magnificent, for me anyhow. My late teenage years were, like many lads my age were scored by Oasis. (Live Forever) Maybe, I don't really wanna know How your garden grows Cause I just wanna fly Lately, did you ever feel the pain In the morning rain As it soaks you to the bone (Listen Up) Listen up for the time said today I'm gonna speak my mind Take me up to the top of the world I wanna see my crime day by day there's a man in a suit who's gonna make you pay for the thoughts that you feel and the words they won't let you say

I'm a big Boss fan myself Fiddlechick. Tunnel Of Love is my favourite album and has some cracking lyrics: "Well it ought to be easy, ought to be simple enough, yeah Man meets woman and they fall in love, But this house is haunted and the ride gets rough You've got to learn to live with what you can't rise above." - Tunnel of Love The bould Bono has written some good lyrics in his time - "And you know it's time to go Through the rain and driving snow Across a field of mourning lights in the distance And you hunger for the time Time to heal, desire time And your earth moves beneath Your own dream landscape." f**ked if I know what it means, mind.

Sorry, should have mentioned that that U2 lyric is from "A Sort of Homecoming".

Bruce Springteen - 'The River'...great great lyrics, pure storyteller stuff

I love that song of his Dromed. It paints such a depressing picture of the mediocrity and boredom that a lot of people go through in rural America. Catchy tune too. Whe he marries Mary, the girl he impregnates: " No wedding smiles, No walk down the aisle, No flowers, No wedding dress" Brilliant stuff. And I'm no Springsteen fan at that

"Then I got Mary pregnant and man that was all she wrote And for my nineteenth birthday I got a union card and a wedding coat We went down to the courthouse and the judge put it all to rest No wedding day smiles no walk down the aisle No flowers no wedding dress" Brilliant, and the pain in his voice singing it makes it seem all the more real...he's a legend "But I remember us riding in my brother's car Her body tan and wet down at the reservoir At night on them banks I'd lie awake And pull her close just to feel each breath she'd take Now those memories come back to haunt me they haunt me like a curse Is a dream a lie if it don't come true Or is it something worse"

Jeez, gag me with a spoon, enough with the sincere touchy-feely lyrics already! Are you lot really that melodramatic or am I just really insensitive? (I think we all know the answer to that one) What you need is some Ramones! Teenage Lobotomy: "now I guess I'll have to tell 'em That I got no cerebellum gonna get my Ph.D. I'm a teenage lobotomy" Pure Genius or What? (or What? category I think) Ah ignore that, I'm just being silly as usual. We all find lyrics that we're touched by and as they say "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em" so here's my own drippy choice. Personally I think "I'll be your mirror" by The Velvet Underground and Nico is one of the most lyrically beatiful songs ever written. Its amazing what a walking contradiction Lou Reed was, being quite a nasty guy one minute and then writing a song which shows such touching concern for someone who is obviously feeling a bit insecure the next: "I'll be your mirror Reflect what you are, in case you don't know I'll be the wind, the rain and the sunset The light on your door to show that you're home When you think the night has seen your mind That inside you're twisted and unkind Let me stand to show that you are blind Please put down your hands 'Cause I see you I find it hard to believe you don't know The beauty that you are But if you don't let me be your eyes A hand in your darkness, so you won't be afraid When you think the night has seen your mind That inside you're twisted and unkind Let me stand to show that you are blind Please put down your hands 'Cause I see you I'll be your mirror" A definitely less drippy choice would be Talking Heads "No Compassion", which contains the gem: "Other people's problems they overwhelm my mind They say compassion is a virtue, but I don't have the time" A sad reflection on our current state of affairs, thats still as true in 2004 as it was in 1977?

All this is making me emotional!

One of the best lines ever: "She wanted nothing...and I delivered" - Fu Manchu

Who else could've pulled off album after album of utterly mouth watering songs? Who else could've brought a whole new image to an ice-cream man? Who else could've played Captain Hook in Shrek 2? Who else but Tom Waits...the master of the one liners that never seem out of place in his songs. Pure genius. 'There aint no such thing as the Devil, its just God when he's drunk' 'I bet she's still a virgin but its only twenty five to nine' I could go on all day but instead I'll urge anyone who doesn't have a Tom Waits cd in their colelction to get down to record store asap. 'Closing Time', 'Heart Of Saturday Night', 'Used Songs', 'Alice', 'Nighthawks At The Diner', 'Heartattack And Vine', 'Franks Wild Years'. Buy any of these albums and you WILL NOT be disappointed. As far as I know he has a new album due out in September. Hopefully I'll get to catch one of his live shows.

The Saw Doctors' lyrics rock....true prophets....mostly ignored in their own land :-) "Air the bed my auld room, I going back to Tuam." "I got sunglasses, And I got the shorts I got factor 50, And a t-shirt of course I’ve been shopping in penney’s I’ve walked out to dunne’s I’m all set for the summer All set for the sun Oh god will it ever stop raining?..... We got barred from the pub She stole all my money I thought it was love And then the wind blew my ice-cream onto the sand I backed an oul’ greyhound He stopped in front of the stand" "Hardly anyone had the telly It was a different kind of world Heaven was a game of football Before I ever kissed the girls We used to go out driving We’d travel near and far Nearly every Sunday in me Father’s oul’ ford car He’d be pointing out the landmarks Everywhere we’d go, through the Twisting, turning , winding roads Of Galway and Mayo Me mother in the front seat Children in the back We’d be imagining Indians in the Fields waiting to attack And we’d be asking “ are we nearly there?” Wearing clothes that came In a parcel from America, The two of us the same..... There’s a stillness in the summer air , Sheep dog lying in the sun Three young girls with butterfly nets Break into a run Now the time flies by like always I’ve got my own boy right now Like cowboys in the oul’ k30 We go and drive around" "And some where up near inchagoill In the embers of the night Switch of all the engines At the birth of dawns first light And someone sing a happy song When everyone’s arrived And scatter me forever Where I’ve felt most alive" "I'll show you what I've got - A Gibson polka dot and I've got an amp inside in the room Sure come in and I'll play an aul tune twinkle twinkle little star D'ya wanna hear my guitar? D'ya know what i mean martina?" "To win just once that would be enough So come all ye full-time small -town heroes Cast away your inbred fears of Standing out from all the rest The cynics and the pessimists The self-indulgent almost rich The blatant hurlers on the ditch Time is passing so come on And face the ball, the game is on" And one of the most ROMANTIC songs ever - Share the Darkness "Hey I can’t I say that I love you I can't say that I don’t I can't say that I couldn’t And I won't say that I won’t But I really like your company I’m enjoying myself no end But I can’t keep from thinking Why don’t we share the darkness tonight Make it warm and burning bright I’ll not say nothing I'll be polite .....Ah life’s too short for wasting For ifs and might have been's Life’s too short for wondering if You could have lived your dreams And its way too short for loneliness We don't have to be Now that we trust each other Why don’t you stay with me? Why don't we share the darkness tonight Make it warm and burning bright I'll not say nothing I'll be polite Why don't we share the darkness tonight .... When the world belongs to distant dogs And the air is dark and still And drunken conversations pass beneath the window sill And there’s someone singing Elvis songs as they make their way back home and all your fears and worries attack when you're alone" And then you've got "Michael D rocking in the Dail" What's that line in Tom Waits "hold on" - don't meet nice girls in coffee shops...?

Apologies for the trigger happy copy and paste of last post!

Thats a shame that you didnt get into Tom Waits. He's quite different but thats the genius of him. But I understand its not to everyone's liking. Maybe try 'Used Songs', its a kind of best of. Or 'Heart Of Saturday Night' is a classic.

Morrisey is obviously the best lyricist in pop music: Punctured bicycle on a hillside desolate will Nature make a man of me yet? Why pamper life's complexities when the leather runs smooth on the passenger seat? This Charming Man What she asked of me at the end of the day Caligula would have blushed Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now I grabbed you by the guilded beams that's what Tradition means I Started Something I Couldn't Finish Love, peace and harmony Love, peace and harmony Oh, very nice very nice very nice very nice ...but maybe in the next world Death Of A Disco Dancer Girlfriend in a coma, I know I know - it's serious Girlfriend In A Coma The pain was enough to make a shy, bald buddhist reflect and plan a mass-murder Stop Me If You Think You've Heard This One Before And now I know how Joan of Arc felt now I know how Joan of Arc felt as the flames rose to her Roman nose and her Walkman started to melt Bigmouth Strikes Again As Antony said to Cleopatra as he opened a crate of ale oh I say Some girls are bigger than others some girls are bigger than others some girls mothers are bigger than other girls mothers Some Girls Are Bigger Than Others Burn down the Disco Hang the blessed D.J. Because the music that they constantly play IT SAYS NOTHING TO ME ABOUT MY LIFE Panic And there are far more examples than this.

By the way "you're the measure of my dreams" is from A Rainy Night In Soho not A Pair Of Brown Eyes.

Re, pogues song, I stand corrected and slightly bemused as this is twice I have made that same mistake.

Been listening to a track called "Fist City" by Loretta Lynn that just cracks me up everytime I hear it. No offence intended to genuine country fans, but c'mon this is pure comedy gold! You really don't wanna meet miss Lynn down a dark alley: "You've been makin' your brags around town that you've been a lovin' with my man But the man I love when he picks up trash he puts it in a garbage can And that's what you look like to me and what I see is a pitty You'd better close your face and stay out of my way If you don't wanta go to Fist City If you don't wanna go to Fist City you'd better detour round my town Cause I'll grab you by the hair of the head and I'll lift you off of the ground I'm not a sayin' my baby is a saint cause he ain't And that he won't cat around with a kitty I'm here to tell you gal to lay off of my man if you don't wanna go to Fist City Come on and tell me what you told my friends if you think you're brave enough And I'll show you what a real woman is since you think you're hot stuff You'll bite off more than you can chew if you get too cute or witty You better move your feet if you don't wanna eat a meal that's called Fist City If you don't wanna go to Fist City... I'm here to tell you gal to lay off of my man if you don't wanna go to Fist City"