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  #111  
Unread 08-31-2017, 09:11 PM
John Isbell John Isbell is offline
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Hi Aaron,

Hmm. Sheryl Crow may have borrowed from Can in "Change", 1996: "Hello, it's me, I'm not at home. / If you'd like to reach me, leave me alone." One of her best lines IMO.

Cheers,
John
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  #112  
Unread 09-07-2017, 07:13 AM
John Isbell John Isbell is offline
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Listening to The Coasters' "Run Red Run" describe pure speed:

Oh, Red jumped up and he started to move like a P80-Saber Jet.
He zoomed around the corner, and he disappeared
And everybody started to bet.
The race was on, you know the chase was on
And Red he sure could run;
But, let me tell you sport, don't sell that monkey short,
Because he's a traveling son of a gun.


The only thing I know to approach this for a description of speed is Chuck Berry:

Now you can't catch me, baby you can't catch me
'Cause if you get too close, you know I'm gone like a cool breeze


Cheers,
John

Run Red Run The Coasters - YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RdVMQbZwP-0

Chuck Berry - You Can't Catch Me (with lyrics) - YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wfD4Eo7cA0Y

Lennon did a fine cover of the Berry number:

John Lennon - You Can't Catch Me - YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B8g70Pzfcq0


Update: maybe M.C. Hammer's "You Can't Touch This"? Parachute pants, Rick James riff and all.

Last edited by John Isbell; 09-07-2017 at 07:34 AM. Reason: links
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  #113  
Unread 09-20-2017, 09:39 PM
Daniel Kemper's Avatar
Daniel Kemper Daniel Kemper is offline
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So much to choose from in Tom Waits.
"colder than a ticket taker's smile"
"...why are the wicked so strong/ how do the angels get to sleep/the devil leaves his porch-light on"
"...shorty found a punk/don't you know there ain't no devil/there's just god when he's drunk"
"...The shadow boys are breaking all the laws
And you're east of East St. Louis <---exquisite!!
And the wind is making speeches
And the rain sounds like a round of applause..."

And on. And on. And on. Love 'I'm.

Leonard Cohen and Sharon Robinson's "Alexandra Leaving" is next to "To Autumn" for perfection in my book.


Suddenly the night has grown colder
The god of love preparing to depart
Alexandra hoisted on his shoulder,
They slip between the sentries of the heart

Upheld by the simplicities of pleasure
They gain the light, they formlessly entwine
And radiant beyond your widest measure
They fall among the voices and the wine

It's not a trick, your senses all deceiving
A fitful dream, the morning will exhaust
Say goodbye to Alexandra leaving
Then say goodbye to Alexandra lost

Even though she sleeps upon your satin
Even though she wakes you with a kiss
Do not say the moment was imagined
Do not stoop to strategies like this

As someone long prepared for this to happen
Go firmly to the window, drink it in
Exquisite music Alexandra laughing
Your first commitments tangible again

And you who had the honor of her evening,
And by the honor had your own restored
Say goodbye to Alexandra leaving
Alexandra leaving with her Lord

Even though she sleeps upon your satin
Even though she wakes you with a kiss
Do not say the moment was imagined
Do not stoop to strategies like this

As someone long prepared for the occasion
In full command of every plan you wrecked
Do not choose a coward's explanation
that hides behind the cause and the effect

And you who were bewildered by a meaning
Whose code was broken, crucifix uncrossed
Say goodbye to Alexandra leaving
Then say goodbye to Alexandra lost

Say goodbye to Alexandra leaving
Then say goodbye to Alexandra lost

Songwriters: Leonard Cohen / Sharon Robinson
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  #114  
Unread 09-21-2017, 05:22 AM
John Isbell John Isbell is offline
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Hi Daniel,

I was listening to Captain Beefheart the other day, and realized that Tom Waits is one of the few places you can hear his influence: Swordfishtrombones. And for Leonard Cohen, too, there's a lot to choose from. I like the song "Hallelujah", in which I am not alone. John Cale does a nice cover of it.

Leonard Cohen - Hallelujah (Audio) - YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ttEMYvpoR-k

John Cale - Hallelujah (Lyrics) (best version) - YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DinEKqtCDkg

On my speed question, I ran into Bo Diddley's "Roadrunner" only yesterday, and thought to post it. It's a contender:

Bo Diddley - Road Runner (1960) - YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1MOR9Bs7Yhw

Cheers,
John
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  #115  
Unread 09-26-2017, 09:12 PM
Vera Ignatowitsch Vera Ignatowitsch is offline
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Leonard Cohen, Tom Waits, so many talented lyricists.

St. Stephen by The Grateful Dead (words by Robert Hunter).
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  #116  
Unread 09-30-2017, 05:52 PM
Jim Moonan Jim Moonan is offline
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Sometimes I like my musical metaphors/images dark and surreal. Antony Haggerty’s “Epilepsy is Dancing” is a great example.

Here he is performing it live.

And here are the lyrics.
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  #117  
Unread 10-08-2017, 02:06 AM
Andrew Frisardi Andrew Frisardi is offline
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I've been on a Suzanne Vega binge lately, which made me think of this thread.

I see that she's come up a couple of times already. For me, though I like all her collections, her first (just called Suzanne Vega) is the one I've worn out listening to it. It's less popular than Solitude Standing and "Luca," but I think it is S.V. at her most brilliantly lyrical.

"Small Blue Thing" is one standout on that first album.

The lyrics are here.

Last edited by Andrew Frisardi; 10-08-2017 at 02:14 AM.
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  #118  
Unread 10-08-2017, 04:54 AM
John Isbell John Isbell is offline
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I agree, SV's first album is more compelling than her second (though I think "Luka" may be her greatest achievement).

Suzanne Vega - Luka - YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VZt7J0iaUD0

My brother still has her autograph in an old passport. We listened quite a bit to her in the mid-80s. And that reminds me of Lloyd Cole & The Commotions, who sang this in "Forest Fire":

"It's just a simple metaphor,
It's for a burning love..."

Cheers,
John

I saw them in concert and he sang this:

"I was working on my great unfinished novel;
Please let me introduce myself in French: Marcel."
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  #119  
Unread 10-14-2017, 09:32 PM
R. S. Gwynn's Avatar
R. S. Gwynn R. S. Gwynn is offline
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One of the best allegories I know.

The Great Compromise
John Prine

I knew a girl who was almost a lady
She had a way with all the men in her life
Every inch of her blossomed in beauty
And she was born on the fourth of July

Well she lived in an aluminum house trailer
And she worked in a juke box saloon
And she spent all the money that I give her
Just to see the old man in the moon

I used to sleep at the foot of old glory
And awake in the dawn's early light
But much to my surprise when I opened my eyes
I was a victim of the great compromise

Well we'd go out on Saturday evenings
To the drive-in on Route 41
And it was there that I first suspected
That she was doin' what she'd already done

She said, "Johnny won't you get me some popcorn"
And she knew I had to walk pretty far
And as soon as I passed through the moonlight
She hopped into a foreign sports car

I used to sleep at the foot of old glory
And awake in the dawn's early light
But much to my surprise when I opened my eyes
I was a victim of the great compromise

Well you know I could have beat up that fellow
But it was her that had hopped into his car
Many times I'd fought to protect her
But this time she was goin' too far

Now some folks they call me a coward
'Cause I left her at the drive-in that night
But I'd rather have names thrown at me
Than to fight for a thing that ain't right

I used to sleep at the foot of old glory
And awake in the dawn's early light
But much to my surprise when I opened my eyes
I was a victim of the great compromise

Now she writes all the fellows love letters
Saying "Greetings, come and see me real soon"
And they go and line up in the barroom
And spend the night in that sick woman's room

But sometimes I get awful lonesome
And I wish she was my girl instead
But she won't let me live with her
And she makes me live in my head

I used to sleep at the foot of old glory
And awake in the dawn's early light
But much to my surprise when I opened my eyes
I was a victim of the great compromise
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  #120  
Unread 10-15-2017, 04:46 AM
John Isbell John Isbell is offline
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I don't know John Prine, so I'm glad to find some real talent there. Here's a lyric about a couple who may be breaking up, from early Dylan:

"Boots Of Spanish Leather"

Oh I'm sailin' away my own true love
I'm sailin' away in the morning
Is there something I can send you from across the sea
From the place that I'll be landing ?

No, there's nothin' you can send me, my own true love
There's nothin' I wish to be ownin'
Just carry yourself back to me unspoiled
From across that lonesome ocean.

Oh, but I just thought you might want something fine
Made of silver or of golden
Either from the mountains of Madrid
Or from the coast of Barcelona ?

Oh, but if I had the stars from the darkest night
And the diamonds from the deepest ocean
I'd forsake them all for your sweet kiss
For that's all I'm wishin' to be ownin'.

That I might be gone a long time
And it's only that I'm askin'
Is there something I can send you to remember me by
To make your time more easy passin' ?

Oh, how can, how can you ask me again
It only brings me sorrow
The same thing I want from you today
I would want again tomorrow.

I got a letter on a lonesome day
It was from her ship a-sailin'
Saying I don't know when I'll be comin' back again
It depends on how I'm a-feelin'.

Well, if you, my love, must think that-a-way
I'm sure your mind is roamin'
I'm sure your thoughts are not with me
But with the country to where you're goin'.

So take heed, take heed of the western wind
Take heed of the stormy weather
And yes, there's something you can send back to me
Spanish boots of Spanish leather.
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