Are there lyrics for songs that you've heard, that you wish you had been the author/authoress of?
If so, why don't you post them, pretty-please, and accompany the post with a little information about why you are so enamoured of the lyrics, what it was about them that delighted and inspired you so???
May I start things off? I can? Gee, thanks, folks!
Here is a set of lyrics that I wish I had written (truth be told, I wish I had composed the song, too!) The music and lyrics were composed for a film titled, The Long Goodbye, which premiered in the year 1973 and was directed by the late Robert Altman, who adapted a detective novel of the same name written by that famous author of detective fiction, Raymond Chandler, his most famous character being Philip Marlowe.
The Long Goodbye / Music by John Williams (yes, that's right, people, the man who composed the score for "Star Wars" / Lyrics by Johnny Mercer
There’s a long goodbye. And it happens everyday When some passerby Invites your eye To come her way
Even as she smiles A quick hello, You’ve let her go. You’ve let the moment fly
Too late you turn your head, You know you’ve said The long goodbye
Can you recognize the pain? On some other street Two people meet As in a dream
Running for a plane Through the rain If the heart is quicker than the eye, They could be lovers Until they die
It’s too late to try When a missed hello Becomes the long goodbye ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Now, I'm gonna make this quick. How many of you in your lives have shared a possibly mutually interested romantic glance with a man/woman that you blew, messed up, lost, dropped the ball on, because you were 1) too shy 2) too high, or 3) too married?
Regardless of the circumstance, those kinds of missed moments hurt like a toothache because we never stop kicking ourselves internally for not pursuing the opportunity to take quick, decisive action on what could have turned out to be the "love connection" of a life-time.
And that, basically, is why I wish I had written those lyrics, because of the fact that they do so achingly and truthfully describe the emotional, hopeful potency of that lost moment with an immediate and stunning precision. You feel these lyrics deeply because you've lived them.
Here's a link to a YouTube video featuring the song being sung by the great jazz trumpeter/vocalist Jack Sheldon as it was heard in the film and on the film's soundtrack: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dG0ykzh47q8
If you care to hear a woman interpret the lyrics, here is another link to Ms. Clydie King singing "The Long Goodbye", also as heard in the film and on the soundtrack recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vU-N2BZMvj4
Thanks for your attention, folks! All right, now! Who's next? Give it up! Show us "the money"!!!
LOREN (a.k.a. "bluage")
Last edited by bluage; 11/21/1805:45 PM.
"Music is what feelings sound like."-- borrowed from a Cakewalk Music Creator forum member, "Mamabear".
Thank you for posting this Bluage. Yes, truly beautiful and heart wrenching and I dare say most of us can relate to this. It rings so true, possibilities that could have been but never were. This year for me has been one of reckoning as I finally became aware of a beautiful soul who passed and I thought I would hear from again at least one more time in this world. However, in a very unusual dream I became aware of this passing and looked it up on the internet as no one of the family knows me. And oh, did it bring up memories and possibilities that didn't, couldn't happen here. But what still remains is the unquestioning love that's still alive, truly awesome and a long goodbye that's still on going. The goodbye you don't want to end. I said good bye many years ago and it never would end. Love can be a very beautiful thing that has a life of it's own. That's why I love lyrics so much, they touch me almost more than music, but the combination can be heavenly when the vocal expressions and musical interpretations take it to the next level.
Very interesting - I've actually never had this thought. I've heard lyrics that stunned me and really made me stop and think, but I always appreciated the writer more so than thinking about myself writing it. An interesting thought for sure.
Very interesting - I've actually never had this thought. I've heard lyrics that stunned me and really made me stop and think, but I always appreciated the writer more so than thinking about myself writing it. An interesting thought for sure.
Dear Deryk...
The launching of this thread was inspired by the jazz pianist/composer/vocalist Dave Frishberg, who once stated that he wished he had composed the old Christmas season evergreen song, "Baby, It's Cold Outside", by Frank Loesser.
I just thought it was "neat" to read about a successful songwriter paying tribute to another songwriter in a way that just very narrowly skirts around the issue of professional envy, so, I decided to try out the idea on this forum.
Thanks for responding, Deryk! If you celebrate Thanksgiving, I hope it will be a relaxing and enjoyable one!
Sincerely,
LOREN
Last edited by bluage; 11/22/1808:16 AM.
"Music is what feelings sound like."-- borrowed from a Cakewalk Music Creator forum member, "Mamabear".
That's why I love lyrics so much, they touch me almost more than music, but the combination can be heavenly when the vocal expressions and musical interpretations take it to the next level.
Ms. Belladonna...
Referencing my quotation, mind my is filled with excited thoughts about the content and subtext of what you wrote. I think that, for you, lyrics are the music! Contemplating that thought causes me to wish I could be inside your head and your heart when you give birth to lyrics. I would like to know what the "music of words" sound like at the moment of their creation...
Personally, the lyrics I write for my songs come from I-don't-know-where. I mean it !!! I don't know where they come from. 99.9999 percent of them are not the result of premeditation. They just...show up, like a crowd of unwanted visitors leaning too heavily on my doorbell. Ding-dong. Ding-dong-ding-dong-ding-dong! Ding-ding-ding-ding-dong! "You-hoo! Ohhhh, Looorrr-en! May we come in and run around in your mind until you find something for us to do"???
In fact, I feel sometimes that deceased songwriters are using me to pursue a posthumous career . That's a kooky thought, now, ain't it?!
Intrigued,
LOREN
Last edited by bluage; 11/22/1809:00 AM.
"Music is what feelings sound like."-- borrowed from a Cakewalk Music Creator forum member, "Mamabear".
My whole life changed when I heard Jungleland for the first time.
I was in a state of awe.
I still am.
I pulled over to the side of the road in my Mustang to listen to it.
When it was over, the radio announcer said:
"9 minutes and 38 seconds of magic, from Bruce Springsteen."
Yes, and I will never be the same.
Reason?
It's like a Shakespeare play. The first time I had ever heard a real poem and a play set to music in 10 minutes.
It is probably the most brilliant piece of original cinematic songwriting I have ever heard, and I don't think anything else is on the same planet with it.
Jungleland
Bruce Springsteen
The Rangers had a homecoming In Harlem late last night And the Magic Rat drove his sleek machine Over the Jersey state line Barefoot girl sitting on the hood of a Dodge Drinking warm beer in the soft summer rain The Rat pulls into town, rolls up his pants Together they take a stab at romance And disappear down Flamingo Lane Well, the Maximum Lawmen run down Flamingo Chasing the Rat and the barefoot girl And the kids 'round there live just like shadows Always quiet, holding hands From the churches to the jails Tonight all is silence in the world As we take our stand Down in Jungleland The midnight gang's assembled And picked a rendezvous for the night They'll meet 'neath that giant Exxon sign That brings this fair city light Man, there's an opera out on the Turnpike There's a ballet being fought out in the alley Until the local cops, Cherry-Tops, rips this holy night The street's alive as secret debts are paid Contacts made, they flash unseen Kids flash guitars just like switchblades Hustling for the record machine The hungry and the hunted Explode into rock 'n' roll bands That face off against each other out in the street Down in Jungleland In the parking lot the visionaries dress in the latest rage Inside the backstreet girls are dancing To the records that the DJ plays Lonely-hearted lovers struggle in dark corners Desperate as the night moves on Just one look and a whisper, and they're gone Beneath the city, two hearts beat Soul engines running through a night so tender In a bedroom locked in whispers Of soft refusal and then surrender In the tunnels uptown, the Rat's own dream guns him down As shots echo down them hallways in the night No one watches when the ambulance pulls away Or as the girl shuts out the bedroom light Outside the street's on fire in a real death waltz Between what's flesh and what's fantasy And the poets down here don't write nothing at all They just stand back and let it all be And in the quick of a knife, they reach for their moment And try to make an honest stand But they wind up wounded, not even dead Tonight in Jungleland
yeah....I'd love to have written these 2 modern songs.
"Guitarhacker"...
Thank you for contributing to my first songwriting thread!
I did not listen to country music closely, and for pure enjoyment, until I began visiting the User's Forum back in 2009. But since then, I can tell you that I've grown to appreciate it, and plan on making a contribution in that genre in the User's Forum someday.
In a comment I posted about "Bud" & Ms. Janice's song, "I Choose to Be with You", I told them that I thought I had finally come to understand what the appeal of country music might be for those who are dedicated listeners, and that is, that the music has a simplicity of expression, and an emotional directness, that is irresistibly appealing.
Would you say that's true?
LOREN
Last edited by bluage; 11/23/1810:52 AM.
"Music is what feelings sound like."-- borrowed from a Cakewalk Music Creator forum member, "Mamabear".
The lyrics can mean nothing, or everything. They are completely subjective....A great example of how lyrics are only as powerful as they are perceived, something that may on paper seem like nothing, became a music phenomenon.
Mikke...
That's an incredibly interesting response, meaning the idea you offered about the audience's perception of the lyrics being entirely subjective. I've always believed, very generally speaking, that lyrics were more interesting and impactful, when they described something concrete, observable, and that could be easily validated, emotionally speaking, by a listener.
I hoped I would get interesting and unexpected responses when I posted this thread, and you have fulfilled my expectations! I will look for the song on YouTube.
Thanks, Mikke!
LOREN
"Music is what feelings sound like."-- borrowed from a Cakewalk Music Creator forum member, "Mamabear".
Something in the way she moves, or looks my way, or calls my name That seems to leave this troubled world behind And if I'm feeling down and blue or troubled by some foolish game She always seems to make me change my mind..
And I feel fine anytime she's around me now, she's around me now almost all the time And if I'm well you can tell she's been with me now She's been with me now quite a long, long time and I feel fine
Every now and then the things I lean on lose their meaning And I find myself careening in places where I should not let me go She has the power to go where no one else can find me and to silently remind me Of the happiness and the good times that I know, and then I just got to go there.
It isn't what she's got to say but how she thinks and where she's been To me, the words are nice, the way they sound I like to hear them best that way, it doesn't much matter what they mean She says them mostly just to calm me down
And I feel fine anytime she's around me now, she's around me now almost all the time And if I'm well you can tell she's been with me now She's been with me now quite a long, long time and I feel fine
This lyric was a comfort to me when I lost my mother at a young age. It's taken on a new meaning now having a wife to whom English is a second language and with whom communication is sometimes a sweet struggle.
<i>It isn't what she's got to say but how she thinks and where she's been To me, the words are nice, the way they sound I like to hear them best that way, it doesn't much matter what they mean She says them mostly just to calm me down</i>
I've also though of my guitar, at times, as the "she" in that lyric.
Like was said earlier, these don't read like epic poetry, but without a wasted syllable, are delivered naturally with grace. That makes a great lyric.
I like the feel of your name on my lips and I like the sound of your sweet gentle kiss. The way that your fingers run through my hair, and how your scent lingers even when you're not there.
And I like the way your eyes dance when you laugh, and how you enjoy your two hour bath. And how you convinced me to dance in the rain with everyone watching like we were insane.
But I love the way you love me. Strong and wild, slow and easy. Heart and soul, so completely. I love the way you love me.
I like to imitate ol' Jerry Lee an' watch you roll your eyes when I'm slightly off-key. And I like the innocent way that you cry at sappy old movies you've seen hundreds of times
But I love the way you love me. Strong and wild, slow and easy. Heart and soul, so completely. I love the way you love me.
And I could list a million things I love to like about you, but they all come down to one reason I could never live without you.
But I love the way you love me. Strong and wild, slow and easy. Heart and soul, so completely. I love the way you love me.
A perfect love song. Touching images. Sweet without being syrupy. Every line is good. Familiar yet original, fresh... So relatable. It makes you want to fall in love all over again.
Like was said earlier, these don't read like epic poetry, but without a wasted syllable, are delivered naturally with grace. That makes a great lyric.
Howdy, "Tangmo"...
Thanks for adding your own thread into my first songwriting thread!
First thing is, I'm deeply sorry to read that you lost your mother at a young age. I can't imagine -- and would be afraid to imagine -- what that was like. I truly hope that whatever memories you may have about her bring you pleasure and solace.
Concerning your lyrics-that-I wish-I-had-written selection, boy-oh-boy, it ain't difficult for me to understand why they resonate with you so, even apart from your stated reason concerning your memory of your mother.
First of all, the subject of Mr. Taylor's lyrics (if not himself) seems to describe a particular, perhaps living person, even, for whom he had strong feelings of love and respect. Truth be told, the lyrics imply that the subject may have lived through some sort of trauma that was soothed and possibly cured by the loving attention he received from the individual he wrote about in such a praiseworthy manner:
"And I feel fine anytime she's around me now, she's around me now almost all the time And if I'm well you can tell she's been with me now She's been with me now quite a long, long time and I feel fine"
Again, the poor subject of the song sounds like he may have "fallen through the cracks" of life in perhaps some tragic way: an accident? A nervous and/or mental breakdown? A veteran of a war who returned home broken in spirit, or just as worse, physically wounded?
"Every now and then the things I lean on lose their meaning And I find myself careening in places where I should not let me go She has the power to go where no one else can find me and to silently remind me Of the happiness and the good times that I know, and then I just got to go then"
The man appears to have lost something that has impaired his ability just to survive, even -- or, so I believe. And then, in a moment of wellness of that provides clarity, and the gift of sweet recognition and appreciation of the profound blessings he has received in the form of the person who came to his rescue, he reveals his loving thankfulness:
"And I feel fine anytime she's around me now, she's around me now almost all the time And if I'm well you can tell she's been with me now She's been with me now quite a long, long time and I feel fine"
Of course, what you've read is my own "take" of the meaning of the lyrics, so feel free, "Tangmo", to disagree, debate and deconstruct what I've written. Regardless, "Something In The Way She Moves" by James Taylor projects lyrics that are powerful, powerfully intimate, that is, if you've known the kind of pain, and also the kind of healing, transformative loving that his sensitive heart testified to in the song.
Thanks again, "Tangmo", for the richly rewarding song lyric selection you posted!
Gratefully,
LOREN
P.S. Concerning your statement that the lyrics don't read like "epic" poetry, all I can say to that is, "epic" poetry is for "epic" egos, and Mr. Taylor surely seems to have dispossessed himself of such lofty, mostly unattainable, and hardly-worth-pursuing goals.
Last edited by bluage; 11/23/1812:20 PM.
"Music is what feelings sound like."-- borrowed from a Cakewalk Music Creator forum member, "Mamabear".
Tangmo - good choice. This was our wedding song (40+ years ago). I sang it on tape (we had one of the old, big TEAC machines to play it on)
Uh-oh, the illustrious Floyd Jane has joined the thread! Mr. Jane, there's coffee and donuts at the table. If you smoke, there's a door to your left that'll take you outside where you can light-up and smoke 'til ya' choke!
Thanks for dropping by, sir!
Happy for your presence,
LOREN
"Music is what feelings sound like."-- borrowed from a Cakewalk Music Creator forum member, "Mamabear".
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!!! I don't know where they come from. 99.9999 percent of them are not the result of premeditation. They just...show up, like a crowd of unwanted visitors leaning too heavily on my doorbell. 
. That's a kooky thought, now, ain't it?!
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