Musing on song lyric quality


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Although I don't agree about the Turtles.., I do think it's a gem of a thread.  Examining, panning or loving song lyrics in a thread like this is a great idea. This could turn into an epic thread!

 

If you want an apparently inane 'pop'  lyric.. how about 'Zabadak', by Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick and Titch.  Most of the  lyrics make no sense, but it's a great tune with fab percussion.. and the lyrics do include a little explanation.

 

'Look for meaning not in words

But in the way you're feeling

If it's love we'll understand

For love is all revealing'

 

 

 

Here's one of my favourite songs so far.. Not quite pop..  more 'country' I suppose, but the lyrics are astonishing..

 

And the lyrics:

 

I wanna hold you now
And listen to you breathe
It's like the ocean's sound
Whispering through the trees
In the hollow of your shoulder
There's a tidepool of my tears
Where the waves came crashing over
And the shoreline disappeared

Oh, baby, close your eyes
Fly back there with me
To where the phosphor shines
Green flashlights from the sea
And our nets were full of soft shells
And our hearts were free from toil
And we made love on the kitchen table
Until the water reached a boil

 
We hold it all for a little while, don't we

Kiss the dice
Taste the rain like little knives upon our tongues
We can do no wrong when the lights go on
And the music plays
And we take the stage like we own the place
As if time were cheap and the night forever young

So let them turn my soul
Seven shades of blue
And with the ocean's roar
I will wave to you
And the birds will sing my laughter
And the whales will steal my song
I'll be okay forever after
And the world will get along

We hold it all for a little while, don't we
Kiss the dice
Taste the rain like little knives upon our tongues
We can do no wrong when the lights go on
And the music plays

And we take the stage like we own the place
As if time were cheap and the night forever young....

 

 

Beth wrote this song for her husband.. who died of cancer.

 

 

 

 

 

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Couldn't resist rewriting the lyrics for our most famous grocer's lad.   PARK TAVERN SONG   Once upon a time there was a Tavern, where our Ben played footie for the team. With hi

Strange how songs bring memories instantly to mind, isn't it?  I've never had any interest in pop music but my sister used to watch Top of the Pops every week.  I can remember Mary Hopkin appearing on

I assume that means you spent the rest of the night discussing quantum physics, Colly?  And very worthwhile too!

17 hours ago, Compo said:

Right.......I used the phrase "Just Sayin'" at the end of my opening post. It seems that the term is meant to be used as an expression of being fed-up with someone or something. So, I apologise firstly for using a catchphrase and secondly for misusing the term. I have modified the originall post to remove the offending phrase.

 

 

In the sites I frequent.. 'Just Sayin'.. is used sort of jokingly,  to indicate that you are throwing something in.. but don't want to get into a major debate about it...

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While searching for Beth Neilsen Chapman.. I came across this.. from Kate Wolf..who I'd never heard of..  Sadly she passed away in 1986.. but what a talent!

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PsXGzblg7Ws

 

 

 

 

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One is a game, and the other is a discussion !

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DJ360: I have the single, Zabadak on my jukebox. It's one of my favourite tunes but I agree the lyrics are weird, to say the least. The flipside (Don't hear that term very often these days!) "The Sun Goes Down", is equally strange.

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I have to say that they weren't my favourite band.. a bit too 'pop' for my liking.. but they had a lot of hits. Dave Dee was essentially a business man.  Similar in some ways to Dave Clark I think.. but only in some ways.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dave_Dee

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Years ago when meeting a young lady for the first time always tried to think of a song with her name amongst the Lyrics,,,then sing a couple of lines,,,often got a 'Titter'' from them,,,,

                  Come to think of it,,,still do it,,,wife says must pack it in,,,especially in the Coffee machine Queue at 'Wethers''...........:rolleyes:

Most girls names are in a song somewhere,,,

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Zabadak, Justified and Ancient, Intro-Outro, (Bonzo Dog). Who'd-a-thought-it, hits. Still listen to them.

 

Here a couple I like which read well without the tune; Big Bad John, by James Dean. A sullen, quiet mystery man not to be messed with, 'broad at the shoulder narrow at the hip and everybody knew you didnt give no lip to Big John'. Again;

'He didnt say much, kinda quiet and shy,

And if you spoke at all you just said Hi

To Big John.'

(I like it when the rhyme and meter is completed before the end of the dialogue line, there must be a word for that technique). A badman who made good in the end but it cost his life. Uncomplicated but efficient poetry, a complete story, good feeling at the end.

 

Ode to Billy Joe, by Bobby Gentry. Told as a day to day homely dialogue, the verses rhyming perfectly, (which appeals to me) telling in a mundane narrative about everday countryfolk's daily chores, doings and gossip and encompassing Billy Joe's sad demise. At the end we're still non the wiser about Billy-Joe, it's an open ended mystery, but

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People  interpret songs differently. There's a Frankie Miller song Long way home which Mrs Fly gets a totally different impression of that I do .

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Agree Fly..

 

Cliffton..

'Dinner with Jimi' is worth a watch,

 

DJ..

Dave Dee, i think, still owns the right's to the fantastic Beat Club footage..way superior to OGWT.

 

Feel a calling to listen to Brian Setzer doing 'Nightingale sang' & his big band orchestra in general!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Sorry CT, I can't agree re the Pearly Spencer lyrics. I think they're very raw, emotional and very true to life.

I love songs with a story.

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Everyone has different opinions.

 

For instance......I genuinely liked all the singles from Dave Dee & Co, especially Zabadak. They may have been manufactured, but the songs and the production were perfect examples of what a pop single should be. 

 

And look at the lyrics for 'Bend it'.  It's amazing the BBC never banned it, especially when they could get worked up over something like 'Day in the life'.

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I don't mind good pop songs from any era, but it's the banal mind numbing stuff like Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep and other such ridiculous so called 'novelty' songs. 

This has developed into a good topic, as long as music snobbery doesn't creep in. Music provides something for most people.

Those who say they dislike any form of music must be bereft of emotion. They should check their pulse !

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6 hours ago, HSR said:

Agree Fly..

 

Cliffton..

'Dinner with Jimi' is worth a watch,

 

DJ..

Dave Dee, i think, still owns the right's to the fantastic Beat Club footage..way superior to OGWT.

 

Feel a calling to listen to Brian Setzer doing 'Nightingale sang' & his big band orchestra in general!

 

 

Dunno about that.  Dave Dee died a while back and I've no idea what happened to his 'estate'. I have a vague memory of once seeing him in a documentary on TV.. accompanied by a young girl..  (His daughter?) and talking about 'the old days'.

 

I think it's Dave Clark who owns all of the 'Ready Steady Go' footage which contains lots of absolute gems and just never gets seen. I can't understand why he would continue to 'sit on' it because sooner or later anybody who still cares will be gone..

 

Dave Clark comes across as a thoroughly unpleasant and selfish character.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dave_Clark_(musician)

 

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Yes, I'm certain I read once that Dave Clark owned the RSG footage. I think it was due to his association with Kathy McGowan that enabled him to do it.

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31 minutes ago, FLY2 said:

I don't mind good pop songs from any era, but it's the banal mind numbing stuff like Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep and other such ridiculous so called 'novelty' songs. 

This has developed into a good topic, as long as music snobbery doesn't creep in. Music provides something for most people.

Those who say they dislike any form of music must be bereft of emotion. They should check their pulse !

Problem is FLY, people don't always realise when they're being snobbish. Just my opinion aka 'just sayin'...;)

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How about this for odd lyrics. It is my favourite Procol Harum song:

 

Homburg
Your multilingual business friend
Has packed her bags and fled
Leaving only ash-filled ashtrays
And the lipstick, unmade bed
The mirror, on reflection
Has climbed back upon the wall
For the floor she found descended
And the ceiling was too tall
 
Your trouser cuffs are dirty
And your shoes are laced up wrong
You'd better take off your Homburg
'Cause your overcoat is too long
 
Town clock in the market square
Stands waiting for the hour
When its hands they both turn backward
And on meeting will devour
Both themselves and also any fool
Who dares to tell the time
And the sun and moon will shadow
And the signpost cease to sign
 
Your trouser cuffs are dirty
And your shoes are laced up wrong
You'd better take off your Homburg
'Cause your overcoat is too long
 
Your trouser cuffs are dirty...
Source: Musixmatch
Songwriters: Keith Reid / Gary Brooker
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44 minutes ago, FLY2 said:

I don't mind good pop songs from any era, but it's the banal mind numbing stuff like Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep and other such ridiculous so called 'novelty' songs. 

This has developed into a good topic, as long as music snobbery doesn't creep in. Music provides something for most people.

Those who say they dislike any form of music must be bereft of emotion. They should check their pulse !

 

My local is a tiny pub.  It had a succession of hopeless landlords who all thought they were going to make a fortune and just didn't understand the obvious fact that it was a small pub with almost no parking.  It therefore had to appeal to locals, and even then would not produce enough income to support a lazy landlord who employed staff to do the work.  One of those landlords was a cousin of Lally Stott, who came from Prescot.. a few miles from here, and wrote 'Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep'.  It was certanly a creepy and annoying song, but it was an enormous world wide hit.  It was the girl singer's 'nasal' singing which really annoyed me..

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lally_Stott

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chirpy_Chirpy_Cheep_Cheep

 

P.S.  The present landlord 'gets it'.  He keeps his prices low, does most of the bar work and all of the cleaning, bar/cellar work etc.,etc.   He's doing well.

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Music is everything........just been listening to Dave Brubeck and 'Take five''  no lyrics,but still says so much............

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Yep.  I think that most of the 'Take Five' appeal is down to the sax playing of Paul Desmond.   Brubeck issued two albums in the early 1960s in which he experimented with odd time signatures.  They were 'Time Out' which featured 'Take Five', and 'Time Further Out', which featured 'It's a Raggy Waltz', and 'Unsquare Dance', which were also mainstream chart hits for Brubeck's quartet. I was obsessed with jazz back then and Time Further Out was one of the first few LPs I bought.

 

Paul Desmond was one of my all time favourite sax players.  I came across an album by him called 'Late Lament'.. in a 'bargain bin'.  It has Paul playing with an orchestra and on first listen I dismissed it as a bit 'Mantovani..ish', but after a couple of listens I fell in love with it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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