Is there a line or two of a song that really appeals to you?
A couplet I've always liked is from Up the Junction by Squeeze:
The devil came and took me.
From bar to street to bookie.
Witty, easy to understand and has some meaning - I think a lot of us have been near or by that situation, or know someone who has.
What's your favourite?
It doesn't have to be deep or meaningful, I bet there are some belters which are really corny.
And if it has a dodgy rhyme, so much the better.
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Windy City -
for the sake of civic virtue
they've got fountains there that squirt you...
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Leather boots are still in style for manly footwear
Beads and Roman sandals won't be seen...
Oakie from Miscogie.
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In Lama Land there a one man band,
and he'll toot his flute for you.
and
"Thank you for coming home
I'm sorry that the chairs are all worn
I left them here I could have sworn "
Huh? what's that all about then?
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>> A couplet I've always liked is from Up the Junction by Squeeze:
Loads more great lines on their 'best of' CD which I've got in the car. One (or 2) from the boys in blue, from my favourite track of theirs:
Another suburban family morning
Grandmother screaming at the wall
We have to shout above the din of our Rice Crispies
We can't hear anything at all
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A bit more urban angst from The Jam:
To either cut down on beer or the kids' new gear
It's a big decision in a town called malice.
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'Cause when love is gone, there's always justice.
And when justive is gone, there's always force.
And when force is gone, there's always Mom. Hi Mom!
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Here we all are sittin' in a rainbow
Go blimey hello Mrs. Jones
How's old Bert's lumbago?
(He mustn't grumble)
Lazy Sunday Afternoon.......
They don't write em like that any more.......
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>> They don't write em like that any more.......
From the great poet Simon Le Bon:
And firey deamons all dance when you walk through that door
Don't say you're easy on me you're about as easy as a nuclear war
:)
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I was thinking about this the other day - this is the one that urged a YouTube play
Now the First of December was covered with snow
And so was the Turnpike from Stockbridge to Boston
Lord, the Berkshires seemed dream-like on account of that frostin'
With ten miles behind me and ten thousand more to go
James Taylor - Sweet Baby James
Any better words for wanting to go on an epic ride/drive....?
Damnit have to play it again now.
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+ 1 PU
Also U2, Original of the species
Some things you shouldn't get too good at
Like smiling, crying and celebrity
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Written for BBD I think:
I don't want anybody else
When I think about you
I touch myself
www.youtube.com/watch?v=wv-34w8kGPM
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I like all the words to Little Deuce Coupe by the Beach Boys.
Here's a verse:
Just a little deuce coupe with a flat head mill
But she'll walk a Thunderbird like (she's) it's standin' still
She's ported and relieved and she's stroked and bored.
She'll do a hundred and forty with the top end floored
Here's the rest: www.sing365.com/music/lyric.nsf/Little-Deuce-Coupe-lyrics-Beach-Boys/3276DF842ACDEE65482569820025727F
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I may be right , I may be wrong,
But I'm perfectly willing to swear
Not the ideal witness!
A Nightingale Sang in Berkley Square.
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Why this hasn't been resurrected I don't know; could be the Green party's anthem, although that's not why it's one of my all time favourites:
When she's on her best behaviour
Dont be tempted by her favours
Never turn your back on mother earth
www.youtube.com/watch?v=haf5s0b--zw
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Mustn't forget Good Morning Starshine.
Gliddy glub gloopy
Nibby nabby noopy
La la la lo lo
Sabba sibby sabba
Nooby abba nabba
Le le lo lo
Tooby ooby walla
Nooby abba naba
Early morning singing song
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And for those who are not built like matchsticks
Ain't no fairy story
Ain't no skin and bone
But you give it all you got
Weighing in at nineteen stone
Pat
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Whenever I'm asked a question like this, my mind immediately goes blank.
I will randomly think of my favourites on the drive home, when I'm not thinking about it.
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The opening line of Plaistow Patricia, Ian Durie and the Blockheads, has wide and flexible application.
Unfortunately it is unquotable in a family forum.
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>> Whenever I'm asked a question like this, my mind immediately goes blank.
>>
>> I will randomly think of my favourites on the drive home, when I'm not thinking
>> about it.
>>
I dont know that one, who's that by then ....
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>> I dont know that one, who's that by then ....
>>
Well, it's not Vivian Stanshall, that's for sure.
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"Pick up yer fags and gather your mates, there's a row going on down near Slough."
The Jam - Eton Rifles. Appealed strongly to a comprehensive school boy growing up in Windsor.
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>> The Jam - Eton Rifles. Appealed strongly to a comprehensive school boy growing up in
>> Windsor.
...which reminds me of one that struck a chord:
We don't need no education
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A few random thoughts:-
"Hanging on in quiet desperation is the English way
The time is gone, the song is over,
Thought I'd something more to say."
"Fergus sings the blues, in bars of twelve or less"
"I'd trade all my tomorrows for one single yesterday"
and from the same song
"Freedom's just another word for nothin' left to lose
Nothin' don't mean nothin' hon' if it ain't free, no no"
"It took a lost weekend in a hotel in Amsterdam
and double pneumonia in a single room.
And the sickest joke was the price of the medicine."
..and just about anything by The Jam
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And this big fat woman, bumped me on the floor
She was rarin' to go, that chick was rarin' to go
Man she did a dip, almost broke my hip
She was gettin' down, that chick was gettin' down
She wanted to bump some more, but I told her, no
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Sometimes when we're as close as this
It's like we're in a dream
How can you lie there and think of England
When you don't even know who's in the team
Bard of Barking aka Billy Bragg
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Freedom's just another word for nothing left to lose.
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Ship me somewheres East of Suez, where the best is like the worst.
Where there ain't no Ten Commandments, and a man can raise a thirst.
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If those lips could only speak, if those eyes could only see.
If those beautiful golden tresses, were there in reality.
If I could take your hand in mine, as you did when you took my name,
But it's only a beautiful picture, in a beautiful golden frame.
-
There's a beautiful blue in a beautiful sky, there's a beautiful blue in the water.
But give me the blue in the beautiful eye, of Betsy the butterman's daughter.
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If you can hear the words you've spoken twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
If you can see the things you gave your life for, broke, and stoop and build 'em up again with worn out tools.
-
Good was often to advantage dressed,
But ne'er so well designed, nor so well expressed.
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>> Ship me somewheres East of Suez, where the best is like the worst.
>> Where there ain't no Ten Commandments, and a man can raise a thirst.
Likee. Who is that by?
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>> >> Ship me somewheres East of Suez, where the best is like the worst.
>> >> Where there ain't no Ten Commandments, and a man can raise a thirst.
>>
>> Likee. Who is that by?
>>
Kipling - The Road to Mandalay
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Ah. I recognised your bit from "IF", it's hanging on my study wall after all. But that one eluded me.
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On the road to Mandalay,
Where the flyin'-fishes play,
An' the dawn comes up like thunder outer China 'crost the Bay!
I used to have a friend who was a talented opera singer ( sadly now dead ) with the English National Opera .
He and one of his colleagues gave a impromptu full blooded performance of this for some friends and I one evening after dinner, one of those brilliant moments when the hairs stand up on your neck .....
I love Kipling .............but I haven't Kippled in a long time....
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...He and one of his colleagues gave a impromptu full blooded performance of this for some friends and I one evening after dinner, one of those brilliant moments when the hairs stand up on your neck ...
Something similar used to happen at the Old Packhorse in Chiswick High Road.
It was a strongly republican pub - regular collections for the cause - and occasionally 'Big Bob' would give a song at full belt.
A 20-year-old Iffy didn't fully understand what it was all about, but I suspect if you sang those lyrics at an Old Firm game today you would be arrested.
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Isn't it
'Sup up your beer and collect your fags, there's a row going on down near Slough
Get out your mat and pray for the West, I'll get out mine and pray for myself
Blah blah blah
All that rugby puts hairs on your chest, what chance have you got against a tie and a crest?'
I always thought that it was 'collect your fags' as that has a clever double meaning in a song called Eton Rifles.
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A ditty from 3 Colours Red, the sentiment of which I particularly like. It's my suggestion for a new National Anthem (the tune is an absolute belter, I recommend anyone who likes a bit of rock to give it a spin):
In my head, I can get so far away
The colors here are bright, not black or gray
And my imaginary friends, we always get our way
The madness never ends and I just wanna stay
But then I wake to seek escape, escape again
Hey, hey, hey, this day has gone too fast
With people like you, make it seem like it's the last
Selfish, helpless and not a part of me
You'll never make me what I don't wanna be
Your words spread 'round the same dead town
Dead town and streets
You'll never see what I believe
Till it's sunny in England
And in the rain you soak the pain
And grieve and all you do is grieve
You'll never see what I believe
Till it's sunny in England, yeah, yeah
Sometimes I lose this memory
Ain't it good to be in England ?
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Get up get up woman
Off your big fat rusty dusty...
(Urban blues, quite old, no idea who by...)
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You don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows.
Bob Dylan, of course.
You can't roller skate in a buffalo herd, but you can be happy if you've a mind to.
Roger Miller.
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>> You don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows.
>> Bob Dylan, of course.
>>
Another favourite of mine, even if it's taken me 35 years to acquire a taste for Dylan's work.
Last edited by: spamcan61 on Thu 21 Apr 11 at 13:24
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it's taken me 35 years to acquire a taste
>> for Dylan's work.
>>
41 years and counting here. Nasal, whining, pseudo-intellectual, hippy-rousing droner. IMHO of course.
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For some of us its:
La-la-la-la-la-la
La-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la
La-la-la-la-la-la
La-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la
We're busy doin' nothin'
Workin' the whole day through
Tryin' to find lots of things not to do
We're busy goin' nowhere
Isn't it just a crime
We'd like to be unhappy, but
We never do have the time
I have to watch the river
To see that it doesn't stop
And stick around the rosebuds
So they'll know when to pop
And keep the crickets cheerful
They're really a solemn bunch
Hustle, bustle
And only an hour for lunch
La-la-la-la-la-la
La-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la
La-la-la-la-la-la
La-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la
We're busy doin' nothin'
Workin' the whole day through
Tryin' to find lots of things not to do
We're busy goin' nowhere
Isn't it just a crime
We'd like to be unhappy, but
We never do have the time
I have to wake the Sun up
He's liable to sleep all day
And then inspect the rainbows
So they'll be bright and gay
I must rehearse the songbirds
To see that they sing in key
Hustle, bustle
And never a moment free
We're busy doin' nothin'
Workin' the whole day through
Tryin' to find lots of things not to do
We're busy going nowhere
Isn't it just a crime
We'd like to be unhappy, but
We never do have the time
I have to meet a turtle
I'm teachin' him how to swim
Then I have to shine the dewdrops
You know they're looking rather dim
I told my friend, the robin
I'd buy him a brand new vest
Hustle, bustle
We never do have
We never do have
We never do, never do
Never do, never do, never do have the time
Never do have the time
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Nothing deep and meaningful today just...
No more pencils No more books No more teacher's dirty looks
Out for summer Out till fall We might not go back at all
I was 16 and uncertain about going onto 6th form when this came out during the summer holidays so very appropriate.
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Now the sun's gone to hill
And the moon's riding high
Let me bid you farewell
Every man has to die.....
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In similar vein:
Just think! some night the stars will gleam
Upon a cold, grey stone,
And trace a name with silver beam,
And lo! ’twill be your own.
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And if a double-decker bus
Crashes into us
To die by your side
Is such a heavenly way to die
Morrissey
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In Morrisseys case, its a pity it didn't.
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As Tennyson should have written;
Brake, brake brake.
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For once I agree with you Zero.....
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Don't worry about it helo, I am sure you wont make a habit of it.
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Life gets teejus don' it?
Life Gets Tedious , Don't It?
The sun comes up and the sun goes down,
The hands on the clock keep going round,
I just get up and it's time to lay down,
Life gets tedious, don't it?
My shoes untied but I don't care,
I was'nt figuring on going nowhere,
I'd have to wash and comb my hair,
And that's just wasted effort.
Water in the well gettin' lower end lower,
Can't take a bath for a month or more,
But I've heard it told and it's true I'm sure,
That too much bathing weakens yer.
Open the door and the flies come in,
Shut the door and yer sweating again,
And in the process, I cracked my shin,
Just one darn thing after another.
Ole brown mule, he must be sick,
I jabbed him in the rump with a pin on a stick,
He humped his back but he did'nt kick,
There's something cockeyed somewhere.
Ole mouse chawing on the pantry door,
Been chawing there for a month or more,
When he gets through he's gonna be sore,
There aint a darn thing in there.
Hound dog howling so forlorn,
Laziest dog that ever was born,
He's howling cause he's sittin' on a thorn,
And he's just too tired to move over.
Tin roof leaks and the chimney leans,
There's a hole in the seat of my old blue jeans,
I 'ate the last of my pork and beans,
Just can't depend on nothin'.
Cows gone dry and the hens won't iay,
Fish stopped biting last Saturday,
Troubles piling up day by day,
And now I'm gettin' dandruff.
Grief and misery pain and woes,
Bills and taxes and so it goes,
And now I'm gettin' a cold in the nose,
Life gets tasteless - Don't it?!
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Hopefully this rather fine lyric from an Ian Dury song will get past the mods. An earlier excerpt was removed. Sadly I can't share the title. Ah well.
Van Gogh did some eyeball pleasers.
He must have been a pencil squeezer.
He didn't do the Mona Lisa,
That was an Italian geezer.
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Here's another favourite from years ago:
SUNSCREEN
Baz Luhrmann
Ladies and Gentlemen of the class of ’99 If I could offer you only one tip for the future, sunscreen would be it. The long term benefits of sunscreen have been proved by scientists whereas the rest of my advice has no basis more reliable than my own meandering experience
…I will dispense this advice now.
Enjoy the power and beauty of your youth; oh nevermind; you will not understand the power and beauty of your youth until they have faded. But trust me, in 20 years you’ll look back at photos of yourself and recall in a way you can’t grasp now how much possibility lay before you and how fabulous you really looked….You’re not as fat as you imagine.
Don’t worry about the future; or worry, but know that worrying is as effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing bubblegum. The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that never crossed your worried mind; the kind that blindside you at 4pm on some idle Tuesday.
Do one thing everyday that scares you
Sing
Don’t be reckless with other people’s hearts, don’t put up with people who are reckless with yours.
Floss
Don’t waste your time on jealousy; sometimes you’re ahead, sometimes you’re behind…the race is long, and in the end, it’s only with yourself.
Remember the compliments you receive, forget the insults; if you succeed in doing this, tell me how.
Keep your old love letters, throw away your old bank statements.
Stretch
Don’t feel guilty if you don’t know what you want to do with your life…the most interesting people I know didn’t know at 22 what they wanted to do with their lives, some of the most interesting 40 year olds I know still don’t.
Get plenty of calcium.
Be kind to your knees, you’ll miss them when they’re gone.
Maybe you’ll marry, maybe you won’t, maybe you’ll have children,maybe you won’t, maybe you’ll divorce at 40, maybe you’ll dance the funky chicken on your 75th wedding anniversary…what ever you do, don’t congratulate yourself too much or berate yourself either – your choices are half chance, so are everybody else’s. Enjoy your body, use it every way you can…don’t be afraid of it, or what other people think of it, it’s the greatest instrument you’ll ever own..
Dance…even if you have nowhere to do it but in your own living room.
Read the directions, even if you don’t follow them.
Do NOT read beauty magazines, they will only make you feel ugly.
Get to know your parents, you never know when they’ll be gone for good.
Be nice to your siblings; they are the best link to your past and the people most likely to stick with you in the future.
Understand that friends come and go, but for the precious few you should hold on. Work hard to bridge the gaps in geography and lifestyle because the older you get, the more you need the people you knew when you were young.
Live in New York City once, but leave before it makes you hard; live in Northern California once, but leave before it makes you soft.
Travel.
Accept certain inalienable truths, prices will rise, politicians will philander, you too will get old, and when you do you’ll fantasize that when you were young prices were reasonable, politicians were noble and children respected their elders.
Respect your elders.
Don’t expect anyone else to support you. Maybe you have a trust fund, maybe you have a wealthy spouse; but you never know when either one might run out.
Don’t mess too much with your hair, or by the time you're 40, it will look 85.
Be careful whose advice you buy, but, be patient with those who supply it. Advice is a form of nostalgia, dispensing it is a way of fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off, painting over the ugly parts and recycling it for more than it’s worth.
But trust me on the sunscreen…
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By popular request, more of Morrissey's finest:
In a river the color of lead
Immerse the baby's head
Wrap her up in the news of the world
Dump her on a doorstep, Girl
This night has opened my eyes
And I will never sleep again
(This night has opened my eyes)
And when I'm lying in my bed
I think about life
And I think about death
And neither one particularly appeals to me
(Nowhere fast)
Let me get my hands
On your mammary glands
And let me get your head
On the conjugal bed
(Handsome devil)
Oh Mother, I can feel the soil falling over my head
And as I climb into an empty bed
Oh well. Enough said.
(I know it's over)
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>> By popular request, more of Morrissey's finest:
>> Oh Mother, I can feel the soil falling over my head
>> And as I climb into an empty bed
>> Oh well. Enough said.
Throw a bottle at his head.
>> (I know it's over)
Wish he was,
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more of Morrissey's finest.....
He's never been the same since 'Men Behaving Badly' finished......
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Heaven Knows I am miserable now.
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Laugh and the world laughs with you,
Weep and you weep alone.
For the sad old Earth must borrow its mirth,
Yet has sorrows enough of its own.
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>> By popular request, more of Morrissey's finest:
Oh dear, Focus. And there was me thinking we were musical fellow travellers.
Morrissey (like The Cure) is girls' music. Tsk.
;-)
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>> Morrissey (like The Cure) is girls' music. Tsk.
Eh? IIRC in the 80s the Smiths were a band loved by millions of spotty angst-ridden male students (and a few normal ones like me) in universities throughout the land. Don't think The Smith's roadies saw much action :)
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>> Eh? IIRC in the 80s the Smiths were a band loved by millions of spotty
>> angst-ridden male students
Yes. Big girls' blouses.
(I'm pulling your leg. A bit.)
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>> >> Eh? IIRC in the 80s the Smiths were a band loved by millions of
>> spotty
>> >> angst-ridden male students
>>
>> Yes. Big girls' blouses.
Ah, I see what you mean. I guess the lyrics weren't always that macho:
A dreaded sunny day
So I meet you at the cemetry gates
Keats and Yeats are on your side
While Wilde is on mine
(Cemetry gates)
:)
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From Pink Floyd, The dark side of the moon...
On 'Speak to me' not so much lyrics, but part of a series of voice clips.
'And I am not frightened of dying, any time will do, I
don't mind. Why should I be frightened of dying?
There's no reason for it, you've gotta go sometime.'
'I never said I was frightened of dying.'
Those words mean loads to me, for more than one reason.
In fact, I may ask for then to be said (or the track played) at my funeral.
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Sometimes I get this crazy dream
That I just take off in my car
But you can travel on ten thousand miles
And still stay where you are
W.O.L.D. , by Harry Chapin; a great songwriter who died too young.
One of the many songs I first heard on Wogan's show, more years ago than I care to admit.
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From the incomparable Noel Coward:
The French and Greeks do it
Nice young men who sell antiques do it
Let's do it, let's fall in love
Monkeys, whenever you look, do it
Ali Khan and King Farouk do it
Let's do it, let's fall in love
Each man out there, shooting crap, does it
Davy Crocket, in that dreadful cap, does it
Let's do it, let's fall in love
All famous writers, in swarms, do it
Somerset and all the Maughams do it
Let's do it, let's fall in love
In Texas, some of the men do it
Others drill a hole and then do it
Let's do it, let's fall in love
West Coast cadets, forming fours, do it
People say that those Gabors do it
Etc etc
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>> W.O.L.D. , by Harry Chapin; a great songwriter who died too young.
he probably slit his throat listening to his own mawkish songs of misery. Every one is whining about his lost kids and family.
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A bit sugary-sweet maybe, but this has got very pleasant personal associations for me:
"All the love inside me has been sleeping
Waiting till the right one came along
You can share the love that I've been keeping
You can put the music to my song"
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...he probably slit his throat listening to his own mawkish songs of misery...
Spot on.
WOLD makes me cringe, but at least you can hear the words, dreadful as they are.
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Ironic that it takes a few songwords that mean a lot to me to get you two to agree on something! ;-)
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That's a good line - Crankcase
