Why have only two Sondheim references here, when you can have three ? Never can have too many as far as I'm concerned (and I'm a paying subscriber). No one did yearning or longing as well, or in as many musical guises, as he did. Another one of my Sondheim favorites came from his only real flop, "Anyone Can Whistle," which, unlike "Evening Primrose," made it to Broadway --- at least for nine performances. It did, however, become a cult classic when the original cast album was released soon after the show closed. Suffice it to say it was a bunch of interesting ideas in search of a plot, but then there was the spare, pure (intellectually) romantic Sondheim title song. https://youtu.be/ncyo8EUUCVE
One of the most interesting lyric lines I ever encountered was near the end of "Supper's Ready" (by Genesis). While the whole song is powerful, the fascinating part is that this one line caused an identical "mondegreen" for both myself and a fellow college student (this was long before the Internet made it easy to look up song lyrics). Here's what we both thought the line was saying:
"666 is the work of the Lord"
but when we finally got hold of the liner notes, it turned out to be
"666 is no longer alone"
I guess the brain works in mysterious ways.
P.S. Just describing this makes me want to listen to the "Seven trumpets blowing sweet rock and roll" again.
"Lyric writing, at best, is a limited art -- if it is an art at all. It's largely a matter of sweat and time consumption. Once the basic idea for a lyric has been set, it's like working out a crossword puzzle. But composing music is genuinely creative. And it's much more fun."
--- Stephen Sondheim
A reluctant and grudging lyricist early on, Stephen Sondheim claimed he was first and foremost a composer. Fortunately, he decided to do both to our lasting delight. But in fact, he was a playwright — a writer of memorable very short plays set to music. One of my special favorites, from a constellation of favorites, and a perfect example of his preternatural ability with both words and music, never made it to Broadway. It is the wonderfully poignant and evocative "I Remember," from an otherwise forgettable made-for-TV musical, "Evening Primrose." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tL8C0yNg7Pg
Sondheim always put the needs of the play first. The lyrics above are sung by a young woman who has never set foot outside the department store in which she has lived almost her life. That's why she compares everything she remembers from outside to things found inside.
Sondheim was also a dramatist at times, writing scripts for "Topper" and co-writing "The Last of Sheila."
Paul McCartney (and Bernie Taupin, perhaps even more so) write some great lyrics and some absolute clunkers because they are pretty good at staying clear of convention, that's their big strength, but they don't have enough ability to critically examine what they end up with.
I resisted answering this one because I just couldn't name one or two lyrics and knew going down this rabbit hole would only make me frustrated. Fortunately other folks have named songs and artists that I thought of; John Prine (who was my single biggest songwriting influence) wrote so many great lyrics and a few of them were singled out here already by Gene), but also Tom Lehrer, Leonard Cohen, Dylan, Stephen Sondheim, Kris Kristofferson, Joni, and so many others. Then there are great songs by Guy Clark, John Hartford, Loudon Wainwright, Townes Van Zandt, George Gerdes, Tom Paxton, Phil Ochs, Chris Smither, Jack Hardy, Kevin Welch, St Joan...the list goes on…But I’ll go in a different direction. I have an old 78 recording of a song from the 1930s called “The Bald Headed End of the Broom.” It's funny, lyrically tight, and sufficiently politically incorrect. This has always been one of my favorite lines from it: “So boys keep away from the girls I say and give them lots of room/For you’ll find when you’re wed they’ll bang until your dead with the bald-headed end of a broom.” There are other great lyrics packed into this one song, so I’ve linked it here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PSdGkByujfQ
They Might Be Giants has a song called "Renew My Prescription" which has addictive qualities; when I first heard it I got the cassette (it was a while back) and whenever I was in my car, for a few weeks, I only played that one song, over and over. It has a catchy tune and lots of repetitive rhyming and some internal rhyming and a clever premise:
I keep giving the same answer to this question wherever it is asked. I can't help myself; I really love lyrics and these are my all-time faves:
"I got kicked off Noah's Ark / I turn my cheek to unkind remarks / there was two of everything / but one of me" [also later in that same song: "Take it back, take it back / Oh no, you can't say that / All of my friends are not dead or in jail..."] - John Prine
"Don't confront me with my failures / I had not forgotten them." - Jackson Browne, who also wrote the amazing song "Doctor, My Eyes" when he was 16 years old.
"It's coming on Christmas, they're cutting down trees / they're putting up reindeer and singing songs of joy and peace / oh I wish I had a river I could skate away on...." - Joni Mitchell in a good example of how seemingly innocuous lyrics can be made poignant by the melody and the performance
And now that I've said my favorite lyrics are all kind of depressing and negative and all about how dark reality is, I have to also say I love this little lyric:
"Sunshine on my shoulders makes me happy / sunshine in my eyes can make me cry / sunshine on the water looks so lovely / sunshine almost always makes me high"
It takes courage to put out a lyric that pure and simple, with a matching melody and sing it straight and sincere. I am not the only person who feels like "Sunshine" kind of saved my life in the dark winter of 1974.
Oh, yes! Sunshine! Now that's an earworm I welcome! It's gonna get me through was promises to be a bad week. Thank you, Karen. And what a voice John Denver had...
The lyrics, of course, are total gobbledygook. The Bee Gees always wrote as if English was their fifth language. It’s amazing that they came strutting into country music, a genre that’s generally built around storytelling, and opened a song with words that nobody would ever say out loud. First line: “Baby, when I met you, there was peace unknown.” That’s not an expression. “Peace unknown” is just a ridiculous phrase. Next line: “I set out to get you with a fine-toothed comb.” That is an expression, but nobody has ever used it like that.
The rest of the song goes on like that, mutating language into shapes that only barely even make sense. Doesn’t matter. The words sound good together. The Bee Gees were able to sell utter bullshit like that by understanding how the sounds of words can be more important than their on-paper meanings. And they also made their nonsense work through the power of their harmonies. Rogers and Parton do the same thing on “Islands In The Stream.”
“Piano Man” came from Joel’s six months as “Bill Martin” in an L.A. piano bar. His first solo album had tanked and he had just switched labels. The last line suggests he was contemplating the possibility of being stuck in such bars for the rest of his career.
Ronnie Spector recorded “Say Goodbye to Hollywood” with members of the E Street Band. Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons did “Uptown Girl” during a TV appearance. When the inspirations for your songs perform their own versions, you’re doing it right. If only Ray Charles had covered “New York State of Mind.”
Never picked up on the similarity. His vocal affectations on the song sounded to me like just exaggerations of his New York accent, but yes, they also sound like Jagger’s affectations. I might have noticed the resemblance right away if the song had more of a blues feel.
Since Gene didn't see fit to include my lyrics choice in the blog post, I'll add it here. This is from "I'll Remember Why," written by Ginny Carr, leader of the Uptown Vocal Jazz Quartet (based in Northern Virginia), from their fabulous album "Hustlin' for a Gig":
"I don't remember the day I fell in love with you / But I'll always remember why."
And since there's evidently not the length limit I thought there was, here's a longer excerpt from Carr's "You Ain't Seen Nothin' Yet," which, if I didn't know better, I'd swear was written by Cole Porter:
You've seen the aurora's borealis
Seen every glorious royal palace
You've seen the Louvre, yes, and the Orsay
Seen what Vesuvius left of Pompeii
You've seen the Isle of Wight by the sea
You've seen the title fight by Ali
But here's my money, 'cause baby I'll bet
You ain't seen nothin' yet.
How's THAT for wordplay, Mr. Weingarten?
Also, "The Windmills of Your Mind" (lyrics by Alan and Marilyn Bergman) is full of evocative imagery, but I particularly like these lines:
Keys that jingle in your pocket, words that jangle in your head
Why did summer go so quickly, was it something that you said?
The Ballad of Booth from Sondheim's Assassins is simple terrific. Every time I hear this bit I think of the madman Trump, and have a bit of hope that all will recover.
The best line in “Me and Bobby McGee” is - “I’d trade all my tomorrows for a single yesterday.” But for lyrics that are direct and to the point, I’ll take “I Love My Dog” by Bottle Rockets:
“I love my dog / He’s my dog / If you don’t love my dog that’s okay / I don’t want you to / He’s my dog.”
I must admit that I hesitated to share the song lyrics that mean the most to me, for fear of being called out because they are just not that special.
I do very much love the lyrics to "Selah" by Lauryn Hill. Not the chorus, but the rest. Especially, "the choices that I've made, have been nothing but mistakes; what a wasted use of space, should I die before I wake; in all of my religion, I've fortified this prison; obligated to obey the demands of bad decisions."
When Peter Gabriel decided to leave Genesis and go on his own, he wrote this. Love it.
"Solsbury Hill"
Climbing up on Solsbury Hill
I could see the city light
Wind was blowing, time stood still
Eagle flew out of the night
He was something to observe
Came in close, I heard a voice
Standing stretching every nerve
Had to listen had no choice
I did not believe the information
(I) just had to trust imagination
My heart going boom boom boom
"Son," he said "Grab your things,
I've come to take you home."
To keep in silence I resigned
My friends would think I was a nut
Turning water into wine
Open doors would soon be shut
So I went from day to day
Though my life was in a rut
'Til I thought of what I'd say
Which connection I should cut
I was feeling part of the scenery
I walked right out of the machinery
My heart going boom boom boom
"Hey" he said "Grab your things
I've come to take you home."
(Ay, back home.)
When illusion spin her net
I'm never where I want to be
And liberty she pirouette
When I think that I am free
Watched by empty silhouettes
Who close their eyes but still can see
No one taught them etiquette
I will show another me
Today I don't need a replacement
I'll tell them what the smile on my face meant
My heart going boom boom boom
"Hey" I said "You can keep my things,
they've come to take me home."
Or even FROM your face surgery?
Have you recovered form your face surgery?
Why have only two Sondheim references here, when you can have three ? Never can have too many as far as I'm concerned (and I'm a paying subscriber). No one did yearning or longing as well, or in as many musical guises, as he did. Another one of my Sondheim favorites came from his only real flop, "Anyone Can Whistle," which, unlike "Evening Primrose," made it to Broadway --- at least for nine performances. It did, however, become a cult classic when the original cast album was released soon after the show closed. Suffice it to say it was a bunch of interesting ideas in search of a plot, but then there was the spare, pure (intellectually) romantic Sondheim title song. https://youtu.be/ncyo8EUUCVE
Anyone Can Whistle
Anyone can whistle, that's what they say-easy.
Anyone can whistle, any old day-easy.
It's all so simple.
Relax, let go, let fly.
So someone tell me, why can't I?
I can dance a tango, I can read Greek-easy.
I can slay a dragon, any old week-easy.
What's hard is simple.
What's natural comes hard.
Maybe you could show me how to let go,
Lower my guard,
Learn to be free.
Maybe if you whistle,
Whistle for me.
A favorite of mine, too. Now I won't be able to get the tune out of my head, and it's bed time.
One of the most interesting lyric lines I ever encountered was near the end of "Supper's Ready" (by Genesis). While the whole song is powerful, the fascinating part is that this one line caused an identical "mondegreen" for both myself and a fellow college student (this was long before the Internet made it easy to look up song lyrics). Here's what we both thought the line was saying:
"666 is the work of the Lord"
but when we finally got hold of the liner notes, it turned out to be
"666 is no longer alone"
I guess the brain works in mysterious ways.
P.S. Just describing this makes me want to listen to the "Seven trumpets blowing sweet rock and roll" again.
"Lyric writing, at best, is a limited art -- if it is an art at all. It's largely a matter of sweat and time consumption. Once the basic idea for a lyric has been set, it's like working out a crossword puzzle. But composing music is genuinely creative. And it's much more fun."
--- Stephen Sondheim
A reluctant and grudging lyricist early on, Stephen Sondheim claimed he was first and foremost a composer. Fortunately, he decided to do both to our lasting delight. But in fact, he was a playwright — a writer of memorable very short plays set to music. One of my special favorites, from a constellation of favorites, and a perfect example of his preternatural ability with both words and music, never made it to Broadway. It is the wonderfully poignant and evocative "I Remember," from an otherwise forgettable made-for-TV musical, "Evening Primrose." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tL8C0yNg7Pg
I remember sky
It was blue as ink
Or at least I think
I remember sky.
I remember snow
Soft as feathers
Sharp as thumb tacks
Coming down like lint
And it made you squint
When the wind would blow.
And ice like vinyl
On the streets
Cold as silver
White as sheets
Rain like strings
And changing things
Like leaves.
I remember leaves
Green as spearmint
Crisp as paper.
I remember trees
Bare as coat racks
Spread like broken umbrellas.
And parks and bridges,
Ponds and zoos,
Ruddy faces,
Muddy shoes,
Light and noise and
Bees and boys
And days.
I remember days,
Or at least I try.
But as years go by
They're sort of haze,
And the bluest ink
Isn't really sky
And at times I think
I would gladly die
For a day of sky.
Sondheim always put the needs of the play first. The lyrics above are sung by a young woman who has never set foot outside the department store in which she has lived almost her life. That's why she compares everything she remembers from outside to things found inside.
Sondheim was also a dramatist at times, writing scripts for "Topper" and co-writing "The Last of Sheila."
Paul McCartney (and Bernie Taupin, perhaps even more so) write some great lyrics and some absolute clunkers because they are pretty good at staying clear of convention, that's their big strength, but they don't have enough ability to critically examine what they end up with.
But, then again, no....
I resisted answering this one because I just couldn't name one or two lyrics and knew going down this rabbit hole would only make me frustrated. Fortunately other folks have named songs and artists that I thought of; John Prine (who was my single biggest songwriting influence) wrote so many great lyrics and a few of them were singled out here already by Gene), but also Tom Lehrer, Leonard Cohen, Dylan, Stephen Sondheim, Kris Kristofferson, Joni, and so many others. Then there are great songs by Guy Clark, John Hartford, Loudon Wainwright, Townes Van Zandt, George Gerdes, Tom Paxton, Phil Ochs, Chris Smither, Jack Hardy, Kevin Welch, St Joan...the list goes on…But I’ll go in a different direction. I have an old 78 recording of a song from the 1930s called “The Bald Headed End of the Broom.” It's funny, lyrically tight, and sufficiently politically incorrect. This has always been one of my favorite lines from it: “So boys keep away from the girls I say and give them lots of room/For you’ll find when you’re wed they’ll bang until your dead with the bald-headed end of a broom.” There are other great lyrics packed into this one song, so I’ve linked it here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PSdGkByujfQ
They Might Be Giants has a song called "Renew My Prescription" which has addictive qualities; when I first heard it I got the cassette (it was a while back) and whenever I was in my car, for a few weeks, I only played that one song, over and over. It has a catchy tune and lots of repetitive rhyming and some internal rhyming and a clever premise:
I wanna be a much better person
Instead I worsen with every day
But there's a drug whose name I'm not sure of
Which I need more of to feel okay
https://www.lyrics.com/lyric/14607575/They+Might+Be+Giants/Renew+My+Subscription
I keep giving the same answer to this question wherever it is asked. I can't help myself; I really love lyrics and these are my all-time faves:
"I got kicked off Noah's Ark / I turn my cheek to unkind remarks / there was two of everything / but one of me" [also later in that same song: "Take it back, take it back / Oh no, you can't say that / All of my friends are not dead or in jail..."] - John Prine
"Don't confront me with my failures / I had not forgotten them." - Jackson Browne, who also wrote the amazing song "Doctor, My Eyes" when he was 16 years old.
"It's coming on Christmas, they're cutting down trees / they're putting up reindeer and singing songs of joy and peace / oh I wish I had a river I could skate away on...." - Joni Mitchell in a good example of how seemingly innocuous lyrics can be made poignant by the melody and the performance
And now that I've said my favorite lyrics are all kind of depressing and negative and all about how dark reality is, I have to also say I love this little lyric:
"Sunshine on my shoulders makes me happy / sunshine in my eyes can make me cry / sunshine on the water looks so lovely / sunshine almost always makes me high"
It takes courage to put out a lyric that pure and simple, with a matching melody and sing it straight and sincere. I am not the only person who feels like "Sunshine" kind of saved my life in the dark winter of 1974.
Oh, yes! Sunshine! Now that's an earworm I welcome! It's gonna get me through was promises to be a bad week. Thank you, Karen. And what a voice John Denver had...
What about lyrics that make no sense on paper?
https://www.stereogum.com/2092880/the-number-ones-kenny-rogers-dolly-partons-islands-in-the-stream/columns/the-number-ones/
From the article:
The lyrics, of course, are total gobbledygook. The Bee Gees always wrote as if English was their fifth language. It’s amazing that they came strutting into country music, a genre that’s generally built around storytelling, and opened a song with words that nobody would ever say out loud. First line: “Baby, when I met you, there was peace unknown.” That’s not an expression. “Peace unknown” is just a ridiculous phrase. Next line: “I set out to get you with a fine-toothed comb.” That is an expression, but nobody has ever used it like that.
The rest of the song goes on like that, mutating language into shapes that only barely even make sense. Doesn’t matter. The words sound good together. The Bee Gees were able to sell utter bullshit like that by understanding how the sounds of words can be more important than their on-paper meanings. And they also made their nonsense work through the power of their harmonies. Rogers and Parton do the same thing on “Islands In The Stream.”
“Piano Man” came from Joel’s six months as “Bill Martin” in an L.A. piano bar. His first solo album had tanked and he had just switched labels. The last line suggests he was contemplating the possibility of being stuck in such bars for the rest of his career.
Ronnie Spector recorded “Say Goodbye to Hollywood” with members of the E Street Band. Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons did “Uptown Girl” during a TV appearance. When the inspirations for your songs perform their own versions, you’re doing it right. If only Ray Charles had covered “New York State of Mind.”
If only the Rolling Stones would cover "You May Be Right," which is just obviously a Stones tune. Joel knows how to borrow.
Never picked up on the similarity. His vocal affectations on the song sounded to me like just exaggerations of his New York accent, but yes, they also sound like Jagger’s affectations. I might have noticed the resemblance right away if the song had more of a blues feel.
Since Gene didn't see fit to include my lyrics choice in the blog post, I'll add it here. This is from "I'll Remember Why," written by Ginny Carr, leader of the Uptown Vocal Jazz Quartet (based in Northern Virginia), from their fabulous album "Hustlin' for a Gig":
"I don't remember the day I fell in love with you / But I'll always remember why."
And since there's evidently not the length limit I thought there was, here's a longer excerpt from Carr's "You Ain't Seen Nothin' Yet," which, if I didn't know better, I'd swear was written by Cole Porter:
You've seen the aurora's borealis
Seen every glorious royal palace
You've seen the Louvre, yes, and the Orsay
Seen what Vesuvius left of Pompeii
You've seen the Isle of Wight by the sea
You've seen the title fight by Ali
But here's my money, 'cause baby I'll bet
You ain't seen nothin' yet.
How's THAT for wordplay, Mr. Weingarten?
Also, "The Windmills of Your Mind" (lyrics by Alan and Marilyn Bergman) is full of evocative imagery, but I particularly like these lines:
Keys that jingle in your pocket, words that jangle in your head
Why did summer go so quickly, was it something that you said?
Gotta find out more of Carr.... Thanks!
If I've helped one person find their way to the UVJQ, that's my good deed for the day---maybe the week! Enjoy, David!
You've seen London
You've seen France
You ain't seen Perry's underpants
The Ballad of Booth from Sondheim's Assassins is simple terrific. Every time I hear this bit I think of the madman Trump, and have a bit of hope that all will recover.
"Someone tell the story,
Someone sing the song.
Every now and then
The country
Goes a little wrong.
Every now and then
A madman's
Bound to come along.
Doesn't stop the story-
Story's pretty strong.
Doesn't change the song...
source: https://www.lyricsondemand.com/soundtracks/a/assassinslyrics/theballadofboothlyrics.html
Also like Corner of the Sky from Pippin...
So many men seem destined
To settle for something small
But I won't rest until I know I'll have it all
So don't ask where I'm going
Just listen when I'm gone
And far away you'll hear me singing
Softly to the dawn:
Rivers belong where they can ramble
Eagles belong where they can fly
I've got to be where my spirit can run free
Got to find my corner of the sky
The best line in “Me and Bobby McGee” is - “I’d trade all my tomorrows for a single yesterday.” But for lyrics that are direct and to the point, I’ll take “I Love My Dog” by Bottle Rockets:
“I love my dog / He’s my dog / If you don’t love my dog that’s okay / I don’t want you to / He’s my dog.”
I must admit that I hesitated to share the song lyrics that mean the most to me, for fear of being called out because they are just not that special.
I do very much love the lyrics to "Selah" by Lauryn Hill. Not the chorus, but the rest. Especially, "the choices that I've made, have been nothing but mistakes; what a wasted use of space, should I die before I wake; in all of my religion, I've fortified this prison; obligated to obey the demands of bad decisions."