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| Author |
Message |
polygon
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Memorable lines from songs
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May 15 15:48 UTC 1997 |
I was listening to some music recently and got into a discussion of
specific lines in songs which are truly memorable, either because of
their impact on the culture or their impact on oneself.
Certainly there are brief phrases or lines from songs or poems which
have been far better remembered than the original piece, have been
used as book titles, etc. It's easy to think of many examples from
Shakespeare or Longfellow or Emily Dickinson. But this process is
ongoing, and certainly there are words from the music of our lifetime
and culture which have achieved at least personal significance for
each of us.
Please post one or more such lines, and perhaps a little bit about
what it means to you.
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| 113 responses total. |
polygon
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response 1 of 113:
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May 15 15:51 UTC 1997 |
From Pink Floyd, Dark Side of the Moon:
"Listen, son," said the man with the gun,
"There's room for you inside."
To me, this is one of the most chilling images in all of pop music.
I imagine the concentration camp guard motioning a boy into the gas
chamber, already nearly full of people.
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tao
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response 2 of 113:
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May 15 16:26 UTC 1997 |
From George Bedard & the Kingpins, "I'm My Own Dog"
"Whenever I whine, I let myself in,
scratch myself right under my chin.
"Howl at the moon when it gets dark,
keep myself awake at night when I bark,
...'cuz I;'m my own dog, yeah yeah."
This is sort of my attitude ever since I got divorced years ago.
It's hard, if not impossible, for me to imagine anyone doing
stuff for me ever again.
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arianna
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response 3 of 113:
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May 15 16:58 UTC 1997 |
I can't remember the *whole* quote, but:
"..for us, it's unattainable,
the idiotism of perfection."
and that's from "Onion" by Wislava Szymborska, the Nobel prize winner for
poetry thiis year. It's applicable to my life because it gives me some
justification for my grades to my slave-driver teachers. (;
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raven
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response 4 of 113:
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May 15 18:49 UTC 1997 |
Now linked to music. "j music" at the next Ok: prompt to discuss all
aspects of recorded music as well as music performence.
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katt
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response 5 of 113:
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May 15 21:38 UTC 1997 |
I love the words to "30 Years", Betty Carter sings it. . .they change a little
each time, though.
Hmm, words I can actualy remember, though. . .
"Let the Moment go, don't forget it for a moment, though. . .
When you've had an "and" and you're back to "or". . .
makes the "or" mean more than it did before. . .
Now I understand, and it'd time to leave the woods!"
I guess that's meaningful to me because I need to reminded of letting ands
go for ors and ors go for ands, or I get sickeningly sentimental.
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toking
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response 6 of 113:
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May 16 02:09 UTC 1997 |
My favorite would have to be from nine inch nails Ringfinger:
"If I was twice the man I could be,
I'd still be half of what you need"
Just cause for a long time there I was one obsessed little bugger.
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yenny1
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response 7 of 113:
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May 16 04:08 UTC 1997 |
Song by Mariah Carey, Hero
"And then a hero comes along,
With a strength to carry on,
And you cast you fear aside,
And you know you can survive,
So when you feel that hope is gone,
Look inside you and be strong,
And you finally see the truth,
That a hero lies in you"
I always reminded myself of these lines whenever I'm feeling down and
upset about things. The song somehow makes me feel that there *is* hope
after all.
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steve
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response 8 of 113:
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May 16 04:19 UTC 1997 |
"I've been all around the world, and seen so many faces.
Young and old, a story told, filling in my spaces."
--Yes, "paralells" from the Going for the One Album
Yes has to be my alltime favorite "rock" group, but I don't
quite think all their music is of that genere. At any rate,
their positive upbeat and different view of thw world has been
something of an inspiration for me since I first heard the
"Fragile" album with "Roundabout" back in 1974 or so.
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tsty
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response 9 of 113:
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May 16 18:18 UTC 1997 |
"there's something happening here,
what it is ain't exactly clear ..."
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aruba
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response 10 of 113:
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May 16 19:20 UTC 1997 |
"Well I used to go crazy for days at a time
Now I'm taking my time with my days.
Haven't found the answers like some that I know
I'm just stuck in a fairly nice maze."
-Jimmy Buffett, "Stranded on a Sandbar"
The point being, if you quit trying to understand the world, it can be pretty
nice. I don't do that all the time, but once in a while.
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bruin
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response 11 of 113:
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May 16 20:00 UTC 1997 |
I like mine with lettuce and tomato,
Heinz 57 and French fried potatoes,
A big Kosher pickle and a cold draft beer,
So, good gosh almighty, which way do I steer?
- Jimmy Buffett, "Cheeseburger in Paradise"
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senna
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response 12 of 113:
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May 16 20:42 UTC 1997 |
The line people remember from NIN is generally the famou "I wanna f--- you
like an animal" though for me the entirety of "Big Man With a Gun" stands
out. Excellent use of imagery... truly haunting.
to me, one of the more significant lines I've heard is from Lights Out by the
newsboys. "Don't go shutting down tilll the trumpet sounds and the battle
is won." It echos my habit of not giving up on things till the very end.
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orinoco
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response 13 of 113:
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May 16 22:00 UTC 1997 |
Anything by REM. For me, the most moving and intense seeming are the ones
off 'Automatic for the People'. Even 'Everybody Hurts', which everyone I know
seems to hate, means a lot to me, corny though it may be.
"Well when you feel life ain't worth living, you've got to stand up
and take a look around, then you look way up to the sky.
And when your deepest thoughts are broken, then you better
keep dreaming, boy, 'cause when you stop dreaming it's time to die."
--Blind Melon
"When I look at the television, I want to see me staring right back at me."
--Counting Crows
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adania
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response 14 of 113:
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May 17 03:05 UTC 1997 |
The two most stiking lines for me are:
"If I could speak in tongues of flame/I'd burn forever with your name."
-October Project "One Dream"
and
"So tired, of playin', playin' with your bow and arrows
gonna give my heart away, leave it to the other girls to play.
For I've been a temptress too long..."
-Portishead "Glory Box"
They just seta mood for me, that makes me feel so real.
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valerie
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response 15 of 113:
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May 17 03:47 UTC 1997 |
This response has been erased.
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polygon
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response 16 of 113:
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May 17 04:37 UTC 1997 |
Re 15. On the same subject:
It's so easy to dream of the days gone by,
It's a hard thing to think of the times to come
But the grace to accept every moment as a gift
Is a gift that is given to some
Chorus: What can you do with your days, but work and hope
Let your dreams bind your work and your play
What can you do with each moment of your life
But love 'til you've loved it away ...
(Bob Franke, "Thanksgiving Eve")
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polygon
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response 17 of 113:
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May 17 12:59 UTC 1997 |
Or to get back to shorter excerpts:
"You know there ain't no Devil, there's just God when he's drunk."
Tom Waits, "Heartattack & Vine"
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dang
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response 18 of 113:
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May 17 18:28 UTC 1997 |
The two songs that I've heard that are most important to me are "Roll the
Bones" by Rush, and "Ironic" by Alanis Morisette. I'm sure that reveals lots
of strange things about me. :) Anyway, quotes:
Why are we here? Because we're here, Roll the Bones.
Why does it happen? Because it happens, Roll the Bones.
Roll the Bones.
Rush, "Roll the Bones"
It's like rain, on your wedding day.
It's a free ride, when you've already paid.
It's the good advice, that you just didn't take.
And who would have thought, it figures.
Life has a funny way of sneeking up on you when you think
everything's okay, and everything's going right.
And life has a funny way of helping you out when when
you think everything's gone wrong and everything blows up
in your face.
And isn't it ironic?
Alanis Morissette, "Ironic"
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bru
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response 19 of 113:
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May 17 22:10 UTC 1997 |
"Somewhere down in my sole there is an echo of my youth.
Som pithy little saying that contains a grain of truth.
If patience is a virtue, persistence is its mark.
It's better to light a candle, than stand and curse the dark.
But if we stand together we can turn this world around,
Hold your ground."
Just means Don't give up. :-)
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other
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response 20 of 113:
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May 17 22:33 UTC 1997 |
something about:
"when the pirates own the flag and sell us sermons on restraint"
from Harry Chapin, lamenting the crass commercialization of national icons
and other things.
"i was so much older then, i'm younger than that now"
about getting over the early onset of maturity by... david crosby?
i have numerous others, but i haven't listened to so much of my music for so
long that they've faded. i'll have to report back.
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raven
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response 21 of 113:
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May 17 22:48 UTC 1997 |
re #20 "younger than that now," is by Bob Dylan off his early LP Another
Side of Bob Dylan.
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mcnally
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response 22 of 113:
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May 18 01:26 UTC 1997 |
(and the song's title is "My Back Pages"..)
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other
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response 23 of 113:
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May 18 04:23 UTC 1997 |
ahh yes. i was remembering a cover of it by the byrds, i think... and then
associating that with crosby via stills, who was in the byrds... amazing how
the mind doesn't work...
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i
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response 24 of 113:
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May 18 14:43 UTC 1997 |
The unseen bondage of those who live to gamble:
"There are unsmiling faces and bright plastic chains
and a wheel in perpetual motion
And they follow the races and pay out the gains
with no show of an outward emotion
"And they think it will make their lives easier
for God know up to now it's been hard
But the game never ends when your whole world depends
on the turn of a friendly card
No the game never ends when your whole world depends
on the turn of a friendly card
"There's a sign in the desert that lies to the west
where you can't tell the night from the sunrise
And not all the King's horses and all the King's men
can prevent the fall of the unwise
"......
"There are unsmiling faces in fetters and chains
on a wheel in perpetual motion
Who belong to all races and answer all names
with no show of an outward emotion
"And they think it will make their lives easier
but the doorway before them is barred
And the game never ends when your whole world depends
on the turn of a friendly card
No the game never ends when your whole world depends
on the turn of a friendly card"
(The Turn of a Friendly Card by
The Alan Parsons Project)
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