What are your favourite lyrics or songlines?

checkitout-george - now he knows all them fancy chords. you'd swear he's gonna make it cry, make it sing now .......
......
and harry doesn't mind if he doesn't make that fancy scene - he's got a daytime job he's doing quite allright thankk you very much

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http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=1090 Songfacts: You can leave comments about the song at the bottom of the page.
This song is about guys who go to a club after work, listen to music and have a good time. They are there for the music, and not for the image presented by the band. The song was a marked change from the waning Disco style and the nascent Punk movement. (thanks, bertrand - Paris, France)

Group leader Mark Knopfler got the idea for song this from watching a lousy club band perform. Knopfler got a lot of songwriting ideas from observing everyday people, something that got harder to do when he became famous.

This was Dire Straits' first single. It was one of 5 songs on a demo tape they used to get their record deal. The tape got played on London radio and started a bidding war for the band.

There is a CD which contains 24 tracks which were from a production company which recorded various artists between 1989-1995. One of the tracks was by an artist only identified as "B. Wilson." There was an asterisk after his name and on the CD it says that this was from a live show performed at The Warehouse which was in Indianapolis, Indiana. Before Wilson plays his song he says the following:
"I do this thing I cowrote about, I guess, it's been about 12 years ago I wrote the lyrics and a friend of mine used to work a lot of sessions for my old producer, Bob Johnston, and worked a session with this fellow from England by the name of Mark Knopfler. Has his own group over there called Dire Straits. He had this little melody. It sounded like "Walk, Don't Run". And he had this little story concerning a band that nobody wanted to listen to. Only a few people show up to hear. So we got together one night after the session and tossed these lyrics around on a napkin and I guess I wound up writing most of the lyrics to the tune. made enough money to buy a new Blazer that year I remember, so... didn't do too bad. It goes like this..."
Then he starts playing an acoustic guitar, strumming Spanish style and sings Sultans of Swing. The lyrics are pretty close to what Mark Knopfler recorded but are slightly different. (thanks, JJ - Bloomington, IN)

Regarding the line, "The band was playing Dixie double four time," Dixie double is a style popularized by Django Reinhradt (and Les Paul in his early years) where the guitar goes quite fast and plays bass as well, all together.

Knopfler has said he is sick of this because he had to play it thousands of times.

The "Guitar George" and "Harry" who are mentioned in the lyrics are George Young and Harry Vander, who were guitarists in the band The Easybeats. George Young is Angus Young's older brother and Harry and George helped get AC/DC recorded.

Dire Straits played a nearly 10 minute version with lots of saxophone at Live Aid in 1985. This performance is available on the Live Aid DVD.

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You get a shiver in the dark,
it's raining in the park, but meantime...
South of the river you stop
and you hold everything.
A band is blowing Dixie double four time...
You feel alright, you hear the music ring.

You step inside -
but you don't see too many faces.
Coming in out of the rain
to hear the jazz fall down.
There's competition in other places.
But not too many horns can make that sound.
Way on downsouth, way on downsouth in
London town.

You check out Guitar George,
he knows all the chords.
Runnin' strictly rhythm, he doesn't want
to make it cry or sing...
But then an old guitar is all he can afford,
When he gets under the lights,
to play his thing.

And Harry doesn't mind,
if he doesn't make the scene.
He's got a daytime job,
he's doing alright.
Now he can play the honky tonk like anything...
Saving it up, for Friday night.
With the Sultans... with the Sultans of Swing.

And a crowd of young boys,
go fooling around in the corner.
Dressed in their best formed baggies,
and their platform soles.
They don't give a damn
about any trumpet playing band.
It ain't what they call Rock n' Roll.
And the Sultans...
yeah, the Sultans - they play Creole.
(Creole)

And then the man,
he steps right up to the microphone...
And says " At last!"
just as the time bell rings.
"Goodnight, now it's time to go home"
And he makes it fast with one more thing.
....."We are the Sultans"
"We are the Sultans of Swing"

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Good Will To Men. Give Us Your Money

It was Christmas Eve on a Friday, The shops was full of cheer,
With tinsel in the windows, And presents twice as dear.
A thousand Father Christmases, Sat in their little huts,
And folk was buying crackers And folk was buying nuts.

Before the light was snuffed, Turkeys they get murdered,
And cockerels they got stuffed, Christmas cakes got marzipanned,
And puddin's they got steamed Mothers they got desperate
And tired kiddies screamed. )missing) ??? - and dad got down his best spirit??

Hundredweight's of Christmas cards, Went flying through the post,
With first class postage stamps on those, You had to flatter most.
Within a million kitchens, Mince pies was being made,
On everyone's radio, "White Christmas", it was played.

Out in the frozen countryside Men crept round on their own,
Hacking off the holly, What other folks had grown,
Mistletoe on willow trees, Was by a man wrenched clear,
So he could kiss his neighbour's wife, He'd fancied all the year.

And out upon the hillside, Where the Christmas trees had stood,
All was completely barren, But for little stumps of wood,
The little trees that flourished All the year were there no more,
But in a million houses, Dropped their needles on the floor.

And out of every cranny, cupboard, Hiding place and nook,
Little bikes and kiddies' trikes, Were secretively took,
Yards of wrapping paper, Was rustled round about,
And bikes were wheeled to bedrooms, With the pedals sticking out.

Rolled up in Christmas paper The Action Men were tensed,
All ready for the morning, When their fighting life commenced,
With tommy guns and daggers, All clustered round about,
"Peace on Earth - Goodwill to Men" The figures seemed to shout.

The church was standing empty, The pub was standing packed,
There came a yell, "Noel, Noel!" And glasses they got cracked.
From up above the fireplace, Christmas cards began to fall,
And trodden on the floor, said: "Merry Christmas, to you all."

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The Battery Hen
by Pam Ayres

Oh. I am a battery hen, On me back there's not a germ,
I never scratched a farmyard, And I never pecked a worm,
I never had the sunshine, To warm me feathers through,
Eggs I lay. Every day. For the likes of you.

When you has them scrambled, Piled up on your plate,
It's me what you should thank for that, I never lays them late,
I always lays them reg'lar, I always lays them right,
I never lays them brown, I always lays them white.

But it's no life, for a battery hen, In me box I'm sat,
A funnel stuck out from the side, Me pellets comes down that,
I gets a squirt of water, Every half a day,
Watchin' with me beady eye, Me eggs, roll away.

I lays them in a funnel, Strategically placed,
So that I don't kick 'em, And let them go to waste,
They rolls off down the tubing, And up the gangway quick,
Sometimes I gets to thinkin' "That could have been a chick!"

I might have been a farmyard hen, Scratchin' in the sun,
There might have been a crowd of chicks, After me to run,
There might have been a cockerel fine, To pay us his respects,
Instead of sittin' here, Till someone comes and wrings our necks.

I see the Time and Motion clock, Is sayin' nearly noon,
I 'spec me squirt of water, Will come flyin' at me soon,
And then me spray of pellets, Will nearly break me leg,
And I'll bite the wire nettin' And lay one more bloody egg.

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Here lies a man who was killed by lightning
he died when his prospects seemed to be brightening
He might have cut a flash in this world of trouble
but the flash cut him and he lies in the stubble

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Beneath this stone , this lump of clay
lies Annabella Young
who on the 21st of May
began to hold her tongue

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Here lie I, Martin Elginbrodde,
Ha'e mercy on my soul , Lord God,
As I would do, were I Lord God,
and ye were Martin Elginbrodde

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This is the grave of Mike ODay,
who died maintaining his right of way;
his right was clear, his will was strong,
but he's just as dead as if he'd been wrong

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2020hindsight said:

just to help you with the accent .... and the British sense of humour lol

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A MAN ALONE - Rod McKuen
In me, you see a man alone
Held by the habit of being on his own
A man who listens to the trembling of the trees
With sentimental ease

In me, you see a man alone
Behind the wall he's learned to call his home
A man who still goes walkin' in the rain
Expecting love again

A man not lonely except when the dark comes on
A man learning to live with mem'ries of midnights that fell apart at dawn

In me, you see a man alone
Drinking up Sundays and spending them alone
A man who knows love is seldom what it seems
Only other people's dreams

[instrumental-strings]

A man learning to live with memories of midnights that fell apart at dawn

In me, you see a man alone
Drinking up Sundays and spending them alone
A man who knows love is seldom what it seems
Just other people's dreams

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chops_a_must said:

Sorry, but I enjoy Ginsberg:

I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by
madness, starving hysterical naked,
dragging themselves through the negro streets at dawn
looking for an angry fix,
angelheaded hipsters burning for the ancient heavenly
connection to the starry dynamo in the machin-
ery of night,
who poverty and tatters and hollow-eyed and high sat
up smoking in the supernatural darkness of
cold-water flats floating across the tops of cities
contemplating jazz,
who bared their brains to Heaven under the El and
saw Mohammedan angels staggering on tene-
ment roofs illuminated,
who passed through universities with radiant cool eyes
hallucinating Arkansas and Blake-light tragedy
among the scholars of war,
who were expelled from the academies for crazy &
publishing obscene odes on the windows of the
skull,
who cowered in unshaven rooms in underwear, burn-
ing their money in wastebaskets and listening
to the Terror through the wall,
who got busted in their pubic beards returning through
Laredo with a belt of marijuana for New York,
who ate fire in paint hotels or drank turpentine in
Paradise Alley, death, or purgatoried their
torsos night after night
with dreams, with drugs, with waking nightmares, al-
cohol and **** and endless balls,
incomparable blind; streets of shuddering cloud and
lightning in the mind leaping toward poles of
Canada & Paterson, illuminating all the mo-
tionless world of Time between...

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2020hindsight said:

Allen Ginsberg & Paul McCartney_The Ballad Of The Skeletons

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The song, Miserere, written by Italian rock star Zucchero Fornaciari with English lyrics by U2�s Bono, was critical to Andrea Bocelli�s rise from piano bar singer to international phenomenon. This unique song is a duet between a "bluesman" and an operatic tenor. In 1992, Zucchero hoped to persuade Luciano Pavarotti to record it with him and needed a demo to play for the maestro. The recording studio remembered Andrea from work he had produced for himself at the studio, and they called him to perform the demo with Zucchero.
When Michele Torpedine (who later became Andrea's manager) played the demo for Pavarotti, the maestro reportedly made extremely positive comments about Andrea�s voice, refusing to believe that he was an unknown musician and singer in a piano bar. He is reported to have said, "Thank you for writing such a wonderful song. Yet you do not need me to sing it - let Andrea sing Miserere with you, for there is no one finer."

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wayneL said:

They say that Bocelli isn't a true operatic tenor because he cannot be heard above an orchestra and has to use a microphone. Fair comment, but there can be no question a bout the quality and timbre of his voice. Anyone that can do a halfway presentable rendition of the Nessun Dorma CAN sing. But this, notwithstanding the microphone, is second to none, you won't hear better anywhere. Nessun Dorma - Andrea Bocelli

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I know I ask perfection of a quite imperfect world
and fool enough to think that's what I'll find

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wayneL said:

The song that kicked things off for Andrea Bocelli
Andrea Bocelli & Zucchero - Miserere

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Andrea Bocelli (born 22 September 1958) is a blind polylingual Italian singer, writer, and music producer. He is both an operatic tenor and a classical crossover singer. To date, he has recorded six complete operas ”” La Bohème, Il Trovatore, Werther, Pagliacci, Cavalleria Rusticana and Tosca ”” in addition to various classical and pop albums. He sold 55 million albums worldwide.

Early career
In 1992, the Italian rock star Zucchero first auditioned Bocelli while scouting for tenors to duet with him in the song "Miserere"; after hearing this recording, tenor Luciano Pavarotti urged Zucchero to use Bocelli instead of himself and said, "he is better than me, I can't do any better." The song was later recorded with Pavarotti, but Bocelli accompanied Zucchero on his European concert tour.

In 1994, Bocelli performed the winning entry "Il mare calmo della sera" at the Sanremo Festival, which led to his first gold record. That year, he also debuted as Macduff in Giuseppe Verdi's Macbeth, sang at Pavarotti's benefit concert in Modena, and performed for Pope John Paul II at Christmas.

In 1995, Bocelli's song "Con te partirò" placed fourth at the Sanremo Festival. It was included in his 1995 album Bocelli.

International presence
In 1996, he sang with the English soprano Sarah Brightman a duet version of "Con te partirò", entitled "Time to Say Goodbye", which broke sales records and stayed in the German top ten for nearly six months. He also appeared in Sesame Street singing a duet with Elmo. In subsequent years Bocelli performed in Paris, Bologna, Torre del Lago and Vatican City. He also topped the Spanish singles chart in 1996 with a duet with Marta Sanchez, Vivo Por Ella. He released further albums until entering the American market in 1998 with a concert at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington D.C. and a White House reception. Both that year and in 1999, Bocelli embarked on tours to North and South America and duets with Céline Dion, ...

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http://www.andreabocelli.com/2006/bio.html Dion put it another way .. "If God had a singing vioce it would sound a lot like Andrea Bocelli"

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What would I do without the violin? Sometimes when there are no words, it has spoken for me. I have played this violin piece (the Meditation from Thais by Massenet...Meditacion de Thais) that has so often in the past, translated my heart...in front of many or as a serenade. I am still really a street/subway musician at heart. And I actually went back recently to San Francisco to put on tape those days there and New York City years ago a as a street and subway musician...

If you've taken the time to listen, I thank you. On the day I played this, my heart was full. And it was just a dry run...only the second time through with the pianist...I hope it came from that place of peace in the universe...Thanks for visiting

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2020hindsight said:

this one only if you've got nothing better to do..
personally I dont recall ever hearing this before - probably rarley played on radio because it goes on for bludy hours.
Dylan at his highest (most amazing thing about it is you wonder how he remembers all the words )
btw, a gentle love song this isn't ...

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Kalinka" ("Калинка" in Cyrillic) might be the best-known Russian song of all time. It has been mistaken as being a genuine folksong, but was actually written in 1860 by the composer and folklorist Ivan Petrovich Larionov 1830-1889 and first performed in Saratov as part of a theatrical entertainment that he had composed. Soon it was added to the repertory of a folk choral group, and the rest is history.

The song celebrates a snowball tree, with a speedy tempo and light-hearted lyrics. Singers and dancers many a time get into a frenzied celebration of song and dance while performing this song.

In 2003, Roman Abramovich bought Chelsea FC. Since then, Kalinka has been associated with the London based Football Club and is often played before or after important matches, including the Champions League clashes with FC Barcelona and the Carling Cup final.

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Juniper, juniper, juniper, juniper of mine, in the garden the raspberry, raspberry of mine
Ah, Under the pine, the green one, Lay me down to sleep, Ah, lully lully, ah lully lully, Lay me down to sleep
Chorus
Ah, Little pine, little green one, Don't rustle above me, Ah, lully lully, ah lully lully, Don't rustle above me
Chorus
Ah, you beauty, pretty maiden, Fall in love with me, Ah, lully lully, ah lully lully, Fall in love with me

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Katyusha (Катюша) is a Russian Soviet wartime song about a girl longing for her beloved, who is away on military service. The music was composed in 1938 by Matvei Blanter and the lyrics were written by Mikhail Isakovsky. It was first performed by the celebrated folk singer, Lidiya Ruslanova. Some critics believe that Katyusha was not a Blanter composition, pointing out that a similar tune was used by Igor Stravinsky in his opera Mavra (1922) which he later adapted to Chanson Russe (1937).

Katyusha is a tender diminutive from the female name Ekaterina (Catherine). In Russian, many names have diminutives (besides nicknames). For example, the diminutive for Natalia is Natasha, and the tender diminutive for Natasha is Natashenka. In the case of Ekaterina (Catherine), Katya is the nickname and Katyusha, a tender diminutive.

The Russian song also gave name to the BM-8, BM-13, and BM-31 "Katyusha" rocket launchers that were built and fielded by the Red Army in World War II.

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