• Olivier5
    6.2k
    I want to propose a thread about songs with somewhat philosophical lyrics. Aka "deep songs". This is not necessarily calling for a discussion about what the songs really mean (often there's no such thing as a real meaning for a poem); rather you may want to say why you see the lyrics as important or noteworthy, or not.

    To get started, a U2 song here covered by Johnny Cash, One, which I see as about the competing forces of solidarity and competition among any human group.

  • Sir2u
    3.2k



    We could add a new verse about crooked necked, hunch shoulder, half blind people as well to bring it up to date.



    Read the comments under the video.
  • Dawnstorm
    239
    When movements go wrong:

  • Mww
    4.6k
    “On The Turning Away”, David Gilmour, 1987.

    An interpretive essay on the evils of inter-human complacency, of which most of us are somewhat guilty.
  • Olivier5
    6.2k
    Nick Cave — Into my arms



    I don't believe in an interventionist god
    But I know, darling, that you do
    But if I did I would kneel down and ask him
    Not to intervene when it came to you
    Not to touch a hair on your head
    To leave you as you are
    And if he felt he had to direct you
    Then direct you into my arms

    Into my arms, o Lord
    Into my arms

    And I don't believe in the existence of angels
    But looking at you I wonder if that's true
    But if I did I would summon them together
    And ask them to watch over you
    To each burn a candle for you
    To make bright and clear your path
    And to walk, like Christ, in grace and love
    And guide you into my arms

    Into my arms, o Lord
    Into my arms

    And I believe in love
    And I know that you do too
    And I believe in some kind of path
    That we can walk down, me and you
    So keep your candle burning
    And make her journey bright and pure
    That she will keep returning
    Always and evermore

    Into my arms, o Lord
  • Olivier5
    6.2k
    Littles Boxes !!! Thanks.

    Dylan wrote quite a few.

  • Olivier5
    6.2k
    Paloma Faith - Do you want the truth, or something beautiful?

  • Pinprick
    950
    Saul Williams-Fck the Beliefs

  • Olivier5
    6.2k
    Interesting text.
  • 180 Proof
    14.1k

    "Blues" (5:22) - Wynton Marsalis
    Black Codes (From The Underground), 1985
  • Olivier5
    6.2k
    Chip Taylor — Fuck all the perfect people
    (about life choices)

    To be or not to be
    To free or not to free
    To crawl or not to crawl
    Fuck all those perfect people

    To sleep or not to sleep
    To creep or not to creep
    And some can't remember
    What others recall
    Fuck all those perfect people

    Sleepy eyes, waltzing through
    I'm not talking 'bout you

    To stand or not to stand
    To plan or not to plan
    To stall or not to stall
    Fuck all those perfect people

    To drink or not to drink
    To think or not to think
    Some choose to dismember
    Your rise and your fall
    Fuck all those perfect people

    Sleepy eyes, waltzing through
    I'm not talking 'bout you!

    To sing or not to sing
    To swing or not to swing
    Hell, he fills up the silence
    like a chalk on the wall
    Fuck all those perfect people

    To pray or not to pray
    To sway or not to sway
    Jesus died for something,
    Or nothing at all
    Fuck all those perfect people

    Sleepy eyes, waltzing through
    I'm not talking 'bout you

  • Noble Dust
    7.8k
    Good luck, dreamers

  • 180 Proof
    14.1k
    https://youtu.be/wHGAMjwr_j8

    Southern trees bear a strange fruit
    Blood on the leaves and blood at the root
    Black bodies swinging in the Southern breeze
    Strange fruit hanging from the poplar trees

    Pastoral scene of the gallant South
    The bulging eyes and the twisted mouth
    Scent of magnolias sweet and fresh
    Then the sudden smell of burning flesh

    Here is a fruit for the crows to pluck
    For the rain to gather, for the wind to suck
    For the sun to rot, for the tree to drop
    Here is a strange and bitter crop

    "Strange Fruit" (3:22)
    Sung by Billie Holiday (1939)
    Lyrics by Abel Meeropol (1937)
  • Olivier5
    6.2k

    I believe it was written by Holiday, not just sung.

    // sorry, my mistake, it’s a poem by Robert Meeropol. Holiday contributed to the music, not the lyrics.
  • 180 Proof
    14.1k
    "The only thing worth writing about is the human heart in conflict with itself." ~W.F.

    https://youtu.be/m5FCcDEA6mY

    Southern man
    better keep your head
    Don't forget
    what your good book said
    Southern change
    gonna come at last
    Now your crosses
    are burning fast
    Southern man

    I saw cotton
    and I saw black
    Tall white mansions
    and little shacks.
    Southern man
    when will you
    pay them back?
    I heard screamin'
    and bullwhips cracking

    How long? How long?

    Southern man
    better keep your head
    Don't forget
    what your good book said
    Southern change
    gonna come at last
    Now your crosses

    are burning fast
    Southern man

    Lily Belle
    your hair is golden brown
    I've seen your black man
    comin' round
    Swear by God
    I'm gonna cut him down!
    I heard screamin'
    and bullwhips cracking
    How long? How long?

    "Southern Man" (5:31) - Neil Young
    After The Gold Rush (1970)
  • 180 Proof
    14.1k
    https://youtu.be/UbkqE4fpvdI

    "Chameleon" (15:45) - Herbie Hancock
    Headhunters (1973)
  • Olivier5
    6.2k
    Charles Mingus - Devil Blues



    Charles Mingus: Bass; George Adams: Sax/vocals; Don Pullen: Piano; Jack Walrath: Trumpet; Dannie Richmond: Drums
  • Pinprick
    950
    Interpreted as being about sensation vs. perception, the “thing-in-itself.”



    Been bangin' my head against the window
    Just trying to see the world outside
    Some people say it doesn't matter
    Some people take you for a ride

    I am covered in blood and broken glass
    It seems the window likes to fight

    Some people say the world's on fire
    Some people say the world's on ice
    Some people say the world's on ice
    Sweet all alone in alienation

    Brick windows

    I am sticking my face right through the glass
    Just trying to see if the world's alive

    Some people will say the window's broken
    Some people will say it's all right
    Some people will say it's all right
    Keep bangin' my head against the wall (wall...)

    Just trying to keep the past alive
    Some people who make the windows shatter
    Some people who make it airtight
    Some people who make it airtight

    Sweet all alone in alienation
    Sweet all alone in alienation
    Brick windows
    Brick windows
  • Pinprick
    950
    To follow up “Strange Fruit.”



    Freedom, ignorance, jealousy, belligerence
    Anger, self-control, tolerance, to and fro
    Wisdom, ecstasy, addiction, dependency
    Discipline, counter act, pray for peace, then attack
    Dominance, contradict, upper class derelict
    Downgrade, downsize, upstate, uprise

    Now tell me, where my niggas at?
    Now tell me, where my niggas at?
    Now tell me, where my niggas at?
    Now tell me, where my niggas at?

    Downtown, on the block, at the club
    Steaming hot, dancing, talking shit, telling lies
    Like a pimp, meanwhile, underpaid
    Read like, second grade
    Uncle Sam, sign you up
    Benefits, and a gun

    Now tell me, where my niggas at?
    Now tell me, where my niggas at?
    Now tell me, where my niggas at?
    Now tell me, where my niggas at?

    African people, African people, African people, African people
    Shotgun, shotgun, shotgun, shotgun

    Rise up, over-stand
    Stand your ground
    Own your land
    Serve all, love all, never sleep
    Never fall, meditate
    Eat right, pray first
    Then fight, but for truth, not for fame
    Not for glory, or the game

    Now tell me, where my niggas at?
    Now tell me, where my niggas at?
    Now tell me, where my niggas at?
    Now tell me, where my niggas at?

    African people (Nigga, jungle bunny), African people (Coon, porch monkey), African people, African people
    Shotgun, shotgun, shotgun, shotgun

    Liberia, Iraq
    Dark brown, light black
    South Africa, Mozambique
    Mud hut, concrete, AIDS ridden
    Heart disease, strange fruit, Southern trees
    Sierre Leone, diamond mines
    Cameroon, pipe lines
    Port-au-Prince, Salvadore
    Civil right, Civil War
    Zimbabwe, trenchtown
    Money makin', Queens bound
    BX, Shaolin
    Uptown, Brooklyn, upstate, Newburgh, unseen, unheard

    Now tell me, where my niggas at?
    Now tell me, where my niggas at?
    Now tell me, where my niggas at?
    Now tell me, where my niggas at?

    African people, African people, African people, African people
    Shotgun
    Shotgun, (African people)
    Shotgun, (African people)
    African people
  • Noble Dust
    7.8k
    I avoided this thread for whatever reason, as a musician...I don't want to be that way, so here's something deep:

  • 180 Proof
    14.1k




    Ne me quitte pas
    Il faut oublier
    Tout peut s'oublier
    Qui s'enfuit déjà
    Oublier le temps
    Des malentendus
    Et le temps perdu
    À savoir comment
    Oublier ces heures
    Qui tuaient parfois à coups de pourquoi
    Le cœur du bonheur
    Ne me quitte pas
    Ne me quitte pas
    Ne me quitte pas
    Ne me quitte pas

    Moi, je t'offrirai
    Des perles de pluie
    Venues de pays où il ne pleut pas
    Je creuserai la terre jusqu'après ma mort
    Pour couvrir ton corps d'or et de lumière
    Je ferai un domaine
    Où l'amour sera roi, où l'amour sera loi
    Où tu seras reine
    Ne me quitte pas
    Ne me quitte pas
    Ne me quitte pas
    Ne me quitte pas

    Ne me quitte pas
    Je t'inventerai
    Des mots insensés
    Que tu comprendras
    Je te parlerai
    De ces amants-là
    Qui ont vu deux fois leurs cœurs s'embraser
    Je te raconterai l'histoire de ce roi mort
    De n'avoir pas pu te rencontrer
    Ne me quitte pas
    Ne me quitte pas
    Ne me quitte pas
    Ne me quitte pas

    On a vu souvent
    Rejaillir le feu
    D'un ancien volcan
    Qu'on croyait trop vieux
    Il est, paraît-il
    Des terres brûlées
    Donnant plus de blé
    Qu'un meilleur avril
    Et quand vient le soir
    Pour qu'un ciel flamboie
    Le rouge et le noir ne s'épousent-ils pas?
    Ne me quitte pas
    Ne me quitte pas
    Ne me quitte pas
    Ne me quitte pas

    Ne me quitte pas
    Je ne vais plus pleurer
    Je ne vais plus parler
    Je me cacherai là
    À te regarder danser et sourire et
    À t'écouter chanter et puis rire
    Laisse-moi devenir
    L'ombre de ton ombre
    L'ombre de ta main
    L'ombre de ton chien
    Ne me quitte pas
    Ne me quitte pas
    Ne me quitte pas
    Ne me quitte pas

    "Ne me quitte pas" (3:45)
    Sung by Nina Simone (1965)
    Lyrics by Jacques Brel (1959)

    ... not a love song but "a hymn to the cowardice of men".

    :broken:



    Isn't it a pity
    Isn't it a shame
    How we break each other's hearts
    And cause each other pain
    How we take each other's love
    Without thinking anymore
    Forgetting to give back
    Isn't it a pity

    Some things take so long
    But how do I explain
    When not too many people
    Can see we're all the same
    And because of all their tears
    Your eyes can't hope to see
    The beauty that surrounds them
    Now, isn't it a pity

    "Isn't It a Pity" (3:00) - George Harrison
    Sung by George Harrison & Nina Simone (remix duet 2020 - from 1969 demo & 1972 cover, respectively)
  • 180 Proof
    14.1k


    Sad and lonely all the time
    That's because I've got a worried mind
    You know the world is in an uproar
    The danger zone is everywhere, everywhere
    Just read your paper
    And you'll see
    Just exactly what keeps worryin' me
    Yeah, you'll see the world is in an uproar
    The danger zone is everywhere
    My love for the world is like always
    For the world is a part of me
    That's why I'm so afraid
    Of the progress that's being made
    Toward eternity
    Every morning, noon, and night
    Finds me hoping that everything's alright
    Mm-hmm, the world is in an uproar
    The danger zone is everywhere

    "Danger Zone" - (2:25)
    Sung by Ray Charles, 1961
    Lyrics by Percy Mayfield, 1961

    :death: :flower:



    I'm a ghost
    Living in a ghost town
    I'm a ghost
    Living in a ghost town

    You can look for me
    But I can't be found
    You can search for me
    I had to go underground
    Life was so beautiful
    Then we all got locked down
    Feel like a ghost
    Living in a ghost town

    Once this place was humming
    And the air was full of drumming
    The sound of cymbals crashing
    Glasses were all smashing
    Trumpets were all screaming
    Saxophones were blaring
    Nobody was caring if it's day or night

    I'm a ghost
    Living in a ghost town
    I'm going nowhere
    Shut up all alone

    So much time to lose
    Just staring at my phone

    Every night I am dreaming
    That you'll come and creep in my bed
    Please let this be over
    Not stuck in a world without end

    Preachers were all preaching
    Charities beseeching
    Politicians dealing
    Thieves were happy stealing
    Widows were all weeping
    There's no beds for us to sleep in
    Always had the feeling
    It will all come tumbling down

    I'm a ghost
    Living in a ghost town
    You can look for me
    But I can't be found

    We're all living in a ghost town
    Living in a ghost town
    We were so beautiful
    I was your man about town
    Living in this ghost town
    Ain't having any fun
    If I want a party
    It's a party of one

    "Living In A Ghost Town" - (4:00)
    The Rolling Stones, 2020

    memento mori memento vivere



    Once I had a pretty little girl
    I lose my baby, ain't that sad?
    Oh, you know, once I had a pretty little girl
    I lose my baby, ain't that sad?
    Well, you know, you can't spend what you ain't got
    You can't lose what you ain't never had

    I had money in the bank
    I got busted, boys, ain't that sad?
    Oh, you know, I had some money in the bank
    I got busted, baby, ain't that bad?
    Well, you know, you can't spend what you ain't got
    You can't lose what you ain't never had

    I had a sweet little home
    It got burned down, boys, ain't that bad?
    Oh, you know, was my own fault
    People, ain't that sad
    Well, you know, you can't spend what you ain't got
    You can't lose what you ain't never had

    "You Can't Lose What You Ain't Never Had" - (2:58)
    Folk Singer, 1964
    Muddy Waters
  • ArguingWAristotleTiff
    5k
    The Grateful Dead's Ripple has always had a very spiritual feeling to me. I absolutely love to listen to it over and over again. :heart: Few friends relate to the degree I do about this song and that is one of the best parts of the song. Friendship :flower:
  • 180 Proof
    14.1k
    Not a Deadhead (by a loooong-shot), but "Fire on the Mountain" always moves me ... the way Marley's "Natural Mystic" moves me deeply. Like disparate variations on the same theme of the sublime - the boundless. :fire:
  • Pinprick
    950


    In the last second of life
    They're gonna show you how
    How they run this show
    Sure, run it into the ground
    In the last second of life
    They're gonna show you how
    How they run this show
    They run it into the ground

    In the last second of life
    They'll show you how
    They run this show
    Sure, run it into the ground
    In the last second of life
    They're gonna show you how

    And the stars are projectors, yeah
    Projectin' our lives down to this planet earth
    And the stars are projectors, yeah
    Projectin' our minds down to this planet earth
    Everyone wants a double feature
    They wanna be their own damn teacher, and how
    All the stars are projectors, yeah
    Projectin' our lives down to this planet earth

    It's all about moderate climates
    You gotta be cold and be hot for sure
    And it's all about the moderate climates
    You wanna be blessed and be cursed for sure

    And the stars are projectors, yeah
    Projectin' our lives down to this planet earth
    And the stars are projectors, yeah
    Projectin' our lives down to this planet earth
    Everyone wants a double feature
    They wanna be their own damn teacher, and how
    All the stars are projectors, yeah
    Projectin' our minds down to this planet earth

    You’ve got the harder part
    You’ve got the kinder heart, and it's true
    I've got the easy part
    I've got the harder heart, ain't that true?
    Well, right wing, left wing, chicken wing
    It's built on findin' the easier ways through
    God is a woman and the woman is
    An animal, that animal’s man, and that’s you

    Was there a need for creation?
    That was hidden in a math equation that asks this:
    Where do circles begin?
    Where do circles begin?
  • Olivier5
    6.2k


    To die for ideas, the idea is excellent
    Me, I almost died for not having it
    For all those who had it, overbearing multitude
    Screaming for death fell onto me
    They convinced me, and my insolent muse
    Abjuring her mistakes, rallies to their faith
    With a hint of reserve, however

    Let's die for ideas, all right, but a slow death
    All right, but a slow death

    Judging that there is no emergency
    Let's go to the other world strolling along the way
    For if one speeds up too much, one may well die
    For ideas that are no longer in use the next day
    Now, if there is one bitter, distressing thing
    When you give your soul back to God, it's to reckon
    That you went the wrong way, and got the wrong idea

    Let's die for ideas, all right, but a slow death
    All right, but slow death

    The St. John Chrysotome, who preach martyrdom
    More often than not, they linger here on earth
    Dying for ideas, if you see what I mean
    Is their reason for living, and they hold on to it
    In almost all camps, we see some supplanting
    Soon Methuselah in their longevity
    I take it they must be saying, as an aside,

    Let's die for ideas, all right, but a slow death...
    All right, but a slow death

    Ideas calling for the famous sacrifice
    Sects of all kinds offer dozens of them
    And the question for the novice victims is
    It's all well and good to die for ideas, but which ones?
    As they’re all similar to one another
    When he sees them coming with their big flag
    The wise, hesitantly, turns around the tomb

    Let's die for ideas, all right, but a slow death
    All right, but a slow death

    Still, if a few hecatombs were enough
    To change and improve everything at last
    Since so many "great nights", so many heads rolled off
    That in heaven on earth, we'd already be there
    But the golden age is constantly postponed
    The gods are still thirsty, they never get enough
    And it is death, death, a thousand times over

    Let's die for ideas, all right, but a slow death
    All right, but a slow death

    O you fire lighters, O you good apostles
    Let you die first, we give way to you
    But for God's sake, let the others live!
    Life is about their only luxury here on earth
    In any case, Death is vigilant enough
    She doesn't need our help to raise her scythe
    Nor our macabre dance around the gallows

    Let's die for ideas, all right, but a slow death
    All right, but a slow death

    ——————————————

    Mourir pour des idées, l'idée est excellente
    Moi j'ai failli mourir de ne l'avoir pas eue
    Car tous ceux qui l'avaient, multitude accablante
    En hurlant à la mort me sont tombés dessus
    Ils ont su me convaincre et ma muse insolente
    Abjurant ses erreurs, se rallie à leur foi
    Avec un soupçon de déserve toutefois

    Mourons pour des idées, d'accord, mais de mort lente
    D'accord, mais de mort lente

    Jugeant qu'il n'y a pas péril en la demeure
    Allons vers l'autre monde en flânant en chemin
    Car, à forcer l'allure, Il arrive qu'on meure
    Pour des idées n'ayant plus cours le lendemain
    Or, s'il est une chose amère, désolante
    En rendant l'âme à Dieu, c'est bien de constater
    Qu'on a fait fausse route, qu'on s'est trompé d'idée

    Mourons pour des idées, d'accord, mais de mort lente
    D'accord, mais de mort lente

    Les Saint Jean bouche d'or, qui prêchent le martyre
    Le plus souvent d'ailleurs, s'attardent ici-bas
    Mourir pour des idées, c'est le cas de le dire
    C'est leur raison de vivre, ils ne s'en privent pas
    Dans presque tous les camps, on en voit qui supplantent
    Bientôt Mathusalem dans la longévité
    J'en conclus qu'ils doivent se dire, en aparté,

    Mourons pour des idées, d'accord, mais de mort lente
    D'accord, mais de mort lente

    Des idées réclamant le fameux sacrifice
    Les sectes de tout poil en offrent des séquelles
    Et la question se pose aux victimes novices
    Mourir pour des idées, c'est bien beau mais lesquelles?
    Et comme toutes sont entre elles ressemblantes
    Quand il les voit venir avec leur gros drapeau
    Le sage, en hésitant, tourne autour du tombeau

    Mourons pour des idées, d'accord, mais de mort lente
    D'accord, mais de mort lente

    Encore s'il suffisait de quelques hécatombes
    Pour qu'enfin tout changeât, qu'enfin tout s'arrangeât
    Depuis tant de "grands soirs" que tant de têtes tombent
    Au paradis sur terre, on y serait déjà
    Mais l'âge d'or sans cesse est remis aux calendes
    Les dieux ont toujours soif, n’en ont jamais assez
    Et c'est la mort, la mort, toujours recommencée,

    Mourons pour des idées, d'accord, mais de mort lente
    D'accord, mais de mort lente

    Ô vous, les boutefeux, Ô vous les bons apôtres
    Mourez donc les premiers, nous vous cédons le pas
    Mais de grâce, morbleu! Laissez vivre les autres!
    La vie est à peu près leur seul luxe ici-bas
    Car, enfin, la Camarde est assez vigilante
    Elle n'a pas besoin qu'on lui tienne la faux
    Plus de danse macabre autour des échafauds

    Mourons pour des idées, d'accord, mais de mort lente
    D'accord, mais de mort lente
  • Olivier5
    6.2k
    Thanks for Puff the Magic Dragon.

  • 180 Proof
    14.1k


    There is a town in north Ontario,
    With dream comfort memory to spare,
    And in my mind
    I still need a place to go,
    All my changes were there.

    Blue, blue windows behind the stars,
    Yellow moon on the rise,
    Big birds flying across the sky,
    Throwing shadows on our eyes.
    Leave us

    Helpless, helpless, helpless
    Baby can you hear me now?
    The chains are locked
    and tied across the door,
    Baby, sing with me somehow.

    Blue, blue windows behind the stars,
    Yellow moon on the rise,
    Big birds flying across the sky,
    Throwing shadows on our eyes.
    Leave us

    Helpless, helpless, helpless

    "Helpless" (3:33) - Neil Young
    Déjà Vu, CSNY(1970)
  • Sir2u
    3.2k
    Damn, now you have made it all start again.

    About 8 years ago i woke up one morning with that song running through my head. I had not heard it in a very long time and it surprised me that I still knew the words. I could not get it out of my head all day i kept finding myself singing it to my self.
    After a 2 hour meeting that numbed the senses I must have forgotten it, until I am leaving the building and I find a workmate with a book under her arm. Called "Puff the magic dragon". I could not sleep that night with that bloody song repeating itself over and over.

    And you reminded me of it. AAaahhhhhhh.:cry:
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