• _db
    3.6k


    I owe my life to music.
  • coolazice
    59
    Depends on your definition of deep, but this is surely about as deep as it gets:

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

    "Acknowledgement" (7:43) - John Coltrane
    A Love Supreme (1965)
  • Hanover
    12.1k
    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:ArguingWAristotleTiff

    My favorite as well. But you knew that.

    Reach out your hand if your cup be empty
    If your cup is full may it be again
    Let it be known there is a fountain
    That was not made by the hands of men
  • Hanover
    12.1k
    Puff the Magic Dragon holds special meaning to me. Despite all that is said about it being about drug use, I take it as a sentimental song about a little innocent boy growing up.

    A dragon lives forever, but not so little boys
    Painted wings and giant's rings make way for other toys
    One gray night it happened, Jackie Paper came no more
    And Puff, that mighty dragon, he ceased his fearless roar
  • ArguingWAristotleTiff
    5k
    Puff the Magic Dragon holds special meaning to me. Despite all that is said about it being about drug use, I take it as a sentimental song about a little innocent boy growing up.Hanover
    :fear:
    Is a special song for me, at a very difficult time in my life I was singing the song and became deeply saddened by the story.
    That and "The Cat's Cradle" ....too hard to listen to still. Too many ties to my Dad and my sister :broken:
    My favorite as well. But you knew that.Hanover
    Another time, another world, another go around :flower:
  • Olivier5
    6.2k
    Okkervil River - The War Criminal Rises and Speaks



    The heart wants to feel.
    The heart wants to hold.
    The heart takes past Subway,
    Past Stop and Shop,
    Past Beal's,
    And calls it "coming home."
    The heart wants a trail
    Away from "alone”
    So the heart turns a sale
    Into a well-worn milestone
    The heart wants soft furniture,
    Fought-for fast food,
    Defended end table that
    Holds paperbacks and back U.S. News.
    The mind turns an itch
    Into a bruise,
    And the hands start to twitch
    When they're feeling ill-used.
    But you're almost back now,
    You can see by the signs;
    From the bank you tell the temperature
    And then the time,
    And the billboard reads some headlines.
    The head wants to turn,
    To avert both its eyes,
    But the mind wants to learn
    Of some truth that might be
    Inside reported crimes.
    So they found a lieutenant
    Who killed a village of kids.
    After finishing off the wives,
    He wiped off his knife
    And that's what he did.
    And they're not claiming that
    There's any excusing it;
    That was thirty years back,
    And they just get paid for the facts
    The way they got them in.
    Now he's rising and not denying.
    His hands are shaking, but he's not crying.
    And he's saying "How did I climb
    Out of a life so boring into that moment?
    Please stop ignoring the heart inside,
    Oh you readers at home!
    While you gasp at my bloody crimes,
    Please take the time
    To make your heart my home:
    Where I'm forgiven by time,
    Where I'm cushioned by hope,
    Where I'm numbed by long drives,
    Where I'm talked off or doped.
    Does the heart wants to atone?
    Oh, I believe that it's so,
    Because if I could climb back through time,
    I'd restore their lives and then give back my own:
    Tens of times now its size
    On a far distant road
    In a far distant time
    Where every night I'm still crying,
    Entirely alone."
    But the news today always fades away as you drive by,
    Until at dinnertime when you look into her eyes,
    Lit by evening sun - that, as usual, comes
    From above that straight, unbroken line,
    The horizon
    It’s rising
    Seems a given,
    Just like your living.
    Your heart's warm and kind.
    Your mind is your own.
    So our blood-spattered criminal
    Is inscrutable;
    Don't worry, he won't
    Rise up behind your eyes
    And take wild control.
    Se, he's not of this time,
    He fell out of a hole.
  • Olivier5
    6.2k
    Nouvelle Vague - In A Manner Of Speaking



    In a manner of speaking
    I just want to say
    That I could never forget the way
    You told me everything
    By saying nothing

    In a manner of speaking
    I don't understand
    How love in silence becomes reprimand
    But the way that I feel about you
    Is beyond words

    Oh give me the words
    Give me the words
    That tell me nothing
    Oh give me the words
    Give me the words
    That tell me everything

    In a manner of speaking
    Semantics won't do
    In this life that we live
    We only make do
    And the way that we feel
    Might have to be sacrificed

    So in a manner of speaking
    I just want to say
    That like you I should find a way
    To tell you everything
    By saying nothing

    Oh give me the words, etc.
  • 180 Proof
    14.1k
    https://youtu.be/JrTPOkAMlVs

    [Man's Voice, repeated]

    I would. Stop. Because ...
    There will always be, because
    There will always be, for two
    There will always
    Inside you can feel th-
    Outside, you can see the difference
    Inside. Stop. Inside difference
    Outside, out- Stop
    Inside, you can feel the difference
    Feel the-
    You can difference. Difference. Difference
    You can see the-
    Feel the difference
    You can stop. Stop, and see the-
    You can stop-
    You can see the difference

    Dragons, the policeman knew
    Were supposed to breathe- to breathe fire. Fire
    To breathe fire, and occasionally get themselves, get themselves
    Slaughtered. Slaughtered. Slaughtered
    He decided
    That would definitely not be decided
    Stop. Stop
    Definitely not-
    Stop. Stop
    Not
    Definitely
    That would, that would, that would-
    Stop
    Definitely decided
    Decided. Decided. Decided
    Not not. Stop
    Be decided


    [Old Lady's Voice, repeated & overlayed]

    The basis of the all-important question
    Involved in the mixing and the regeneration of a person's voice
    Incapable of any distinction between frequency response
    Is such that the entire output is revealed in the voice
    Is the actual voice itself of the voice being used
    Is the voice being used?
    Is the voice being used
    Used voice being used
    Being used voice, being voice

    [Young Woman's Voice]

    This type of a formation can only be explained
    When two or more separate units are linked together thus forming
    A screen only detectable through specially designed equipment
    On released that spot type floor


    [Old Woman]

    I decided to use the tools available
    Stop. Stop. The tools available
    Stop. Stop. Upon me
    Force the tools available
    Yes, I'm all right


    "I Before E Except After C" (4:36) - Vince Clarke, Alison Moyet & Mrs. Radcliffe
    Upstairs at Eric's by Yazoo (1982)
  • Pinprick
    950


    Standing on the beach
    With a gun in my hand
    Staring at the sea
    Staring at the sand
    Staring down the barrel
    At the Arab on the ground
    I can see his open mouth
    But I hear no sound

    I'm alive
    I'm dead
    I'm the stranger
    Killing an Arab

    I can turn
    And walk away
    Or I can fire the gun
    Staring at the sky
    Staring at the sun
    Whichever I chose
    It amounts to the same
    Absolutely nothing

    I'm alive
    I'm dead
    I'm the stranger
    Killing an Arab

    I feel the steel butt jump
    Smooth in my hand
    Staring at the sea
    Staring at the sand
    Staring at myself
    Reflected in the eyes
    Of the dead man on the beach
    The dead man on the beach

    I'm alive
    I'm dead
    I'm the stranger
    Killing an Arab
  • 180 Proof
    14.1k


    Dis poem
    Shall speak of the wretched sea
    That washed ships to these shores
    Of mothers cryin for their young
    Swallowed up by the sea
    Dis poem shall say nothin new
    Dis poem shall speak of time
    Time unlimited time undefined
    Dis poem shall call names
    Names like Lumumba
    Kenyatta
    Nkrumah
    Hannibal
    Akenaton
    Malcolm Garvey
    Haile selassie
    Dis poem is vexed about apartheid rascism fascism
    The klu klux klan riots in Brixton
    Atlanta
    Jim jones
    Dis poem is revoltin against 1st world 2nd world
    3rd world division man made decision
    Dis poem is like all the rest

    Dis poem will not be amongst great literary works
    Will not be recited by poetry enthusiasts
    Will not be quoted by politicians nor men of religion
    Dis poem is knives bombs guns blood fire
    Blazin for freedom
    Yes dis poem is a drum
    Ashanti mau mau ibo yoruba nyahbingi warriors
    Uhuru uhuru
    Uhuru Namibia
    Uhuru Soweto
    Uhuru Afrika
    Dis poem will not change things
    Dis poem need to be changed
    Dis poem is a rebirth of a people
    Arising awaking understanding
    Dis poem speak is speaking have spoken
    Dis poem shall continue even when poets have stopped writing
    Dis poem shall survive you me it shall linger in history
    In your mind
    In time forever
    Dis poem is time only time will tell
    Dis poem is still not written
    Dis poem has no poet
    Dis poem is just a part of the story
    His-story her-story our-story the story still untold
    Dis poem is now ringin talking irritating
    Makin you want to stop it
    But dis poem will not stop
    Dis poem is long cannot be short
    Dis poem cannot be tamed cannot be blamed
    The story is still not told about dis poem
    Dis poem is old new
    Dis poem was copied from the bible your prayer book
    Playboy magazine the new york times readers digest
    The C.I.A. files the K.G.B. files
    Dis poem is no secret
    Dis poem shall be called boring stupid senseless
    Dis poem is watchin you tryin to make sense from dis poem
    Dis poem is messing up your brains
    Makin you want to stop listening to dis poem
    But you shall not stop listening to dis poem
    You need to know what will be said next in dis poem
    Dis poem shall disappoint you
    Because
    Dis poem is to be continued in your mind
    in your mind
    In your mind
    your mind ...

    "Dis Poem" (2:55) - Mutabaruka
    The Mystery Unfolds (1986)
  • Olivier5
    6.2k

    Thanks. Hard to find a good poet nowadays.
  • Eugene
    2
    Good topic you have come up with!
    As for me, I find a lot of inspiration in country music. It is a strange thing to say, but the contrast between lyrics and melody makes me think a lot. Look, for example, at Hank Williams and others. They put so much soul into what they did. I wish I had discovered this earlier.
  • 180 Proof
    14.1k
    https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=9jBnaVJPTAI

    The bells've tolled
    My baby caught that train and gone
    The bells've tolled
    My baby caught that train and gone
    It's all my fault
    I must have done somebody wrong, oh yeah

    Everything's that happened
    You know I am to blame
    Everything's that happened
    You know I am to blame
    I'm gonna find me a doctor
    Maybe my luck will change, oh yeah

    My mama told me
    These days will surely come
    But I wouldn't listen to her
    Said I've got to have some fun
    I must've did somebody wrong
    It was all my fault
    I must've did somebody wrong

    "Done Somebody Wrong" (2:21)
    Performed by Elmore James (1960)
    Lyrics by Elmore James et al (1960)
  • Olivier5
    6.2k


    Come closer, listen to me little boy
    I will tell you the story of the human being

    In the beginning there was nothing, everything was fine
    Nature was going its own way and there was no path
    Then man came along with his big boots
    A few kicks in the face to gain some respect
    He started to line out one-way roads
    The arrows on the plain started to multiply
    And all the elements had to witness their domestication
    In a blink of an eye history took shaped
    We aren’t going back anytime soon
    We have even started to pollute the desert

    You have to breathe — easier said than done
    You're not going to die of laughter — that’s an understatement

    A few years from now we will complete the process
    And your grand-children will have just one eye
    And they're going to ask you straight on
    Why do you have two of these, you’ll look like a cunt
    They will ask you why you let all this happen
    And you will try in vain to explain, in a low voice
    That it’s not your fault, it's your ancestors' fault
    But there will be no one else to blame
    You will tell them of the time when you could
    Eat fruits while lying in the grass nearby
    There were animals all over the forest
    In the springtime the birds would return...

    You have to breathe — easier said than done
    You're not going to die of laughter — that’s an understatement
    You have to breathe — tomorrow things will be worse
    You're not going to die of laughter — that’s an understatement

    The worst thing about this is that we are all slaves
    And also assassins to a certain degree, incapable
    To look at the trees without feeling guilty
    We’ve half given up, a hundred percent miserable

    So you see, little one... This is the story of the human being
    It's not so nice and I don't know how it ends
    You weren't born under a gooseberry bush
    Rather in a hole, filled up everyday like a cesspit

    Mickey 3D - Respire
  • 180 Proof
    14.1k


    Negro?
    Nigga?
    West Indian?
    Den a which country I belang?
    Chinese - China
    Indian - India
    European - Europe
    Negro?
    Nigga?
    West Indian?
    Den a which country I belang
    Negro - black
    But negroland - no!
    Nigga - stupid
    But stupidland - no!
    West yes
    Bui I no Indian
    Den a which country I belang?

    I affe no trace
    My original place
    Try to find out
    Wa i is all about
    A come ya from de east
    Dat I know
    But in de east
    There is no negro
    Nigga?
    Dat I can't figga
    West Indian?
    A which country I belang?

    Wait

    I rememba a land
    Weh man act like man
    Dem use fe call wi
    Nigerian
    Ghanaian
    Ethiopian

    "Whey mi belang" (4:01) - Mutabaruka
    Check It!" (1982)


    re: while thinking of ... Trayford Pellerin 11 shots (RIP). 48 hours to reload. Jacob Blake 7 shots ... in the back, unarmed. Rayshard Brooks. George Floyd 8m 46s. Ahmaud Arbery. Breanna Taylor. And all the rest lynched by the state in America so far in this pandemic year.

    addendum (ah, wtf)



    ... They rally round the family
    With a pocket full of shells ...

    "Bulls on Parade" (3:51)
    Evil Empire (1996)
    Rage Against The Machine
  • Olivier5
    6.2k
    An interesting cover of Go Down Moses:



    Armstrong, I'm not black - Armstrong, je ne suis pas noir
    For my skin is white - Je suis blanc de peau
    When one wants to sing about hope - Quand on veut chanter l'espoir
    What a lack of luck! - Quel manque de pot !
    Yes, I can see the sky, the bird - Oui, j'ai beau voir le ciel, l'oiseau
    But nothing, nothing, nothing shines up there - Mais rien, rien, rien ne luit là-haut
    Zero angels - Les anges, zéro
    'Cause my skin is white - Je suis blanc de peau

    Armstrong, you crack a joke - Armstrong, tu te fends la poire
    We can see all your teeth - On voit toutes tes dents
    Me, I'm rather in a black mood - Moi, je broie plutôt du noir
    Black mood inside - Du noir en dedans
    Sing for me, Louis, oh yeah - Chante pour moi, Louis, oh oui
    Sing, sing, sing, it keeps me warm - Chante, chante, chante, ça tient chaud
    And I'm cold, oh me - J'ai froid, oh me
    Whose skin is white - Qui suis blanc de peau

    Armstrong, life, what a story! - Armstrong, la vie, quelle histoire !
    It's not very funny - C'est pas très marrant
    Whether we write it white on black - Qu'on l'écrive blanc sur noir
    Or instead black on white - Ou bien noir sur blanc
    We mostly see red, red - On voit surtout du rouge, du rouge
    Blood, blood, without truce or rest - Sang, sang, sans trêve ni repos
    Whether one is, I guess - Qu'on soit, ma foi
    Black or white of skin - Noir ou blanc de peau

    Armstrong, one day sooner or later - Armstrong, un jour, tôt ou tard
    We'll be just bones - On n'est que des os
    Will yours be black? - Est-ce que les tiens seront noirs?
    That would be fun - Ce serait rigolo
    Go down, Louis, hallelujah - Allez Louis, alléluia
    Under our ragged skin - Au-delà de nos oripeaux
    Black and white are alike - Noir et blanc sont ressemblants
    Like two drops of water - Comme deux gouttes d'eau
  • Olivier5
    6.2k
    And then the master:

  • Daniel
    458


    Try to listen all the way to the end which I think is the best part. I tried to translate the lyrics for those who would be interested, but I think the most beautiful about this song is the way he sings at the end... pure beauty and soul. (I don't believe you need to know what he's saying to enjoy the melody).

    The guy was an Argentinian singer and philosopher who got killed in Guatemala city.

    Lyrics:

    I like those who say nothing, and I like those who sing.
    And from spending so much time with myself, I like everything that happens to me.
    Things like this happen to me even though it is not important to tell everybody all the things that happen.
    Because one does not live alone, and what happens to one is happening to the world, that's the only reason... and cause.
    Everything is so perfect because God is perfect that a star will move if I pluck a flower, for this reason if there is one, there is two.

    I knew the Devil the night I said no to the hungry, and that same night I knew that the Devil is God's son.
    I walk life alone with a tone and dominant, moderately a singer and without pretensions of teaching because if the world is round I do not know what lies ahead.
    Walking and walking, always walking, just because.
    I did not come to explain to the world, to the world I just came to play (music).
    I do not want to judge man, to man I want to tell.
    My condition is life, and my path is to sing, to sing and to tell life is my manner of walking.

    One day I arrived in Tandil (a city in Argentina) and met an old man that lacking intelligence decided to be wise; one night I asked the beautiful old man about Jesus, and I knew him right away when he reached me a mirror.

    I dance with my song and not with the one someone else plays to me.
    I am not freedom, but I am who provokes it.
    If I know the path already, why would I lay down?
    If like freedom, why would I live as a slave?
    To choose, I always choose, more than for me, for my brother.
    And if I have decided to be an eagle it was out of love for the worm.

    I prefer to keep walking than to ride a borrowed horse, someone will always be in debt for an apple.

    Always arrives first the one who's traveling light.

    The day I die it wont be necessary to use the scale because to say goodbye to a singer with a simple milonga (a type of Argentinian music) is enough.
    I face my enemy and I give my back to a compliment because he who accepts a compliment starts to be dominated... man strokes (caresses) the horse to ride it.
    I am sorry if I overstep and became too moral, nobody can give advises, there's no man who is that old.
    I put the sun on my shoulders, and the world becomes yellow.
    I like walking, but i do not follow the path for what's known lacks mystery.
    I like to go with the summer far away, but to comeback to my mother in the winter and see the dogs that never forgot me, and the horses, and the hugs of my brothers...

    I like it
    I like it
    I like the sun, Alicia, and doves,
    A good cigar and the Spanish guitar
    Jumping walls and opening windows
    And when a woman cries

    I like wine as much as flowers
    And rabbits but not tractors
    home-made bread, and Dolores' voice
    and the sea soaking my feet

    I am not from her nor am I from there
    I have no home nor do I have a future
    and to be happy is my identity colour

    I like to lie all the time on the sand
    or in a bicycle to follow Manuela
    or all the time to see the stars with Maria in the wheat fields

    I am not from her nor am I from there
    I have no home nor do I have a future
    and to be happy is my identity colour
  • Mayor of Simpleton
    661


    Ich seh die leute in den straßen
    Die diktatur der angepassten
    In den städten und den dörfern
    Leben sie und ihre lügen
    Lügen, lügen, lügen
    Männer, frauen, junge, alte
    In den büros und den fabriken
    An den schulen und zu hause
    Lassen sich für dumm verkaufen
    Kaufen, kaufen, kaufen

    Ihr habt immer nur weggesehen
    Es wird immer so weitergehen
    Gebt endlich auf - es ist vorbei!
    Ihr habt alles falsch gemacht
    Habt ihr nie drüber nachgedacht?
    Gebt endlich auf- es ist vorbei!

    Im norden, süden, osten, westen
    Die diktatur der angepaßten
    Das geld vibriert und auf den genchips
    Diktiert ein freier markt das leben
    Leben, leben, leben
    Die medien helfen ihnen beim dummsein
    Ein starker staat hilft ihnen beim stummsein
    Die leute wollen unter sich sein
    Und gehen dafür über leichen
    Leichen, leichen, leichen


    I see the people in the streets
    The dictatorship of the adapted
    In the cities and the villages
    Live them and their lies
    Lies, lies, lies
    Men, women, young, old
    In offices and factories
    At schools and at home
    Let yourself be fooled
    Buy, buy, buy

    You always just looked away
    It will always go on like this
    Finally give up - it's over!
    You did everything wrong
    Have you never thought about it?
    Finally give up - it's over!

    In the north, south, east, west
    The dictatorship of the adapted
    The money vibrates and on the gene chips
    A free market dictates life
    Live, live, live
    The media help you to be stupid
    A strong state helps you to be silent
    People want to be among themselves
    And walking over corpses
    Corpses, corpses, corpses
  • Mayor of Simpleton
    661




    I lay awake in bed,
    I don't know how I got here
    There's a knocking on the door
    One, Two, Three, Four
    It's quite a bloody mess in here and no one feels responsible
    The fragmentation of our selves, nah, don't be so sensible
    You know they build on sand but they call it an empire
    So much for cleaning up now, the middle class is fading
    Those friends in higher places are deceptive clowns parading
    The cocaine cowboys and the wall street vampires
    White noise, white noise
    Come and lull me into my sleep
    White noise, beautiful white noise
    Who distributes the migrants, who talks about the crisis
    New faces to the cabinet, let's see how thick the ice is
    Testing distant waters, quietly behind the scenes
    My arm is growing tired, of waving the white flag
    And now there's nothing left to light, just filters of old fags
    The prime minister's driving in a long black limousine
    White noise, white noise
    Come and lull me into my sleep
    White noise, beautiful white noise
    Tonight I don't care if I'm a creep
    White noise, white noise
    Is the quiet before the storm
    White noise, beautiful white noise
    And the world goes, tweet tweet, tweet tweet
    Tweet tweet, tweet tweet, yeah
    And the birds go, tweet tweet, tweet tweet
    Tweet tweet, tweet tweet, yeah
    In a room without a roof, I'm staring at the ceiling
    In times like these they don't care about how we're feeling
    White noise, white noise
    Come and lull me into my sleep
    White noise, beautiful white noise
    Tonight I don't care if I'm a creep
    White noise, white noise
    Comes the morning, comes a time to eat
    White noise, beautiful white noise
    There's no one left to talk to, and no one wants to listen
    How can we right a wrong when all they do is reminiscing
    Free speech echoes, echoes from the wall
    I lean back in my camp chair, waiting until they fall
  • Olivier5
    6.2k


    (a Crass cover - I can't stand the original punk music but this version is highly listenable)

    Oh yeah?
    Well I've got it all up here, see?
    Oh yeah?
    Oh yeah?
    When they think they've got it all out there, see?
    They can fuck off, 'cause they ain't got me,
    They can't buy my dignity,
    Oh yeah?
    Oh yeah?
    Let me tell you, I've got it all up here, see?

    Tried to get me with a T.V. show,
    But I wouldn't have none of it, no, no, no.
    Standards and values on a black and white screen,
    Sarah Farah Fawcett acting mean.
    She's got the lot, that's what
    They want you to think,
    Read between the lines,
    You'll see the missing link.
    She's just a fucking puppet
    In their indoctrination plan,
    "Be like me girls and become a real man, "
    Live to the full, always act flash,
    Don't use your brains when
    Your body makes the splash.

    Oh yeah? etc.

    Tried to get me in the supermarket store,
    Bought what I wanted, they they said "buy more."
    Mountains of crap that nobody really needs,
    Gaily coloured wrappers to suit assorted greeds.
    They've got the lot, that's what
    They want you to think,
    Read between the lines,
    You'll see the missing link.
    Buy this product, pay for the crap,
    Quarter for the product,
    Three quarters for the wrap.
    Be a happy family, like the people on the pack,
    Pay up to the profit, and you'll never look back.

    Oh yeah? etc.

    Tried to get me with their learning
    And their books,
    Deep understanding and intelligent looks,
    All of the time, they never saw me,
    They were just looking for what
    They wanted to see.
    They've got the lot, that's what
    They want you to think,
    Read between the lines,
    You'll see the missing link.
    Books are easy backs for what
    They want to do to you,
    Bind you up in slavery for the privileged few,
    They'll prove their lies with history,
    Say "that's the way it always was,
    Accept the shit and slavery, be one of us."

    Oh yeah? etc.

    Tried to get me with religion and with christ,
    Said I'd get to heaven if I acted real nice,
    But they were just preparing a crucifix for me,
    A life of guilt, of sin, of pain, of holy misery.
    They've got the lot,
    That's what they want you to think,
    Read between the lines,
    You'll see the missing link.
    The bible's just a blue print
    For their morality scene,
    Just another load of shit on how it's never been.
    They stand there in the pulpit,
    Doling out their lies,
    Offering forgiveness,
    Then they talk of eyes for eyes.

    Oh yeah? etc.

    Tried to get me, but I won't be got,
    Say I'm a misfit but I say I'm not,
    I never set out to profit from another,
    Those smarmy bastards would steal
    From their mother.
    They've got the lot, that's what
    They want you to think,
    Read between the lines,
    You'll see the missing link.
    They plundered and slaughtered
    In the name of truth,
    Acceptance of normality is
    What they want from you as proof,
    They think they've got the answers,
    But there's something that they miss,
    Their cup which overfloweth, is just full of piss.

    Oh yeah? etc.
  • Mayor of Simpleton
    661
    No problems mate.

    I'm not too sure if any of it's 'deep', as I've come to learn that most of what I consider to be 'deep' is itself rather trivial (or just obvious), but if you enjoy it I believe that's what matters most.

    I wanted to post other songs, in German (my adopted language), but I kind of figure it would be pandering and boring.

    Anyway... I found a song I didn't know the artist performed in English and the video is very odd. I find the out of sync aspect and the end credits of a talk show from 1991 kind of makes it work even better. I doubt it's 'deep', but it works for me. (an unexpected twist of lyrics considering the genre of music I suppose)

  • Mayor of Simpleton
    661


    I was a Maoist intellectual in the music industry
    I always knew that I could seize the world's imagination
    And show the possibilities for transformation
    I saw a nation in decay, but also a solution:
    Permanent cultural revolution
    Whenever I played my protest songs the press applauded me
    Rolled out the red carpet, parted the Red Sea
    But the petit bourgeois philistines all stayed away
    They preferred their artists to have nothing to say

    How did I pass my time on earth? What got into me?
    I was a Maoist intellectual in the entertainment field

    I showed the people how they lived and told them it was bad
    Showed them the insanity inside the bureaucrat
    And the archetypes and stereotypes that were my stock in trade
    Toppled all the ivory towers that privilege had made
    Though I tried to change your mind I never tried your patience
    All I tried to do was to point out your exploitation
    But the powers that be took this to be a personal insult
    And refused to help me build my personality cult

    How did I pass my time an earth and now it can be revealed.
    I was a Maoist intellectual in the music industry

    I left the normal world behind and started living in
    A hinterland between dissolution and self discipline
    I burned the midnight oil to build my way of seeing
    A miner at the coal face of meaning
    The rich despised the songs I wrote which told the poor their worth
    Told the shy to speak and told the meek to take the earth
    But my downfall came from being three things the working classes hated:
    Agitated, organised and over-educated


    How did I pass my time on earth, how did I bear witness?
    As a Maoist intellectual in the entertainment business
    And how was I treated in this world and in this industry?
    As a Maoist intellectual in a business would be

    I became a hotel doorman, I stood there on the doormat
    Clutching my forgotten discs in their forgotten format
    Trying to hand them out to all the stars who sauntered in
    The ones who hadn't been like me, who hadn't lived in vain
    I gave up ideology the day I lost my looks
    I never found a publisher for my Little Red Book
    When I died the energy released by my frustration
    Was nearly enough for re-incarnation

    But if I could live my life again the last thing that I'd be
    Is a Maoist intellectual in the music industry
    No if I could live my life again I think I'd like to be
    The man whose job is to stop the men who think like me
    Yeah if l could live my life again that'd be the thing to be
    The man who plots the stumbling blocks
    In the lives of the likes of me!
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