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Rock lyricist nursery rhymes

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OK, something stupid for Friday. While idle the other day, I tried to write some nursery rhymes in the style of great songwriters. Don’t ask me why. Anyone else fancy a go?

Halfway Down by Bruce Springsteen

Mister, don’t you ask me why I’m climbin’ this here hill Old Duke got his reasons, and he’s the one payin’ the bills We all got our orders in someone else’s war Ten thousand men who don’t know what they’re marching for

Half way down We’re only half way down I don’t know which way is up But it’s a long way back to town

Mary’s Hedge Apparently by Bob Dylan (1966 version)

Will I see you in the garden On one of these verdant days With your empty-headed suitors And your strange contrary ways Your pretty maids were lined up at the silver ringing tree Oh Mary, your cockleshells are lost But babe, are you lost on me?

Song for Jack by Joni Mitchell

I do not know what moved me To follow you for water clear In the pale August morning Climbing, climbing with you near I only know I fell so hard The water gone, a bruise appeared In autumn » Continue Reading.

Unintended consequences in song

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“A solitary life / A life of small horizons / Dull as the pewter skies over NW11”

For the 0.3% of the blog who don’t own all of Richard Thompson’s albums, this is the chorus to a Solitary Life off Front Parlour Ballads. It’s a bitter lay; some might say typically so. The song finishes on an upbeat note with the subject matter dying of cancer. (Having a bodycount in song qualifies Thommo to play at folk festivals.)

But as I pedalled up the Denbighshire moors on a gloriously sunny Easter, I found myself merrily singing one of the couplets, as I oft have before: “Holidays in the Yorkshire Dales / Cycling tours of the North of Wales” He may sing it with a sneer, but it all sounds lovely to me, as indeed does the solitary life, says someone who has relished living on his own for the last 18 years. So I sing that song with a spring in my step and joy in my heart.

Do you ever find yourself enjoying a song for emotions that are quite clearly the opposite to that which the artist intended?

What I’ve got to learn all this?: your multiverse masterpieces

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Simple post-it thread. Songs with lots of lyrics, lots of verses. Occasioned by the 14-minute Gillian Welch epic I dream a Highway which has 11 verses (plus of course lots of choruses) over its 14 minutes. Another very famous multi- verser in the comments (19 verses probably, in this version). Line and verse counts welcome. And if you’ve not heard this you’re in for a treat.

lyrics

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Recently, at a friend’s funeral someone sang Leonard cohen’s Hallelujah.

Afterwards at the reception my friends and I were discussing the ceremony and somebody remarked about the fact that they had changed the lyrics of hallelujah – omitted some lines, cut some verses.

A few others agreed and had noticed. Yet I, hadn’t noticed at all.

I realised that i hadn’t really tuned into the lyrics at the ceremony, that I hadn’t noticed that the lyrics had been altered and that I probably have never consciously digested the lyrics of hallelujah even though i’ve heard it a fair few times since the mid ’90s.

i realised that at some point for certain artists or possibly for any artist i just don’t tune in to the lyrics, but when i was in my teens i could recite whole albums by the jam or the clash or bowie or whatever.

and I’m trying to ascertain at what point did i stop remembering, – it’s not that i don’t like lyrics, i love them, I write them occasionally but do I care about them – probably not.

it is true that the music i most enjoy as i get older » Continue Reading.

By this shall I be known – lyrical signatures

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When I hear Morrissey’s voice, whatever the song may be, it is only a matter of time before one particular lyric is rattling round my head.

“I would go out tonight, but I haven’t got a stitch to wear.” I think that line encapsulates what he is all about more than any other [although “I am human and I need to be loved” has a fair shout] and indeed what that era was all about.

Similarly, Bowie’s “Ziggy played guitar, jamming good with Weird and Gilly”: the artist and his time, in a few words.

I think of them as lyrical signatures. Does anyone do this for you?

The Wit & Wisdom Of Mark E Smith

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That thread about the lousiness of The Fall from the viewpoint of sad old proggers has made me listen to a lot more Fall.

So what are your favourite lines from MES carrier bag (because I saw him take tattered bits of paper out of a Tescos bag on stage to sing a new song)

I was walking down the street I saw a poster at the top I was only on one leg The streets wee fucked – Blindness

How dare you assume I want to parlez vous with you You Gretchen Franklin nosey matron thing – Telephone Thing

When I walk down the street Its always you I seem to meet Long hair down and sneakers on your feet And write letters to the Evening News I clench my fists and I sing this song hey student! hey student! hey student! You’re gonna get it through the head – Hey Student!

Became a recluse Bought a computer Set it up in the home Elusive big one On the screen Saw the Holy Ghost I swear On the screen Where’s the cursor? – Eat Yself Fitter

I don’t have a jack knife it went up the hill I » Continue Reading.

Let’s play another game

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Simply this: I’ll start with a line from a song. All you have to do is follow it up with another lyric that makes sense as a follow on. It can be from any style, any genre, any era but must keep the “story” flowing. Try not to repeat the same song or line. If you want to put the song and artist in brackets you may do so (let’s keep the pedants at bay…). So, to begin:

“You were working as a waitress in a cocktail bar when I met you…”