songs that really get you lyrically...

[littlejonnyhormone]

I'm working (or in the process of putting off) a final project that is so extremely open-ended it is ridiculous. Visually enhance a quote. From anything, use anything, just use Illustrator.

I was looking through/listening to some songs and found Tonight We're Gonna Give It 35% (by Against Me!).

I don't know what it is, but the lyrics always seemed pretty deep to me. I always felt like I could relate to the desperation in the song and the way Tom sings it makes the song so much better. One of his best in my opinion.

We drank bottled water together and talked business,

I think I played the right moves. You were looking over

my shoulder , as I went through the motions of another

night. And it is was alright, because I thought I knew

who everybody was just by looking at them. My heart

is anywhere but here and how tired I was from the

past couple of weeks, from the past couple of years,

well it hit me all at once. On a balcony overlooking

nothing, with snow falling all around, I called just to

say good night. And you hadn't done anything wrong,

really, it's me not you. I Can't believe how naive I was

to think things could ever be so simple. And can you

live with what you know about yourself, when you're

all alone, behind closed doors, the things we never

said but we always knew were right there. It's got me

on my knees in a bathroom, praying to a god that I

don't even believe in, "Dear Jesus... are you listening?"

If this is the one chance that really matters, don't let

me fuck this up. If you had told me about all this when

I was fifteen, I never would have believed it.

[dante3000]

Shit speaks to me on soo many levels.

I came into this world as a reject

Look into these eyes then you'll

See the size of the flames (the size of the)

Dwellin' on the past (past)

It's burnin' in my brain (hot)

Everyone that burns has to learn from the pain

Hey I think about the day (days)

My girlie ran away with my pay

When fella's came to (play)

play now she's stuck with my homeez that she fucked (ooh)

and i'm just a sucker with a lump in my

throat (hey)

like a chump (hey)

a like a chump (hey)

like a chump (hey)

like a chump (hey)

a like a chump (hey)

like a chump (hey)

like a chump (hey)

should i be feelin' bad (no)

should i be feelin' good (no)

it's kinda sad i'm the laughing stock of the neighborhood

hey you would think that i'd be movin' on (movin')

but i'm a sucker like i said

fucked up in the head not

an' maybe she just made a mistake

and i should give her a break

my heart'll ache either way

hey what the hell what you want me to say

i won't lie that i can't deny

(chorus) (2x)

i did it all for the nookie (come on) the nookie (come on)

so you can take that cookie and stick it up your (yeah)

stick it up your (yeah) stick it up your (yeah)

stick it up your

why did it take so long

why did i wait so long huh

to figure it out but i didn't

and i'm the only one underneath the sun who didn't get it

i can't believe that i could be decieved (but you were)

by my so-called girl but in reality

had a hidden agenda

she put my tender heart in a blender

and still i surrendered

(hey) like a chump (hey)

a like a chump (hey)

like a chump (hey)

like a chump (hey)

a like a chump (hey)

like a chump (hey)

like a chump

(chorus) (2x)

i'm only human it's so easy for your friends to give you their advice

they'll tell you just let it go (let it go) it's easier said than done

(i appreciate it) i appreciate it i do but just leave me alone

(leave me alone) leave me alone (leave me alone) just leave me alone

and nothing's gonna change 'cause you can go away and i'm just gonna stay here and always be the same (3x)

i'm just gonna staaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyy

(chorus) (2x)

[j4m35]

great tune. a song that lyrically gets me every time is "a boring story" by the lawrence arms.

no more smile and no more outrage

apathy pervasive emotions narcoleptic

no more smiles since fucking sunday

sinking feelings drinking early stinking septic

stinking like a dream

spoken outside in outside voices

struck silent into shuddering and

cold ground padded noises

sucking myself up a truth that i don't need

last nights i don't believe

no slowing down

no faces smile no lips that frown

gray to neutral every synapse

stinking thoughts a pool of dinner

wipe my mouth and hope to die

this street is cold early morning noises

this body reeling ugly early morning choices

no more drinks til fucking noon

stinking teeth and gums

a blackening that sets in soon

and an all revealing smile

just falling down

won't make these hours turn around

i wish i could remember what i'm trying to forget

[littlejonnyhormone]

I've been listening to Brickwall Views a lot lately, too.

[impact]

THE TRASHMEN (GARRETT 4002, 1963)

A-well-a everybody's heard about the bird

B-b-b-bird, bird, bird, b-bird's the word

A-well-a bird, bird, bird, the bird is the word

A-well-a bird, bird, bird, well the bird is the word

A-well-a bird, bird, bird, b-bird's the word

A-well-a bird, bird, bird, well the bird is the word

A-well-a bird, bird, b-bird's the word

A-well-a bird, bird, bird, b-bird's the word

A-well-a bird, bird, bird, well the bird is the word

A-well-a bird, bird, b-bird's the word

A-well-a don't you know about the bird?

Well, everybody knows that the bird is the word!

A-well-a bird, bird, b-bird's the word

A-well-a...

A-well-a everybody's heard about the bird

Bird, bird, bird, b-bird's the word

A-well-a bird, bird, bird, b-bird's the word

A-well-a bird, bird, bird, b-bird's the word

A-well-a bird, bird, b-bird's the word

A-well-a bird, bird, bird, b-bird's the word

A-well-a bird, bird, bird, b-bird's the word

A-well-a bird, bird, bird, b-bird's the word

A-well-a bird, bird, bird, b-bird's the word

A-well-a bird, bird, bird, b-bird's the word

A-well-a don't you know about the bird?

Well, everybody's talking about the bird!

A-well-a bird, bird, b-bird's the word

A-well-a bird...

Surfin' bird

Bbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbb... [retching noises]... aaah!

Pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-

Pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-ooma-mow-mow

Papa-ooma-mow-mow

Papa-ooma-mow-mow, papa-ooma-mow-mow

Papa-ooma-mow-mow, papa-ooma-mow-mow

Ooma-mow-mow, papa-ooma-mow-mow

Papa-ooma-mow-mow, papa-ooma-mow-mow

Papa-ooma-mow-mow, papa-ooma-mow-mow

Oom-oom-oom-oom-ooma-mow-mow

Papa-ooma-mow-mow, papa-oom-oom-oom

Oom-ooma-mow-mow, papa-ooma-mow-mow

Ooma-mow-mow, papa-ooma-mow-mow

Papa-a-mow-mow, papa-ooma-mow-mow

Papa-ooma-mow-mow, ooma-mow-mow

Papa-ooma-mow-mow, ooma-mow-mow

Papa-oom-oom-oom-oom-ooma-mow-mow

Oom-oom-oom-oom-ooma-mow-mow

Ooma-mow-mow, papa-ooma-mow-mow

Papa-ooma-mow-mow, ooma-mow-mow

Well don't you know about the bird?

Well, everybody knows that the bird is the word!

A-well-a bird, bird, b-bird's the word

Papa-ooma-mow-mow, papa-ooma-mow-mow

[repeat to fade]

[momentumlost]

Recent:

The Gaslight Anthem - Here's Looking At You, Kid

You can tell Gayle, if she calls,

That I'm famous now for all of these rock and roll songs.

And even if that's a lie, she should've given me a try.

When were kids on the field of the first day of school.

I would've been her fool.

And I would've sang out her name in those old high school halls.

You tell that to Gayle, if she calls.

And you can tell Jane, if she writes,

That I'm drunk off all these stars and all these crazy Hollywood nights.

That's total deceit, but she should've married me.

And tell her I spent every night of my youth on the floor,

Bleeding out from all these wounds.

I would've gotten her a ride out of that town she despised.

You tell that to Janey, if she writes.

But boys will be boys and girls have those eyes

That will cut you to ribbons sometimes.

And all you can do is just wait by the moon

And bleed if it's what she says you oughta do.

You remind Nana, if she asks why,

That a thief stole my heart while she was making up her mind.

I heard she lives in Brooklyn with the cool,

Goes crazy over that New York scene on 7th Avenue.

But I used to wait at the diner, a million nights without her,

Praying she won't cancel again tonight.

And the waiter served my coffee with a consolation sigh.

You remind Nana, if she asks why.

You know it's hard to tell you this.

Oh it's hard to tell you this.

Here's looking at you, Kid.

Older:

Thrice - The Melting Point of Wax

I've waited for this moment

All my life and more

And now I see so clearly

What I could not see before.

The time is now or never

This chance won't come again

Throw caution and myself into the wind.

There's no promise of safety with these secondhand wings

But I'm willing to find out what impossible means.

A leap of faith.

Parody of an angel

Miles above the sea

I hear the voice of reason

Screaming after me

"You've flown far too high boy now you're too close to the sun,

Soon your makeshift wings will come undone"

But how will I know limits from lies if I never try?

There's no promise of safety with these secondhand wings

But I'm willing to find out what impossible means.

I'll climb through the heavens on feathers and dreams

'Cause the melting point of wax means nothing to me.

Nothing to me

Nothing to me

I will touch the sun or I will die trying.

Die Trying.

Fly on these secondhand wings

Willing to find out what impossible means

I'll climb through the heavens on feathers and dreams

'Cause the melting point of wax means nothing to me

Nothing to me

Means nothing to me

Miles above the sea.

[littlejonnyhormone]

momentumlost - You a rockstar or somethin? Going through multiple women at a quick pace? What's the deal?

[andrew13]

Against Me! - Searching for a Former Clarity makes me about cry ever time i hear it. know way to many people with cancer and when my bestfriend told me her's was back that happened to come up next on itunes shuffle. not a good combo.

No, the doctors didn't tell you that you were dying

They just collected their money and sent you on your way

But you knew all along, went on pretending nothing was wrong

You said I will keep my focus until the end

And in the journal you kept by the side of your bed

You wrote nightly an aspiration of developing as an author

Confessing childhood secrets of dressing up in women's clothes

Compulsions you never knew the reasons to

Will everyone you ever meet or love

Be just a relationship based on a false presumption?

Despite everyone you ever meet or ever love

In the end, will you be all alone?

As the disease spread slowly through your body

Pumped by your heart to the tips of your arms and your legs

Your greatest fear was that your mind wouldn't last

The coherency and alertness would be the first things to fade

As your hair thinned, as the weight fell off

As your teeth blackened, as the lesions spotted your skin

As you fell to your knees in the center of the stage

As you offered witness to mortality in exchange for the ticket price

As the lights blended into the continuing noise

As all hope was finally lost

Adrenaline carried one last thought to fruition:

Let this be the end

Let this be the last song

Let this be the end

Let all be forgiven

[momentumlost]

momentumlost - You a rockstar or somethin? Going through multiple women at a quick pace? What's the deal?

hahahahahahahaha

no, i just cant sit still, and i go out drinking/meeting women in nyc...

although if you read my post last weekend, im really hung up on this one girl, and id pretty much love to be monogamous with her.

but the song, when i hear it, its like he's telling a story of all these past loves and how they still affect him...it really hits me because i feel that way, theres a couple girls i feel i'll never fully be over. hell my ex changed her facebook status to in a relationship today and my stomach turned. and thats been dead for well over a year now.

[littlejonnyhormone]

I can relate, totally makes sense. And I hate it.

[andrew13]

yeah, i just got pissed earlier when i saw a guy signed up on here who my ex was in a band with. i'd done good not thinking of her for a while, and the last two weeks i couldn't get her out of my head after one of their songs came onto itunes. women suck.

[AlexH.]

Seen a man standin' over a dead dog lyin' by the highway in a ditch

He's lookin' down kinda puzzled pokin' that dog with a stick

Got his car door flung open he's standin' out on Highway 31

Like if he stood there long enough that dog'd get up and run

Struck me kinda funny seemed kinda funny sir to me

At the end of every hard earned day people find some reason to believe

Now Mary Lou loved Johnny with a love mean and true

She said Baby I'll work for you every day and bring my money home to you

One day he up and left her and ever since that

She waits down at the end of that dirt road for young Johnny to come back

Struck me kinda funny seemed kind of funny sir to me

How at the end of every hard earned day people find some reason to believe

Take a baby to the river Kyle William they called him

Wash the baby in the water take away little Kyle's sin

In a whitewash shotgun shack an old man passes away

Take his body to the graveyard and over him they pray

Lord won't you tell us tell us what does it mean

Still at the end of every hard earned day people find some reason to believe

Congregation gathers down by the riverside

Preacher stands with his Bible groom stands waitin' for his bride

Congregation gone and the sun sets behind a weepin' willow tree

Groom stands alone and watches the river rush on so effortlessly

Lord and he's wonderin' where can his baby be

Still at the end of every hard earned day people find some reason to believe

Bruce Springsteen - Reason to Believe

Your purse hit the wind shield when I locked the brakes

Airbags inflated, seat belts engaged

A semi was jack knifed because of the rain

A hundred yards up blocking 3 lanes

We knew it was over and we both looked away

Right at each other with spare time to say

Babe, i love you and babe, i love you, too.

Headphones - Slow Car Crash

[enjoyadrian]

Usually songs from the good life get me. Black Out is full of songs like this, but this one sticks out:

"after o'rourkes, 2:10am"

I hate it when you say you need me.

You don't need me.

I hate even worse that I need you.

It kills me.

When I was young I loved to be by myself, all alone.

Now that I'm older Im scared of myself, all alone.

So lay with me, my love.

I hate when you say you know me.

You don't know me.

What I hate even worse is I know you.

You're no mystery.

You refuse to acknowledge how much you can't stand who I am.

I've been trying to tell you that I'm a terror of a man.

I hate it when you call

... so lonesome after the bar.

I know I should hang up the phone, but I never do.

[cadetapplesauce]

Ben Folds Five - Evaporated

What I've kept with me and what I've thrown away,

And where the hell I've ended up on this glary, random day,

Were the things I really cared about just left along the way,

For being too pent up and proud.

Woke up way too late feeling hungover and old,

And the sun was shining bright and I walked barefoot down the road,

Started thinking 'bout my old man,

It seems that all men want to get into a car and go anywhere.

Here I stand,

Sad and free,

I can't cry,

I can't see,

What I've done,

Oh God what have I done?

Don't you know I'm numb man?

No I can't feel a thing at all,

'Cause it's all smiles and business these days and I'm indifferent to the loss,

And I think that there's a soul somewhere that's leading me around,

I wonder if she knows which way is down.

Here I stand,

Sad and free,

I can't cry,

and I can't see,

What I've done,

Oh God what have I done?

I poured my heart out,

I poured my heart out,

It evaporated,

See?

Blind man on a canyon's edge of a panoramic scene,

Maybe I'm a kite that's flying high and random dangling on a string,

Or slumped over in a vacant room,

Head on a stranger's knee,

I'm sure back home they think I've lost my mind.

Here I stand,

Sad and free,

I can't cry,

I can't see,

What I've done,

Oh God what have I done?

set with the music, this song is just about perfectly captures an emotion.

[Guest genericinsight]

Another Breath - "Orange"

Splinters buried to the bone. Headaches like aneurysms - One can only hope. Nightmares ever harder to control. Always in the back of my mind. Never letting go. No, I can't explain this to you because it's different for everyone but I feel like I'm drowning face down in the bathtub. Too weak to pick my head up. This is the voice of nothing. Nothing left to gain. And I'm standing here screaming my lungs out just to ease the pain. The more I fight, the more I fail. Exhaustion. Letting go. But I have learned that healing is something that happens, not something that you do. Pick a scar and tell a story. I'll tell you one of my own about addiction and self-loathing and a lack of self-control and the cuts I couldn't leave alone. So I pick my flesh straight down to the bone. A compulsion. A failed attempt to regain control. Some things are out of our hands. Dreamscapes in orange remind me that the cure for pain. So in my head I just keep repeating, "This too shall pass, This too shall pass, This too shall pass, This too shall pass." Life. Love. Remorse. Regret. Lost hope. This too shall pass. As this began, so shall it end.

fuck.

[adammuzzy]

Usually songs from the good life get me. Black Out is full of songs like this, but this one sticks out:

"after o'rourkes, 2:10am"

I hate it when you say you need me.

You don't need me.

I hate even worse that I need you.

It kills me.

When I was young I loved to be by myself, all alone.

Now that I'm older Im scared of myself, all alone.

So lay with me, my love.

I hate when you say you know me.

You don't know me.

What I hate even worse is I know you.

You're no mystery.

You refuse to acknowledge how much you can't stand who I am.

I've been trying to tell you that I'm a terror of a man.

I hate it when you call

... so lonesome after the bar.

I know I should hang up the phone, but I never do.

o fuck ya

[destroyingthescene]

Yeah, songs about failed loves and relationships get me all the time. Stupid girls, stupid heart, bleh.

Two Gallants - Linger On

Step out to clutch the evening air

Distraction from your disrepair

And all of those who say they know

And walk the balustrade 'til dawn

You won't blink you won't yawn

Never let your weakness show

And though I keep your picture on the wall

Unplug the phone in case you call

Dust collects upon the sill

And still you misplace all your faith in words

As though you'll ever feel assured

If you don’t know you never will

But no I never meant you any harm

Suffocating shelter of your arms

And if I let you down, it

Wasn't me, but you who kept me round

Linger on, linger on

And while your tears fall down his cheek

For the fallen, small and meek

Look what the invalids compose

Well he should've warned you from the start

Another callus on the heart

Another victim of the throes

So sip your cigarettes and tea

Be sure you never think of me

When your tragedies unload

And in case your beauty makes you weep

For what you touched but couldn't keep

For what you had but couldn't hold

No I never meant you any harm

Suffocating shelter of your arms

And if you should feel betrayed, it

Wasn't me, but you who made me stay

Linger on, linger on

Well I'll take your convalescent dreams

Patch the wounds, sew the seams

And get you ready for the fall

But should you miss me when I'm gone

Girl your memory serves you wrong

You never needed me at all

But you can miss the hollow of my hand

And all the lives that we had planned

And all the jealousies you sowed

But I’ll take back the youth you can't repay

All the hours I gave away

And all the lies I never told

But no I never meant you any harm

Suffocating shelter of your arms

And if I did you wrong, it

Wasn't me, but you who wrote this song

Linger on, linger on

[skumbucket]

one of the best lyrics of the last ten years or so: 'styrofoam plates' by death cab for cutie.

There's a saltwater film on the jar of your ashes

I threw them to sea, but a gust blew them backwards

And the sting in my eyes that you then inflicted

Was par for the course just as when you were living

It's no stretch to say you were not quite a father

But a donor of seeds to a poor single mother

That would raise us alone, we never saw the money

That went down your throat through the hole in your belly

Thirteen years old in the suburbs of Denver

Standing in line for Thanksgiving dinner

At the Catholic church; the servers wore crosses

To shield from the sufferance plaguing the others

Styrofoam plates, cafeteria tables

Charity reeks of cheap wine and pity

And I'm thinking of you, I do every year

When we count all our blessings

And wonder what we're doing here

You're a disgrace to the concept of family

The priest won't divulge that fact in his homily

And I'll stand up and scream if the mourning remain quiet

You can deck out a lie in a suit but I won't buy it

I won't join in the procession that's speaking their peace

Using five dollar words while praising his integrity

And just because he's gone, it doesn't change the fact:

He was a bastard in life, thus a bastard in death

[destroyingthescene]

^^^ Wow, that's some cold shoulder stuff and sounds strikingly similar to my old man.

[enjoyadrian]

one of the best lyrics of the last ten years or so: 'styrofoam plates' by death cab for cutie.

There's a saltwater film on the jar of your ashes

I threw them to sea, but a gust blew them backwards

And the sting in my eyes that you then inflicted

Was par for the course just as when you were living

It's no stretch to say you were not quite a father

But a donor of seeds to a poor single mother

That would raise us alone, we never saw the money

That went down your throat through the hole in your belly

Thirteen years old in the suburbs of Denver

Standing in line for Thanksgiving dinner

At the Catholic church; the servers wore crosses

To shield from the sufferance plaguing the others

Styrofoam plates, cafeteria tables

Charity reeks of cheap wine and pity

And I'm thinking of you, I do every year

When we count all our blessings

And wonder what we're doing here

You're a disgrace to the concept of family

The priest won't divulge that fact in his homily

And I'll stand up and scream if the mourning remain quiet

You can deck out a lie in a suit but I won't buy it

I won't join in the procession that's speaking their peace

Using five dollar words while praising his integrity

And just because he's gone, it doesn't change the fact:

He was a bastard in life, thus a bastard in death

forgot about that. such good imagery.

[nickheitman]

lifetime - turnpike gates

most songs by saves the day or lifetime really

my girlfriend loves styrofoam plates

[casey]

Codeseven: Leeches of Karma

What a dirty floor to die on if you go

so don't rest your life away.

You could at least clean up the place

and make sure you get to know the exits,

you'll be leaving through one real soon.

And what could I say,

not getting through to you like a thousand times before

I've been known to lose things.

I'd like to lose you

but what would I do

so much for asking

don't break my heart

oh then why are your cheeks red

why has the door not seen the oust of you

look closer at my face you've seen this look in vain

oh then why are you holding back

go on and ask again

I rekindle the fires while you wreak havoc on the rest

just to say it's my mess and that I settle for less

less if what became I rekindle the fire

and you come behind with the water

so much for timing you're breaking my heart

when the right says no you just let go.

I especially like the part "Make sure you get to know the exits, you'll be leaving through one real soon." and "I rekindle the fire and you come behind with the water." The way the singer sings/screams the lyrics adds so much intensity to the lines themselves.

[j4m35]

ampere - woodlawn

It replays everyday and every time I yell the warning, "please turn back!" Sometimes, I can see you in the shadows; I can hear you in the echoes. I can feel you in the darkness. Sometimes, I can see you in the mirror. I can see you in my own eyes… and it scares me to think that somewhere… somehow… you`re not breathing, and I miss you.And I will never be alone when I still see you in my dreams… a minute for each mile, please turn back… a lifetime for each second of broken glass. Open, open, open up your eyes, and come back.

so chilling. everyone should listen to this song.

[scottheisel]

The Weakerthans - The Reasons

How I don't know how to sing

I can barely play this thing

But you never seem to mind

And you tell me to fuck off

When I need somebody to.

How you make me laugh so hard.

How whole years refuse to stay

Where we told them to back off

Locked up whining in a word

Or a misplaced souvenier.

How the past chews on your shoes

And these memories lick my ear.

I know you might roll your eyes at this,

But I'm so glad that you exist.

How we waste our precious time

Marching in the picket lines

That surround those striking hearts.

How the time is never now

And we know who we should love

But we're never certain how.

I know you might roll your eyes at this,

But I'm so glad that you exist.

I know you might roll your eyes at this,

But I'm so glad that you exist.

I know you might roll your eyes at this,

But I'm so glad that you exist.

[j4m35]

oh also

comadre - teeth versus teeth

this is my concept, this is my excuse, my dirt, my blood, and my addiction. and goddamn if your goddamn gods are too afraid to live. but i was born to fuck up and all i know is what i love. i am going to bleed till i get more, cause i want more and i'll lose sleep and i'll be tired until my lungs collapse. just like i'd give it all up for reno, i'd trade the world to watch you grin, so more embrace, fugazi and rites of spring, and less of everything else. so lets just kiss until forever, we'll fight to keep it interesting. call me a trainwreck and i'll call you tomorrow. let's play for keeps and forget about borrows. i miss you.

such a crazy song, gets a little haggard at times but still so fuckin' good. if you are into kid dynamite you'll love this band.