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Frets N Worries View Drop Down
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    Posted: September 16 2023 at 13:08
Give me any number of lyricists, then state your favorite and least favorite lyrics by them. Simple premise I think.. something like this: (this is an example and does not reflect my opinion)

Peter Hamill
Best: 'If I've become a man of the world somehow, that's not necessarily to say I'm a worldly man'

Worst: 'The Maelstrom of my memory is a vampire and it feeds on me, now staggering madly over the brink I fall'
The Wheel of Time Turns, and Ages come and pass. What was, what will be, and what is, may yet fall under the shadow.

Let the Dragon ride again on the winds of time...
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote omphaloskepsis Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 16 2023 at 13:16
ELP  Best-                                     "Hallowed Be Thy Name"

There may be an om in moment
But there's very few folk in focus
Not the first, not the last, not the least
You needn't be well to be wealthy
But you've got to be whole to be holy
Fetch the rope, fetch the clock, fetch the priest
Oh this planet of ours is a mess
I bet Heaven's the same
Look the madman said, "Son,
As a friend, tell me what's in a name"
Hallowed be thy name.

I give you the state of statesmen
And the key to what motivates them
On the left, on the right, on the nail
Still I don't see a man in a mansion
That an accurate pen won't puncture
Go to town, go to hell, go to jail
And there's bars and saloons
Where the jukebox plays blues in the night
Till the madman says "Son,
Time to go we could both use some light"
And thy will be done

We live in an age of cages
The tale of an ape escaping
In the search for some truth he can use
But many a drunk got drunker
And mostly a thinker, thunker
Set the place, set the time, set the fuse,
The optimist laughed and the pessimist cried in his wine
And the madman said "Son,
Take a word they'll all wake given time"
Let thy kingdom come

The madman and I got drunker
Till both thought the other tank you
And we laughed all the way to the stars
The optimist asked for a taste of the pessimist's wine
And the madman said "Son,
How do you feel?" I said "Me? I feel fine
Lead me into temptation
Into temptation
I said into temptation
I need my allocation of recreation
I want a revelation in degradation
No hesitation, give me variation, give me inspiration"



worst
Love Beach

Now that the coast is clear
I'm moving out of here
It's time to disappear - with you,.
To where the skies are blue
I want you by my side
Don't look so mystified

You know I said I'd
Always take you to love beach
Out of reach of the eagles eyes tonight
We can make it to love beach
Where pirate moons, throw silver spoons
Across the waves to you

Back when it all began
I was your highway man
Now I've got a different plan
For you

And me beside the deep blue sea
The way it's meant to be
Oh you'll believe me
When you see the ocean roll up
And the sun turn a mighty red

You can walk love beach forever
Till it lives inside your head .. I said
I want you by my side
I'll keep you satisfied
My love won't hide


Edited by omphaloskepsis - September 16 2023 at 13:25
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote I prophesy disaster Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 16 2023 at 13:32
Originally posted by Frets N Worries Frets N Worries wrote:

Peter Hamill
Best: 'If I've become a man of the world somehow, that's not necessarily to say I'm a worldly man'
 
I feel like I'm being invoked.
 

No, I know how to behave in the restaurant now, I don't tear at the meat with my hands. If I've become a man of the world somehow, that's not necessarily to say I'm a worldly man.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Frets N Worries Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 16 2023 at 13:33
^I do love that line, and you're how I found it
The Wheel of Time Turns, and Ages come and pass. What was, what will be, and what is, may yet fall under the shadow.

Let the Dragon ride again on the winds of time...
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (1) Thanks(1)   Quote I prophesy disaster Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 16 2023 at 13:47
Originally posted by Frets N Worries Frets N Worries wrote:

^I do love that line, and you're how I found it
 
Thumbs Up
 
I'm not sure what my favourite Peter Hammill / VdGG lyric is. There are so many great ones to choose from. The one you quote is from a song that speaks to me personally, especially when I was younger. Plus it has an awesome ending.
 

No, I know how to behave in the restaurant now, I don't tear at the meat with my hands. If I've become a man of the world somehow, that's not necessarily to say I'm a worldly man.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Grumpyprogfan Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 16 2023 at 14:04
Here is my corrected my initial post. I need to pay more attention.

Rush
Subdivisions - great lyrics

"Growing up, it all seems so one-sided
Opinions all provided
The future pre-decided
Detached and subdivided
In the mass-production zone
Nowhere is the dreamer
Or the misfit so alone"

I Think I'm Going Bald - not so great lyrics

"I looked in the mirror today
My eyes just didn't seem so bright
I've lost a few more hairs
I think I'm going bald"

Edited by Grumpyprogfan - September 17 2023 at 07:17
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote richardh Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 16 2023 at 18:01
ELP Best
The Endless Enigma Pt1
From The Beginning
The Sheriff (their only humourous track that ever worked)
Trilogy
Pirates
Memoirs Of An Officer and a Gentleman Pt1
The Sage

ELP Worst
A Taste Of My Love
Daddy
Still You Turn Me On
Jeremy Bender
Tiger In A Spotlight
Benny The Bouncer
Lucky Man (might be controversial but its always struck me as a bit silly lyric wise ''He had white horses and ladies by the score'' Lake was no budding Bob Dillon for sure although I do love his work on Trilogy. After that Pete Sinfield got involved and Lake often didn't write the lyrics)



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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote cstack3 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 16 2023 at 18:27
Worst?  My own, hands down. 

From my non-hit, "Romanian Fluids"....

The Black Sea washes the broken shore
And the barrier shapes all around....
I cast my eyes on a blackened moon
That the shoreline police haven't found....
The air is so cold in the presence of these
Uncountable fluids I see.....
Their story relayed is retold in the waves
And the burden is now placed on me.....

(backstory - I visited Romania in 1979, when it was Communist and under the rule of Nicolae Ceaușescu.) 
The country was overrun with intimidating military police, carrying AK-47s.  It was a very interesting trip.  I did hear "Awaken" on Romania radio!


Edited by cstack3 - September 16 2023 at 18:45
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (1) Thanks(1)   Quote Frets N Worries Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 16 2023 at 20:29
^Lyrics aren't that bad, better than something I'd write
The Wheel of Time Turns, and Ages come and pass. What was, what will be, and what is, may yet fall under the shadow.

Let the Dragon ride again on the winds of time...
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote JD Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 16 2023 at 21:09
I'll start with these...

ELP Best
Cold and misty morning, I heard a warning borne in the air
About an age of power where no one had an hour to spare,
Where the seeds have withered, silent children shivered, in the cold
Now their faces captured in the lenses of the jackals for gold.
Thumbs Up
Beautifully poetic

ELP Worst
Go down gently
With your face to the east
The sun may be rising
But we haven't finished the feast

I'm gonna love you
Like nobody ever loved you
Climb on my rocket
And we'll fly
Sick
Ok, we get it Greg, you're getting laid.



Edited by JD - September 16 2023 at 21:11
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Cristi Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 17 2023 at 00:17
Originally posted by JD JD wrote:


ELP Worst
Go down gently
With your face to the east
The sun may be rising
But we haven't finished the feast

I'm gonna love you
Like nobody ever loved you
Climb on my rocket
And we'll fly
Sick
Ok, we get it Greg, you're getting laid.


oh yeah, horrid, I hope the "taste of my love" does have the meaning many think it has. 
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote cstack3 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 17 2023 at 00:47
Originally posted by Frets N Worries Frets N Worries wrote:

^Lyrics aren't that bad, better than something I'd write

Thanks!  I'd LOVE to put stuff online, but it is all on cassette tapes, and I have to have them digitized etc. 

I play bass with Squire's technique, play Fripp-like fuzz tone guitar leads, and have a whiny, nasal Eno-esque voice!  It has made for hilarious music with my friends over the years!  Watch this space....
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Hrychu Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 17 2023 at 02:42
Oasis
Best:
  • Cast No Shadow
  • Gas Panic
Worst:
  • Little James
  • Stop Crying Your Heart Out (the music is kickass but the lyrics are too vanilla and repetitive)
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Frets N Worries Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 17 2023 at 06:09
^Nothing Oasis did is worse than 'slowly walking down the hall, faster than a cannonball, where were you while we were getting high?"
The Wheel of Time Turns, and Ages come and pass. What was, what will be, and what is, may yet fall under the shadow.

Let the Dragon ride again on the winds of time...
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (1) Thanks(1)   Quote wiz_d_kidd Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 17 2023 at 10:56
“I don’t like country music, but I don’t mean to denigrate those who do. And for those who like country music, denigrate means to ‘put down.'” – Bob Newhart
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Cristi Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 17 2023 at 10:56
Originally posted by wiz_d_kidd wiz_d_kidd wrote:


LOL
this one never gets old LOL
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote cstack3 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 17 2023 at 11:23
Why do so many prog-critics complain about lyrics regarding "Fairies," "Elves" etc.??

I'm hard-pressed to think of any prog music with those lyrics! 
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Logan Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 17 2023 at 11:36
Originally posted by cstack3 cstack3 wrote:

Why do so many prog-critics complain about lyrics regarding "Fairies," "Elves" etc.??

I'm hard-pressed to think of any prog music with those lyrics! 


Because nothing screams Prog as much as Blind Guardian.

Prog, and I think Prog fans, have often been very associated with the fantasy genre generally by people. So you have things like Uriah Heep's Demons and Wizards, Hawkwind music, numerous references to Lord of The Rings (Camel with Nimrodel..., Rush with Rivendell...).

I heard someone once ask something like, "As you like Prog, does that men you are also into Dungeons & Dragons?" I think it's broad fantasy stereotype associated with Prog, and with kinds of heavy rock and power metal.... And I think the cape and costumes add to that fantasy image.

Edited by Logan - September 17 2023 at 11:38
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (1) Thanks(1)   Quote Grumpyprogfan Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 17 2023 at 12:51
Originally posted by cstack3 cstack3 wrote:

Why do so many prog-critics complain about lyrics regarding "Fairies," "Elves" etc.??

I'm hard-pressed to think of any prog music with those lyrics! 
Neal Morse sings about his imaginary friend a lot. Similar to fairies and elves to me.   
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (1) Thanks(1)   Quote Hrychu Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 17 2023 at 15:18
Originally posted by Grumpyprogfan Grumpyprogfan wrote:

Originally posted by cstack3 cstack3 wrote:

Why do so many prog-critics complain about lyrics regarding "Fairies," "Elves" etc.??

I'm hard-pressed to think of any prog music with those lyrics! 
Neal Morse sings about his imaginary friend a lot. Similar to fairies and elves to me.   


Comparing Neal Morse's friend to fairies and elves is like comparing homepathy to magic. :)

Anyway, if you want some real prog fantasty shіt there's always Three Magicians Suite Part 1 by Banzai.


Edited by Hrychu - September 17 2023 at 15:19
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