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Raff

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Posted: January 22 2008 at 12:21

"Confusion will be my epitaph" - King Crimson
"The time is gone, the song is over, thought I'd have something more to say" - Pink Floyd
"And the things that we fear are a weapon to be held against us" - Rush
"Quick to judge, quick to anger, slow to understand/Ignorance and prejudice and fear walk hand in Had" - Rush
"Time's too short to be sad, wishing things you've never had" - Caravan
"My energy is spent at last, and my armour is destroyed/And I've used up all my weapons, and I'm helpless and bereaved" - Blue Oyster Cult

keiser willhelm View Drop Down

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Posted: January 22 2008 at 12:31

"I embrace my desire to feel the rhythm, to feel connected enough to step aside and weep like a widow
to feel inspired, to fathom the power, to witness the beauty,
to bathe in the fountain,
to swing on the spiral,
to swing on the spiral,
to swing on the spiral of our divinity still be a human,
Spiral down. . . "

Tool - Lateralus.

Edited by keiser willhelm - January 22 2008 at 12:31

rushfan4

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Posted: January 22 2008 at 12:38

A couple that have preceded me have already quoted some Rush lines which I quite enjoy but my all time favorite is "If you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice".

And then of course there is this creepy ditty from Ian Anderson/Jethro Tull

Sitting on the park bench --
eyeing little girls with bad intent.
Snot is running down his nose --
greasy fingers smearing shabby clothes.
Aqualung

keiser willhelm View Drop Down

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Posted: January 22 2008 at 12:39

Id have to agree with the post that claimed Maynard Keenan was one of the greatest lyricists. i was trying to write down my favorite lyrics off the top of my head and almost half ended up being tool song.

"Before you point your finger you should know that i'm the man,
well im a man and your a man and hes a man as well so you can point that f*cking finger up your a**."

-Hooker with a Penis. probably not the most polite song to talk about by the rythm of his words in that song, the syncopation fits so perfect. Tool is all about rythm, the guitar, the incredible bass, the drumwork of Danny Carey, its all overwhelminly rythmic. no guitar leads, only rythm. Maynard is no different. the lyrics work towards that total sum rythm of the song.

rushfan4

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Posted: January 22 2008 at 13:26

Another Peart-ism, from a Rush album that isn't well-liked on PA is from the title track from Roll the Bones. "Why are we here? Because we're here. Roll the Bones." A phrase that I use on occasion in real life.

Edited by rushfan4 - January 22 2008 at 13:27

laplace

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Posted: January 22 2008 at 13:29

Simple. =) "Worms appeared, and truth brushed them away."

EnglishAssassin View Drop Down

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Posted: January 22 2008 at 13:55

"For long you live and hight you fly,
And smiles you give and tears you cry,
All you touch and all you see,
Is all your life will ever be."

Pink Floyd - Breathe (As if anyone wouldn't know)

"Bleating and babbling I fell on his neck with a scream,
Wave after wave of demented avengers,
March cheerfully out of obscurity into the dream!"

Pink Floyd - Sheep

"What you own in your own kingdom,
What you do is your own glory,
What you love is your own power,
What you live is your own story!"

Rush - Something for Nothing

Pinkk

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Posted: January 22 2008 at 14:03

Remember when you were young, you shone like the sun.
Shine on you crazy diamond.

My Last.fm

A B Negative View Drop Down

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Posted: January 23 2008 at 10:47

BaldFriede wrote:

"My father was an eagle with two wings wide as sails,
my mother was the West wind witch with grasping fingernails.
She lured him from his eerie with her twittering device,
she kept him in a golden cage and fed him field mice".
(Robert Calvert, "Hero with One Wing")

Quality! I love Calvert's lyrics:

"Copernicus had those Renaissance ladies crazy about his telescope" (Hawkwind - Quark, Strangeness and Charm)

"The disgusting stink of a too-loud electric guitar.... Now, that's my idea of a good time."

3.1415926535897 View Drop Down

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Posted: January 23 2008 at 21:54

Jorvik wrote:

"And did they get you to trade your heroes for ghost, hot ashes for trees, hot air for a cool breeze, cold comfort for change? Did you exchange a walk-on part in the war for a lead role in a cage?"
Pink Floyd, Wish You Were Here

This used to be one of my favorite also. However, upon closer examination, isn't this implying that trading your heroes for ghosts is the same as exchanging hot ashes for trees or hot air for a cool breeze? Maybe someone who is better at grammar could correct me, but to me it seems like a flaw, and I squirm every time I hear that line now.

Men occasionally stumble on the truth, but most of them pick themselves up and hurry off as if nothing had happened - Winston Churchill

SilverSean View Drop Down

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Posted: January 23 2008 at 22:04

Through the fish eyed lens of tear stained eyes,
I can barely define the shape of this moment in time.

--Roger Waters (The Final Cut)

Hold on to the Dream...

Jorvik

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Posted: January 24 2008 at 09:03

3.1415926535897 wrote:

Jorvik wrote:

"And did they get you to trade your heroes for ghosts, hot ashes for trees, hot air for a cool breeze, cold comfort for change? Did you exchange a walk-on part in the war for a lead role in a cage?"
Pink Floyd, Wish You Were Here

I remember thinking that shortly after I first heard it, over 16 years ago. On the face of it, it does seem to be a contradiction and the simplest explanation probably is that it's a mistake or to make the rhythm or other construction aspects work.

Maybe you ought to have added it to the annoying lyrics thread before it got locked Smile

However, I find it a little bit unlikely that Waters would be so careless. Another way to look at it would be that he is challenging assumptions – is swapping your heroes and getting ghosts in return really a bad thing? Can you really tell heaven from hell? Or is the grass always greener (or browner?) in the other one to where you currently are, whilst to a neutral observer they're the same? Is a cool breeze always necessarily better than hot air? Is change good or bad?

I consider myself a pedant, so maybe I did ought to be revolting LOL

. Instead I'm just making up excuses for why it doesn't bother me. Sorry to be off topic. Embarrassed

I ljuset från min lykta
ser jag skuggan utav sorg
drömmar som har slocknat
ifrån ett liv som haft sin tid

Ivan_Melgar_M View Drop Down

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Posted: January 24 2008 at 09:48

Lots...This are the ones I can think of right now:

1. There's an angel standing in the sun, and he's crying with a loud voice,
"This is the supper of the mighty One",
The Lord of Lords,
King of Kings,
Has returned to lead His children home,
To take them to the new Jerusalem.

Genesis- Supper’s Ready

2. Once carried through the current
And being swept away
The king is in the closet
He's hiding from today
And though he owns all fortunes
This room is where he'll stay
And his world is filled with darkness, turning grey

Kansas – Closet Chronicle

3. Stalactites, stalagmites
Shut me in, lock me tight.
Lips are dry, throat is dry.
Feel like burning, stomach churning,
Im dressed up in a white costume
Padding out leftover room.
Body stretching, feel the wretching
In the cage
Get me out of the cage!

Genesis - In the Cage

4. The Poet and the painter casting shadows on the water --as the sun plays on the infantry returning from the sea.The do-er and the thinker: no allowance for the other --as the failing light illuminates the mercenary's creed.The home fire burning: the kettle almost boiling --but the master of the house is far away.The horses stamping -- their warm breath cloudingin the sharp and frosty morning of the day.And the poet lifts his pen while the soldier sheaths his sword.

Jethro Tull – Thick as a Brick

5.      The gaoler binds his hands and put the blindfold to his eyes 
He leads him through the door before the crowd 
The hangman sees his victim and all blood drains from his face 
He sees his younger brother standing proud 

The hangman tries to protest but he's ordered to proceed 
His trembling hands begin to take the strain 
His eyes are blind with streaming tears 
He cries for all to hear 


“Forgive me God, we hang him in Thy name!” 
The Strawbs – The Hangman and the Papist

 All very powerful.

 Iván

jimmy_row

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Posted: January 24 2008 at 11:50

"You kill what you fear, and you fear what you don't understand"

Genesis - Guide Vocal/Duke's Travels

"Better think a while, or I may never think again..."

Genesis - Undertow

"There is no pain, you are receeding

A distant ships smoke on the horizon

You are only coming through in waves

Your lips move but I can't hear what you're saying"

Pink Floyd

"When we arrive, Sons and Daughters

We'll make our lives on the water

We'll build our walls aluminum

We'll fill our mouths with cinnamon...

Here all the bombs fade away..."

The Decemberists

"Burn slowly the candle of life"

The Moody Blues

"Live by sword, and you shall die so"

"I am the joy you really pay for, but which comes completely free"

Van der Graaf Generator

Signature Writers Guild on strike

Poser

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Posted: January 24 2008 at 18:01

And though I may be dreaming and reality stalls
I only know the meaning of sight and that's all
and that's nothing.
The Sleepwalkers - Van Der Graaf Generator

Or any other Hammill lyrics.

Lofcaudio

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Posted: January 25 2008 at 15:54

Here is my favorite:

And my soul has been kissed, just because you exist. -Wind At My Back (Spock's Beard)

marcinz

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Posted: February 10 2008 at 06:22

" Over thinking, over analyzing separates the body from the mind."
Tool - Lateralus

"Young man says "you are what you eat" - eat well.
Old man says "you are what you wear" - wear well.
You know what you are, you don't give a damn;
bursting your belt that is your homemade sham."
Genesis - Dancing With The Moonlit Knight

LinusW

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Posted: February 10 2008 at 12:38

I don't believe in destiny
Or the guiding hand of fate
I don't believe in forever
Or love as a mystical state
I don't believe in the stars or the planets
Or angels watching from above
But I believe there's a ghost of a chance we can find someone to love
And make it last...

- Rush - Ghost of a chance

I like that one...and Peart is an infinite source of things just like that one.

Blargh

The Pessimist View Drop Down

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Posted: February 11 2008 at 14:35

"And though dark is the highway,
and the peak's distance breaks my heart,
for I never shall see it, still I play my part,
believing that what waits for us
is the cosmos compared to the dust of the past...
In the death of mere humans life shall start!"
Childlike Faith in Childhood's End - VDGG

Depends how you interpret it really, but to me those are very moving lyrics about life after death, determination and hope.

Edited by kibble_alex - February 11 2008 at 14:37

"Market value is irrelevant to intrinsic value."

Arnold Schoenberg

Slartibartfast View Drop Down

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Posted: February 12 2008 at 06:13

An embarrassment of riches when it comes to prog lyrics. On the sillier side:
"Do you know what you are?
You are what you is
You is what you am
(A cow don't make ham...)" Zappa

Maybe some weird relation to the Moonlit Knight lyrics quoted above. LOL

Edited by Slartibartfast - February 12 2008 at 06:14

Released date are often when it it impacted you but recorded dates are when it really happened...