They're just a vehicle for a lovely voice
You could say it depends upon the artist,
But then again it probably doesn't,
While we heap praise on those vocalist,
Trying to decide who is the smartest
Of those who can turn a pen
To a half decent lyric and then,
Here is the twist,
We'd probably like them just as much,
If they sang alternate pages
Of Stockholm phone book
Backwards...
....in Swahili...
....or double-D-Dutch.
[did he just sing double de-clutch?]
Never mind the content, feel the delivery,
(Oooo-whu-oooo, ooo-whe-ooo),
Never mind I'm content to feel your misery,
(Oooo-whu-oooo, ooo-whe-ooo oh),
As you try to decipher this lyrical wizardry,
So how long is a piece of string?
Stringy-stringy-str - ing ing ing,
(Oooo-whu-oooo, ooo-whe-ooo),
Stringy-stringy-str - ing string.
While most Prog lyrics aren't quite as bad
As we kid ourselves they are,
When we listen to them while driving a car,
They're not exactly art liter-at-char,
[But then what Rock, Pop or Folk lyrics ever are?]
They're just a sound to carry a tune,
To give the voice something to sing or croon,
As the singer dances around the room,
Are they supposed to mean that much?
Having a well written lyric is merely
The icing upon the cake...
The icing on the ca-a-e-a-e-a-e-ake ka-ka
Cakey-cakey-ca-key ca-a-ake.
(Oooo-whu-oooo, ooo-whe-ooo),
And if it deems to make
Some form of sense,
If that doesn't seem dense,
Then that's the cherry on top of the cake
With maybe some sprinkles of course
And a drizzle of chocolate sauce.
If you're that way inclined.
'cos
That's icing on the ca-a-ake ka-ka-ka
Cakey-cakey-ca-key ca-a-ake.
(Oooo-whu-oooo, ooo-whe-ooo),
But I cannot imagine
That many of us here,
Would rush out an buy
A book of poetry and verse
Written by any Prog lyricist
For better or worst,
Even if we may be tempted
By their autobiography,
Or book on ancient mythology,
Or maybe even a novel or two
If they had written one
Hang on that can't be right...
...A novel or two if they'd written a few
Staying up all night,
Analysing the words for sense within it,
Are they supposed to mean anything under the moon?
Looking for meaning where none had been writ,
We paid the piper but he called the tune
And it all sounds like a big heap of ...
Icing on the ca-a-e-a-e-a-e-ake ka-ka
Cakey-cakey-ca-key ca-a-ake.
(Oooo-whu-oooo, ooo-whe-ooo),
Prog lyrics aren't quite as bad
As we kid ourselves they a-a-a-are
(Oooo-whu-oooo, ooo-whe-ooo),
So maybe it's all made up
As we sing along,
With no planning or forethought
Contained in this song
A stream of non-sense-ness,
Improvising lyrics with no idea where they'll run trying to fit words to the solo bass drum and the bass player who's too stoned just to strum for being drowned out by the over-loud keyboardist who is the sound mixer's chum while the vocalist forgets to breath in the right place I confess,
This has all turned into a bit of a mess
So while I try to work
Out where this went all wrong...
... I think it's time for a middle-eight or maybe six
so I can take a breather and try to redress
the phrasing of this song
there's a garble of words I need to fix
Oh bugger I've lost the rhythm.
While most Prog lyrics aren't quite as bad
As we kid ourselves they are,
(Oooo-whu-oooo, ooo-whe-ooo),
Some are really bad
But only if we can hear them above the din,
Of the guitarist with his mesa boogie plugged in,
Then that's bonus we can all revel in,
Guessing words only to relieve the tension,
Passing winds that wind far away into the *mumbles*
As we pan from left to right, we mishear the tonal mess refrain.
...or was that just a passing train,
Or a cat that's left out in the rain,
Oh go on let it in...
I suppose we really can't complain
At least it's not a condescending lyric by Sting
Stingy-stingy-st - ing ing ing,
(Oooo-whu-oooo, ooo-whe-ooo),
Stingy-stingy-st - ing Sting.
(with apologies to Paul Draper and Jon Anderson, but not Sting)
Edited by Dean - July 23 2014 at 14:43
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