[maltaille]

The Dude is right, Dylan always wins this (I'm partial to Shelter from the Storm myself), so it should be a Dylan-free discussion. Maybe he can have his own lyrics thread?

Here's a few that might not be on people's radar, plus a few that probably are but deserve mention anyway. Some are truly poetry (I wonder if The Lounge is cool enough to have a poetry thread without getting all self conscious about it?), some are just fun. No links to the full lyrics, because all the lyrics sites are rife with popups.

Working Class Hero, John Lennon (though I like Marianne Faithful's version better):
As soon as you're born they make you feel small
By giving you no time instead of it all
Till the pain is so big you feel nothing at all

Shivers, Nick Cave (also check out Mercy Seat, and Red Right Hand):
I've been contemplating suicide,
But it really doesn't suit my style.
So I think I'll just act bored instead,
And contain the blood I would've shed

No Aphrodisiac, The Whitlams (this song has fantastic lyrics throughout, but this post would be way too long if I included more than just a sample of any of them):
There's no aphrodisiac like loneliness
You shouldn't leave me alone

Flame Trees, Cold Chisel:
Number one is to find some friends to say "You're doing well
After all this time you boys look just the same"
Number two is the happy hour at one of two hotels
Settle in to play "Do you remember so and so?"
Number three is never say her name

Man's Too Strong, Dire Straits (another one with fantastic lyrics throughout):
You may have got your silver
But I swear upon my life
Your sister gave me diamonds
And I gave them to your wife

Love Is The Drug, Roxy Music:
Late that night I park my car
Stake my place in the singles bar
Face to face, toe to toe
Heart to heart as we hit the floor
Lumber up, limbo down
The locked embrace, the stumble round
I say go, she say yes
Dim the lights, you can guess the rest

Cool For Cats, UK Squeeze:
Shake up at the disco
And I think Ive got a pull
I ask her lots of questions
And she hangs on to the wall
I kiss her for the first time
And then I take her home
I'm invited in for coffee
And I give the dog a bone

Needle And The Damage Done, Neil Young (yet another one):
I've seen the needle
and the damage done
A little part of it in everyone
But every junkie's
like a settin' sun

Bad Touch, Bloodhound Gang:
So show me yours I'll show you mine "Tool Time" you'll Lovett just like Lyle
And then we'll do it doggy style so we can both watch "X-Files"

Nick of Time, Bonnie Raitt (this is the lyrical equivalent of a chick flick, skip to the next if you can't stand it):
A friend of mine she cries at night, and she
Calls me on the phone
Sees babies everywhere she goes and she
Wants one of her own.
Shes waited long enough she says
And still he cant decide
Pretty soon shell have to choose and it tears her up inside...

(OK, the official lyrics say "she can't decide" instead of "he can't decide," but I swear she sings he, and it's a much more powerful lyric that way)

Brilliant Disguise, Bruce Springsteen (or The River, or Thunder Road, or about a dozen others):
I want to know if it's you I don't trust
'cause I damn sure don't trust myself

Heroes, David Bowie (Bowie would be second after Dylan for me. Pick a song, its lyrics are fantastic):
And you
You can be mean
And I
I'll drink all the time
'Cause we're lovers
And that is a fact
Yes we're lovers
And that is that

The Revolution Will Not Be Televised, Gil Scott-Heron:
You will not be able to stay home, brother.
You will not be able to plug in, turn on and cop out.
You will not be able to lose yourself on skag,
And skip out for beer during commercials,
Because the revolution will not be televised.

That's Entertainment, The Jam:
A smash of glass and a rumble of boots -
An electric train and a ripped up 'phone booth -
Paint splattered walls and the cry of a tomcat -
Lights going out and a kick in the balls -

That's Entertainment.

Til The Real Thing Comes Along, Judy Henske (this is a transcription, because the lyrics sites don't have it):
I would work for you, oh I'd would slave for you
I'd work my body to the grave for you
Now if that isn't love, it'll have to do
Til the real thing comes along

Perfect Skin, Lloyd Cole and the Commotions:
She's got cheekbones like geometry and eyes like sin,
And she's sexually enlightened by cosmopolitan

88 Lines About 44 Women, The Nails:
Joan thought men were second best
to masturbating in a bath

... and 86 more lines about 43 more women.

Closer, Nine Inch Nails:
You can have my isolation, you can have the hate that
It brings

Welcome to the Boomtown, David and David:
Ms. Cristina drives a nine four four
Satisfaction oozes from her pores


Second Castles in the Sand (no love for Little Wing?), and thanks for the Townes van Zandt, hadn't heard that before, it's good stuff.