Deep and philosophical lyrics

When it comes to depth and hidden layers of meaning within pop lyrics, surely there is no act on the planet that can match They Might Be Giants? As this article states, they have the ability to sum up the existential crisis of urban alienated post-industrial humankind within two seemingly simple lines:

http://raymondweir.blogspot.co.uk/

 

Thank you.

 

"Lost in the Stars" - by Maxwell Anderson (lyrics) and Kurt Weill (music), 1949
From the Broadway musical Lost in the Stars

Before Lord God made the Sea and the Land
He held all the stars in the palm of his hand
And they ran through his fingers like grains of sand
And one little star fell alone.
And the Lord God hunted through the white night air
For the little dark star in the wind down there
And he stated and promised
He'd take special care
So it wouldn't get lost again.
Now man don't mind if the stars grow dim
And the clouds blow over and darken him
So long as the Lord God's watching over him
Keeping track how it all goes on~
But I've been walking through the night, and the day
Till my eyes get weary and my head turns grey
And sometimes it seems maybe God's gone away
Forgetting the promise that we've heard him say
And we're lost out here in the stars.
Little stars, big stars
Blowing through the night
And we're lost out here in the stars.
Little stars, big stars
Blowing through the night.
And we're lost out here in the stars...

 

De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da...

 

"Life is what happens while you're busy making other plans" always struck me as fairly profound.

 

Less profound, but no less true, is David Byrne's "there is water at the bottom of the ocean"

 

I think there's lots of philosophical depth in The Beach Boys' and Brian Wilson's SMiLE.

 

"I Want You (She's So Heavy)"
The Beatles, Abbey Road, 1969


I want you
I want you so bad
I want you
I want you so bad
It's driving me mad
It's driving me mad

I want you
I want you so bad, babe
I want you
I want you so bad
It's driving me mad
It's driving me mad

I want you
I want you so bad, babe
I want you
I want you so bad
It's driving me mad
It's driving me mad

I want you
I want you so bad
I want you
I want you so bad
It's driving me mad
It's driving me mad

She's so heavy
Heavy, heavy, heavy

She's so heavy
She's so heavy
Heavy, heavy, heavy

I want you
I want you so bad
I want you
I want you so bad
It's driving me mad
It's driving me mad

I want you
You know I want you so bad, babe
I want you
You know I want you so bad
It's driving me mad
It's driving me mad
Yeah

She's so

 

Sheesh, I would have thought that we would have got some more serious answers before the facetious ones started in. 'Lost in the Stars' is a pretty good lyric, I had never read those through before. I hope we can get some more & interesting answers though ... it would be disappointing indeed if a community that prides itself on an interest in music couldn't dig a bit more gold out of the sung word than it managed in the first few posts.

 

"If life's for living, what's living for?"

-R.D. Davies


Rock Stamberg

 

It's a common occurrence here.

 

I was only being partially facetious with the Police song, the lyrics of which are actually quite profound IMO (and is the point of the song). But I will try to redeem my transgression with one of my favorites, Ani DiFranco's 'Fuel'. The lyrics and the performance bring me near to tears every time I hear it.

They were digging a new foudation in Manhattan
And they discovered a slave cemetary there
May their souls rest easy
Now that lynching is frowned upon
And we've moved on to the electric chair
And I wonder who's gonna be president, tweedle dum or tweedle dummer?
And who's gonna have the big blockbuster box office this summer?
How about we put up a wall between houses and the highway
And you can go your way, and I can go my may

Except all the radios agree with all the tvs
And all the magazines agree with all the radios
And I keep hearing that same damn song everywhere I go
Maybe I should put a bucket over my head
And a marshmallow in each ear
And stumble around for
Another dumb-numb waiting for another hit song to appear

People used to make records
As in a record of an event
The event of people playing music in a room
Now everything is cross-marketing
Its about sunglasses and shoes
Or guns and drugs
You choose
We got it rehashed
We got it half-assed
We're digging up all the graves
And we're spitting on the past
And you can choose between the colors
Of the lipstick on the whores
Cause we know the difference between
The font of 20% more
And the font of teriakiyi
You tell me
How does it... make you feel?

You tell me
What's ... real?
And they say that alcoholics are always alcoholics
Even when they're as dry as my lips for years
Even when they're stranded on a small desert island
With no place within 2,000 miles to buy beer
And I wonder
Is he different?
Is he different?
Has he changed? what's he about?..
Or is he just a liar with nothing to lie about?

Am I headed for the same brick wall
Is there anything I can do about
Anything at all?
Except go back to that corner in Manhattan
And dig deeper, dig deeper this time
Down beneath the impossible pain of our history
Beneath unknown bones
Beneath the bedrock of the mystery
Beneath the sewage systems and the PATH train
Beneath the cobblestones and the water mains
Beneath the traffic of friendships and street deals
Beneath the screeching of kamikaze cab wheels
Beneath everything I can think of to think about
Beneath it all, beneath all get out
Beneath the good and the kind and the stupid and the cruel
There's a fire just waiting for fuel

There's a fire just waiting for fuel
There's a fire just waiting for fuel
There's a fire just waiting for fuel
There's a fire just waiting for fuel
There's a fire just waiting for fuel
There's a fire just waiting for fuel
There's a fire just waiting for fuel
There's a fire just waiting for fuel
There's a fire just waiting for fuel
There's a fire just waiting for fuel
There's a fire just waiting for fuel
There's a fire just waiting for fuel
There's a fire just waiting for fuel

 

"Row, Row, Row Your Boat". I think you know the rest.

 

Great lyric, and great delivery on the original album, but I've seen her blow it badly live, as on the Live at Babeville DVD. Still, good suggestion.

Difficult to think of 'philosophical' lyrics which don't look as though they should have been posted to the 'pretentious and cringe-inducing' thread. I wonder if that's why people are being so shy of posting sincerely to this thread ..?

 

I don't know how deep these are, but I'd argue they're more philosophical in their approach and commentary than most songs.

"There is a crack in everything. That's how the light gets in." Leonard Cohen's Anthem (adapted from his studies of Zen texts)

"When you think you've lost everything, you find out you can lose a little more." Bob Dylan, Trying to Get to Heaven (this lyric plays well if wearily off "When you ain't got nothin' you've got nothin' to lose" in Like a Rolling Stone).

"Old trees just grow stronger
And old rivers grow wilder every day,
But old people just grow lonesome,
Waiting for someone to say hello." -- John Prine's Hello in There (written in his twenties)

"To live is to fly, low and high
So shake the dust off of your wings
And the tears out of your eyes." Townes Van Zandt's To Live Is to Fly

"If I pour a cup, that is friendship.
And if I add your milk, that is manners.
But if I stop there, claiming ignorance of taste,
That is tea." -- Cowboy Junkies' Cold Tea Blues

 

Fame is but a fruit tree
So very unsung
It can never flourish
Till its stalk is in the ground [etc.] (Nick Drake, 'Fruit Tree')

 

i think Gene Clark is deep and philosophical enough.
sometimes i like to have a clue of what a singer is telling me:sponge:

 

If I seem to be reckless with myself, it’s the fault of no one—
All things have a place under the moon as well as the sun.

- Elliott Smith

 

Good observation.

 

Augie March has some great 'deep' lyrics that I think avoid pretension, with 'Sunset Studies' being an example:


You are the queen of a dust bowl,
Ex to a crier in a town of ashes,
This is what happens when a great love crashes.
Tonight you let me see you,
For the first time, in a long time,
For the first time, in a time
Without the fear of going blind,
without the fear of going blind...
In a den of quitters in a hall of hosts,
Between worn out waltzes and wedding toasts
I heard a man confess that what he struggles with most
is the freedom for so long.
Without a strong enough voice to tell him what's wrong,
Without a will, without a prayer, without a passionate song to sing...
Our favourite sons, our polished metal guns,
Plagues, mermaids, setting suns
Our favourite sons, our polished metal guns,
Plagues, mermaids, setting suns

Well all by and by and all through and through,
this is the only thing that comes back to you,
how you banged her on a cannon in a World War Two park in Gundagai,
O come on guy, O come on, you were born red-eyed and screaming,
You mother was beaming, she trembled,
and dabbed your eyes with mercury and rained on you the blessings three.
You were a babe of Spring now what's it going to be.
Sunshine

Our favourite songs, our polished metal guns.
Plagues, mermaids, setting suns
Our favourite sons, our polished metal guns,
Plagues, mermaids, setting suns

Upon all brave new breeds of old disease
on rotten roots of family trees,
on sold out universities,
Other sunset studies and these.

 

I've always been moved by the lyrics to the Grateful Dead's "Box of Rain":

Look out of any window, any morning, any evening, any day.
Maybe the sun is shining, birds are singing,
No rain is falling from a heavy sky.
What do you want me to do, to do for you to see you through?
For this is all a dream we dreamed one afternoon, long ago.

Walk out of any doorway, feel your way, feel your way like the day before.
Maybe you'll find direction,
Around some corner where it's been waiting to meet you.
What do you want me to do, to watch for you while you are sleeping?
The please don't be surprised when you find me dreaming too.

Look into any eyes you find by you, you can see clear to another day,
Maybe been seen before, through other eyes on other days while going home.
What do you want me to do, to do for you to see you through?
It's all a dream we dreamed one afternoon, long ago.

Walk into splintered sunlight,
Inch your way through dead dreams to another land.
Maybe you're tired and broken,
Your tongue is twisted with words half spoken and thoughts unclear

What do you want me to do, to do for you to see you through?
A box of rain will ease the pain, and love will see you through.

Just a box of rain, wind and water
Believe it if you need it, if you don't, just pass it on
Sun and shower, wind and rain
In and out the window like a moth before a flame

And it's just a box of rain, I don't know who put it there,
Believe it if you need it, or leave it if you dare.
And it's just a box of rain, or a ribbon for your hair;
Such a long long time to be gone, and a short time to be there.

 

A popular song with great lyrics

'Sounds of Silence' by Simon & Garfunkel

Hello darkness, my old friend
I've come to talk with you again
Because a vision softly creeping
Left its seeds while I was sleeping
And the vision that was planted in my brain
Still remains
Within the sound of silence

In restless dreams I walked alone
Narrow streets of cobblestone
'Neath the halo of a street lamp
I turned my collar to the cold and damp
When my eyes were stabbed by the flash of a neon light
That split the night
And touched the sound of silence

And in the naked light I saw
Ten thousand people, maybe more
People talking without speaking
People hearing without listening
People writing songs that voices never share
And no one dared
Disturb the sound of silence

"Fools", said I, "You do not know
Silence like a cancer grows
Hear my words that I might teach you
Take my arms that I might reach you"
But my words, like silent raindrops fell
And echoed
In the wells of silence

And the people bowed and prayed
To the neon god they made
And the sign flashed out its warning
In the words that it was forming
And the sign said, "The words of the prophets are written on the subway walls
And tenement halls"
And whispered in the sounds of silence

 

A dark song from Bob Dylan-

"Death Is Not The End"
When you're sad and when you're lonely
And you haven't got a friend
Just remember that death is not the end
And all that you held sacred
Falls down and dows not bend
Just remember that death is not the end.

Not the end, not the end
Just remember that death is not the end.

When you're standing on the cross-roads
That you cannot comprehend
Just remember that death is not the end
And all your dreams have vanished
And you don't know what's up the bend
Just remember that death is not the end.

Not the end, not the end
Just remember that death is not the end.

When the storm clouds gather round you
And heavy rains descend
Just remember that death is not the end
And there's nowhere there to comfort you
With helping hand to lend
Just remember that death is not the end.

Not the end, not the end
Just remember that death is not the end.

Oh the tree of life is growing
Where the spirit never dies
And the bright light of salvation
Shines in dark and empty skies
When the cities are on fire
When the burning flesh of men
Just remember that death is not the end
And you search in vain to find
Just one law abiding citizen
Just remember that death is not the end.

Not the end, not the end
Just remember that death is not the end.

 

And one more from Johnny Cash

"Man In Black"
Well, you wonder why I always dress in black,
Why you never see bright colors on my back,
And why does my appearance seem to have a somber tone.
Well, there's a reason for the things that I have on.

I wear the black for the poor and the beaten down,
Livin' in the hopeless, hungry side of town,
I wear it for the prisoner who has long paid for his crime,
But is there because he's a victim of the times.

I wear the black for those who never read,
Or listened to the words that Jesus said,
About the road to happiness through love and charity,
Why, you'd think He's talking straight to you and me.

Well, we're doin' mighty fine, I do suppose,
In our streak of lightnin' cars and fancy clothes,
But just so we're reminded of the ones who are held back,
Up front there ought 'a be a Man In Black.

I wear it for the sick and lonely old,
For the reckless ones whose bad trip left them cold,
I wear the black in mournin' for the lives that could have been,
Each week we lose a hundred fine young men.

And, I wear it for the thousands who have died,
Believen' that the Lord was on their side,
I wear it for another hundred thousand who have died,
Believen' that we all were on their side.

Well, there's things that never will be right I know,
And things need changin' everywhere you go,
But 'til we start to make a move to make a few things right,
You'll never see me wear a suit of white.

Ah, I'd love to wear a rainbow every day,
And tell the world that everything's OK,
But I'll try to carry off a little darkness on my back,
'Till things are brighter, I'm the Man In Black.