Most moving lyrics ever
Especially when sang by Sinead o´Conner. Sends shivers down my spine.
The Foggy Dew
It was down the glen one Easter morn, to a city fair rode I
There Ireland's lines of marching men, in squadron passed me by
No pipes did hum or no battle drum did sound its dread tattoo
But, the Angelus bell o'er the Liffey swell, rang out in the Foggy Dew
Right proudly high over Dublin town, they hung out the flag of war
For, 'twas better to die 'neath an Irish sky than at Suvla or Sud El Bar
And from the plains of Royal Meath, strong men came hurrying through
While Brittania's sons with their long range guns, sailed in by the Foggy Dew
'Twas England bade our wild geese go that small nations might be free
But, their lonely graves are by Suvla's waves on the fringe of the grey North Sea
Oh, had they died by Pearse's side, or fought with Valera true
Their graves we'd keep where the Fenians sleep, 'neath the hills of the Foggy Dew
The bravest fell and the sullen bell rang mournfully and clear
For those who died that Easter tide in the springing of the year
And the world did gaze in deep amaze at those fearless men and true
Who bore the fight that freedom's light might shine through the Foggy Dew
The Foggy Dew
It was down the glen one Easter morn, to a city fair rode I
There Ireland's lines of marching men, in squadron passed me by
No pipes did hum or no battle drum did sound its dread tattoo
But, the Angelus bell o'er the Liffey swell, rang out in the Foggy Dew
Right proudly high over Dublin town, they hung out the flag of war
For, 'twas better to die 'neath an Irish sky than at Suvla or Sud El Bar
And from the plains of Royal Meath, strong men came hurrying through
While Brittania's sons with their long range guns, sailed in by the Foggy Dew
'Twas England bade our wild geese go that small nations might be free
But, their lonely graves are by Suvla's waves on the fringe of the grey North Sea
Oh, had they died by Pearse's side, or fought with Valera true
Their graves we'd keep where the Fenians sleep, 'neath the hills of the Foggy Dew
The bravest fell and the sullen bell rang mournfully and clear
For those who died that Easter tide in the springing of the year
And the world did gaze in deep amaze at those fearless men and true
Who bore the fight that freedom's light might shine through the Foggy Dew
Comments
"Goodbye" by Steve Earl from "Train A Comin' " - Date: 08/01/1995
I remember holdin on to you
All them long and lonely nights I put you through
Somewhere in there I'm sure I made you cry
But I can't remember if we said goodbye
CHORUS
But I recall all of them nights down in Mexico
One place I may never go in my life again
Was I just off somewhere just too high
But I can't remember if we said goodbye
I only miss you here every now and then
Like the soft breeze blowin; up from the Caribbean
Most Novembers I break down and cry
But I can't remember if we said goodbye
CHORUS
<a href="http://www.sing365.com/music/lyric.nsf/SingerUnid/4C7D4A1C13B1E9A048256AB600370652"; target="_blank">http://www.sing365.com/music/lyric.nsf/SingerUnid/4C7D4A1C13B1E9A048256AB600370652</a>;
- T.I.
<a href="http://www.cdnow.com/cgi-bin/mserver/SID=1594692740/pagename=/RP/CDN/FIND/album.html/artistid=MINUTEMEN/itemid=297780"; target="_blank">"Three Way Tie (for last)</a>
I've played this album many times before and since 9|11. I played it again last night and literally cried. Not many albums or bands can do this to me. They have to touch a chord within me. And countless times this one always has. Wholly recommend it (plus their classic "Double Nickels on a Dime" CD). The Minutemen were from San Pedro, CA.. They were poised in 1985 with this album to become major players in the Indie scene. Tragicaly, the singer, songwriter and lead guitarist died in an automobile accident before their US. Tour for the album... Try and find this CD. Or swipe it off the web in MP3. I have now considered it to be one of my personal favorites. Here are the lyrics (with some of my notations)...
all songs by the minutemen, except where indicated differently
D. Boon, acoustic and electric guitars, singing (lead & back-up)
Mike Watt, bass
George Hurley, drums.
Recorded at Radio Tokyo in Venice, California
Produced by Ethan James and Boon/Watt
SST-058 1985
The Lyrics to "Three way tie":
THE PRICE OF PARADISE (3:31) (this song goes anywhere...it could be an American soldier or a Hamas Terrorist...but it still evokes a lamented character following a cause that may have no finality...replace "Vietnam" with Israel, Afganistan or Palestine, you name it...)
(boon)
How I remember the history I have seen
I was just a young boy,the horror I couldnt forsee
All the pain that comes with war
All the scars that never heal
Here in paradise the price is cheap
Young men die for greed
Across the ocean in a land they call Vietnam
Young men dying is all it would cost
We were told and proudly believed
They would fight to keep us free
Here in America the price is cheap
Young men die for what?
My brother,the soldier was a hero who survived
He'd tell the stories of men who died without dreams
And they fight for men twice their age
The smell of death made his life change
The price of paradise is stained with blood
Why?
All pawns and puppets of flesh and bone
Will die for their leaders far from their homes
These are men who died very young
Afraid to see that their cause was unjust
Why couldnt they live for life?
Not die to survive
LOST (2:26)
(kurt kirkwood-meat puppets) (a great no-nothing song co-written by Boon and Meatpuppet Kirkwood...)
Lost on the freeways again
Looking for cause to an end
Nobody knows which way its gonna bend
Lost on the freeways again
Walking the breezeways again
Looking for something my friend
Im getting tired of living Nixon's mess
Walking the breezeways again
I know there will come a time when you'll say that you dont know me
I know there will be a day when there's nothing no one owes me anymore
Stuck in the attic again
Out of the shallow and in to the deep end
Ive got a wound that I know will never mend
Stuck in the attic again
I know there will come a time when you'll say that you dont know me
I know there will be a day when there's nothing no one owes me anymore
THE BIG STICK (2:27) (Again, try replacing these people/places with current ones and it all sends the same message...)
(boon)
Now over there in Managua Square
With American made bombs falling everywhere
They kill women and children and animals too
These bombs are made by people like me and you
And we're told that we hold a big stick over them
But I know from what I've read that peace is in our hands
Now over there in Guatamala my friend
We're making mistakes there once again
Uncle Sam supports a fascist regime
That doesnt represent the people over there
We learn and believe there is justice for us all
And we lie to ourselves with a big stick up our ass
Now if we stand and yell it out
That war isn't what we're all about
Then someone will come and bring us back
To get the peace train back on it's tracks
This is what I'm singing about
The race war that America supports
Indians will never die
They'll do just fine if we let them try
Though we hold,we're never told that peace is in our hands
If we stop there is time to heal the scars we've caused
To heal the scars we've caused...
POLITICAL NIGHTMARE (3:50) (This is it. The song that hit me in the gut. Powerful musically, remember it's only a trio...amazing performance...has to be heard. Short but sweet too (they were known for that...being the "Minutemen".)
(kira/watt)
Someone's doing something
Confusion
Anpther invasion?
Sympathize with who?
Someone killed somebody
Confusion
Did anyone gain?
How much did it cost?
Woke up screaming
Someone changed sides
Everyone was dying
One too many votes...Satan won
COURAGE (2:29) (A song for soldiers/terrorists...from wherever you originate...)
(boon)
Where's your courage?
Are you afraid to die?
Are you happy that God is on your side?
I wrote this song in a story of men who died for glory
Where's your courage?
Do you think you're alone?
Are you laughing for being blind and pure?
I wrote this song in a story of men who died for glory
Where's your courage?
Do you share all you have?
Are you hiding from something you dont know?
Where's your courage?
HAVE YOU EVER SEEN THE RAIN? (2:25) (This is the one that cracked me up. I never really liked any cover songs, but this one is emotionally on the mark...fantastic and sooo poinient in today's troubled times. )
(john fogerty-creedence clearwater revival)
Someone told me long ago
There's a calm before the storm
I know...it's been coming for some time
When it's over so they say
It'll rain a sunny day
I know...shining down like water
I wanna know...have you ever seen the rain?
I wanna know...have you ever seen the rain?
Coming down on a sunny day
Yesterday and days before
Sun is cold and rain is hard
I know...it's been that way for all my time
'Till forever on it goes
Through the circle fast and slow
I know...can it stop I wonder
I wanna know...have you ever seen the rain?
I wanna know...have you ever seen the rain?
Coming down on a sunny day
THE RED AND THE BLACK (4:04) (Another amazing cover song. Orginally a Blue Oyster Cult encore fave when all five members of the band would have a guitar fest. Here though, it's only D. Boon, drummer George Hurley and the great bassist Mike Watt.)
(albert bouchard/eric bloom/sandy pearlman-blue oyster cult)
Canadian mounted,baby
A police force that works
Red and black is their color scheme
Get their man in the end
It's all right...It's all right
You kill,you maim
You kill,you maim
Frontenac chateau,baby
I cross the fromtier at ten
Got a whip in my hand,baby
And a girl or a huskie at leather's end
It's all right...It's all right
You kill,you maim
You kill you maim
Hornswoop me bungo pony
Dog sled on ice
Make a dash for freedom,baby
Dont skate on polar ice
It's too thick to be sliced by the light
Of long,white polar nights
It's all right...It's all right
You kill,you maim
You kill,you maim
SPOKEN WORD PIECE (1:04) (Pretty much self explanatory. D. Boon speaking over a recording of a Viet Nam chopper pilot machine gunning the VC in the rice fields...)
(watt)
Liberal Man meets Conservative Man
Conservative Man wears his myth on his skin
Liberal Man has to explain his and keeps his shirt all buttoned up
Conservative Man greets Liberal Man with a well-rehearsed cold stare
Liberal Man replies by issuing forth horseshit
Conservative Man retaliates by taking the concrete reality of the
situation and lodging it,like a wedge,right between both sides of
Liberal Man's brain
Liberal Man is caught off gaurd by this apparent non-abstraction
There is one full minute of confusion
Liberal Man becomes Conservative Man
Conservative Man becomes Liberal Man
War is declared
Liberal Man cheats by calling in reinforcements
Conservative Man is set upon by a mob and murdered
Said mob then turns on Liberal Man and he dies a broken man
NO ONE (3:24) (This song reflects the poor, the suffering and the disenfranchised all over the world... Very powerful, loud and pounding song...awesome in it's performance...)
(kira/watt)
No one! I said no one!
Im talkin' about no one!
I said no one!
No heart,no soul
Not working at that goal
Im talkin' about no one
I said no one
No love,no hate
No someone to emulate
Im talkin' about no one
I said no one
Grow old,knowing,always believing,never doubting that there's...
No one! I said no one!
Im talkin' about no one!
I said no one!
Not living,not dying
Life just means surviving
Im talkin' about no one
I said no one
No cost,no gain
Not worth going insane
Im talkin' about no one
I said no one
Grow old,knowing,always believing,never doubting that there's...
No one! I said no one!
Im talkin' about no one!
I said no one!
No pain,no remorse
Emptiness just a matter of course
Im talkin' about no one
I said no one
No world,no fair
Lost hope I no longer care
Im talkin' about no one
I said no one
Grow old,knowing,always believing,never doubting that there's...
No one! I said no one!
Im talkin' about no one!
I said no one!
STORIES (1:31) (A short, aucoustic song break...co-written with the Black Flag bassist Kira.)
(kira/watt)
I heard one today about the one I love
I heard one earlier that shook me up
I heard one the other day,cant believe it's true
I heard one by accident wish I had it
I heard one so many times I couldn't care any more
WHAT IS IT? (1:46) (Another, short but sweet. I think Watt and Kira were going out at the time...)
(kira/watt)
In your eyes I've seen it
In my silence it's heard
In a dream it lingers
In solitude it's known
In honesty I scream it
In panic I forget it
In desperation I need it
In time I lose it
In my mind I save it
ACK ACK ACK (0:26) (Another cover. I know they do have many on this album, but they knew that many of the bands they covered weren't known and they thought this album would be their topper and maybe they would get some attention...)
(talley/jones/johansen-the urinals)
Johnny got a gun
Ack Ack Ack Ack
Johnny got a gun
Ack Ack Ack Ack
Like this
Ack Ack Ack Ack
Like this
Ack Ack Ack Ack
All the papers write about Johnny
All the radios shout his name
He grabbed his gun and shot me down
Ack Ack Ack Ack
JUST ANOTHER SOLDIER (1:54) (Another Anti-War song? Think not..?)
(boon)
Over 300 dead,we still got pride
We've lost all our morals,we still got pride
Should we fight this war in some far corner of the globe
And learn how to die for some unjust cause
Is this our future?
Ashes are all that remain
It's easy when you got pride
How much pride does a dead soldier got?
His life so short,no chance to even start
The ones he left behind
The world he'll never see
But no one could deny that the soldier died with pride
SITUATIONS AT HAND (1:20)(Another "spiel")
(kira/watt)
There are still lofty dreams meager desires and still silliness
HITTIN' THE BONG (0:40) (No "spiel" - D Boon bein' all sensitive on the acoustic guitar.)
(boon)
BERMUDA (1:37) (The end track...nothing much, Watt singing over the telephone to Boon. Good ender.)
(roky erickson
Sorry, had to get that off my chest...but HIGHLY recommend them... <img src="graemlins/smokin.gif" border="0" alt="[Chilling]" />
[ 06-21-2002: Message edited by: Artman @_@ ]</p>
Bike (by the daft Syd Barret):
I've got a bike. You can ride it if you like. It's got a basket, a bell that rings and things to make it look good.
I'd give it to you if I could, but I borrowed it.
You're the kind of girl that fits in with my world.
I'll give you anything, everything if want things.
I've got a cloak. It's a bit of a joke.
There's a tear up the front. It's red and black. I've had it for months. If you think it could look good, then I guess it should.
You're the kind of girl that fits in with my world.
I'll give you anything, everything if you want things.
I know a mouse, and he hasn't got a house.
I don't know why I call him Gerald.
He's getting rather old, but he's a good mouse.
You're the kind of girl that fits in with my world.
I'll give you anything, everything if you want things.
I've got a clan of gingerbread men.
Here a man, there a man, lots of gingerbread men.
Take a couple if you wish. They're on the dish.
You're the kind of girl that fits in with my world.
I'll give you anything, everything if you want things.
I know a room of musical tunes.
Some rhyme, some ching. Most of them are clockwork.
Let's go into the other room and make them work.
[ 06-21-2002: Message edited by: thuh Freak ]</p>
If (by Roger Waters):
If I were a swan, I'd be gone.
If I were a train, I'd be late and
If I were a good man,
I'd talk with you more often than I do.
If I were asleep, I could dream
If I were afraid, I could hide and
If I go insane,
Please don't put your wires in my brain.
If I were a moon, I'd be cool.
If I were a good man,
I'd understand the spaces between friends.
If I were alone, I would cry.
If I were with you, I'd be home, and dry, and
If I go insane,
Will you still let me join in with the game.
I'll make you a deal, like any other candidate
We'll pretend we're walking home 'cause your future's at stake
My set is amazing, it even smells like a street
There's a bar at the end where I can meet you and your friend
Someone scrawled on the walls I smell the blood of les tricoteuses
Grown up scandals, and other bars
We're having so much fun with the poisonous people,
Spreading rumors and lies and stories they made up
Some make you sing, and some make you scream
One makes you wish that you'd never been seen
But there's a shop on the corner that's selling papier mach
Making bullet-proof faces: charles manson, cassius clay
If you want it, boys, get it here then
So you scream out of line
I want you! I need you! anyone out there? any time?'
Trs butch little number say 'when you're dirty, I want you.
When it's good, it's really good, and when it's bad I go to pieces
If you want it, boys, get it here, then
On the street where you live I could not hold up my head,
For I put all I had in another bed
On another floor, in the back of a car
In a cellar like a church with the door ajar
Well, I guess we must be looking for a different kind,
But we can't stop trying 'til we break up our minds
Til the sun drips blood on the seedy young knights
Who press you on the ground while shaking in fright
I guess we can cruise down one more time,
With you by my side, it should be fine
We'll buy some drugs and watch a band
We'll jump in the river holding hands
How about a sample line?
Jeff
[ 06-21-2002: Message edited by: jeffyboy ]</p>
<strong> <img src="graemlins/lol.gif" border="0" alt="[Laughing]" /> pscates!
How about a sample line?
Jeff
[ 06-21-2002: Message edited by: jeffyboy ]</strong><hr></blockquote>
Well, a sample line just won't do. It's such a beautifully crafted and exquisite piece of poetry...I shall share the entire thing:
WANG DANG SWEET POONTANG
That Nadine, what a teenage queen
She lookin' so clean, especi'lly down in between; what I like
She come to town; she be foolin' around
a puttin' me down as a rock-and-roll clown
It's all right
Wang Dang Sweet Poontang
Wang dang, what a sweet poontang
a shakin' my thang as a rang-a-dang-dang in the bell
She's so sweet when she yanks on my meat
Down on the street you know she can't be beat
What the hell
Wang Dang Sweet Poontang
Sheer genius. Gets me right here, everytime.
There's a blood red circle
on the cold dark ground
and the rain is falling down
The church doors blown open
I can hear the organ's song
But the congregation's gone
My city of ruins
My city of ruins
Now the sweet veils of mercy
drift through the evening trees
Young men on the corner
like scattered leaves
The bordered up windows
The hustlers and thieves
While my brother's down on his knees
My city of ruins
My city of ruins
Come on rise up!
Come on rise up!
Now there's tears on the pillow
darling where we slept
and you took my heart when you left
without your sweet kiss
my soul is lost, my friend
Now tell me how do I begin again?
My city's in ruins
My city's in ruins
Now with these hands
I pray Lord
with these hands
for the strength Lord
with these hands
for the faith Lord
with these hands
I pray Lord
with these hands
for the strength Lord
with these hands
for the faith Lord
with these hands
Come on rise up!
Come on rise up!
Rise up
the way he sang it was unbelievable. it was pure emotion on his side
Cat's foot iron claw,
Neuro-surgeons scream for more.
At paranoia's poison door,
Twenty first century schizoid man...
Blood rack barbed wire,
Polititians' funeral pyre.
Innocents raped with napalm fire.
Twenty first century schizoid man...
Death seed blind man's greed,
Poets' starving children bleed.
Nothing he's got he really needs,
Twenty first century schizoid man...
Once upon a time you dressed so fine
You threw the bums a dime in your prime, didn't you?
People'd call, say, "Beware doll, you're bound to fall"
You thought they were all kiddin' you
You used to laugh about
Everybody that was hangin' out
Now you don't talk so loud
Now you don't seem so proud
About having to be scrounging for your next meal.
How does it feel
How does it feel
To be without a home
Like a complete unknown
Like a rolling stone?
You've gone to the finest school all right, Miss Lonely
But you know you only used to get juiced in it
And nobody has ever taught you how to live on the street
And now you find out you're gonna have to get used to it
You said you'd never compromise
With the mystery tramp, but now you realize
He's not selling any alibis
As you stare into the vacuum of his eyes
And ask him do you want to make a deal?
How does it feel
How does it feel
To be on your own
With no direction home
Like a complete unknown
Like a rolling stone?
You never turned around to see the frowns on the jugglers and the clowns
When they all come down and did tricks for you
You never understood that it ain't no good
You shouldn't let other people get your kicks for you
You used to ride on the chrome horse with your diplomat
Who carried on his shoulder a Siamese cat
Ain't it hard when you discover that
He really wasn't where it's at
After he took from you everything he could steal.
How does it feel
How does it feel
To be on your own
With no direction home
Like a complete unknown
Like a rolling stone?
Princess on the steeple and all the pretty people
They're drinkin', thinkin' that they got it made
Exchanging all kinds of precious gifts and things
But you'd better lift your diamond ring, you'd better pawn it babe
You used to be so amused
At Napoleon in rags and the language that he used
Go to him now, he calls you, you can't refuse
When you got nothing, you got nothing to lose
You're invisible now, you got no secrets to conceal.
How does it feel
How does it feel
To be on your own
With no direction home
Like a complete unknown
Like a rolling stone?
<strong>Especially when sang by Sinead o´Conner. Sends shivers down my spine.
The Foggy Dew
It was down the glen one Easter morn, to a city fair rode I
There Ireland's lines of marching men, in squadron passed me by
No pipes did hum or no battle drum did sound its dread tattoo
But, the Angelus bell o'er the Liffey swell, rang out in the Foggy Dew
Right proudly high over Dublin town, they hung out the flag of war
For, 'twas better to die 'neath an Irish sky than at Suvla or Sud El Bar
And from the plains of Royal Meath, strong men came hurrying through
While Brittania's sons with their long range guns, sailed in by the Foggy Dew
'Twas England bade our wild geese go that small nations might be free
But, their lonely graves are by Suvla's waves on the fringe of the grey North Sea
Oh, had they died by Pearse's side, or fought with Valera true
Their graves we'd keep where the Fenians sleep, 'neath the hills of the Foggy Dew
The bravest fell and the sullen bell rang mournfully and clear
For those who died that Easter tide in the springing of the year
And the world did gaze in deep amaze at those fearless men and true
Who bore the fight that freedom's light might shine through the Foggy Dew</strong><hr></blockquote>
Definatley a classic Irish tune there Macvasco
Has a lot of history and meaning in it too.
Tool - Lateralus (it's more than loud music, it's poetic loud music)
Black then white are all i see in my infancy.
red and yellow then came to be, reaching out to me.
lets me see.
as below, so above and beyond, I imagine
drawn beyond the lines of reason.
Push the envelope. Watch it bend.
Over thinking, over analyzing separates the body from the mind.
Withering my intuition, missing opportunities and I must
Feed my will to feel my moment drawing way outside the lines.
Black then white are all i see in my infancy.
red and yellow then came to be, reaching out to me.
lets me see there is so much more and
beckons me to look thru to these infinite possibilities.
as below, so above and beyond, I imagine
drawn outside the lines of reason.
Push the envelope. Watch it bend.
over thinking, over analyzing separates the body from the mind.
Withering my intuition leaving opportunities behind.
Feed my will to feel this moment urging me to cross the line.
Reaching out to embrace the random.
Reaching out to embrace whatever may come.
I embrace my desire to
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 and still be a human.
With my feet upon the ground I move myeslf between the sounds and open wide to suck it in.
I feel it move across my skin.
I'm reaching up and reaching out. I'm reaching for the random or what ever will bewilder me.
what ever will bewilder me.
And following our will and wind we may just go where no one's been.
We'll ride the spiral to the end and may just go where no one's been.
Spiral out. Keep going.
Spiral out. Keep going.
Spiral out. Keep going.
Spiral out. Keep going.
Spiral out. Keep going.
"I met a girl who sang the blues and I asked her for some happy news
But she just smiled and turned away.
I went down to the sacred store where I heard the music years before
But the man there said the music wouldn't play.
And in the streets the children screamed
Lovers cried and the poets dreamed
But not a word was spoken
The church bells all were broken.
And the three men I admire most
The Father, Son and The Holy Ghost
They caught the last train for the coast
The day the music died."
Don Mclean, "American Pie" if anyone didn't know.
Jeff
<strong>
Definatley a classic Irish tune there Macvasco
Has a lot of history and meaning in it too.</strong><hr></blockquote>
A worthy ode to brave men I think.
Where in Ireland are you from?