This came in mind in a thread in Games section. One of the finest pieces of song lyrics (and sung with the finest pronunciation by Peter Gabriel). From the album Selling England By The Pound, 1973.


The Battle of Epping Forest

Taken from a news story concerning two rival gangs fighting over East-End Protection rights.


Along the Forest Road, there's hundreds of cars - luxury cars.
Each has got its load of convertible bars, cutlery cars - superscars!
For today is the day when they sort it out, sort it out,
'cos they disagree on a gangland boundary.
They disagree on a gangland boundary.

There's Willy Wright and his boys -
one helluva noise, that's Billy's boys!
With fully-fashioned mugs, that's Little John's thugs,
the Barking Slugs - supersmugs!
For today is the day when they sort it out, sort it out,
yes these Christian soldiers fight to protect the poor.
East end heroes got to score in...

the Battle of Epping Forest,
yes it's the Battle of Epping Forest,
right outside your door.
You ain't seen nothing like it.
No, you ain't seen nothing like it,
not since the Civil War.

Coming over the hill are the boys of Bill,
and Johnny's lads stand very still.
With the thumpire's shout, they all start to clout
- there's no guns in this gentleman's bout.
Georgie moves in on the outside left
with a chain flying round his head;
and Harold Demure, from Art Literature,
nips up the nearest tree.
(Here come the cavalry!)

Amidst the battle roar,
accountants keep the score: 10-4.
They've never been alone, after getting a radiophone.
The bluebells are ringing for Sweetmeal Sam, real ham,
handing out bread and jam just like any picnic.

It's 5-4 on William Wright; he made his pile on Derby night.
When Billy was a kid, walking the streets,
the other kids hid - so they did!
And now, after working hard in security trade, he's got it made.
The shops that need aid are those that haven't paid.

"I do my double-show quick!" said Mick the Prick, fresh out the nick.
"I sell cheap holiday. The minute they leave,
then a visit I pay - and does it pay!"
And his friend, Liquid Len by name,
of Wine, Women and Wandsworth fame,
said "I'm breaking the legs of the bastard that got me framed!"

They called me the Reverend when I entered the Church unstained;
my employers have changed but the name has remained.
It all began when I went on a tour,
hoping to find some furniture.
I followed a sign - it said "Beautiful Chest".
It led to a lady who showed me her best.
She was taken by surprise when I quickly closed my eyes.
So she rang the bell, and quick as hell
Bob the Nob came out on his job
to see what the trouble was.
"Louise, is the Reverend hard to please?"
"You're telling me!"
"Perhaps, sir, if it's not too late.
we could interest you in our old-fashioned Staffordshire plate?"
"Oh no, not me, I'm a man of repute."
But the Devil caught hold of my soul and a voice called out "Shoot!"

To save my steeple, I visited people;
for this I'd gone when I met Little John.
His name came, I understood,
when the judge said "You're a robbing hood."
He told me of his strange foundation,
conceived on sight of the Woodstock nation;
he'd had to hide his reputation.
When poor, 'twas salvation from door to door.
But now, with a pin-up guru every week,
it's Love, Peace & Truth Incorporated for all who seek.

He employed me as a karma-ma-mechanic, with overall charms.
His hands were then fit to receive, receive alms.
That's why we're in

the Battle of Epping Forest,
yes it's the Battle of Epping Forest,
right outside your door.
We guard your souls for peanuts,
and we guard your shops and houses
for just a little more.

In with a left hook is the Bethnal Green Butcher,
but he's countered on the right by Mick's chain-gang fight,
and Liquid Len, with his smashed bottle men,
is lobbing Bob the Nob across the gob.
With his kisser in a mess, Bob seems under stress,
but Jones the Jug hits Len right in the mug;
and Harold Demure, who's still not quite sure,
fires acorns from out of his sling.
(Here come the cavalry!)

Up, up above the crowd,
inside their Silver Cloud, done proud,
the bold and brazen brass, seen darkly through the glass.
The butler's got jam on his Rolls; Roy doles out the lot,
with tea from a silver pot just like any picnic.

Along the Forest Road, it's the end of the day
and the Clouds roll away.
Each has got its load - they'll come out for the count
at the break-in of day.
When the limos return for their final review, it's all thru'
- all they can see is the morning goo.
"There's no-one left alive - must be draw."
So the Blackcap Barons toss a coin to settle the score.

---

I don't know half of you half as well as I should like; and I like less than half of you half as well as you deserve.

i'm a big fan of alot of different type music .... but i like elton john's lyrics .... don't the sun go down on me, your song, tiny dancer, rocket man, and this train don't stop are some of my favorites

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your signature is silly!

just found out a band i've known and liked for a few years is coming to memphis .... here's to them ....

i'm stronger now, even after everything that you did
still alive and kicking
i'm better now i can see, everything in front of me now

alive and kicking - nonpoint

---

your signature is silly!

Also, "Younger than the Sun...".

Into The Mystic
Van Morrison

I've always liked how Steve Winwood and Will Jennings moved this song from first to second person. The rhythm is so contagious it almost makes your heartbeat step inside it. From Winwood's album, Arc of the Diver, 1980, on which he played all the instruments and recorded the songs in his home studio.

Quote:

Spanish Dancer

I can feel the heat, no one has to tell me
It's so good, once it starts, I'll never let go

I can feel the beat like a Spanish dancer under my feet
Makin' the world go 'round, I can't come down
You can't hold me, when I get to feelin' this way
It's all over, I'm inside that music that's playin'

It takes me out, across the wall
It makes my life a carnival
I go out on the street and take my chances
Don't even have to ask, I know the answers yeah

I can feel the street like a Spanish dancer under my feet
Makin' the night go 'round, I can't come down
You can't hold me, when I get to feelin' this way
It's all over, I'm inside that music that's playin'

You can feel the heat, no one has to tell you
It's so good, once it starts, you'll never let go

You can feel the beat like a Spanish dancer under your feet
Makin' the world go 'round, you can't come down
They can't hold you, when you get to feelin' this way
It's all over, you're inside that music that's playin'

It takes you out, across the wall
It makes your life a carnival
You go out on the street and take your chances
Don't even have to ask, you know the answers

You can feel the street like a Spanish dancer under your feet
Makin' the night go 'round, you can't come down
They can't hold you, when you get to feelin' this way
It's all over, you're inside that music that's playin'

---

All politics is applesauce. ...Will Rogers

Richard got married to a figure skater and he bought her a dishwasher and a coffee percolator.............Joni Mitchell

---

"Millions long for immortality who don't know what to do with themselves on a rainy Sunday afternoon" Suzanne Ertz

Yea Pedro -very good,I had forgotten that masterpiece."Dropkick me Jesus through the goal posts of life"

How about this classic from:

THE CIRCLE JERKS

in a sluggish economy
inflation,recession
hits the land of the free
standing in unemployment lines
blame the government for hard time

we just get by
however we can
we all gotta duck
when the shit hits the fan

10 kids in a cadillac
stand in lines for welfare checks
let's all leach off the state
gee!the money's really great!

soup lines
free loaves of bread
5lb blocks of cheese
bags of groceries
social security
has run out on you and me
we do whatever we can
gotta duck when the shit hits the fan

---

A Genie told me I could have one wish...Either a large Penis or a Long memory...I forget which one I chose. :)

I've always loved the Doors lyrics

THE DOORS
"The Crystal Ship"
Before you slip into unconsciousness
I'd like to have another kiss
Another flashing chance at bliss
Another kiss, another kiss


The days are bright and filled with pain
Enclose me in your gentle rain
The time you ran was too insane
We'll meet again, we'll meet again


Oh tell me where your freedom lies
The streets are fields that never die
Deliver me from reasons why
You'd rather cry, I'd rather fly


The crystal ship is being filled
A thousand girls, a thousand thrills
A million ways to spend your time
When we get back, I'll drop a line

---

There is no past tense to Love, either you always will or you never did. ....

Robert Plant & The Strange Sensations - Shine It All Around
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LHLroFXZuvs

---

I don't know half of you half as well as I should like; and I like less than half of you half as well as you deserve.

Tarkus
by Emerson, Lake & Palmer (lyrics by Greg Lake, I guess)
((savour the first line's metaphor))


I. The Stones Of Years

Has the dawn ever seen your eyes?
Have the days made you so unwise?
Realize, you are.

Had you talked to the winds of time,
Then you'd know how the waters rhyme,
Taste of wine,

How can you know where you've been?
In time you'll see the sign
And realize your sin.

Will you know how the seed is sown?
All your time has been overgrown,
Never known.

Have you walked on the stones of years?
When you speak, is it you that hears?
Are your ears bone?

You can't hear anything at all.

II. Mass

The preacher said a prayer.
Save ev'ry single hair on his head.
He's dead.

The minister of hate had just arrived to late to be spared.
Who cared?
The weaver in the web that he made!

The pilgrim wandered in,
Commiting ev'ry sin that he could
So good...

The cardinal of grief was set in his belief he'd saved
From the grave
The weaver in the web that he made!

The high priest took a blade
To bless the ones that prayed,
And all obeyed.

The messenger of fear is slowly growing, nearer to the time,
A sign.
The weaver in the web that he made!

A bishops rings a bell,
A cloak of darkness fell across the ground
Without a sound!

The silent choir sing and in their silence,
Bring jaded sound, harmonic ground.
The weaver in the web that he made!

III. The Battlefield

Clear the battlefield and let me see
All the profit from our victory.
You talk of freedom, starving children fall.
Are you deaf when you hear the season's call?

Were you there to watch the earth be scorched?
Did you stand beside the spectral torch?
Know the leaves of sorrow turned their face,
Scattered on the ashes of disgrace.

Ev'ry blade is sharp; the arrows fly
Where the victims of your armies lie.
Were the blades of grass, and arrows rain,
Then there'd be no sorrow,
Be no pain.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rDzNkLh8Rsk

---

I don't know half of you half as well as I should like; and I like less than half of you half as well as you deserve.

Inspired by the discussion of the meaning of song lyrics in Vocabulary section...

What do you think of this Genesis song (Gabrielian era) The Lamia?


The scent grows richer, he knows he must be near,
He finds a long passageway lit by chandelier.
Each step he takes, the perfumes change
From familiar fragrance to flavours strange.
A magnificent chamber meets his eye.

Inside, a long rose-water pool is shrouded by fine mist.
Stepping in the moist silence, with a warm breeze hes gently kissed.

Thinking he is quite alone,
He enters the room, as if it were his own,
But ripples on the sweet pink water
Reveal some company unthought of-

Rael stands astonished doubting his sight,
Struck by beauty, gripped in fright;
Three vermilion snakes of female face,
The smallest motion, filled with grace.
Muted melodies fill the echoing hall,
But there is no sign of warning in the sirens call:
Rael welcome, we are the Lamia of the pool.
We have been waiting for our waters to bring you cool.

Putting fear beside him, he trusts in beauty blind,
He slips into the nectar, leaving his shredded clothes behind.
With their tongues, they test, taste and judge all that is mine.
They move in a series of caresses
That glide up and down my spine.

As they nibble the fruit of my flesh, I feel no pain,
Only a magic that a name would stain.
With the first drop of my blood in their veins
Their faces are convulsed in mortal pains.
The fairest cries, We all have loved you Rael.

Each empty snakelike body floats,
Silent sorrow in empty boats.
A sickly sourness fills the room,
The bitter harvest of a dying bloom.
Looking for motion I know I will not find,
I stroke the curls now turning pale, in which Id lain entwined
O Lamia, your flesh that remains I will take as my food
It is the scent of garlic that lingers on my choclate fingers.

Looking behind me, the water turns icy blue,
The lights are dimmed and once again the stage is set for you.

---

I don't know half of you half as well as I should like; and I like less than half of you half as well as you deserve.

You're welcome toots.
The Faces were also responsible for some of my afternoon's occupation yesterday. Their 'Happiness Stan' story, related by Stanley Unwin impressed and amused me very much.

A few lines from the beginning and a bit from later on.
The text does not quite match the one from the recording,
but I couldn't find a better version.

Are you all seated comfly-bold,
two-square on your botty?
Then I'll begin....

....
Now of course, like all real life experience stories,
this also begins, once upon a ti-to.
And Happiness Stan, whose life evolved
near a femerald coloured dreamy most,
had his pure existence and his being
in the deep joy and the multi colour of the rainbold.
Oh yes. His home was a victoriana charabanc,
and this is the fourwheelful of sst sst out the backgrove.
...

---

"Before I speak, I have something important to say."Groucho Marx

Marissa,
if I had fully understood the lyrics I wouldn't have asked it here. The album Lamb Lies Down On Broadway is full of mystic tales, mostly from the pen of Peter Gabriel. Surreal dreams, split personality, the seek for oneself...

I have interpreted this song as the Lamias are eating the "bad", the other part, out of Rael (Gabriel).

Nevertheless, I still welcome all the other explanations!

---

I don't know half of you half as well as I should like; and I like less than half of you half as well as you deserve.

To SilvatungdaViel

Rose Garden

Almostfreebird,
why are you whining after your lost points in a Literature thread of Lyrics? Send a PM.

Wasn't that incident in P&R?

---

I don't know half of you half as well as I should like; and I like less than half of you half as well as you deserve.

Normal MPI is 3.0.
Your MPI is 2.47058824
Almostfreebird's MPI is 2.6986755
Have you been mean?

---

I don't know half of you half as well as I should like; and I like less than half of you half as well as you deserve.

Free Bird

Would you still remember me?

For I must be travelling on, now,

There's too many places I haven't seen

And if I stayed here with you, now

Things just wouldn't be the same

Well I'm as free as a bird now,

And a bird you can not change.

And a bird you can not change.

And a bird you can not change.

Lord knows I can't change

Bye, bye, its been a sweet love.

And though this feeling I can't change.

Please don't take it badly,

The Lord knows I'm to blame.

And, if I stayed here with you now

Things just wouldn't be the same.

For I'm as free as a bird now,

And this bird you'll never change.

And the bird you can not change.

And the bird you can not change.

Lord knows, I can't change.

Lord help me, I can't change.

Empty spaces - what are we living for
Abandoned places - I guess we know the score
On and on, does anybody know what we are looking for...
Another hero, another mindless crime
Behind the curtain, in the pantomime
Hold the line, does anybody want to take it anymore
The show must go on
The show must go on, yeah
Inside my heart is breaking
My make-up may be flaking
But my smile still stays on

Whatever happens, I'll leave it all to chance
Another heartache, another failed romance
On and on, does anybody know what we are living for ?
I guess I'm learning (I'm learning learning learning)
I must be warmer now
I'll soon be turning (turning turning turning)
Round the corner now
Outside the dawn is breaking
But inside in the dark I'm aching to be free
The show must go on


The show must go on, yeah yeah
Ooh, inside my heart is breaking
My make-up may be flaking
But my smile still stays on

Yeah yeah, whoa wo oh oh

My soul is painted like the wings of butterflies
Fairytales of yesterday will grow but never die
I can fly - my friends
The show must go on (go on, go on, go on) yeah yeah
The show must go on (go on, go on, go on)
I'll face it with a grin
I'm never giving in
On - with the show

Ooh, I'll top the bill, I'll overkill
I have to find the will to carry on
On with the show
On with the show
The show - the show must go on
Go on, go on, go on, go on, go on
Go on, go on, go on, go on, go on
Go on, go on, go on, go on, go on
Go on, go on, go on, go on, go on
Go on, go on

The Show Must Go On