Wish I Wrote That One....

[Doctor B]

In the empty lot where the ladies play blindman's bluff with the key chain

And the all-night girls they whisper of escapades out on the D-train

We can hear the night watchman click his flashlight

Ask himself if it's him or them that's really insane

Louise she's all right she's just near

She's delicate and seems like the mirror

But she makes it all too concise and too clear that Johanna's not here

The ghosts of electricity howls in the bones of her face

Where these visions of Johanna have now taken my place

[Cam Jones]

Basically all of Craig Finn's lyrics.

 

I hear an amazing line of his and I just grin from ear to ear.

[tinnitus photography]

Doctor B's got it. that's a great one.

 

 

here's one from Costello (who's got a lot of great lyrics): (sorry for the code but these lyric sites seem to make simple cut and paste impossible these days)

 

 

 

You're upstairs with the boyfriend while I'm left here to listen. (Angry)

I hear you calling his name, I hear the stutter of ignition. (Angry)

I could hear you whispering as I crept by your door.

So you found some other joker who could please you more.

 

Chorus:

I'm not angry, (Angry)

I'm not angry anymore. (Angry)

I'm not angry, (Angry)

I'm not angry anymore. (Angry)

Ooh, I know what you're doin'.

I know where you've been.

I know where, but I don't care,

'Cause there's a-no such thing as an original sin.

 

I've got this camera click, click, clickin' in my head. (Angry)

I got you talking with your hands, got you smiling with your legs. (Angry)

Spent all my time in a vanity factory,

Wonderin' when they're gonna come and take it all back.

 

-chorus-

 

Yeah, yeah.

Oh there's no such thing as an original sin.

Oh there's a-no such thing as an original sin. (Angry)

I'm not angry, (Angry)

I'm not angry anymore. (Angry)

I'm not angry, (Angry)

I'm not angry anymore. (Angry)

I'm not angry, (Angry)

I'm not angry, (Angry)

I'm not angry anymore. (Angry) (repeat and fade)

[PopTodd]

From "In the Bar" by Peter Laughner:

"The only time that I say 'no' is when they ask if I've had enough."

[Jams]

From "In the Bar" by Peter Laughner:

"The only time that I say 'no' is when they ask if I've had enough."

 

"Like".

 

Thanks to everyone for your replies here; it's turning me on to some tunes I might not have otherwise heard!

[tinnitus photography]

Silver Jews...Berman is fucking awesome w/ words.

So if you don't want me I promise not to linger,

But before I go I gotta ask you dear about the tan line on your ring finger.

No one should have two lives,

now you know my middle names are wrong and right.

Honey we've got two lives to give tonight.

[Sweet Papa Crimbo]

I still smell tobacco on my fingers

My breath reeks of pot and wine and sex

My eyes open up like they haven’t in years

So I won’t miss whatever happens next

You call me a thief

All right, I'm a thief

Grab a summons

Come and ring my bell

I’ll be making love with my baby

In the Chelsea Hotel

[PopTodd]

If tonight belongs to you, tomorrow's mine!

"Valentine" by The Replacements

[IRememberDBoon]

When she said

“Don’t waste your words, they’re just lies”

I cried she was deaf

[IRememberDBoon]

Yes, I received your letter yesterday

(About the time the doorknob broke)

When you asked how I was doing

Was that some kind of joke?

All these people that you mention

Yes, I know them, they’re quite lame

I had to rearrange their faces

And give them all another name

Right now I can’t read too good

Don’t send me no more letters, no

Not unless you mail them

From Desolation Row

[Oil Can Boyd]

On the other hand there are some lyrics by The Low Anthem, I like them for the simple reason that they're banal, shows you can make a song out of the daily minutia of life:

 

"She left me here with breakfast in bed

Oatmeal with sugar and a hard-boiled egg

The note on the dresser said I'll be back by three

I'm going uptown, did you need anything?"

 

"I'm going uptown, did you need anything?"

 

Have you seen lyrics this banal? (nonetheless the song is very beaufiful)

 

Woke up, got out of bed

Dragged a comb across my head

Found my way downstairs and drank a cup

And looking up, I noticed I was late

 

Found my coat and grabbed my hat

Made the bus in seconds flat

Found my way upstairs and had a smoke

And somebody spoke and I went into a dream

[PopTodd]

"Every night I tell myself 'I am the cosmos,

I am the wind'

But that don't get you back again..."

-- Chris Bell - "I Am the Cosmos"

[PopTodd]

"I wasn't born so much as I fell out..."

-- The Clash - "Lost in the Supermarket"

[PopTodd]

"Nobody writes them like they used to, so it may as well be me"

-- Belle & Sebastian - "Get Me Away From Here, I'm Dying"

[PopTodd]

"The talking leads to touching

And the touching leads to sex

Then there is no mystery left"

-- "Portions for Foxes" - Rilo Kiley

[PopTodd]

"Blessed are the ones living holy lives

Here's to the rest of us who try"

Paranoid Larry - "Jesus Shaves"

[tinnitus photography]

pretty much this entire song, but esp this part:

 

Taking inspiration from Husker Du

It's a new generation of electric white boy blues

[choo-choo-charlie]

Desolation Row

[ih8music]

Because I'm young enough to be all pissed off

But I'm old enough to be jaded

I'm at the age where I want things to change

But with age my hopes have faded

I'm young and bored of being young and bored

If I was old I could say I've seen it all before

In short; I'm tired of giving a shit

 

- Frank Turner, "Once We Were Anarchists"

[Jams]

we love the sound

the sound is what found us

the sound is the blood between me and you

 

--Wild Flag

[PopTodd]

"Kiss me like you lost me and you found me."

-Material Issue - "Don't You Think I Know"

[Jams]

So whose to worry

If our hearts get torn

When that hurt gets thrown

Don't you know this life goes on

And won't you kiss me

On that midnight street

Sweep me off my feet

Singing ain't this life so sweet

 

David Gray--This Year's Love (which I can't recall having ever heard before today)

[PopTodd]

"Sometimes lonely hearts, they just get lonelier"

Rilo Kiley - "Wires and Waves"

[PearlJamNoCode]

An empty shell seems so easy to crack

Got all these questions

Don't know who I could even ask

So I'll just lie down and wait for the dream

Where I'm not ugly and you're lookin at me

Pearl Jam - I Got Id

 

And the entire song "Million Dollar Bill" by Dawes

[PopTodd]

If tonight belongs to you, tomorrow's mine!

"Valentine" by The Replacements

Actually thinking about it, pretty much every line in that song.

A couple other faves from that one:

 

"You wish upon a star, that turns into a plane"

 

"If you were a pill, I'd take a handfull at my will

And I'd knock you back with something sweet and strong"