Brett's Favourite Lyrics

Hey guys, I’m working on something a little bigger than this, but for the time being I figured I’d send you a list of some of my favourite lyrics to tide us over. I hope they bring some inspiration during these stagnant moments. 

Enjoy,

Brett

(Bob Dylan- Simple Twist of Fate)

“A saxophone someplace far off played

As she was walking on by the arcade

As the light bust through a-beat-up shade where he was waking up

She dropped a coin into the cup of a blind man at the gate

And forgot about a simple twist of fate”

I listen to this song more than any other on the list. Bob Dylan at his best, in my opinion. His ability to withhold information, and write stories with pictures is unmatched. There is an inevitability to the loneliness he portrays in this song with the payoff line, it leaves me with a big hole in my chest every time. 

(Neil Young- Bandit)

“Wrappin' up dope in a paper bag

Talkin' to yourself

Takin' a drag

Who are you kidding

With what you say?

What does it matter?

They'll never hear it anyway”

I was at school when I heard this song. My friends and I were across the street from residence smoking chutes and playing Red Dead Redemption. Neil Young kind of speaks the verses of this song. There was something so charming about it to me, it sounded like a man trying trying to talk himself of the ledge inside his own head.

(Bruce Springsteen- Nebraska)

“Sheriff when the man pulls that switch sir and snaps my poor head back 

You make sure my pretty baby is sittin' right there on my lap”

If you’re not a Bruce Springsteen fan, you probably have an image of him that doesn’t quite match these lyrics. This is one of the darkest songs I’ve ever heard, and it’s written by the same guy who wrote “Brilliant Disguise”. The lyrics read like a confession of guilt by a conscious-less narrator. He speaks of his crimes as if they were almost inevitable, reciting the facts with no display of remorse. His depiction of the young female accomplice gets me every time. 

(Matt Mays- Terminal Romance)

“It’s a rough and tumble comedown at the break of day 

Sitting out staring across the bay

With that sunrise in your eyes

There’s never really too much to say”

What can I say? This is one of my favourite Canadian songwriters doing exactly what I love him for. Tell me you’ve never felt this way before and I will call you a liar. 

(Courtenay Barnett/Kurt Vile- Over Everything)

“When I was young I liked to hear music blarin'

And I wasn't carin' to neuter my jams with earplugs

But these days I inhabitate a high-pitched ring over things

So these days I plug 'em up”

I’m a pretty big fan of both of these artists. I loved this song the first time I heard it, and for the most part, it’s just the simple tone they write with. Both of them are masters at saying larger things with stream of conscious, conversational type writing. But this specific verse gets me every time because as a musician, I’ve suffered from hearing loss and I love how silly and well-described it is.  

(Sting- I Hung My Head)

“I felt the power of death over life

I orphaned his children, I widowed his wife

I begged their forgiveness, I wish I was dead

I hung my head, I hung my head”

I can’t believe this song wasn’t written by Johnny Cash. That is all. 

(The Killers-This River is Wild)

“Now Adam's taking bombs and he's stuck on his mom

Because that bitch keeps trying to make him pray

He's with the hippie in the park coming over the dark

Just trying to get some of that little girl play”

When you’re high school kid living in a small town and you spend most of your lunch breaks hanging out in parks, these lyrics ring very true. I’m not so sure they hold up for myself over time, but I can still remember having that distinct feeling that comes with being a kid and hearing a song that describes exactly how you feel during that moment in time. 

(Bry Webb- Asa)

“There is a healer

In this house

There is a little hawk

In the magnolia tree

There is a joy

On his sharpened yellow wing

He teaches me to sing

And my will is free”

I was introduced to The Constantines this past year by my friends in The Dirty Nil. I had heard their music before, but I guess I needed three superfine to shovel information at me, and play me countless YouTube videos to really get it. Bry Webb was the frontman and has since released two solo albums. Asa is the first song I heard by him and I was immediately taken. 

(Constantines- Do What You Can Do)

“I wish you twelve lanes of peace and quiet

And all speed away from human sorrow

You and I

We're gonna break even

Two animals on the road to animal heaven

You do what you can do with what you got

You do what you can do with what you got”

Another Bry Webb song. This is one of my favourite open verses that I’ve ever heard. The man in a Rock and Roll poet.

(Townes Van Zandt- Two Girls)

“I got two girls

Ones in heaven and ones below

Oh, one I love with all my heart

And one I do not know.”

I want to know what you guys think these lyrics are about in the comments below. I love Townes Van Zandt four many reasons, but mainly for his humour. All those outlaw country guys knew how to tell a joke back then, and in my opinion it’s one of the special ingredients missing from a lot of the new Americana stuff.

(Blaze Foley - Picture Cards Can’t Picture You)

“I saw daylight in your eyes.”

You need to hear Blaze Foley sing it, in order to know just how impactful this line is. This is one of my favourite love songs of all time. There is so much hurt in this man’s voice, and to hear him sing about finding a sort of freedom in his lovers eyes breaks my heart.

(Jackson Browne- The Pretender)

“I want to know what became of the changes

We waited for love to bring

Were they only the fitful dreams

Of some greater awakening

I've been aware of the time going by

They say in the end it's the wink of an eye

And when the morning light comes streaming in

You'll get up and do it again

Amen”

I have said many times Jackson Browne taught me that Rock and Roll could be many things. This is the song that blew the door wide open for me. I’m from a small town and I have lived “in the shade of the freeway”. When I heard this song, every inch of doubt and criticism I had been harbouring about my surroundings was explained for me. I would not be a songwriter without Jackson Browne’s masterpiece, “The Pretender”.

(John Lennon-God)

“God is a concept
By which we measure
Our pain
I'll say it again
God is a concept
By which we measure
Our pain”

I have to admit, I am taking to The Beatles more with every new year. It is happening slowly, but surely. That all began when Chris Koster slid “Plastic Ono Band” into the CD player of his car, John Lennon’s first album apart from The Beatles. The lyrics on this album are so simple and poignant. Much of the rest of the album speaks to very personal things about Lennon, but in this song he delivers a masterclass at saying something very big in the simplest possible way.

(Fleetwood Mac- Dreams)

“Now here I go again, I see the crystal visions

I keep my visions to myself

It's only me

Who wants to wrap around your dreams and...

Have you any dreams you'd like to sell?

Dreams of loneliness…”

We all know that Stevie Nicks is the master at blending the supernatural and the personal. She’s simply perfect in Dreams. You can feel her sorrow, and sense spirit’s all through this song. 

(John Prine- Fish and Whistle)

“Father forgive us

For what we must do

You forgive us

We'll forgive you

We'll forgive each other

Till we both turn blue

Then we'll whistle and go fishing

In heaven.”

Again with the humour from the country greats. I don’t think anyone talked about God with as much modesty as John Prine. They’re talking from far different places, but earlier I mentioned that Lennon said it simply, Prine said it simply and with more humility. Plus, I think we all know how much I love fishing.

(Joni Mitchell- Coyote)

“Why'd you have to get so drunk

And lead me on that way

You just picked up a hitcher

A prisoner of the white lines on the freeway”

I’m not in the habit of praising Joni Mitchell publicly after watching an interview with the CBC in which she speaks rather un-generously of my hero Bob Dylan. But there is no arguing her greatness in songwriting history, and I think Coyote is one of the greatest folk songs ever written.

(The Black Keys- The Lengths)

“See the moonlight shining 

on your window pane

See it leave you 

as faithful as it came”

Just as any band with as much success in today’s era, The Black Key’s get a lot of grief by “connoisseurs” for being in commercials, and writing great songs “too many people love”. But Dan Auerbach is one of the great modern songwriters simply because he knows how to put feel in sound, and on paper. The verse above isn’t a small feat. To me they read like pure poetry and hit me in the gut every time I hear them.

(The Dirty Nil- Pain of Infinity)

“And another thing, baby

I never loved you

And I hate your friends

Loving you, honey

It's a pain of infinity

Pain of infinity”

It wouldn’t be a list without my favourite boys The Dirty Nil on it. Honestly, how the fuck did Luke come up with that line. “Pain of Infinity” sounds like it should be the title of an Ernest Hemingway novel. There are few lines that I would match up with the tag of this song, and they include, “Champagne Supernova”, and one other thing Noel Gallagher wrote.

(Haim- Summer Girl)

“I see it in your face, I'm relief

I'm your summer girl,”

This is not my favourite song by Haim, but it’s the one I love most for the lyrics. “Summer Girl” unapologetically sounds like Lou Reed’s “Walk on the Wild Side”, with a sax solo and “doo da doo’s” throughout, but I don’t really care. The lyrics paint such a different picture than what you’d expect from the carefree sounding song, subjecting the listener to the dread of loneliness all the while hypnotizing us into a sort of apathetic lullaby. 

(Leonard Cohen- So Long Marianne)

“We met when we were almost young

deep in the green lilac park

You held on to me like I was a crucifix,

as we went kneeling through the dark.”

I don’t really think I have to say much about this one. Leonard Cohen is the master of words. He is the greatest Canadian songwriter to ever live, and I think I read somewhere that he started making music for the money. That is all. 

Thank you for reading. I hope you guys have a great week. We’ll be talking soon. Don’t forget to let us know what you think Townes Van Zandt is saying in his chorus from “Two Girls”. 

Cheers and thanks,

Brett.