British Expatriate Network

Most of the modern pop music lacks any intelligible lyrics.

On the CBC Radio they are running some of the best hits of the last century and the following sung by a young Bing Crosby was a big hit in the Dirty Thirties.

Reflected the times then and to some even today.

Brother can you spare a dime.

once I built a railroad, made it run
made it race against time
once I built a rairoad, now it's done
brother can you spare a dime?
once I built a tower to the sun
brick and rivet and lime
once I built a tower, now it's done
brother can you spare a dime?

once in khaki suits
gee, we looked swell
full of that yankee Doodle De Dum
half a million boots went slogging through hell
I was the kid with the drum
say don't you remember, they called me Al
It was Al all the time
say don't you remember, I'm your pal!
buddy can you spare a dime?


(Jay Gorney/E.Y.Harburg)

What about this one Keith? :)


EVERYDAY IS LIKE SUNDAY

Trudging slowly over wet sand
Back to the bench where your clothes were stolen
This is the coastal town
That they forgot to close down
Armageddon - come Armageddon!
Come, Armageddon! Come!

Everyday is like Sunday
Everyday is silent and grey


Hide on the promenade
Etch a postcard :
"How I Dearly Wish I Was Not Here"
In the seaside town
...that they forgot to bomb
Come, Come, Come - nuclear bomb


Everyday is like Sunday
Everyday is silent and grey


Trudging back over pebbles and sand
And a strange dust lands on your hands
(And on your face...)
(On your face ...)
(On your face ...)
(On your face ...)


Everyday is like Sunday
"Win Yourself A Cheap Tray"
Share some greased tea with me
Everyday is silent and grey


Morrissey

Possible interpretations of this song are here: http://www.oz.net/~moz/lyrics/vivahate/everyday.htm

Interesting Lyrics, can't connect it to the music.

If you want to hear the actual recording of Brother etc go to this site.
http//www.kcmetro.cc.mo.us/pennvalley/biology/lewis/crosby/brother.html

I was 2 years old at the time.

What modern pop music have you listened to Keith?

Not too much of what you may consider modern pop. I find that too much of what sells is too heavy on the instumental and heavy on the beat. And many of the ones that have lyrics appear to be in a foriegn language.

I know that there are many really excellent young singers that record and perform. One in particular is the young New Zealander Hayley Westenra.
She is selling big in the UK, but she depends on the older tunes.

If I listen to music on the radio I switch to ones that play a variety of music. My favourite in Ottawa happens to be a French Station that plays easy listening music, both classical and modern. But no Rap or heavy metal.

Okay Keith, off the top of my head Ive come up with two songs. Both different but giving two different viewpoints. My wife came up with this one-

Imagine there's no heaven
It's easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us only sky
Imagine all the people
Living for today...

Imagine there's no countries
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people
Living life in peace...

You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will be as one

Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world...

You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will live as one

My song is a little more grittier than that wink

It’s like a jungle, sometimes it makes me wonder
How I keep from goin’ under
It’s like a jungle, sometimes it makes me wonder
How I keep from goin’ under

Broken glass everywhere
People pissin’ on the stage, you know they just don’t care
I can’t take the smell, can’t take the noise
Got no money to move out, I guess I got no choice
Rats in the front room, roaches in the back
Junkies in the alley with a baseball bat
I tried to get away, but I couldn’t get far
‘Cause the man with a tow truck repossessed my car

Don’t push me ‘cause I’m close to the edge
I’m tryin’ not to lose my head, huh, huh, huh, huh

It’s like a jungle, sometimes it makes me wonder
How I keep from goin’ under

Standin’ on the front stoop, hangin’ out the window
Watchin’ all the cars go by, rollin’ as the breezes blow
A crazy lady livin’ in a bag
Eatin’ outta garbage pails, used to be a f@# hag
Such a nasty tango, skipped the life in Dango
Was hooked on princes, seemed she lost her senses
Down at the peep show watchin’ all the creeps
So she can tell her stories to the girls back home
She went to the city and got Social Security
She had to get a pimp, she couldn’t make it on her own

Don’t push me ‘cause I’m close to the edge
I’m tryin’ not to lose my head, huh, huh, huh, huh

It’s like a jungle, sometimes it makes me wonder
How I keep from goin’ under
It’s like a jungle, sometimes it makes me wonder
How I keep from goin’ under

My brother’s doin’ bad, stole my mother’s TV
Says she watches too much, it’s just not healthy
All My Children in the daytime, Dallas at night
Can’t even see the game or the Sugar Ray fight
The bill collectors, they ring my phone
And scare my wife when I’m not home
Got a bum education, double-digit inflation
I can’t take the train to the job, there’s a strike at the station
Neon King Kong, standin’ on my back
Can’t stop to turn around, broke my sacroiliac
A midrange migraine cancered membrane
Sometimes I think I’m going insane, I swear I might hijack a plane

Don’t push me ‘cause I’m close to the edge
I’m tryin’ not to lose my head

It’s like a jungle, sometimes it makes me wonder
How I keep from goin’ under

My son said, “Daddy, I don’t want to go to school
‘Cause the teacher’s a jerk, he must think I’m a fool
And all the kids smoke reefer, I think it’d be cheaper
If I just got a job, learned to be a street sweeper
I’d dance to the beat, shuffle my feet
Wear a shirt and tie, and run with the creeps”
‘Cause it’s all about the money, ain’t a damn thing funny
You got to have a con in this land of milk and honey
They pushed that girl in front of the train
Took her to the doctor, sewed her arm on again
Stabbed that man right in his heart
Gave him a transmit for a brand new start
I can’t walk through the park ‘cause it’s crazy after dark
Keep my hand on my gun ‘cause they got me on the run
I feel like a outlaw, broke my last glass jaw
Hittin’ ‘em and sayin’, “You want some more,” livin’ on a seesaw

Don’t push me ‘cause I’m close to the edge
I’m tryin’ not to lose my head, say what

It’s like a jungle, sometimes it makes me wonder
How I keep from goin’ under

A child is born with no state of mind
Blind to the ways of mankind
God is smilin’ on you, but he’s frownin’ too
Because only God knows what you’ll go through
You’ll grow in the ghetto livin’ second rate
And your eyes will sing a song of deep hate
The places you play and where you stay
Looks like one great big alley way
You’ll admire all the number book takers
Thugs, pimps and pushers, and the big money makers
Drivin’ big cars, spendin’ 20s and 10s
And you wanna grow up to be just like them, huh
Smugglers, scramblers, burglars, gamblers
Pick-pocket, peddlers, even pan handlers
You say, “I’m cool, huh, I’m no fool”
But then you wind up droppin’ outta high school
Now you’re unemployed, all non-void
Walkin’ ‘round like you’re Pretty Boy Floyd
Turned Stick-Up Kid, but look what you done did
Got sent up for a 8-year bid
Now you’re manhood is took, and you’re a Maytag
Spend the next two years as a undercover f@#
Bein’ used and abused to serve like hell
Till one day you was found hung dead in the cell
It’s was plain to see that your life was lost
You was cold and your body swung back and forth
But now your eyes sing the sad, sad song
Of how you lived so fast and died so young

So don’t push me ‘cause I’m close to the edge
I’m tryin’ not to lose my head, huh, huh, huh, huh

It’s like a jungle, sometimes it makes me wonder
How I keep from goin’ under, huh, uh, huh, huh, huh, huh
It’s like a jungle, sometimes it makes me wonder
How I keep from goin’ under

This song is called The Message by Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five. Its a hip hop track, and it was released in 1982. This track reflects the times then and now. In a day when hip hop artists are more concerned with money, wealth and women its important to remember a song which was more in tune in with the times.

I recognize the first one, it also had a very good melody. The second I have never heard, maybe because it didn't come with memorable music.

But these are not recent pops and "Imagine" has become, has become one that I would call a classic.

And let's not forget that classic back in the fifties when songs had intelligible lyrics........

Yes you guessed it........."How much is that doggy in the window"

All together now one, two, three

How much is that doggy in the window
Woof woof
The one with the waggely tail
How much is that doggy in the window
Woof woof
I do hope that doggy's for sale

I must take a trip to California
And leave my poor sweetheart alone
If he has a dog he won't be lonesome
And the doggy will have a good home

How much is that doggy in the window
Woof woof
The one with the waggely tail
How much is that doggy in the window
Woof woof
I do hope that doggy's for sale

I read in the papers there are robbers
woof woof
With flashlights that shine in the dark
My love needs a doggy to protect him
And scare them away with one bark

I don't want a bunny or a kitty
I don't want a parrot that talks
I don't want a bowl of little fishes
He can't take a goldfish for walks

How much is that doggy in the window
Woof woof
The one with the waggely tail
How much is that doggy in the window
Woof woof
I do hope that doggy's for sale

That's exciting lyrics alright... Indiana must be right at the cutting edge of society's trends. roll wink

Absolutely, in every way imaginable... :-? :wink:

Now for lyrics that are really intelligible (not sarcastic this time) I'd think of "Eton Rifles" by The Jam:-

Sup up your beer and collect your fags
There's a row going on down near Slough
Get out your mat and pray to the West
I'll get out mine and pray for myself.

Thought you were smart when you took them on
But you didn't take a peep in their artillery room
All that rugby puts hairs on your chest
What chance have you got against a tie and a crest ?

Come out and play, what a nice day, for the Eton Rifles, Eton Rifles
Come out and play, I hope rain stops play, with the Eton Rifles, Eton Rifles

Thought you were clever when you lit the fuse
Tore down the House of Commons in your brand new shoes
Composed a revolutionary symphony
Then went to bed with a charming young thing.

Come out and play, cheers then mate, its the Eton Rifles, Eton Rifles
Come out and play, an extremist scrape, with the Eton Rifles, Eton Rifles

What a catalyst you turned out to be
Loaded the guns then you run off home for your tea
Left me standing, like a guilty schoolboy.

What a catalyst you turned out to be
Loaded the guns then you run off home for your tea
Left me standing, like a naughty schoolboy.

We came out of it naturally the worst
Beaten and bloody and I was sick down my shirt
We were no match for their untamed wit
Though some of the lads said they'd be back next week.

Come out and play, there's a price to pay, to the Eton Rifles, Eton Rifles
Come out and play, I'd prefer the plague, to the Eton Rifles, Eton Rifles

Come out and play, there's a price to pay, to the Eton Rifles, Eton Rifles
COme out and play, I'd prefer the plague, to the Eton Rifles, Eton Rifles
Eton Rifles, Eton Rifles
Eton Rifles, Eton Rifles

One thing that I have already wondered. What is a sacroiliac?

The sacroiliac joint lies next to the spine and connects the sacrum (the triangular bone at the bottom of the spine) with the pelvis (iliac crest). The joint

*

Is small and very strong
*

Transmits all the forces of the upper body to the pelvis (hips) and legs
*

Acts as a shock-absorbing structure
*

Does not have much motion


http//www.spineuniversity.com/images/illustrations/p_sacroiliac_anatomy.jpg

Thanks Wendl. It's an education being on these boards.

Listened to this the other day which struck me as being rather a good lyric.

Mirror in the bathroom
Recompense
For all my crimes of self defence
Cures you wish for make no sense
Drift gently into mental illness

Dixie Chicks
White Trash Wedding

You can't afford no ring
You can't afford no ring
I shouldn't be wearing white and you can't afford no ring

You finally took my hand
You finally took my hand
It took a nip of gin
But you finally
took my hand
You can't afford no ring
You can't afford no ring
I shouldn't be wearing white and you can't afford no ring

Mama don't approve
Mama don't approve
Daddy says he's the best in town
And mama don't approve
You can't afford no ring
You can't afford no ring
I shouldn't be wearing white and you can't afford no ring

Baby's on its way
Baby's on its way
Say I do and kiss me quick
'Cause baby's on its way

I shouldn't be wearing white and you can't afford no ring



Says a whole lot about modern society .

Now a oldie but goodie one of my favourites .

Im enery the eighth i am enery the eighth i am i am
I got married to the girl next door .
She,d been married seven times before .
Every one was a enery she didnt have a willy or a sam .
Im her eighth old man called enery enery the eighth i am .

Second verse same as the first

Im enery the eighth i am .........


Hermans hermits