The Medusa Fora

so many but this is one of my favs

So I walked as day was dawning
where small bird sang and leaves were falling
where we once watched the rowboats landing
by the broad majestic shannon

Not my absolute favorite, but significant for the fact that these were the lyrics I was searching for on that fateful night 5 years ago when I found myself upon this here raft...

But any old way there's a smile on my face
There's a smile that I just can't hide
Though I'm missing you now like I never knew how
I couldn't forget you if I tried

philipchevron wrote:The best overall lyric, "Rainy Night" apart, is "The Bottle Of Smoke".

Really ? Is it now ? Is this because you played rhythm guitar in the band, that you KNOW what is the best lyric and can therfore tell us mere mortals ( fans ) what is the " best lyric " ? Personally I think " A pair of bronw eyes " is better than either of them. But obviously because I wasn't actually in the band, I'm wrong.

dsweeney wrote:

philipchevron wrote:The best overall lyric, "Rainy Night" apart, is "The Bottle Of Smoke".

Really ? Is it now ? Is this because you played rhythm guitar in the band, that you KNOW what is the best lyric and can therfore tell us mere mortals ( fans ) what is the " best lyric " ? Personally I think " A pair of bronw eyes " is better than either of them. But obviously because I wasn't actually in the band, I'm wrong.

What's the problem, mate? I guess even immortal band members are allowed to have opinions on which song has the best lyrics...

dsweeney wrote:

philipchevron wrote:The best overall lyric, "Rainy Night" apart, is "The Bottle Of Smoke".

Really ? Is it now ? Is this because you played rhythm guitar in the band, that you KNOW what is the best lyric and can therfore tell us mere mortals ( fans ) what is the " best lyric " ? Personally I think " A pair of bronw eyes " is better than either of them. But obviously because I wasn't actually in the band, I'm wrong.

You may need to switch to decafe my friend.

NewJerseyRich wrote:

dsweeney wrote:

philipchevron wrote:The best overall lyric, "Rainy Night" apart, is "The Bottle Of Smoke".

Really ? Is it now ? Is this because you played rhythm guitar in the band, that you KNOW what is the best lyric and can therfore tell us mere mortals ( fans ) what is the " best lyric " ? Personally I think " A pair of bronw eyes " is better than either of them. But obviously because I wasn't actually in the band, I'm wrong.

You may need to switch to decafe my friend.

I hope he at least noted that almost none of us sycophants toed the party line. Which reminds me, I haven't chimed in on this thread.

I'll go ahead and disagree with Chevron's opinion and put a few of my favorites with only one intersection.

"... fear of priests with empty plates, of guilt and weeping effigies ..." Just a sublime lyric and image.

"... you're the measure of my dreams ..." Had to because it was the moment I put the ring on my wife's finger and it was on our wedding invites.

"... and on the jukebox Johnny sang about a thing called love ..." I like most of the references to other songs in shane's lyrics, but somehow when a pair of brown eyes plays I always get the one line "...six foot four he stood on the ground, he weighed two hundred and forty-five pounds ..." nicely amalgamated in my brain. Its a nice effect to bring in more music to the listener beyond what is actually being played. It works also on Sickbed, but for some reason never on Fairytale. I guess Mountain Dew is too far away from Fairytale's music to be spanned by my brain.

"... a man's ambition must indeed be small, to write his name upon a shithouse wall, but before I die I'll add my regal scrawl, to show the world I'm left with sweet fuck-all, and when all of us shithouse poets do die, a monument grand they will build to the sky, a monument grand to mark all our wit, a monument made out of solid shit now me boys." A true insight into the nature of poetry, and a great self deprecation at the same time.

Sportin' Life wrote:"... a man's ambition must indeed be small, to write his name upon a shithouse wall, but before I die I'll add my regal scrawl, to show the world I'm left with sweet fuck-all, and when all of us shithouse poets do die, a monument grand they will build to the sky, a monument grand to mark all our wit, a monument made out of solid shit now me boys." A true insight into the nature of poetry, and a great self deprecation at the same time.

This verse has just prompted a vote for Sea Shanty in another thread.

Though off the album I've always been partial to the drugged-up psychos with death in their eyes.

I think that it is fairly difficult to find a "best" lyric when a band has so many excellent ones.

It is far more easy to find the funniest line in George Michael's oeuvre for example: Guilty feet have got no rhythm.
Still makes me laugh after all those years

dsweeney wrote:

philipchevron wrote:The best overall lyric, "Rainy Night" apart, is "The Bottle Of Smoke".

Really ? Is it now ? Is this because you played rhythm guitar in the band, that you KNOW what is the best lyric and can therfore tell us mere mortals ( fans ) what is the " best lyric " ? Personally I think " A pair of bronw eyes " is better than either of them. But obviously because I wasn't actually in the band, I'm wrong.

How fuckin dare you say pair of brown eyes is the best lyric. The best lyric is obviously "And as the sunset came to meet the evening on the hill, I told you I'd always love you, always did, always will". Oh hang on this thread is set up for people to put their own, personal best lyric so there is no wrong or right answer to it band member or not

...my favorite line(s) change often. Today I'm partial to: "...and there's mothers crying all over this world / for their poor little darlin' boys and girls"

Cdn Steve wrote:...my favorite line(s) change often. Today I'm partial to: "...and there's mothers crying all over this world / for their poor little darlin' boys and girls"

Lovely though that lyric is, it always makes me think of Sting's line from Russians:

"Mr. Khrushchev said 'we will bury you,' / I don't subscribe to this point of view / It would be such an ignorant thing to do / If the Rusians love their children too"

While that rhyme and lyric seemed really insightful and spiffy to my 14-year-old Junior High self, its trite earnestness now make me cringe. And while Shane's lyric may be more to the point, and more poignant, the overlap with Sting's tripe has made me sour on it.

Yes, I'm a jerk.

I think Shane's snarling delivery of " ...for their poor little darling boys and girls " flushes away any sense of over sentiment. It's almost scornful contempt.

RICHB wrote:

dsweeney wrote:

philipchevron wrote:The best overall lyric, "Rainy Night" apart, is "The Bottle Of Smoke".

Really ? Is it now ? Is this because you played rhythm guitar in the band, that you KNOW what is the best lyric and can therfore tell us mere mortals ( fans ) what is the " best lyric " ? Personally I think " A pair of bronw eyes " is better than either of them. But obviously because I wasn't actually in the band, I'm wrong.

How fuckin dare you say pair of brown eyes is the best lyric. The best lyric is obviously "And as the sunset came to meet the evening on the hill, I told you I'd always love you, always did, always will". Oh hang on this thread is set up for people to put their own, personal best lyric so there is no wrong or right answer to it band member or not

Correct Rich. But his nibs stated as fact that " Rainy..." and " Bottle..." are the best lyrics. So why didn't you post the above to HIM and not me ? Go on, be a divil ! Disagree with Phil. I dare ye,. I DOUBLE dare ye.

No the whole point of this thread is that were all putting down what our best lyric so to you its a FACT that Pair of Brown Eyes is the best lyric because of whatever meaning the line has got. To me its a fact (to me anyway) that Body of an American is the bst line and to Phil its the lyrics he put. I posted this comment to you because you are having a go at a member of this site for just joining in a thread about what is the best lyric. I cant say to you that a Pair of brown eyes isnt the best lyric because to you it is and vice versa. Unless you are saying that he should have put a preclaimer before his best saying that it is in his opionion only???

One of my many favourites is

And 15 minutes later we had our 1st taste of whiskey
there was uncles giving lectures on ancient Irish history
the men all started telling jokes
and the women they got frisky
by 5 o`clock in the evening
every bastard there was piskey

Although when ever I sing the last line I use the word pissed not piskey