This actually gets on my wick a bit, like a 'will this do?' moment, inscribed in eternity. But there we are.
Anyway, Ambulance Blues: 'it's hard to say the meaning of THIS SONG'. Lazy Neil, lazy.
― The shard-borne beetle with his drowsy hums (Chinaski), Monday, 5 March 2018 15:15 (six years ago) link
Does "Your Song" count?
also, "You're So Vain"
― Paul Ponzi, Monday, 5 March 2018 15:17 (six years ago) link
Elton John's "Your Song"Badly Drawn Boy's "This Song" or whatever it's calledBarry Manilow's "I Write The Songs" in a roundabout fashion
― Under the influence of the Ranters (Noodle Vague), Monday, 5 March 2018 15:17 (six years ago) link
I think Arthur Lee does this a few times?
― Buff Jeckley (Tom D.), Monday, 5 March 2018 15:18 (six years ago) link
Unnamed schoolboy's "I Know a Song That'll Get On Your Nerves"
― Under the influence of the Ranters (Noodle Vague), Monday, 5 March 2018 15:19 (six years ago) link
Abba's "Thank You for the Music" also kinda
― Under the influence of the Ranters (Noodle Vague), Monday, 5 March 2018 15:23 (six years ago) link
McCartney's Here Today.
― piscesx, Monday, 5 March 2018 15:27 (six years ago) link
Weird Al- "(This Song's Just) Six Words Long"
― President Keyes, Monday, 5 March 2018 15:29 (six years ago) link
"Something Changed" by Pulp.
― daavid, Monday, 5 March 2018 15:30 (six years ago) link
Steely Dan's Deacon Blues "I cried when I wrote....."
― VyrnaKnowlIsAHeadbanger, Monday, 5 March 2018 15:31 (six years ago) link
One more from Neil...
I'm singing this borrowed tune / I took from the Rolling Stones / Alone in this empty room / Too wasted to write my own
― kornrulez6969, Monday, 5 March 2018 15:36 (six years ago) link
Matching Mole's 'Signed Curtain' is the ultimate example of this of course.
― mfktz (Camaraderie at Arms Length), Monday, 5 March 2018 15:39 (six years ago) link
Randy Newman - "Rednecks"
― piper at the gates of d'awwww (voodoo chili), Monday, 5 March 2018 15:42 (six years ago) link
U2- 40U2- Sunday Bloody Sunday
― President Keyes, Monday, 5 March 2018 15:45 (six years ago) link
I always think of Yellow by Coldpay being the worst example of this.
― mizzell, Monday, 5 March 2018 15:53 (six years ago) link
that's because it's a terrible dirge
― Under the influence of the Ranters (Noodle Vague), Monday, 5 March 2018 15:56 (six years ago) link
they actually played this on my favorite local AM radio station the other day. because AM radio rules.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Gf0N6FOSk0
― scott seward, Monday, 5 March 2018 16:01 (six years ago) link
it is the worst example of many things, i supposexp
― mizzell, Monday, 5 March 2018 16:01 (six years ago) link
Prince - 1999
― AlXTC from Paris, Monday, 5 March 2018 16:03 (six years ago) link
Take the Skinheads Bowling
― Josh in Chicago, Monday, 5 March 2018 16:04 (six years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6lFsB96l0x8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DcvWrxrNk4k
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h2wMe8s9mCc
― ian, Monday, 5 March 2018 16:05 (six years ago) link
best station:
http://www.wizzradio.com/
― scott seward, Monday, 5 March 2018 16:05 (six years ago) link
bowie, five years.hallelujah, sorta ('it goes like this')
― lana del boy (ledge), Monday, 5 March 2018 16:05 (six years ago) link
Baccara, 'Yes Sir I Can Boogie':
No sirI don't feel very much like talkingNo, neither walkingYou wanna know if I can dance
Yes sirAlready told you in the first verseAnd in the chorusBut I will give you one more chance
― めんどくさかった (Matt #2), Monday, 5 March 2018 16:14 (six years ago) link
natasha bedingfield's timeless will-this-do classic 'these words' not only mangles the pronunciation of the world 'hyperbole' as 'hyperbowl', it even namechecks the chords she uses
Threw some chords togetherThe combination D-E-FIt's who I am, it's what I doAnd I was gonna lay it down for youI try to focus my attentionBut I feel so A-D-DI need some help, some inspirationBut it's not coming easily
― bathed and ready for a snack (bizarro gazzara), Monday, 5 March 2018 16:17 (six years ago) link
"this is my fight song..."
― piper at the gates of d'awwww (voodoo chili), Monday, 5 March 2018 16:18 (six years ago) link
Pavement - Gold Soundz
"And we're coming to the chorus now..."
― Google Atheist (Le Bateau Ivre), Monday, 5 March 2018 16:19 (six years ago) link
Todd Rundgren - Chain Letter
"Now I'm in the middle and I just don't knowIf I'll make it any further if the words don't flowWhen you live in silence any sound is dearBut for those who don't, take heart because the end is nearThis is the ending of my songIt has made me blind and deaf and weak but most of allIt shows you that I'm wrong"
Also:
Alice Cooper - School's Out
"...we can't even think of a word that rhymes!"
― henry s, Monday, 5 March 2018 16:31 (six years ago) link
Spandau Ballet:I bought a ticket to the worldBut now I've come back againWhy do I find it hard to write the next line?Oh, I want the truth to be saaaaaaid
NOFX:We wrote this song, it's not too short, it's not too longIt's got back up vocs in just the right placesIt's got a few oohs and ahhsIt takes a little pauseJust before the second chorusPlease play this song on the radioAlmost every line is sung in timeAlmost every verse ends in a rhymeThe only problem we had was writingEnough wordsBut that's okay, because the chorus isComing up again nowPlease play this song on the radio
Daniel Cavanagh:What I couldn't giveWhat I couldn't give away
Just this song, Just this songJust this music, Just this music
You know I can't liveYou know I can't live without
Just this song, Just this song
― Siegbran, Monday, 5 March 2018 16:32 (six years ago) link
This song has nothing tricky about itThis song ain't black or white and as far as I knowDon't infringe on anyone's copyright, so
― President Keyes, Monday, 5 March 2018 16:42 (six years ago) link
Pixies - Subbacultcha
'This is a song about something there There is something about this song'
The Frank and Walters - this is not a song
― neilasimpson, Monday, 5 March 2018 17:17 (six years ago) link
xp and as long as we're talking George Harrison, "Only a Northern Song"
― Millennial Whoop, wanna fight about it? (Phil D.), Monday, 5 March 2018 17:22 (six years ago) link
Shellac - Squirrel Song
'This is a sad fucking song'
― neilasimpson, Monday, 5 March 2018 17:25 (six years ago) link
Les Savy Fav - Meet Me In The Dollar Bin
"There is no incident, there is no incident, there's nothing incidental in this song.There is no accident, there is no accident, there's nothing accidental in this song.There's no coincidence, there's no coincidence, there's nothing coincidental in this song."
― zchyrs, Monday, 5 March 2018 17:27 (six years ago) link
sisters of mercy ballad of the absent mare
― scotti pruitti (wins), Monday, 5 March 2018 17:29 (six years ago) link
Surprised nobody's mentioned Tenacious D yet lol
― imago, Monday, 5 March 2018 17:34 (six years ago) link
Also, Shellac do this in maybe 40% of their songs
― imago, Monday, 5 March 2018 17:35 (six years ago) link
Half Man Half Biscuit - Lord Hereford's Knob ends with a nice little riff on this
Pulp - The FearPink Floyd - Jugband Blues
― PaulTMA, Monday, 5 March 2018 17:46 (six years ago) link
Billy Bragg - A New England
― how's life, Monday, 5 March 2018 17:50 (six years ago) link
Syd Barrett Here I GoShe don't rock 'n' roll, she don't like itShe don't do the stroll, well she don't do it rightWell, everything's wrong and my patience was goneWhen I woke one morningAnd remembered this songO-oh-oh, kinda catchy, I hopedThat she would talk to me nowAnd even allow me to hold her handAnd forget that old band.
So now I've got all I needShe and I are in love, we've agreedShe likes this song and my others tooSo now you see my world is...'Cause of this tune!What a boon this tune!I tell you soonWe'll be lying in bed, happily wed,And I won't think of that girlOr what she said...
― mizzell, Monday, 12 March 2018 14:28 (six years ago) link
Thee Headcoats - Punk Rock Ist Nicht Tot
― Colonel Poo, Monday, 12 March 2018 14:49 (six years ago) link
Suicide - Be Bop Kid
This song's about life
― new noise, Monday, 12 March 2018 16:31 (six years ago) link
"Muzzle" - Smashing Pumpkins
"have you ever heard the words i'm singing in these songs?it's for the girl i've loved all alongcan a taste of love be so wrong?"
― flappy bird, Monday, 12 March 2018 16:44 (six years ago) link
She and I are in love, we've agreed
lol the note he hits on "we've agreed" is one of the most bleakly funny things in pop music
― illegal economic migration (Tracer Hand), Monday, 12 March 2018 16:45 (six years ago) link
"Flesh Canoe" - Animal Collective
"Cause what this song's about is me singingI'm just wondering what to do with you myself and meNaked in the mirror of the bathroom"
― flappy bird, Monday, 12 March 2018 16:48 (six years ago) link
The original (2011) version of Car Seat Headrest's "Nervous Young Inhumans" ends with this monologue:
Earlier in the song I used the term "galvanistic," and galvanism is the concept, uh, the obsolete scientific theory that there is a kind of electricity flowing through our bloodstreams, and that was our life force. I used the term because I came across it in Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein", and that book is sort of an exploration of the theme of creating a character or making up a person. So I used the term "galvanistic" to allude to that book as a sort of symbol of how I, like, created you as a character, by pretending that I know a lot more about you than I actually do, and also to refer to the fact that I've fall—fallen in love with the characters you've created in, uh, your body of work. This is the part of the song where I start to regret writing it...
― absorbed carol channing's powers & psyche (morrisp), Monday, 12 March 2018 17:34 (six years ago) link
Microdisney - Bullwhip Road
I hate the worldI hate my life and this songNow run along
Super Furry Animals - Gateway SongSuper Furry Animals - Runaway
Odd choice to put two songs that open with the line "this song" back to back on an album.
― afriendlypioneer, Monday, 12 March 2018 17:37 (six years ago) link
Moodymann- Freekie Motherfucker
You don't even like this song / you just dig the hook
― i know kore-eda (or something), Monday, 12 March 2018 17:38 (six years ago) link
Spin Doctors, "Little Miss Can't Be Wrong" ("I hope them cigarettes are gonna make you cough / I hope you hear this song and it pissed you off")
― absorbed carol channing's powers & psyche (morrisp), Monday, 12 March 2018 17:46 (six years ago) link
but getting back to the meta asides rather than the "o muse, help me sing of the tale of..." intro (lol xpost), i myself was once guilty of this in the concluding track of the first and only completed Doctor Casino album (written when i was idk 23 or 24 fwiw):(...)― Doctor Casino, Tuesday, March 13, 2018 6:36 PM Bookmark Flag Post PermalinkThis is such a stupid lazy songwriting trope.― Mr. Snrub, Tuesday, March 13, 2018 6:51 PM Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
(...)
― Doctor Casino, Tuesday, March 13, 2018 6:36 PM Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
This is such a stupid lazy songwriting trope.
― Mr. Snrub, Tuesday, March 13, 2018 6:51 PM Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
tbf i did try to couch my stupid lazy attempt with the implication that it was the work of an earnest but youthful amateur!
― Doctor Casino, Wednesday, 14 March 2018 14:26 (six years ago) link
This is a song about a superhero named TonyIt's called Tony's Theme
I read this as more of a recorded intro to the song than as part of the song itself.
― Guayaquil (eephus!), Wednesday, 14 March 2018 15:49 (six years ago) link
R.E.M. - Untitled ("This song is here...")Freedy Johnston - No Violins ("Here's a song...")
― dorsalstop, Wednesday, 14 March 2018 16:01 (six years ago) link
― scotti pruitti (wins), Monday, March 5, 2018 5:29 PM (one week ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
Oh the sisters of mercy, they are not departed or goneThey were waiting for me when I thought that I just can't go onAnd they brought me their comfort and later they brought me this songOh I hope you run into them, you who've been travelling so long
― ... (Eazy), Wednesday, 14 March 2018 16:21 (six years ago) link
R.E.M. - "He piloted this song in a plane like that one" (though I'd always heard "I volunteered this song" or "If I'm to tell this song")
― Doctor Casino, Wednesday, 14 March 2018 16:25 (six years ago) link
It's unintelligible at any speed.
― absorbed carol channing's powers & psyche (morrisp), Wednesday, 14 March 2018 17:01 (six years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pn-f8PgLVjU
― the late great, Wednesday, 14 March 2018 17:08 (six years ago) link
Has Robyn Hitchcock/Soft Boys been mentioned for “The Face of Death”?They threw him out ‘cause he was wrong And left him trapped inside this song
― when worlds collide I'll see you again (Jon not Jon), Wednesday, 14 March 2018 22:52 (six years ago) link
"We're Not Gonna Take It" goes
We've got the right to choose andThere ain't no way we'll lose itThis is our life, this is our song
― ... (Eazy), Thursday, 22 March 2018 18:10 (six years ago) link
The Mekons: Empire of the Senseless
This song promotes homosexualityIt's in a pretended family relationship with the others on this recordAnd on the charts and on the jukebox
― kornrulez6969, Thursday, 22 March 2018 18:15 (six years ago) link
Thee Headcoats - Punk Rock Ist Nicht Tot― Colonel Poo, Monday, March 12, 2018 7:49 AM (one week ago)
― Colonel Poo, Monday, March 12, 2018 7:49 AM (one week ago)
I go verse chorus verse solo break chorus verse solo
― Beetle Juice continued to spit all over our drinks (contenderizer), Thursday, 22 March 2018 19:28 (six years ago) link
^ thread adjacent
― Beetle Juice continued to spit all over our drinks (contenderizer), Thursday, 22 March 2018 19:29 (six years ago) link
OMD - the beginning and the end
"This is where we reach the end"
Last song on the record
― tinnitus the night (Ross), Thursday, 22 March 2018 19:39 (six years ago) link
Die Antwoord's Enter the Ninja: "fuck, this is like the coolest song I ever heard in my whole life."
Weird to think that song made it into p4k's best songs of 2010 list
― josh az (2011nostalgia), Thursday, 22 March 2018 19:41 (six years ago) link
In the Cure's Antidote Megamix there's a bit from "A Forest" where Robert sings "suddenly I stop" and the guitar cuts out. Metaclever.
― yamnesia (Ye Mad Puffin), Thursday, 22 March 2018 19:45 (six years ago) link
Songs that actually, like, stop when the singer says 'stop.'
― fact checking cuz, Thursday, 22 March 2018 19:59 (six years ago) link
Sparks - "I Predict"
And this song will fade outI predict
― not quite as cool as seeing damo's wang but (contenderizer), Sunday, 25 March 2018 02:46 (six years ago) link
“I Predict” possibly being the pinnacle of this practice. Good post.
― You're all losing so many points on your progress bars (Champiness), Sunday, 25 March 2018 03:14 (six years ago) link
Just remembered that I made an hour-long mix on this topic a few (actually 8!?) years ago, people might want to have a listen
Mp3 and tracklist are here - http://lastnightadjkilledmydog.libsyn.com/webpage/2010/10And I just put it on mixcloud - https://www.mixcloud.com/centuries_of_sound/last-night-a-dj-killed-my-dog-026-this-is-the-title-of-the-self-referential-podcast/
I was going to post the tracklist, but it's a bit long
― mfktz (Camaraderie at Arms Length), Monday, 26 March 2018 14:39 (six years ago) link
That recording of Charlie Parker, Charles Mingus, Dizzy Gillespie, Max Roach, and Bud Powell on Jazz at Massey Hall where they play 'Salt Peanuts.'
Bird stumbles over the vocal bit one time and throws in, "It's the name of this song. . ." before the solo.
― he doesn't need to be racist about it though. (Austin), Tuesday, 27 March 2018 02:53 (six years ago) link
I just remembered the existence of the song "This is My Hit" by Canadian rapper, Kyprios, which fits here:
This is my hook, this is my chorusThis is my hit -- it's better than yours
It is not a very good song.
― MarkoP, Tuesday, 27 March 2018 19:55 (six years ago) link
better than yours tho
― startled macropod (MatthewK), Tuesday, 27 March 2018 21:20 (six years ago) link
Thomas Dybdahl
Songs from the rainSongs that will cause you painSongs that alleviateSongs that will seal your fateSongs for the sunny daysSongs for that warm embraceSongs that will keep you coolSongs that will make you cruelSongs for the wieldingSongs to help you relaxSongs that forever lastSongs that belong to the pastSongs that will make you screamSongs from your childhood dreamsSongs that will leave you blueSongs that remind me of youSongs that will make you smileSongs that will stay for a whileSongs that will tear you apartSongs that will mend your heartSongs that you can't let goSongs that you already knowSongs that you once knewSongs that just passed throughSongs that you overheardSongs that just occurredSongs for the nighttimeSongs for the waistlineSongs for the dancing shoesSongs for the Sunday bluesSongs that will make you sweatSongs that you won't forgetSongs that were once so trueSongs that betrayed youSongs that you always humSongs that will leave you numbSongs that you will regretSongs on an old cassetteSongs that will move youSongs that are brand newSongs on the radioSongs that will make you glowSongs from your first kissSongs of pure bliss
― bodacious ignoramus, Tuesday, 27 March 2018 21:53 (six years ago) link
And just before dawn at the paling of the sky,The stranger returned and said "Now I must fly,When two thousand years of your time has gone by,This song will begin once again, to a baby's cry"
― Tim, Wednesday, 28 March 2018 09:38 (six years ago) link
Lenny Cohen - Sisters of Mercy.
"And they brought me their comfort and later they brought me this song"
― The shard-borne beetle with his drowsy hums (Chinaski), Friday, 6 April 2018 10:45 (six years ago) link
I posted that one right at the beginning of this thread. He also does it again in "ballad of the absent mare"
― scotti pruitti (wins), Friday, 6 April 2018 11:10 (six years ago) link
I searched and everything! Bah.
― The shard-borne beetle with his drowsy hums (Chinaski), Friday, 6 April 2018 11:11 (six years ago) link
Dreams are for those who sleepLife is for us to keepAnd if you're wondering what this song is leading to,I want to make it with you
― mick signals, Friday, 13 April 2018 15:58 (six years ago) link
Barry & the Bookbinders - 'This Song'
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uXwba5xApwo
― Dethloaf LLC (Old Lunch), Friday, 13 April 2018 16:37 (six years ago) link
I forgot one of my favorites:
"My slow descentinto alcoholismit wentsomething like this song"
https://youtu.be/WtZDxzlGbN4
― Guayaquil (eephus!), Friday, 13 April 2018 16:43 (six years ago) link
This songs just six words long
― after party for the apocalypse (Ross), Friday, 13 April 2018 16:45 (six years ago) link
(Hey) all the blood that I will bleed(Ho) I don't know where I belong(Hey) I don't know where I went wrong(Ho) but I can write a song (hey)
One of the most egregious examples.
― Fedora Dostoyevsky (man alive), Saturday, 14 April 2018 22:01 (six years ago) link
Hiss Golden Messenger - O Little Light
A blue sky bends for meNo master, I am freeRiding 'round in the rainWith this song I'm singing
― The shard-borne beetle with his drowsy hums (Chinaski), Friday, 27 April 2018 20:12 (six years ago) link
I was 21 years when I wrote this song, I'm 22 now but I won't be for long.
― Benson and the Jets (ENBB), Friday, 27 April 2018 20:37 (six years ago) link
oh dammit how's life beat me to it
― Benson and the Jets (ENBB), Friday, 27 April 2018 20:38 (six years ago) link
Brainstorm, take me away from the norm'I've got to tell you somethingThis phenomenon, I had to put it in a songAnd it goes likeWhoa, amber is the color of your energyWhoa, shades of gold display naturally
― Fedora Dostoyevsky (man alive), Wednesday, 9 May 2018 15:40 (six years ago) link
and i'll know my song well before i start singingand it's a hard, it's a hard, it's a hard rain that's gonna fall
― reggie (qualmsley), Wednesday, 9 May 2018 16:23 (six years ago) link
If you wonder how long I'll be faithfulWell, just listen to how this song endsI'm gonna love youForever and everForever and ever, amen
― noel gallaghah's high flying burbbhrbhbbhbburbbb (Doctor Casino), Saturday, 12 May 2018 22:55 (six years ago) link
As the moon beats yellow, the clouds they settleto this our favourite song...
But I hate this room, and I hate this tune...
― softspool, Tuesday, 15 May 2018 04:33 (six years ago) link
Lee Hazlewood - I'll Live Yesterdays
Seems we’re always doing something to hurt each otherBut you know, you never really hurt me until the fourth verse of this song
Kanye West - Touch the Sky
I'm tryin' to right my wrongsBut it's funny them same wrongs helped me write this song
― vanjie wail (qiqing), Tuesday, 15 May 2018 04:41 (six years ago) link
mother do you think they'll like this song?
― reggie (qualmsley), Tuesday, 15 May 2018 04:57 (six years ago) link
Elton John welcomes you to his Christmas song, Step Into Christmas, in its first line.
― comesayhey, Tuesday, 15 May 2018 04:57 (six years ago) link
GusGus goes extra meta in "Add This Song"
Add this song to your listPlay it til it no more exist
Through the pain of the snowIs there nowhere to goLike I'm stuck in the stateOf no state at all
As I wandered alone in the darkest nightHeard this song at the raveAnd it saved my life
(i did add it to my list)
― scanner darkly, Monday, 21 December 2020 23:04 (three years ago) link
Back to the opening post, "It's hard to say the meaning of this song" in Ambulance Blues is the thesis statement for the entire On the Beach album!
― Halfway there but for you, Monday, 21 December 2020 23:11 (three years ago) link
Edward Bear, “Last Song”It's the last song I'll ever write for youIt's the last time that I'll tell you Just how much I really careThis is the last song I'll ever sing for youYou'll come looking for the light And it won't be thereBut I love youOh yes I doYes I doAlso on this similar thread: songs that are about themselves
― Whamagideon Time (James Redd and the Blecchs), Tuesday, 22 December 2020 00:27 (three years ago) link
John Prine, "Leave the Lights On"
This is just a long song, it ain't no poemLeave the lights on till your baby gets home
― Lily Dale, Tuesday, 22 December 2020 04:33 (three years ago) link
Brinsley Schwarz, “Love Song”This here is a love songI gotta get back to my baby's heart againThis here is a love songAnd I'm gonna sing it till I get back home
― Whamagideon Time (James Redd and the Blecchs), Tuesday, 22 December 2020 04:41 (three years ago) link
Which is also mentioned on this similar thread: Songs that are aware of themselves
― Whamagideon Time (James Redd and the Blecchs), Tuesday, 22 December 2020 04:45 (three years ago) link
Barenaked Ladies, "What A Good Boy"
I couldn't tell youI was wrongChickened out grabbed a pen and a paperSat down and I wrote this song
― Lily Dale, Tuesday, 22 December 2020 04:49 (three years ago) link
Tom Waits, "Hold On"
Down by the Riverside motelIt's ten below and fallingBy a ninety-nine cent storeShe closed her eyes and started swayingBut it's so hard to dance that wayWhen it's cold and there's no musicOh, your old hometown's so far awayBut inside your head there's a record that's playingA song called "Hold On"
― Lily Dale, Friday, 1 January 2021 23:23 (three years ago) link