also makes me think of this groaner from Pearl Jam:
Come to send, not condescend Transcendental consequencesTo transcend where we areWho are we? Who we areTrampled moss, on your souls Changes all, you're a part Seen it all, not at all Can't defend the command
Take me a for a rideBefore we leave
Circumstance, clappin' hands A driving wind's happenstance Off the track, in the mud That's the moss, in the aforementioned verse
― Doctor Casino, Tuesday, 13 March 2018 21:23 (six years ago) link
Go-Betweens:
"Feel so sure about our loveI'll write a song about us breaking up"
― ellaguru, Tuesday, 13 March 2018 22:23 (six years ago) link
lauryn hill "everything is everything"
i wrote these words for everyone who struggles in their youth
― dyl, Tuesday, 13 March 2018 22:24 (six years ago) link
Now this is a song all about howMy life got flipped, turned upside down
― Doctor Casino, Tuesday, 13 March 2018 22:31 (six years ago) link
Van Morrison, "Wavelength"
This is a song about your wavelengthAnd my wavelength, baby
― I leprecan't even. (Ye Mad Puffin), Tuesday, 13 March 2018 22:33 (six years ago) link
...and if that works then maybe we should look at folk songs that begin like "gather round and I will tell you of..."
Tom Lehrer: "Gather round while I sing you of Wernher Von Braun..."
Trad: "Oh have you heard tell of sweet Betsy from Pike..."
Beverly Hillbillies theme: "Tell you a little story bout a man named Jed..."
― I leprecan't even. (Ye Mad Puffin), Tuesday, 13 March 2018 22:35 (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):
So the wind will sing in my ear like a bottleIf I tilt my head just soAnd ease back on the throttleGot music and groceries;I'm open to belongAnd nothing that I've given is goneBut if there's nothing wrong,is there still need for singing these songs?I'm a bicycle, I dodge obstacles, yeah yeah
― Doctor Casino, Tuesday, 13 March 2018 22:36 (six years ago) link
This is such a stupid lazy songwriting trope.
― Mr. Snrub, Tuesday, 13 March 2018 22:51 (six years ago) link
Tell that to Bruce Fuckin' Springsteen!
― absorbed carol channing's powers & psyche (morrisp), Tuesday, 13 March 2018 22:53 (six years ago) link
Matching Mole's 'Signed Curtain' is the ultimate example of this of course.― mfktz (Camaraderie at Arms Length), Monday, March 5, 2018 10:39 AM (one week ago) Bookmark
― mfktz (Camaraderie at Arms Length), Monday, March 5, 2018 10:39 AM (one week ago) Bookmark
otm. on an album of beautiful songs this is one of the stand outs. it is very stream of consciousness.
― Hazy Maze Cave (Adam Bruneau), Tuesday, 13 March 2018 23:43 (six years ago) link
There's also "O Caroline" on the same album.
"David's on piano, and I may play on a drumAnd we'll try to make the music work, we'll try to have some fun"
― Buff Jeckley (Tom D.), Tuesday, 13 March 2018 23:46 (six years ago) link
Robert Wyatt had been doing it since Soft Machine, "Moon In June":
"Just before we go on to the next part of our songLet's all make sure we've got the time"
― Buff Jeckley (Tom D.), Tuesday, 13 March 2018 23:49 (six years ago) link
The BBC session version even more so
― mfktz (Camaraderie at Arms Length), Tuesday, 13 March 2018 23:51 (six years ago) link
Paul McCartney gets close in "Here Today" ("you were here today, for you were in my song"). Billy Joel MUST have done this but all I can think of besides "a song" in "Piano Man" (a stretch) is "Famous Last Words," which does everything but say "song."
― Doctor Casino, Tuesday, 13 March 2018 23:51 (six years ago) link
Xp - the first three verses -I can still rememberThe last time we played on Top GearAnd though each little songWas less than three minutes longMike squeezed a solo in... somehowAnd although we like our longer tunesIt seemed polite to cut them downTo little bits - they might be hitsWho gives an... after all?Tell me how would you feelIn the place of John Peel?You just can't pleaseAll of the musicians all the timePlaying now is lovelyHere in the BBCWe're free to play almost as long and as loudAs a jazz group, or an orchestra on Radio ThreeThere are dancehalls and theatresWith acoustics worse than hereNot forgetting the extra facilitiesSuch as the tea machine, just along the corridorSo to all our mates like Kevin,Caravan, the old Pink FloydAllow me to recommend 'Top Gear'Despite its extraordinary nameYes, playing, playing now is lovelyHere in the BBCWe're free to play almost as long and as loudAs the foreign language classes... and the John Cage interview...And the jazz groups... and the orchestras on Radio 3Pop stars drink each others' winePlough each others' earthHoping for companionshipAnd then perhaps rebirthPlant seeds in fresher plots of earthBound up in concepts and dreamsAnd fears of worse things to comeThey never doThey stay the sameMusic-making stillPerforms a normal functionBackground noise for peopleEating and talking and drinking and smokingThat's all right by usDon't think that we're complainingAfter all it's only leisure time, isn't it?
― mfktz (Camaraderie at Arms Length), Tuesday, 13 March 2018 23:54 (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
Also Pixies - Tony’s Theme
This is a song about a superhero named TonyIt's called Tony's Theme
― ✖✖✖ (Moka), Wednesday, 14 March 2018 00:01 (six years ago) link
Another Soft Machine, "As Long As He Lies Perfectly Still",
"Here's a song for Clean Machine Kev in Majorca"
― Buff Jeckley (Tom D.), Wednesday, 14 March 2018 00:10 (six years ago) link
did no one mention The Who's "Gettin' In Tune" yet?
I'm singing this note 'cause it fits in wellWith the chords I'm playingI can't pretend there's any meaning hereOr in the things I'm sayingBut I'm in tuneRight in tuneI'm in tuneAnd I'm gonna tuneRight in on you
― piper at the gates of d'awwww (voodoo chili), Wednesday, 14 March 2018 00:20 (six years ago) link
Captain Beefheart, "Tropical Hot Dog Night"
I’m playin’ this songFor all the young girls to come out to meet the monster tonight
― Buff Jeckley (Tom D.), Wednesday, 14 March 2018 00:23 (six years ago) link
leon russell's "a song for you" may be the platonic ideal of this
― fact checking cuz, Wednesday, 14 March 2018 01:49 (six years ago) link
keith urban "used to the pain" (first line: "and so i wrote this song for you")
― fact checking cuz, Wednesday, 14 March 2018 01:53 (six years ago) link
5 royales, shirelles, etc. "dedicated to the one i love" ("this is dedicated to the one i love...")
― fact checking cuz, Wednesday, 14 March 2018 01:55 (six years ago) link
Well then how about "This one goes out to the one I love / This one goes out to the one I've left behind"?
And Martina McBride:
This one's for the girlsWho've ever had a broken heartWho've wished upon a shooting starYou're beautiful the way you are
― I leprecan't even. (Ye Mad Puffin), Wednesday, 14 March 2018 02:01 (six years ago) link
Grimes Butterfly
Don't know this songSweeter than a sugar cane
― how's life, Wednesday, 14 March 2018 13:52 (six years ago) link
Uncle Tupelo - Life Worth Livin'
― kornrulez6969, Wednesday, 14 March 2018 14:00 (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
― 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
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
sisters of mercy ballad of the absent mare
― 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 (five years ago) link