New Thread: Biggest pop song lyric cliches
Elson R. Trinidad
What are the most often-used pop song lyric cliches? You can include
words, phrases and rhyming couplets.
A short list (by no means complete) lies below:
- the word "fool" (I vowed to NEVER incude the word "fool" in any song
I write!)
- "Oh baby can't you see..."
- rhyming couplets that end in...
"girl" and "world"
"heart" and "apart"
"life" and "wife"
"hand" and "understand"
- "...cuts like a knife"
(feel free to add the rest)
-- 30 --
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
: E l s o n T r i n i d a d :##
: etri...@scf.usc.edu :##
: http://www-bprc.mps.ohio-state.edu/cgi-bin/hpp?elson.html :##
: University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA :##
: :##
: Am I the ONLY one here who didn't come from a dysfunctional family? :##
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::##
#######################################################################
eric goss
these and more.
Elson R. Trinidad (ertr...@girtab.usc.edu) wrote:
: What are the most often-used pop song lyric cliches? You can include
Brady Carlson
> "girl" and "world"
> "heart" and "apart"
> "life" and "wife"
> "hand" and "understand"
how about "together" and "weather"?
--
eric goss
: >- rhyming couplets that end in...
"Cold" and "Soul"
"Kiss" and "Miss"
"Need" and "Plead"
: --
:
Eric E. Johnson
>
>
>
>
>What are the most often-used pop song lyric cliches? You can include
>words, phrases and rhyming couplets.
The word "Love".
--
Be Seeing You
Eric E. Johnson
eejo...@wheel.dcn.davis.ca.us
http://wheel.dcn.davis.ca.us/~eejohnso
---
Aaron Solomon
The whole song "Love Will Keep Us Alive", one of the Eagles' 4 new tracks off
their new album, is absolutely loaded with cliches.... but it's a great song,
I think. I had the chance to see the Eagles in concert in February in
Chicago, and I'd have to say that Tim Schmitt delivered an absolutely
heartfelt rendition of it. Really straightforward, no frills singing.
Which brings up the question: what's a "cliche"? Is it using a distinct
phrase or set of rhymed words which are common to other songs? Or is it the
thoughtlessness with which those words are spitted out, without going back to
the meaning of those words to discover what made them popular enough to
develop into a cliche? After all, if 3 artists use the same exact line in a
song (i.e. "Climb the highest mountain"), and it takes until the 3rd artist's
song before the line is conveyed in a meaningful way, then which of the
artists (if any) is truly utilizing a cliche?
Aaron, who begs forgiveness if this doesn't make half as much sense as it
seems to now at 5:25 AM
go-man
> What are the most often-used pop song lyric cliches? You can include
> words, phrases and rhyming couplets.
>
It's gotta be "...burning desire," as in "my love is like...," or "I've
got this ...."
--
"The little man knows all ..."
Seth Jackson
: What are the most often-used pop song lyric cliches? You can include
: words, phrases and rhyming couplets.
: A short list (by no means complete) lies below:
: - the word "fool" (I vowed to NEVER incude the word "fool" in any song
: I write!)
Fool can be cool! :^)
: - rhyming couplets that end in...
: "girl" and "world"
:
: "heart" and "apart"
: "life" and "wife"
The trouble with these 3 is that you don't have a whole lot of choices if
you need to rhyme "girl", "heart" or "wife", and these are pretty
important words in a lot of songs, especially the 1st two. I think these
rhymes are generally accepted for this reason.
: "hand" and "understand"
Guilty! :^} And what about "hand" and "man"? (Give me your hand, I'll be
your man...)
I'm surprised no one's yet mentioned the granddaddy of overused rhymes:
"fire/desire"
In a songwriting class taught by Len Chandler, Len gave us a list of
rhymes he told us never to use. There were 3 "big ones", and he said some
publishers will shut off a tape the moment they hear one of these. One
was hand/man, one was fire/desire, and for the life of me I can't
remember the 3rd!
: - "...cuts like a knife"
Carry on and be strong.
--
Seth Jackson
T.Herring
How about:
"You can run but you can't hide"
That one drives me nuts....
T.Herring
Kevin James
> What are the most often-used pop song lyric cliches? You can include
> words, phrases and rhyming couplets.
>
> A short list (by no means complete) lies below:
>
> - the word "fool" (I vowed to NEVER incude the word "fool" in any song
> I write!)
>
> - "Oh baby can't you see..."
>
> - rhyming couplets that end in...
>
> "girl" and "world"
> "heart" and "apart"
> "life" and "wife"
> "hand" and "understand"
> - "...cuts like a knife"
> (feel free to add the rest)
This is fun. I have always wanted to write a song that encompasses as many
cliches as I could think of! Maybe this is my chance!
Okay, here's some:
"Woke up this morning" (used to start every third song on FM radio in the 70s)
Use of the term "bootleg in my hand" (What the hell does this mean???!!!)
"You and me, girl..." (try saying it in a normal conversational voice!
without laughing!)
Any lyrics about being on the road (Gee, plenty of non-musicians can
relate to this!)
Aaron Snow
> What are the most often-used pop song lyric cliches? You can include
> words, phrases and rhyming couplets.
"Catch me if I fall" . . . and all variations thereon.
--
- Aaron | "Stay hard, stay hungry, stay alive if you can,
Sn...@CRL.Com | and meet me in a dream of this hard land." - B.S.
Elson Trinidad
>Elson R. Trinidad (ertr...@girtab.usc.edu) wrote:
>: What are the most often-used pop song lyric cliches? You can include
>: words, phrases and rhyming couplets.
>: A short list (by no means complete) lies below:
>: - the word "fool" (I vowed to NEVER incude the word "fool" in any song
>: I write!)
>Fool can be cool! :^)
I think it's stupid.
>: - rhyming couplets that end in...
>: "girl" and "world"
>: "heart" and "apart"
>: "life" and "wife"
>The trouble with these 3 is that you don't have a whole lot of choices if
>you need to rhyme "girl", "heart" or "wife", and these are pretty
girl, world, unfurled, pearl, whirl...
heart, apart, smart, art, dart, start, tart, bart, fart
wife, life, strife...
>: - "...cuts like a knife"
I just realized another cliche...it's not used THAT often, but I think
it's pretty ridiculous. The phrase:
"once bitten twice shy"
What the HELL does this mean? I heard it used or referenced in songs by
George Michael, Yes and Great White, among others.
-- 30 --
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
: E l s o n T r i n i d a d :##
: etri...@scf.usc.edu :##
: http://www-bprc.mps.ohio-state.edu/cgi-bin/hpp?elson.html :##
: University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA :##
: :##
: Am I the ONLY one here who didn't come from a dysfunctional family? :##
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::##
#######################################################################
wig...@nando.net
>Elson R. Trinidad (ertr...@girtab.usc.edu) wrote:
:>> What are the most often-used pop song lyric cliches? You can include
:>> words, phrases and rhyming couplets.
:>
:>
:>--
:>
:> - Aaron | "Stay hard, stay hungry, stay alive if you can,
:> Sn...@CRL.Com | and meet me in a dream of this hard land."
:- B.S.
Which of course brings us to "star to fall.."
--Moriarty--
"Choo-Choo train left right on time. Ticket costs only your mind."--Weezer--
Derek Sivers
therefore sounding like a forced rhyme.
Also - at one point there were many songs about a GYPSY ______ .
"Take me by the HAND - to the promised LAND - try to UNDERSTAND"
"The way I FEEL is so REAL"
"Look in my EYES - baby you'll REALIZE"
I used to work at Warner/Chappell music, and heard every incoming tape, so
I've experienced the worst....
(good thread!!)
Derek Sivers, NYC
bi...@panix.com
http://www.panix.com/~bizy
MATTHEW CORNELL
>In article <3lpfb0$q...@crl4.crl.com>, Aaron Snow <sn...@crl.com> wrote:
>>Elson R. Trinidad (ertr...@girtab.usc.edu) wrote:
>:>> What are the most often-used pop song lyric cliches? You can include
>:>> words, phrases and rhyming couplets.
>:>
Jeez, just listen to *any* recent Van Halen song - you'll hear them
all. Some of the country ones are funny, which is a relief; VH's are
just plain tired. Michael Bolton's are really bad too, IMHO.
A while back I was having some fun with a voice synthesizer
(text-to-speech) and played with a program that would randomly combine
phrases into meaningful-sounding sentences. Maybe these artists got a
copy...
matt
Michael Scott Warner
Which immediately made me think of "Something Happened on the Way to
Heaven", which was Phil Collins' last top 10 hit, presumably because he
used up _every_ cliche he could think of to write that gem, and there
were none left for the next song. I've heard 100's and 100's of pop songs,
and never have I been so turned off at the cliche'd lyrics like that song.
Mike
--
Mike Warner, gt4...@cad.gatech.edu
Graduate Research Assistant, School of Aerospace Engineering
Georgia Institute of Technology
Dan Russell Mission Recording Studios
James) writes:
>
>In article <3ll9u5$6...@girtab.usc.edu>, etri...@scf.usc.edu wrote:
>
>> What are the most often-used pop song lyric cliches?
Just buy a Bon Jovi album He uses all of them on every album
--
Mission Recording Studios
Atlanta Ga
(404)599-0681
Chri$ L!
"I don't care what they say"
I like Melissa Etheridge as much as anybody, but this one line alone
rendered "Come to my Window" as crap in my book.
Your mileage may vary. :)
--
wlam...@indiana.edu ---- "You guys need stats?" - IU SID shelli Stewart, ----
| http://silver.ucs.indiana.edu/~wlambert ..... at the Final Four |
| Curator, IU Women's Basketball On-Line and The Game Show Page! .............|
---**ATTN PACERS GM DONNIE WALSH: DRAFT #50 REBECCA LOBO!!!**-----------------
David Victor
: My personal (least) favorite....
: "I don't care what they say"
: I like Melissa Etheridge as much as anybody, but this one line alone
: rendered "Come to my Window" as crap in my book.
Jeez...you're a tough cookie!! That album has some really good lyrics on
it, IMHO. An excellent example of staying simple, yet saying something
different.
And I don't care what you say. ;-)
-David Victor
David Victor
: In <jamesk-0304...@sw49.bc.edu> jam...@hermes.bc.edu (Kevin
: James) writes:
: >> What are the most often-used pop song lyric cliches?
: Just buy a Bon Jovi album He uses all of them on every album
I am in total agreement with you...until some of their recent stuff. The
last studio album they did has some really solid lyrics on it. Too bad
they're not popular now that they've gotten to be stronger writers!
-David Victor
Brian Alexander Moody
How about "You're all I need", this one bothers me the most.
Brian Moody
gt5...@prism.gatech.edu
--
Brian Alexander Moody
Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta Georgia, 30332
uucp: ...!{decvax,hplabs,ncar,purdue,rutgers}!gatech!prism!gt5252c
Internet: gt5...@prism.gatech.edu
Anthony Ruggeri
Anthony Ruggeri - Molecular Biology '95 - Princeton University
arug...@princeton.edu - TRTR techno / ambient / rave - MPS+, DW-8000, AWE32...
http://aruggeri.student.princeton.edu - http://www.princeton.edu/~aruggeri/
James Perrett
: >- rhyming couplets that end in...
: > "girl" and "world"
: > "heart" and "apart"
: > "life" and "wife"
: > "hand" and "understand"
: how about "together" and "weather"?
I don't know if its just an English thing but every local songwriter
around here tries to rhyme fantasy and reality at least once in their
lifetime.
James.
Kalle
Joshua Meredith
: What are the most often-used pop song lyric cliches? You can include
: words, phrases and rhyming couplets.
Any variation of "All the things you do"
Ex. I love you, for all the things you do"
By far the worst of the worst.
Kai Quale
> : "girl" and "world"
> :
> : "heart" and "apart"
>
> : "life" and "wife"
>
> : "hand" and "understand"
>
Night/fight
Kai
Joshua Meredith
: What are the most often-used pop song lyric cliches? You can include
: words, phrases and rhyming couplets.
"I don't know, but I've been told"
"I don't know where I'm going / But I know where I've been"
Any time the word "shake" is used to mean "dance"
"Dancing like a....", or "Shaking like a...."
"You don't know what you do to me", or "You don't know" followed by anything.
I'm sure I'll think of more later.
far...@ohstpy.mps.ohio-state.edu
> Baby Baby
"Baby let's rock all nite"
"I can't live without you baby"
and variations thereof.
Jeff Fried
What about all the songs with lyrics involving "change"; eg., "I'm going
through changes", you've put me through changes, etc. ?
-- Jeff
William McBrine
: What are the most often-used pop song lyric cliches?
The recent Eagles song "Love will Keep us Alive" makes a good catalog of
cliches. (Pick any line.)
--
William McBrine | http://www.clark.net/pub/wmcbrine/html/
wmcb...@clark.net | Why can't real life have a kill file?
William McBrine
: "Woke up this morning" (used to start every third song on FM radio in
: the 70s)
I like Weird Al's take on this:
Woke up this morning
Then I went right back to bed
(or something like that). This was a mock blues song, I think from "UHF".
Bruce Springsteen, discussing "Dancing in the Dark" in an interview once,
said he started out by writing "I get up in the morning", but realized
that was a lie... so he tried "I get up in the evening", and the rest of
the song flowed from there. :-)
M. Angela Olson
I've always wanted to write a song called *I'd die for you but, well,
then I'd be dead*. I mean what really is the POINT of dying for
someone?
I'm also sick of *rock my world*
And I've heard *hold me in your arms / fill me with your charms* a
few too many times.
Have you ever noticed that in country music women leave messages for
men in lipstick on a mirror with amazing frequency?
We could go on with this one for YEARS. Thanks! :)
Angela.
CAWhelchel
old lyrics relating to love and "always loving" "remember when?" etc.
I wrote a song entitled, "I Can Almost Remember Your Name" in which the
lyrics are the standard "we were so in love"...blah..blah... but in
which the chorus of the song spoke of making love and how much it
meant--then the words, "and I can almost remember your name".
Okay, back to the real thread:
any song with the word "moon"!
Cheryl
--
This space for rent--for info contact:
euph...@ix.netcom.com
Now Using NEW View-Master Technology!
CAWhelchel
>
>In article <3lpfb0$q...@crl4.crl.com>, Aaron Snow <sn...@crl.com> wrote:
>>Elson R. Trinidad (ertr...@girtab.usc.edu) wrote:
>:>> What are the most often-used pop song lyric cliches? You can
include
>:>> words, phrases and rhyming couplets.
>:>
>:>"Catch me if I fall" . . . and all variations thereon.
>:>
>:>--
>:>
>:> - Aaron | "Stay hard, stay hungry, stay alive if you
can,
>:> Sn...@CRL.Com | and meet me in a dream of this hard land."
>:- B.S.
>
>
>Which of course brings us to "star to fall.."
>
>--Moriarty--
>"Choo-Choo train left right on time. Ticket costs only your
mind."--Weezer--
>
Which also brings us the familiar strains: "I'm falling" _and_
"Help me, I think I'm falling..."
Cheryl
"Help! I've fallen, and I can't get up!"
Alastir Rodgers
I agree wholeheartedly.
I propose we set up
rec.music.makers.new_thread.biggest.pop.song.lyric.cliches
This is far more interesting than Gathering Of Artists In
Opposition To The Contract With/On/In America.
Al.
Peter R Cook
--
Peter R. Cook p...@world.std.com PRC Records Owner.
PRC Records System Software Engineer.
Marlborough, MA USA Drummer.
Marcel van der Zwet
I agree with most of you that you should avoid cliches, but I also like to add
to this discussion that making words a cliche very much depends on the context
and to atmosphere of the whole song. Starting off with a cliche might result
in a song with good sense in it. For example: I want you, by Elvis Costello.
Marcel van der Zwet
The Color and the Surge
Elson R. Trinidad <etri...@scf.usc.edu> wrote:
>
>What are the most often-used pop song lyric cliches? You can include
>words, phrases and rhyming couplets.
In aggro/industrial-type music, especially such music with social-commentary
pretensions:
The word "society."
"Burn!" ("Burn" - the Cure. "Burn" - Nine Inch Nails. "Burn Like Brillian
Trash" - Machines of Loving Grace. "Burning in Water" [or
something like that, by someone else] etc...)
"Blood." Vampire songs, suicide songs, "Love Like Blood" (still a great
song, but kind of old by now...).
All in good fun...
Josh
--
She says one day soon, you and I will merge
Everything that rises must converge Shriekback
Josh Brandt - mu...@iii.net
Paul Roub
>"You don't know what you do to me", or "You don't know" followed by anything.
Oh no... another one I've used, albeit slightly twisted...
"You don't know what it's doing to me
and I don't care what it's doing to you."
I don't know. I just find it fun to take a cliched turn of phrase
(precisely because it's a cliche) and put a spin on it. Just amuses me.
Also, in the context of that song, that line makes a nice transition from
apparent self-pity into the bitter reality of the song...
--
-paul
// Crash Basket low-rent cheese-o-matic World Wide Web page:
// http://www.shadow.net/~proub/basket.html
Steve R. Grunau
how about 'look into my eyes' or 'can't get you outta my mind'. also,
any sexual innuendo involving food (sugar, chocolate, cherry pie, honey,
lemons, etc.).
steve
sgr...@freenet.calgary.ab.ca
Steve R. Grunau
>through changes", you've put me through changes, etc. ?
>-- Jeff
yeah, like 'the more things change...'
whooo-hoo.
steve
sgr...@freenet.calgary.ab.ca
Meredith J. Fine
highest mountain".
M.J.
T.Herring
>
> This is GREAT FUN!
>
> I've always wanted to write a song called *I'd die for you but, well,
> then I'd be dead*. I mean what really is the POINT of dying for
> someone?
>
>
>
That's why I love (oops theres that word) the Who song "Bargain"...
"I'd gladly lose me to find you"... Tears to shreds those hackneyed
phrases songwriters use to describe the depth of their love...
T.Herring
Brian D. Phillips
Everybody say HO!
Everybody say GO,__,GO __ GO!
"All I do..."
"I don't ever wanna let you go." Which is, let's face it, unsanitary!
(She will..., This dance will...)"Make you wanna..."
"Gonna buy me..."
Spelling going to and want to "gonna" and "wanna".
Anything about love "growing".
My heart skips a beat.
Give me all your love. (Well! There goes the affection for my family!)
Stay with me.
An album or record cliche': Telling the consumer to "PLAY THIS RECORD LOUD!"
Brian
Scott McKnight
Trinidad) writes:
>
>
>
>
>What are the most often-used pop song lyric cliches? You can include
>words, phrases and rhyming couplets.
>
>A short list (by no means complete) lies below:
>
>
>- the word "fool" (I vowed to NEVER incude the word "fool" in any song
>I write!)
>
>- "Oh baby can't you see..."
>
>- rhyming couplets that end in...
>
> "girl" and "world"
>
> "heart" and "apart"
>
> "life" and "wife"
>
> "hand" and "understand"
>
>
>
>- "...cuts like a knife"
>
>
>
>(feel free to add the rest)
>
>
"all night" and "feels so right"
"the way ___ walk(s)" and "the way ___ talk(s)
"baby" and "maybe"
mentioning geographic locations
-Scott McKnight
Alex / Brain21
"take you higher" is pretty awful, or any variations on that.
--
Proposal: IP Licenses - Those who don't pass are too dumb to get IP
access. AOL, etc. get no access unless approved by a commitee. Criteria
will include FAQ reading, no "me too" posts, no unnecessary (entire article)
quoting, etc. Flagrant violations will result in fines, higher access
costs, and possible suspension. Common mistakes will be overlooked.
Kevin James
remember that Bread song, "Baby I'm A Want You" (pronounced "Want-Chew")
What the hell is a Want-Chew????! And why would the guy want to be one?
Steve R. Grunau
steve
sgr...@freenet.calgary.ab.ca
Les Bemont
Don't mean maybe
aaarrrggghhhh :)
--Les
rdou...@hoasys.isd1.tafensw.edu.au
I'll be there". Again these can be done in a corny and obvious way or given a
more original slant. Cyndi Lauper's "Time After Time" is a good example - a
beautiful song IMO.
Roger
=====
Michael Bowen
(MATTHEW CORNELL) wrote:
> In article <3lpqc9$k...@merlin.nando.net> wig...@nando.net writes:
> >In article <3lpfb0$q...@crl4.crl.com>, Aaron Snow <sn...@crl.com> wrote:
> >>Elson R. Trinidad (ertr...@girtab.usc.edu) wrote:
> >:>> What are the most often-used pop song lyric cliches? You can include
> >:>> words, phrases and rhyming couplets.
> >:>
> >...
How about "fire/desire", and when they really get poetic, they throw in
"funeral pyre" or "higher and higher". This rhyme appears in every track
ever cut by Journey and Bryan Adams, as well as every power ballad ever
released by a spandex/hair mousse metal-lite band.
Robert King
> : What are the most often-used pop song lyric cliches? You can include
> : words, phrases and rhyming couplets.
>
Sebadoh trots out a few (deliberately, I think) in their song "Cliche":
-- "I didn't know what I had till it was gone" (original when Joni
Mitchell wrote it, I believe, but horribly overused since then)
-- "Remember the good times" (or "think of the good times"; I forget)
I'd also nominate any song that follows the themes "Baby you got me so
hot there's no way we're stopping now" or "You left me crying and alone
and now that I'm back on my feet you think you can just waltz back in and
have me greet you with open arms -- well forget it, bastard." I think
it's time to move on.
Rock on!
-- Bob
jay smith
Your reference to the Who song reminded my why I always loved
their stuff. When you look the collection of songs Pete Townsend wrote,
you'll find very few love songs. And when you do, it's a song like
"Bargain, or Squeeze Box."
Back to cliches. Can I just say anything by Foreigner? Or do I have
to be specific?
Okay
Waiting For A Girl Like You, Hotblooded, and their contribution to the
"sensitive male" categorie - I Want To Know What Love Is.
In fact, any song that has a line that starts with "I want to know...
is going to be filled with cliches.
Robert King
> In <3ll9u5$6...@girtab.usc.edu> ertr...@girtab.usc.edu (Elson R.
> Trinidad) writes:
> >
> >- the word "fool" (I vowed to NEVER incude the word "fool" in any song
> >I write!)
That reminds me of a poem I once heard someone read containing the
recurring line "I'm cool like that" -- no irony intended, unfortunately.
Of course it built up to the stirring climax:
I'm cool like that
but I ain't a fool like that.
If nobody's written a song with those lines, someone should. It would be
a shame to let it go to waste.
As far as the Cliche Hall of Fame, I'd like to nominate every Meatloaf
song I've ever heard, plus the Moody Blues song that goes "I know you're
out there somewhere," which seems like it's 4 or 5 minutes long so they
can employ every cliche known to man: "fountain of our youth," etc.
Terri Bright
----(fill in the blank)------pretty"
(Billy Joel said songs are like children-
some grow up to be doctors and lawyers,
some grow up bums.
Terri Bright
Neil Schlegel
>> : What are the most often-used pop song lyric cliches? You can include
>> : words, phrases and rhyming couplets.
>>
heard a lot, but can't figure out who I've heard do it.
"you'll never know much I love you, you'll never know how much I care"
(or something close to that).
Neil
rdou...@hoasys.isd1.tafensw.edu.au
> Everybody say YEAH!
> Everybody say HO!
> Everybody say GO,__,GO __ GO!
and while you're at it - LET ME TAKE YOU HIGHER!
Never did understand that line.
Roger
=====
Benjamin D Lukoff
"You'll never know how much I really love you, you'll never know how much
I really care..." - John Lennon & Paul McCartney, "Do You Want to Know a
Secret?", 1963. Even the greats used cliches once in a while :)
BDL
Paul Roub
>> : What are the most often-used pop song lyric cliches? You can include
>> : words, phrases and rhyming couplets.
>>
>Sebadoh trots out a few (deliberately, I think) in their song "Cliche":
>-- "I didn't know what I had till it was gone" (original when Joni
>Mitchell wrote it, I believe, but horribly overused since then)
>-- "Remember the good times" (or "think of the good times"; I forget)
A great spin on this theme was the Wild Seeds "I Can't Rock You All Night
Long" (that may not be the title, I no longer have the CD...
I'm sorry, so sorry
I can't rock you all night long
You've been watching too much MTV
...
My back's got too much bone
If you've ever suffered through a Whitesnake album this is pretty amusing
stuff.
Kai Quale
Oh baby please
And the Bryan Adams syndrome: There was a while when you could walk into a
record store and ask for "Er... something with 'Fire' and 'Night', or maybe
'On the Edge of the Night' or something" and the clerk would dump half the
record store on the counter. And it would all be poodles with raspy voices
and fleshy jowls, desperately sucking their cheeks in.
Kai
Paul Roub
>I love this thread--great stuff. Here's one it seems I have
>heard a lot, but can't figure out who I've heard do it.
>"you'll never know much I love you, you'll never know how much I care"
>(or something close to that).
Lennon/McCartney, for one (two?) -- the opening lines of "Do You Want to
Know a Secret?"
You'll never know how much I really love you
You'll never know how much I really care
And just to make it a bit more exciting, George sings it.
Matthew Xavier Mora
>Back to cliches. Can I just say anything by Foreigner? Or do I have
>to be specific?
>
>Okay
>
>Waiting For A Girl Like You, Hotblooded, and their contribution to the
>"sensitive male" categorie - I Want To Know What Love Is.
Which is too bad because their first record was great. Any song that
starts with "I never had no need for any military aid..." you know ain't
no love song. :-)
or one of my favorites:
"There have been rumors,
that my sence of humor
is lacking in someways.
but still that's no reason,
Its tantamount to treason,
let's see what the judge has to say."
You need to find,
someone half as blind
as I am to your games."
or something like that. I never read the liner notes. :-)
Xavier
--
__________________________________________________________________
Matthew Xavier Mora (cybernaut) The keeper of the UMPG
SRI International mxm...@unix.sri.com
"Indeed, it would not be an exaggeration to describe the history
of the computer industry for the past decade as a massive attempt
to keep up with Apple." Byte 12/94
Mr TJ Hankinson
>Roger
>=====
If I hear " just wave your hands in the air ......" again I'm going
to enter a McDonalds with a semi automatic.
Any mentioned "power ballad" cliches like ...
"I'd cry for you , I'd die for you" .... yyeeechhh
Templar.
Timothy Kelly
I agree that this is fun. I used to sit around with a bag of
munchies and go through the song lyric mags from the local newstand and
circle different song lyric cliches in different colors.
The cliches will always be around, the challenge is to use them in a
new way, or in the old way in a different package.
The actual cliches don't bother me much, but I do get tired of the
same subjects over and over in almost the same songs and music, too.
The ones that annoy me the most are.
1. All the hundreds of country songs that act like no one on the
planet ever has a decent, fun, and happy relationship with anyone. Sad
sack victum lyrics sell a lot of beer and a lot of records, especially
when they are hidden on top of happy music.
2. Metal power music that is angry and very demeaning of all females
on the planet, as if any female is just dying for any metalhead who
knows 3 guitar chords and hasn't had a haircut in years. I think they
play loud enough to cause permanent hearing damage, because they think a
loud enough sound will instantly blow off all the cloths of any female
metal fans.
3. Fake orgasisms on stage and in songs, maybe the biggest cliche of
rock music Oh__________Oh____________ete.
Thanks for reading,
Later,
Timothy Kelly
MidiVox-World's 1st Voice to Midi Converter. Real Time. No Delays.
Hum a Bass, Scream a Guitar, Scat a Horn, Rap some Drums, Sing a Cello.
Become a Human Sequencer, Human Vocoder, Human Breath Controller.
AES "Best in Show." EM " Editors Choice." " MidiVox Roars." Keyboard.
Joel Glassman
"I'd die if you ever left me"
"I would die for you (but I've already died for someone else ;^)"
also a title for a country song which cries out
to be written: "I Drink to Forget,but I Never Forget
to Get Drunk"
Danaloi
from the Beatles to Gary U.S. Bonds to Springsteen (a real Bonds devotee,
he had this particular lyrical crutch for a while. I love the guy, but
jeez...)
But it's great in the Otis Blackwell song, covered by Chrissie Hynde and
Willie DeVille on "Brace Yourself!" (Shanachie) tribute album. It's great
-- the whole album --- go find it.
angela
Jean-Pascal Audiffren
R i k
... the classic coupling of 'rain' and 'window pane'
Seth Jackson
I did something unusual tonight and went to the LASS pitch session.
Somebody pitched a blues song that started out:
You used to hold me in your arms so tight
I was your baby and you treated me right
The song was rejected.
--
Seth Jackson
ethan taylor sellers
dependent bullshit. Yet somehow the masses eat it up with a spoon without
recognizing it for the sick sentiment that it is.
Ethan
Joe Sarnovsky
Benjamin D Lukoff
Yes, but if it is slightly reworked, it can turn into a great song. Do
you know "What is Life?" by George Harrison?
...If it's not love that you need
then I'll try my best to make everything succeed
But tell me, what is my life without your love?
And tell me, who am I without you by my side?
(etc.) (C)1970 Harrisongs
Coupled with his music, this is a much better song than if he had just
plainly said "I'm nothing without you."
BDL
KRISTIAN MACCALL
>Subject: Re: New Thread: Biggest pop song lyric cliches
>From: rdou...@hoasys.isd1.tafensw.edu.au
>Date: 10 Apr 95 11:30:03 +1000
>In article <3m1jc8$3...@moe.cc.emory.edu>, bph...@curly.cc.emory.edu (Brian D.
>Phillips) writes:
>> Everybody say YEAH!
>> Everybody say HO!
>> Everybody say GO,__,GO __ GO!
>and while you're at it - LET ME TAKE YOU HIGHER!
>Never did understand that line.
>Roger
>=====
One (with some variations) that always annoyed me...
"too blind to see/so blind I cannot see....(etc.)"
I mean, 'well duh'!!!!!!
-K.
Andrew Rogers
>My personal (least) favorite....
>
>"I don't care what they say"
Not even in "Little Black Egg"? :-)
I'm surprised nobody else mentioned the much-overused "change... [re]arrange"
rhyme yet.
As far as overused topics goes... there was a buttload of songs in the 60's
and early 70's about men disguising their tears as rain: Dee Clark's
"Raindrops", the Everly Brothers' "Crying In The Rain", the Temptations' "I
Wish It Would Rain", the Dramatics' "In The Rain"...
Andrew
i'm gonna keep it anyway
aaron gardner
rock/stop/top/hot rhyme?
There is a new song out, by whom I don't know, called "I live my life for
you" which seems to be nothing more than a non-stop string of cliches.
Awful. It's so bad, I must listen to it rather than change the station.
--
"Nobody wants to watch you cut your toenails, and no one would steal your
toenail clippers."
AWHI...@maine.maine.edu
interesting with the right approach ala Elvis Costello's tune "I Want You",
which I think is a great example. Costello manages in 5 1/2 to 6 min to
completely explore what the phrase means. He gets under the skin of the
cliche and discusses all the aspects of just what "wanting" is, from the
sexual aspect to the loving aspect to the possesive and jealous etc. The
result is one of his most powerful, disturbing songs. Not a pop song, mind
you (though Costello is one of the few out there writing *literate*,
*intelligent* pop songs, which is probably why he rarely has a hit), but a
great song, no matter what you call it, at least to me.
Dylan can do this as well. Phrases like "Like A Rolling Stone",
"Shelter From the Storm", "Sweetheart Like You", "You're Gonna Make Me
Lonesome When You Go" etc. are all either cliches or derivative of cliches,
but when you're dealing with someone of Dylan's lyrical ability, you are
consistently going to have the cliches expanded on, turned inside out, and
bent, broken and remade. Of course, I suppose Dylan is responsible, at least
in the rock culture, for creating some cliches (y'know, like "Blowin' in the
Wind")... Of course, I guess we have to blame those damn bluesmen for
proliferation of "baby", "darlin'" "honey" and all those terms of
endearment... ;-)
Adam
Raitz H.
>"You'll never know how much I really love you, you'll never know how much
>I really care..." - John Lennon & Paul McCartney, "Do You Want to Know a
>Secret?", 1963. Even the greats used cliches once in a while :)
Didn't they come up with 'em? Anyway, what'd you think about "I'll rock
you in the morning and roll you in the nite"? Or -- with variations --
"I will be there for you".
RAITZ
A question well served:
"Is silence like a fever?"
"A voice never heard?"
"Or a message with no receiver?"
Dream Theater, "The Silent Man"
Stephen P. Espinola
carry the load"? They oughta ban that one.
--Steve E.
BobS
A bunch of songs use "smokestack lightning." What the heck does that mean,
anyway?
Sandra Uitdenbogerd
>--Steve E.
And don't forget
I want you to be mine
Until the end of time
eric goss
Dance/ romance
Love/ heaven above
pain/ drives me insane
touch/ means so much
Veronica Rusnak
>
>A bunch of songs use "smokestack lightning." What the heck does that mean,
>anyway?
Do you really need to hear this from a woman?
v'ron
Kai Quale
And the all-time worst:
OK ... all day
All right ... all night
Eeewww !
Kai
J.A. Browner
Cheers,
Jessica
Veronica Rusnak
OK, OK, who's going to put pen to paper (or hand to guitar or fingers to
keyboard -- musical or computerwise) and WRITE the "ultimate pop cliche" song.
(required pre-listening should be Waylon's ultimate country and western song --
forgot the true name, it was something like, "You don't have to call me
darlin', darlin.")
To keep it cliche, it would of course have to be a I-IV-V, with three verses,
three choruses, and a bridge on the IV. Let's do it in 4/4 time, key of E to
make it easy for beginning guitarists. Medium tempo.
Lyricists? Accept the challenge!
--v'ron
Jim Burris
>keyboard -- musical or computerwise) and WRITE the "ultimate pop cliche" song.
>(required pre-listening should be Waylon's ultimate country and western song --
>forgot the true name, it was something like, "You don't have to call me
>darlin', darlin.")
The song "You Never Even Call Me By My Name" was written by Steve Goodman, and
performed by David Allen Coe. The story goes that Goodman sent the song to Coe,
claiming it was the perfect country song. Coe replied that it didn't mention
Mama, or trucks, or drinking, etc.; Goodman then added the infamous third
verse.
FYI
Elson Trinidad
Veronica Rusnak <rus...@vms.csd.mu.edu> wrote:
>OK, OK, who's going to put pen to paper (or hand to guitar or fingers to
>keyboard -- musical or computerwise) and WRITE the "ultimate pop cliche" song.
>Lyricists? Accept the challenge!
>
It already exists in rec.music.makers.songwriting, where this thread has
been crossposted and expanded into a r.m.m.songwriting trhead called,
"The Biggest Cliche of All," written exclusively by the over a dozen
posters of that newsgroup.
Sample: "I'm down on my knees
Begging you please..."
_______________ -- 30 --
|\ |# E l s o n T r i n i d a d
| \ * Los Ang|# etri...@scf.usc.edu
| \ |# http://www-bprc.mps.ohio-state.edu/cgi-bin/hpp?elson.html
| (__/~~~\ |# University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA
|_______________|#
#################
Jake Brooks
> In article <3o5kk7$6...@hermod.uio.no>, k...@ulrik.uio.no (Kai Quale) writes:
> >In article <3o13cq$p...@saims.skidmore.edu>, eg...@saims.skidmore.edu (eric g
> >> Won't be long/ sing my song
> >> Dance/ romance
> >> Love/ heaven above
> >> pain/ drives me insane
> >> touch/ means so much
> >>
> >
> >And the all-time worst:
> >
> >OK ... all day
> >All right ... all night
> >
> >Eeewww !
> >
> >Kai
>
> OK, OK, who's going to put pen to paper (or hand to guitar or fingers to
> keyboard -- musical or computerwise) and WRITE the "ultimate pop cliche" song
> (required pre-listening should be Waylon's ultimate country and western song
> forgot the true name, it was something like, "You don't have to call me
> darlin', darlin.")
>
> To keep it cliche, it would of course have to be a I-IV-V, with three verses,
> three choruses, and a bridge on the IV. Let's do it in 4/4 time, key of E to
> make it easy for beginning guitarists. Medium tempo.
>
>
> Lyricists? Accept the challenge!
>
> --v'ron
>
>
--
dig...@bbs.theporch.com (Jake Brooks)
Telnet bbs.theporch.com or 615/297-7951 The MacInteresteds of Nashville
Jon Horne
>
>
> A bunch of songs use "smokestack lightning." What the heck does that mean,
> anyway?
Literally? Fire from the engine of a steam train.
Figuratively? Orgasms. Same as every other lyric.
Tom Benson
Anybody know the name, lyrics, or date this was released?
It was a mid 60's dance song. I need the words so I can sing
them all to my kids (well mostly my 13 yr old) when she
bugs me. It's how I get even with them after I've heard some
current pop song for the 500th time.
Please help me take revenge. 8-)
Thanks.
Tom *I've always hated pop-music* Benson t...@godel.nt.com
Sam-I-Am publications
all of my fave (this abbreviation is a cliche in itself) cliche lyrics
come from Country Music.
Examples: Any phrase your grandma uses repeatedly, used figuratively.
Officer, arrest that man...he stole my heart, kinda stuff.
(Madonna)
I'm all out of love Can't give anymore
(Air Supply, Mahriah Carey)
Pickin up the pieces of a broken heart.
(take your pick of ANY country music song)
*i like Madonna and Air Supply, but they get exteremly cliche at times.
Gotta Twirl,
j.d.
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
fwestphal
: In <D8BL5...@sunsrvr6.cci.com> Tom Benson <t...@godel.humb.nt.com>
: writes:
: >Anybody know the name, lyrics, or date this was released?
: >
I remember my older KIDS singing this song, partly to drive us
nuts, I'm convinced (what, I don't look that old?) :-)
I didn't pap much attention to the words in general. Now I see
these two lines:
: My mama told me if I was goody then she would buy me a rubber dolly
: My aunty told her I kissed a soldier now she won't buy me a rubber
: dolly.
This seems perilously close to the words of an old Bob Wills song,
"Rubber Dolly", from the forties. First lines went:
My mama told me if I was goody then she would buy me a rubber dolly
But if you tell her I've got a feller then she won't buy me a rubber dolly.
I would think this would still have been protected at that time?
dhw
--
Fred and Dorothy Westphal, at home in Sunnyvale California
west...@netcom.com
Thomas
writes:
>
>
>Anybody know the name, lyrics, or date this was released?
>
>them all to my kids (well mostly my 13 yr old) when she
>bugs me. It's how I get even with them after I've heard some
>current pop song for the 500th time.
>
>Please help me take revenge. 8-)
>
>Thanks.
>
>Tom *I've always hated pop-music* Benson t...@godel.nt.com
Shirley ? did "Name Game" Rememberrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr? what, 1965. I
remember singing this thing on the school bus.
Name Game
Shirley Birley Bo Birley Banananana go girley
Fee Fi Fo Firley
Shirley
Lincoln, etc...
My mama told me if I was goody then she would buy me a rubber dolly
My aunty told her I kissed a soldier now she won't buy me a rubber
dolly.
3,6 ,9 the goose drank wine, the monkey chewed tobacco on the streetcar
line.
The line broke, the monkey got choked, and they all went to heaven in a
little rowboat.
Clap clap.
Then a bunch of talking and name game stuff, etc.
Greg Skinner
>Thomas (tom...@ix.netcom.com) wrote:
>: Shirley ? did "Name Game" Rememberrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr? what, 1965. I
>: remember singing this thing on the school bus.
Shirley Ellis
>: 3,6,9 the goose drank wine, the monkey chewed tobacco on the streetcar
>: line.
>: The line broke, the monkey got choked, and they all went to heaven in a
>: little rowboat.
>: Clap clap.
This is part of "The Clapping Song", also by Shirley Ellis. Both of
these were written by her husband, Lincoln Chase. (Courtesy Joel
Whitburn's Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits)
"The Clapping Song" was covered by Pia Zadora in 1983. The phrase
"the line broke, the monkey got choked" appears in "Red Red Wine",
written by Neil Diamond, covered by UB40 in 1984, rerelased in 1988,
went to #1 on the Billboard Hot 100.
--gregbo
Michael Gardner
writes:
>
>
>: My mama told me if I was goody then she would buy me a rubber dolly
>: My aunty told her I kissed a soldier now she won't buy me a rubber
>: dolly.
>: 3,6 ,9 the goose drank wine, the monkey chewed tobacco on the
streetcar
>: line.
>: The line broke, the monkey got choked, and they all went to heaven
in a
>: little rowboat.
>: Clap clap.
>
>: Then a bunch of talking and name game stuff, etc.
>
>Just to clarify, the rubber dolly and 3,6,9 stuff was not part of "The
>Name Game".
>
> Seth Jackson
I know the 3,6,9 stuff was used as part of a rap on UB40's cover of
Neil Diamond's "Red Red Wine." Has it been used before that?
Dr G
--
************************************************************************
Michael Gardner Sacramento, CA. Gardner Music Developments;
Handmade guitars and basses, Luthiery supplies,
Professional repairs and restorations
michael...@24stex.com drgu...@ix.netcom.com
************************************************************************
Seth Jackson
: Shirley ? did "Name Game" Rememberrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr? what, 1965. I
: remember singing this thing on the school bus.
: Name Game
: Shirley Birley Bo Birley Banananana go girley
: Fee Fi Fo Firley
: Shirley
: Lincoln, etc...
Shirley Bassey? Something like that.
: My mama told me if I was goody then she would buy me a rubber dolly
: My aunty told her I kissed a soldier now she won't buy me a rubber
: dolly.
: 3,6 ,9 the goose drank wine, the monkey chewed tobacco on the streetcar
: line.
: The line broke, the monkey got choked, and they all went to heaven in a
: little rowboat.
: Clap clap.
: Then a bunch of talking and name game stuff, etc.
Just to clarify, the rubber dolly and 3,6,9 stuff was not part of "The
Name Game".
--
Seth Jackson
Bradlee Beer
>From: spe...@cinenet.net (Seth Jackson)
>Subject: Re: 3, 6, 9, The Goose Drank Wine
>Date: 13 May 1995 06:17:52 GMT
>Thomas (tom...@ix.netcom.com) wrote:
It was "The Clapping Song" by the same artist as "The Name Game", Shirley
Ellis.
> Seth Jackson
R J Walker
: Anybody know the name, lyrics, or date this was released?
: It was a mid 60's dance song.
Erm.....I'm afraid I can't help you with the lyrics (all I can remember
is that the monkey got choked and they all went to heaven in a little row
boat *clap* *clap* :-) )
*Ahem*.....if it was a 60's song, it was revived in the early eighties by an
all female group called "Bananarama" (who originally sung in a group called
"The Fun Boy Three") If you don't get lucky here, perhaps you might find it
in a record store or jumble sale...???
Cheers
Rich
Keith Cowgill
: Tom Benson (t...@godel.humb.nt.com) wrote:
: : Anybody know the name, lyrics, or date this was released?
: Erm.....I'm afraid I can't help you with the lyrics (all I can remember
: is that the monkey got choked and they all went to heaven in a little row
: boat *clap* *clap* :-) )
"3 - 6 - 9
The goose drank wine
The monkey chewed tobacco on the street-car line
The line broke
The monkey got choked
And they all went to heaven
In a little (brass/black?) boat"
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------+
: Keith Cowgill kcow...@infinet.com http://www.infinet.com/~kcowgill :
: Advertising, Creative Director, Marketing Communications :
: [Author: WaveBlaster Tamer, Type-1 Tools, FixSit] :
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------+