"words, and line, and verse, and in order..."

i know more lyrics than you do. its just the truth. i just remember them....easily. so which ones stand out? which are the best? ladies and gentlemen, the poot presents its top 5 lyrics of all time: *please note, this was extremely difficult to come up with. it took hours. seriously.

1) Jeff Buckley - Lover you should have come over

Its never over
my kingdom for a kiss upon her shoulder
its never over
all my riches for her smiles when i slept so soft against her
its never over
all my blood for the sweetness of her laughter
its never over
she's the tear that hangs inside my soul forever

the most perfect display of love ive ever heard. but its not over the top. its sincere, and delicate, with just enough desperation to hint at a longing and a need, without being desperate or dependent. buckley said he wasnt a great lyricist and he is right, he is oftentimes overly ambigious and impressionistic. this however, is beyond brilliant.




2) Bob Dylan - Its alright ma..

"its alright ma, its life and life only."

life and life only. this of course comes at the end of a 7 minutes of rapid fire ranting about problems with government, love, the world. but in the end, it doesnt matter. no, no, its ok. fuck it. its courageous and brave and defiant all at once. stand in the face of the worst aspects of the world, give it the finger, smirk, turn your back and walk away whistling a tune. the greatest writer of our time at his best and most prolific.



3) Rolling Stones - "You cant always get what you want"

while the title and subsequent line of "but if you try sometimes, you get what you need" is the obvious pick for this tune, i choose the following couplet:

"she was practiced at the art of deception
i could tell by her blood stained hands"

paints a picture so sinister and raw that it sticks with you. its brutal. i love it.




4) Bob Dylan - "Like a Rolling Stone"

i was going to try to dig a little deeper than the obvious, but there is just no denying this line. so simple, so honest, so down and dirty but hopeful.

"if you aint got nothin, you got nothin to lose."

when i was young, there were certain songs or lines in songs that my dad would point out to me when they came on the radio. literally, he would point at the radio when it came on, a habit that ive inherited. this was one of those moments.


5) martha wainwright

"ive got no reason, to be alive oh give me one."

sorry, i couldnt help it. in addition to trying to avoid the obvious, ive tried to boil the delivery away from the lyrics, leaving just the lyric itself. with this final entry though, i couldnt help but think of the moment of delivery. when this is sung, a hook is driven into your chest and lifts you up out of your seat and places you on a pedestal. you hang precariously for a moment but she lets you down so very easily and comfortably. if an entire song was comprised of these ten seconds, i would listen to it end on end.



the first vlog entry will be coming shortly. stay tuned.