Music & Lyrics

If I'm a bad person, you don't like me

Well, I guess I'll make my own way

It's a circle, I mean cycle

I can't excite you anymore

Where's your gavel? Your jury?

What's my offense this time?

You're not a judge but if you're gonna judge me

Well, sentence me to another life

Don't wanna hear your sad songs

I don't wanna feel your pain

When you swear it's all my fault

'Cause you know we're not the same

No, we're not the same, oh, we're not the same

We're the friends who stuck together

We wrote our names in blood

But I guess you can't accept that the change is good

It's good, it's good

Well, you treat me just like another stranger

Well, it's nice to meet you, sir

I guess I'll go, I best be on my way out

This is the best thing that could've happened

Any longer and I wouldn't have made it

It's not a war, no, it's not a rapture

I'm just a person but you can't take it

The same tricks that, that once fooled me

They won't get you anywhere

I'm not the same kid from your memory

Well, now I can fend for myself

Well, you treat me just like another stranger

Well, it's nice to meet you, sir

Well, I guess I'll go, I best be on my way out

You treat me just like another stranger

Well, it's nice to meet you, sir

I guess I'll go, I best be on my way out

Ignorance by Paramore

This is one of my favorite songs at the moment. The tune is pretty catchy and I'm quite a big Paramore fan. But mostly this is one of my favorite songs because the lyrics are amazing.

I find that these days the ‘pop songs’, the songs that most young people listen to, the songs that play on the radio, they don’t have very good lyrics. The lyrics seem to be just words to sing a tune to, words that the singer doesn’t mean.

Have you ever noticed how almost every song played on the radio is about love?
About loving someone or about breaking up with someone or about loving someone but them not loving you back or about making love to someone. It’s all about love. And the lyrics for these songs seem to end up being the same. They all mean the same thing. And I also find that those lyrics are not very.. thoughtful. They seem childish and silly and they don’t really mean anything. Sure, the tune may be good, but I’m the type of person who listens to the lyrics of the song. Because the lyrics are where the song really gets out and really grabs people.

I remember my owl saying once that the reason you like a song is mostly because you can relate to the lyrics. Because the lyrics are good and actually mean something. I reckon that young people can relate to the songs about love. That’s why almost every artist sings about it. But I don’t think that those lyrics are constructed very well. They are aimed at young people so cleaver language is not used. Once I was listening to some music that the boys had put on. Boys being boys, it was screamo that they put on just to piss the girls off. But my friend said to me, “At least they sing about real things. Things that are actually going on in the world right now. Unlike most the stuff that’s on the radio these days.” And I had to agree with him. I don’t listen to screamo but I do know that some of their lyrics are quite meaningful and about stuff that counts.

That’s why I don’t really listen to the radio anymore. Because I instead find myself wanting to plug my ipod into the radio and play my music instead. Play Paramore instead of Soulja Boy. The Whitlams instead of Britney Spears. AFI instead of Chris Brown. Greenday instead of Katy Perry. Pink instead of Lily Allen. They are some of my favorite artists for writing good lyrics. I find that their lyrics relate to me and mean something at the same time. They write about things other than love in their songs and the words they use seem somehow better in some way. The Whitlams, Paramore and Greenday in particular.

Here are some of my favorite lines from various songs. Some of the lyrics are a bit weird and maybe you need to hear the song to understand why I like these particular lines.

I seek you out, flay you alive. One more word and you won’t survive.
Eyes on Fire by Blue Foundation

Thoughts explode like my head is a grenade and I pulled the pin.
The Road is Lost by The Whitlams

Only law is ‘No law at all’
The Road is Lost by The Whitlams

All he saw was a woman, and all she was was a dream.
Some song which I don’t know the name of by Peter Gabriel

Sex is everywhere, but no where around me.
You Sound Like Louis Burdett by The Whitlams

Oh, my son, look at what I have done. I am learning still, know that I am learning still.
Forgive Me by Missy Higgins

I remember where I was when I got my first pussy, I thought I was living the life. And the craziest thing is I’ll probably never know the colour of my daughter’s eyes.
Loosing My Way by Justin Timberlake

I know the cost of a losing hand there but for the grace of God go hide.
Ave Maria by Beyonce

Have you ever hated yourself for staring at the phone, your whole life waiting on the ring to prove you’re not alone?
Glitter in the Air by Pink

Ave Mary A, where did you go, how did you know to get out of a world gone mad?
Ave Mary A by Pink

Charlie you’re not my Charlie anymore, screwing it up with an audience looking on.
Buy Now and Pay Later by The Whitlams

She’s got a body like an hourglass, its ticking like a clock.
Misery Business by Paramore

Satan delivers and the goods are alright. He’s at home counting the dough while I’m standing here for another last throw.
Royal in the Afternoon by The Whitlams


My favourite song of all time is by The Whitlams. I have blogged about it before. The Road is Lost. It tells of a story, a story of war. It doesn’t glorify war like some people have and it tells of war from the perspective of the people left at home, a perspective not often heard from. The lyrics of this song are truly amazing and it’s no wonder its my favourite song.

Maybe next time you listen to a song, hear the words instead of the tune.
You might be surprised.