Songs that speak to the soul

One thing I love about music is the way that song lyrics can just cut right through to the heart of me. I can’t get enough of lyrics that spark some sort of mental or emotional response—the ones that make me go ooh, that’s good. And it’s not always the same things that get to me: sometimes I’m struck by a poetic image, or an unusual description, or the line’s delivery, or just some sounds that make for a really aurally satisfying combination. For whatever reason, these are the lyrics that stick in my head and start spinning around it in circles (like a sock stuck in a washing machine).

You will absolutely see a couple of my favourite poetic lyricists making multiple appearances below—see if you can guess who they are!

Pink Floyd—Wish You Were Here:

We’re just two lost souls swimming in a fishbowl,

Year after year.

Eagles—Life in the Fast Lane:

He was a hard-headed man,

He was brutally handsome;

She was terminally pretty.

Hozier—First Time:

And the first time that you kissed me,

I drank dry the river Lethe.

Bruce Springsteen—Thunder Road:

There were ghosts in the eyes of all the boys you sent away;

They haunt this dusty beach road in the skeleton frames of burned out Chevrolets.

Sheryl Crow—All I Wanna Do:

A happy couple enters the bar—

Dangerously close to one another.

Meat Loaf—Bat Out of Hell:

And nothing really rocks, and nothing really rolls

And nothing’s ever worth the cost

Hozier—Work Song:

There's nothing sweeter than my baby.

I'd never want once from the cherry tree,

'Cause my baby's sweet as can be;

She give me toothaches just from kissin' me.

Bruce Springsteen—I’m On Fire:

It’s like someone took a knife, baby, edgy and dull,

And cut a six-inch valley through the middle of my skull.

Led Zeppelin—Going to California:

Took my chances on a big jet plane;

Never let 'em tell ya that they're all the same.

The sea was red and the sky was grey;

I wonder how tomorrow could ever follow today.

The mountains and the canyons start to tremble and shake;

The children of the sun begin to wake.

Florence + The Machine—King:

I am no mother, I am no bride, I am king.

Pink Floyd—Time:

Run, rabbit, run;

Dig that hole, forget the sun.

When at last the work is done,

Don’t sit down, it’s time to dig another one

Bruce Springsteen—Dancing in the Dark:

I check my look in the mirror;

Wanna change my clothes, my hair, my face.

Hozier—Unknown:

You called me angel for the first time, my heart leapt from me;

Now I can see its pieces still stuck in your teeth.

And what’s left of it, I listen to it tick,

Every tedious beat going unknown as any angel to me.

Jed Parsons—Reading Me Wrong:

And the dark is here,

And brings with it no comfort at all.

Bruce Springsteen—Badlands:

Poor man wanna be rich;

Rich man wanna be king;

The king ain’t satisfied

’Til he rules everything.

Warren Zevon—Werewolves of London:

I saw a werewolf drinkin’ a pina colada at Trader Vic’s;

His hair was perfect.

After this nice, eclectic little break from the usual we’ll be diving back into some literary topics again next week (with a new historical fun-fact series—ooooh). Make sure you’re subscribed so you don’t miss out!