Song lyrics that actually tell a story.

[Kippaxpete]

All I Want for Christmas is a Dukla Prague Away Kit

Half Man Half Biscuit

There was one in the gang
who had Scalectrix
and because of that
he thought he was better than you
every day after school
you'd go around there to play him
hoping to compete for some kind championship
And it always took about 15 billion hours to set the track up
And even when you did, the thing never seemed to work
It was a dodgy transformer, again and again.
It was a dodgy transformer, again and again.
It was a dodgy transformer, again and again.
It was a dodgy transformer, that cost 3 pound 10.
So he sent his doting mother
up the stairs with the stepladder
to get the Subbuteo
out of the loft
it had all the accessories
required for that big-match atmosphere
the crowd and the dugout
the floodlights too
and you'd always get palmed off
with a headless centre-forward
and a goal-keeper with no arms
and a face like his
and he'd managed to get hold of
a Dukla-Prague Away Kit
'cause his uncle owned a sport shop
and he'd kept it to one side
and after only five minutes
you'd be down to ten men
as he'd sent off your right back
for taking the base from under his left-winger
come to half-time, you were losing, four-nil
each and every goal, a hotly disputed penalty
so you smash up the floodlights
and the game was abandoned
and the dog would bark
and you'd be banned from his house
and your travelling army
of synthetic supporters
would be taken away from you
and thrown in the bin.
and now he's working
in a job with a future
he hands me my Giro
every two weeks.
and me, I'm on the lookout
for a proper transformer.

Pure genius.

 

[Kippaxpete]

Powderfinger

Neil Young

Look out, Mama,
there's a white boat
comin' up the river
With a big red beacon,
and a flag,
and a man on the rail
I think you'd better call John,
'Cause it don't
look like they're here
to deliver the mail
And it's less than a mile away
I hope they didn't come to stay
It's got numbers on the side
and a gun
And it's makin' big waves.

Daddy's gone,
my brother's out hunting
in the mountains
Big John's been drinking
since the river took Emmy-Lou
So the powers that be
left me here
to do the thinkin'
And I just turned twenty-two
I was wonderin' what to do
And the closer they got,
The more those feelings grew.

Daddy's rifle in my hand
felt reassurin'
He told me,
Red means run, son,
numbers add up to nothin'
But when the first shot
hit the docks I saw it comin'
Raised my rifle to my eye
Never stopped to wonder why.
Then I saw black,
And my face splashed in the sky.

Shelter me from the powder
and the finger
Cover me with the thought
that pulled the trigger
Think of me
as one you'd never figured
Would fade away so young
With so much left undone
Remember me to my love,
I know I'll miss her.

Pure poetry in a song lyric and a great tune to boot!

 

[kevin horlocks wand]

tunnel of love fun boy three.


Consequences, altered cases
Broken noses, altered faces
My ego altered, altered egos
Wherever I go, so does me go
Walk through the fields where the flowers are growing
Carve out your names on the first tree you see
There are 22 catches when you strike your matches
And get down on your knees
In the tunnel of love (the tunnel of love)
You fall in feet first (in the tunnel of love)
You think of yourselves as really good friends
But you know how it always ends in the tunnel of love
So you get engaged and have a party
Only 17 when the wedding bells chime
Got a room with a view and a kid on the way
Hope you make it to the church on time
Cause the wedding list is getting longer
The bottom drawer is getting fuller
And you're not getting any younger
Can things get any better?
In the tunnel of love (the tunnel of love)
You fall in feet first (in the tunnel of love)
And think of yourselves as really good friends
But you know how it always ends in the tunnel of love
The tunnel of love
So consequences, altered cases
You tried honeymoons in far off places
But the trial separation worked
And ended up in a divorce case
You gave up your friends for a new way of life
And both ended up as ex-husband and wife
There were 22 catches when you struck your matches
And threw away your life in the tunnel of love
(The tunnel of love)
You fell in feet first (in the tunnel of love)
And thought of yourselves as really good friends
But you know how it had to end in the tunnel of love
In the tunnel of love (the tunnel of love)
The tunnel of love (the tunnel of love)

 

[abu13]

 

[BerkshireBlue]

That's almost as good as the original boyzone tune

 

[Mad Eyed Screamer]

As per thread title, post your favourites:-

These are from 1979 and Squeeze.....Brilliant.


I never thought it would happen
With me and a girl from Clapham
Out on the windy common
That night I ain't forgotten
When she dealt out the rations
With some or other passions
I said: "You are a lady"
"Perhaps" she said: "I may be"

We moved into a basement
With thoughts of our engagement
We stayed in by the telly
Although the room was smelly
We spent our time just kissing
The Railway Arms we're missing
But love had got us hooked up
And all our time it took up

I got a job with Stanley
He said I'd come in handy
And started me on Monday
So I had a bath on Sunday
I worked eleven hours
And bought the girl some flowers
She said she'd seen a doctor
And nothing now could stop her

I worked all through the winter
The weather brass and bitter
I put away a tenner each week to make her better
And when the time was ready
We had to sell the telly
Late evenings by the fire
And little kicks inside her
This morning at four-fifty
I took her rather nifty
Down to an incubator
Where thirty minutes later
She gave birth to a daughter
Within a year a walker
She looked just like her mother
If there could be another

And now she's two years older
Her mother's with a soldier
She left me when my drinking
Became a proper stinging
The Devil came and took me
From bar to street to bookie
No more nights by the telly
No more nights nappies smelling
Alone here in the kitchen
I feel there's something missing
I'd beg for some forgiveness
But begging's not my business
And she won't write a letter
Although I always tell her
And so it's my assumption
I'm really up the junction

I saw the thread title and immediately thought of this song so smiled when I clicked the link and it was at the top.

Had it on purple 7 inch vinyl.

 

[Gray]

A bullet from the back of a bush took Medgar Evers' blood
A finger fired the trigger to his name
A handle hid out in the dark
A hand set the spark
Two eyes took the aim
Behind a man's brain
But he can't be blamed
He's only a pawn in their game
A South politician preaches to the poor white man
"You got more than blacks, don't complain
You're better than them, you been born with white skin" they explain
And the Negro's name
Is used it is plain
For the politician's gain
As he rises to fame
And the poor white remains
On the caboose of the train
But it ain't him to blame
He's only a pawn in their game
The deputy sheriffs, the soldiers, the governors get paid
And the marshals and cops get the same
But the poor white man's used in the hands of them all like a tool
He's taught in his school
From the start by the rule
That the laws are with him
To protect his white skin
To keep up his hate
So he never thinks straight
'Bout the shape that he's in
But it ain't him to blame
He's only a pawn in their game
From the poverty shacks, he looks from the cracks to the tracks
And the hoof beats pound in his brain
And he's taught how to walk in a pack
Shoot in the back
With his fist in a clinch
To hang and to lynch
To hide 'neath the hood
To kill with no pain
Like a dog on a chain
He ain't got no name
But it ain't him to blame
He's only a pawn in their game
Today, Medgar Evers was buried from the bullet he caught
They lowered him down as a king
But when the shadowy sun sets on the one
That fired the gun
He'll see by his grave
On the stone that remains
Carved next to his name
His epitaph plain
Only a pawn in their game

 

[Gray]

William Zanzinger killed poor Hattie Carroll
With a cane that he twirled around his diamond ring finger
At a Baltimore hotel, society gath'rin'
And the cops were called in, and his weapon took from him
As they rode him in custody down to the station
And booked William Zanzinger for first-degree murder
But you who philosophize, disgrace and criticize all fears
Take the rag away from your face, now ain't the time for your tears
William Zanzinger, who at 24 years, owns a tobacco farm of 600 acres
With rich wealthy parents who provide and protect him
And high office relations in the politics of Maryland
Reacted to his deed with a shrug of his shoulders
And swear words and sneering, and his tongue it was snarling
In a matter of minutes, on bail was out walkin'
But you who philosophize, disgrace and criticize all fears
Take the rag away from your face, now ain't the time for your tears
Hattie Carroll was a maid of the kitchen
She was 51 years old and gave birth to 10 children
Who carried the dishes and took out the garbage
And never sat once at the head of the table
And didn't even talk to the people at the table
Who just cleaned up all the food from the table
And emptied the ashtrays on a whole other level
Got killed by a blow, lay slain by a cane
That sailed through the air and came down through the room
Doomed and determined to destroy all the gentle
And she never done nothing to William Zanzinger
And you who philosophize, disgrace and criticize all fears
Take the rag away from your face, now ain't the time for your tears
In the courtroom of honor, the judge pounded his gavel
To show that all's equal and that the courts are on the level
And that the strings in the books ain't pulled and persuaded
And that even the nobles get properly handled
Once that the cops have chased after and caught 'em
And that the ladder of law has no top and no bottom
Stared at the person who killed for no reason
Who just happened to be feelin' that way without warnin'
And he spoke through his cloak, most deep and distinguished
And handed out strongly for penalty and repentance
William Zanzinger with a six-month sentence
Oh, but you who philosophize, disgrace and criticize all fears
Bury the rag deep in your face for now's the time for your tears

 

[Gorton_Tubster]

I dont even like Bob Dylan but this is good.

Its about Rubin "Hurricane" Carter potential boxing champion of the world being convicted of a crime he didnt commit.

Hurricane​

Bob Dylan

Pistol shots ring out in the barroom night
Enter Patty Valentine from the upper hall
She sees a bartender in a pool of blood
Cries out, "my God, they killed them all"
Here comes the story of the Hurricane
The man the authorities came to blame
For somethin' that he never done
Put in a prison cell, but one time he coulda been
The champion of the world
Three bodies lyin' there, does Patty see
And another man named Bello, movin' around mysteriously
"I didn't do it" he says, and he throws up his hands
"I was only robbin' the register, I hope you understand"
"I saw them leavin'" he says, and he stops
"One of us had better call up the cops"
And so Patty calls the cops
And they arrive on the scene
With their red lights flashin' in a hot New Jersey night
Meanwhile, far away in another part of town
Rubin Carter and a couple of friends are drivin' around
Number one contender for the middleweight crown
Had no idea what kinda shit was about to go down
When a cop pulled him over to the side of the road
Just like the time before and the time before that
In Paterson that's just the way things go
If you're black you might as well not show up on the street
'Less you want to draw the heat
Alfred Bello had a partner and he had a rap for the cops
Him and Arthur Dexter Bradley were just out prowlin' around
He said "I saw two men runnin' out, they looked like middleweights
Jumped into a white car with out-of-state plates"
And Miss Patty Valentine just nodded her head
Cop said "Wait a minute, boys, this one's not dead"
So they took him to the infirmary
And though this man could hardly see
They told him he could identify the guilty men
Four in the mornin' and they haul Rubin in
They took him to the hospital and they brought him upstairs
The wounded man looks up through his one dyin' eye
Say "Why'd you bring him in here for? He ain't the guy"
Here's the story of the Hurricane
The man the authorities came to blame
For somethin' that he never done
Put in a prison cell, but one time he coulda been
The champion of the world
Four months later, the ghettos are in flame
Rubin's in South America, fightin' for his name
While Arthur Dexter Bradley's still in the robbery game
And the cops are puttin' the screws to him, lookin' for somebody to blame
"Remember that murder that happened in a bar?"
"Remember you said you saw the getaway car?"
"You think you'd like to play ball with the law?"
"Think it mighta been that fighter that you saw runnin' that night?"
"Don't forget that you are white"
Arthur Dexter Bradley said "I'm really not sure"
The cops said "A poor boy like you, could use this break
We got you for the motel job and we're talkin' to your friend Bello
You don't want to have to go back to jail, be a nice fellow
You'll be doin' society a favor
That son of a woman is brave and gettin' braver
We want to put his ass in stir
We want to pin this triple murder on him
He ain't no Gentleman Jim"
Rubin could take a man out with just one punch
But he never did like to talk about it all that much
"It's my work" he'd say, "and I do it for pay
And when it's over I'd just as soon go on my way"
Up to some paradise
Where the trout streams flow and the air is nice
And ride a horse along a trail
But then they took him to the jailhouse
Where they try to turn a man into a mouse
All of Rubin's cards were marked in advance
The trial was a pig-circus, he never had a chance
The judge made Rubin's witnesses drunkards from the slums
To the white folks who watched, he was a revolutionary bum
And for the black folks he was just a crazy ******
No one doubted that he pulled the trigger
And though they could not produce the gun
The D.A. said he was the one who did the deed
And the all-white jury agreed
Rubin Carter was falsely tried
The crime was murder one, guess who testified?
Bello and Bradley and they both baldly lied
And the newspapers, they all went along for the ride
How can the life of such a man
Be in the palm of some fool's hand?
To see him obviously framed
Couldn't help but make me feel ashamed to live in a land
Where justice is a game
Now all the criminals in their coats and their ties
Are free to drink martinis and watch the sun rise
While Rubin sits like Buddha in a ten-foot cell
An innocent man in a living hell
Yes, that's the story of the Hurricane
But it won't be over 'til they clear his name
And give him back the time he's done
Put in a prison cell, but one time he coulda been
The champion of the world

 

[levets]

Leaving my family behind me
Not knowing what lay ahead
Waving goodbye, as I left them in tears
Remembering all we'd said
I looked to the sky, I offered my prayers
I asked Him for guidance and strength
But the simple beliefs of a simple man
Lay in His hands, and on my head
My head
I gave everything that they wanted
But still they wanted more
We sweat and we toiled
Good men lost their lives
I don't think they knew what for
I sold them my heart
I sold them my soul
I gave everything I had
But they couldn't break my spirit
My dignity fought back
Fightback
Just fightback
Can you hear me
Can you see
Don't you hear me
Don't you see
We worked in gangs for all we were worth
The young boys pulling the wagons
We were digging the tunnels, shifting the earth
It was then that it happened
No-one knew how the cracks appeared
But as it fell they all disappeared
Stone fell like rain
Can you hear me
Can you see
Don't you hear me
Can you breathe
The smoke cleared, the dust it settled
No one knew how many had died
All around there were broken men
They'd said it was safe, and they'd lied
You could hear the cries, you could smell the fear
But good fortune that day was mine
And it occurred to me that the heart of a good man
It seems is hard to find
Can you hear me
Can you see
Don't you hear me
Don't you see
How we worked, how we worked like
The devil for our pay
Through the wind, through the snow
And through the rain
Blasting and cutting through Gods country like a knife
Sweat stinging my eyes, there has to be a better life
But I can hear my children's cry
I can see the tears in their eyes
Memories of those I've left behind
Oh just still ringing in my ears
Will I ever go back again
Will I ever see her face again
'cause I'll always remember that night
As they waved goodbye to their fathers
We came from the North
And we came from the South
With picks and with spades
And a new kind of order
Showing no fear of what lies up ahead
They'll never see the likes of us again
Driving the last spike
Lifting and laying the track
With blistering hands
And the sun burning your back
But I can hear my children's cry
I can see the tears in their eyes
Oh memories of those I've left behind
Still ringing in my ears
'cause I'll always remember that night
As they waved goodbye to their fathers
We followed the rail, we slept under the stars
Digging in darkness and living with danger
Showing no fear of what lies up ahead
They'll never see the likes of us again
Can you hear me
Can you see
Don't you hear me
Don't you see