OT: most POETIC non-Dylan rock 'n roll songs?

[Bigboote]

This is a lyric by John Kay, who was born during WWII and grew up in East Germany. This is about his escape in the mid-late 1950's:



Another from Steppenwolf with lyrics that I think are absolutely brilliant, among the best of the 60's:

 

[Kaizen]

 

[Intpseeker]

Have to include:

 

[JordyG]

Okay, someone needs to show some reason here. One of the great songs and lyric of all time sung by the personable, avuncular, interpretive genius that was Nat King Cole. Who by the way was one of the great jazz pianists of all time.

 

[JordyG]

This song poetically is not one of the greats. However, I just met Ric in a Best Buy yesterday and he deserves some love. Especially since I talked incessantly about Hi-Rez audio and tried to push my Astell and Kern on him. He was patient and not patronizing, so here's to you Ric.

 

[Intpseeker]

I have to submit this one:

 

[Scud49]

This one always amazes me for its beautiful poetically based medieval feel:

 

[SVCBeercats]

What songs do you think best exhibit poetry (allusions, metaphor, word play, etc)?

Mrs. SVC’s contributions:
Crestfallen – Smashing Pumpkins
Nocturne – Billy Joel
Piano Man – Billy Joel
Islands In The Stream – Bee Gees
A Poem On The Underground Wall – Simon And Garfunkel
The Sound Of Silence – Simon And Garfunkel
American Pie – Don Mclean
Candle In The Wind – Elton John
Sweet Child Of Mine – Guns And Roses
Imagine – John Lennon
Puff The Dragon – Peter Paul And Mary
Simple man – Lynyrd Skynyrd
All that I am – Rob Thomas
Dust In The Wind – Kansas
Bed Of Roses – Bon Jovi
The River – Bruce Springsteen
Somebody to love – Queen
The Show Must Go On – Queen
Bohemian Rhapsody – Queen
Still She Cries – Journey
Faithfully – Journey

 

[Roger G]

I was going to say that.

 

[Roger G]

This song poetically is not one of the greats. However, I just met Ric in a Best Buy yesterday and he deserves some love. Especially since I talked incessantly about Hi-Rez audio and tried to push my Astell and Kern on him. He was patient and not patronizing, so here's to you Ric.

Not sung by Ric, though. Written by him but sung by Orr.

 

[CL82]

Sittin' in the mornin' sun
I'll be sittin' when the evenin' comes
Watchin' the ships roll in
Then I watch 'em roll away again, yeah
I'm sittin' on the dock of the bay
Watchin' the tide roll away, ooo
I'm just sittin' on the dock of the bay
Wastin' time

I left my home in Georgia
Headed for the Frisco Bay
'Cause I had nothin' to live for
It look like nothin's gonna come my way
So I'm just goin' sittin' on the dock of the bay
Watchin' the tide roll away, ooo
I'm sittin' on the dock of the bay, wastin' time

Look like nothin's gonna change
Everything, still remains the same
I can't do what ten people tell me to do
So I guess I'll remain the same, yes

Sittin' here restin' my bones
And this loneliness won't leave me alone, yes
Two thousand miles, I roam
Just to make this dock my home
Now I'm just gonna sit, at the dock of the bay
Watchin' the tide roll away, ooo yea
Sittin' on the dock of the bay
Wastin' time (whistle)

 

[Intpseeker]

Emancipate yourself from mental slavery, 'cause none but ourselves can free our minds.
This is a thought we all we to wrap our minds around.

 

[tomcat]

Dire Staits. I agree. geat musicality and very cool poetry.

And on that note, Mark Knopfler, Dire Straits' lead singer and later, a songwriter of some note. The only person who can write about the man who founded McDonalds ("Boom Like That") and a soldier in Napoleon's army ("Done with Bonaparte") and a hardscrable coal mining town corrupted by gambling ("5:15 a.m.") and the changes wrought in a historic English city ("Silvertown Blues").

I would add one song by one other: Mark Cohn, known for "Walkin in Memphis" (and some might say that's poetry), but at the height of his powers in "Silver Thunderbird." If you've never heard it, give a listen. Everyone who grew up in the 60s knew a car lover like the singer's dad.

 

[tomcat]

The day the music died.

I love American Pie, but many people think McLean was a One Hit Wonder, and he should not be thought of in that way. He had a number of beautiful songs, the best of which, IMHO, is "Vincent."

 

[noirwestern]

Typical Pretenders pulse quickening beat and she even manages to crib from Oscar Wilde...

 

[noirwestern]

And then there's this knucklehead. He writes cheesy pop that clogs up FM playlists like brisket clogs my arteries for album after album but manages to sneak in things like this. Go figure.

 

[Intpseeker]

I love Etta James, but really liked how he knocked this out of the park:

 

[Huskee11]

So, this thread has gone on way too long without somebody bringing up Neil Young.

Prolific, lots of memorable, inscrutable, poetic lyrics. Thinking of After the Goldrush, Down by the River, Heart of Gold, Comes a Time, Rockin' in the Free World, Powderfinger, many others including this one:

 

[Scud49]

Neil Young? No problem

I think this is one of his most beautiful:

 

[nwhoopfan]

Fun thread! Quite a bit of cross pollination between rock and folk over the years, hard to know where to draw the line exactly. There are many excellent song writers in folk music, but I'll try not to drift too far to the folky side. Brandi Carlile has some great songs, this one is pretty haunting.

 

[nwhoopfan]

Don't think I saw these guys yet, several of their contemporaries have made the list. The Eagles.

 

[JordyG]

Not sung by Ric, though. Written by him but sung by Orr.

Naturally.

 

[Scud49]

Ah, it's a happy time inside my mind When a melody does find a rhyme Says to me I'm comin' home to stay Oh, Lord, home to stay....

 

[meyers7]

Okay, someone needs to show some reason here. One of the great songs and lyric of all time sung by the personable, avuncular, interpretive genius that was Nat King Cole. Who by the way was one of the great jazz pianists of all time.

Not really rock-n-roll though.

 

[Buzzyboy]

yes, rock can be poetic. Dylan has been awarded a Pulitzer and a Nobel, and top academic critics have long appreciated his work as poetry (e.g. Sir Frank Kermode and Sir Christopher Ricks). But Dylan is far from the only rock poet. What songs do you think best exhibit poetry (allusions, metaphor, word play, etc)?

here are some of my non-Dylan favorites:

Smokey Robinson "Tracks of my Tears"
Leonard Cohen "Closing Time"
Bob Seger "Against the Wind"
Jonie Mitchell "Chelsea Morning"
Gerry Goffin & Carole King "Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow?"

How about Elusive Butterfly sung by Bob Lind?