Lyrics we Love

[Chris L]

There's no real section here to put this, but it was a popular thread on the old FTC and one I posted in frequently. If you like the lyrics to a song, post them here. (Don't worry about IP infringement. We never did at FTC).

Sondheim has said that lyrics only work when they're sitting on the notes, i.e., that there's a symbiosis between words and music and that the former are meaningless without the latter. If you think that's true, link your lyrics to a YouTube version or Spotify, so that the symbiosis is clear. You can hear this one on YouTube here.

When we originally did this thread, my first post was Irving Berlin's "What'll I Do?," which I think has about as perfect lyrics as any song I can imagine, spare and infinitely evocative. I won't repeat myself. This one is by a man I consider one of the greatest songwriters, still living, of all time: Jimmy Webb. It's his homage to the music of another of my favorite songwriters: Burt Bacharach. Listen to the YouTube version to hear the Bacharachian rhythms. It's from one of my all time favorite albums, The Magic Garden by the 5th Dimension.

The Girl's Song

I'd like to make a long distance call
To a number in West L.A.
I've been trying to reach it all day
But no one answers
Tell me why
Was I so unkind?
I hope he's still on that line
And I'll make it up to him
If he hasn't changed his number
(If he hasn't changed his number)
If he hasn't changed his mind
I know it's late but please
Let it ring another time
Or two or three
He'd be hurt if
He knew it was me
And I was waiting for him
Tell me why
Was I so unkind?
I hope he's still on that line
And I'll make it up to him
If he hasn't changed his number
If he hasn't changed his mind.

SIDE NOTE: When I was 18 and first heard the line "To a number in West L.A.", I thought they were singing "To a number in Western Lake." Then I moved to West L.A. and it made perfect sense. I think that says something deep about the way our brains process phrases rather than words, but I'm not feeling philosophical enough now to go into that.