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Querying the Hivemind: Songs about Songs
Querying the Hivemind: Songs about Songs
#1
Perhaps foolishly, I volunteered over on the SJGames Forums' In Nomine board to put together a net.book about the Archangel of Song. Fans of the line will know that these books always have appropriate quotes in them, to break up the monotony of page after page of rules. I'm thinking that, since the subject is Song, in this case "quotes" means "lyrics". "Music" is a different Angel, so I can't just grab lyrics willy-nilly - they have to be at least arguably about songs (not "a song", but songs in general), in much the same way that Doug's songs have to be "about" the powers they grant him.

I do have a few lyrics - mostly the obvious ones - but I need more. Any suggestions?

Here's what I've got so far. If I think a lyric may be obscure, I've provided the performer and title:
  • “Sad songs say so much”
  • “take a sad song and make it better”
  • “You’re so vain, you probably think this song is about you”
  • “I write the songs that make the whole world sing”
  • “Killing me softly with his song”
  • “The song never dies, just the singer”
  • “And even though it all went wrong, I’ll stand before the Lord of Song with nothing on my tongue but Hallelujah” (Leonard Cohen, “Hallelujah”)
  • “We can play a Stones song, sitting on a fence and it’ll sound pretty good, ’til I forget how it ends.” (Yo La Tengo, “Big Day Coming”)
  • “I like short songs.” (The Dead Kennedys, “Short Songs” - the entire song!)
  • “Tough times demand tough talk demand tough hearts demand tough songs” (Rush, “Force Ten”)
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."

- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012
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Not a song
#2
This is not The Greatest Song in the World, no.

This is just a tribute.
(Tenacious D)
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#3
"Just sing, sing a song"?

If you want *really* obscure, there's a song from Ar tonelico that would fit the theme. Or at least, the one line heard during a cutscene would... Which might be a problem in it's own right. (Not that this'll stop me.)

-Morgan. For how short your list is, it's surprising how many of them I hate. '.';;
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#4
Here's an interesting one by an Irish band called The Saw Doctors
>> "When the sprits they need a risin'
To be happy, proud, and strong
It time to sing, it's time to sing, to sing a powerful song"


edit: Woops. Gammy ID
________________________________
--m(^0^)m-- Wot, no sig?
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#5
From a friend of mine, who knows a lot of music:
  • "It's the singer not the song that makes the music move along" - The Who, Join Together
  • "My gift is my song and this one's for you" - Elton John, Your Song
  • "Gimme something to hold true,
    gimme something to sing about.
    Gimme a reason to care,
    I'll sing along forever" - The Bouncing Souls, Sing Along Forever
  • "Sing us the song of the century that's louder than bombs and eternity" - Green Day, Song of the Century
  • "Couldn't write a song to save his soul
    Ripped off an old tune, said it was his own
    Low and behold, in another few days
    five-star dinner that the company pays" - Frances Dunnery, American Life in the Summertime
  • "When we all give the power
    We all give the best
    Every minute of an hour
    Don't think about the rest
    And you all get the power
    You all get the best
    When everyone gets everything and every song
    Everybody sings
    And it's life" - Opus, Life is Life
---

The Master said: "It is all in vain! I have never yet seen a man who can perceive his own faults and bring the charge home against himself."

>Analects: Book V, Chaper XXVI
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#6
Morganni Wrote:If you want *really* obscure, there's a song from Ar tonelico that would fit the theme. Or at least, the one line heard during a cutscene would... Which might be a problem in it's own right. (Not that this'll stop me.)
Obscure is good. Turning people on to music they otherwise wouldn't know about is good.

(But, if it's not sung in English, a translation would be appreciated...)

Morganni Wrote:-Morgan. For how short your list is, it's surprising how many of them I hate. '.';;
You're singing to the choir there, Morganni. (I don't have to like them, just have them for use.)

Thanks, everyone! Please keep them coming!
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."

- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012
Reply
 
#7
Another one that came to me:

People writing songs that voices never share

And no one dared

Disturb the sound of silence. - Simon & Garfunkel, The Sound of Silence
(noticed slight error in lyric)
---

The Master said: "It is all in vain! I have never yet seen a man who can perceive his own faults and bring the charge home against himself."

>Analects: Book V, Chaper XXVI
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#8
"Why are there so many / Songs about rainbows / And what's on the other side..."
--
Sucrose Octanitrate.
Proof positive that with sufficient motivation, you can make anything explode.
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#9
This is the song that doesn't end!
Yes it goes on and on, my friend!

Big Grin

I like to sing-a! About the moon-a and the June-a and the Spring-a!

Gershwin also had a meta-song that made fun of the Moon, June, Croon songs. *riffles sheet music collection* "Blah Blah Blah"

''We don't just borrow words; on occasion, English has pursued other languages down alleyways to beat
them unconscious and rifle their pockets for new vocabulary.''

-- James Nicoll
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#10
Father once spoke of an Angel
I used to dream he'd appear
Now as I sing I can sense him
And I know he's here

Here in this room, he calls me softly
Somewhere inside, hiding
Somehow I know he's always with me
He, the unseen genius

Christine, you must have been dreaming
Stories like this can't come true
Christine, you're talking in riddles
And it's not like you

Angel of music, guide and guardian
Grant to me your glory
Angel of music, hide no longer
Secret and strange Angel
-- "Angel of Music", from Phantom of the Opera

look what they done to my song ma
look what they done to my song
well it's the only thing
that I could do half right
and it's turning out all wrong ma
look what they done to my song
-- Melanie, "What Have They Done to my Song"

Title of the song
Naive expression of love
Reluctance to accept that you are gone
Request to turn back time
And rectify my wrongs
Repetition of the title of the song
-- DaVinci's Notebook, "Title Of The Song"

You swear you've heard it before
As it slowly rambles on and on
No need in bringin' 'em back,
'Cause they're never really gone
Just an old-fashioned love song
One I'm sure they wrote for you and me
Just an old-fashioned love song
Comin' down in 3-part harmony
-- Paul Williams (or Three Dog Night, take your pick), "Just An Old Fashioned Love Song"

I want to sing and dance, I want to sing and dance
I want to be a pirate in the Pirates of Penzance
Wear me silver-buckled slippers and me tight shiny pants
I want to sing and dance
-- Ray Stevens, "The Pirate Song (I Want To Sing And Dance)"

I sing the body electric
I glory in the glow of rebirth
Creating my own tomorrow
When I shall embody the earth
-- Fame, "I Sing The Body Electric"

In the beginning there was silence
Neither day nor night
'Til the firmament divided
Into darkness, into light
Poised on the edge of wonder
She witnessed the first dawn
And out of the silence came a song
-- Tom Chapin, "The Singer Is The Song"

From every corner of creation comes the melody
Growing like a river from the mountains to the sea
From a father to a daughter, a mother to her son,
In every land and language it is sung.
The chorus is the singer,
The singer is the song
And every generation sings along
-- Tom Chapin, "The Singer Is The Song"

Like a beacon in the darkness
A triumphant cry of birth
It's the heartbeat of each creature
That has ever graced the earth
Through a hundred million mornings
A billion voices born
Through the troubles and the triumphs
The rose and thorn
As the world weighs down upon us
As we struggle to be strong
We carried through the chaos by the Song
-- Tom Chapin, "The Singer Is The Song"
-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.
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#11
Kind of surprised nobody's suggested this one yet.
You'd think that people would have had enough of silly love songs.
But I look around me and I see it isn't so.
Some people want to fill the world with silly love songs
And what's wrong with that, I'd like to know
'Cause here I go, again...
-George Harrison Paul McCartney, "Silly Love Songs"
EDIT: Mixed up my Beatles...
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#12
Not to disparage these suggestions, but when one is dealing with In Nomine, one really should start with the source material:
"Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all ye lands.
Serve the LORD with gladness: come before his presence with singing. " - Psalms 100: 1-2, KJV
Ebony the Black Dragon
http://ebony14.livejournal.com

"Good night, and may the Good Lord take a Viking to you."
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#13
Oh, well, in that case...

By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept when we remembered Zion.

There on the poplars we hung our harps,

for there our captors asked us for songs,

our tormentors demanded songs of joy;

they said, “Sing us one of the songs of Zion!”

How can we sing the songs of the LORD while in a foreign land?

-- Psalm 137:1-4 (New International Version)

Oh, and Glidergun, that's not Harrison, that's McCartney.
-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.
Reply
 
#14
Sure, I'll take some appropriate Bible verses, too...

O sing unto the LORD a new song; for he hath done marvelous things: his right hand, and his holy arm, hath gotten him the victory.

– Psalms 98:1, KJV

...although I suppose I should include some quotes form other religious works, too.
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."

- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012
Reply
 
#15
robkelk Wrote:
Morganni Wrote:If you want *really* obscure, there's a song from Ar tonelico that would fit the theme. Or at least, the one line heard during a cutscene would... Which might be a problem in it's own right. (Not that this'll stop me.)
Obscure is good. Turning people on to music they otherwise wouldn't know about is good.

(But, if it's not sung in English, a translation would be appreciated...)

It's in english, but I don't think there's any source for the entire song. So that's kind of troublesome.

On the other hand, if translations are okay, this one seems pretty good...

Quote:Wee yea ra ene foul enrer (I always think that songs are mysterious)

Wee yea ra ene hymme syec mea (That songs shake the bottom of my heart more than anything)

From Utau Oka (Singing Hills) ~ Harmonics EOLIA ~. (Also known as "Expressive Hill" in the official english release of the game.) Translation source here. (It'd be a good idea to ask first to use the translation though, if you wanted to use it. At least, they like people to ask first. There have apparently been some issues.)

-Morgan.
Reply
Songs!
#16
From Personnent Hodie:
Quote:Omnes clericuli
Pariter pueri,
Cantent ut angeli:
Adventisti mundo,
Laudes tibi fundo.
Translated (via Google translate and reasoned guessing):
Quote:May all the clergy
And likewise the boys
Sing as the angels:
Of Advent, to the world,
Praise from our deepest souls.
First verse and chorus of Come, sing a song with me:
Quote:Come, sing a song with me,
Come, sing a song with me,
Come, sing a song with me,
That I might know your mind;
And I'll bring you hope, when hope is hard to find,
And I'll bring a song of love, and a rose in the wintertime.
First few lines of My Spirit Sang All Day (might not count, since it's about singing rather than song, and the rest is a fairly generic love song, but it's close):
Quote:My spirit sang all day,
Oh, my joy!
Nothing my tongue could say,
Only my joy!
Similarly, the first four lines of What Sweeter Music:
Quote:What sweeter music can we bring
Than a carol, for to sing
The birth of this our heavenly King?
Awake the voice! Awake the string!
Hurrah for doxologies!
Quote:In greening lands begins the song
which deep in human hearts is strong.
In cheerful strains your voices raise,
to fill the whole spring world with praise!
Hurrah for rounds!
Quote:Sing and rejoice,
Sing and rejoice,
Let all things living now
Sing and rejoice.
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#17
Just hear your voice
Sing all the songs of the earth
- Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe, "Brother of Mine" from ABWH (1989)

The sun has left the sky
Now you can close your eyes
Leave ALL the world behind until tomorrow
The dream is like a song
It leads you on and on
The piper plays his tune so you must follow
- Camel, "Song Within A Song" from Rain Dances (1977)

I want to play you
all the beautiful songs you should know
I want to save you
with the beautiful song we can grow
- No-Man, "Beautiful Songs You Should Know" from Schoolyard Ghosts (2010)
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#18
Proginoskes Wrote:First few lines of My Spirit Sang All Day (might not count, since it's about singing rather than song, and the rest is a fairly generic love song, but it's close)
Close is close enough...

Again, thanks all, and keep them coming!
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."

- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012
Reply
 
#19
    There's only two songs in me and I just wrote the third
    Don't know where I got the inspiration or how I wrote the words
    Spent my whole life just digging up my music's shallow grave
    For the two songs in me and the third one I just made
-They Might Be Giants, "Number Three" from They Might Be Giants (1986), other albums.   Listen
-----
Stand between the Silver Crystal and the Golden Sea.
"Youngsters these days just have no appreciation for the magnificence of the legendary cucumber."  --Krityan Elder, Tales of Vesperia.
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#20
Though I take my song

From a withered limb,

Both song and tree,

They sing for him.

Be the truth unsaid

And the blessing gone,

If I forget,

My Babylon.
- Leonard Cohen, "By the Rivers Dark"  from Ten New Songs (2001)
--
A couple of gigs ago, it was noted that the ruleset protecting the
Internet from our cow orkers was considerably longer than the ruleset
protecting them from the Internet.
   -- Anthony de Boer
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#21
Sing us a song, you're the piano man
Sing us a song tonight
Well, we're all in the mood for a melody
And you've got us feelin' alright
- Billy Joel, "Piano Man" from Piano Man (1973)
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#22
Since people have been providing links now, I'll put up some for the songs I cited:

of Music
Have They Done To My Song
of the Song
An Old Fashioned Love Song
Pirate Song
Sing The Body Electric

Nobody's made a YouTube video for "The Singer Is The Song", but you can get the track for USD0.99 at http://www.amazon.com/foo/dp/B003HI78F2/. And I think it's worth more than the dollar. You can also hear http://ilike.myspacecdn.com/play#Tom+Ch ... :m36769533 that contains none of the lyrics I quoted at ILike.
-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.
Reply
 
#23
For the Infernal side of things...
This is the song that never ends,
Yes it goes on and on my friend.
Some people started singing it,
Not knowing what it was,
And they'll continue singing it forever just because... - "The Song That Never Ends"
Ebony the Black Dragon
http://ebony14.livejournal.com

"Good night, and may the Good Lord take a Viking to you."
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#24
Ebony Wrote:For the Infernal side of things...
This is the song that never ends,
Yes it goes on and on my friend.
Some people started singing it,
Not knowing what it was,
And they'll continue singing it forever just because... - "The Song That Never Ends"
Umm... Foxboy linked to that one on page one.
-----
Stand between the Silver Crystal and the Golden Sea.
"Youngsters these days just have no appreciation for the magnificence of the legendary cucumber."  --Krityan Elder, Tales of Vesperia.
Reply
 
#25
Jorlem Wrote:
Ebony Wrote:For the Infernal side of things...
This is the song that never ends,
Yes it goes on and on my friend.
Some people started singing it,
Not knowing what it was,
And they'll continue singing it forever just because... - "The Song That Never Ends"
Umm... Foxboy linked to that one on page one.
So he did! Never mind then.
Ebony the Black Dragon
http://ebony14.livejournal.com

"Good night, and may the Good Lord take a Viking to you."
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