Favorite lyrics from one artist about another

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BonosSaint

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bvs's threads got me thinking. What are your favorite lyrics with an artist referring to another artist?

Stephen Stills--Round the Bend
"Hard as Canadian black ice
All over you, makin' you think twice"

about Neil Young

Joan Baez--Diamonds and Rust

"Now you're telling me you're not nostalgic
You who are so good with words and keeping things vague>"

about Bob Dylan
 
'angel in devil shoes, salvation in the blues, you never looked like an angel' (about billie holiday..the only one i could think of!)
 
Can this apply to bands writing about former band members?

Well you wore out your welcome with random precision
Rode on the steel breeze
Come on you raver, you seer of visions
Come on you painter, you piper, you prisoner and shine


Pink Floyd - Shine On You Crazy Diamond (Parts I-V)

Written by Roger Waters about former Pink Floyd leader, Syd Barrett.


Just in case you never knew
I miss you slim, I love you too
See my heart, it's black and blue
When I die I will find you


Red Hot Chili Peppers - My Lovely Man

Written by Anthony Kiedis about Hillel Slovak, the original guitarist for the Chili Peppers who died from a drug overdose.
 
trent reznor re: courtney love and/or marilyn manson:


starfuckers inc.

my god sits in the back of the limousine
my god comes in a wrapper of cellophane
my god pouts on the cover of the magazine
my god's a shallow little bitch trying to make the scene

i have arrived and this time you should believe the hype
i listened to everyone now i know that everyone was right
i'll be there for you as long as it works for me
i play a game
it's called insincerity

starfuckers
starfuckers
starfuckers, inc.
starfuckers

i am every fucking thing and just a little more
i sold my soul but don't you dare call me a whore
and when i suck you off not a drop will go to waste
it's really not so bad you know once you get past the taste, yeah
(asskisser)

starfuckers
starfuckers
starfuckers, inc.
starfuckers

all our pain
how did we ever get by without you?
you're so vain
i bet you think this song is about you
don't you?
don't you?
don't you?
don't you?

now i belong i'm one of the chosen ones
now i belong i'm one of the beautiful ones



i love this song. :drool:
 
It doesn't get any better than this. John Lennon writing about...well, you know who:

HOW DO YOU SLEEP?

So Sgt. Pepper took you by surprise
You better see right through that mother's eyes
Those freaks was right when they said you was dead
The one mistake you made was in your head
Ah, how do you sleep?
Ah, how do you sleep at night?

You live with straights who tell you you was king
Jump when your momma tell you anything
The only thing you done was yesterday
And since you're gone you're just another day
Ah, how do you sleep?
Ah, how do you sleep at night?

Ah, how do you sleep?
Ah, how do you sleep at night?

A pretty face may last a year or two
But pretty soon they'll see what you can do
The sound you make is muzak to my ears
You must have learned something in all those years
Ah, how do you sleep?
Ah, how do you sleep at night?

***

"The only thing you done is yesterday" is such a great line.
 
and another favorite of mine is Stephen Malkmus of Pavement writing about some of their "alternative music" contemporaries in the song Range Life:

"Out on tour with the Smashing Pumpkins
nature kids, I/they don't have no function
I don't understand what they mean
and I could really give a fuck

Stone Temple Pilots
they're elegant bachelors
they're foxy to me are they foxy to you
I will agree
but it does absolutely nothing
nothing more than me."
 
lazarus said:
It doesn't get any better than this. John Lennon writing about...well, you know who:

HOW DO YOU SLEEP?

So Sgt. Pepper took you by surprise
You better see right through that mother's eyes
Those freaks was right when they said you was dead
The one mistake you made was in your head
Ah, how do you sleep?
Ah, how do you sleep at night?

You live with straights who tell you you was king
Jump when your momma tell you anything
The only thing you done was yesterday
And since you're gone you're just another day
Ah, how do you sleep?
Ah, how do you sleep at night?

Ah, how do you sleep?
Ah, how do you sleep at night?

A pretty face may last a year or two
But pretty soon they'll see what you can do
The sound you make is muzak to my ears
You must have learned something in all those years
Ah, how do you sleep?
Ah, how do you sleep at night?

***

"The only thing you done is yesterday" is such a great line.

You really don't like McCartney, do you?
 
namkcuR said:


You really don't like McCartney, do you?

Only very small portions.

Rocky Raccoon
Getting Better
Back in the USSR
Why Don't We Do it in the Road?
She Came in Through the Bathroom Window
Good Day Sunshine
Two of Us
We Can Work It Out

I'll let you know if I think of any others.
 
Ryan Adams about Beth Orton ("English Girls Approximately"):

Tall drink of water, she's a Norfolk waterfall
Little daybreaker, she's a-shootin' like a cannonball
 
Zootlesque said:
Southern man don't need him round anyhow...

- Lynyrd Skynyrd about Neil Young.
I hear some people been talkin' me down,
Bring up my name, pass it 'round.
They don't mention happy times
They do their thing, I'll do mine

- Neil Young about Lynyrd Syknyrd
 
Alex Chilton by The Replacements.

Songs of admiration are so much better than digs.

If he was from Venus, would he feed us with a spoon?
If he was from Mars, wouldn't that be cool?
Standing right on campus, would he stamp us in a file?
Hangin' down in Memphis all the while.

(chorus:)

Children by the million sing for Alex Chilton when he comes 'round
They sing "I'm in love. What's that song?
I'm in love with that song."

Cerebral rape and pillage in a village of his choice.
Invisible man who can sing in a visible voice.
Feeling like a hundred bucks, exchanging good lucks face to face.
Checkin' his stash by the trash at St. Mark's place.

(chorus)

I never travel far, without a little Big Star

Runnin' 'round the house, Mickey Mouse and the Tarot cards.
Falling asleep with a flop pop video on.
If he was from Venus, would he meet us on the moon?
If he died in Memphis, then that'd be cool, babe.
 
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Not lyrics but I love the story about Bruce jumping the wall at Graceland, and the quote from the concert is so beautiful

From the Graceland guidebook

The most famous incident of wall jumping occurred one night in 1976. Bruce Springsteen, who was enjoying the first rush of great fame and had just played Memphis on his Born to Run tour, decided to catch a cab to Graceland. Noticing a light on up at the house, he climbed the wall and ran to the front door. As he was about to knock, Security interceded. He recalls asking, “Is Elvis home?.” Answer: “No, Elvis isn’t home, he’s in Lake Tahoe.” (It was true.) Springsteen attempted to impress the guards by telling all about his being a recording star and his having recently made the covers of Time and Newsweek, as he was politely escorted to the street. (Perhaps they didn’t believe him or hadn’t heard of him yet.) Years later in a concert, he told the story and commented:

"Later on, I used to wonder what I would have said if I had knocked on the door and if Elvis had come to the door. Because it really wasn’t Elvis I was goin’ to see, but it was like he came along and whispered some dream in everybody’s ear and somehow we all dreamed it. And maybe that’s why we’re here tonight, I don’t know. I remember later when a friend of mine called to tell me that he’d died. It was so hard to understand how somebody whose music came in and took away so many people’s loneliness and gave so many people a reason and a sense of all the possibilities of living could have in the end died so tragically. And I guess when you’re alone, you ain’t nothin’ but alone. So anyway, I’d like to do this song for you tonight, wishing you all the longest life with best of absolutely everything."
 
Don McLeans "Vincent" about Van Gogh, if that type of artist counts:

Starry
starry night
paint your palette blue and grey

look out on a summer's day
with eyes that know the
darkness in my soul.
Shadows on the hills
sketch the trees and the daffodils

catch the breeze and the winter chills

in colors on the snowy linen land.
And now I understand what you tried to say to me

how you suffered for your sanity
how you tried to set them free.
They would not listen
they did not know how

perhaps they'll listen now.

Starry
starry night
flaming flo'rs that brightly blaze

swirling clouds in violet haze reflect in
Vincent's eyes of China blue.
Colors changing hue
morning fields of amber grain

weathered faces lined in pain
are soothed beneath the artist's
loving hand.
And now I understand what you tried to say to me

how you suffered for your sanity
how you tried to set them free.
perhaps they'll listen now.

For they could not love you
but still your love was true

and when no hope was left in sight on that starry
starry night.
You took your life
as lovers often do;
But I could have told you
Vincent
this world was never
meant for one
as beautiful as you.


Starry
starry night
portraits hung in empty halls

frameless heads on nameless walls
with eyes
that watch the world and can't forget.
Like the stranger that you've met

the ragged men in ragged clothes

the silver thorn of bloddy rose
lie crushed and broken
on the virgin snow.
And now I think I know what you tried to say to me

how you suffered for your sanity

how you tried to set them free.
They would not listen
they're not
list'ning still
perhaps they never will.
 
That's a beautiful song, LivLuv. :up: One of my favourites to play on acoustic guitar.
 
"Morrissey and Marr gave me a choice"

Manic Street Preachers - 1985.
 
lazarus said:
It doesn't get any better than this. John Lennon writing about...well, you know who:

HOW DO YOU SLEEP?

So Sgt. Pepper took you by surprise
You better see right through that mother's eyes
Those freaks was right when they said you was dead
The one mistake you made was in your head
Ah, how do you sleep?
Ah, how do you sleep at night?

You live with straights who tell you you was king
Jump when your momma tell you anything
The only thing you done was yesterday
And since you're gone you're just another day
Ah, how do you sleep?
Ah, how do you sleep at night?

Ah, how do you sleep?
Ah, how do you sleep at night?

A pretty face may last a year or two
But pretty soon they'll see what you can do
The sound you make is muzak to my ears
You must have learned something in all those years
Ah, how do you sleep?
Ah, how do you sleep at night?

***

"The only thing you done is yesterday" is such a great line.

Lennon and Mccartney seemed to inspire some great tunes in each other, even when it was writing about the other, and not just with them.

Paul Mccartney-Here today

And If I Say I Really Knew You Well
What Would Your Answer Be.
If You Were Here Today.
Ooh- Ooh- Ooh- Here To - Day.

Well Knowing You,
You'd Probably Laugh And Say That We Were Worlds Apart.
If You Were Here Today.
Ooh- Ooh- Ooh- Here To - Day.

But As For Me,
I Still Remember How It Was Before.
And I Am Holding Back The Tears No More.
Ooh- Ooh- Ooh- I Love You, Ooh-

What About The Time We Met,
Well I Suppose That You Could Say That We Were Playing Hard To Get.
Didn't Understand A Thing.
But We Could Always Sing.

What About The Night We Cried,
Because There Wasn't Any Reason Left To Keep It All Inside.
Never Understood A Word.
But You Were Always There With A Smile.

And If I Say I Really Loved You
And Was Glad You Came Along.

If You Were Here Today.
Ooh- Ooh- Ooh- For You Were In My Song.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=3anmTfa5OPw


Lennon was convinced to the day he died that "Hey Jude" was about him, and I've even seen it speculated that "Jealous guy" was in part about Mccartney.
 
I guess "This is the Dream of Win & Regine" by Final Fantasy (Owen Pallett) about Win Butler and his wife Regine of The Arcade Fire

I wrote a song that has metions to Sigur Ros and Jeff Tweedy
 
Here's Joni Mitchell's Goodbye Porkpie Hat, about jazz bassist Charles Mingus, from her album Mingus (an extremely undermentioned LP):

When charlie speaks of lester
You know someone great has gone
The sweetest swinging music man
Had a porkie pig hat on
A bright star
In a dark age
When the bandstands had a thousand ways
Of refusing a black man admission
Black musician
In those days they put him in an
Underdog position
Cellars and chittlins'

When lester took him a wife
Arm and arm went black and white
And some saw red
And drove them from their hotel bed
Love is never easy
It's short of the hope we have for happiness
Bright and sweet
Love is never easy street!
Now we are black and white
Embracing out in the lunatic new york night
It's very unlikely we'll be driven out of town
Or be hung in a tree
That's unlikely!

Tonight these crowds
Are happy and loud
Children are up dancing in the streets
In the sticky middle of the night
Summer serenade
Of taxi horns and fun arcades
Where right or wrong
Under neon
Every feeling goes on!
For you and me
The sidewalk is a history book
And a circus
Dangerous clowns
Balancing dreadful and wonderful perceptions
They have been handed
Day by day
Generations on down

We came up from the subway
On the music midnight makes
To charlie's bass and lester's saxophone
In taxi horns and brakes
Now charlie's down in mexico
With the healers
So the sidewalk leads us with music
To two little dancers
Dancing outside a black bar
There's a sign up on the awning
It says "pork pie hat bar"
And there's black babies dancing...
Tonight!
 
I'll second the mats and the Manics ones mentioned in this thread already.

And I really like the part in Cheap Trick's 'Surrender' that goes "then I woke up, mum and dad are rolling on the couch. Got my Kiss records out, rolling numbers, rock and rolling away....".
 
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