Editor’s note: I added jalfrezi’s comment to his submission.
mine is folky but def not boomer…so we’ll see!
In 10th place, scoring 7 points, @miliboo with Shine On Crazy Diamond by Pink Floyd
Is this really 13.5 minutes long? Does it have lyrics for only 2.5 minutes? Do they only start almost 9 minutes into the song? Is it more a song with a backstory than a story? Yes to all of these.
I found out this is parts 1-5 and on youtube I found an even longer one labeled parts 1-9, so some mercy was granted to me. If miliboo had submitted only the part with lyrics this might have scored higher. I am probably blaspheming here but the instrumental parts did little for me. The problem I have with a lot of progressive rock is that it is very self-indulgent. It goes on and on and on. Playing a lot of notes shouldn’t be an end in itself.
Remember when you were young, you shone like the sun
Shine on you crazy diamond
Now there’s a look in your eyes, like black holes in the sky
Shine on you crazy diamond
You were caught on the crossfire of childhood and stardom
Blown on the steel breeze
Come on you target for faraway laughter
Come on you stranger, you legend, you martyr, and shine
You reached for the secret too soon, you cried for the moon
Shine on you crazy diamond
Threatened by shadows at night, and exposed in the light
Shine on you crazy diamond
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
2 Likes
Tin Pan Alley is a masterpiece and the posted lyrics aren’t complete. I know this because somebody killed a crapshooter because he didn’t shake, rattle, and roll. #thingsyouneverforget
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flash poll, saddest airplane/helicopter/automobile music death
- Stevie Ray Vaughan
- Randy Rhoads
- Cliff Burton
- Gary Busey
- Other (specify)
0 voters
Fixed the lyrics. Couldn’t fix the song.
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Is there more than one Gary Busey?
He played Buddy Holly in a movie, his best role
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Tier 3: All’s well that ends well
In 9th place, scoring 8 points, ChrisV with Fred Jones Pt.2 by Ben Folds
If I remember from the previous reveal this one of ChrisV’s favorite artists. The ranking comes down to a simple fact: I don’t really like the singer’s voice. This isn’t the outstanding vocal performance category and he piano and violin complement each other well but the singing is still one of the most noticeable elements of any song. In short, this is an agreeable piece of music but doubt I’ll go back to it after this Walrus is done.
Fred sits alone at his desk in the dark
There’s an awkward young shadow that waits in the hall
He has packed all his things
And he’s put them in boxes
Things that remind him that life has been good
Twenty five years he’s worked at the paper
A man’s here to take him downstairs
And I’m sorry Mr Jones, it’s time
There was no party and there were no songs
Cause today’s just a day like the day that he started
And no one is left here that knows his first name
Yeah, and life barrels on like a runaway train
Where the passengers change
They don’t change anything
You get off
Someone else can get on
And I’m sorry Mr Jones, it’s time
The streetlight it shines through the haze
Casting lines on the floor
And lines on his face
He reflects on the day
Fred gets his paints out and goes to the basement
Projecting some slides onto a plain white canvas
And traces it
Fills in the spaces
He turns off the slides
And it doesn’t look right
Yeah, and all of these bastards have taken his place
He’s forgotten but not yet gone
And I’m sorry Mr Jones
And I’m sorry Mr Jones
And I’m sorry Mr Jones, it’s time
Buddy Holly
In between shitting on your idols I added miliboo’s comment to his 10th place finish. Keep forgetting to include it.
Folds definitely does not have a great voice, so fair enough.
Fun fact: Folds has publicly resolved that in his entire career, he is only going to write one love song and one political song. The love song is definitely The Luckiest (lyrics), and probably All U Can Eat (lyrics) qualifies as the political song.
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Then you should vote for Gary Busey, ducy?
Otis Redding
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In 8th place, scoring 9 points, @smrk4 with Regulate by Warren G Feat. Nate Dogg
I really struggled with ranking the next two entries. They are both very well known. Should they get the Gangnam Style treatment even though I like them? After much reflection I decided to rank them higher than the songs I didn’t care all that much for. The songs I will rank higher will perhaps not have the longevity of these classics but for this moment in time I like listening to them more than hearing Regulate for a 100th time.
I guess that also means that most of you will be familiar with this track and I won’t have to say too much about it. The alternating rapping and smooth singing work very well together. Hip-Hop in general lends itself very well to story-telling and this duet does it particularly well.
It was a clear black night, a clear white moon
Warren G. is on the streets, trying to consume
Some skirts for the eve, so I can get some funk
Just rollin’ in my ride, chillin all alone
Just hit the eatside of the L.B.C.
On a mission trying to find Mr. Warren G.
Seen a car full of skirts ain’t no need to tweak
All you skirts know what’s up with 213
So I hooks a left on the 21 to Lewis
Some brothas shootin dice so I said “let’s do this”
I jumped out the ride, and said"what’s up?"
Some brothas pulled some gats so I said “I’m stuck”
Since these girls peepin me I’ma glide and swerve
These hookers lookin so hard they straight hit the curb
Gonna think of better things than some horny tricks
I see my homey and some suckers all in his mix
I’m gettin jacked, I’m breakin myself
I can’t believe they’re taking Warren’s wealth
They took my rings, they took my rolex
I looked at the brothas and said “damn, what’s next?”
They got my homey hemmed up and they all around
Ain’t none of them seeing if they going straight pound for pound
I gotta come up real quick before they start to clown
I besta pull out my strap and lay them busters down
They got guns to my head
I think I’m going down
I can’t believe this happened in my home town
If I had wings I would fly
Let me contemplate
I glanced in the cut and I see my homey Nate
Sixteen in the clip and one in the hole
Nate Dogg is about to make some bodies turn cold
Now they droppin and yellin
It’s a tad bit late
Nate Dogg and Warren G. had to regulate
I laid all them busters down
I let my gat explode
Now I’m switching my mind back into freak mode
If you want skirts step back and observe
I just left a gang of those over there on the curb
Now Nate got the freaks
And that’s a known fact
Before I got jacked I was on the same track
Back up back up 'cause it’s on
N-A-T-E and me
The Warren to the G
Just like I thought
They were in the same spot
In need of some desperate help
The Nate Dogg and the G-child
Were in need of something else
One of them dames was sexy as hell
I said “ooh I like your size”
She said "my car’s broke down and you seem real nice, "
“would you let me ride?”
I got a car full of girls and it’s going real swell
The next stop is the east side motel
I’m tweaking
Onto a whole new level
G-Funk
Stept towards
I dare ya
Funk
On a whole new level
The rythmn is the base and the base is the treble
Chords
Strings
We brings
Melody
G-Funk
Where rythmn is life
And life is rythmn
If you know like I know
You don’t want to step to this
It’s the G-Funk era
Funked out with a gangster twist
If you smoke like I smoke
Then you high like everyday
And if your ass is a buster
213 will regulate
2 Likes
I consider myself properly regulated
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While we’re on the hip hop tip, I considered submitting this:
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Damn, how did I miss this obvious pun?!
Michael Hedges? Groundbreaking work but none of the fame, money, drugs, or hookers.
In 7th place, scoring 10 points, @microbet with American Pie by Don McLean
This has a story in the way that “We didn’t start the fire” has a story. Sure, why not.
In a stronger category this might have scored much lower. I feel a little bit gross to hand out 10 points here. Well, you go to Walrus with the songs you have, not the songs you might want or wish to have at a later time. I bet there is at least one radio station somewhere in the world that is playing this classic right now or at any point in the last decades.
There is a reason for this. American Pie is a pretty good song.
A long long time ago
I can still remember how
That music used to make me smile
And I knew if I had my chance
That I could make those people dance
And maybe they’d be happy for a while
But February made me shiver
With every paper I’d deliver
Bad news on the doorstep
I couldn’t take one more step
I can’t remember if I cried
When I read about his widowed bride
Something touched me deep inside
The day the music died
So
Bye, bye Miss American Pie
Drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry
And them good ole boys were drinking whiskey and rye
Singin’ this’ll be the day that I die
This’ll be the day that I die
Did you write the book of love
And do you have faith in God above
If the Bible tells you so?
Do you believe in rock and roll?
Can music save your mortal soul?
And can you teach me how to dance real slow?
Well, I know that you’re in love with him
‘Cause I saw you dancin’ in the gym
You both kicked off your shoes
Man, I dig those rhythm and blues
I was a lonely teenage broncin’ buck
With a pink carnation and a pickup truck
But I knew I was out of luck
The day the music died
I started singin’
Bye, bye Miss American Pie
Drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry
And them good ole boys were drinking whiskey and rye
Singin’ this’ll be the day that I die
This’ll be the day that I die
Now, for ten years we’ve been on our own
And moss grows fat on a rolling stone
But, that’s not how it used to be
When the jester sang for the king and queen
In a coat he borrowed from James Dean
And a voice that came from you and me
Oh and while the king was looking down
The jester stole his thorny crown
The courtroom was adjourned
No verdict was returned
And while Lennon read a book on Marx
The quartet practiced in the park
And we sang dirges in the dark
The day the music died
We were singin’
Bye, bye Miss American Pie
Drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry
Them good ole boys were drinking whiskey and rye
And singin’ this’ll be the day that I die
This’ll be the day that I die
Helter skelter in a summer swelter
The birds flew off with a fallout shelter
Eight miles high and falling fast
It landed foul on the grass
The players tried for a forward pass
With the jester on the sidelines in a cast
Now the half-time air was sweet perfume
While sergeants played a marching tune
We all got up to dance
Oh, but we never got the chance
‘Cause the players tried to take the field
The marching band refused to yield
Do you recall what was revealed
The day the music died?
We started singin’
Bye, bye Miss American Pie
Drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry
Them good ole boys were drinking whiskey and rye
And singin’ this’ll be the day that I die
This’ll be the day that I die
Oh, and there we were all in one place
A generation lost in space
With no time left to start again
So come on Jack be nimble, Jack be quick
Jack Flash sat on a candlestick
'Cause fire is the devil’s only friend
Oh and as I watched him on the stage
My hands were clenched in fists of rage
No angel born in Hell
Could break that Satan’s spell
And as the flames climbed high into the night
To light the sacrificial rite
I saw Satan laughing with delight
The day the music died
He was singin’
Bye, bye Miss American Pie
Drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry
Them good ole boys were drinking whiskey and rye
Singin’ this’ll be the day that I die
This’ll be the day that I die
I met a girl who sang the blues
And I asked her for some happy news
But she just smiled and turned away
I went down to the sacred store
Where I’d heard the music years before
But the man there said the music wouldn’t play
And in the streets the children screamed
The lovers cried, and the poets dreamed
But not a word was spoken
The church bells all were broken
And the three men I admire most
The Father, Son, and the Holy Ghost
They caught the last train for the coast
The day the music died
And they were singing
Bye, bye Miss American Pie
Drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry
And them good ole boys were drinking whiskey and rye
Singin’ this’ll be the day that I die
This’ll be the day that I die
They were singing
Bye, bye Miss American Pie
Drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry
Them good ole boys were drinking whiskey and rye
Singin’ this’ll be the day that I die
2 Likes