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19 Best Lyrics of the Year...

In No Particular Order

by Matt Cibula

"You thought you'd never live to find/All the things inside/What about truth?/It's something you don't often find/Well, don't forget the sky/Fools/If you're waiting on some paradise/Well don't forget your lives"

--Circulatory System, "Inside Blasts," Circulatory System

 
2) "This ain't no cartoon/No one slips on bananas/Do you really think that that car killed Diana?/ Hell, I shot Ronald Reagan/I shot JFK/I slept with Marilyn/She sang me 'Happy Birthday'"

--Michael Franti & Spearhead, "Oh My God," Stay Human

3) "Fuck five/I want a hundred and eight mics"

--Cannibal Ox, "Iron Galaxy," The Cold Vein

4) "My mama told me Lee Perry/Was mah daddy"

--Dubchek, "Lee Perry," Down Memory Gap Lane

 
5) "Can you tell the difference between gold/And a lump of coal/It was the best of yourself that you sold/You gained the world but you lose your soul."

--Karsh Kale, "Empty Hands," Realize

6) "E no final desta cancao eu faco todo o amor/Tocar num disco reluzente com um balanco assim/Pra esquentar as suas noites onde voce for, menina" (Translation from the Portuguese: "And at the end of this song I make all the love/Play on a shining disc with a beat like this/To heat the nights where you are, girl")

--Moreno Veloso, "Arrivederci," Music Typewriter

7) "Be a witch, girl/Be a thief, girl/Steal my crown and resurrect me/Be a nymph, girl/A cool thief, yeah/Burn the night and dance around me"

--The Cult, "Shape The Sky," Beyond Good and Evil

 
8) "Lucky that my lips not only mumble/They spill kisses like a fountain/Lucky that my breasts are small and humble/So you don't confuse them with mountains"

--Shakira, "Whenever, Wherever," Laundry Service

9) "Sometimes my head is like a box/Catches wind and floats for, like, three blocks/I'll get recycled if I get caught"

--Love As Laughter, "Miss Direction," Sea to Shining Sea

 
10) "What's your favorite posish?/That's cool with me, it's not my favorite but I'll do it for you/What's your favorite dish?/I'm not gonna cook it but I'll order it...from Zanzibar!"

--Tenacious D, "Fuck Her Gently," Tenacious D

11) "How do I love you?/Deeply with my scalpel/I've got a mouthful/Of suicidal drugs"

--Frank Black and the Catholics, "Hermaphroditos is My Name," Dog in the Sand

12) "I never said that I wouldn't throw my jacket in the mud for you/But my father gave it to me so I guess I should carry you/Then you said I almost dropped you/So then I did/And I got mud on my shoes"

--The White Stripes, "I'm Finding it Hard to Be a Gentleman," White Blood Cells

13) "With your name in wet concrete you ain't own the block/Let your money counter tick time still gonna tock/You could walk around in a Hennessey bliss/'N keep fuckin' those bitches you ain't even kiss/You could keep gettin' high with those tears in your eyes/'N keep tellin' yourself you like fuckin' them guys"

--Mystic, "Ghetto Birds," Cuts for Luck and Scars for Freedom

 
courtesy Mammoth Records
Joe Henry
14) "Love me like you're lying/Let me feel you near/Remember me for trying/And excuse me while I disappear"

--Joe Henry, "Richard Pryor Addresses a Tearful Nation," Scar

15) "Smilin' while you're crying/You must be insane/Oh I caught you smilin'/While you were holding back the pain"

--The Poets of Rhythm, "Smilin' (While You're Crying)," Discern/Define

16) "What they don't know is/The bullshit, the drama/The guns, the armour/The city, the farmer/The babies, the mama/The projects, the drugs/The children, the thugs/The tears, the hugs/The love, the slugs"

--DMX, "Who We Be," The Great Depression

17) "Bazeecha-é-atfal hai duniy meré gé/Hot hai shab-o-roz tam sh meré gé" (Translation from the Urdu: "To me this world is a child's playground/A spectacle goes on day and night before me")

--Sanjeev And Karuna, "B-azeecha-é-atfal Hai Duniy Meré vgé," Inspiration Unfolding

 
18) "As I watch her getting dressed/You know I can't believe/It's another day and I've survived/She can't take me anywhere/You know I can't behave, no/It's another way of being alive"

--Brave Captain, "Hermit vs. the World," Nothing Lives Long, He Sang, Only the Earth and the Mountains

19) "Heard about circumstances/Heard about the devil's son-in-law/Heard about the High Sheriff from Hell/Heard about the Great Migration/Heard about the Barrel House/Ragtime in the parlor room downstairs"

--Jay Farrar, "Outside The Door," Sebastapol



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