Best lyrics ever

[SweeperDee]

Following on from the "Worst lyrics ever" thread, I'm wanting to see what P&B considers to be the best lyrics ever.

Obviously, this is purely subjective, and lyrics can really be measured by an individual's own perspective; they can mean nothing to one person, and everything to another.

The following are not in an order of preference.

First up;

Deep Blue - Arcade Fire

Here
In my place and time
And here in my own skin
I can finally begin
Let the century pass me by
Standing under night sky
Tomorrow means nothing

I was only a child then
Feeling barely alive when
I heard a song from the speaker of a passing car
And prayed to a dying star
The memory's fading
I can almost remember singing
La la, la la la la la
La la, la la, la la la la

We watched the end of the century
Compressed on a tiny screen
A dead star collapsing and we could see
That something was ending
Are you through pretending
We saw the signs in the suburbs?

You could never predict it
That it could see through you
Kasparov - Deep Blue 1996
Your mind's playing tricks now
Show is over so take a bow
We're living in the shadows of...
La la, la la la la la
La la, la la, la la la la

La la, la la, la la la la
La la, la la, la la la la
La la, la la, la la la la
La la, la la, la la la la

Hey
Put the cellphone down for a while
In the night there is something wild
Can you hear it breathing?
And hey
Put the laptop down for a while
In the night there is something wild
I feel it, it's leaving me

La la, la la, la la la la
La la, la la, la la la la
La la, la la, la la la la
La la, la la, la la la la.

Next;

Hard to Explain - The Strokes

Was an honest man

Asked me for the phone
Tried to take control

Oh, I don't see it that way
I don't see it that way

Oh, we shared some ideas
All obsessed with fame
Says we're all the same

Oh, I don't see it that way
I don't see it that way

Raised in Carolina
"I'm not like that"
Trying to remind her
When we go back

I missed the last bus, I'll take the next train
I try but you see, it's hard to explain
I say the right things, but act the wrong way
I like it right here, but I cannot stay
I watch the TV; forget what I'm told
Well, I am too young, and they are too old
The joke is on you, this place is a zoo
"You're right it's true"

Says he can't decide
I shake my head to say
Everything's just great

Oh, I just can't remember
I just can't remember

Raised in Carolina, she says:
" I'm not like that"
Trying to remind her
When we go back

I say the right things but act the wrong way
I like it right here but I cannot stay
I watch the TV; forget what I'm told
Well, I am too young, and they are too old
Oh, man, can't you see I'm nervous, so please
Pretend to be nice, so I can be mean
I miss the last bus, we take the next train
I try but you see, it's hard to explain.

Finally;

Piledriver Waltz - Alex Turner (From the Arctic Monkeys)

I etched the face of a stopwatch

On the back of a raindrop
And did a swap for the sand in an hourglass

I heard an unhappy ending
It sort of sounds like you leaving
I heard the piledriver waltz
It woke me up this morning

You look like you've been for breakfast at the Heartbreak Hotel
And sat in the back booth by the pamphlets and the literature on how to lose
Your waitress was miserable and so was your food
If you're gonna try and walk on water make sure you wear your comfortable shoes

Mysteries flashing amber go green
When you answer but the red on the rest
Of the questionnaire never changes

I heard the news that you're planning
To shoot me out of a cannon
I heard the piledriver waltz
It woke me up this morning

You look like you've been for breakfast at the Heartbreak Hotel
And sat in the back booth by the pamphlets and the literature on how to lose
Your waitress was miserable and so was your food
If you're gonna try and walk on water make sure you wear your comfortable shoes.

Honorable mentions:

Arcade Fire - Afterlife

Joy Division - Love will tear us apart (again)

The Waterboys - The Whole of The Moon

The Waterboys - Fisherman Blues

[Al B]

Specifically the live version from the Casa Nova Sessions, the tone of the album version doesn't carry the same weight, but...

Jason Mraz - Love For A Child

There's a picture on my kitchen wall, looks like Jesus with his friends involved,

There's a party getting started in the yard.

There's a couple getting steamy in the car parked in the drive,

Was I too young to see this with my eyes?

And when the house was left in shambles, who was there to handle all the broken bits of glass?

Was it Mom who put my dad out on his ass, or the other way around?

Well I'm far too old to care about that now.

What about taking this...empty cup, and filling it up

With a little bit more of some innocence, I haven't had enough...it's probably because,

When you're young, it's okay to be...easily ignored.

I'd like to believe it...was all about...love for a child.

It's kinda nice to work the floor since the divorce.

I've been enjoying both my Christmases and my Birthday Cakes.

And taking drugs, and making love, at far too young an age,

And they'd never check to see my grades,

What a fool I'd be to start complaining now...

What about taking this...empty cup, and filling it up

With a little bit more of some innocence, I haven't had enough...it's probably because,

When you're young, it's okay to be...easily ignored.

I'd like to believe it...was all about...love for a child.

[Doc Sportello]

Rocks Off by The Rolling Stones.

(other than the edgy heroin reference)

I hear you talking when I'm on the street,

Your mouth don't move but I can hear you speak.

What's the matter with the boy?

He don't come around no more,

Is he checking out for sure?

Is he gonna close the door on me?

I'm always hearing voices on the street,

I want to shout, but I can't hardly speak.

I was making love last night

To a dancer friend of mine.

I can't seem to stay in step,

'Cause she come ev'ry time that she pirouettes over me.

And I only get my rocks off while I'm dreaming,

I only get my rocks off while I'm sleeping.

I'm zipping through the days at lightning speed.

Plug in, flush out and fire the fuckin' feed.

Heading for the overload,

Splattered on the dirty road,

Kick me like you've kicked before,

I can't even feel the pain no more.

But I only get my rocks off while I'm dreaming, (only get them off)

I only get my rocks off while I'm sleeping.

Feel so hypnotized, can't describe the scene.

Its all mesmerized all that inside me.

The sunshine bores the daylights out of me.

Chasing shadows moonlight mystery.

Headed for the overload,

Splattered on the dirty road,

Kick me like you've kicked before,

I can't even feel the pain no more.

But I only get my rocks off while I'm dreaming (only get them off, get them off),

I only get my rocks off while I'm sleeping (only get them off, get them off).

The Rolling Stones best song, and the first track on the best album of all time. What a time to be alive.

[Eednud]

The Weeping Song - Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds (one of my favourite Nick Cave songs)

Go son, go down to the water
And see the women weeping there
Then go up into the mountains
The men, they are weeping too

Father, why are all the women weeping?
They are weeping for their men
Then why are all the men there weeping?
They are weeping back at them

This is a weeping song
A song in which to weep
While all the men and women sleep
This is a weeping song
But I won't be weeping long

Father, why are all the children weeping?
They are merely crying son
O, are they merely crying, father?
Yes, true weeping is yet to come

This is a weeping song
A song in which to weep
While all the men and women sleep
This is a weeping song
But I won't be weeping long

O father tell me, are you weeping?
Your face seems wet to touch
O then I'm so sorry, father
I never thought I hurt you so much

This is a weeping song
A song in which to weep
While we rock ourselves to sleep
This is a weeping song
But I won't be weeping long
But I won't be weeping long
But I won't be weeping long
But I won't be weeping long

[Alan Stubbs]

Yo Ush..
What up Kells
Wanna introduce you to this girl. Think I really love this girl.
Yeah...
Man she's so fine.
Straight up dog...
She stands about 5'4", coka cola, red bone
Damn...

She drives a black Durango license plate say Angel tattoo on her ankle plus she's making pesos.
Gotta crib on Peachtree, right on 17th street and I call her Te Te.
Wait a minute hold on dog. Do she got a crib? By the waffle house?
Do she got a beauty mark on the left side of her mouth?
Went to Georgia Tech? Works for TBS? Man I can't believe this shit. Damn!!
Tell me what's wrong dog what the hell you damnin' 'bout? I'm your homie so just say what's on your mind.
Man I didn't know that you were talkin' 'bout her.
So man you telling me you know her?
Do I know her? Like a pastor know his word.

We messing with the same girl, the same girl.
How could the love of my life and my potential wife be the same girl?
Man I can't believe that we've been messing with the same girl, the same girl.
Thought she's someone I could trust but she's been doubling up with us.
U, K, man we been messing with same girl.

See I met her at this party in ATLANTA!!
Well I met her at this party in CHICAGO!!
She came right up to me giving me conversation.
I said "do you gotta a man?"
she said "no" with no hesitation.
Well, it must be a music thing 'cause she said the same to me.
At party all in my face while I'm laughing and buying her drinks
She whispered in my ear and said "can you take me home?"
ME TOO!! Man she was in the Chi singing that same song
Is that true?
And I thought it was true confessions when she said "I LOVE YOU".
Man I thought her body was calling when she said "I WANT YOU".
Look I even got some pictures on my phone.
Look at there. There she is with some boy shorts on.

She's the apple of my eye and my potential wife.
Man I just can't believe that we've been messing around with the same damn girl.
Thought she was someone I could trust but she's been doubling up with both of us.

Said she got me on a ring tone
Are you talking about the pink phone?
Uh uh the blue one
Man she told me that was turned off.
It's obvious that she's been playing us, playing us.
'cause constantly she's been lying to us, lying to us.
Don't like the way that she's been going 'bout, going 'bout.
Kells what you think that we should do about it, about it?
Call her up at her home.
She won't know that I'm on the phone.
Yeah man that's the way.
Homie we about to bust this trick.
Ask her to meet up with you and I'm going to show up too
And she won't know what to do.
We'll be standing there singing.

[tinkerbelle]

"Bridge Over Troubled Water"

When you're weary, feeling small,
When tears are in your eyes, I will dry them all;
I'm on your side. When times get rough
And friends just can't be found,
Like a bridge over troubled water
I will lay me down.
Like a bridge over troubled water
I will lay me down.

When you're down and out,
When you're on the street,
When evening falls so hard
I will comfort you.
I'll take your part.
When darkness comes
And pain is all around,
Like a bridge over troubled water
I will lay me down.
Like a bridge over troubled water
I will lay me down.

Sail on silvergirl,
Sail on by.
Your time has come to shine.
All your dreams are on their way.
See how they shine.
If you need a friend
I'm sailing right behind.
Like a bridge over troubled water
I will ease your mind.
Like a bridge over troubled water
I will ease your mind.

[peeeel]

"The Times They Are A-Changin'"

Come gather 'round people
Wherever you roam
And admit that the waters
Around you have grown
And accept it that soon
You'll be drenched to the bone
If your time to you
Is worth savin'
Then you better start swimmin'
Or you'll sink like a stone
For the times they are a-changin'.

Come writers and critics
Who prophesize with your pen
And keep your eyes wide
The chance won't come again
And don't speak too soon
For the wheel's still in spin
And there's no tellin' who
That it's namin'
For the loser now
Will be later to win
For the times they are a-changin'.

Come senators, congressmen
Please heed the call
Don't stand in the doorway
Don't block up the hall
For he that gets hurt
Will be he who has stalled
There's a battle outside
And it is ragin'
It'll soon shake your windows
And rattle your walls
For the times they are a-changin'.

Come mothers and fathers
Throughout the land
And don't criticize
What you can't understand
Your sons and your daughters
Are beyond your command
Your old road is
Rapidly agin'
Please get out of the new one
If you can't lend your hand
For the times they are a-changin'.

The line it is drawn
The curse it is cast
The slow one now
Will later be fast
As the present now
Will later be past
The order is
Rapidly fadin'
And the first one now
Will later be last
For the times they are a-changin'.

[RawB93]

Jehst - ESP (Extra Sensory Perfection)

A brick-house built with porcelain features

A fragile creature, grief stricken apparent in alopecia

The peacekeeper, the key to life beyond us

I love her beyond lust

My trust placed in her

Illustrious face with a great figure

Forbidden fruit of youth in the fingers of the grave digger

Manipulated my late-night sanctum

The lone catalyst of my tantrum

Her tender touch turns to talons

In her tempers clutch I bleed burgundy gallons

Her crimson lips lick my wounds

Her tongue tastes the claret

My pain is vintage, her comfort is twenty-four carat

In a golden moment of havoc my heart beats haphazard

My brain bleeds black ballads that embarrass the author

My favourite torture

I drown in the depths of my mermaid's water

At war with the storms daughter

The tornadoes sister, she's twisting my aura

I'm caught in her barbed wire

Burning up in her hearts fire

Bathed in the flames of my fury

She wears me out like jewellery

The duel-edged tool of her tomfoolery cuts my character

A quick-witted challenger to any bachelor

Bad attitude chick, intellectual calendar bitch

Baby-faced battleaxe make a man switch

My lip-licking sex sandwich the grand dish

My delicious delicacy, my delicate enemy

Our friendship connects with a sexual chemistry

My opposite energy the cause of my pain and the remedy

I need her readily available

Making dreams seem attainable

The untameable force my frames tailored to suit

But my programming can't compute

High resolution beauty, I'm blind and mute

Reciting the music of my youth

I observe the movement of the universe

Rehearsed in her steps this evening

And she's the best-kept secret breathing

The broad blade that left me bleeding

Believing in everything and nothing

She's the source of my suffering

And the cause of endorphin release and adrenaline rushing

Salt water gushing, depression embody my expression

The vessel for my love and affection

My hate and aggression releasing my sweat and supression

The seven sins, my second skin

She knocks and I let her in

The spoonful of sugar in my medicine

[hearthammer]

Trailways Bus by Paul Simon. The characters named sing the verses/lines in the musical

A passenger traveling quietly conceals himself
With a magazine and a sleepless pillow
Over the crest of the mountains
The moon begins its climb
And he wakes to find he’s in rolling farm land

The farmer sleeps against his wife
He wonders what their life must be
A Trailways bus is heading south
Into Washington, DC

A mother and child-the baby maybe two months old
Prepare themselves for sleep and feeding
The shadow of the Capitol dome
Slides across his face
And his heart is racing
With the urge to freedom

The father motionless as stone
A shepherd resting with his flock
The Trailways bus is turning west
Dallas via Little Rock

WAHZINAK

Oh my darling, darling Sal
The desert moon is my witness
I’ve no money to come East
But I know you’ll soon be here

LAZARUS

We pull into downtown Dallas
by the side of the grassy knoll
Where the leader fell, and a town was broken
Away from the feel and flow of life for so many years
He hears music playing and Spanish spoken

The border patrol outside of Tucson boarded the bus

BORDER PATROLMEN

Any aliens here, you better check with us
How ‘bout you son?
You like you’ve got Spanish blood
Do you “habla ingles”? Am I understood?

SAL

Yes, I am an alien from Mars
I come to earth from outer space
And if I traveled my whole life
You guys would still be on my case
You guys would still be on my case

LAZARUS

But he can’t leave his fears behind
He recalls each fatal thrust
The screams are carried by the wind
Phantom figures in the dust
Phantom figures in the dust
Phantom figures in the dust

[Gareth_Glasgow]

One of my favourites is Video by Ben Folds Five:

Barren stares as they light up the screen
Bearing teardrops that shatter in slow-motion
Novocaine our brains and we're out like lights
But as I'm growing older I'm bored
I remember when misery thrilled me much more
When I can't relax
And I'd like to go back
But that's gone
Yeah, that's gone, Turn around
Turn the volume down
We're counting the days down

[Chorus]
'Til the day when we live in a video
I'll be stone-faced and pale
You'll pout in stereo
24 hours every day of the year
Oh, what fun I can't wait 'til the future gets here

Closing in on the pain and the torture
He's slamming the doors like it's something to strive for
The girl tearing the curtains down looks funny as hell

And a sense of humor can there be any doubt
Now that natural selection just weeded it out
Used to keep me from laughing out loud
But that's gone
We don't think that way no more
That's gone, turn around, turn the volume down
We're counting the days down

[Chorus]

Well I've seen some old friends sort of die
Or just turn into whatever
Must've been inside them
And whatever all of us had then in common
Grew up and left home
We don't think that way no more
Turn around, turn the volume down
We're counting the days down

[Chorus]

[itzdrk]

SAY ANYTHING Admit it!

Despite your pseudo-bohemian appearance
And vaguely leftist doctrine of beliefs
You know nothing about art or sex
That you couldn’t read in any trendy New York underground fashion magazine
Prototypical non-conformist
You are a vacuous soldier of the thrift store Gestapo
You adhere to a set of standards and tastes
That appear to be determined by an unseen panel of hipster judges (bullshit)
Giving a thumbs up or thumbs down to incoming and outgoing trends and styles of music and art
Go analog baby, you’re so post-modern
You’re diving face forward into a antiquated past
It’s disgusting, it's offensive, don’t stick your nose up at me

Yeah, what do you have to say for yourself?
Yeah, what do you have to say for yourself?

You spend your time sitting in circles with your friends

Pontificating to each other
Forever competing for that one moment of self-aggrandizing glory
In which you hog the intellectual spotlight
Holding dominion over the entire shallow pointless conversation
Oh, we’re not worthy

When you walk by a group of quote-unquote normal people
You chuckle to yourself patting yourself on the back as you scoff
It's the same superiority complex
Shared by the high school jocks who made your life a living hell
And makes you a slave to the competitive capitalist dogma
You spend every moment of your waking life bitching about

Yeah, what do you have to say for yourself?
And I say yeah, what do you have to say for yourself?

'Cause I’m proud of my life and the things that I have done
Proud of myself and the loner I’ve become
You’re free to whine, it will not get you far
I do just fine, my car and my guitar

Proud of my life and the things that I have done
Proud of myself and the loner I’ve become
You’re free to whine, it will not get you far
I do just fine, my car and my guitar, yeah

Well let me tell you this, I am shamelessly self-involved
I spend hours in front of the mirror, making my hair elegantly disheveled
I worry about how this album will sell
Because I believe it will determine the amount of sex I will have in the future
I self medicate with drugs and alcohol to treat my extreme social anxiety

You are a faker (admit it)
You are a fraud (admit it)
Yeah, you’re living a lie (hey) living a lie (hey) you’re life is living a lie
You don’t impress me (admit it)
You don’t intimidate me (admit it)
Why don’t you bow down, get on the ground, walk this fucking plank (yeah!)

Yeah, what do you have to say for yourself
And I say yeah (what do you..)

Proud of my life and the things that I have done
Proud of myself and the loner I’ve become
You’re free to whine, it will not get you far
I do just fine, my car and my..

Guitar, guitar go!

I drift, drift, drift, drift, drift, yeah
I drift, drift, drift, drift, drift, yeah oh

And I am done with this
I wanna taste the breeze of every great city
My car and my guitar
My car and my guitar
So you'll come to be, made of these urges unfulfilled
Oh no, no, no, no, no

When I'm dead I'll rest

When I'm dead I'll rest, lay still
When I'm dead I'll rest, I'll rest
When I'm dead I'll rest, I'll rest
When I'm dead I'll rest, I'll rest
When I'm dead I'll rest, I'll rest

[CountyFan]

Hey little girl is your daddy home?

Did he go away and leave you all alone?

I got a bad desire

I'm on fire

Tell me now, baby, is he good to you?

Can he do to you the things that I can do?

I can take you higher

I'm on fire

Sometimes, it's like someone took a knife, baby

Edgy and dull, and cut a six-inch valley

Through the middle of my soul

At night I wake up with the sheets soaking wet

And a freight train running through the

Middle of my head

Only you can cool my desire

I'm on fire

Close the fucking thread.

[mrcat1990]

The entirety of "Papa Won't Leave You Henry" by Nick Cave is great but this verse on particular stands out.

And I came upon a little house

A little house upon a hill

And I entered through, the curtain hissed

Into the house with its blood-red bowels

Where wet-lipped women with greasy fists

Crawled the ceilings and the walls

They filled me full of drink

And led me round the rooms

Naked and cold and grinning

Until everything went black

And I came down spinning

I awoke so drunk and full of rage

That I could hardly speak

A fag in a whale-bone corset

Draping his dick across my cheek

And its into the shame

And its into a guilt

And its into the fucking fray

And the walls ran red around me

A warm arterial spray

Saying

[YassinMoutaouakil]

Jeff Mangum's a cheery guy.

Daddy, please hear this song that I sing

In your heart there's a spark that just screams for a lover to bring

A child to your chest that could lay as you sleep

And love all you have left like your boy used to be long ago, wrapped in sheets warm and wet

Blister please with those wings in your spine

Love to be with a brother of mine, how he'd love to find

Your tongue in his teeth in a struggle to find

Secret songs that you keep wrapped in boxes so tight, sounding only at night as you sleep

And in my dreams you're alive and you're crying

As your mouth moves in mine, soft and sweet

Rings of flowers 'round your eyes and I'll love you

For the rest of your life when you're ready

Brother, see we are one in the same

And you left with your head filled with flames and you watched as your brains

Fell out through your teeth, push the pieces in place, make your smile sweet to see

Don't you take this away, I'm still wanting my face on your cheek

And when we break, we'll wait for our miracle

God is a place where some holy spectacle lies

When we break, we'll wait for our miracle

God is a place you will wait for the rest of your life

Two-headed boy, she is all you could need

She will feed you tomatoes and radio wires

And retire to sheets safe and clean

But don't hate her when she gets up to leave

[gavin_3110]

Did you know that Whitney Houston's debut LP, called simply Whitney Houston had 4 number one singles on it?

It's hard to choose a favorite among so many great tracks, but "The Greatest Love of All" is one of the best, most powerful songs ever written about self-preservation, dignity. Its universal message crosses all boundaries and instills one with the hope that it's not too late to better ourselves. Since it's impossible in this world we live in to empathize with others, we can always empathize with ourselves. It's an important message, crucial really. And it's beautifully stated on the album.

[SweeperDee]

Did you know that Whitney Houston's debut LP, called simply Whitney Houston had 4 number one singles on it?

It's hard to choose a favorite among so many great tracks, but "The Greatest Love of All" is one of the best, most powerful songs ever written about self-preservation, dignity. Its universal message crosses all boundaries and instills one with the hope that it's not too late to better ourselves. Since it's impossible in this world we live in to empathize with others, we can always empathize with ourselves. It's an important message, crucial really. And it's beautifully stated on the album.

Do you like Huey Lewis and The News?

Under the milky way - Church

Sometimes when this place gets kind of empty

Sound of their breath fades with the light

I think about the loveless fascination

Under the Milky Way tonight

Lower the curtain down on Memphis

Lower the curtain down all right

I got no time for private consultation

Under the Milky Way tonight

[Chorus]

Wish I knew what you were looking for

Might have known what you would find

Wish I knew what you were looking for

Might have known what you would find

And it's something quite peculiar

Something shimmering and white

Leads you here despite your destination

Under the Milky Way tonight

[Chorus]

Under the Milky way tonight

Under the Milky Way tonight

[SweeperDee]

Haiti - Arcade Fire

Haïti, mon pays,

Wounded mother I'll never see
Ma famille set me free.
Throw my ashes into the sea.

Mes cousins jamais nés
Hantent les nuits de Duvalier.
Rien n'arrête nos esprits.
Guns can't kill what soldiers can't see.

In the forest we are hiding,
Unmarked graves where flowers grow.
Hear the soldiers angry yelling,
In the river we will go.

Tous les morts-nés forment une armée
Soon we will reclaim the earth.
All the tears and all the bodies
Bring about our second birth

Haïti, never free,
N'aie pas peur de sonner l'alarme.
Tes enfants sont partis,
In those days their blood was still warm.

[Bishop Briggs]

Paul Heaton has written many great songs with fabulous lyrics. It's hard to know where to start.

Another great song writer is Glenn Tilbrook of Squeeze. Labelled With Love, Black Coffee In Bed...

[Sarto Mutiny]

Tom Traubert's Blues by Tom Waits springs to mind immediately

Wasted and wounded, it ain't what the moon did
I've got what I paid for now
See ya tomorrow, hey Frank, can I borrow
A couple of bucks from you?
To go Waltzing Matilda, Waltzing Matilda
You'll go Waltzing Matilda with me

I'm an innocent victim of a blinded alley
And I'm tired of all these soldiers here
No one speaks English, and every thing's broken
And my Stacys are soaking wet
To go Waltzing Matilda, Waltzing Matilda
You'll go Waltzing Matilda with me

Now the dogs are barking and the taxi cab's parking
A lot they can do for me
I begged you to stab me, you tore my shirt open
And I'm down on my knees tonight
Old Bushmills I staggered, you buried the dagger in
Your silhouette window light
To go Waltzing Matilda, Waltzing Matilda
You'll go Waltzing Matilda with me

Now I lost my Saint Christopher now that I've kissed her
And the one-armed bandit knows
And the Maverick Chinamen, and the cold-blooded signs
And the girls down by the strip-tease shows go
Waltzing Matilda, Waltzing Matilda
You'll go Waltzing Matilda with me

No, I don't want your sympathy, the fugitives say
That the streets aren't for dreaming now
Manslaughter dragnets and the ghosts that sell memories
They want a piece of the action anyhow go
Waltzing Matilda, Waltzing Matilda
You'll go Waltzing Matilda with me

And you can ask any sailor, and the keys from the jailer
And the old men in wheelchairs know
That Matilda's the defendant, she killed about a hundred
And she follows wherever you may go
Waltzing Matilda, Waltzing Matilda
You'll go Waltzing Matilda with me

And it's a battered old suitcase to a hotel someplace
And a wound that will never heal
No Prima Donna, the perfume is on
An old shirt that is stained with blood and whiskey
And goodnight to the street sweepers
The night watchman, flame keepers and goodnight Matilda too

[Gareth_Glasgow]

Paul Heaton is definitely a good shout. Tom Lehrer also deserves a mention for witty lyrics. The Masochism Tango is up there with his best:

I ache for the touch of your lips, dear
But much more for the touch of your whips, dear
You can raise welts
Like nobody else
As we dance to The Masochism Tango

Let our love be a flame, not an ember
Say it's me that you want to dismember
Blacken my eye
Set fire to my tie
As we dance to The Masochism Tango

At your command
Before you here I stand
My heart is in my hand... eugh
It's here that I must be

My heart entreats
Just hear those savage beats
And go put on your cleats
And come and trample me

Your heart is hard as stone or mahogany
That's why I'm in such exquisite agony
My soul is on fire
It's aflame with desire
Which is why I perspire when we tango

You caught my nose
In your left castanet, love
I can feel the pain yet, love
Every time I hear drums
And I envy the rose
That you held in your teeth, love
With the thorns underneath, love
Sticking into your gums

Your eyes cast a spell that bewitches
The last time I needed twenty stitches
To sew up the gash
You made with your lash
As we danced to The Masochism Tango

Bash in my brain
And make me scream with pain
Then kick me once again
And say we'll never part

I know too well
I'm underneath your spell
So darling if you smell
Something burning it's my heart
(hiccup) 'Scuse me

Take your cigarette from its holder
And burn your initials in my shoulder
Fracture my spine
And swear that you're mine
As we dance to The Masochism Tango