Most Influential Lyrics

[Alstroe]

What would you say the most influential lyrics throughout time have been - those that have directly influenced, or even been quoted by, other artists?

I'd argue the titular line of the Crystals' "He Hit Me (and it Felt Like a Kiss)". It's been quoted in - to name just the most "fashionable" - Saint Etienne's "She's the One" and Lana del Rey's "Ultraviolence".

 

[barbaraaa]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MCS__YZAaLw

 

[BerlinRocks]

I would say anything by Morrissey/The Smiths, Joy Division, Brian Ferry, Bjork, Jacques Brel, Serge Gainsbourg and many more ...

There is a light that never goes (The Smiths) out is one of my favorite song EVER. The lyrics makes a lot of sense to me.

Claude Francois had an influence too on music ... the Franck Sinatra hit "My Way" was first a French pop song ...

Franck Sinatra


Claude Francois - the original


A lot of 1980s songs had influenced too. I feel like people often say 80s music was the sh*ttiest, but tbh I love a lot the 1980s music scene ....

Talk Talk "It's my Life!"


vs

Gwen Stefani "It's my life"


in the recent past years, I would say Beyonce "Girls run the world" has had a lot of influence on the girls' young generation.

 

[BerlinRocks]

oh and i forgot .......



~ pretty sure it had a lot of impact at the time on girls .....

 

[BerlinRocks]

You don't want to hurt me,
But see how deep the bullet lies.
Unaware I'm tearing you asunder.
Ooh, there is thunder in our hearts.

~ i might be even gayer than i thought ....

 

[BerlinRocks]

Sufjan Stevens' Chicago was quoted in a Snow Patrol song ...





Put Sufjan Stevens on
And we'll play your favorite song 'Chicago' bursts to life
And your sweet smile remembers you

 

[BerlinRocks]

and of course I guess it rings a bell to any indie fans of the 90s ....

BJM refers to the Dandy Warhols in this one ...

 

[tangerine]

^ oh, man, that is an epic grudge match, I'd forgotten about that one!

To the original question; The Beatles' I am the Walrus. I have heard "goo goo ga choob" (and variations) many times, in other songs, in movies, and read it in books... can't beat a good bit of nonsense.

 

[saucer-like]

Both the Japanese and English versions of the song.

Kyu Sakamoto - "Ue o Muite Arukō" (1961)



A Taste of Honey - "Sukiyaki" (1980)

 

[BerlinRocks]

more 1980s "influential" lyrics ...
(i really love this thread ... but i feel like we should open it a little more ... to influencing people, generations, fashion - of course etc. not within the music industry... the beauty of the text itself ... i know there's a thread about lyrics, but i feel like people just post quotes of songs ... and no one really interact ... i d k what you think Alstroe ?)

so yeah came across this today ...
i feel it can have influenced some teens of the era ...



I've seen too many crazy sights
I've had too many crazy nights
I didn't want the scars to show
In those moments only mothers know

You know in retrospect it seems
There's always danger in your dreams
Like an actor stealing scenes
All the magic moments in your teens

All the thoughts you fight to hide
Lady Passion, Lady Pride
Sisters side by side
Talking while our tongues are tied
(...)
The Chameleons

 

[BerlinRocks]

Wild Horses by The Rolling Stones


Wild Horses by Sundays

~ even now I have a tear - was listening to this song (on a mixtape) the night i came out to my cousin circa 1997, and even tho it went perfectly (cause she's adorable!) i still have a tear when i listen to this ...


~ does the fact a song's been covered over and over count as a a song w influential lyrics ?

 

[saucer-like]

I think that for a song to be covered/sampled multiple times perhaps in different genres and to appeal to different generations proves how enduring and influential the lyrics (although sometimes it is the music itself) must be. That's why all of those American Standards by Gershwin, Porter, etc. are considered some of the greatest songs in history.

This is an intriguing topic and actually I find the original question difficult to answer. I think that more often lyrical influence is reflected in the structure or perhaps the kind of words used than direct lifting (at least in genres other than hip-hop where it is more common to sample), so it can be a challenge to pinpoint what songs may have inspired another.

I would figure that a band as poetic as The Smiths surely would have influenced a number of songs. Most bands of the 90s Britpop scene "descended" from The Smiths and those bands in turn influenced bands of the 00s. It's like if you're familiar with the music of The Smiths you can just hear it in the song of another artist.

 

[barbaraaa]

The Smiths not only influenced other bands, they influenced Douglas Coupland. Girlfriend in a Coma has a lot of references

 

[BerlinRocks]

It is interesting we all say The Smiths/Morrissey ....
He was the first one to come to my mind when I saw the thread.


oh my man ... he is my everything, and we were such fools when we were younger ... this song will always b dedicated to my husband/boyfriend/bestfriend ...


same than above ...


Classic !




and so much more so much more ...

 

[BerlinRocks]

sorry I forgot this !!!
I can dance like craycray on this

 

[BerlinRocks]

Bjork ...
if I had to choose - i can't but ... here are 3 that were important


~ that's the first song I heard of Bjork. I was extremely young, ... My cousin had the single and I was jumping all over her room every time it was playing ...


this song is me ...


i decided it would one of the song played at my funerals the first time I listened to it ...
and it is a very beautiful song about friendship ...

 

[BerlinRocks]

this was def influential - to a lot of teens and young adults of the 1980s ...

 

[BerlinRocks]

huh can one forget this one .....

Hallelujah !!!!

The Original


Leonard Cohen about the song ...


(my fav) covers:

John Cale


Jeff Buckley



Now I've heard there was a secret chord
That David played, and it pleased the Lord
But you don't really care for music, do you?
It goes like this
The fourth, the fifth
The minor fall, the major lift
The baffled king composing Hallelujah

Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah

Your faith was strong but you needed proof
You saw her bathing on the roof
Her beauty and the moonlight overthrew you
She tied you to a kitchen chair
She broke your throne, and she cut your hair
And from your lips she drew the Hallelujah

Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah
You say I took the name in vain
I don't even know the name
But if I did, well really, what's it to you?
There's a blaze of light
In every word
It doesn't matter which you heard
The holy or the broken Hallelujah

Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah

I did my best, it wasn't much
I couldn't feel, so I tried to touch
I've told the truth, I didn't come to fool you
And even though it all went wrong
I'll stand before the Lord of Song
With nothing on my tongue but Hallelujah

Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah


PS: my boyfriend, who's a musician/jazz-lover, just said "o m g ! this song is song that every *** holes who pretend to love music says he loves. But it's just BS...." oh lord !
i guess i don't like music, connard, I replied ...
LOL.

 

[barbaraaa]

I adore Jeff Buckley and his version of Hallelujah.


What about Daniel Johnston? This is a nice cover album