Questions tagged [lyrics]

For questions about the words used in a song. Use with another appropriate tag, such as [meaning]. Note that questions asking to identify the lyrics in a song are off topic, as are questions about literary interpretation.

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Missing auxiliary in "What I got to do to make you care?" [closed]

Why doesn't the first line have an auxiliary to make it interrogative? These lines are from Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word, featuring Elton John: What I got to do to make you care? What do I do ...
Hairsplitter's user avatar
0 votes
0 answers
54 views

Phrase Request: Lyric Subversion [duplicate]

I've noticed this quite often from Disney sound tracks. Lyrics are in a certain rhyming scheme - one line happens and the next line approaches the end of the line, but the last word subverts the rhyme....
goodguy5's user avatar
  • 239
0 votes
1 answer
92 views

Meaning of "get out" in "He gets out when he can" [closed]

In his famous hit Working Class Man, Jimmy Barnes sings: He believes in God and Elvis He gets out when he can He did his time in Vietnam Still mad at Uncle Sam I can't make sense of the second line. ...
Mitsuko's user avatar
  • 2,044
8 votes
3 answers
7k views

"You can cream on me"

I was listening to "Let it Bleed" by The Rolling Stones, and the lyrics say Yeah, we all need someone we can cream on // Yeah and if you want to, well you can cream on me On the Cambridge ...
Bram Vanroy's user avatar
  • 1,267
1 vote
0 answers
78 views

Conditional sentence in the song "What Makes You Beautiful" [closed]

A small part of the lyrics in the song "What Makes You Beautiful" is If only you saw what I can see, you'll understand why I want you so desperately. But according to the second ...
Kaiden's user avatar
  • 19
0 votes
1 answer
151 views

What does 'picket fence' mean here? [closed]

Today I was listening to a song from Fall Out boy called Miss missing you. At one point in the song, they sing the line: "Baby you were my picket fence". I know what a picket fence is, but I ...
JonathanCabral's user avatar
10 votes
4 answers
7k views

What did Lady Gaga mean when she sang that she's heard a "sine" from above?

In Lady Gaga's song featuring Elton John "Sine From Above", she sang that she has heard a "sine" from the sky. Sine is defined as the very famous mathematical function in Cambridge ...
JKHA's user avatar
  • 221
1 vote
1 answer
109 views

Meaning of "tint your wing" in the song Burning of Auchindoun

In the Scottish folk song Burning of Auchindoun appears the following lines: Crawing, crawing, for a' your crouse crawin' Ye burnt yer crop an tint your wings an oor before the dawnin I'm interested ...
Acorn's user avatar
  • 540
1 vote
1 answer
151 views

"Some may be from showing up" meaning in the Rose Tattoo by Dropkick Murphys

I am trying to get the meaning of the song. As far as I can tell, the man is describing his tattoos, or, rather, recalls circumstances where he's got them. I think I understand most of the verses, ...
Col. Shrapnel's user avatar
0 votes
3 answers
81 views

Can someone explain to me the meaning of the verse "in over your chest is way too deep"?

I was listening to the song "Wetsuit" by the band "The Vaccines" when I met with these weird lines: "Submerged, your vision's just obscured You're a lot like me In up to our ...
hellofriends's user avatar
0 votes
1 answer
50 views

Literary phrasing (gold-pressed)

Gold pressed temptress of silence Let the morning call unanswered And ransom the day off Song: Good Love, by Zola Blood What exactly is gold pressed? A fictional reference or some metalsmith ...
Peter's user avatar
  • 101
0 votes
1 answer
68 views

"Melts all your memories and change into gold"?

"Smooth Operator" song lyrics goes like this: Face to face, each classic case We shadow box and double cross Yet need the chase A license to love, insurance to hold Melts all your memories ...
Maciek's user avatar
  • 1
1 vote
3 answers
856 views

Meaning of the phrase "frog-walker" in reference to a horse

The Marty Robbins song Strawberry Roan describes the story of a cowboy trying to break an old horse, the eponymous Strawberry Roan (I'm unsure of any connection to the various films of the same name). ...
Tristan's user avatar
  • 864
3 votes
3 answers
315 views

Looking for a word about writing lyrics for the purpose of fitting the music

There is a word that I'm desperately trying to remember. I think it is used in the context of songwriting but it could be more general. It describes the act of writing words to fit music, or to rhyme, ...
Outside's user avatar
  • 33
1 vote
1 answer
475 views

If "Manners maketh man" as someone said

Can someone help me unpack this part of Sting's Englishman in New York? If "Manners maketh man" as someone said Then he's the hero of the day It takes a man to suffer ignorance and smile Be ...
Cerno's user avatar
  • 398
0 votes
0 answers
35 views

What is the term for the 'bastardisation' of common phrases and idioms? [duplicate]

Recently, I have been analysing lyrics to songs. Frequently, the writer inverts and 'bastardises' common phrases and idioms to play off of the established meaning. I have been using the term '...
Anonymous's user avatar
0 votes
1 answer
549 views

What is the meaning of "I get wild on you"? [closed]

What is the meaning behind the phrase "I get wild on you, baby"? I tried to find this kind of phrasal verb "get wild on..." , but I didn't find anything. In my head, this could ...
Alisa's user avatar
  • 1
2 votes
3 answers
108 views

"All hazards and dangers we barter on chance"

This is from the lyrics of "Arthur McBride" by Paul Brady. ...“But,“ says Arthur, “I wouldn’t be proud of your clothes For you’ve only the lend of them, as I suppose And you dare not change ...
Pepperoni Pizzza's user avatar
0 votes
2 answers
2k views

Meaning of "thread the needle through" and "beat the devil's tattoo"?

Lyrics from the song, Beat the Devil's Tattoo: I thread the needle through, you beat the devil's tattoo. Does anyone know the meaning of "thread the needle through" and "beat the ...
Wiki 's user avatar
  • 11
3 votes
1 answer
674 views

Meaning of "I shut my eyes to hold my breath"

From the folk song Oh! Susanna by Stephen Foster (presumably written in slave dialect): De bullgine bust, de hoss ran off, I really thought I’d die; I shut my eyes to hold my bref—Susanna, dont you ...
forest's user avatar
  • 630
0 votes
0 answers
690 views

What does “white spade” mean in this context?

This is a lyric in the Tom Waits song Heart Attack and Vine - “white spades hanging on a telephone wire”. Does anyone know what this means? I found online that “white spade” refers to an old type of ...
L.S.'s user avatar
  • 17
1 vote
2 answers
110 views

Generic word for a verse, chorus, or bridge of a hymn or song

I'm working on a project that involves breaking a set of lyrics into “sections,” by splitting on double line breaks. Later on in the process, each section will be categorized as a verse, chorus, or ...
Samuel Bradshaw's user avatar
2 votes
0 answers
605 views

What’s the meaning behind the lyric from Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy “and the ‘68 festival wallflowers are thinning? [closed]

Elton John/Bernie Taupin’s lyric line from Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy “and the ‘68 festival wallflowers are thinning” has continued to confuse me in its meaning. I understand “‘68 ...
Peggy Hayes's user avatar
2 votes
1 answer
702 views

And the Sultans played creole? [closed]

Here are some lyrics from the great classic Sultans of Swing: Then a crowd a young boys they're a foolin' around in the corner Drunk and dressed in their best brown baggies and their platform soles ...
George Menoutis's user avatar
2 votes
1 answer
453 views

What does "beat the birds" mean? [closed]

Heard this phrase in Frank Sinatra's song. Just say the words and we'll beat the birds Down to Acapulco Bay Just wonder what that means. I have rough idea, just to go to Acapulco Bay. Want to ...
Artsiom Anisimau's user avatar
0 votes
1 answer
547 views

What is the grammatical nature of "wrote" in the phrase "The Wrote and The Writ"? [closed]

In the song The Wrote and the Writ by British singer and songwriter Johnny Flynn, the title uses that phrase which comes from the the last verse of the song: If you're born with a love for the wrote ...
mcadorel's user avatar
  • 467
3 votes
1 answer
150 views

Wordsmith, singer, Leonard Cohen was perplexed as what word rhymes with orange? [duplicate]

My first question was basically, "What word, or words, rhyme with orange? The word "tinge" was not included in any of the answers, or words presented to me. Thank you for your patience ...
Campaigner8's user avatar
1 vote
2 answers
68 views

Name of this lyrical device comparing oneself to something that's described by the same word, but in another sense of the word?

Warning: The examples contain some offensive words, but I believe that is not against the rules here? Lately I've been listening a lot to a certain hip-hop album, in which almost every track uses a ...
Fiksdal's user avatar
  • 3,305
1 vote
0 answers
124 views

What does the noun "rosy" mean in these lyrics?

What does the noun "rosy" mean in the first line of this song ? Well there's a ring around the moon a ring around the rosy A ring around my socks that keep my feet so cozy Well I'm a single ...
2006-mo's user avatar
  • 29
-4 votes
2 answers
124 views

Articles in the song of the Beatles [closed]

Why there’s no articles in the phase of the song Blackbird? Blackbird singing in the dead of night Would it be more correct to use articles before “Blackbird” and “Night”?
Andrey's user avatar
  • 733
2 votes
1 answer
979 views

Slang: "To have a twenty on me"

So I was listening to a song (bülow - Own me), and there's this one line that I can't really understand. Which is "Got nothing but a twenty on me", and I can't really understand what it's ...
Nuncy588's user avatar
0 votes
4 answers
923 views

"I've been decided"

Is it grammatically correct to say "I've been decided"? The idea is that I want to stress that I have not decided to do something; instead, it has been decided without me that I would do ...
Anton's user avatar
  • 11
0 votes
1 answer
620 views

Understanding this lyrics in "all of me" (John Legend) [closed]

I do not see what is going on in this lyrics (John Legend, All of me). What does it mean "smart mouth", "pin you down", or "mystery ride"? Also, the whole scene in the ...
zell's user avatar
  • 189
1 vote
1 answer
226 views

Is "neither have I wings to fly" grammatically correct? [duplicate]

I came across this sentence "And neither have I wings to fly" in the lyric of the song "The Water Is Wide". Shouldn't it be "... neither I have ..."? Or it is ...
Q.Tran's user avatar
  • 21
0 votes
0 answers
291 views

blessed be the mystery of love [duplicate]

Would you explain the lyric "Blessed be the mystery of love" in the song "Mystery of love" by Sufjan Stevens please? Why the song writer use the word "be" instead of &...
Grace Kim's user avatar
0 votes
0 answers
30 views

What does "girls of the world" refer to in this context?

In the 1986 rap song "Girls Ain't Nothing but Trouble" by "DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince", the lyrics go like this: Listen, homeboys, don't mean to bust your bubble But ...
Rayman Borah's user avatar
1 vote
0 answers
841 views

What does "it got twisted up" mean?

I've tried to translate the lyrics of one of my favorite English-language songs into Croatian. A part of the lyrics is: The country that you died for, mate, you wouldn't know it now. The future that ...
FlatAssembler's user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
2k views

I popped one | I'm on one. What it mean? [closed]

On "Trust Issues" song, The Weeknd say it. When he says "I popped one" it mean he ingested a drug or it mean he have no money? When he says "I'm on one", it mean he have only one more drug or it mean ...
Yann Lopes's user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
85 views

There *are* a house in New Orleans. Why "are"? Where many poor boys to destruction *has* gone. Why "has"?

On this 1933 recording https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=147kS8O59Qs Clarence Ashley clearly sings There are a house in New Orleans They call the Rising Sun Where many poor boys to destruction has ...
user avatar
2 votes
5 answers
861 views

What does "dire is the horseman's wheel" mean?

This line comes from the Scottish patriotic song "Scotland the Brave". Bold hearts and nodding plumes wave o'er their bloody tombs, Deepeyed in gore is the green tartan's wave, Shivering are ...
Allure's user avatar
  • 745
0 votes
0 answers
24 views

A question on " But guess we'll cry come first of May " [duplicate]

In the lyrics of First of May, there is a line "But guess we'll cry come first of May". What is the meaning of it? Especially, what is the meaning of "come first of May"? What will "come first of May"?...
Tom's user avatar
  • 11
1 vote
2 answers
934 views

"One red light town" meaning

"We tore the roof off that one red light town" - from Thomas Rhett's Remember You Young. What does "one red light town" mean? I've always assumed it's talking about how small the town is, but just ...
Grouch Douglass's user avatar
2 votes
0 answers
83 views

Is it correct to use "you and me" in this Beijing Olympics song?

I know we use "you and me" in an object case. But I think in this song, "you and me " is a subject. Lyrics are as follow: You and me From one world We are family Travel dream A thousand ...
Jojo's user avatar
  • 35
1 vote
1 answer
209 views

What does "That stick through they man through the BS with" mean?

I'm concerned with the second line of the first verse of "By a Stranger" by Black Rob: We came to give love to our die hearted real bitches That stick through they man through the bullshit with ...
user1420956's user avatar
0 votes
1 answer
214 views

"Had me blind" and grammar in lyrics/poems

I'm looking at a line from the song "I Can See Clearly Now". It's the line: Gone are the dark clouds that had me blind. I know that that line is in the passive voice ("the dark clouds that had me ...
jennivier's user avatar
2 votes
1 answer
217 views

The meaning of "April moon" [closed]

There are words in the song "Mad about You" by Sting A stone's throw from Jerusalem I walked a lonely mile in the moonlight And though a million stars were shining My heart was lost on a ...
Lyzard Kyng's user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
550 views

What is the actual meaning of these lines and what time (Past/Present/Future) it indicates?

These lines have been taken from Shakira's Whenever, Wherever song lyric, "Never could imagine there were only Ten million ways to love somebody". Thanks in Advance.
Prasanth's user avatar
3 votes
1 answer
33k views

What is the meaning of 'lean all in my bladder'?

This verse comes from the song 'Old town roads' and I've never heard it before, can't find a definition/explanation online either. Thank you !
ThePainfull's user avatar
0 votes
1 answer
12k views

Meaning of "Can you come through?" [closed]

Here are some lyrics from the song "comethru" by Jeremy Zucker I might lose my mind Waking when the sun's down Riding all these highs Waiting for the comedown Walk these streets with me ...
lemonincider's user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
2k views

Meaning of "whip" in a song by The Fold [closed]

My kids watch the "Lego NinjaGo" series and have been asking me about the title song, called "Weekend Whip" by The Fold. As much as I tried looking for the meaning of the word "whip" in the context of ...
Anton Zujev's user avatar

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