Greatest lyrics of all time

[The Man]

My vote goes to Bob Dylan's "Masters of War"

Come, you masters of war
You that build all the guns
You that build the death planes
You that build the big bombs
You that hide behind walls
You that hide behind desks
I just want you to know
I can see through your masks

You that never done nothin'
But to build and destroy
You play with my world
Like it's your little toy
You put a gun in my hand
And you hide from my eyes
And you turn and run farther
When the fast bullets fly

Like Judas of old
You lie and deceive
A world war can't be won
But you want me to believe
But I see through your eyes
And I see through your brain
Like I see through the water
That runs down my drain

You fasten the triggers
For the others to fire
Then you sit back and watch
While the death count gets higher
You hide in your mansion
As the young people's blood
Flows out of their bodies
And is buried in the mud

You've thrown the worst fear
That can ever be hurled
The fear to bring children
Into this world
For threatening my baby
Unborn and unnamed
You ain't worth the blood
That runs in your veins

How much do I know
To talk out of turn?
You might say that I'm young
You might say I'm unlearned
But there's one thing I know
Though I'm younger than you
Even Jesus would never
Forgive what you do

Let me ask you one question:
Is your money that good?
Will it buy you forgiveness?
Do you think that it could?
I think you will find
When your death takes its toll
All the money you made
Will never buy back your soul

And I hope that you die
And your death will come soon
I will follow your casket
In the pale afternoon
And I'll watch while you're lowered
Down to your deathbed
And I'll stand o'er your grave
'Til I'm sure that you're dead.

You?

[Sunshine]

I'm going to go with Orden Ogan - The Step Away.

too brief to know my name
i wander the roads of this life
too weak to say "i'll quit this game"
- so-called-feelings are holding me tight
because fear replaces
your wishes and solid mind
and likely embraces
your soul and dries your tears
but finally it's me that i see
in the mirror - a friend of mine
and finally i can drop my fancy dress
and live for the first and last time
and finally i'm becoming
by leaving this world behind
and finally i can say "i quit this game"
instead of flowing down so blind
and finally i can drop my fancy dress
and live for the first and last time
and finally i'm becoming
by leaving this world behind
and finally i can say "i quit this game"
instead of flowing down so blind

[Naked Gackt]

Misfits - Bullet

President's bullet-ridden body in the street
Ride, Johnny ride
Kennedy's shattered head hits concrete
Ride, Johnny ride

Johnny's wife is floundering
Johnny's wife is scared
Run, Jackie run

Texas is an outrage when your husband is dead
Texas is an outrage when they pick up his head
Texas is the reason that the president's dead
You gotta suck, suck, Jackie suck

President's bullet-ridden body in the street
Ride, Johnny ride
Kennedy's shattered head hits concrete
Ride, Johnny ride

Texas is an outrage when your husband is dead
Texas is an outrage when they pick up his head
Texas is the reason that the president's dead
You gotta suck, suck, Jackie suck

Arise Jackie O, Jonathon of Kennedy
Well, arise and be shot down
The dirt's gonna be your dessert
My cum be your life source
And the only way to get it
Is to suck or ****
Or be poor and devoid
And masturbate me, masturbate me
Then slurp it from your palm
Like a dry desert soaking up rain
Soaking up sun
Like a dry desert soaking up rain
Soaking up sun

[Beeble]

I've always liked this:

Genesis - Land of Confusion

I must've dreamed a thousand dreams
Been haunted by a million screams
But I can hear the marching feet
They're moving into the street

Now did you read the news today
They say the danger's gone away
But I can see the fire's still alight
They're burning into the night

*There's too many men, too many people
Making too many problems
*And not much love to go around
Can't you see this is the land of confusion

This is the world we live in
And these are the hands we're given
Use them and let's start trying
To make it a place worth living in

Oh Superman where are you now
Everything's gone wrong somehow
The men of steel, men of power
Are losing control by the hour

This is the time, this is the place
So we look for the future
*But there's not much love to go around
Tell me why this is the land of confusion

*This is the world we live in
*And these are the hands we're given
*Use them and let's start trying
*To make it a place worth living in

I remember long ago
Oh when the sun was shining
And the stars were bright all through the night
And the sound of your laughter as I held you tight
So long ago

I won't be coming home tonight
My generation will put it right
We're not just making promises
That we know we'll never keep

*Too many men, there's too many people
Making too many problems
And not much love to go round
Can't you see this is the land of confusion

This is the world we live in
And these are the hands we're given
Use them and let's start trying
To make it a place worth fighting for

This is the world we live in
And these are the names we're given
Stand up and let's start showing
Just where our lives are going to

[The Man]

That’s easily one of the most socially conscious pop songs ever written. Good choice.

[Exodus]

The newest Iron Maiden album has had my attention for a while, particularly this song:

Iron Maiden - The Legacy

Tell you a thing
That you ought to know
Two minutes of your time
Then on you go

Tell tale of the men
All dressed in black
That most of them
Not coming back

Sent off to the war
To play little games
And on their return
Can't name no names

Some strange yellow gas
Has played with their minds
Has reddened their eyes
Removed all the lies

And strange as it sounds
Death knows no bounds
How many get well
Only time will tell
Only time will tell

[Solo]

You lie in your death bed now
But what did you bring to the table
Brought us only holy sin
Utter trust is a deadly thing

To the prayer of holy peace
We didn't know what was lying underneath
So how could we be such fools
And to think that we thought you the answer

I can't begin to understand in all the lies
But on your death bed I can see it in you eyes
Just as clear as all the sweat upon your brow
It really makes sense I can see it clearly now

Tangled up in a web of lies
Could have been a way to prophesise
Unaware of the consequence
Not aware of the secrets that you kept

Nothing that we could believe
To reveal the facade of faceless men
Not a thing that we could foresee
Now a sign that would tell us the outcome

You had us all strung out with
Promises of peace
But all along you cover plan was to deceive
Can it put to rights now only time will tell
Your prophecies will send us all to hell as well

Left to all our golden sons
All to pick up on the peace
You could have given all of them
A little chance... at least

Take the world to a better place
Given them all just a little hope
Just think what a legacy
You know... will leave

[Solo]

We seem destinated to live in fear
And some that would say Armageddon is near
But where there's a life while there's hope
That man won't self destruct

Why can't we treat our fellow men
With more respect and a shake of their hands
But anger and loathing is rife
The death on all sides is
Becoming a way of life

We live in an uncertain world
Fear understanding and ignorance
Is leading to death
Only the corpses are left
For vultures that prey on their bones

But some are just not wanting peace
Their whole life is death and misery
The only thing that they know
Fight fire with fire life is cheap

But if they do stop to think
That man is teetering right on the brink
But do you think that they care
They benefit from death and pain and despair

[The Dude]

Tool's Right in Two get's my vote.

Originally Posted by Lyrics

Angels on the sideline,
Puzzled and amused.
Why did Father give these humans free will?
Now they're all confused.

Don't these talking monkeys know that
Eden has enough to go around?
Plenty in this holy garden, silly monkeys,
Where there's one you're bound to divide it.
Right in two.

Angels on the sideline,
Baffled and confused.
Father blessed them all with reason.
And this is what they choose.
And this is what they choose...

Monkey killing monkey killing monkey
Over pieces of the ground.
Silly monkeys give them thumbs,
They forge a blade,
And where there's one
they're bound to divide it,
Right in two.
Right in two.

Monkey killing monkey killing monkey.
Over pieces of the ground.
Silly monkeys give them thumbs.
They make a club.
And beat their brother, down.
How they survive so misguided is a mystery.

Repugnant is a creature who would squander the ability to lift an eye to heaven, conscious of his fleeting time here.

Cut it all right in two
Cut it all right in two
Cut it all right in two
Cut it all right in two

Fight over the clouds, over wind, over sky
They fight over lies, over blood, over anger and rage,
Fight over love, over sun,
over night, they fight till they die,
over one, for their lives beginning.

Angels on the sideline again.
Been so long with patience and reason.
Angels on the sideline again
Wondering when this tug of war will end.

Cut it all right in two
Cut it all right in two
Cut it all right in two

RIGHT IN TWO!

Right in two...

[Antikhrist]

Bittersweet Symphony's clearly the best.

Originally Posted by The Verve

'Cause it's a bittersweet symphony, this life
Trying to make ends meet
You're a slave to money then you die
I'll take you down the only road I've ever been down
You know the one that takes you to the places
where all the veins meet yeah

No change, I can't change
I can't change, I can't change
But I'm here in my mind
I am here in my mind
But I'm a million different people
from one day to the next
I can't change my mind
No, no, no, no, no, no, no,no,no,no,no,no(fading away)

Well I never pray
But tonight I'm on my knees yeah
I need to hear some sounds that recognize the pain in me, yeah
I let the melody shine, let it cleanse my mind, I feel free now
But the airways are clean and there's nobody singing to me now

No change, I can't change
I can't change, I can't change
But I'm here in my mind
I am here in my mind
And I'm a million different people
from one day to the next
I can't change my mind
No, no, no, no, no, no, no
I can't change
I can't change it

'Cause it's a bittersweet symphony, this life
Trying to make ends meet
Trying to find some money then you die
I'll take you down the only road I've ever been down
You know the one that takes you to the places
where all the veins meet yeah

You know I can't change, I can't change
I can't change, I can't change
But I'm here in my mind
I am here in my mind
And I'm a million different people
from one day to the next
I can't change my mind
No, no, no, no, no

I can't change my mind
no, no, no, no, no,
I can't change
Can't change my body,
no, no, no

I'll take you down the only road I've ever been down
I'll take you down the only road I've ever been down
Been down
Ever been down
Ever been down
Ever been down
Ever been down
That you've ever been down
That you've ever been down

[itcouldbesweet]

Orenda Fink - Invisible ones guard the gate

Something's happened, now you're far away
You had to leave, no time to explain
I call, a brother said, "Mother's gone"
The Ripper had came and took her off
I asked, "Will she be in heaven above?
A roof over my shoulder like a carrier dove?"
He said, "One, two, three, four,
There ain't no devil, there ain't no lord.
Five, six, seven, eight,
Only love, only hate."

I went to a preacher to seek the truth
The wisest man that I knew
The preacher had fallen, he's coloured too
He slept with a bottle, his face unshown
He looked at me with bloodshed eyes
A beaten man can tell no lies

He said, "Prophets, pimps, angels, whores,
There ain't no devil, there ain't no lord.
Money grows to fill the preacher's bank
He saves your soul for himself to take."

I travelled the world to understand
The words he spoke were no man's
I came to an island of beauty and pain
Shimmering souls untamed
Now the children, talking bright
Sing to me in the night

They sing, "One, two, three, four,
There ain't no devil, there ain't no lord.
Five, six, seven, eight,
Invisible ones guard the gate.
Invisible ones guard the gate."

[Blitz]

Originally Posted by MistaRob

Tool's Right in Two get's my vote.

I completely second that.

[The Man]

#2 would be A Silver Mt. Zion's "God Bless Our Dead Marines," I think

They put angels in the electric chair
The electric chair, the electric chair
Straight-up angels in the electric chair
The electric chair, the electric chair

And no one knew or no one cared
But burning stars lit up their hair
And burning stars lit up their hair
And crawled to heaven on golden stairs

And oh, how we to and fro, to and fro, to and fro
Oh, how we to and fro, to and fro, to and fro
Oh, how we to and fro, to and fro, to and fro
Oh, how we to and fro, to and fro, to and fro

This is our torched estates
We're your sweet mistakes

And all them vulgar kings on their dirty thrones
Who among us will avenge Ms. Nina Simone?
And all them vulgar kings on their dirty thrones
Who among us will avenge Ms. Nina Simone?

There's fresh meat in the club tonight
God bless our dead marines
Someone had an accident
Above the burning trees
While somewhere distant, peacefully
Our vulgar leaders sleep
Dead kids don't get photographed
God bless our dead marines

The hungry and the hanged
The damaged and the done
Striving 'long this spinning rock
Tumbling past the sun
Get through this life
Without killing anyone
And consider yourself
Golden

Lost a friend to cocaine
Couple friends to smack
Troubled hearts map deserts
And they rarely do come back
Lost a friend to oceans
Lost a friend to hills
Lost a friend to suicide
Lost a friend to pills

Lost a friend to monsters
Lost a friend to shame
Lost a friend to marriage
Lost a friend to blame
Lost a friend to worry
And lost a friend to wealth
Lost a friend to stubborn pride
And then I lost myself

I love my dog
And she loves me
The world's a mess
And so are we
She tumbles long green, muddy fields
Sick with joy and glee
And as she dreams sweet puppy dreams
Whimpering gently

There's fresh meat in the club tonight
God bless our dead marines
Someone had an accident
Above the burning trees
While somewhere distant, peacefully
Our vulgar princes sleep
Dead kids don't get photographed
God bless this century

When the world is sick, can't no one be well?
But I dreamt we was all beautiful and strong
When the world is sick, can't no one be well?
But I dreamt we was all beautiful and strong
When the world is sick, can't no one be well?
But I dreamt we was all beautiful and strong
When the world is sick, can't no one be well?
But I dreamt we was all beautiful and strong

Repeat until end

[thekingoftheempire]

A Perfect Circle - The Hollow
Run desire run
Sexual being
Run him like a blade
To and through the heart
No conscience
One Motive
Cater to the hollow

Screaming feed me here
Fill me up again
Temporarily pacify this hungering
So grow
Libido throw
Dominoes of indiscretions down
Falling all around
In cycles
In circles
Constantly consuming
Conquer and devour

Cause it's time to bring the fire down
Bridle all this indiscretion
Long enough to edify
And permanently fill this hollow

Screaming feed me here
Fill me up again
Temporarily pacifying

Feed me here
Fill me up again
Temporarily pacifying

[Shakan'Dar]

I vote Dream Theater's 40 minute epic, Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence. It can be separated into 8 parts, but is actually one song.

Six Degrees Of Inner Turbulence

[music by Myung, Petrucci, Portnoy, Rudess]

[I. OVERTURE]

[instrumental]

[II. ABOUT TO CRASH]

[lyrics by John Petrucci]

She can't stop pacing
She never felt so alive
Her thoughts are racing
Set on overdrive

It takes a village
This she knows is true
they're expecting her
And she's got work to do

He helplessly stands by
It's meaningless to try
As he rubs his red-rimmed eyes
He says I've never seen her get this bad

Even though she seems so high
He knows that she can't fly
and when she falls out of the sky
He'll be standing by

She was raised in a small mid western town
By a charming and eccentric loving father
She was praised as the perfect teenage girl
And everyone thought highly of her

And she tried everyday
With endless drive
To make the grade
Then one day
She woke up to find
The perfect girl
Had lost her mind

Once barely taking a break
Now she sleeps the days away
She helplessly stands by
It's meaningless to try
All she wants to do is cry
No one ever knew she was so sad

Cause even though she gets so high
And thinks that she can fly
She will fall out of the sky
But in the face of misery
She found hopefulness
Feeling better
She had weathered
This depression

Much to her advantage
She resumed her frantic pace
Boundless power
Midnight hour
She enjoyed the race

[III. WAR INSIDE MY HEAD]

[lyrics by Mike Portnoy]

Napalm showers
Showed the cowards
We weren't there to mess around

Through heat exhaustion
And mind distortion
A military victory mounted on innocent ground

Hearing voices from miles away
Saying things never said
Seeing shadows in the light of the day
Waging a war inside my head

Years and years of
Bloodshed and warfare
Our mission was only to get in and kill

A free vacation
Of palm trees and shrapnel
Trading innocence for permanent psychotic hell

Hearing voices from miles away
Saying things never said
Seeing shadows in the light of the day
Waging a war inside my head

Feeling strangers staring my way
Reading minds never read
Tasting danger with each word I say
Waging a war inside my head

[IV. THE TEST THAT STUMPED THEM ALL]

[lyrics by Mike Portnoy]

Standing in the darkness
Waiting for the light
The smell of pure adrenaline
Burning in the night

Random blinding flashes
Aiming at the stage
Intro tape begins to roll
Igniting sonic rage

Still they keep me between these hollow walls
Hoping to find in me
The answers to the test that stumped them all

"The boy is simply crazy
Suffering from delusions
We honestly think that maybe
He might need an institution

He lives in a world of fiction
And really could use some help
We have just the place to fix him
To save him from himself"

Curled up in the darkness
Searching for the light
The smell of stale sweat and ****
Streaming through the night

Random urine testing
Pills red, pink and blue
Counseling and therapy
Providing not a clue

Still they keep me between these hollow walls
Hoping to find in me
The answers to the test that stumped them all

"We can't seem to find the answers
He seemed such a clear cut case
We cannot just let him leave here
And put all this work to waste

Why don't we try shock treatment
It really might do some help
We have just the tools to fix him
To save him from himself"

[V. GOODNIGHT KISS]

[lyrics by Mike Portnoy]

Goodnight kiss in your nightgown
Lavender in your bed
So innocent as you lie down
Sweet dreams that run through your head

Are you lonely without Mommy's love?
I want you to know I'd die for that moment
You're just a poor girl
Afraid of this cruel world
Taken away from it all

It's been 5 years to the day and
My tainted blood's still the same
I can't help acting this way and
Those bastard doctors are gonna pay

I'm so lonely without baby's love
I want you to know I'd die for one more moment
I'm just a poor girl
Afraid of this cruel world
Taken away from it all

[VI. SOLITARY SHELL]

[lyrics by John Petrucci]

He seemed no different from the rest
Just a healthy normal boy
His mama always did her best
And he was daddy's pride and joy

He learned to walk and talk on time
But never cared much to be held
and steadily he would decline
Into his solitary shell

As a boy he was considered somewhat odd
Kept to himself most of the time
He would daydream in and out of his own world
but in every other way he was fine

He's a Monday morning lunatic
Disturbed from time to time
Lost within himself
In his solitary shell

A temporary catatonic
Madman on occasion
When will he break out
Of his solitary shell

He struggled to get through his day
He was helplessly behind
He poured himself onto the page
Writing for hours at a time

As a man he was a danger to himself
Fearful and sad most of the time
He was drifting in and out of sanity
But in every other way he was fine

He's a Monday morning lunatic
Disturbed from time to time
Lost within himself
In his solitary shell

A momentary maniac
With casual delusions
When will he be let out
Of his solitary shell

[VII. ABOUT TO CRASH (REPRISE)]

[lyrics by John Petrucci]

I'm alive again
The darkness far behind me
I'm invincible
Despair will never find me

I feel strong
I've got a new sense of elation
Boundless energy
Euphoria fixation

Still it's hard to just get by
It seems so meaningless to try
When all I want to do is cry
Who would ever know I felt so sad

Even though I get so high
I know that I will never fly
And when I fall out of the sky
Who'll be standing by

Will you be standing by

[VIII. LOSING TIME/GRAND FINALE]

[lyrics by John Petrucci]

She dresses in black everyday
She keeps her hair simple and plain
She never wears makeup
But no one would care if she did anyway

She doesn't recall yesterday
Faces seem twisted and strange
But she always wakes up
Only to find she'd been miles away

Absence of awareness
Losing time
A lapse of perception
Losing time

Wanting to escape
She had created a way to survive
She learned to detach from herself
A behavior that kept her alive

Hope in the face of our human distress
Helps us to understand the turbulence deep inside
That takes hold of our lives
Shame and disgrace over mental unrest
Keeps us from saving those we love
The grace within our hearts
And the sorrow in our souls
Deception of fame
Vengeance of war
Lives torn apart
Losing oneself
Spiraling down
Feeling the walls closing in
A journey to find
The answers inside
Our illusive mind

[Etheon]

Viva la critique de société!

Frank Zappa's I'm the Slime

I'm The Slime

by Frank Zappa

I am gross and perverted
I'm obsessed 'n deranged
I have existed for years
But very little had changed
I am the tool of the Government
And industry too
For I am destined to rule
And regulate you

I may be vile and pernicious
But you can't look away
I make you think I'm delicious
With the stuff that I say
I am the best you can get
Have you guessed me yet?
I am the slime oozin' out
From your TV set

You will obey me while I lead you
And eat the garbage that I feed you
Until the day that we don't need you
Don't got for help...no one will heed you
Your mind is totally controlled
It has been stuffed into my mold
And you will do as you are told
Until the rights to you are sold

That's right, folks..
Don't touch that dial

Well, I am the slime from your video
Oozin' along on your livin'room floor

I am the slime from your video
Can't stop the slime, people, lookit me go






Ah, Marshall McLuhan would love this.

[Lady Advent]

Ermmm The PussyCat Dolls haha just kiddingl!

EVANESCENCE
"My Immortal"

I'm so tired of being here
Suppressed by all my childish fears
And if you have to leave
I wish that you would just leave
'Cause your presence still lingers here
And it won't leave me alone

These wounds won't seem to heal
This pain is just too real
There's just too much that time cannot erase

[Chorus:]
When you cried I'd wipe away all of your tears
When you'd scream I'd fight away all of your fears
And I held your hand through all of these years
But you still have
All of me

You used to captivate me
By your resonating light
Now I'm bound by the life you left behind
Your face it haunts
My once pleasant dreams
Your voice it chased away
All the sanity in me

These wounds won't seem to heal
This pain is just too real
There's just too much that time cannot erase

[Chorus]

I've tried so hard to tell myself that you're gone
But though you're still with me
I've been alone all along

[Chorus]

[The Dude]

I think mine wins since Blitz seconded them and everyone else just put up something else. Although anyone who listens to Tool knows they win by default. :P

[Antikhrist]

Originally Posted by Lady Advent

EVANESCENCE
"My Immortal"

I love that song, one of the only ones by her I'll listen to.

Easily one of the best song ever, Mad World by Gary Jules.

Originally Posted by Gary Jules

All around me are familiar faces
Worn out places, worn out faces
Bright and early for their daily races
Going nowhere, going nowhere
Their tears are filling up their glasses
No expression, no expression
Hide my head I want to drown my sorrow
No tomorrow, no tomorrow

And I find it kinda funny
I find it kinda sad
The dreams in which I'm dying
Are the best I've ever had
I find it hard to tell you
I find it hard to take
When people run in circles
It's a very, very mad world mad world

Children waiting for the day they feel good
Happy Birthday, Happy Birthday
Made to feel the way that every child should
Sit and listen, sit and listen
Went to school and I was very nervous
No one knew me, no one knew me
Hello teacher tell me what's my lesson
Look right through me, look right through me

And I find it kinda funny
I find it kinda sad
The dreams in which I'm dying
Are the best I've ever had
I find it hard to tell you
I find it hard to take
When people run in circles
It's a very, very mad world ... world
Enlarge your world
Mad world

[The Dude]

evanesence is starting to get a little annoying always carrying on the same "he left me." theme imo.

Mad world is class.

[The Man]

Indeed, but Tears for Fears wrote the song and therefore the lyrics imho

[Antikhrist]

So they did, but Gary Jules did the cover and I like his version more. <3