Poetry, Jingles, Doggerel and Song Lyrics

[Philip Mannering]

Yes, excellent poem, Aurélien - such beautiful words. Like Ming, I thought of the Angry Pixie when reading the first stanza.

[Aurélien]

And more song lyric fragments to provoke thought, set mood, and...you name it!

• Lines from Just When I Needed You Most
  Written (1973) and Sung by Randy Van Warmer.

• You packed in the morning, I stared out the window,
  and I struggled for something to say
  You left in the rain, without closing the door.
  I didn't stand in your way.

• But I miss you more, than I missed you before,
  and now where I'll find comfort, god knows,
  'cause you left me, just when I needed you most.
  Left me just when I needed you most.

• Now most every morning, I stare out the window,
  and I think about where you might be,
  I've written you letters, that I'd like to send,
  if you would just send one to me.

I believe that the late Mr Van Warmer, an American but raised partly in Cornwall, wrote the above lines whilst he was still a teenager. A very pleasant singing voice, too, for those who've missed his recordings.

[Aurélien]

• S t a r s
  by Sara Teasdale [1884 – 1933]

• Alone in the night on a dark hill
  With pines around me spicy and still,

• And a heaven full of stars over my head,
  White and topaz and misty red;

• Myriads with beating hearts of fire
  That aeons cannot vex or tire;

• Up the dome of heaven like a great hill,
  I watch them marching stately and still,

• And I know that I am honored to be
  Witness of so much majesty.

High time for old Aurélien to take a break from posting on this fascinating
thread.

[Anita Bensoussane]

Just When I Needed You Most - now that's a blast from the past. My mum used to play it when I was a girl but I don't think I've heard it for at least twenty-five years!

Thought I'd post some favourite snippets from some favourite songs:

Eleanor Rigby
Picks up the rice in the church where a wedding has been,
Lives in a dream.
Waits at the window
Wearing the face that she keeps in a jar by the door,
Who is it for?

(The Beatles, Eleanor Rigby)

I have my books
And my poetry to protect me.
I am shielded in my armour,
Hiding in my room, safe within my womb,
I touch no one and no one touches me.
I am a rock,
I am an island.

(Simon and Garfunkel, I Am a Rock)

Starry, starry night.
Paint your palette blue and grey,
Look out on a summer's day
With eyes that know the darkness in my soul.
Shadows on the hills,
Sketch the trees and the daffodils,
Catch the breeze and the winter chills
In colours on the snowy linen land.

(Don McLean, Vincent or Starry, Starry Night...)

I loved you then as I love you still
Though I put you on a pedestal, you put me on the pill...

...Once upon a time at home
I sat beside the telephone
Waiting for someone to pull me through,
When at last it didn't ring I knew it wasn't you.

(Kirsty MacColl, A New England)

Burnt out ends of smoky days,
The stale cold smell of morning.

(Memory, from the musical Cats, based on the poetry of T. S. Eliot)

We share the same biology
Regardless of ideology.

(Sting, The Russians)

And now you're working in a bank,
The family man, a football fan,
And your name is Harry.
How dull it seems,
Yet you're the hero of my dreams.

(Abba, Our Last Summer)

[Rob Houghton]

Probably a bit 'soppy' for today's tastes, but I love the lyrics of 'And I Love You So':

And I love you so
The people ask me how
How I've lived till now:
I tell them I don't know
Perhaps they understand
How lonely life can be
But Life began again
The day you took my hand

And yes, I know, how lonely life can be
The shadows follow me, and the night won't set me free:
But I won't let the evening get me down
Now that you're around me.

And you love me too:
Your thoughts are all of me
You set my spirit free:
I'm happy that you do:
The book of life is brief,
And once a page is read
All but love is dead: That is my belief

And yes, I know how lonely life can be
The shadows follow me, and the night won't set me free:
But I won't let the evening get me down
Now that you're around me.



I also love 'Starry Starry night' and 'American Pie' as well as 'Bright Eyes' and 'Bridge over Troubled Water'.

Many of the ABBA songs have brilliant lyrics, particularly 'Slipping Through My Fingers' featured in 'Mama Mia!' and 'When All is said and Done'

[Aurélien]

ABBA's 'When All Is Said And Done' is one of my favourites, too, Robert.

‘Aurélien Arkadiusz’

[Anita Bensoussane]

I'm a fan of When All is Said and Done too! And Don McLean's And I Love You So is another favourite, soppy or not!

Anita

[Aurélien]

This one is a shared favourite - Robert, Anita and me - and Anita is invited/encouraged
to use her administrative powers to edit [alter or add to] this particular posting.

Firstly in poetry format, secondly in song format:

• When All Is Said And Done
  written by Benny Andersson
  and sung by ABBA.

• Here’s to us, one more toast,
  And then we’ll pay the bill.
  Deep inside, both of us,
  Can feel the autumn chill.
  Birds of passage, you and me,
  We fly instinctively.
  When the summer's over,
  And the dark clouds hide the sun -
  Neither you nor I’m to blame,
  When all is said and done.

• In our lives, we have walked,
  Some strange and lonely treks.
  Slightly worn, but dignified,
  And not too old for sex.
  We’re still striving, for the sky,
  No taste for humble pie.
  Thanks for all your generous love,
  And thanks for all the fun.
  Neither you nor I’m to blame
  When all is said and done.

• It’s so strange, when you’re down,
  And lying on the floor;
  How you rise, shake your head,
  Get up and ask for more.
  Clear-headed and open-eyed,
  With nothing left untried.
  Standing calmly at the crossroads,
  No desire to run;
  There’s no hurry, any more,
  When all is said and done

• Standing calmly at the crossroads,
  No desire to run;
  There’s no hurry, any more,
  When all is said and done.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

• Here's to us one more toast and then we'll pay the bill
  Deep inside both of us can feel the autumn chill
  Birds of passage you and me We fly instinctively
  When the summer's over and the dark clouds hide the sun
  Neither you nor I'm to blame when all is said and done.

• In our lives we have walked some strange and lonely treks
  Slightly worn but dignified and not too old for sex
  We're still striving for the sky no taste for humble pie
  Thanks for all your generous love and thanks for all the fun
  Neither you nor I'm to blame when all is said and done.

• It's so strange when you're down and lying on the floor
  How you rise shake your head get up and ask for more
  Clear-headed and open-eyed with nothing left untried
  Standing calmly at the crossroads no desire to run
  There's no hurry any more when all is said and done.

• Standing calmly at the crossroads no desire to run
  There's no hurry any more when all is said and done.

[Anita Bensoussane]

This one is a shared favourite - Robert, Anita and me - and Anita is invited/encouraged to use her administrative powers to edit [alter or add to] this particular posting.

As if I would dream of editing Abba. That would be sacrilege!

Anita

[hope189]

This one is a shared favourite - Robert, Anita and me - and Anita is invited/encouraged
to use her administrative powers to edit [alter or add to] this particular posting.

Great poem! Aurelien, this poem seems so.............you!

[Aurélien]

This one is a shared favourite - Robert, Anita and me - and Anita is invited/encouraged to use her administrative powers to edit [alter or add to] this particular posting.

As if I would dream of editing Abba. That would be sacrilege! Anita

Thought you might have access to other fonts, Anita, or might otherwise like to embellish the posting…’s why I didn’t colour the two texts.

Great poem! Aurelien, this poem seems so.............you!

Yes, well, it takes two to tango, Hope, and women are so much more expensive than wine or song...blow a poor old pensioner's monthly budget in a matter of days!

‘Aurélien Arkadiusz’

[Anita Bensoussane]

Thought you might have access to other fonts, Anita, or might otherwise like to embellish the posting…’s why I didn’t colour the two texts.

I haven't got access to any super-duper (or super-trouper!) fonts I'm afraid. Besides, I think you're the master of embellishment!

Anita

[Aurélien]

I haven't got access to any super-duper (or super-trouper!) fonts I'm afraid. Besides, I think you're the master of embellishment! Anita

*Takes a bow, then straightens up, rubbing his protesting back* Pity about those fonts, Anita....it's actually only 'cos I don't have access to a range of fonts here, oh, and 'cos the size adjustments allowed here are somewhat less than subtle, that I use so much colour in my postings.

The bespectacled ‘Aurélien Arkadiusz’ squints at the screen to check his spelling, etc....

[Aurélien]

Old ‘Hang-‘em High’ Aurélien thought of these lines whilst sitting
on the one jury he was on that actually made it all the way to the
verdict stage. The coloured lines are those which surface in my
memory at odd [often quite inappropriate] moments.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

• Nefariously extracted from Fit the Sixth
  [The Barrister’s Dream] of Lewis Carroll’s long 1874 poem,
  The Hunting of the Snark

• He dreamed that he stood in a shadowy Court,
  Where the Snark, with a glass in its eye,
  Dressed in gown, bands, and wig, was defending a pig
  On the charge of deserting its sty.

• The Witnesses proved, without error or flaw,
  That the sty was deserted when found:
  And the Judge kept explaining the state of the law
  In a soft under-current of sound.

• The indictment had never been clearly expressed,
  And it seemed that the Snark had begun,
  And had spoken three hours, before any one guessed
  What the pig was supposed to have done.

• The Jury had each formed a different view
  (Long before the indictment was read),
  And they all spoke at once, so that none of them knew
  One word that the others had said.

• "You must know—" said the Judge: but the Snark exclaimed "Fudge!"
  That statute is obsolete quite!
  Let me tell you, my friends, the whole question depends
  On an ancient manorial right.

• "In the matter of Treason the pig would appear
  To have aided, but scarcely abetted:
  While the charge of Insolvency fails, it is clear,
  If you grant the plea 'never indebted.'

• "The fact of Desertion I will not dispute;
  But its guilt, as I trust, is removed
  (So far as related to the costs of this suit)
  By the Alibi which has been proved.

• "My poor client's fate now depends on your votes."
  Here the speaker sat down in his place,
  And directed the Judge to refer to his notes
  And briefly to sum up the case.

• But the Judge said he never had summed up before;
  So the Snark undertook it instead,
  And summed it so well that it came to far more
  Than the Witnesses ever had said!

• When the verdict was called for, the Jury declined,
  As the word was so puzzling to spell;
  But they ventured to hope that the Snark wouldn't mind
  Undertaking that duty as well.

• So the Snark found the verdict, although, as it owned,
  It was spent with the toils of the day:
  When it said the word "GUILTY!" the Jury all groaned,
  And some of them fainted away.

• Then the Snark pronounced sentence, the Judge being quite
  Too nervous to utter a word:
  When it rose to its feet, there was silence like night,
  And the fall of a pin might be heard.

• "Transportation for life" was the sentence it gave,
  "And then to be fined forty pound."
  The Jury all cheered, though the Judge said he feared
  That the phrase was not legally sound.

• But their wild exultation was suddenly checked
  When the jailer informed them, with tears,
  Such a sentence would have not the slightest effect,
  As the pig had been dead for some years.

• The Judge left the Court, looking deeply disgusted:
  But the Snark, though a little aghast,
  As the lawyer to whom the defense was entrusted,
  Went bellowing on to the last.

• Thus the Barrister dreamed, while the bellowing seemed
  To grow every moment more clear:
  Till he woke to the knell of a furious bell,
  Which the Bellman rang close at his ear.

By the way, any fans of Mike Batt's musical version here?

[Aurélien]

• Thoughtlessness
  by Edgar A. Guest [1881 – 1959]

• A little bit of hatred can spoil a score of years
  And blur the eyes that ought to smile with many needless tears.

• A little bit of thoughtlessness and anger for a day
  Can rob a home of all its joy and drive delight away.

• A little bit of shouting in a sharp and vicious tone
  Can leave a sting that will be felt when many years have flown.

• And just one hasty moment of ill temper can offend
  And leave an inner injury the years may never mend.

• It takes no mental fiber to say harsh and bitter things;
  It doesn't call for courage to employ a lash that stings.

• And cruel words and bitter any fool can think to say,
  But the hurt they leave behind them takes years to wipe away.

• Just a little bit of hatred robs a home of all delight,
  And leaves a winding trail of wrong that time may never right.

• For only those are happy and keep their peace of mind,
  Who guard themselves from hatred and words that are unkind!