Loveliest song ever

[Bossy Monkey]

Personally, I'm just thinking of pop songs (defined loosely) of the last 50 years or so, but feel free to range across all styles as well as all of time and space.

Beautiful lyrics help to go with lovely music. I give the nod as of this moment to "Eden" by 10,000 Maniacs. I remember the first time reading the lyrics and thinking, mouth agape: "It's even better than I thought!" Political subtext is just another plus:

Eden

We are the roses in the garden,
beauty with thorns among our leaves.
To pick a rose you ask your hands to bleed.
What is the reason for having roses
when your blood is shed carelessly?
It must be for something more than vanity.

Believe me, the truth is we`re not honest,
not the people that we dream.
We`re not as close as we could be.
Willing to grow but rains are shallow.
Barren and wind-scattered seed
on stone and dry land, we will be.
Waiting for the light arisen
to flood inside the prison.
And in that time
kind words alone will teach us,
no bitterness will reach us.
Reason will be guided another way.

All in time,
but the clock is another demon
that devours our time in Eden,
in our Paradise.
Will our eyes see well beneath us,
flowers all divine?
IS THERE STILL TIME?
If we wake and discover
in life a precious love,
will that waking become more heavenly?

[Maccagirl]

1. Here, There and Everywhere

by the Beatles

[Friar]

18. I used to play this

to get laid. I never could hit that high note though.

[DrWeird]

2. "Take Off Your Cool"- Andre 3000

Heyyyyyyyyyy yahhh, bada bah, badabah
Heyyyyyyyyyy yahhh, bada bah, badabah

Baby, take off your cool
I wanna see you
I wanna see you
Baby don't be so cruel
I wanna see you
I wanna see you


Baby!
Take off!
Your coooooooooooooool!
I want to
get to
know youuuuuuuu.

[BigDaddyLove]

3. "So Amazing"

Luther Vandross.

[caledesi]

4. Almost Paradise

I thought that dreams belonged to other men
Cuz each time I got close
They'd fall apsrt again
I feared my heart would beat in secrecy
I faced the nights alone
Oh, how could I have known
That all my life I only needed you

* Almost paradise
We're knocking on heaven's door
Almost paradise
How could we ask for more
I swear that I can see forever in your eyes
Paradise
It seems like perfect love's so hard to find
I'd almost given up
You must have read my mind

And all these dreams I saved for a rainy day
They're finally conmin' true
I'll share them all with you
Cause now we hold the future in our hands
(Repeat *)

And in your arms salvation's not so far away
It's getting closer, closer every day
(Repeat *)

Paradise…paradise

[magatte]

5. Fake Plastic Tree ...

Fake Plastic Tree ... by Radiohead.

Arguably the loveliest song ever. That song gets me every time. It is just perfect.

[GOPFighter]

6. Bridge Over Troubled Water

Simon and Garfunkle

[GOPFighter]

7. ...or Meatloaf's 'Bat Out of Hell'

I can't decide

[Friar]

17. I'm so old I saw them do this live for the first time

Back in 68 (69?). Anyway, it was just Art and a piano. It was fantastic. It is a great song.

[mitchum]

8. "Something" or "Waterloo Sunset"

[Friar]

19. I play Waterloo Sunset all the time

I like that it requires some proficiency on guitar. Those descending bass lines on Dm and AM are too much fun.

[populistmom]

9. I don't know if this makes it lovely

But I was listening to the radio and Landslide came on (the Dixie Chicks version) and I just started bawling my eyes out. Don't usually do that stuff, but the emotions and words of the song got the best of me. :cry:

[SPQR]

10. Julia

by the Eurythmics, from the 1984 soundtrack.

[leftist_rebel1569]

11. "Parabol"/"Parabola" by Tool

I don't know why, but they're the most beautiful songs i've heard in a while (I included both because they're virtually the same song)

[LTR]

12. "Thunder Kiss '65" by White Zombie

Well, beautiful to some, I guess.

I have a buddy who had a girlfriend once that liked to do dance, ummm horizontally, to Metallica. Not new stuff, but "Kill 'em All".

We should all have girlfriends like that.

[Prisoner_Number_Six]

13. "Many Ways Of Meeting"

a very mellow '70s love song by a group called "Help Yourself". Very gentle and beautiful. I sometimes think I'm the only person ever to have heard of the group. Well worth it if you can find it.

http://www.artistdirect.com/store/artist/album/0,,100932,00.html

http://www.freedb.org/freedb_search_fmt.php?cat=rock&id=64085307
------

Many Ways Of Meeting
Help Yourself

I know a lady who promises love
Moves like a river in the spring
Warm as a summer breeze,
Talks in a whisper to the trees

I have a vision that promises much
Speaks of all healing as touch
Moves like a river in a dream
Haunted by a girl,
Swallowed by the world

I have a rainbow for a sunny day
And she will wear it in her hair,
And in the autumn when she's moved away
I'll remember her,
Swallowed by the world

There are many ways of meeting,
One of them is yours

There are many ways of loving,
One of them for sure

There are many ways of touching,
Some of them can heal

There are many ways of feeling,
One of them is real.

[lynndew2]

14. So many, But here is one most have never heard, The Greatest Disocovery

Elton John

Peering out of tiny eyes
The grubby hands that gripped the rail
Wiped the window clean of frost
As the morning air laid on the latch

A whistle awakened someone there
Next door to the nursery just down the hall
A strange new sound you never heard before
A strange new sound that makes boys explore

Tread neat so small those little feet
Amid the morning his small heart beats
So much excitement yesterday
That must be rewarded must be displayed

Large hands lift him through the air
Excited eyes contain him there
The eyes of those he loves and knows
But what's this extra bed just here

His puzzled head tipped to one side
Amazement swims in those bright green eyes
Glancing down upon this thing
That make strange sounds, strange sounds that sing

In those silent happy seconds
That surround the sound of this event
A parent smile is made in moments
They have made for you a friend

And all you ever learned from them
Until you grew much older
Did not compare with when they said
This is your brand new brother
This is your brand new brother
This is your brand new brother

[shugah]

15. most loving, LOVLIEST lyrics ever!

submitted for your consideration:

Tupelo Honey, by Van Morrison

You can take all the tea in china
Put it in a big brown bag for me
Sail right around the seven oceans
Drop it straight into the deep blue sea
She’s as sweet as tupelo honey
She’s an angel of the first degree
She’s as sweet as tupelo honey
Just like honey from the bee

You can’t stop us on the road to freedom
You can’t keep us ’cause our eyes can see
Men with insight, men in granite
Knights in armor bent on chivalry
She’s as sweet as tupelo honey
She’s an angel of the first degree
She’s as sweet as tupelo honey
Just like honey from the bee

You can’t stop us on the road to freedom
You can’t stop us ’cause our eyes can see
Men with insight, men in granite
Knights in armor intent on chivalry
She’s as sweet as tupelo honey
She’s an angel of the first degree
She’s as sweet as tupelo honey
Just like honey from the bee

You know she’s alright
You know she’s alright with me
She’s alright, she’s alright (she’s an angel)

You can take all the tea in china
Put it in a big brown bag for me
Sail it right around the seven oceans
Drop it smack dab in the middle of the deep blue sea
Because she’s as sweet as tupelo honey
She’s an angel of the first degree
She’s as sweet as tupelo honey
Just like honey from the bee

She’s as sweet as tupelo honey
She’s an angel of the first degree
She’s as sweet as tupelo honey
Just like the honey, baby, from the bee
She’s my baby, you know she’s alright.....

[shugah]

20. rivaled by (there's a poll here!) DYLAN

this is actually, probably, most likely, the lovliest...

I laid on a dune,
I looked at the sky
When the children were babies and played on the beach
You came up behind me, I saw you go by
You were always so close and still within reach.

Sara, Sara
Whatever made you want to change your mind
Sara, Sara
So easy to look at, so hard to define.

I can still see them playing with their pails in the sand
They run to the water their buckets to fill
I can still see the shells falling out of their hands
As they follow each other back up the hill.

Sara, Sara
Sweet virgin angel, sweet love of my life
Sara, Sara
Radiant jewel, mystical wife.

Sleeping in the woods by a fire in the night
Drinking white rum in a Portugal bar
Them playing leapfrog and hearing about Snow White
You in the marketplace in Savanna-la-Mar.

Sara, Sara
It's all so clear, I could never forget
Sara, Sara
Loving you is the one thing I'll never regret.

I can still hear the sounds of those Methodist bells
I'd taken the cure and had just gotten through
Staying up for day in the Chelsea Hotel
Writing "Sad-Eyed Lady of the Lowlands" for you.

Sara, Sara
Wherever we travel we're never apart
Sara, Sara
Beautiful lady, so dear to my heart.
How did I meet you ? I don't know
A messenger sent me in a tropical storm
You were there in the winter, moonlight on the snow
And on Lily Pond Lane when the weather was warm.

Sara, Sara
Scorpio Sphinx in a calico dress
Sara, Sara
You must forgive me my unworthiness.

Now the beach is deserted except for some kelp
And a piece of an old ship that lies on the shore
You always responded when I needed your help
You gave me a map and a key to your door.

Sara, Sara
Glamorous nymph with an arrow and bow
Sara, Sara
Don't ever leave me, don't ever go.

[Bossy Monkey]

22. I always said that Sara divorced Bob on the grounds he couldn't

write a refrain. :) (Ducking, hiding, running away)

There's also Shelter for the Storm and probably 60 other Dylan songs that might qualify.

[Friar]

16. I like these

This song makes me weep:

The lonely street eclipsed the sun
Until the sculptor had begun
To etch and mold a dream
Which soon became a passing game
A sad forgotten scene
A face of yesterday

The builder laid his base of sand
And stretched his willing gentle hand
To seek the help, to shape the life
He had depended on
Which fell like rain and snow
A face of yesterday

The man of music wrote a score
For several instruments or more
When they played together
Then they found disharmony
A cluttered symphony
A face of yesterday

You really need to hear Jane Relf sing this...

[arwalden]

21. Lullaby And Goodnight