Songs that can stand as poems themselves?

I think Yout Heart Is An Empty Room by Death Cab For Cutie is pretty poetic. There's just something about it, it reminds me of something Emily Dickenson would write. Stanza to prove: Home's face: how it ages when you're away [personification] And spring blooms and you find a love that's true But you don't know what to do now 'Cause the chase is all you've known, and she stopped running months ago

This song was put to music and is done by this Mortal Coil and Faith and Disease. I know it is cheating but it is so haunting. I Come and Stand at Every Door I come and stand at every door But no one hears my silent tread I knock and yet remain unseen For I am dead, for I am dead. I'm only seven although I died In Hiroshima long ago I'm seven now as I was then When children die they do not grow. My hair was scorched by swirling flame My eyes grew dim, my eyes grew blind Death came and turned my bones to dust And that was scattered by the wind. I need no fruit, I need no rice I need no sweet, nor even bread I ask for nothing for myself For I am dead, for I am dead. All that I ask is that for peace You fight today, you fight today So that the children of this world May live and grow and laugh and play. -- Nazim Hikmet

"Blinded by the Light" - Bruce Springstein Some brimstone baritone anti-cyclone rolling stone preacher from the East He says, "Dethrone the dictaphone, hit it in its funny bone, that's where they expect it least" And some new-mown chaperone was standin' in the corner all alone, watchin' the young girls dance And some fresh-sown moonstone was messin' with his frozen zone to remind him of the feeling of romance Yeah, he was blinded by the light Cut loose like a deuce, another runner in the night Blinded by the light He got down but he never got tight, but he's gonna make it tonight

I'd have to go with A Poem on the Underground Wall by Simon and Garfunkel. Great tune, really great lyrics. I'd like to take the opportunity to say that Paul Simon never seems to get the nod on this board as one of the premier lyricists in the kind of Dylan, Lennon, McCartney pantheon and it's a little bit of a crime. Anyways, here it is: The last train is nearly due, The underground is closing soon, And in the dark deserted station, Restless in anticipation, A man waits in the shadows. His restless eyes leap and scratch, At all that they can touch or catch, And hidden deep within his pocket, Safe within its silent socket, He holds a colored crayon. Now from the tunnel's stony womb, The carriage rides to meet the groom, And opens wide and welcome doors, But he hesitates, then withdraws Deeper in the shadows. And the train is gone suddenly On wheels clicking silently Like a gently tapping litany, And he holds his crayon rosary Tighter in his hand. Now from his pocket quick he flashes, The crayon on the wall he slashes, Deep upon the advertising, A single worded poem comprised Of four letters. And his heart is laughing, screaming, pounding The poem across the tracks rebounding Shadowed by the exit light His legs take their ascending flight To seek the breast of darkness and be suckled by the night.

Many a Pink Floyd Song Astronomy Domine Blinding signs flap, Flicker, flicker, flicker blam. Pow, pow. Onomatopoeia Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun Little by little the night turns around. Counting the leaves which tremble at dawn. Lotuses lean on each other in yearning. Under the eaves the swallow is resting. Set the controls for the heart of the sun. Cymbaline The path you tread is narrow And the drop is shear and very high The ravens all are watching From a vantage point nearby Apprehension creeping Like a tube-train up your spine Will the tightrope reach the end Will the final couplet rhyme If If I were alone, I would cry. And if I were with you, I'd be home and dry. And if I go insane, And they lock me away, Will you still let me join in the game? Echoes Strangers passing in the street By chance two separate glances meet And I am you and what I see is me. And do I take you by the hand And lead you through the land And help me understand The best I can. Eclipse All that is now All that is gone All that's to come and everything under the sun is in tune but the sun is eclipsed by the moon. Shine On You Crazy Diamond Remember when you were young, You shone like the sun. Shine on you crazy diamond. Now there's a look in your eyes, Like black holes in the sky. Shine on you crazy diamond. You were caught on the crossfire Of childhood and stardom, Blown on the steel breeze. Come on you target for faraway laughter, Come on you stranger, you legend, you martyr, and shine Pigs on the Wing (Part 1) If you didn't care what happened to me, And I didn't care for you, We would zig zag our way through the boredom and pain Occasionally glancing up through the rain. Wondering which of the buggars to blame And watching for pigs on the wing. The Thin Ice If you should go skating On the thin ice of modern life Dragging behind you the silent reproach Of a million tear-stained eyes Don't be surprised when a crack in the ice Appears under your feet. You slip out of your depth and out of your mind With your fear flowing out behind you As you claw the thin ice. One of the Few When you're one of the few to land on your feet What do you do to make ends meet? Teach. Make them mad, make them sad, make them add two and two. Make them me, make them you, make them do what you want them to. Make them laugh, make them cry, make them lie down and die. On The Turning Away It's a sin that somehow Light is changing to shadow And casting it's shroud Over all we have known Unaware how the ranks have grown Driven on by a heart of stone We could find that we're all alone In the dream of the proud High Hopes Encumbered forever by desire and ambition There's a hunger still unsatisfied Our weary eyes still stray to the horizon Though down this road we've been so many times

Well, this is on my profile page right now. "All I Really Want To Do" Dylan (surprise!) 1st verse:"I ain't lookin' to compete with you, beat or cheat or mistreat you, simplify you, classify you, deny, defy, or crucify you." 6th/last verse: "I don't want to fake you out, take or shake or forsake you out, I ain't lookin' for you to feel like me, see like me or be like me." "All I really want to do, is baby be friends with you."

"Wish You Were Here," Pink Floyd - How I wish, how I wish you were here We're just two lost souls swimming in a fish bowl, year after year Running over the same old ground What have we found? The same old fears Wish you were here "Peace Frog," The Doors - Blood in the streets in the town of New Haven Blood stains the roofs and the palm trees of Venice Blood in my love in the terrible summer Bloody red sun of phantastic L.A. Blood screams the pain as they chop off her fingers Blood will be born in the birth of a nation Blood is the rose of mysterious union There's blood in the streets, it's up to my ankles Blood in the streets, it's up to my knee Blood in the streets in the town of Chicago Blood on the rise, it's following me "Junk," Paul McCartney - Motor Cars, Handle Bars Bicycles for Two Broken Hearted Jubilee Parachutes, Army Boots Sleeping Bags for Two Sentimental Jamboree Buy Buy Says the Sign in the Shop Window Why Why Says the Junk in the Yard Candlesticks, Building Bricks Something Old and New Memories for You and Me Buy Buy Says the Sign in the Shop Window Why Why Says the Junk in the Yard "Pyramid Song," Radiohead - I jumped in the river, what did I see? Black-eyed angels swam with me A moon full of stars and astral cars And all the figures I used to see All my lovers were there with me All my past and futures And we all went to heaven in a little row boat There was nothing to fear, nothing to doubt I jumped into the river Black-eyed angels swam with me A moon full of stars and astral cars And all the figures I used to see All my lovers were there with me All my past and futures And we all went to heaven in a little row boat There was nothing to fear, nothing to doubt There was nothing to fear, nothing to doubt There was nothing to fear, nothing to doubt

Fugazi- Caustic Acrostic Lights out for the cynical sharps For their wide-eyed foils and all attendant props Supporters of flash and pan-fried ***** Who grease like cops throwing round their weight And I feel dangerous and vexed Swinging two ton second guess And every motion just cuts too cruel too cruel And the implication is that you're implicated Like a caustic acrostic spelling out your name Lights out cos I can see in the dark Side wind my way to the mark of fuse lines Gas-wet for a spark I crash I burn I've fully lost it anyway And you're nowhere Lights out loser

Pink Floyd Time Porcupine Tree-Lazurus