Songs that tell a story III

WASTED
Written by: Troy Verges, Marv Green, Hillary Lindsey

Standing at the back door she tried to make it fast
One tear hit the hard wood it fell like broken glass
She said, "Sometimes love slips away
And you just can't get it back, let's face it"

For one split second, she almost turned around
But that would be like pouring rain drops back into a cloud
So she took another step and said
"I see the way out and I'm gonna' take it"

I don't wanna spend my life jaded, waiting
To wake up one day and find
That I've let all these years go by wasted

Another glass of whiskey but it still don't kill the pain
So he stumbles to the sink and pours it down the drain
He says, "It's time to be a man and stop living for yesterday
Gotta face it"

'Cause I don't wanna spend my life jaded, waiting
To wake up one day and find
That I've let all these years go by wasted

Oh I don't wanna keep on wishing, missing
The still of the morning, the color of the night
I ain't spending no more time wasted

She kept drivin' along
'Til the moon and the sun were floating side-by-side
He looked in the mirror and his eyes were clear
For the first time in a while, yeah yeah

Oh, I don't wanna spend my life jaded, waiting
To wake up one day and find
That I've let all these years go by wasted

Oh I don't wanna keep on wishing, missing
The still of the morning, the color of the night
I ain't spending no more time wasted

Song facts: N/A

WAVELENGTH
Written by: David Cook

The secrets of hers she swears nobody know
She gets her happiness from her AM radio
The static in her smile,
Mile after mile
As she drives home

He's a lost cause, a cigarrette in hand
He lets his family be the singer in a band
The feedback in his eyes,
Should come as no surprise
To all of those in spell

I heard the call but I never started running
I took the heat and I never saw it coming
What a way to go
Drop to your knees and remember where you came from
This is the time to abandon hesitation
Watch your bombs fall down below

I stare at the ceiling fan as a whisper inside of me
Telling me just who I am and just how I ought to be
Descrepancies are vain,
And the memories I made
Are out to sea

So stand up and face the flag of the nation in your eyes
Lest the beating of the drum makes you forget to question why
Forget to question why,
Why we always die
To cover up the lie

I heard the call but I never started running
I took the heat and I never saw it coming
What a way to go
Drop to your knees and remember where you came from
This is the time to abandon hesitation
Watch your bombs fall down below, watch your bombs fall down below

Song Facts: N/A

OPEN YOUR EYES
Written by: Daughtry, Ben Moody, David Hodges

A single rose left to remember
As a single tear falls from her eye
Another cold day in December
A year from the day she said goodbye

Seems it's only been a moment
Since the angels took him from her arms
And she was left there holding on to their tomorrow
But as they laid him in the ground
Her heart would sing without a sound

For the first time you can open your eyes
And see the world without your sorrow
Where no one knows the pain you left behind
And all the peace you could never find
Is waiting there to hold and keep you
Welcome to the first day of your life
Just open up your eyes

A single lifetime lays behind her
As she draws her final breath
Just beyond the door he'll find her
Taking her hand she softly says

For the first time you can open your eyes
And see the world without your sorrow
Where no one knows the pain you left behind
And all the peace you could never find
Is waiting there to hold and keep you
Welcome to the first day of your life

Just open up your eyes as I lay you down tonight
Safe on the other side, no more tears to cry

Song Facts: N/A

WASH AWAY THESE YEARS
Written by: Scott Stapp, Mark Tremonti

She came calling
One early morning
She showed her crown of thorns
She whispered softly
To tell a story
About how she had been wronged
As she lay lifeless
He stole her innocence
And this is how she carried on
This is how she carried on

Well I guess she closed her eyes
And just imagined everything's alright
But she could not hide her tears
'Cause they were sent to wash away those years
They were sent to wash away those years

My anger's violent
But still I'm silent
When tragedy strikes at home
I know this decadence Is shared by millions
Remember you're not alone
Remember you're not alone

Well if you just close your eyes
And just imagine everything's alright
But do not hide your tears
'Cause they were sent to wash away those years
Well if you just close your eyes
And just imagine everything's alright
But do not hide your tears
'Cause they were sent to wash away those years
They were sent to wash away those years
Maybe we can wash away those years

For we have crossed many oceans
And we labor in between
In life there are many quotients
And I hope I find the mean
the mean, the mean

Song Facts: N/A

FROM YESTERDAY
Written by: 30 Seconds to Mars

He's a stranger to some
And a vision to none
He can never get enough,
Get enough of the one

For a fortune he'd quit
But it's hard to admit
How it ends and begins
On his face is a map of the world
(A map of the world)
On his face is a map of the world
(A map of the world)
From yesterday, it's coming!
From yesterday, the fear!
From yesterday, it calls him
But he doesn't want to read the message here

On a mountain he sits, not of gold but of s***
through the blood he can look, see the life that he took
From council of one
He'll decide when he's done with the innocent

On his face is a map of the world
(A map of the world)
On his face is a map of the world
(A map of the world)

From yesterday, it's coming!
From yesterday, the fear!
From yesterday, it calls him
But he doesn't want to read the message
He doesn't want to read the message
Doesn't want to read the message here

On his face is a map of the world

Song Facts: Singer Jared Leto said of the song: ut certainly 'From Yesterday'is a very cinematic song and a very visual song. It really is one of those songs that lets your imagination wander. Someone suggested that it was slightly surreal." He added that the song itself was an idea that Shannon, his brother and the band's drummer, first brought to him. He said: "I like people to take their own message from the song, if they indeed get one, and also just enjoy it for what it is."

HOTEL CALIFORNIA
Written by: Don Felder, Don Henley, Glenn Frey

On a dark desert highway, cool wind in my hair
Warm smell of colitas, rising up through the air
Up ahead in the distance, I saw a shimmering light
My head grew heavy and my sight grew dim
I had to stop for the night
There she stood in the doorway;
I heard the mission bell
And I was thinking to myself,
this could be heaven or this could be hell
Then she lit up a candle and she showed me the way
There were voices down the corridor,
I thought I heard them say...

Welcome to the hotel california
Such a lovely place
Such a lovely face
Plenty of room at the hotel california
Any time of year, you can find it here

Her mind is tiffany-twisted, she got the mercedes bends
She got a lot of pretty, pretty boys, that she calls friends
How they dance in the courtyard, sweet summer sweat.
Some dance to remember, some dance to forget

So I called up the captain,
please bring me my wine
He said,we havent had that spirit here since nineteen sixty nine
And still those voices are calling from far away,
Wake you up in the middle of the night
Just to hear them say...

Welcome to the hotel california
Such a lovely place
Such a lovely face
They livin it up at the hotel california
What a nice surprise, bring your alibis

Mirrors on the ceiling,
The pink champagne on ice
And she said we are all just prisoners here, of our own device
And in the masters chambers,
They gathered for the feast
The stab it with their steely knives,
But they just cant kill the beast

Last thing I remember, I was
Running for the door
I had to find the passage back
To the place I was before
relax said the night man,
We are programmed to receive.
You can checkout any time you like,
But you can never leave!

Song Facts: On November 25, 2007 Henley appeared on the TV news show 60 Minutes, where he was told, "everyone wants to know what this song means." Henley replied: "I know, it's so boring. It's a song about the dark underbelly of the American Dream, and about excess in America which was something we knew about."

OVERRATED
Written by: Scott Jason and Clayton Stroope

She makes herself at home
God it's better than her place
She loves the little things
God we all need something

She swears this life is often overrated

Won't see her in the movies
Ain't no Marilyn Monroe
She calls herself Maria
Because she likes the name

She swears this life is often overrated

She can't relate to a world that only knows her by her face
Is there anyone still breathing?
And she thinks that I'm the one that makes it rain

She never cared for reason
And no religion at all
She said it makes her feel unsteady
Without a God to blame

She swears this life is often overrated

She can't relate to a world that only knows her by her face
Is there anyone still breathing?
And she thinks that I'm the one that makes it rain

She swears this life is often overrated

She can't relate to a world that only knows her by her face
Is there anyone still breathing?
And she thinks that I'm the only one that makes it rain

She makes herself at home
God it's better then her place

Song Facts: Together with "Secret Life" and "Light Up Mississippi," this song completes the three songs penned by Scott Jason that are are written as literal interpretations of a woman's life, on their self-titled first album.

AMARILLO SKY
Written by: Big Kenny and John Rich

He gets up before the dawn
Packs a lunch and a thermos full of coffee
It's another day in the dusty haze
Those burnin' rays are wearing down his body
And diesel's worth the price of gold
And it's the cheapest grain he's ever sold
But he's still holding on

He just takes the tractor another round
And pulls the plow across the ground
And sends up another prayer
He says Lord I never complain I never ask why
But please don't let my dream run dry
Underneath, Underneath this
Amarillo sky

That hail storm back in '83
Sure did take a toll on his family
But he stayed strong and carried on
Just like his dad and grandad did before him
On his knees every night he prays
Please let my crops and children grow
Cause that's all he's ever known

Song Facts: N/a

Red and Black
Written by: Mike Shinoda, Ryu, Tak, Kenna ,and Jonah Matranga

I had a friend named Victor
The two of us used to hang every single day
And it seemed like overnight
That his whole life just changed
I know when his mom and dad broke up
It didn't make sense
But i know that his dad was a drunk
And he gambled away the rent

Pretty soon Vic was seeing red
Pissed off and instead
Hed drink every night until he passed out
And then hed do it all again
The whole time smiling on the outside
To cover the pain
But on the inside
All he was trying to do was get away

Dying to get away
Let the pain of yesterday
Go slipping through the cracks

Yo, Funny how things change color
Than fade to another shade
When you had it made it was all good
But now look just another day
It was so fresh
It was so clean
Never saw it gone
One, two, three
Lights out, which way to turn
Can't get a grip
All alone in a big white house
Every day gets worse
And you just curse until your head bursts
And it hurts so bad she left
Now you suffer
Should've thought of that one first
No family, no kids
Cant accept what you did
Now you wanna run away
But you can't
Cause the past comes back again

Slippin through the cracks
Sip a little jack
Go to bed half dead
What about rent
Why does every cent gotta be a bet
Whens it gonna end
Oh my god we dont got a penny left
My moms gotta find a way
To get a job, out of debt, out of dodge
Out of breath, out of this big problem
My pops wanna get away from the pain
In a better place in his brain
But the medication he takes
Makes him wasted
So sick he was gonna think
The good lord would come take him
I'm shaking him
Wake up you son of a b****!

He's dying to get away
Let the pain of yesterday
Go slipping through the cracks
Hiding himself away
Watching all the memories fade away
From red to black

He's dying to get away
Let the pain of yesterday
Go slipping through the cracks
Hiding himself away
Watching all the memories fade away
From red to black

Slipping through the cracks

Song Facts: N/A

BILLIE JEAN
Written by: Michael Jackson

She Was More Like A Beauty Queen From A Movie Scene
I Said Don't Mind, But What Do You Mean I Am The One
Who Will Dance On The Floor In The Round
She Said I Am The One Who Will Dance On The Floor In The Round

She Told Me Her Name Was Billie Jean, As She Caused A Scene
Then Every Head Turned With Eyes That Dreamed Of Being The One
Who Will Dance On The Floor In The Round

People Always Told Me Be Careful Of What You Do
And Don't Go Around Breaking Young Girls' Hearts
And Mother Always Told Me Be Careful Of Who You Love
And Be Careful Of What You Do 'Cause The Lie Becomes The Truth

Billie Jean Is Not My Lover
She's Just A Girl Who Claims That I Am The One
But The Kid Is Not My Son
She Says I Am The One, But The Kid Is Not My Son

For Forty Days And Forty Nights
The Law was on her Side
But Who Can Stand When She's In Demand
Her Schemes And Plans
'Cause We Danced On The Floor In The Round
So Take My Strong Advice, Just Remember To Always Think Twice
Do think Twice

She Told My Baby We'd Danced 'Till Three
Then She Looked At Me
She Showed A Photo Of A Baby Crying
His Eyes Looked Like Mine
Go On Dance On The Floor In The Round, Baby

People Always Told Me Be Careful Of What You Do
And Don't Go Around Breaking Young Girls' Hearts
She Came And Stood Right By Me
Then The Smell Of Sweet Perfume
This Happened Much Too Soon
She Called Me To Her Room

Song Facts: This is about a girl who claimed that Jackson was the father of her child. Jackson based it on a woman who used to stalk him, writing him letters about a son she thought was his. Jackson had a hard time dealing with his stalker and became more reclusive as a result.

LIVIN ON A PRAYER
Written by: Jon Bon Jovi, Richie Sambora and Desmond Child

Tommy used to work on the docks
Union's been on strike, he's down on his luck
It's tough, so tough

Gina works the diner all day
Working for her man, she brings home her pay
For love, mmm, for love

She says we've got to hold on to what we've got
It doesn't make a difference if we make it or not
We got each other and that's a lot
For love we'll give it a shot!

Oh, we're half way there
Oh oh, livin' on a prayer
Take my hand, we'll make it I swear
Oh oh, livin' on a prayer

Tommy's got his six string in hock
Now he's holding in what he used to make it talk
So tough, mmm, it's tough

Gina dreams of running away
When she cries in the night, Tommy whispers
"Baby it's okay, someday"

We gotta hold on to what we've got
It doesn't make a difference if we make it or not
We got each other and that's a lot
For love we'll give it a shot!

Oh, we're half way there
Oh oh, livin' on a prayer
Take my hand, we'll make it I swear
Oh oh, livin' on a prayer
Livin' on a prayer!

Song Facts: The characters of Tommy and Gina were based upon a real life situation Desmond encountered in the late '70s with his then girlfriend, Maria Vidal, who he was living with. According to the notes in his Desmond Child & Rouge: Runners In The Night album, Desmond was a New York taxi cab driver and Maria was a waitress in a diner.

SMALL TOWN SOUTHERN MAN
Written by: Alan Jackson

Born the middle son of a farmer
And a small town Southern man
Like his daddy's daddy before him
Brought up workin' on the land
Fell in love with a small town woman
And they married up and settled down
Natural way of life if you're lucky
For a small town Southern man

First there came four pretty daughters
For this small town Southern man
Then a few years later came another
A boy, he wasn't planned
Seven people livin' all together
In a house built with his own hands
Little words with love and understandin'
From a small town Southern man

And he bowed his head to Jesus
And he stood for Uncle Sam
And he only loved one woman
(He) was always proud of what he had
He said his greatest contribution
Is the ones you leave behind
Raised on the ways and gentle kindness
Of a small town Southern man
(Raised on the ways and gentle kindness)
(Of a small town Southern man)

Callous hands told the story
For this small town Southern man
He gave it all to keep it all together
And keep his family on his land
Like his daddy, years wore out his body
Made it hard just to walk and stand
You can break the back
But you can't break the spirit
Of a small town Southern man

Finally death came callin'
For this small town Southern man
He said it's alright 'cause I see angels
And they got me by the hand
Don't you cry, and don't you worry
I'm blessed, and I know I am
'Cause God has a place in Heaven
For a small town Southern man

Song Facts: Jackson explained: "That's usually when the best lines come, when you're out with a bunch of friends and you have a couple of drinks and you're just goofing off and somebody will say something that's a little different and it'll jump out at you. I always try to keep a running little list of song ideas or little hooks that come to me or things I've seen or heard. That phrase 'small town Southern man' was just one them I wrote down, and it sounded like a song title."

JEREMY
Written by: Eddie Vedder and Jeff Ament

At home
Drawing pictures
Of mountain tops
With him on top
Lemon yellow sun
Arms raised in a V

Dead lay in pools of maroon below
Daddy didn't give attention
To the fact that mommy didn't care
King Jeremy the wicked
Ruled his world

Jeremy spoke in class today
Jeremy spoke in class today
Clearly I remember
Pickin' on the boy

Seemed a harmless little ****
But we unleashed a lion
Gnashed his teeth

And bit the recessed lady's breast
How could I forget
He hit me with a surprise left
My jaw left hurting

Dropped wide open
Just like the day
Like the day I heard
Daddy didn't give affection

And the boy was something mommy wouldn't wear
King Jeremy the wicked
Ruled his world
Jeremy spoke in class today
Jeremy spoke in class today

Try to forget this,
Try to erase this,
From the blackboard.

Song Facts: It is based on the true story of Jeremy Delle, a 16 year old who killed himself in front of his English class at Richardson High School in Richardson, Texas on January 8, 1991. Eddie Vedder found out about Jeremy when he read an article an article about the incident in the Dallas Morning News, which read: "Because he had missed class, the teacher in his second-period English class told Jeremy to get an admittance slip from the school office. Instead, he returned with the gun, police said. He walked directly to the front of the classroom. 'Miss, I got what I really went for,' he said, then placed the barrel in his mouth and fired."

JANIES GOT A GUN
Written by: Steven Tyler and Tom Hamilton

Janie's got a gun
Janie's got a gun
Her whole world's come undone
From lookin' straight at the sun
What did her daddy do?
What did he put you through?
They said when Janie was arrested
they found him underneath a train
But man, he had it comin' Now that Janie's got a gun
she ain't never gonna be the same.

Janie's got a gun
Janie's got a gun
Her dog day's just begun
Now everybody is on the run
Tell me now it's untrue.
What did her daddy do?
He jacked a little bitty baby
The man has got to be insane
They say the spell that he was under the lightning and the
thunder knew that someone had to stop the rain

Run away, run away from the pain yeah, yeah yeah yeah
Run away run away from the pain yeah yeah
yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah
Run away, run away, run, run away

Janie's got a gun
Janie's got a gun
Her dog day's just begun
Now everybody is on the run
What did her daddy do?
It's Janie's last I.O.U.
She had to take him down easy and put a bullet in his brain
She said 'cause nobody believes me. The man was such a sleeze.
He ain't never gonna be the same.

Run away, run away from the pain yeah, yeah
yeah yeah yeah
Run away run away from the pain yeah yeah
yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah
Run away, run away, run, run away

Janie's got a gun
Janie's got a gun
Janie's got a gun
Everybody is on the run

Song Facts: Steven Tyler wrote the lyrics after reading an article about children who had been killed by guns.

MAKEOVER
Written by: David Cook

Completely colorblind, these red lights are going unseen
Fall behind with words unsaid you know they're always obscene
'cause my ears, they bled before; I need to let them heal
She fell out; her broken legs won't let her walk away
From this town that couldn't give a single shit either way
And her fears, they bled before she's convinced that they're real

What are you looking for?
Are you looking for something more?
It's not me
It's not me

Lost her way from everything she swore she knew, a friend
Run away from start to finish though it never ends
In her mind she is blinded by all she sees
Close your eyes; just pretend the bullet isn't there
No surprise; no need to pretend that no one really cares
But in her eyes you will find the very best in me

What are you looking for?
Are you looking for something more?
It's not me
It's not me

When did it all unwind?
Are you prepared for what you'll find?
It's not me
It's not me

Song Facts: N/A