Song lyrics - Poetry or crap

[Darb]

Trust someone named "Titanic" to pick a HUGE font.

[Mr. Titanic]

True

That's how we do!

[ausfi]

Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary






irregardless
One entry found for irregardless.


Main Entry: ir·re·gard·less
Pronunciation: "ir-i-'gärd-l&s
Function: adverb
Etymology: probably blend of irrespective and regardless
nonstandard : REGARDLESS
usage Irregardless originated in dialectal American speech in the early 20th century. Its fairly widespread use in speech called it to the attention of usage commentators as early as 1927. The most frequently repeated remark about it is that "there is no such word." There is such a word, however. It is still used primarily in speech, although it can be found from time to time in edited prose. Its reputation has not risen over the years, and it is still a long way from general acceptance. Use regardless instead.

[violetblue]

Recent discussions made me think of this song, still timely today:

Johnny Cash, Man In Black:

Well, you wonder why I always dress in black,
Why you never see bright colors on my back,
And why does my appearance seem to have a somber tone.
Well, there's a reason for the things that I have on.

I wear the black for the poor and the beaten down,
Livin' in the hopeless, hungry side of town,
I wear it for the prisoner who has long paid for his crime,
But is there because he's a victim of the times.

I wear the black for those who never read,
Or listened to the words that Jesus said,
About the road to happiness through love and charity,
Why, you'd think He's talking straight to you and me.

Well, we're doin' mighty fine, I do suppose,
In our streak of lightnin' cars and fancy clothes,
But just so we're reminded of the ones who are held back,
Up front there ought 'a be a Man In Black.

I wear it for the sick and lonely old,
For the reckless ones whose bad trip left them cold,
I wear the black in mournin' for the lives that could have been,
Each week we lose a hundred fine young men.

And, I wear it for the thousands who have died,
Believen' that the Lord was on their side,
I wear it for another hundred thousand who have died,
Believen' that we all were on their side.

Well, there's things that never will be right I know,
And things need changin' everywhere you go,
But 'til we start to make a move to make a few things right,
You'll never see me wear a suit of white.

Ah, I'd love to wear a rainbow every day,
And tell the world that everything's OK,
But I'll try to carry off a little darkness on my back,
'Till things are brighter, I'm the Man In Black.

[violetblue]

This is for laurie: A Boy Named Sue, Johnny Cash.

My daddy left home when I was three,
And he didn't leave much to Ma and me...
Just this old guitar and an empty bottle of booze.
Now, I don't blame him cause he run and hid,
But the meanest thing that he ever did
Was before he left, he went and named me 'Sue'.

Well, he must o' thought that is was quite a joke,
And it got a lot of laughs from a' lots of folk.
It seems I had to fight my whole life through.
Some gal would giggle and I'd get red,
And some guy'd laugh and I'd bust his head.
I tell ya, life ain't easy for a boy named 'Sue'.

Well, I grew up quick and I grew up mean,
My fist got hard and my wits got keen.
I'd roam from town to town to hide my shame.
But I made me a vow to the moon and stars
That I'd search the honky-tonks and bars,
And kill that man that give me that awful name.

Well, it was Gatlinburg in mid-July
And I just hit town, and my throat was dry.
I thought I'd stop and have myself a brew.
At an old saloon on a street of mud,
There at a table, dealing stud,
Sat the dirty, mangy dog that named me 'Sue'.

Well, I knew that snake was my own sweet dad
From a worn-out picture that my mother'd had,
And I knew that scar on his cheek and his evil eye.
He was big and bent and gray and old,
And I looked at him and my blood ran cold,
And I said: "My name is 'Sue!' How do you do! Now you gonna die!"

Well, I hit him hard right between the eyes,
And he went down, but, to my surprise,
He come up with a knife and cut off a piece of my ear.
But I busted a chair right across his teeth
And we crashed through the wall and into the street
Kicking and a' gouging in the mud and the blood and the beer.

I tell ya, I've fought tougher men,
But I really can't remember when,
He kicked like a mule and he bit like a crocodile.
I heard him laugh and then I heard him cuss,
He went for his gun and I pulled mine first,
He stood there lookin' at me and I saw him smile.

And he said: "Son, this world is rough,
And if a man's gonna make it, he's gotta be tough,
And I know I wouldn't be there to help ya along.
So I give ya that name and I said good-bye.
I knew you'd have to get tough or die,
And it's that name that helped to make you strong."

He said: "Now you just fought one hell of a fight,
And I know you hate me, and you got the right
To kill me now, and I wouldn't blame you if you do.
But ya ought to thank me, before I die,
For the gravel in ya guts and the spit in ya eye
Cause I'm the son-of-a-bitch that named you 'Sue'."

I got all choked up and I threw down my gun
And I called him my pa, and he called me his son,
And I come away with a different point of view.
And I think about him, now and then,
Every time I try and every time I win,
And if I ever have a son, I think I'm gonna name him
Bill or George! Anything but sue! I still hate that name!

I like this part: "My name is 'Sue!' How do you do! Now you gonna die!" Even the death threat rhymes.

BUT, then Shel Silverstein got to thinking maybe he needed to show the dad's point of view, too. So here's the dad's rebuttal:

Yeah, I lef’ home when the kid was three.
It sure felt good to be fancy free
Tho I knew it wasn’t quite the fatherly thing to do.
But that kid kept screamin’ and throwin’ up
And pissin’ in his pants til I had enough
So just for revenge I went and named him Sue.

It was Gatlinberg in mid July
I was gettin' drunk but gettin' by
Gettin' old and going from bad to worse
When thru the door with an awful scream
Comes the ugliest queen I’ve ever seen
He says my name is Sue. How do you do?
Then he hits me with his purse.

Now this ain’t the way he tells the tale
But he scratched my face with his fingernails
And then he bit my thumb
and kicked me with his high-heeled shoe.
So I hit him in the nose, and he started to cry
And he threw some perfume in my eye
And it sure ain’t easy fightin with a boy named Sue.

So I hit him in the head with a caned-back chair
And he screamed, “Hey Dad, you mussed my hair!â€

[tollbaby]

*dies* omg... I have to send that to my mom

[violetblue]

I heard this rather silly song on the radio by Gym Class Heroes, called "Cupid's Chokehold."

Ba ba da da
Ba ba da da
Ba ba da da
Ba ba da da
Ba ba da da

Take a look at my girlfriend
She's the only one I got (ba ba da da)
Not much of a girlfriend
I never seem to get a lot (ba ba da da, ba ba da da)

It's been some time since we last spoke
This is gonna sound like a bad joke
But momma I fell in love again
It's safe to say I have a new girlfriend

And I know it sounds so old
But cupid got me in a chokehold
And I'm afraid I might give in
Towels on the mat my white flag is wavin'

I mean she even cooks me pancakes
And Alka Seltzer when my tummy aches
If that ain't love then I don't know what love is

We even got a secret handshake
And she loves the music that my band makes
I know I'm young but if I had to choose her or the sun
I'd be one nocturnal son of a gun
(ba ba da da, ba ba da da)

Take a look at my girlfriend
She's the only one I got (ba ba da da)
Not much of a girlfriend
I never seem to get a lot (ba ba da da, ba ba da da)

Take a look at my girlfriend
She's the only one I got (ba ba da da)
Not much of a girlfriend
I never seem to get a lot (ba ba da da, ba ba da da)

It's been awhile since we talked last and I'm tryin' hard not to talk fast
But dad I'm finally thinkin' I may have found the one
Type of girl that will make you way proud of your son

And I know you heard the last song about the girls that didn't last long
But I promise this is on a whole new plane
I can tell by the way she says my name (ba ba da da)

I love it when she calls my phone
She even got her very own ringtone
If that ain't love then I don't know what love is (ba ba da da)

It's gonna be a long drive home but I know as soon as I arrive home
And I open the door take off my coat and throw my bag on the floor
She'll be back into my arms once more for sure

Take a look at my girlfriend
She's the only one I got (ba ba da da)
Not much of a girlfriend
I never seem to get a lot (ba ba da da, ba ba da da)

She's got a smile that would make the most senile
Annoying old man bite his tongue
I'm not done
She's got eyes comparable to sunrise
And it doesn't stop there
Man I swear
She's got porcelain skin of course she's a ten
And now she's even got her own song
But movin' on
She's got the cutest laugh I ever heard
And we can be on the phone for three hours
Not sayin' one word
And I would still cherish every moment
And when I start to build my future she's the main component
Call it dumb call it luck call it love or whatever you call it but
Everywhere I go I keep her picture in my wallet like here

Take a look at my girlfriend
She's the only one I got (ba ba da da)
Not much of a girlfriend
I never seem to get a lot (ba ba da da, ba ba da da)

Take a look at my girlfriend
She's the only one I got (ba ba da da)
Not much of a girlfriend
I never seem to get a lot (ba ba da da, ba ba da da)

**********************************

I love that line I bolded. So dorky and sweet. A guy who'd say that, is worth about 100 guys bringing roses. Oh, I should say, (referring back to tb's Harlequin real guys thread), a 100 guys in cowboy hats bearing roses.

[tollbaby]

Yikes. I'm assuming it's to the tune of Supertramp's "Girlfriend" song? (since they kept the chorus verbatim...)

[Kahrey]

Haha!

[Echus Cthulhu Mythos]

This band has some great lyrics.

Borknagar - Inner Ocean Hypothesis

Algae and plankton sporadically rinsed up effectively.
Seaweed clad naked continents in green veils.
From stardust constructions, cells elusively.
Rearranged the scenery in numerous scales.

A primitive organism, predecessor of mutations.
Along the evolutionary ladder crawled ashore.
In water transformed during thousand generations.
Then made its debut on the primary action floor.

Still its ensemble accumulates our presence.
The expression of oceans lurk inside.

The building block, water, is our essence.
We're like a moving, perpendicular, biological tide.
Salt spices blood, sweat and tears.
As the bodily recipe's most essential grain.
Due to the wave creator, Heart, pulsation rears.
As rivers through what anatomy calls veins.

And limestone-white structures hold our marrow.
As in marine animals that swim free.
(But we're) separated, through tiny variations along time's
arrow.
Unknown to the fetus in the Amniotic Sea.
The quintuple man, the five senses division.
Add two for the number of world's oceans.
And two hidden gene threads may fulfil that vision.
Intuition and instinct create the seven faceted motion.
Particles that once streamed astray.
Now form the basis in our DNA.
Salt spices blood, sweat and tears.
As the bodily recipe's most essential grain.
Due to the wave creator, Heart, pulsation rears.
As rivers through what anatomy calls veins.

[KeE]

And now, lyrics that's been to hell and never quite made it back

Moneybrother: Blow him back into my arms

Am I supposed by now just to let it go?
It's been dark and empty since I don't know
Om my way downstairs I had to turn back home
I don't dare leave the telephone away

I pray the rain won't fall
Oh lord don't let it fall
Keep my brother safe from harm
I pray the wind will blow
Oh lord just let it blow
Blow him back into my arms

Your mother called me up, said your car was found
It was parked unlocked but you weren't around
She was crying saying that there's still hope
I said yeah, for sure, lord but I felt no way

I pray the rain won't fall
Oh lord don't let it fall
Keep my brother safe from harm
I pray the wind will blow
Oh lord just let it blow
Blow him back into my arms

It keeps happening to me
All the time
Without thinking of, I just find
Myself talking to you
Like I've always done
Back to believe

Last night I heard a sound on my windowpane
Just couldn't go back to sleep again
Still half dreaming I thought it's you
Returning without a clue of what you put me through
Away

I pray the rain won't fall
Oh lord don't let it fall
Keep my brother safe and warm
I pray the wind will blow
Oh lord just let it blow
Blow him back into my arms

I pray the rain won't fall
Oh lord don't let it fall
Keep my brother safe and warm
I pray the wind will blow
Oh lord just let it blow
Blow him back into my arms

Ready to go, my son you don't know
(son you don't know)
Blow him back into my arms
I pray the wind will blow
Oh lord just let it blow
Blow him back into my arms
Etc etc

There's a video stream awailable on his homesite under the A/V pointer, link here. Scroll down to "Blow him back into my arms" (note: Bandwith sensitive).

To be honest, these lyrics hit me quite hard. I was a member of the red cross corps for quite a while; we were the ones that got sent out on search and rescue missions (usually along with local police), although in many cases the rescue part was no longer valid and we knew it. That's not so bad. What's bad is seeing the look in the eyes of the friends, families and spouses of the ones lost, and noticing that even they deep down do know that the rescue part is no longer applicable.

[gollum]

Hunters And Collectors: Throw Your Arms Around Me

I will come for you at night time
I will raise you from your sleep
I will kiss you in four places
I'll go running along your street
I will squeeze the life out of you
You will make me laugh and make me cry
We will never forget it
You will make me call your name and I'll shout it to the bluesummer sky
We may never meet again
So shed your skin and lets get started
And you will throw your arms around me

I dreamed of you at night time
And I watched you in your sleep
I met you in high places
I touched your head and touched your feet
So if you disappear out of view
You know, I will never say goodbye
Though I try to forget it
You will make me call your name and I'll shout it to the bluesummer sky

We may never meet again
So shed your skin and lets get started
And you will throw your arms around me
Yeah you will throw you arms around me
(repeat to end)

This one takes me back... though it has been covered by others [notably... Neil Finn(Crowded House) , DAAS (Doug Anthony All Stars) and Pearl Jam] - the original (live acoustic) version was a great 'end-of-night' sing-along.

Hunters & Collectors - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UYrgPcBcVG0
DAAS - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BZ97BYzrp48
Neil Finn - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qEgWXb1teWw
Pearl Jam - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Az5HPNMnWAc

[Echus Cthulhu Mythos]

Although Britney is a bit of a crazy one, I think the lyrics of this track are very relevant.

I’m Miss American Dream since I was 17
Don’t matter if I step on the scene
Or sneak away to the Philippines
They still gonna put pictures of my derrière in the magazine
You want a piece of me?
You want a piece of me…

I’m Miss bad media karma
Another day another drama
Guess I can’t see the harm
In working and being a mama
And with a kid on my arm
I’m still an exceptional earner
you want a piece of me?

I’m Mrs. 'Lifestyles of the rich and famous'
(You want a piece of me)
I’m Mrs. 'Oh my God that Britney’s Shameless'
(You want a piece of me)
I’m Mrs. 'Extra! Extra! This just in'
(You want a piece of me)
I’m Mrs. 'She’s too big now she’s too thin'
(You want a piece of me)

I’m Mrs. ‘You want a piece of me?’
Tryin’ and pissin’ me off
Well get in line with the paparazzi
Who’s flippin’ me off
Hopin’ I’ll resort to some havoc
End up settlin’ in court
Now are you sure you want a piece of me?
You want a piece of me…

I’m Mrs. ‘Most likely to get on the TV for strippin' on the streets’
When getting the groceries, no, for real..
Are you kidding me?
No wonder there's panic in the industry
I mean, please, do you want a piece of me?

I’m Mrs. 'Lifestyles of the rich and famous'
(you want a piece of me)
I’m Mrs. 'Oh my God that Britney’s Shameless'
(You want a piece of me)
I’m Mrs. 'Extra! Extra! this just in'
(You want a piece of me)
I’m Mrs. 'She’s too big now she’s too thin'
(You want a piece of me)

I’m Miss American Dream since I was 17
Don’t matter if I step on the scene
Or sneak away to the Philippines
They still gonna put pictures of my derrière in the magazine
You want a piece of me?
You want a piece piece of me…

You want a piece of me?

[the grim squeaker]

There I was, A'diggin this hole,
Hole in the ground, so big an' sorta round it was,
And there was I, diggin' it deep,
It was flat at the bottom and the sides were steep,

And along, A-comes this fellow in a bowler,
An' looks at me sideways and sez;
Dont dig it there, diggit elswhere, your diggin it round, an' it outa be square, the shapes all wrong, its much too long, and you cant put a hole, where a hole dont belong.

(cant remember the rest, but it goes on for ages)

[the grim squeaker]

Heard O' the wurzels out your end?

I drove my tractor through your haystack last night,
I threw me pitch fork at your dawg T'keep quiet,
Well somethin's killin' me, that you bin avoidin' me,
Come on now darlin, you got somethin' I need,

Cuz I got a brand new combine 'arvester, N' I'll give you the key,
C'mon now lets get together in perfect 'Armony,
Cuz I got twenty acres, An' you got forty three,
Cuz I got a brand new combine 'arvester, N' I'll give you the key,

We got together at that last wurzels dance,
I wore bran' new gators, and me corduory pants,
With your dress lookin' good , an' your perfume smelling fine,
I got a picture of us dancin' line,

Cuz I got a brand new combine 'arvester, N' I'll give you the key,
C'mon now lets get together in perfect 'Armony,
Cuz I got twenty acres, An' you got forty three,
So quit yer gallivantin', an' will you marry me?,
Cuz I got a brand new combine 'arvester, N' I'll give you the key,

[mharmon]

Somewhere Tonight

Somewhere tonight
Someone's reachin' out to someone who's refusin'
Someone's tired of all the reasons someone's using
Someone doesn't understand

Somewhere tonight
Someone's thinkin' back to someone who got closer
Someone's realizin' something's really over
Someone's thinkin' it's too late
Someone's thinkin' it's too late

There's a cold wind blowin' from the north
And the summer birds are leavin'
As the sun slips ever further south
The lakes will soon be freezin'
And the ice will claim the empty shores
Where the one's in love went walkin'
And the hard blue skies will shiver
As the winter clouds come stalkin'

And unless you find someone to hold
Unless someone starts carin'
Unless you find the warmth you need
Unless someone starts sharin'
When the long, dark nights come closin' in
And the winter winds come howlin'
You don't know if you'll make it
Without someone you can count on

Somewhere tonight
Someone's packin' up and someone's really leavin'

Someone's not quite sad - only disbelievin'
Someone's walkin' out the door
Someone's walkin' out the door

[the grim squeaker]

Stone sour:

Wish I was,
Too dead to cry.
My self-affliction fades.
Stones to throw,
At my creator,
Masochist,
To which I cater.

You don't need to bother,
I don't need to be.
I'll keep slipping farther,
But once I hold on,
I won't let go 'till it bleeds.

Wish I was,
Too dead to care,
If indeed I cared at all.
Never had a voice to protest,
So you fed me,
S**t to digest.
I wish I had a reason,
My flaws are open season.
For this I gave up trying,
One good turn deserves my dying.

You don't need to bother,
I don't need to be
I'll keep slipping farther,
But once I hold on,
I won't let go 'till it bleeds.

Wish I'd died,
Instead of lived.
A zombie hides my face.
Shell forgotten with its memories;
Diaries left,
With cryptic entries

And you don't need to bother,
I don't need to be.
I don't need to be.
I'll keep slipping farther,
But once I hold on,
I won't let go 'till it bleeds.

You don't need to bother,
I don't need to be
I'll keep slipping farther,
But once I hold on,
Once I hold on,
I'll never live down my deceit...

Inhale

Come one and all and see the broken man, talking to himself
He sits and waits for something better, he'll never find it here
The people touch his hair and pinch his cheek; he can't even feel it
There it goes again, he's listening to someone
He hears the bitter laughter
And all he wants to know is...

Why------ does any of it matter? (I can't take it anymore)
You've gotta try------ the inhale that makes the exhale so much better

He wipes his hands on anything in reach, he never feels clean
He shakes at night because his nerve is gone, every muscle hurts
Come one and all and see what happened...that broken man is me

There it goes again, I can hear it louder
It doesn't feel good anymore
All I want to know is...

Why------ does any of it matter? (I can't take it anymore)
You've gotta try------ the inhale that makes the exhale so much better

NOW I KNOW I DISAPPEAR!
I CAN'T FIND MY WAY FROM OUT OF HERE!
EVERYTHING IS FADING ON ME!
SOMEONE TELL ME... someone tell me...
Someone - tell me

Why------ does any of it matter? (I can't take it anymore)
You've gotta try------ the inhale that makes the exhale so much better

WHY?! YOU'VE GOTTA TRY!!


Omega

What a skeletal wreck of man this is.

Translucent flesh and feeble bones
The kind of temple where the whores and villians
try to tempt the holistic tomes

Running rampant with free thought to free form
in the free and clear
And the matters at hand are shelled out like lint at a laundromat
to sift and focus on the bigger, better, now

We all have a little sin than needs venting
virtues for the rending
and laws and systems
and stems a rift from branches of office
do you know what your post entails?

Do you serve a purpose
or purposely serve?

Wind down inside of your atavistic allure
the value of a Summer spent
and a Winter earned

For the rest of us there is always Sunday.
the day of the week that reeks of rest
but all we do is catch our breath
so we can wade naked into the bloody pool
and place our hand on the big black book.

To watch the knives zig-zag between our aching fingers.

A vacation is a count-down
T minus your life and counting
time to drag your tongue across the sugar-cube
and hope you get a taste

what the F*** is all this for?! (What the hell's goin' on?!)
SHUT UP!!

I could go on and on, but, lets move on shall we?

Say, you're me and I'm you
and they all watch the things we do
and like a smack of spite
they threw me down the stairs -
haven't felt like this in years -
the great magnet of malicious magnanamous refuse
let me go and
plunge me into the dead spot again.

That's where you go when there's no-one else around
its just you
and there was never anyone to begin with now was there?

Sanctomonious pretentious dastardly b******s
with their thumb on the pulse
and a finger on the trigger

CLASSIFIED MY ASS! thats a F****** secret and you know it!

Government is another way to say
Better
Than
You.

Its like ice but no pick
a murder charge that won't stick
it's like a whole other world
where you can smell the food
but you can't touch the silverware

hah, what luck
fascism you can vote for
isn't that sweet

and we're all gonna die some day
'cuz thats the American way
and I've drunk too much
and said too little
when your gaffer taped in the middle
say a prayer, save face
get yourself together and (see what's happening)
SHUT UP! (F*** YOU!)
F*** YOU!

I'm sorry I could go on and on but
it's time to move on so...

Remember you're a wreck, an accident
forget the freak, you're just nature

Keep the gun oiled and the temple clean
sh*t, snort and blaspheme
Let the heads cool and the engine run

Because in the end,
everything we do
is just everything we've done.

[MidasKnight]

I love Bother by Stone Sour. Great sad song.

[sweetharleygirl]

Ok, for as long as I've been a member here, and it's been a while, I just now stumbled onto this thread, I think I need to get out more! Anyway I just thought I'd put in my two cents on the whole song lyrics being poetry or crap thing, I wholeheartedly think MOST song lyrics are a form of poetry. I say MOST cuz there are some really really crappy song lyrics out there that make absolutely NO sense so those I would classify as crap, personally anyway. But everyone has they're own opinions so there ya go. In fact I just posted on my FB page some lyrics that I titled more than a beautiful poem and they were in fact song lyrics. My motivation for posting it that way was to make people see that just because a certain artist may sing rock or metal music doesn't mean they can't write beautiful lyrics that, when read by themselves without the music, can sound like beautiful poetry.

[E Pericoloso Sporgersi]

The most superb and moving lyrics I ever heard are Jacques Brel's French poetry for his song "Ne me quitte pas".
I do hope you understand it, because in translation it loses a lot of its impact. Scroll down for the English version, if you prefer.

WARNING! It evokes very sad emotions! The first time I heard it, I was actually moved to tears.

You can hear Brel sing it here.

Ne me quitte pas,
Il faut oublier
Tout peut s'oublier,
Qui s'enfuit déja.
Oublier le temps
Des malentendus
Et le temps perdu
A savoir comment
Oublier ces heures,
Qui tuaient parfois
A coups de pourquoi
Le coeur du bonheur.
Ne me quitte pas,
Ne me quitte pas,
Ne me quitte pas,
Ne me quitte pas.

Moi je t'offrirai
Des perles de pluie,
Venues de pays
Ou il ne pleut pas.
Je creuserai la terre
Jusqu'apres ma mort,
Pour couvrir ton corps
D'or et de lumiere.
Je ferai un domaine
Ou l'amour sera Roi,
Ou l'amour sera Loi,
Ou tu seras Reine.
Ne me quitte pas,
Ne me quitte pas,
Ne me quitte pas,
Ne me quitte pas.

Ne me quitte pas.
Je t'inventerai
Des mots insensés
Que tu comprendras.
Je te parlerai
De ces amants-la,
Qui ont vu deux fois
Leurs coeurs s'embraser.
Je te raconterai
L'histoire de ce roi
Mort de n'avoir pas
Pu te rencontrer.
Ne me quitte pas,
Ne me quitte pas,
Ne me quitte pas,
Ne me quitte pas.

On a vu souvent
Rejaillir le feu
De l'ancien volcan
Qu'on croyait trop vieux.
Il est paraît-il
Des terres brulées,
Donnant plus de blé
Qu'un meilleur avril.
Et quand vient le soir
Pour qu'un ciel flamboie,
Le rouge et le noir
Ne s'épousent-ils pas?
Ne me quitte pas,
Ne me quitte pas,
Ne me quitte pas,
Ne me quitte pas.

Ne me quitte pas.
Je ne vais plus pleurer.
Je ne vais plus parler.
Je me cacherai là,
A te regarder
Danser et sourire.
Et à t'écouter
Chanter et puis rire.
Laisse-moi devenir
L'ombre de ton ombre,
L'ombre de ta main,
L'ombre de ton chien.
Mais,
Ne me quitte pas,
Ne me quitte pas,
Ne me quitte pas,
Ne me quitte pas.

A lot of performers covered it in English: Shirley Bassey, Frank Sinatra, Barbra Streisand and very many others.
Here is "If You Go Away" exquisitely performed by Dusty Springfield.

But the English translation at the bottom of this page comes closest to the original.

[voralfred]

I agree that it is one one the most moving (unrequited) love poems I have ever read!
The great Jacques Brel at his best..

[MidasKnight]

Hey all.

It's been a decade (or more) since I've been active here.

Anyway, I'd like to re-contribute.

This song is dedicated to all my children:

I'm not a perfect person
There's many things I wish I didn't do
But I continue learning
I never meant to do those things to you
And so I have to say before I go
That I just want you to know

I've found a reason for me
To change who I used to be
A reason to start over new
And the reason is you

I'm sorry that I hurt you
It's something I must live with everyday
And all the pain I put you through
I wish that I could take it all away
And be the one who catches all your tears
That's why I need you to hear

I've found a reason for me
To change who I used to be
A reason to start over new
And the reason is you

And the reason is you
And the reason is you
And the reason is you

I'm not a perfect person
I never meant to do those things to you
And so I have to say before I go
That I just want you to know

I've found a reason for me
To change who I used to be
A reason to start over new
And the reason is you

I've found a reason to show
A side of me you didn't know
A reason for all that I do
And the reason is you

[E Pericoloso Sporgersi]

...
And so I have to say before I go
That I just want you to know
...

Hey! Glad you're back.
But please tell us before you go, you're not moribond, are you?

Oh, and tell us what music goes with it.

[MidasKnight]

Ha! No. Not morbund. Just fat.

That song is The Reason by Hoobastank.

[voralfred]

Hi MidasKnight !
Welcome back !
Very beautiful poem.