"Look. If you had one shot. One opportunity to seize everything you ever wanted. One moment..."
I have always been drawn to lyrics. As a boy, I borrowed my mother's record collection of The Beatles, Elvis Presley, Buddy Holly, The Beach Boys, and even Frank Sinatra until I could afford to build my own record collection.
War of the Worlds was my first album given to me for my Birthday by my father, but then my first purchase was Bohemium Rhapsody, then #IDontLikeMondays by the Boomtown Rats - I was fascinated by the story of the school shooting in San Diego, California and the alleged reaction of the 16-year-old Brenda Ann Spencer after her shooting spree explaining why she had done it, "I don't like Mondays" was apparently her heartless response.
"The silicon chip inside her head, gets switched to overload. And nobody's gonna go to school today, she's going to make them stay at home. And daddy doesn't understand it, he always said she was as good as gold, and he can see no reason, 'cause there are no reasons, what reason do you need to be sure?"
My journey went on to The Great Rock 'n Roll Swindle and Never Mind The Bollocks and on to Crass, Dead Kennedy's, The Damned, The Clash, Stiff Little Fingers, Siouxie & The Banshees but I always had a soft spot for Morrissey from his original roots with The Smiths.
"As Anthony said to Cleopatra, as he opened a crate of ale, ooh I say..."
As he wound his way from #HowSoonisNow, across Ouiji Boards and as he booked himself into the YWCA,
"I said I like it here can I stay? And do you have a vacancy for a back scrubber?"
Underrated, mistakenly cast as depressive, and probably the greatest poet of our time, Morrisey is a legend among lyricists.
Eminem, another potentially underrated lyricist who manages to catch the mood of The Joker in #LoseYourself.
"You've got one shot, to not miss your chance to blow, it's an opportunity, once in a lifetime..."
And then there is the iconic Depeche Mode and their string of lyrical excellence, from #ThePolicyOfTruth, #NeverLetMeDownAgain, #WalkingInMyShoes and to #PersonalJesus, made legend by the Man in Black himself on his final album and this version with a standoff with Marilyn Manson.
"Reach out and touch me!"
There are simply too many to mention, Twenty One Pilots, #Chlorine, and #Heathens both remind me of more dangerous, volatile, and violent periods of my life. #BackToBlack and the tragic loss of a legend in the making, Amy Winehouse. #MrBojangles, and Robbie Williams version during his legendary tribute to the man himself, Old Blue Eyes. But one of the most influential bands of my life has to be Pink Floyd and the once-great, never forgotten partnership and collaboration between Roger Waters and David Gilmour, and the iconic and unforgettable repertoire with #ComfortablyNumb edging to the top of the list for me,
"There is no pain you are receding, a distant ship smoke on the horizon. You are only coming through in waves. Your lips move but I can't hear what you're saying"
And, although the list is long, I cannot finish this little ditty without mention of the man who changed the world through his music and lyrics, the legend, the one and only, Mr. David Bowie.
"We can be Heroes, just for one day..."
And finally, not forgetting Ian Dury and TheBlockheads, #ReasonsToBeCheerfulPart 3.
Check out my #PlayList, watch the videos and listen to some of my favorite tunes that have inspired me over the years, and to a great extent formed the soundtrack to my writing endeavors so far. The writer's life is a journey, at times an ordeal, and these musical legends, heroes, and lyricists have helped me along the way.