A tenuous Tenor
He sang a tenor’s part-
No more a tenor really
Though aging cords may gamely try
It was disaster- nearly.
He lost the lyric line.
Poor fellow –must be blasted
Too much North Fork wine
Or maybe he’s just past it.
A singer lost for words
is clearly up against it.
A staircase that’s collapsing
can only be descended.
Some forty years or more have past
Since he sang at their Wedding
A rose cheeked boy with strong clear tones
He was, then, worth the hearing.
With time his talent vanishes
He cannot compensate
For lyrics he’s forgotten
And notes he cannot make.
His hopes to leave on a better note
Then disappeared completely,
Only a swan- at its last-
can be sure to sing more sweetly.
poem by John F. McCullagh
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Related quotes
The Perfect Song
If I wrote the perfect song,
Its notes and how the cords
Ought to be played-
The song would be one to
Describe our love's journey
All our highs, lows, ups, downs,
Laughs- our cries—
Its melody would be tailored by
Orchestral instruments;
A shed of electric guitars and drums,
Its beat, our heartbeat- beating as one,
Choir of two, we would sing this song
Lost in ourselves; alto, baritone, bass,
Soprano, tenor- oh! The jollity,
Singing our past, singing our present
And our future- the now
We would sing with our heart and voice
The perfect song would never end.
poem by Isunge Mwangase
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I Sing Last / Not For Tears
We've been told lies.
We've been herded around
Taken for rides, told that this is the one
We've learned all the steps and where do they lead
Right back to zero or not far I believe
Making history as we open our eyes
And no one's quite sure so we... We improvise
And wherever it leads us is wherever we'll go
I'd dance forever if they'd let me, you know
Wearing our hair up in anger we cry
The revolutions dead it went out in style
The children are learning much faster than we
Soon they'll be older but then again, so will we
Time has come for each of us to decide
To follow blindly or to step out of line
The party is over it has been for years
Let's use the water to wash up, not for tears
Seems such a pity
It seemed we had the same dream
And thinking of things past
You sang first I sang last
You sang first I sang last
You sang first I sang last
song performed by by Men Without Hats
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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The Last Line
The last line
By: keith sykes
1977
Given my life for songs that I sing
Matter of fact, Ive given everything
Time has come to not make a sound
Time has come to lay my burdens down
Whoa oh oh (woe oh woe oh woe oh)
Whoa oh (woe oh woe oh woe oh)
Its come from behind
Now is the time
For the last line (last line)
Managed to keep some friends on my side
To live through the times of the rumors and lies
Now its time to rest my heart
Let some other innocent fool take my part
Whoa oh oh (woe oh woe oh woe oh)
Whoa oh (woe oh woe oh woe oh)
Its come from behind
Now is the time
For the last line (last line)
( saxophone solo)
Whoa oh oh oh (woe oh woe oh woe oh)
Whoa oh (woe oh woe oh woe oh)
Its come from behind
Now its the time
For the last line (last line)
So dont pay me no mind, Im walkin away
Youll see me again on some other day
Youll see me again, Ill be ready to go
And pour out my songs with my heart and my soul
Whoa oh oh (woe oh woe oh woe oh)
Whoa oh (woe oh woe oh woe oh)
Its come from behind
Now is the time
For the last line (last line)
Yes its come from behind
Now is the time
For the last line (last line)
Ah the last line (last line)
- notes:
Background vocals: deborah mccoll, penny nichols
Tenor sax solo: harvey thompson
song performed by by Jimmy Buffett
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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The Singer Sang His Song
Hed sing his song most evry night
Wishing she was there behind the light
The people danced and sang along
On the cardboard stage he never sang it wrong
And the piper played the tune
And the drummer wore his spurs
But the song that the singer sang was for her
Now the singers song is never heard
And the visions he once saw are disappeared
Now they never dance or sing along
But on the cardboard stage he never sang it wrong
And the piper played the tune
And the drummer wore his spurs
But the song that the singer sang was for her
(break)
Ah..........
song performed by by Bee Gees
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Sospan Fach
(The Little Saucepan)
Four collier lads from Ebbw Vale
Took shelter from a shower of hail,
And there beneath a spreading tree
Attuned their mouths to harmony.
With smiling joy on every face
Two warbled tenor, two sang bass,
And while the leaves above them hissed with
Rough hail, they started 'Aberystwyth.'
Old Parry's hymn, triumphant, rich,
They changed through with even pitch,
Till at the end of their grand noise
I called: 'Give us the 'Sospan' boys!'
Who knows a tune so soft, so strong,
So pitiful as that 'Saucepan' song
For exiled hope, despaired desire
Of lost souls for their cottage fire?
Then low at first with gathering sound
Rose their four voices, smooth and round,
Till back went Time: once more I stood
With Fusiliers in Mametz Wood.
Fierce burned the sun, yet cheeks were pale,
For ice hail they had leaden hail;
In that fine forest, green and big,
There stayed unbroken not one twig.
They sang, they swore, they plunged in haste,
Stumbling and shouting through the waste;
The little 'Saucepan' flamed on high,
Emblem of hope and ease gone by.
Rough pit-boys from the coaly South,
They sang, even in the cannon's mouth;
Like Sunday's chapel, Monday's inn,
The death-trap sounded with their din.
***
The storm blows over, Sun comes out,
The choir breaks up with jest and shout,
With what relief I watch them part--
Another note would break my heart!
poem by Robert Graves
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Suchitra Mitra
Just as a poet doesn’t have to write
Many poems to win your heart.
One good poem is wholesome
Enough to stir your heart’s strings.
Similarly, a singer doesn’t have to
Sing scores of songs to touch you
Deep down.
Just one heart-felt song is good enough
To etch your memories…for a lifetime.
I heard her, when I was barely in my teens,
I remembered her all through these years…
Today, when she died, I felt as if a part of me
Has gone forever, with her.
That one song, she sang, she sang it so beautifully,
None else could have crooned it so gracefully….
The song was Krishnokoli.
The singer is Suchitra Mitra.
Now she’s no more, yet I remember her,
Thank her, feel grateful to her, for that
One song she sang so wonderfully….
It has remained a part of me, and will
Remain with me, like a timeless beauty.
poem by Aparna Chatterjee
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The Grail
In the village Bellastrino
On the craggy Tuscan hills,
Lies an old abandoned Abbey
And the Church of San Michele,
Though the village was abandoned
There are two who would not go,
The Abbot, Father Grandier,
The Priest, Don Angelo.
The Abbey on the mountain top,
The Church down in the dell,
They'd fought, these two, for twenty years
Consigning each to Hell!
For in the Church of San Michele
Before the village failed,
Down in the crypt, beneath the floor
They'd found the Holy Grail.
A bowl, fine wrought in pale green glass,
There's no room for debate,
The Templar Knights had left it in
Eleven eighty-eight,
They'd always said they would return,
In fact, they never did,
They went to challenge Saladin
And died, as they had lived!
‘It's mine, ' said Father Grandier,
‘Not so, ' said Angelo,
‘I found it and I'm keeping it,
Here, in the Church below.'
‘It should be in the Abbey, '
Father Grandier opined,
‘Its glory on the mountain top…'
‘Not so! The Grail is mine! '
For years the two had tussled
Had approached the Holy See,
The Pope thought it ridiculous
And said: ‘Don't bother me!
We have two dozen of those things,
A heap of rusty nails,
All from the Cross at Calvary
But these are peasant tales.'
A Cardinal then came to call
And tried to sort them out,
Well practiced in diplomacy
He said: ‘No need to shout!
You have a choir each, ' he said
‘Who visit in the spring,
So hold a competition here,
What better way, than sing? '
‘The better choir shall win the Grail
And keep it for a year,
Up in the Abbey's mountain top,
Or down here, if you dare.
Then sing for it each passing year,
Three judges, understood?
If one should win it three years straight
They keep the Grail for good! '
With many muttered mumblings
And hellfire in their eyes,
The Abbot and the priest said yes,
Dissembled with their lies,
They each set out to cheat their way
To keep that Holy Grail,
The Abbot got to pick each judge
He thought he couldn't fail!
The Abbey won the first two years
And held the Grail on high,
While poor Don Angelo despaired,
The time was coming nigh;
They had to sing for it once more,
He knew that if he failed,
The Abbot would, victorious,
Not let him keep the Grail.
Don Angelo went down to Rome
And brought a tenor back,
His voice like rich red Tuscan wine
To join his choir's attack,
They sang their hearts out on the day
But saw the judges feign,
And shake their heads, Don Angelo
Had nothing left to gain.
The judge stood up to name the prize,
The Abbot had his way,
The tenor stood and sang a note
Not heard since Jesu's day,
He held it long, unwavering
The Grail began to ring,
A long high-pitched reverberance,
The Grail began to sing.
A minute there, without a breath
The tenor held his tone,
And Grandier stood up, alarmed,
Let out a fervid moan,
The Grail sang on, then shattered
Fell in pieces to the floor,
The judge stood up and shook his head,
Then said - ‘The sing's a draw! '
The Abbey holds the base of it,
Up on the mountain top,
All glued together, like some vase
Bought in the Red Cross Shop.
While down there in the little Church
On a thousand Euro tips,
They're coining them a fortune with
The rim that touched his lips!
1 September 2012
poem by David Lewis Paget
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Frogs in chorus
The chorus frogs in the big lagoon
Would sing their songs to the silvery moon.
Tenor singers were out of place,
For every frog was a double bass.
But never a human chorus yet
Could beat the accurate time they set.
The solo singer began the joke;
He sang, "As long as I live I'll croak,
Croak, I'll croak,"
And the chorus followed him: "Croak, croak, croak!"
The poet frog, in his plaintive tone,
Sang of a sorrow was all his own;
"How shall I win to my heart's desire?
How shall I feel my spirit's fire?"
And the solo frog in his deepest croak,
"To fire your spirit," he sang, "eat coke,
Coke, eat coke,"
And the chorus followed him: "Coke, coke, coke!"
The green frog sat in a swampy spot
And he sang the song of he knew not what.
"The world is rotten, oh cursed plight,
That I am the frog that must set it right.
How shall I scatter the shades that lurk?"
And the old man bullfrog sang, "Get work,
Work, get work,"
And the chorus followed him: "Work, work, work!"
The soaring spirits that fain would fly
On wings of hope to the starry sky
Must face the snarls of the jealous dogs,
For the world is ruled by its chorus frogs.
poem by Andrew Barton Paterson
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They would wake me up when I was sleeping, and say sing a song for our friends. I had a sweet voice, I had a nice little tenor voice. God knows what I sang, but my whole family would admire me.
quote by Dominic Chianese
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Kitchen jam
Justin sang bass
Shea sang tenor
Jamere and Harold would jump right in
Ricardo was banging them drums
Like an octopus picking up crumbs
kyle and chris were jamming to a rocking tune
Andy hollered a little more cheddar
Babbs said I think I just fed her
In the sky lord in the sky
Sights
I saw a singer singing to a crowd,-
Singing of laughing life,- and all the while
He sang in tones so shrilly loud,
Not one man had a smile.
I saw a fiddler from a broken plain
Playing his weeping fiddle,- sweet and clear.
He sang of Death and Cries and Pain,-
But no one shed a tear.
I saw a whistling soldier, still and wan,
Firing his rifle from a fearful place,-
But all the time a dying man
Looked long upon his face.
poem by Leon Gellert
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Lyrics Of Life
In the song of life, all lyrics need a melody.
You are the lyric and you are the melody.
You are the lyric of my heart and of my soul.
The beauty of the rose, speaks a lyric of love.
Love, speaks a lyric of you.
The silent lyric of goodness, echoes from within you.
My heart, speaks the lyric of love...to only you.
Let the words...the lyric...that bind, pass between us.
Let the lyric, of you...of me...be as one.
A million words I can speak of you and the lyrics
would be the same...I love you now. I always will
poem by Waldon Pond Productions
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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She Sang the Songs...
She sang the songs... he wrote the words;
sweet words of love, in perfect time
to her style... soft words of love;
the lyrics to her Country songs
of love and heartbreak, hope and sadness;
life spread out in flawless rhyme,
but they were really hopes, and dreams
of his...
he knew this, all along.
She wrote songs as well; and, when he read them...
his heart missed a beat;
Beneath the stave, below the notes...
her lyrics, in her childlike hand;
soft words of love, he longed to hear
her say to him...
all whispered, sweet;
now, here they were, before his eyes...
but, accident...
or gently planned?
Were they whispers of her heart...
or just composed from out her head?
he had no way of knowing,
but... in either case, her words were sweet;
a silky glide across the page...
a wistful ballad... hearts that bled;
he sadly smiled, yes... his heart bled as well,
but,
to a different beat.
She sang the songs... he wrote the words,
words from his heart... soft, yet intense;
Perhaps, one day, she'd see
they were for her...
and, not her audience.
poem by Dream Weaver
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Dry Your Eyes
Words and music by neil diamond and j.r. robertson
Dry your eyes and take your song out, its a newborn afternoon.
And if you cant recall the singer you can still recall the tune.
Dry your eyes and play it slowly like youre marching off to war;
Sing it like you know hed want it, like we sang it once before.
And from the center of the circle to the midst of the waiting crowd,
If it ever be forgotten sing it long and sing it loud and come dry your eyes.
And he taught us more about giving than we ever cared to know,
But we came to find the secret and we never let it go.
And it was more than being holy and it was less than being free,
And if you cant recall the reason can you hear the people sing.
Right through the lightning and the thunder to the dark side of the moon,
To that distant falling angel that descended much too soon
And come dry your eyes.
Come dry your eyes.
song performed by by Neil Diamond
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Life And Lyrics
In the song of life, all lyrics need a melody.
You are the lyric and you are the melody.
You are the lyric of my heart and of my soul.
The beauty of the rose, speaks a lyric of love.
Love, speaks a lyric of you.
The silent lyric of goodness, echoes from within you.
My heart, speaks the lyric of love...to only you.
Let the words...the lyric...that bind, pass between us.
Let the lyric, of you...of me...be as one.
A million words I can speak of you and the lyrics
would be the same...I love you now. I always will.
My Song Is You...
In the song of life, all lyrics need a melody.
You are the lyric and you are the melody.
You are the lyric of my heart and of my soul.
The beauty of the rose, speaks a lyric of love.
Love, speaks a lyric of you.
The silent lyric of goodness, echoes from within you.
My heart, speaks the lyric of love...to only you.
Let the words...the lyric...that bind, pass between us.
Let the lyric, of you...of me...be as one.
A million words I can speak of you and the lyrics
would be the same...I love you now. I always will
Lyrics Of Life
In the song of life, all lyrics need a melody.
You are the lyric and you are the melody.
You are the lyric of my heart and of my soul.
The beauty of the rose, speaks a lyric of love.
Love, speaks a lyric of you.
The silent lyric of goodness, echoes from within you.
My heart, speaks the lyric of love...to only you.
Let the words...the lyric...that bind, pass between us.
Let the lyric, of you...of me...be as one.
A million words I can speak of you and the lyrics
would be the same...I love you now. I always will
Sing Me A Love Song...
In the song of life, all lyrics need a melody.
You are the lyric and you are the melody.
You are the lyric of my heart and of my soul.
The beauty of the rose, speaks a lyric of love.
Love, speaks a lyric of you.
The silent lyric of goodness, echoes from within you.
My heart, speaks the lyric of love...to only you.
Let the words...the lyric...that bind, pass between us.
Let the lyric, of you...of me...be as one.
A million words I can speak of you and the lyrics
would be the same...I love you now. I always will
I Hear A Song...
In the song of life, all lyrics need a melody.
You are the lyric and you are the melody.
You are the lyric of my heart and of my soul.
The beauty of the rose, speaks a lyric of love.
Love, speaks a lyric of you.
The silent lyric of goodness, echoes from within you.
My heart, speaks the lyric of love...to only you.
Let the words...the lyric...that bind, pass between us.
Let the lyric, of you...of me...be as one.
A million words I can speak of you and the lyrics
would be the same...I love you now. I always will
Lyrics Of Life
In the song of life, all lyrics need a melody.
You are the lyric and you are the melody.
You are the lyric of my heart and of my soul.
The beauty of the rose, speaks a lyric of love.
Love, speaks a lyric of you.
The silent lyric of goodness, echoes from within you.
My heart, speaks the lyric of love...to only you.
Let the words...the lyric...that bind, pass between us.
Let the lyric, of you...of me...be as one.
A million words I can speak of you and the lyrics
would be the same...I love you now. I always will