Lyrics I Like: "Boys of Summer" by Don Henley

Who's with me that the famous Don Henley lyric "I can tell you, my love for you will still be strong/after the Boys of Summer have gone . . ." would be a hell of a lot better if it was:

"I can tell you, my love for you will still be strong/after the poison spiders have gone . . . "

 I think it's a much more evocative lyric, describing two lovers separated by a giant spider invasion, hoping to be reunited when and if they both survive . . . way better than some dumb summer romance.

That's what is sounds like he's saying, anyways.  Why Warren Zevon hired such a mushmouth as a backup singer, I'll never know.

Lyrics I Like: John Mellancamp "Key West Intermezzo (I Saw You First)"

"This loud Cuban band is crucifying John Lennon . . ."

What a great lyric.  It's probably one of my top ten of all time.  There's just this wonderful atmosphere around the whole song, you know what that band sounds like without ever hearing them.  The whole song is filled with great images like that--"the bone colored dawn," in the 3rd verse springs immediately to mind. 

I have loved this song since I first heard it in my early teens, thanks to VH1's Top Ten Countdown.  It easily ranks among my top favorite songs of all time.  Every time I hear it, I have to play it at least twice.  There's this beautiful longing to it that you don't hear very much anymore, this yearning that lacks violence or whining, a straightforward "Please, just look at me" that every lover, at one time or another, feels.