Not sure if they're my favourite, but always liked this sequence in Bulls on Parade:

Weapons, not food, not homes, not shoes
Not need, just feed the war, cannibal animal, I
Walk the corner to the rubble
That used to be a library, line up to the mind cemetery now
What we don't know keeps the contracts alive and movin'
They don't gotta burn the books, they just remove 'em
While arms warehouses fill as quick as the cells
Rally 'round the family, pockets full of shells

"Why do we always send the poor"

Invidious | YouTube

And on a more serious note, really the whole song, but here's the refrain, with my amateur translation.

世界で一つの　輝く光になれ
私でいい
私を信じてゆくのさ
遠回りしても　守るべき道を行け
私でいい
私の歩幅で生きてくのさ

Become a shining light in this world
I'm good enough
I'm going to start believing in myself
Walk the way that I know I should stay true to, even if it takes me on detours
I'm good enough
I'm going to start living with my pace

Beautiful, by Superfly

Invidious | YouTube

I've been living with recidivating depression for a few years now and this song helps.

And I'm not dead yet so I guess I'll be alright

In "Way less sad" by AJR

This is one of those lyrics that keep hitting hard, even after 30+ years of first hearing this song:

How can I find The right way to control All the conflicts inside All the problems beside As the questions arise And the answers don't fit Into my way of things Into my way of things

Joy Division - Komakino

This world, it turns on the thought of you dead.

• local H, misanthrope.

If you want, a second to breathe, I'll give you all of my love, give you all that you need

• Sjowgren, seventeen

”en jaksa mutta jatkan / tämän yhden mäen vielä / sateen jälkeen täältä näkee kauas”

Vorna - Kauas

Don’t know exactly why, but this has always got to me, hits some spot nothing else prior ever had, and nothing else still has not since.

Translated to English, it’s something like:

“I have no will or energy, but I shall climb / this one last hill / after the rain you can see so far from here”

It doesn’t translate well, but something about it really resonates with me. I’ve lived with clinic depression for so long, and I’ve been so close to giving in, but always just choosing to climb that one last hill gives some perspective and after all these years… here I am.

I’m too tired to continue, but I’ll fight this one more fight before I fall to my eternal slumber. And after the fight, as the dust settles, the rains stop… well, the view is beautiful. The world is beautiful. But I’m tired… too tired to go on. So I shall only fight this one more fight before I get my peace. One last glance at the beauty. Ah, one more fight, but no more, and I’ll return back up this hill and this view shall be my last. But it’s so beautiful. Only one more fight, and… And so on and so on.

It just feels like I belong in those words.

we're rolling bigger DOOBIES

and growing bigger BOOBIES

https://foodhouse.bandcamp.com/track/now-2

On the wings of a dream so far beyond reality

All alone in desperation, now the time is gone

Lost inside you'll never find

Lost within my own mind

Day after day this misery must go on

So far away we wait for the day

For the lives all so wasted and gone

We feel the pain of a lifetime lost in a thousand days

Through the fire and flames we carry on

Through the Fire and Flames, Dragonforce. Most people know it for having five guitar solos, but the lyrics speak to me

That question is too hard, so I will just answer with the latest lyrics I brought up to anyone - was listening to Iris by the Goo Goo Dolls, not a lyrical powerhouse. But the very beginning is one of the best beginnings -

"And I'd give up forever to touch you" is such a strong opening.

Usually for me it's more a combination of the lyrics and delivery, not just the words.

Triplets born
The throne avaits
A see'r warns of a deadly fate
Give yo your children! seperate!
Bide your time Lie in wait

Sonic underground They made a vow Their mother will be found.

The triplets grow and learn what's right
Leaders of the freedom fight
They miss their mother She knows they do
Is it time!?
If she only knew!!!
Will the prophecy come true...?

Sonic underground They made a vow their mother will be found

I Miss my children but I have to wait
To act too soon could seal their fate

They made a vow their mother will be found

At the moment?

I'm not searching the sky for a reason to live 'Cause I found beauty right here and found the passion to give So let me give you my heart, let me give you my tears Let me give you my life, let me give you my fears

I've always interpreted it as someone finding an alternative to suicide, by helping those around them.

I will never bow to you

Like you will never bleed for me

Rule number one in life

Never be the number two

Bloodred Hourglass - Six Feet Saviour

I love the vibe of this lyric telling me to enjoy my ordinary life.

This is your life, it's all been ordinary
Until you find all you're worth
Then you find your life is all but something ordinary
And you're longing for home
Your gonna find yourself at home

The Buzzhorn - Ordinary

immediately two very different songs come to mind.

aesop rock 'daylight' - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=igUsHrFqegE

la dispute 'king park' - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H8IT-xrQRqk

How violent is hope

Love only knows

The Pogues - Pont Mirabeau

“Calling all friends and people I met on the way down
Calling all friends and people I don't even know
Calling on high I want to believe there's a way now
I'm too tired to pretend I don't want to be alone”

• Low Stars
  I like to remind myself it’s ok to reach out for a connection to other people.

Choices we make em
Chances we take em
Some are mistakes
Some we celebrate em
We don't look back 'cause
So much we're facing
I always stay proud of myself
I'm yelling: FUCK REGRET!

• Insane Clown Posse

"wearing all black doesn't make you cool, but it probably doesn't hurt and I think you're kind of cool anyway" - no men:
https://no-men.bandcamp.com/track/w-a-b-d-m-y-c

All you get is today, try to see it that way, don't hold on too tight

Loosen your shoes, don't listen to news that keeps you up at night

Don't try to explain, try not to complain, no one really cares

And don't try to find your place in line 'cause it's everywhere

You don't need to find your place in line 'cause it's everywhere

Chris Smither - Place in Line
https://youtu.be/MztnxPiiDbI

so its hard to find a point where I want to end listing the lyrics of wondering again as the lyrics of the whole song are definately my favorite and just get more relevant every decade:

There's the stillness of death on a deathly unliving sea,
And the motor car magical world long since ceased to be,
When the Eve-bitten apple returned to destroy the tree,

Incestuous ancestry's charabanc ride,
Spawning new millions throws the world on its side,
Supporting their far-flung illusion, the national curse,
And those with no sandwiches please get off the bus ,

The excrement bubbles
The century's slime decays,
And the brainwashing government lackeys
Would have us say,
It's under control and we'll soon be on our way,
To a grand year for babies and quiz panel games,
Of the hot hungry millions you'll be sure to remain......

Leonard Cohen - Closing time:

Ah, we're drinking and we're dancing And the band is really happening And the Johnny Walker wisdom running high And my very sweet companion She's the Angel of Compassion She's rubbing half the world against her thigh And every drinker, every dancer Lifts a happy face to thank her The fiddler fiddles something so sublime All the women tear their blouses off And the men, they dance on the polka-dots And it's partner found, it's partner lost And it's hell to pay when the fiddler stops It's closing time (closing time, closing time, closing time) Yeah, the women tear their blouses off And the men, they dance on the polka-dots And it's partner found, it's partner lost And it's hell to pay when the fiddler stops It's closing time Ah, we're lonely, we're romantic And the cider's laced with acid And the Holy Spirit's crying, "Where's the beef?" And the moon is swimming naked And the summer night is fragrant With a mighty expectation of relief So we struggle and we stagger Down the snakes and up the ladder To the tower where the blessed hours chime And I swear, it happened just like this A sigh, a cry, a hungry kiss The Gates of Love, they budged an inch I can't say much has happened since But closing time (closing time, closing time, closing time) I swear, it happened just like this A sigh, a cry, a hungry kiss The Gates of Love, they budged an inch I can't say much has happened since I can't say much has happened since I can't say much has happened since But closing time Closing time I loved you for your beauty But that doesn't make a fool of me You were in it for your beauty too And I loved you for your body There's a voice that sounds like god to me Declaring (declaring), declaring (declaring) Declaring that your body's really you (really, really, really, really you) And I loved you when our love was blessed And I loved you, now, there's nothing left But sorrow and a sense of overtime And I missed you since the place got wrecked And I just don't care what happens next Looks like freedom, but it feels like death It's something in between, I guess It's closing time (closing time, closing time, closing time) Yeah, I missed you since the place got wrecked By the winds of change and the weeds of sex Looks like freedom, but it feels like death It's something in between, I guess It's closing time Yeah, we're drinking and we're dancing But there's nothing really happening And the place is dead as Heaven on a Saturday night And my very close companion Gets me fumbling, gets me laughing She's a hundred, but she's wearing something tight And I lift my glass to the awful tuth Which you can't reveal to the ears of youth Except to say it isn't worth a dime And the whole damn place goes crazy twice And it's once for the Devil, and once for Christ But the Boss don't like these dizzy heights We're busted in the blinding lights Of closing time (closing time, closing time, closing time) The whole damn place goes crazy twice And it's once for the Devil, and it's once for Christ But the Boss don't like these dizzy heights We're busted in the blinding lights (busted in the blinding lights) Busted in the blinding lights Of closing time Closing time Oh, the women tear their blouses off And the men, they dance on the polka-dots It's closing time And it's partner found, it's partner lost And it's hell to pay when the fiddler stops It's closing time I swear it happened just like this A sigh, a cry, a hungry kiss It's closing time (closing time, closing time, closing time) The Gates of Love, they budged an inch I can't say much has happened since But closing time (closing time, closing time, closing time) I loved you when our love was blessed I love you now, there's nothing left But closing time (closing time, closing time, closing time) I miss you since the place got wrecked By the winds of change and the weeds of sex of closing...

I salute at the threshold of the North Sea of my mind And I nod to the boredom that drove me here to face the tide And I swim, I swim, oh swim Dip a toe in the ocean, oh how it hardens and it numbs The rest of me is a version of man built to collapse in crumbs And if I hadn't come now to the coast to disappear I may have died in a landslide of rocks and hopes and fears So I swim until you can't see land Swim until you can't see land Swim until you can't see land Are you a man? Are you a bag of sand?

Up to my knees now, do I wade, do I dive? The sea has seen my like before, though it's my first and perhaps last time Let's call me a baptist, call this a drowning of the past She is there on the shoreline throwing stones at my back So I swim until you can't see land Swim until you can't see land Swim until you can't see land Are you a man? Are you a bag of sand?

And the water is taller than me And the land is a marker line All I have is a body adrift in water, salt and sky

"Cause love's such an old-fashioned word And love dares you to care for The people on the edge of the night And love dares you to change our way of Caring about ourselves This is our last dance This is our last dance This is ourselves Under pressure."

Between the Bars by Elliott Smith is a beautiful but sad song about alcohol addiction. These lyrics about how it robs you of potential while at the same time making you feel like anything is possible really hit home for me.

Drink up baby, stay up all night

With the things you could do

You won't but you might

The potential you'll be

That you'll never see

The promises you'll only make

Edit: I had listed the lyrics to Boycott Heaven due to recency bias, but after more thought I think it's Oblivion Song by cloudkissed

🎶It’s comforting to know that in a hundred years or so

🎶My memory will all but fade away

🎶It’s interesting to note that every clumsy song I wrote

🎶Will outlive me by forever and a day

🎶‘Cause despite all my potential I’m quite inconsequential

🎶And these tears that feel torrential will not matter any more

🎶And maybe it sounds morbid, but if my efforts are rewarded by oblivion

🎶That sounds nice to me

Farewell Mona Lisa

Wash it down the drain 
Down the drain 
Wash your smile down 
(Yeah!) 
Wash it down the drain 
Please 
Like animals, destined for fuel or observance 
Our role is clear, never stray far from the path

Everything has an end 
Everything has an end 
Everything must have an end

But what am I supposed to say? 
(What am I supposed to say?) 
Oh, sorry, I guess I forgot 
You think you could tell me again? 
(Please, I don't remember) 
What am I supposed to think? 
(What am I supposed to think?) 
What am I supposed to feel? 
(What am I supposed to feel?)

There's no feeling in this place 
The echoes of the past speak louder than 
Any voice I hear right now 
Don't you ever try to be 
More than you were destined for 
Or anything worth fighting for 
Don't you ever try to be 
More than you were destined for 
Or anything worth fighting for 
There's no feeling in this place 
There's no feeling in this place 
Feeling in this place

What did you expect? 
That we would never leave home, that we would never leave? 
What did you expect? 
That we would never leave home? 
That we would never leave? 
That we would never leave? 
That we would never leave? 
That we would never leave? 
What did you expect from us? 
We're murderers 
Murderers and liars and rapists and thieves 
You should never put your trust in any of us 
There is nothing to gain from this interference

Don't you ever try to be 
More than you were destined for 
Or anything worth fighting for 
There's no feeling in this place

The past speaks louder than anything I hear right now 
The past speaks louder than anything I hear right now

People I see

Just remind me of mooing

Like a cow on the grass

And that's not to say

That there's anything wrong

With being a cow anyway

But people are people

With the added advantage

Of the spoken word

We're getting on fine

But I feel more of a man

When I get with the herd

From Elegant Chaos by Julian Cope https://youtu.be/Bj1pAd92E3k

Bottles and Bones, Califone What Sara Said, Death Cab for Cutie Fake Plastic Trees, Radiohead

Those come to mind as great, "poetry with music" songs, but there are many more.

"What will you tell your children, when they ask you: "What went wrong"? How will you paint a picture, of a paradise lost to eyes that know only a wasteland? How will you justify, justify watching the world die?" Parkway Drive - Dark Days.

Let the products sell themselves

Fuck advertising commercial psychology

Psychological methods to sell should be destroyed

———————

But our land isn’t free

So I work my youth away

In the place of a machine

I refuse to be a slave

Shit from an old notebook and This ain’t no picnic both by minutemen

• To you I’m just a man
• To me you’re everything.

Something in the orange - Zac Bryan

Maybe I will never be

all the things that I want to be

Now is not the time to cry

Now's the time to find out why

I typically don't listen to the lyrics, but a few songs by The Velvet Underground are an exception, and I like Lou Reed's writing style of using simple words and imagery. Check out ‘Candy Says’, ‘I'm Waiting For The Man’, ‘After Hours’, ‘I'm Sticking With You’.

A couple songs written by Jackson Browne and sung by Nico work in a remarkably similar way: ‘These Days’ and ‘The Fairest of the Seasons’.