“Jeremiah Was a Bullfrog”

By Robert Crowe

Even though some of the words may rhyme, the people who write music lyrics are not poets. Poetry is a different discipline. The music steers the lyricist. Be they storytellers or prophets, lovers or wits, the writers choose words that often haunt us for a lifetime. Following is a short list of lines that give us pause:

  • I wonder if she ever tells him of me.

“Charmaine”

  • Whisper words of wisdom, let it be.

“Let It Be”

  • All my lies are always wishes.

“Ashes of American Flags”

  • Love changes everything.

All the rules we make are broken.

“Love Changes Everything”

  • If you choose not to decide,

You still have made a choice.

“Freewill”

  • The words of the prophets

Are written on the subway walls.

“The Sounds of Silence”

  • Doesn’t anybody stay in one place anymore?

“Far Away”

  • How many times can a man turn his head,
    and pretend that he just doesn’t see?

“Blowing in the Wind”

  • And the world will be better for this.
    That one man, scorned and covered with scars,
    Still strove with his last ounce of courage

To reach the unreachable star.

“The Impossible Dream”

  • It’s life’s illusions I recall
    I really don’t know life at all.
    “Both Sides Now”
  • I can smile at the old days
    I was beautiful then.
    “Memory”
  • Oh, no, it can’t be teardrops
    ‘Cause a man ain’t supposed to cry.
    “It Must be Raindrops”
  • When a lovely flame dies,
    Smoke gets in your eyes.
    “Smoke Gets in Your Eyes”
  • The fundamental things apply,
    as time goes by.
    “As Time Goes By”
  • Love bursts in and suddenly,

All our wisdom disappears.

“Love Changes Everything”

  • (The past) goes by, like dusk to dawn
    Isn’t that the way
    Everybody’s got their dues in life to pay
    “Dream On”
  • Send in the clowns.

There ought to be clowns.

“Send in the Clowns”

  • Once upon a time,

the world was sweeter than we knew.
“Once Upon a Time”

  • As the images unwind

Like the circles that you find
In the windmills of your mind.
“Windmills of Your Mind”

  • But ol’ man river,

He just keeps rollin’ along.

“Ol’ Man River”

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