Lyrics that hit you on a soul level

Hey everyone - new here and grateful to be among you all.

What are some lyrics that, for any reason, just hit you on a soul level?
I'll go first - this one popped into my head (but I could give hundreds of examples):

"I'm gonna find myself a girl, who can show me what laughter means.
And we'll fill in the missing colors in each other's paint-by-number dreams."
- The Pretender by Jackson Browne

Jester143 said:

Hey everyone - new here and grateful to be among you all.

What are some lyrics that, for any reason, just hit you on a soul level?
I'll go first - this one popped into my head (but I could give hundreds of examples):

"I'm gonna find myself a girl, who can show me what laughter means.
And we'll fill in the missing colors in each other's paint-by-number dreams."
- The Pretender by Jackson Browne

Click to expand...

That album had a sad story attached to it. JB released right after the death of his wife.. The song Pretender was written for her..

Judas Priest IMO has some of the most soulful lyrics put to metal, be it Metal of ballads..
One I like..


"Beyond The Realms Of Death"


He had enough
He couldn't take anymore
He'd found a place
In his mind and slammed the door
No matter how they tried
They couldn't understand
They washed and dressed him
Fed him by hand

Yeah! I've left the world behind
I'm safe here in my mind
Free to speak with my own kind
This is my life, this is my life
I'll decide not you

Withdrawn he'd sit there
Stare blank into space
No sign of life
Would flicker on his face
Until one day he smiled
It seemed as though with pride
The wind kissed him
Goodbye - and then he died

Yeah! I've left the world behind
I'm safe here in my mind
Free to speak with my own kind
This is my life, this is my life
I'll decide not you

Keep the world with all its sin
It's not fit for livin' in
Yeah! I will start again
It can take forever, and ever, and ever
And ever, but I'll still win.

How many like him,
Are there still
But to us, all
Seem to have lost the will
They lie in thousands
Plagued and lost
Is nothing worth this bitter cost

Yeah! I've left the world behind
I'm safe here in my mind
Free to speak with my own kind
This is my life, this is my life
I'll decide not you

Keep the world with all its sin
It's not fit for livin' in

Beyond the realms of death

Slipn said:

That album had a sad story attached to it. JB released right after the death of his wife.. The song Pretender was written for her..

Click to expand...

It is a heartbreaking album for sure. As is Late For The Sky. But genius, straightforward, relatable lyrics throughout each of them. 2 of my favorite albums of all time.

I have many artists/songs that 'touch me'.....here's one of myfavorite lyricists.

Every day there's someone asking: "What is there to do?
Should I love or should I fight? Is it all the same to you?"
"No," I say, "I have the answer, proven to be true
But if I were to share it with you, you would stand to gain and I to lose
"Oh, I couldn't bear itSo I've got nothing to say
Nothing to sayNothing to say
Every morning pressure forming all around my eyes
Ceilings crash, the walls collapse, broken by the lies
That your misfortune brought upon us; and I won't disguise them
So don't ask me will I explain; I won't even begin to tell you why
No, just because I have a nameWell I've got nothing to say
Nothing to sayNothing to say
Climb a tower of freedom, paint your own deceiving sign
It's not my part to criticize or to ask you to be blind
To your own pressing problem and the hate you must unwind
And ask of me no answer: there is none that I could give you wouldn't find
I went your way ten years ago
And I've got nothing to say
Nothing to say....Nothing to say............

@Jester143 Hello and welcome to the CRF family!

You have chosen one of my favorite subjects…lyrics that touch me deep inside.

The first song to pop in my head is The Sound of Silence by Simon & Garfunkel.

“Hello darkness, my old friend
I've come to talk with you again
Because a vision softly creeping
Left its seeds while I was sleeping
And the vision that was planted in my brain
Still remains
Within the sound of silence”

“In restless dreams I Walk alone.
Narrow streets of cobblestone
'Neath the halo of a street lamp
I turned my collar to the cold and damp
When my eyes were stabbed by the flash of a neon light
That split the night
And touched the sound of silence.”

“And in the naked light I saw
Ten thousand people, maybe more
People talking without speaking
People hearing without listening
People writing songs that voices never share
No one dared
Disturb the sound of silence”



This song is the saddest, heart wrenching song of human desperation & depression.

dr wu said:

I have many artists/songs that 'touch me'.....here's one of myfavorite lyricists.

Every day there's someone asking: "What is there to do?
Should I love or should I fight? Is it all the same to you?"
"No," I say, "I have the answer, proven to be true
But if I were to share it with you, you would stand to gain and I to lose
"Oh, I couldn't bear itSo I've got nothing to say
Nothing to sayNothing to say
Every morning pressure forming all around my eyes
Ceilings crash, the walls collapse, broken by the lies
That your misfortune brought upon us; and I won't disguise them
So don't ask me will I explain; I won't even begin to tell you why
No, just because I have a nameWell I've got nothing to say
Nothing to sayNothing to say
Climb a tower of freedom, paint your own deceiving sign
It's not my part to criticize or to ask you to be blind
To your own pressing problem and the hate you must unwind
And ask of me no answer: there is none that I could give you wouldn't find
I went your way ten years ago
And I've got nothing to say
Nothing to say....Nothing to say............

Click to expand...

Had forgotten this song - thanks for the reminder. And LOVE your username. Best song on Katy Lied!

Magic said:

@Jester143 Hello and welcome to the CRF family!

You have chosen one of my favorite subjects…lyrics that touch me deep inside.

The first song to pop in my head is The Sound of Silence by Simon & Garfunkel.

“Hello darkness, my old friend
I've come to talk with you again
Because a vision softly creeping
Left its seeds while I was sleeping
And the vision that was planted in my brain
Still remains
Within the sound of silence”

“In restless dreams I Walk alone.
Narrow streets of cobblestone
'Neath the halo of a street lamp
I turned my collar to the cold and damp
When my eyes were stabbed by the flash of a neon light
That split the night
And touched the sound of silence.”

“And in the naked light I saw
Ten thousand people, maybe more
People talking without speaking
People hearing without listening
People writing songs that voices never share
No one dared
Disturb the sound of silence”



This song is the saddest, heart wrenching song of human desperation & depression.

Click to expand...

Thanks so much - grateful to be here! And love the soft beauty of this song and the lyrics. Excellent choice.

Gonna throw another in the mix that randomly just popped into my head, just to keep the conversation going. This one isn't so much beauty (which most choices I'd have would be) as it is clever. I love Elvis Costello and his witty word play throughout his career. One of his mid-career songs was his "**** You" to the critics, called All The Rage off Brutal Youth. I just love his snarkiness (the Gen-X in me). Didn't copy the whole song, just some excerpts I love, especially the last 2 lines.

"The twitching impulses to speak your mind
I'll lend you my microscope and maybe you will find it
Is it in that ugly place that's just behind your face?
Where you keep my picture still
Despite the fact that you had me replaced...

Although I'll never be
Unhappy as you want me to be
Still it's all the rage...

Alone with your tweezers and your handkerchief
You murder time and truth, love, laughter and belief
So don't try to touch my heart, it's darker than you think
And don't try to read my mind because it's full of disappearing ink"

Dylan of course can write some deep stuff..


"My Back Pages"


Crimson flames tied through my ears
Rollin' high and mighty traps
Pounced with fire on flaming roads
Using ideas as my maps
"We'll meet on edges, soon," said I
Proud 'neath heated brow
Ah, but I was so much older then
I'm younger than that now.

Half-wracked prejudice leaped forth
"Rip down all hate," I screamed
Lies that life is black and white
Spoke from my skull, I dreamed
Romantic facts of musketeers
Foundationed deep, somehow
Ah, but I was so much older then
I'm younger than that now.

Girls' faces formed the forward path
From phony jealousy
To memorizing politics
Of ancient history
Flung down by corpse evangelists
Unthought of, though, somehow
Ah, but I was so much older then
I'm younger than that now.

A self-ordained professor's tongue
Too serious to fool
Spouted out that liberty
Is just equality in school
"Equality," I spoke their word
As if a wedding vow
Ah, but I was so much older then
I'm younger than that now.

In a soldier's stance, I aimed my hand
At the mongrel dogs who teach
Fearing not I'd become my enemy
In the instant that I preach
My existence led by confusion boats
Mutiny from stern to bow
Ah, but I was so much older then
I'm younger than that now.

Yes, my guard stood hard when abstract threats
Too noble to neglect
Deceived me into thinking
I had something to protect
Good and bad, I define these terms
Quite clear, no doubt, somehow
Ah, but I was so much older then
I'm younger than that now.