Sharing Music Lyrics that I Like (Part 3)
by Robert Hackman
Photograph by Kychan on Unsplash
I got lyrics to go Everybody
(I got lyrics to go) Ah c’mon now
I got lyrics to go Ah, check it out y’all
(I got lyrics to go) It’s like that now
Lyrics from the song ‘Lyrics to Go’
By A Tribe Called Quest
Here is the third and final installment of Lyrics I Like for your enjoyment. There are a lot of them.
The best music hooks us, causing us to yearn for more. Lyrics that resonate compel us to sing along even as we attribute our own meanings and intentions to them.
Convincing leadership language gets repeated, too. Your messages are getting through when they get adopted by others. It represents a way group members connect.
Common sayings and stories solidify culture and convey shared values. How people conduct themselves in teams and organizations is vital, yet words guide the way we interpret the actions we see.
As a leader, you may find it helpful to borrow others’ phrases. However, I strongly encourage you to develop wording that reflects your aspirations and what you want for others. Your intentions come through when you use your language. People will trust you and respond accordingly.
I encourage you to share the lyrics you like in comments on social media.
Please take time to luxuriate with music, ponder some lyrics, and reflect on what matters most. Make sure you have fun doing it. Thanks.
Turn the Heat Up
You know I really love you
You know I really care
But I think your bedroom
Was made by Frigidaire
Turn the heat up, baby
Before this lovin’ turns cold
Written by: John Hahn and Jimmy Vivino
Performed by: Shemekia Copeland
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=id95P_7JjZM
I’ve Got to Leave this Woman
When I was givin’ her my money
She treated me like I was B.B. King
Hey, when I was givin’ her my money
She treated me like I was B.B. King
Now I ain’t got no money left
Now she treats me
Like I’m not even a human bein’
Written by: George Henry Jackson
Performed by: B.B. King
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rQDrQXwY6G4
No Particular Place to Go
No particular place to go
So we parked way out on the Kokomo
The night was young, and the moon was gold
So we both decided to take a stroll
Can you imagine the way I felt?
I couldn’t unfasten her safety belt
Written and Performed by: Chuck Berry
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QnnoY8R9yC
Not Fade Away
My love is bigger than a Cadillac
I try to show it, and you drive me back
Your love for me has got to be real
For you to know just how I feel
A love for real and not fade away
Written by: Norman Petty and Charles Holly
Performed by: Buddy Holly and the Crickets
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NN2L84dvoag
Wake Up Everybody
Wake up everybody, no more sleepin in bed
No more backward thinkin’ time for thinkin’ ahead
The world has changed so very much
From what it used to be so
There is so much hatred, war, an’ poverty
Written by: Gene McFadden, John Whitehead, Victor Leon Carstarphen
Performed by: Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OOxoeGL3tTo
Common’s Rap lyrics in the Wake Up Everybody version by John Legend and the Roots, with Melanie Fiona and Common
Breathe the days in
Weave through the maze, and the season so amazing
Feed them and raise them
Seasons are aging: earthquakes, wars, and rumors
I want us to get by, but we’re more than consumers
We’re more than shooters, more than looters
Created in his image, so God live through us
And even in this generation living through computers
Only love, love, love can reboot us
Written and Performed by: Lonnie Lynn, aka Common
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5KI_S4sa3I0
Little Ghetto Boy (Prelude)
So, all the big ballers grab rims and hung in the game
And there’s a degree of difficulty
To make it from the ghetto boy into the manhood
Especially when you know that yo’ fresh greens
Will help eliminated a canned, good
Can good and bad co-exist?
In a place with plenty of off-ramps but no exits
Written by: Ahmir K. Thompson, James Jason Poyser, Kirk Lloyd Douglas, Malik Yusef El Shabazz Jones, Owen L. Biddle
Performed by: The Roots, Malik Yusef, John Legend
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sQDTcJHcliA
A couple of lyrics from Bob Dylan
Simple Twist of Fate
People tell me it’s a sin
To know and feel too much within
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sGnhyoP_DSc
Shelter From the Storm
Not a word was spoken between us, there was little risk involved
Everything up to that point had been left unresolved
Try imagining a place where it’s always safe and warm
“Come in,” she said
“I’ll give you shelter from the storm”
Written and Performed by: Bob Dylyan
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-gsDBuHwqbM
Keep it Loose, Keep it Tight
But the people on the street
Out on buses or on feet
We all got the same blood flow
Oh, in society
Every dollar got a deed
We all need a place so we can go
And feel over the rainbow
Written and Performed by: Amos Lee
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9xt8dVLPLFc
Fever
You give me fever
When you kiss me
Fever when you hold me tight
Fever in the mornin’
A fever all through the night
Written by: Llandel Veguilla Malave, Kisean Anderson, William Rappaport, Henri Lanz, Juan Morera – Peggy Lee’s additional lyrics are uncredited
Performed by: Peggy Lee
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JBANWpzsHts
Be My Life’s Companion
My wife’s and my wedding song.
Be my life’s companion, and you’ll never grow old.
Yes, I’ll love you so much that you’ll never grow old.
Love, and youth, and happiness are yours to have and hold.
Be my life’s companion, be my life’s companion,
And you’ll never grow old.
Written by: Bob Hilliard, Milton Delugg
Performed by: The Mills Brothers
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nDiSwyjhShU
A Foggy Day
I was a stranger in the city
Out of town were the people I knew
I had that feeling of self-pity
What to do? What to do? What to do?
The outlook was decidedly blue
But as I walked through the dreary streets alone
It turned out to be the luckiest day I’ve known
Written by: Ira Gershwin, George Gershwin
Performed by: Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jg66AV7T2So
Passionate Kisses
Is it too much to demand
I want a full house and a rock and roll band
Pens that won’t run out of ink
And cool quiet and time to think
Shouldn’t I have this
Shouldn’t I have this
Shouldn’t I have all of this, and
Passionate kisses
Written and Performed by: Lucinda Williams
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dEqXV9hGk-I
When I Was a Boy
And I tell the man I’m with about the other life I lived
And I say now you’re top gun, I have lost, and you have won
And he says, “Oh no, no, can’t you see
When I was a girl, my mom and I we always talked
And I picked flowers everywhere that I walked.
And I could always cry, now even when I’m alone I seldom do
And I have lost some kindness
Written and Performed by: Dar Williams
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=57BwHKcrO5o
A Couple of lyrics from the Beatles
Why Don’t We Do It In the Road?
No one will be watching us
Why don’t we do it in the road?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p4E6KtQg_z0
The End
And in the end
The love you take
Is equal to the love
You make
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=12R4FzIhdoQ
A couple of lyrics by Sarah McLachlan
Possession
And I would be the one
To hold you down
Kiss you so hard
I’ll take your breath away
And after I’d wipe away the tears
Just close your eyes dear
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IMTPrLNDgGc
Elsewhere
Mother
Can’t you see I’ve got to
Live my life the way I feel is
Right for me
Might not be right for you but it’s
Right for me
Written and Performed by: Sarah McLachlan
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pBptD4ldqaw
Some lyrics by John Gorka
Vinnie Charles is Free
Clothes have all shrunk in size
But most of the weight he gained is in his eyes
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XDxLeQECvp4
I’m From New Jersey
I’m from New Jersey, I don’t expect too much
If the world ended today, I would adjust
I would adjust
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jaWDWojIYS0
Morningside
Don’t want to waste what I have to give
In all of the time that I’ve left to live
Don’t want to waste what I have to give
In any of the time that I’ve got left
I can do more than I thought I could
Work brings more luck than knocking on wood
There’s random bad and random good
Work brings more good luck
Written and Performed by John Gorka
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lUCYyNTa_-g
Some lyrics by Brandi Carlile
Whatever You Do
I never met a morning I could get through
With nothing on my breath to hold the night
And I never said I’m sorry, but I meant to
I never met a coward I don’t like
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Gz1Nqq7_X0
The Mother
The first things that she took from me were selfishness and sleep
She broke a thousand heirlooms I was never meant to keep
She filled my life with color, cancelled plans and trashed my car
But none of that is ever who we are
Written by: Phillip John Hanseroth, Timothy Jay Hanseroth, Brandi M. Carlile
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=npSDM26xlzs
Think
You better think (think)
Think about what you’re tryin’ to do to me, think (think-think)
Let your mind go, let yourself be free
Written by: Aretha Franklin and Ted White
Performed by: Aretha Franklin
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P9yIoSpWWNE
What’s Going On
Father, father
We don’t need to escalate
You see, war is not the answer
For only love can conquer hate
You know we’ve got to find a way
To bring some lovin’ here today
Written by: Marvin Gaye, Renaldo Benson, Alfred Cleveland, Marvin P. Gaye
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H-kA3UtBj4M
A couple of lyrics from the Grateful Dead
Althea
Ain’t nobody messin’ with you but you
Your friends are getting most concerned
Loose with the truth, maybe it’s your fire
Baby, don’t get burned
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZZNZgtj26Fk
Scarlett Begonias
Well, I ain’t always right, but I’ve never been wrong
Seldom turns out the way it does in a song
Once in a while, you get shown the light
In the strangest of places if you look at it right
Written by: Robert Hunter and Jerry Garcia
Performed by: The Grateful Dead
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xt4XAz2WZ3Y
A couple of lyrics by the Indigo Girls
World Falls on Me
Now I woke up in the middle of a dream
Scared the world was too much for me
Sejarez said, “don’t let go
Just plant the seeds and watch them grow”
Hand Me Downs
All with hope, all with hope
That emptiness brings fullness
And loss of love brings wholeness to us all
Written by: Amy Raye
Performed by: the Indigo Girls
A couple of lyrics by Jason Isbell
White Man’s World
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nu4dupoC7EE
Something More Than Free
And the day will come that I’ll find a reason
Somebody proud to love a man like me
My back is numb and my hands are freezing
But what I’m working for is something more than free
And I don’t think on why I’m here where it hurts
I’m just lucky to have the work
Sunday morning I’m too tired to go to church
But I thank God for the work
Written by: Jason Isbell
Performed by: Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit, and Jason Isbell
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VvlTwSWyqUM
Some Highly Romantic Lyrics
Broken Things
You can have my heart, but it isn’t new
It’s been used and broken and only comes in blue
It’s been down a long road, and it got dirty on the way
If I give it to u, will u make it clean
And wash the pain away?
You can have my heart if you don’t mind broken things
You can have my heart if you don’t mind these tears
Cos I heard that you make all things new
So I give these pieces all to you
If you want it, you can have my heart
Written and Performed by: Lucy Kaplansky
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-SqAaf1E-w
Send One Your Love
I know that people say two hearts beating as one is unreal
And can only happen in make believe stories
But so blind they all must be that they cannot believe what they see
For around us are miracles of love’s glory, hey
Written and Performed by: Stevie Wonder
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gFMl-OpNkvo
Nothing Can Come Between Us
I always hope that you remember
We’ll never really learn the meaning of it all
What we have is strong and tender, so hold on
In the middle of the madness
When the time is running out and you’re left alone
All I want is you to know that
It’s strong still, can’t pull us apart
Written by: Traci Colleen Hale, Stewart Matthewman, Sade
Performed by: Sade
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PxewBXRs4yw
All That Heaven Will Allow
Rain and storm and dark skies
Well, now they don’t mean a thing
If you got a girl that loves you
And who wants to wear your ring
So c’mon, Mister Trouble
We’ll make it through you somehow
We’ll fill this house with all the love
All that heaven will allow
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SdJIpyiupJo
Romeo and Juliet
I can’t do the talks, like they talk on the TV
And I can’t do a love song, like the way it’s meant to be
I can’t do everything, but I’ll do anything for you
I can’t do anything ‘cept be in love with you
Written by: Mark Knopfler
Performed by: Dire Straits
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-4-AIzKkQMY
If We Were Vampires
Written by: Jason Isbell
Performed by: Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ivYkyC8J29M
Downstream
You are the reason I was born
To be with you through all seasons
I’ll always hear you when you call
We’ll keep the love light shining
Through each night and day
A lonely life behind me
Oh, what a change you’ve made
Written by: Richard Davies, Roger Hodgson
Performed by: Supertramp
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ed_3j6vIfts
You Feed My Soul
You feed my soul, from deep down within
When I think you’ve given all baby, you start all over again
You warm my heart, like nobody before
It’s you that I adore baby
Just when I thought I could not love you anymore
Written by: Wendell Holmes
Performed by: The Holmes Brothers
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kvlpU0iNQ9E
Time After Time
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F1mqrCTFoz4
Dimming of the Day
When all my will is gone you hold me sway
I need you at the dimming of the day
You pulled me like the moon
Pulls on the tide
You know just where I keep my better side
Written by: Richard Thompson
Performed by: Richard and Linda Thompson
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qzqjD-_OMHk
A Little Bit of Everything
Somewhere, a pretty girl is writing invitations
To a wedding she has scheduled for the fall
Her man says, “Baby, can I make an observation?
You don’t seem to be having any fun at all”
She said, “You just worry about your groomsmen and your shirt size
And rest assured that this is making me feel good
I think that love is so much easier than you realize
If you can give yourself to someone, then you should
Written by: Taylore Goldsmith
Performed by: Dawes
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yqhRK_g7WJc
Someone Like You
Someone like you
Make it all worthwhile
Someone like you
Keep me satisfied
Someone exactly like you
Written by: Van Morrison, Hugh Mulligan
Performed by: Van Morrison
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FnVnIKTWhNs
Naïve Melody (This Must Be the Place)
Out of all those kinds of people
You got a face with a view
I’m just an animal looking for a home and
Share the same space for a minute or two
And you love me ’til my heart stops
Love me ’til I’m dead
Eyes that light up, eyes look through you
Cover up the blank spots, hit me on the head, I go
Ooh
Written by: Tina Weymouth, Jerry Harrison, Chris Frantz & David Byrne
Performed by: Talking Heads
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_aNQFcNNnrE
A Little Bit of Everything
This seemed the best way to close out these lyric collections
Oh, it’s a little bit of everything, it’s the Matador and the bull
It’s the suggested daily dosage, it’s the red Moon when it’s full
All these psychics and these doctors, they’re all right and they’re all wrong
It’s like trying to make out every word when they should simply hum along
It’s not some message written in the dark or some truth that no one’s seen
It’s a little bit of everything
Written by: Taylor Goldsmith
Performed by: Dawes
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1JlVeDauFug
Please reach out to me to share your favorite lyrics and to discuss developing your leadership words to benefit yourself, your team, and your company. I welcome the conversation.
Robert Hackman, Principal, 4C Consulting – Courageously Curious Consulting and Coaching, helps people live and lead with fewer regrets. He grows and develops leaders through executive coaching, strategy consulting, facilitation, and training of individuals, teams, and organizations. He is committed to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. He facilitates trusting environments that promote uncommonly candid conversations. Rob is also passionate about the power of Everyday Legacies and developing Legacy Mindsets. He has conducted over 50 Legacy interviews with people to date.
He is a serious man with a dry sense of humor who loves absurdity. Rob can often be found hiking rocky elevations or making music playlists. His varied mixes, including Pandemic Playlists and Music About Men, can be found on Spotify.
Bravely bring your curiosity to a conversation with Rob, schedule via voice or text @ 484.800.2203 or rhackman@4cconsulting.net.