Sunday before last marked the fifteen year anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. To a lesser degree, it also marked the fifteen year anniversary of the release of one of my favorite albums, Ben Folds’ Rockin’ The Suburbs.

Enjoy The Luckiest by Ben Folds (from 2001’s Rockin’ The Suburbs).

I don’t get many things right the first time
In fact, I am told that a lot
Now I know all the wrong turns
The stumbles and falls brought me here

And where was I before the day
That I first saw your lovely face?
Now I see it every day

And I know
That I am
I am
I am
The luckiest

What if I’d been born 50 years before you
In a house on the street where you live?
Maybe I’d be outside as you passed on your bike
Would I know?

And in a wide sea of eyes
I see one pair that I recognize

And I know
That I am
I am
I am
The luckiest

I love you more than I have ever found a way to say to you

Next door there’s an old man who lived to his 90s
And one day passed away in his sleep
And his wife, she stayed for a couple of days
And passed away

I’m sorry, I know that’s
A strange way to tell you
That I know we belong

That I know
That I am
I am
I am
The luckiest

If you have a favorite song that features entertaining lyrics which you’d like to see featured as a Lyric of the Week, drop me a line in the comments (or email me at ed@suitcasefullofdimes.com) and tell me what you find special about the song.

I discovered the music of Jennifer Trynin after Aimee Mann did some backing vocals on one of her songs, “Snow.” “Better Than Nothing” got a lot of airplay on MTV’s “120 Minutes” and was her one big hit, but you should do yourself a favor and check out the rest of her catalog.

Enjoy Better Than Nothing by Jennifer Trynin (from 1994’s Cockamamie).

Maybe we could talk in the shower
I’ll bet we’d be gone in an hour
Maybe we could leave all this behind
Or we could just stay home

Maybe we could pool all our money
Maybe head out west to the country
It’d be just like here but we’d be there
Or we could just stay home

It’s better than nothing
It’s better than nothing
I’m feeling good, I’m feeling good
I’m feeling good for now
Good, I’m feeling good, I’m feeling good
I’m feeling good for now
But I know that by tomorrow I’ll probably come around

Maybe we could stay out all night
Two shots of whiskey and have a good fight
Finally figure out who’s really right
I think I’ll just stay home

For now, things don’t seem so bad
I don’t wanna know if I will sink or swim my way to shore

If you have a favorite song that features entertaining lyrics which you’d like to see featured as a Lyric of the Week, drop me a line in the comments (or email me at ed@suitcasefullofdimes.com) and tell me what you find special about the song.

I was at home this morning, fifteen years ago, having recently been laid off from work, watching NBC’s Today. Katie Couric broke away to show that a commercial jet had flown into the World Trade Center. Shortly after that, America watched as a second plane flew into the opposite tower.

Gerard Way (of My Chemical Romance) was on his way to work when he saw this happen and it inspired him to write “Skylines and Turnstiles,” the first song written by the band.

Enjoy Skylines and Turnstiles by My Chemical Romance (from 2002’s I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love).

You’re not in this alone
Let me break this awkward silence
Let me go!
Go on record,
Be the first to say I’m sorry
Hear me out
And if you take me down,
Would you lay me out?
And if the world needs something better,
Let’s give them one more reason now

We walk in single file
We light our rails and punch our time
Ride escalators colder than a cell

This broken city sky
Like butane on my skin
Stolen from my eyes
Hello angel, tell me
Where are you?
Tell me, where we go from here
This broken city sky
Like butane on my skin
Stolen from my eyes
Hello angel, tell me
Where are you?
Tell me where we go from here
Tell me we go from…

And in this moment we can’t close the lids
On burning eyes
Our memories blanket us with friends we know
Like fallout vapor
Steel corpses stretch out towards an ending sun
Scorched and black
It reaches in and tears your flesh apart
As ice cold hands rip into your heart

That’s if you’ve still got one that’s left
Inside that cave you call a chest
And after seeing what we saw
Can we still reclaim our innocence?
And if the world needs something better
Let’s give them one more reason now

This broken city sky
Like butane on my skin
And stolen from my eyes
Hello angel, tell me
Where are you?
Tell me, where we go from here
This broken city sky
Like butane on my skin
Stolen from my eyes
Hello angel, tell me
Where are you?
Tell me where we go from here
Tell me where we go from here

If you have a favorite song that features entertaining lyrics which you’d like to see featured as a Lyric of the Week, drop me a line in the comments (or email me at ed@suitcasefullofdimes.com) and tell me what you find special about the song.

There are so few great pop songs about abduction. This week’s lyric is one of those pop-perfect songs that are actually pretty twisted when you really start listening to the words being sung. Brendan Benson co-wrote the song with Jason Falkner (of The Grays and Jellyfish), another of my favorite artists.

Enjoy Sittin’ Pretty by Brendan Benson.

If I point my gun at you
Are you gonna see it my way?
And if I tell you what to do
I think we can make it work this way

And if you run from me, I’ll know
I’ll find you and God help you
She just waits for me at home
I’m going down, I’m taking you

My baby’s tied to a chair
Don’t she look pretty, just sittin’ there?

And if she wants some air, she tells me
(I can’t breathe!)
And if she wants some love, I’ll kiss her
And when I’m close, you know, she can smell me
And when I’m gone, I’ll surely miss her

My baby’s tied to a chair
Don’t she look pretty, just sittin’ there?

If you have a favorite song that features entertaining lyrics which you’d like to see featured as a Lyric of the Week, drop me a line in the comments (or email me at ed@suitcasefullofdimes.com) and tell me what you find special about the song.

Long before the mp3, before the CD, before the cassette tape, there were 8-Tracks. It was meant to be a more portable version of reel-to-reel tape, which was popular with audiophiles of the era. I fondly remember my portable Panasonic 8-Track player and many of the 8-Track tapes I intentionally and, frequently accidentally, acquired through the Columbia Record and Tape Club. Accidentally, of course, when I forgot to mail back those damned cards. But that was just another way to discover new music, right? That’s my excuse and I’m owning it (only because I forgot to send back the card for the Weak Excuse of the Month Club).

Enjoy 8Track by Jim Boggia.

My older sister used to spend all of her time listening to 8Tracks.
She had a plastic Panasonic that she carried in her backpack.

Fresh as a Daisy was her favorite song.
She taught me the words and we’d sing along.
We always had a lot of fun listening to records on the 8Track.

Sometimes the way the music played it came out different on the 8Track.
They did a lot of crazy things to make the record fit the format.

They’d move the songs around to do the math.
Sometimes they’d even cut the songs in half.
But even so, the way my sister always listened was on 8Track.

And we’d sing: “Ooh la la la. Ooh la la la. Ooh la la la. Ooh la la la.”

We’d start it off on Program 1, then Program 2, then Program 3, then Program 4, and then it STOPPED!

PRESS FAST FORWARD!!!

I made this whole thing up, I was too young.
But still, it seems like it was lots of fun.
I know I missed out on a lot because I never had an 8Track.

(I don’t even have a sister.)

If you have a favorite song that features entertaining lyrics which you’d like to see featured as a Lyric of the Week, drop me a line in the comments (or email me at ed@suitcasefullofdimes.com) and tell me what you find special about the song.