[Björn Blomquist]

> On Wed, 25 Sep 2002 19:37:28 +1200, Brian Jacobs wrote:
> 
> >I was thinking today, one of my favorite things about the 
> Oils is the 
> >fact that their lyrics are so consistently good.  And, when they do 
> >miss, they aren't cringe-worthy.
> 
> An excellent point. Some of the music I like as lyrical weaknesses 
> that embarass me so much that I don't like to play the music to my 
> friends. But even early Oils songs - meaning those on the first two 
> albums, for example - are lyrically good enough. I wouldn't call Oils 
> lyrics brilliant - I don't often find brilliant single thoughts in 
> them, but as a whole the song lyrics are very good.

At the top of my head, I can't recall any "cringe-worthy" lyrics from
the Oils. 
Like Jussi, I wouldn't call their lyrics brilliant though - but in my
case that's because  often I *don't understand them*! The main reason is
of course the "Australia-ness" that most of their lyrics have, so I
shouldn't be the only one with this problem. Or maybe I'm just not
intelligent enough to get it all? Another option... :-P

My favourite songwriter is Ray Davies of The Kinks. Maybe it's because I
understand his lyrics that I appreciate him more than the Oils, but
indeed he is a *well-respected man* for his writing. Even though most of
his writing is brilliant, he has also written some embarrassing lines.
He's actually come up with some "cringe-worthy" stuff - like the first
lines of the otherwise very funny "When I turn off the living room
light":

"Who cares if you're Jewish, 
And your breath smells of garlic, 
And your nose is a shiny red light. 
To me you are gorgeous, 
And everything's right, 
When I turn off the living room light. "

That opening line sure destroys this song from being a masterpiece.

Although probably tongue-in-cheek, the song "Australia" has some of
Davies' ever worst lyrics:

"Australia, you get what you work for 
Nobody has to be any better than what they want to be 
Australia, no class distinction 
Australia, no drug addiction 
Nobody's got a chip on their shoulder
 
We'll surf like they do in the U.S.A. 
We'll fly down to Sydney for our holiday 
On sunny Christmas Day 
Australia, Australia 
No one hesitates at life or beats around the bush in Australia 
So if you're young and if you're healthy 
Why not get a boat and come to Australia"

...and this is pure genius:
 
"Australia sha-la-la-la sha-la-la-la 
Australia sha-la-la-la sha-la-la-la 
Everyone walks around with a perpetual smile across their face 
Australia sha-la-la-la sha-la-la-la 
Australia sha-la-la-la sha-la-la-la" 

Även solen har sina fläckar... :-)

/Björn