i need to be heard and i'm gunna find the right words

thanks charlie simpson xo

if sunday isn't a day for hungover pensiveness (not getting a red line under it thus am pretending it's a real word) then i don't know what is. i'm not hungover but i am 100% pensive which is okay and so, even more than usual, i am wholeheartedly appreciating the words that emotionally damaged (fe)male singer-songwriters use in their music. for me, the crux of a song is the lyrics and so today i'm just going to type out lots of words which i really enjoy and hope to encourage you to spread your musical wings/ears... what?

this won't be everyone's cup of tea but "what the fuck are you on about?"

i'm going to consciously try to veer away from super sad lyrics, even though i am magnetised to them, and also to stifle myself otherwise we'll be here for months. and yes, i'm fully aware that many of the words i'm quoting weren't written by the (wo)men themselves so here's a big shout out to the middle aged men who work behind the scenes too. it's probably not what you want to read but here's mitch cole's guide to:

"well written lyrics about love and all sorts"

"it's hard to hold onto anything when there's holes in the palm of your hand" 

- neon jungle "fool me"

"got a long list of ex-lovers, they'll tell you i'm insane but i got a blank space baby and i'll write your name"

- taylor swift "blank space"

"and there's a chapter that i keep on trying to read, but the pages stick and crumple where you fingers used to be"

- charlie simpson "winter hymns"

"i had to shatter to pieces; it made me reveal myself. now that you no longer need them, give them to someone else"

- jessie ware "pieces"

"cuz you've been burning bridges whilst i've been building homes. and i'm only your everything when you feel alone // gone are the days that i'll cling to you. throw me to the lions and start anew. and who the hell are you for the hell you put me through?"

- lauren aquilina "irrelevant"
(she is the perfect lyricist, every word of hers is genius)

"no, i didn't pray to god. no, i never saw the light. no, i didn't watch my life go flashing right before my eyes. no, i didn't do the things that they all said that i would do: i just closed my eyes and all i saw was you"

- bo bruce "alive"

"if i had to choose between oxygen and you, it'd be a dead heat"

- diana vickers "dead heat"

"i can't see it, i don't feel it. i need to dig a little deeper. i can't say, i won't say it back. i need to dig a little deeper for you"

- ella eyre "deeper"

"and all the blood i lost with you, it drowns the love i thought i knew"

- ellie goulding "my blood"

"i said i would never be a silly fool but look what you've done to me. said i would never lose but you came in and changed the rules. you win, i love it. i don't care anymore 'cuz who's keeping score? you win, i love it. and my heart is the prize. it's yours every time you win"

- pixie lott "you win"

"why am i so terrified of waking? he's gone and i feel i've been forsaken. in sleep is the only place i get to see him, get to love him"

- lissie "in sleep"

"love is so pure and so tender until it's broken forever; shattered, a million pieces. over, it's over. i don't really feel like laughing, it's not a joke not anymore. i don't really feel like crying, there's no tears here anymore. i don't really feel like trusting, it's not worth it anymore. like the knife of a murderer, you're hurting me more and more"

- vv brown "knife"

as always, i've gone into this half assed and then realised i really liked it about three quarters of the way through. i need to quit whilst i'm "ahead" because i could keep doing this for eternities. i feel genuinely bad that i've missed out on some rather god-like lyricists (fall out boy, the rocket summer, nicola roberts, mariah, mr wonder, tori kelly, busted, paramore, hanson THE LIST GOES ON believe me) but there are lots of words here for you to read and ponder over. they're not all necessarily appropriate right now but at some point they probably were, i can assure you.

evidently, this is something i am quite keen to discuss so if you've been putting off reaching out to this tiny little man, do it now and tell me some of your favourite lyrics. i'd would actually love to hear them as i'm in dire need of good words for this bastard novel i keep putting off. speak now or forever hold your peace (that's a taylor swift quote, not something i actually want you to do. feel free to talk to me whenever the fuck you want, i'm always here) xo