Cool lyrics collection

People who know me know that I collect way too many things.

Some of my collections, like my jerseys and caps, take up a lot of space and are confined to a display in the baseball room. Others, such as my Statues of Liberty, my wife has allowed me to show off on a shelf in the family room – for now.

But some things I just kind of carry around mentally, which I suppose explains why I keep forgetting the important things I’m supposed to remember.

Cool lyrics are one of those mental collections. Some are snippets of songs, others just a refrain. Some I find inspirational. Some are silly but I like the word play. I've kept them confined to my inner-iPod -- until today.

Here are some that jump to mind. I’d love to hear some of your favorites.


When you lift me up with tender care
When you wash me clean in the palms of your hands
Lord hold me close so I can thrive
When you touch me, that’s when I know I’m alive
“Thrive”
Newsboys

I want to be your hands
I want to be your feet
I’ll go where you send me
I’ll go where you send me
And I’ll try, yes I’ll try
To touch the world
Like you’ve touched my heart

“Hands and Feet,”
Audio Adrenaline

I used “Hands and Feet” as part of one of my first lessons as a middle school youth group leader, and it kind of set the tone for everything we did later. It’s popped up a couple other important times in my life, too.

Lord I don’t know where all this is going
Or how it all works out
Lead me to peace that is past all understanding
A peace beyond all doubt
“Lord (I don’t Know)”
Newsboys

I carry this Newsboys song around in my PDA. During frustrating church council meetings I’d slip it out as a prayer for patience and guidance.

Jesus walked out on the water
Said take courage it is me
Peter trusted and he wanted to go farther
So he stepped out on the sea

If I keep my eyes on Jesus
I can walk on water
If I keep my eyes on Jesus
I can walk on water

Just like Peter I want to go farther
Tread on the sea and walk on the water
Step where he steps and go where he goes
Side by side when the sea billows roll
I’ll be all right when the wind comes
I’ll be all right when the waves come crashing
I’m not afraid for this is my father’s world

“Walk on Water”
Audio Adrenaline

I pray to have Peter's blind faith. I spend so much time worrying about things and I know I'm supposed to let go and place them in the Lord's hands. What's crazy is that I can do that with the big things, yet I sweat the small things.

There’s a girl in New York City
Who calls herself the human trampoline
And sometimes when I’m falling, flying
I say “Oh, so this is what she means.”
She means we’re bouncing into Graceland
And I can see losing love
Is like a window in your heart
Everybody sees you’re blown apart
Everybody sees the wind blow
“Graceland”
Paul Simon


No I cannot forget where it is that I come from
I cannot forget the people who love me.
“Small Town”
John Mellencamp

OK, so I use this to justify having the New York shrine on my desk at work.

“This highway is long but I know some that are longer
By sunup tomorrow I guess I’ll be home”
Through the hills of Kentucky ‘cross the Ohio River
The man kept talking about his life and his times
He fell asleep with his head against the window
He said an honest man’s pillow is his peace of mind
“Minutes to Memories”
John Mellencamp



I let my past go too fast
No time to pause –
If I could slow it all down
Like some captain
Whose ship runs aground
I can wait until the tide
Comes around

Time stand still
I’m not looking back
But I want to look around me now
Time stand still
See more of the people
And the places that surround me now

Freeze this moment
Just a little bit longer
Make each sensation
A little bit stronger
Experience slips away

Summer’s going fast
Nights growing colder
Children growing up
Old friends growing older
Experience slips away
“Time Stand Still”
Rush

I could fill this with Rush lyrics. But this is one of Neal Peart’s most brilliant. Life goes by so quickly. And I don’t want to turn back time, but just slow down enough to appreciate every sight and sound and person while they are here.

Now I guess I’ll have to tell ‘em
That I got no cerebellum
Gonna get my Ph. D.
I’m a teenage lobotomy, yeah!
“Teenage Lobotomy”
Ramones

You were licking your lips
And your lipstick’s shining
I was dying just to ask for a taste
“You Took the Words Right Out of My Mouth”
Meat Loaf

Just a couple silly ones. I love the simplicity of the Ramones, but there’s a complexity, too. They were either a bunch of dopes sitting around a Queens basement sniffing glue or a bunch of intelluctuals -- sitting around a Queens basement sniffing glue. Well, I guess we answered that one. But I can’t think of any other songs that can drop cerebellum in there.