Neil's best lyrics / your favourites...

[lalolalo]

Well that’s as maybe in a way
but it’s okay, we laugh, touché
while they stare in front of us

Work of art.

[jules]

Thunder. I wonder?
A storm will come one day
to blow us all away
like dust on the moon
In Luna Park
it can't be dark
too soon

The Prophets all predicted extinction
The Virgin spoke in apparitions
And if it all came to pass now
You feel we'd all deserve it somehow

You've got me all wrong
There's no one I'm missing
I'm quite happy to be alone
There are no lips I'm kissing
The truth must be the truth
unvarnished in its telling
otherwise it's just hype you hope
people won't notice you're peddling

[minimal]

Surprisingly, To step aside hasn’t been mentioned before, has it? I’m wrong, Ramzy did mention it with one of my favourite lines! So I’d like to add:

I look from my window down to the square
at workers still queuing patiently there
for market forces to provide
what history’s so far denied
for a different kind of fate
than to labour long and always wait

And then, of course, there’s Up against it.

Such a cold winter
with scenes as slow as Pinter
Synchronise your watches
There’s still time to kill

and

Wrapped in nostalgia
to queue for a show
Back to Trafalgar
One kiss then I’ll go

I still don't understand why Bilingual is ranked so low by the fanbase. I adore it! These two songs are among their best since the genius of the '80s.

m+

[Drico One]

I love you, you pay my rent.

Drico.

[rashomon]

An embarrassment of riches ... there are so many and I'm nodding in full agreement at those already posted.

Here are a few more that deserve a mention:

Piles of toast and broken promises
among the books and pens and reading glasses
It seems there’s no escape from the humdrum
It’s over and done

Listen, a nightingale sings
in Berkeley Square the bright young things
are flying on chemical wings
intent on their one-last-flings tonight

Your life’s a mystery
mine is an open book
If I could read your mind
I think I’d take a look


We all make a mess
of our lives from time to time
It’s part of the process
that you stumble as you climb

You could say conventional
and I could claim intentional
We’re out again another night
We never have enough
It will be like this forever
when we fall in love

and come on, let's give Chris his dues also ...

Passion and love and sex and money
Violence, religion, injustice and death

[Boc Hi-Scores]

There are so, so many Neil's lyrics that are my favourite, the majority are any that resonate with me.... 'shy, dry. verging on ugly' could easily be my epitaph... but Invisible, when that came out, hitting my stride in middle age, just, hit me hard.
"Look at me
the absentee
disappearing finally
Goodbye"
such a beautiful song musically (everything I want from PSB in that song - depth, range, piano etc...), and the lyrics, just stunning. I confess, I am one of those 'prefer the ballads' over the bangers, and Invisible is a latter day masterpiece from them (and no, dont tell me how many years ago it actually came it, that will just make me feel even older!!)

[DopeFiend]

• Active, attractive, young at heart
  Slim, lovable, blue-eyed, smart
  Tall, successful, needs a wife
  A caring graduate to share your life
  Educated, warm, honest and fun
  Seeks that special one to one
  Varied interests, sincere guy
  Time wasters need not apply
  Music, theatre, talking, food
  Confident, outgoing, in the mood
  
  Women seeking men
  Men seeking women
  Women seeking women
  Men seeking men

I really like these lyrics and how they're delivered.
Neil gets a list! About time after Chris' various lists.
These lyrics have stuck with me in recent days.

Another song, It Must Be Obvious.
I just like the use of the word 'obvious'.

There are so, so many Neil's lyrics that are my favourite, the majority are any that resonate with me.... 'shy, dry. verging on ugly' could easily be my epitaph... but Invisible, when that came out, hitting my stride in middle age, just, hit me hard.
"Look at me
the absentee
disappearing finally
Goodbye"
such a beautiful song musically (everything I want from PSB in that song - depth, range, piano etc...), and the lyrics, just stunning. I confess, I am one of those 'prefer the ballads' over the bangers, and Invisible is a latter day masterpiece from them (and no, dont tell me how many years ago it actually came it, that will just make me feel even older!!)

Yes! That line stands out to me too. I listened to Elysium in full today, and that bit struck me.
I guess you expect "absentee" to be the rhyme, but then throws a 3rd one into the mix with the word "finally".
It's a beautiful song that you can really get into the subject matter and meaning of. The feeling of being completely invisible.
Is it justified by the end of youth? I like those open ended questions. "Am I tragic or a joke" not knowing whether to laugh or cry.
Very well written song.

[petshopgrrl]

• Active, attractive, young at heart
  Slim, lovable, blue-eyed, smart
  Tall, successful, needs a wife
  A caring graduate to share your life
  Educated, warm, honest and fun
  Seeks that special one to one
  Varied interests, sincere guy
  Time wasters need not apply
  Music, theatre, talking, food
  Confident, outgoing, in the mood
  
  Women seeking men
  Men seeking women
  Women seeking women
  Men seeking men

I really like these lyrics and how they're delivered.
Neil gets a list! About time after Chris' various lists.
These lyrics have stuck with me in recent days.

I love this mix! Only got around to hearing it earlier this year. Yes, Neil nails the delivery... and then Chris steals all the thunder with his slightly pervy intonation of "...and possibly more"!

Does anyone remember a song from the early 80s that went something like "person... to person... to personal announcements". I think it was a b-side from a group maybe in Soft Cell's orbit (Vicious Pink springs to mind but I don't think it's them). It rattled off a list of personal announcements in a very similar manner so I wonder if it was inspiration for this mix? I'm sure I have it in a box somewhere but can't find it right now, and Google's AI bot is failing me miserably. The last few spoken lines (or a version of them) are burned in my brain because I played it so much:

Elegant young lady with decadent inclinations seeks older man to cosset and amuse me. Looks no object, it's your soul I want.

[petshopgrrl]

I'm easily led

It's interesting how many times this expression comes up in Neil's lyrics. A quick search of the official PSB lyric pages shows that it pops up in A new bohemia, Reunion, In his imagination and Can you forgive her?

Ditto "go all the way", which shows up in It couldn’t happen here, Together, New London boy and One-way street.

Of course, I have no idea what to deduce from this.