Ronnie James Dio, what are you ON?

A quintessential example of the ridiculous lyrics, Dio should receive some sort of trophy for his contributions. His music will frequently be showcased here. Don't get me wrong, I love the music but the words? Come on now. Check this out: For starters, what exactly is a "Holy Diver"? Does anyone even know? Is it a real thing? I think maybe he just wrote down words & then picked any word that rhymed with the first.

"Ride the tiger. You can see his stripes but you know he's clean. Oh, don't you see what I mean?" Well, no actually I don't.

"Between the velvet lies, there's a truth as hard as steel. The vision never dies. Life's a never ending wheel."

Huh? None of it makes any sense at all. But if you can prevent the logical portion of your brain from making you giggle, it's an awesome tune. Turn it up & "jam" to it at any redlight to freak out the motorists in the next car.

One of my all-time favorite bands is Rush & I particularly love the song "Time Stands Still". Yes, you could take a few bong hits & find some really deep meaning here but in reality, most of this is utter nonsense. How can you explain this:

"I let my skin get too thin, I'd like to pause. No matter what I pretend like some pilgrim who learns to transcend." Pilgrims? Pilgrims? WTF?

Some of them are just too much to break down. I suppose they deserve a post unto themselves. Take "Perfect Strangers", the Deep Purple song that Dream Theater covers even better than the original.

"Can you remember my name as I flow through your life. A thousand oceans I have flown & cold spirits of ice. All my life I am the echo of your past. I am returning the echo of a point in time."

Now, I'm no physicist so maybe there's something to this "echo of a point in time stuff" but I hardly think it's likely. I'll be the first to admit that I don't always get things & sometimes have to be schooled by a knowledgable pal. For instance, I love Kiss but had no idea what a deuce was until Mr. Steph selflessly explained, noble fellow that he is. But in this case, I'm banking on the fact that someone just took a whole lot of acid in the 70's & turned a couple of trips into a huge hit.

Live is one of my favorite bands but their lyrics are often absurd. These guys play great music but, if the lyrics are any indication, they're all crazy as shithouse rats. Aaaah, what a lovely picture that conjures. Ever wonder where these classic sayings come from. I mean, why si a rat in a bathroom any crazier than other rats? Are all rats crazy? If so, what gives with the "shithouse" designation? But I digress, as usual.

Pretty much anything by The Red Hot Chili Peppers, Nirvana, AIC & STP could be posted here & you could do an entire blog on Billy Corigan's lyrics without ever running out of things to note. But we'll get to all of them in good time. Right now, I'm waiting for Tino Martino to send me something from Krokus, that'll probably kick off the next rock lyrics post. Send me submissions on your favorite crazy rock songs.