MetroLyrics Blog

In this episode, Eugene, Oregon’s “The Stagger and Sway’s” lead singer, Mike Last, shares the story behind their eponymous song “Stagger and Sway.”
This song was written on the tail-end of a LONG drive from Chicago to Eugene, Oregon, in a rattle-trap of a box-van. This was the kind of drive where the beginning marked [...]

In this episode, Mentone, CA’s Steve Carroll shares the story behind his song “Fall.”
Lately I’ve been in the habit of ending each show with this song. It has a nice flow to it. Poetic and emotional, and resonant, maybe it echos within people a little after I finish, which is a good way to end, [...]

In this episode, Kathryn Ostenberg, of Hollywood & Colorado, shares the story behind her song “Who Really Knows.” Kathryn will be playing at the Hotel Cafe in Los Angeles on January 30th. Details for this and other upcoming shows are available on her MySpace page.
This is definitely the most personal song I’ve written, even though [...]

photo by dave getzschman
In this episode, Los Angeles’ Tucker Booth shares the lyrics and story for his song “Christy Montana” off his upcoming album “Bum Rap.”
The song ‘Christy Montana’ was originally written as a last minute anniversary gift for the protagonist of the song. I had been in love with Christina aka Christy Montana for [...]

In this episode, Rob Getzschman, the man behind Analog Jetpack, shares the story behind their song, “Bury Me In My Jetpack.” The band is originally from Washington, DC, and currently based in Los Angeles, and their comic strip and unique aesthetic are Rob’s inspiration as well.
“Bury Me In My Jetpack” owes a great debt [...]

In this episode, Eugene, Oregon’s Justin King shares the story behind his song “Sparrows,” which is featured no his latest album, Humilitas Occidit Superbiam.
I wrote this tune sitting on a roof in New York. It’s mostly a song about the failure I felt in my relationships and with the band. [Justin King and the Apologies] [...]

In this episode, Portland Oregon’s Fred Van Vactor tells the story behind his song, “Leaving Eugene.”
I remember a piece of sage advice from my 7th grade writing teacher who told the class, “write what you know.” I’m completely familiar with the city of Eugene, Oregon. I’ve spent over 25 years bouncing in and out [...]

In this episode, Seattle’s Ehren Ebbage shares the story behind his song, “Snakes.”
Almost all of my songs are written with at least one degree of separation; a real life experience inspires an idea but the names and dates are changed to protect identities, so to speak.
Snakes is one of the few that are totally [...]

In this episode, Portland, Oregon’s The Dimes share the story behind their song, “Paul Kern Can’t Sleep.” (As told by lead singer, Johnny Clay.)
“Paul Kern Can’t Sleep” is the story of a WWI vet who was shot in the head in battle. Doctors were able to save him, but the bullet struck the part of [...]

So either you’ve had a lovely Christmas and now you’re cruising the Internet looking for something to do in the wake of eating and exchanging gifts, or you don’t celebrate Christmas and can only eat so much Chinese food and see so many movies. However you spent your day today, you’re here now and you [...]

While tearing up at an old episode of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition on CMT, I caught an ad for The Singing Bee that had nothing to do with Mario Lopez Joey Fatone and made an appeal to the viewer to preserve the integrity of song lyrics by watching and participating in the show. It got [...]

In this episode, These United States, from Washington, DC, and Lexington, KY, share the story behind their song, “The Important Thing.” (As told by lead singer, Jesse Elliott.)
This is the most straightforward song I’ve ever written. I couldn’t say exactly what it’s about. A lotta people assume it’s Love. Just as many [...]

In this episode, Oregon’s “The Comforters” share the story behind their song, “Lazy Sundays.”
I would love to be able to say that when the muse strikes, I just have to get out of the way, that I’m merely a conduit for the song to get out. The truth is, I’m more like that annoying faucet [...]

In this episode, Seattle’s “The Soft Hills” share the story behind their song, “Molten Change.”
Molten Change consists of two parts: A and B. In part A there are several layers of experience juxtaposed together, happening all in the mind of a man named, Ashely. The story begins with Ashely peering into his psychic landscape of [...]

Carrie Underwood’s “Cowboy Cassanova” warns the ladies against a troublesome cowboy, but she’s definitely not the first girl (or cowgirl) to fall in love and get burned. Here are some other tales of love gone wrong from some formidable female singers…
1. Patsy Cline’s “Walkin’ After Midnight.” This classic heartbreaker about a woman who spends her [...]

Devendra Banhart’s new album, “What Will We Be,” came out last week, and Stereogum is offering a free stream of samples from it. If you’re new to Devendra, you might remember him as having dated Natalie Portman and featured her in the video to his trippy song, Carmencita.
Here’s the video for Carmencita, which is [...]

In this episode, Swedish almost-legends Spärhusen share the story behind their song, “Apples & Fish.” Also featured is a video of the band performing the song live at the premiere of season two of Illeana Douglas’ Ikea-based Web series, Easy to Assemble, which features the music of Spärhusen and celebrities like Justine Bateman!
Sparhusen was formed [...]

So the Turkey is eaten, the left-overs are in full swing, and America is shopping until it drops. Did you have a good holiday? Did you give thanks?

While thinking about Thanksgiving and music, the first and most demanding song to make the rounds of being stuck in our heads on a loop was “Thank You” [...]

Paramore’s song Ignorance is featured on the MetroLyrics home page this week on the Billboard chart, which is topped by Lady GaGa’s Paparazzi. After reading the lyrics to Ignorance, I wondered how difficult it would be to link the two in a lyrical game of Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon. Here we go:
Degree ONE- From [...]

Sometimes while I’m looking around on MetroLyrics.com, I notice a trend. Today I noticed how often the word “baby” appears in song lyrics, and I decided to search for baby and see how often it came up. Pages and pages of baby-themed songs and artists came up, but as I was scrolling through the first [...]