Poetry cliches (tongue in cheek, naturally)

[troublkepnyerhedup]

Lips must quell (we'll inherit the earth)
Bastards of young (anthing "of old" is a poetic cliche)
Your snow-white breast (Darlin' One)

[ClamsCasino]

All right, I'll play.

"See the bright pearl sink in a sky of ebony." (Black Eyed Susan)
Every line of Time Flies Tomorrow.

[scoOter]

ClamsCasino said:

All right, I'll play.


Every line of Time Flies Tomorrow.

i will contend here & now that there is no way the line "eyes like hubcabs at the bottom of a river" is a cliche.

carry on.

[troublkepnyerhedup]

scooter said:

i will contend here & now that there is no way the line "eyes like hubcabs at the bottom of a river" is a cliche.

carry on.

that's eyes like TWO hubcaps ... a neat pair, not a whole pile that just got dumped there

[scoOter]

troublkepnyerhedup said:

that's eyes like TWO hubcaps ... a neat pair, not a whole pile that just got dumped there

thanks for the correction, and i maintain my point.

[Smorgasberg]

ClamsCasino said:

All right, I'll play.

Every line of Time Flies Tomorrow.

Oh man, that's one of my most favorite, lyric wise. "Poetic cliches" is a tough category, because if you take something that's old hat, and switch it up i.e. the "bastards of young" example, it's not a cliche anymore. Unless, of course, the switch has been done elsewhere, such as, possibly, "rebel without a clue," (although Paul did beat Petty to that line). Back to Time Flies Tomorrow, I admit that parts of it sound like a twisted Hallmark card, but it works for me. Paul has a well documented romantic side that's a nice contrast to the angrier, more sarcastic stuff.
That whole part from Time Flies that goes,
"Your heart sings with feeling,
It don't ache, but baby it's gonna,
Swing from the ceiling,
Break like a Pinata,
Or break like a whitecap,
In the sand you'll shiver,
With eyes like two hubcaps,
At the bottom of the river,"
is a strong contender for my favorite Westerberg moment. That might be doggerel if it was presented as a poem instead of part of a song, but I'm with Scooter, it's not cliched.

[scoOter]

Smorgasberg said:

Oh man, that's one of my most favorite, lyric wise. "Poetic cliches" is a tough category, because if you take something that's old hat, and switch it up i.e. the "bastards of young" example, it's not a cliche anymore. Unless, of course, the switch has been done elsewhere, such as, possibly, "rebel without a clue," (although Paul did beat Petty to that line). Back to Time Flies Tomorrow, I admit that parts of it sound like a twisted Hallmark card, but it works for me. Paul has a well documented romantic side that's a nice contrast to the angrier, more sarcastic stuff.
That whole part from Time Flies that goes,
"Your heart sings with feeling,
It don't ache, but baby it's gonna,
Swing from the ceiling,
Break like a Pinata,
Or break like a whitecap,
In the sand you'll shiver,
With eyes like two hubcaps,
At the bottom of the river,"
is a strong contender for my favorite Westerberg moment. That might be doggerel if it was presented as a poem instead of part of a song, but I'm with Scooter, it's not cliched.

to be clear, i was just talking about the hubcab part... some of the lyrics make use of cliche (whitecap, heart singing, etc.), but not the hubcap lines.