Spoken Word in songs.

[blacktiger]

GY!BE - Dead Flag Blues

[blacktiger]

Mercury Rev - So There

[blacktiger]

Maybe I missed these, but I didn't see them posted:

Velvet Underground - The Gift

Velvet Underground - Murder Mystery

[fullerplast]

My favorite spoken song, To Beat the Devil by Kris Kristofferson. The entire thing is spoken except for the 2 choruses (bold) and a line here and there:

It was winter time in Nashville, down on music city row.
And I was lookin' for a place to get myself out of the cold.
To warm the frozen feelin' that was eatin' at my soul.
Keep the chilly wind off my guitar.

My thirsty wanted whisky; my hungry needed beans,
But it'd been of month of paydays since I'd heard that eagle scream.
So with a stomach full of empty and a pocket full of dreams,
I left my pride and stepped inside a bar.

Actually, I guess you'd could call it a Tavern:
Cigarette smoke to the ceiling and sawdust on the floor;
Friendly shadows.

I saw that there was just one old man sittin' at the bar.
And in the mirror I could see him checkin' me and my guitar.
An' he turned and said: "Come up here boy, and show us what you are."
I said: "I'm dry" and he bought me a beer.

He nodded at my guitar and said: "It's a tough life, ain't it?"
I just looked at him. He said: "You ain't makin' any money, are you?"
I said: "You've been readin' my mail."
He just smiled and said: "Let me see that guitar.
"I've got something you oughta hear."
Then he laid it on me:

"If you waste your time a-talkin' to the people who don't listen,
To the things that you are sayin', who do you think's gonna hear.
And if you should die explainin' how the things that they complain about,
Are things they could be changin', who do you think's gonna care?

There were other lonely singers in a world turned deaf and blind,
Who were crucified for what they tried to show.
And their voices have been scattered by the swirling winds of time.
'Cos the truth remains that no-one wants to know."

Well, the old man was a stranger, but I'd heard his song before,
Back when failure had me locked out on the wrong side of the door.
When no-one stood behind me but my shadow on the floor,
And lonesome was more than a state of mind.

You see, the devil haunts a hungry man,
If you don't wanna join him, you got to beat him.
I ain't sayin' I beat the devil, but I drank his beer for nothing.
Then I stole his fucking song...

"And you still can hear me singin' to the people who don't listen,
To the things that I am sayin', prayin' someone's gonna hear.
And I guess I'll die explaining how the things that they complain about,
Are things they could be changin', hopin' someone's gonna care.

I was born a lonely singer, and I'm bound to die the same,
But I've got to feed the hunger in my soul.
And if I never have a nickle, I won't ever die ashamed.
'Cos I don't believe that no-one wants to know."

[sammynb]

Jello in fine spoken voice with Lard - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mK06Hl5DkrI" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Mojo Nixon - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZaD5mAC3P2s" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
As has been pointed out Tom Waits is the master:
Step Right Up - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=URp-Dbhr7EU" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
But FTW it has to be - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U5X4N2exOsU" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[mr bungle]

How about Henry Rollins doing spoken word in Tool's "Bottom?"

First one that came to mind... Starts at 3m15s.

Bottom

[Darcy-Noir]

Velvet Underground - The Gift

Quite possibly my favourite I could think of.

[shadowplay]

I was looking for the originalof this to link to and clicked on this unofficial mashup, it works great with this thought provoking Alan Watts monologue.

Death: Fear Of Nothing - ‪Alan Watts‬ (Trentemøller - Miss you)

D

[Darcy-Noir]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uGDo1YN_q3c
Steve Reich, Come Out
If this counts.

[shadowplay]

One of the most recent and vital spoken word missives is the Sleaford Mods LP - Austerity Dogs

Don't Wanna Disco or 2 - deeply satirical, well observed and hilarious.

This is a single Jobseeker

D

[Plumerai]

The Dead Milkmen - Stuart http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5V6Ebey458Q" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[shadowplay]

C.A.R. - Hijk I adore this chiming. drowsy slice of modernist post punk (if that isn't an oxymoron). Chloé Raunet was previously in Battant.

D

[shadowplay]

I am totally mad about Quebecois synth diva Marie Davidson.

She needs to get right in there and scrub out her grouting but J'adore!

Marie Davidson - Je ne t'aime pas

D

[U.K.L.Lee]

Two weeks ago there was a jam that occurred with some adlibs about which home versions of Donkey Kong were best and paternal questions regarding Baby Mario and Luigi.

Last week threw in an old roadtrip mix cd for the vacation drive and realized I had just subconsciously ripped this off:

(White Stripes - Handsprings)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ae7Iue5dcfI

[HorseyBoy]

Lift to Experience, "The Texas-Jerusalem Crossroads" is just fucking GENIUS: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mgLmmEbWAUw" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Also, all those spoken-word songs Hank Williams did as "Luke the Drifter". Porter Wagoner does some cool ones, too, like "George Leroy Chickashea": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gJfhHmsF37E" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;