Best Lyrical Writing Prompts for 2011

Here are my top 10 songs from 2011 that would make amazing writing prompts. I could write a book about each of you.

10. Sleep by The Roots 
To catch a thief, who stole the soul I prayed to keep
Insomniac, bad dreams got me losing sleep
I'm dead tired, my mind playing tricks, deceit
A face in the glass, unable to admit defeat
All that I am, all that I was is history..





9. Spectrum by Florence and the Machine
...And when we come for you we'll be dressed up all in blue
With the ocean in our arms, kiss your eyes and kiss your palms
And when it's time to pray dressed up all in gray
With metal on our tongues and silver in our lungs...






8. The Last Living Rose by PJ Harvey

Goddamn Europeans
Take me back to beautiful England  
And the gray, damp filthiness
Of ages and battered books
And the fog rolling down behind the mountains
On the graveyards and dead sea captains...




7. A Long Time by Mayer Hawthorne

Oh, Henry was a renegade
Never liked to play it safe
One component at a time
There's got to be a better way
Ohh people come from miles around
Searching for a steady job
Welcome to the Motor Town
Boomin' like an atom bomb...


6. Someone Like You by Adele  
...I hate to turn up out of the blue, uninvited
But I couldn't stay away, I couldn't fight it.
A had hoped you'd see my face and that you'd be reminded
That for me, it isn't over...




5. Mean by Taylor Swift  
...I'll bet you got pushed around,
Somebody made you cold
But the cycle ends right now
'Cause you can't lead me down that road
And you don't know what you don't know...

4. Murder to Excellence by Jay-Z and Kanye West
The old pastor closed the cold casket  
And said the church ain't got enough room for all the tombs
It's a war going on outside we ain't safe from
I feel the pain in my city wherever I go
314 soldiers died in Iraq, 509 died in Chicago...



3. Pumped Up Kicks by Foster the People
Yeah he found a six-shooter gun
In his dad's closet, in the box of fun things
I don't even know what
But he's coming for you, yeah he's coming for you....



2. Man Down by Rihanna
I didn't mean to end his life
I know it wasn't right
I can't even sleep at night
Can't get it off my mind
I need to get out of sight
Before I end up behind bars...


1. Good Life by New Republic
Woke up in London yesterday  
Found myself in the city near Picadilly
Don't really know how I got here
I got some pictures on my phone...

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What songs would you add?


Kim Van Sickler