Songs that are a lyrical "Withnail and I"

[Nice Relaxing Poo]

I'm talking about tunes that have lyrics where not a line is wasted,  not ones where a friend is duped into going on holiday to a Cumbrian cottage in exchange for a homosexual relative to be allowed bumming rights to him obviously...

I'm nominating "Gravity's Gone" by Drive-By-Truckers

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-WE87LFu5s&ab_channel=WhackaWhacka

A full on fucking ace tune on its own, but the lyrics are brim full of witty and sharp albeit desolate observations, the best of which is in the title:

But I've been falling so long it's like gravity's gone and I'm just floating

I went stumbling through the fog trying to find a reason for the things I told her
She woke up sunny side down and I was still thinking I was too proud to flip her over
Between the champagne hand jobs and the kissing ass by everyone involved
Cocaine rich comes quick and that's why the small dicks have it all

So I'll meet you at the bottom if there really is one
They always told me when you hit it you'll know it
But I've been falling so long it's like gravity's gone and I'm just floating

Those little demons ain't the reasons for the bruises on your soul you've been neglecting
You'll never lose you're mind as long as you're heart always reminds you where you left it
And don't ever let them make you feel like saying what you want is unbecoming
If you were supposed to watch you're mouth all the time I doubt you're eyes would be above it

So I'll meet you at the bottom if there really is one
They always told me when you hit it you'll know it
But I've been falling so long it's like gravity's gone and I'm just floating

Between the champagne hand jobs and the kissing ass by everyone involved
What used to be is gone and what ought to be ought not to be so hard

So I'll meet you at the bottom if there really is one
They always told me when you hit it you'll know it
But I've been falling so long it's like gravity's gone and I'm just floating

But I've been falling so long it's like gravity's gone and I'm just floating

But I've been falling so long it's like gravity's gone and I'm just floating

[Poirots BigGarlickyCorpse]

I've never seen Withnail and I. Are you looking for songs with clever lyrics, songs with desolate lyrics, songs with clever desolate lyrics, or songs with clever desolate lyrics and a distinctly American sound? Because I can post Rainbow Zephyr (Relish), Two Stones (Walking on Cars), Missing You (Christy Moore) or Heavy Hands (Ryan Ike), depending.

[Poirots BigGarlickyCorpse]

It saddens me that this thread has stalled out with no replies, so I am going to open myself up to ridicule and post the most economical and desolate song of the 90s, which still rings true today - Sagat's magnum opus, Funk Dat.

This tale of urban alienation begins thus:

Funk Dat!

Question.

Why is it that every time I'm walking down the street, somebody wants to stop me just to give me a flyer?
Come on, man, funk dat!
Get outta my way!

The entire song is spoken word, backed by three long notes which repeat for the entire song, an endless loop just like the protagonist's life. The "flyer" stands for god-botherers, charity-muggers, takeaway food and consumer tat nobody needs. The flyer itself is destined for the nearest bin, or worse still the pavement. Pre-litter. Get outta my way, indeed.

Question.

Why is it that every time I walk into the bank, the tellers look at me that I'm the one that robbed them last week?
Come on, man, funk dat!
What are you looking at?

Sagat is black and it is reasonable to assume that our protagonist is, too. Here we see the everyday racism he experiences, as the bank tellers react to him as though he's a criminal. Pushed to breaking point by their accusatory stares, he reacts belligerently, and so the cycle continues.

Questionnnn.

Why is it that every time I turn on the radio, I hear the same five songs fifteen times a day for three months?
Man, funk dat!
Get a new DJ!

This biting commentary on the music industry and quality of radio stations also gives a sense of the utter monotony of the protagonist's life. Every day more or less the same, turning on the radio at the same times a day, hearing the same songs over and over for months at a time. Even music provides no escape from the frustration and boredom of life in the city.

Question.

Why is it that bums ask me for money, when I ain't got none?
What is it, an 'in' thing or something? 'Let me remind this dude he ain't got no money.' Huh?
Man, funk dat!
Get a job!

The frustration of daily life has robbed the protagonist of any sympathy for his fellow men. He imagines that "bums" ask him for money as an in-joke among themselves, just to make him feel bad about his own poverty, and finally snaps at them to "get a job". He unwittingly plays into the hands of capitalists and their pet politicians, turning on the less fortunate and blaming their circumstances on their own idleness.

You know, every time I see my neighbour, she tells me to stay out of trouble. The other one looks at me like I'm the one that got her daughter strung out.
Come on man, funk dat!
What are you looking at?

Seems like every time, it never fails, it never fails.
I'm just chilling in my crib, minding my own business, and somebody wants to call me just to talk about nothing.
Funk dat!
Get a life!

In these two verses we see that the protagonist is surrounded by a community. He is on speaking terms with one neighbour, and knows that his other neighbour has a daughter with a drug problem. He has friends or family who care enough about him to call him up just to chat. And he's fed up with all of them. Stop judging me. Stop bothering me. Leave me the funk alone.

Questionnnn.

Why is it that whenever I go out to a nightclub, only the ugly chicks wanna step to me?
I mean like I'm ugly or something, uh? What do you mean, huh?
Funk dat!
Get outta my face!

Simply being asked to dance is taken as a personal attack because the women doing the asking are "ugly chicks". The picture now is complete - a man who is angry at and sick of the society he lives in, pushed to a state of near permanent belligerence by that same society. He remains that way as the track fades out on his sarcastic screed with no end in sight. And yet for all his rage, he cannot even swear. Society has robbed him of this too.

[pigamus]

I remember you well in the Chelsea Hotel
You were talkin' so brave and so sweet
Givin' me head on the unmade bed
While the limousines wait in the street

[Non Stop Dancer]

I was going to nominate a song by The Smiths but I looked at the lyrics to some of them to decide which one and I think I'll just say "most songs by The Smiths".

[Lordofthefiles]

Frank Mills - The Lemonheads

https://youtu.be/FUQg9PpE1iY