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Songs with Figurative Language

When we hang our lyric tapestry upon the breeze and sculpt the air into poetic phrasing, our laces are bound to get tangled in the winds of change. Wait, what was that? That was figuratively speaking, using poetic metaphors, similes, and expressions to bend the language to suit our message. These songs are almost always beautiful to the ears, even if they're daunting to the comprehension.

Truly, sometimes songwriters just wing it. there's dozens of interviews out there where the lyricist admits that they just jotted this song down in 15 minutes on the back of a bar napkin. Then they'll sheepishly admit that they have no idea, themselves, what a particular line means, but it sounded good at the time. Or as Don McLean answered once when asked what "American Pie" meant for the last time, "It means I never have to work again."

• 
  A Thousand Years
  Christina Perri
• 
  A Year Without Rain
  Selena Gomez
• 
  Africa
  Toto
• 
  Against the Wind
  Bob Seger

  Against the wind
  We were runnin' against the wind
  We were young and strong, we were runnin'
  against the wind

• 
  All Star
  Smash Mouth
• 
  Amnesia
  5 Seconds of Summer
• 
  Animals
  Maroon 5
• 
  Bad Company
  Five Finger Death Punch
• 
  Bat Country
  Avenged Sevenfold
• 
  Believer
  Imagine Dragons
• 
  Bennie and the Jets
  Elton John
• 
  Beside You
  5 Seconds of Summer
• 
  Big Poppa
  Notorious B.I.G.
• 
  Birdhouse in Your Soul
  They Might Be Giants

  Blue canary in the outlet by the light switch
  Who watches over you
  Make a little birdhouse in your soul

• 
  Black Hole Sun
  Soundgarden
• 
  Blank Space
  Taylor Swift
• 
  Blinding Lights
  Weeknd, The
• 
  Bodak Yellow
  Cardi B
• 
  Bohemian Rhapsody
  Queen

  Caught in a landslide
  No escape from reality

• 
  Broken Home
  5 Seconds of Summer
• 
  Can't Help Falling in Love
  Elvis Presley
• 
  Caraphernelia
  Pierce the Veil

  I'll be the fire that'll catch you
  What's so good about picking up the pieces?
  None of the colors ever light up anymore in this hole

• 
  Carry on Wayward Son
  Kansas
• 
  Carrying Cathy
  Ben Folds

  Her window was hung like a painting
  She worried it might come to life
  She stared for hours
  So obsessed was I and self-absorbed that I
  Didn't see that she was crying

• 
  Centuries
  Fall Out Boy
• 
  Chandelier
  Sia
• 
  Circles
  Post Malone
• 
  Cold One
  Eric Church

  "That was a cold one, I never will get back
  Yeah she had to leave, did she have to leave me one beer short of a twelve pack?
  She left me hanging high and dry in that hell high summer sun
  Damn babe, that was a cold one"

• 
  Come Together
  Beatles

  He bag production, he got walrus gumboot
  He got Ono sideboard, he one spinal cracker
  He got feet down below his knee
  Hold you in his armchair you can feel his disease

• 
  Dam Would Break
  Toad the Wet Sprocket

  "I sowed a field of rose and reaped a whipping rod
  And everything i've held too tight inside
  Could make a part of me die
  And if my lips could only speak the name
  The dam would break"

• 
  Dance Monkey
  Tones And I
• 
  Demons
  Imagine Dragons
• 
  Desperation
  Eminem
• 
  Dollhouse
  Melanie Martinez
• 
  Drops of Jupiter
  Train
• 
  Drown
  Bring Me the Horizon
• 
  Dust in the Wind
  Kansas

  All my dreams, pass before my eyes, a curiosity
  Dust in the wind, all they are is dust in the wind.
  Same old song, just a drop of water in an endless sea
  All we do, crumbles to the ground, though we refuse to see

• 
  Every Rose Has Its Thorn
  Poison

  "Every rose has its thorn
  Just like every night has its dawn
  Just like every cowboy sings his sad, sad song
  Every rose has its thorn"

• 
  Every Storm (Runs Out of Rain)
  Gary Allan

  "Every storm runs, runs out of rain, just like
  Every dark night turns into day,"

• 
  Everybody Dies In Their Nightmares
  XXXTENTACION
• 
  Faded
  Alan Walker
• 
  Feel Good Inc.
  Gorillaz
• 
  Fireflies
  Owl City

  Cause I get a thousand hugs
  From ten thousand lightning bugs
  As they try to teach me how to dance
  A foxtrot above my head,
  A sock hop beneath my bed,
  A disco ball is just hanging by a thread

• 
  Firework
  Katy Perry

  "'Cause baby you're a firework
  Come on, show 'em what you're worth
  Make 'em go "Oh, oh, oh"
  As you shoot across the sky-y-y"

• 
  Fly Me to the Moon
  Frank Sinatra
• 
  Girl On Fire
  Alicia Keys
• 
  God's Plan
  Drake
• 
  Gucci Gang
  Lil Pump
• 
  Hallelujah
  Leonard Cohen
• 
  Hands To Myself
  Selena Gomez
• 
  Happier
  Ed Sheeran
• 
  Happy Little Pill
  Troye Sivan
• 
  Havana
  Camila Cabello
• 
  Heart Shaped Box
  Nirvana

  "She eyes me like a pisces when I am weak
  I've been locked inside your Heart Shaped box for a weeks
  I've been drawn into your magnet tar pit trap
  I wish I could eat your cancer when you turn black"

• 
  Hold On
  Shawn Mendes
• 
  Holy Diver
  Dio
• 
  Hooked
  Why Don't We
• 
  Hungry Like the Wolf
  Duran Duran
• 
  Hurricane
  Luke Combs
• 
  I Am A Rock
  Simon & Garfunkel

  I am an island
  I’ve built walls,
  A fortress deep and mighty,
  That none may penetrate

• 
  I Knew I Loved You
  Savage Garden
• 
  Imagination
  Shawn Mendes
• 
  In Bloom
  Nirvana
• 
  Independence Day
  Martina McBride
• 
  Infinity
  One Direction
• 
  Into You
  Ariana Grande
• 
  King For A Day
  Pierce the Veil
• 
  Kiss an Angel Good Mornin'
  Charley Pride

  Kiss an angel good morning
  and let you know you think about her when you're gone
  Kiss an angel good morning
  and love her like the devil when you get back home

• 
  Let It Go
  James Bay
• 
  Let's Go Crazy
  Prince
• 
  Life in the Fast Lane
  Eagles

  There were lines on the mirror, lines on her face
  She pretended not to notice, she was caught up
  in the race

• 
  Life is a Highway
  Tom Cochrane

  Life's like a road that you travel on
  When there's one day here and the next day gone
  Sometimes you bend, sometimes you stand
  Sometimes you turn your back to the wind

• 
  Life is a Highway
  Rascal Flatts

  Life's like a road that you travel on
  When there's one day here and the next day gone
  Sometimes you bend, sometimes you stand
  Sometimes you turn your back to the wind

• 
  Like a G6
  Far*East Movement (FM)

  Sippin sizzurp in my ride, like Three 6
  Now I'm feeling so fly like a G6

• 
  Like a Prayer
  Madonna

  When you call my name it’s like a little prayer
  I’m down on my knees, I wanna take you there
  In the midnight hour I can feel your power
  Just like a prayer you know I’ll take you there

• 
  Like A Rolling Stone
  Bob Dylan

  How does it feel
  To be without a home
  Like a complete unknown
  Like a rolling stone ?

• 
  Like Toy Soldiers
  Eminem
• 
  Lions
  Skillet
• 
  Little Red Corvette
  Prince
• 
  Little Things
  One Direction
• 
  Love Story
  Taylor Swift
• 
  Mercy
  Shawn Mendes
• 
  Migraine
  Twenty One Pilots
• 
  Mo Bamba
  Sheck Wes
• 
  Mr. Tambourine Man
  Bob Dylan
• 
  My Blood
  Twenty One Pilots
• 
  New York, New York
  Frank Sinatra
• 
  No Type
  Mike Will Made It
• 
  Not Today
  Twenty One Pilots
• 
  Old Friends/Bookends
  Simon & Garfunkel

  The sounds of the city
  Sifting through trees
  Settle like dust
  On the shoulders
  Of the old friends

• 
  One Dance
  Drake
• 
  One Last Time
  Ariana Grande
• 
  Photograph
  Ed Sheeran
• 
  Piano Man
  Billy Joel
• 
  Pompeii
  Bastille
• 
  R.I.P. 2 My Youth
  Neighbourhood, The
• 
  Radioactive
  Imagine Dragons
• 
  Raining Blood
  Slayer
• 
  Red
  Taylor Swift
• 
  Red Nose
  Sage The Gemini
• 
  Reminder
  Weeknd, The
• 
  Return to Sender
  Elvis Presley
• 
  Roar
  Katy Perry
• 
  Rock You Like A Hurricane
  Scorpions
• 
  Rolling in the Deep
  Adele
• 
  Rosanna
  Toto
• 
  Say Something
  A Great Big World
• 
  Scars To Your Beautiful
  Alessia Cara
• 
  Shape Of You
  Ed Sheeran
• 
  She
  Tyler the Creator
• 
  Ships
  Barry Manilow
• 
  Sink or Swim
  Tyrone Wells

  Kamikaze airplanes in the sky
  Are we going down or will we fly?
  This could be a shipwreck on the shore
  Or we could sail away forevermore
  This time it's sink or swim, sink or swim

• 
  Six Feet Under
  Billie Eilish
• 
  So Far Away
  Staind
• 
  So Small
  Carrie Underwood

  'Cause sometimes that mountain you've been climbing
  is just a grain of sand ...
  forever is in your hands

• 
  Something Different
  Why Don't We
• 
  Somewhere Out There
  Our Lady Peace
• 
  Speed of Sound
  Coldplay
• 
  Stairway To Heaven
  Led Zeppelin
• 
  Stitches
  Shawn Mendes
• 
  Story of My Life
  One Direction

  Written in these walls are the stories that I can't explain
  I leave my heart open but it stays right here empty for days

• 
  Stressed Out
  Twenty One Pilots
• 
  Stricken
  Disturbed
• 
  Sugar
  Maroon 5
• 
  Summer Love
  One Direction
• 
  Sweater Weather
  Neighbourhood, The
• 
  Take Me To Church
  Hozier
• 
  Talk
  Coldplay
• 
  The Bomb Dot Com V2.0
  Sleeping with Sirens

  These hands hold up nothing but scars underneath (scars underneath)
  From swimming these oceans and learning to breathe (learning to breathe)

• 
  The New National Anthem
  Pierce the Veil
• 
  The Scientist
  Coldplay
• 
  Thunder
  Imagine Dragons
• 
  Thunderstruck
  AC/DC
• 
  Time
  Pink Floyd
• 
  Tonight I Climbed the Wall
  Alan Jackson
• 
  Touch
  Little Mix
• 
  Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey
  Paul McCartney

  We're so sorry, uncle albert,
  But there's no one left at home
  And i believe i'm gonna rain.

• 
  Uncomfortable
  Andy Mineo
• 
  Video Killed The Radio Star
  Buggles, The

  And now we meet in an abandoned studio,
  We hear the playback and it seems so long ago,
  And you remember the jingles used to go?
  Oh-a oh

• 
  Wagon Wheel
  Darius Rucker

  So rock me momma like a wagon wheel
  Rock me momma any way you feel
  Hey momma rock me
  Rock me momma like the wind and the rain
  Rock me momma like a south bound train

• 
  Waiting For Superman
  Daughtry

  She’s talking to angels, counting the stars
  Making a wish on a passing car
  She’s dancing with strangers, falling apart
  Waiting for Superman to pick her up

• 
  Watching You
  Rodney Atkins
• 
  Waterfalls
  TLC
• 
  Welcome to the Jungle
  Guns N' Roses
• 
  What Makes You Beautiful
  One Direction
• 
  What You Give
  Tesla
• 
  Wheel in the Sky
  Journey
• 
  When I Fall
  Barenaked Ladies

  Look straight in the mirror, watch it come clearer
  I look like a painter, behind all the grease
  But paintings creating, and I’m just erasing
  A crystal-clear canvas is my masterpiece

• 
  While My Guitar Gently Weeps
  Beatles
• 
  Wind of Change
  Scorpions

  Take me to the magic of the moment
  On a glory night
  Where the children of tomorrow dream away
  In the wind of change

• 
  Wolves
  Selena Gomez
• 
  Wrecking Ball
  Miley Cyrus

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