“Lies” – Kumi Koda, Best: Second Session (2006)

Songs called “Lies”, 15th in a series

According to Wikipedia, “though [Kumi Koda’s] early releases presented a conservative, quiet image, since as early as 2003 Koda has adopted a sexier and more provocative style.” The J-pop artist is a fashion trend-setter, and has been compared to Christina Aguilera and Britney Spears.

At least 90% of the video is going over my head. The 10% that remains is disturbing, and not just in the way I assume its creators intended.

The fact that it exists causes me existential angst.

Lyrics

Hey my baby wakatte ita no yo mae kara
Hiki tometai no kokoro mo karada mo
You’re my special You’re my bad boy
Mou ichido sou mitsume naoshite hoshii
I just want you babe
You’re my bad boy

*Repeat

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“Lies (Through the 80s)” – Manfred Mann’s Earth Band, Chance (1980)

Songs called “Lies”, 14th in a series

Fun fact: In 1980, a lot of us really did feel like we were on the brink of the future. The 70s in the US had this laid-back, earth-y/nature-y vibe, but the pendulum swung the other way in 1980, to a self-consciously forward-looking, forward-thinking futurism. That’s where those cheesy 80s fashions came from; we thought they made us look like we belonged in a sci-fi future. Blade Runner came out in 1982, Neuromancer in 1984, but in 1980 the dystopian trend hadn’t appeared yet; it was all about optimism.

Lyrics

We’re all gonna live out the Hollywood dream
Everything’s gonna be just what it seems
Gonna find a better way to run our cars
All through the Eighties
‘Cause the race is on, we’re gonna land on Mars
All through the Eighties
The Video Screen will open up the door
All through the Eighties
Information – there’ll be more and more
All through the Eighties
Will the man on the street finally know the score

But I saw a kid with no smile on his face today
Where is my place in this bright future, I heard him say
I’ve lost my hope there isn’t anywhere to play
(Pull up the trees and put up a parking lot)
I saw a kid with no smile on his face today
Where is my place in this bright future, I heard him say
I saw a kid with no smile on his face today
Where is my place in this bright future, I heard him say
[fading]

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“Lies” – En Vogue, Born to Sing (1990)

Songs called “Lies”, 13th in a series

“Lies” was the second single to be released from En Vogue’s debut album. The R&B/pop quartet was popular throughout the 1990s, and has continued (with some lineup changes) to perform off and on since then.

Lyrics

[chorus:]
Lies, lies, using lies as alibis
Lie’s, lies, just a devil in disguise

[chorus x4: fade]

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“Lies” – Anette Olzon, Shine (2014)

Songs called “Lies”, 12th in a series

Another artist I’d never heard of before I started looking for songs called “Lies”, Anette Olzon is, according to Wikipedia, a Swedish singer best known as the second lead vocalist of Finnish symphonic metal band Nightwish.

Fun fact: My son (who likes to amass metadata on subjects interesting to him but obscure to others; no idea where he got that) pointed out the following chart to me some time ago. It’s from reddit user depo_, and shows that Scandinavia leads the world in metal bands per capita:

Lyrics

Thousand lights passing by
Stories floating around
Silence is long gone by now
All the wishes we had
Dreams that we shared

LIES just passing us by
I’m holding to keep it in sight
Why no wrong can’t be right
All the wonders are gone
No more flowers will fall tonight
All that is gone just passing us by

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“Lies” – Nancy Sinatra, Boots (1966)

Songs called “Lies”, 11th in a series

If you’ve been paying attention, you’ll recognize this as a cover of the previously posted Song called “Lies” #4 by The Knickerbockers. I know it’s cheating to double up like this, but it’s Nancy Sinatra, off the same album as “These Books Are Made for Walkin’”, so I couldn’t help it.

Lyrics (note clever gender-swap from the Knickerbockers version)

Lies, lies,
You’re telling me that you’ll be true.
Lies, lies,
That’s all I ever get from you.
Tears, tears,
I shed a million tears for you.
Tears, tears,
And now you’re loving somebody new.

Lies, you’re breaking my heart.
Man you’re breaking my heart.

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“Lies”, Evanescence, Origin (2000)

Songs called “Lies”, 10th in a series

This song is from Arkansas rock band Evanescence’s first full-length demo CD. They printed 2500 copies and sold them at concerts; these days the band apparently tells fans to just download the song from the Internet. I’m happy to comply.

Fun fact: I had no idea who Evanescence was. Until I actually played the video, I thought it was going to be, like, a lady R&B band. This is not meant as a knock on Evanescence. This is very much an admission of cluelessness by me.

Lyrics:

Bound at every limb by my shackles of fear
Sealed with lies through so many tears
Lost from within, pursuing the end
I fight for the chance to be lied to again

[Chorus]

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“Lies” – Korn, from their self-titled debut album, 1994

Songs called “Lies”, 9th in a series

I’ve listened to a lot of music I otherwise wouldn’t have listened to because of my son. So I have more familiarity than I otherwise would with what I think of as “angry young man” music that traces its origins back to Korn’s debut album, which apparently is something of an ur-recording that ushered in the “nu metal” genre. The guttural screaming vocals in particular, that you can hear some of here, are apparently a big thing these days. I’m sure they have been for a while now. But it took having a teenage son in charge of the car’s audio for me to realize it.

I know there’s always been an element in rock that speaks to the frustrations of young male listeners, their brains practically swimming in testosterone, their parents relentlessly hassling them about their grades, the objects of their barely-manageable sexual urges seemingly out of reach…

God, being a teenage male sucked. I realize now that being a teenage female would have sucked even more, but that’s no comfort to the me-of-the-past I remember being.

Those movies that offer the fantasy of going back to high school, outwardly the age you were then but able to relive those experiences with adult perspective and coping skills, exert a powerful pull on me. But without being able to take those adult tools back with me, to just go back and relive it as an actual teen? I don’t think I’d want to.

It was a wonderful time. But it was a terrible time, too. Interacting on Tumblr with people who are or recently were going through that reminds me of that every day. I have a lot of sympathy, and respect, for those of you going through adolescence. Heroes and heroines all.

Lyrics:

I would like to search inside
for all of the things that you will hide
What’s the problem?
Can’t you seem to
search through these problems that haunt and taunt you
I smile, while you’re afraid
Your run, while you’re so in pain

I want to see the life you have disguised
The world of things that hurt you
Kept all these useless lies
I want you to fear, fill you on up inside
Once I took you in, I’ll throw you out next time
I tried, you win
My life is ripping your heart out and destroying my pain!
Go!

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Lies, The Waifs, from A Brief History [Live], 2005

Songs called “Lies”, 8th in a series

It’s another one that I actually like, yay! I’d never heard of The Waifs before; after The Weepies and some 60’s/70’s-era artists I’m weak in my folk knowledge. They turn out to be pretty big in Australia, though.

Lyrics:

(Hey mama hey mama hey ma they lie) x 3

Oh Lies lies lies (lies lies lies) x3
(Hey mama hey mama hey ma they lie) x 8
And all the while they’re tellin’ you lies.

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“Lies”, Stabbing Westward, from the album Ungod (1994)

Songs called “Lies”, 7th in a series

One thing that systematically curating every song called “Lies” does is get me to listen to music I’ve never listened to before. Stabbing Westward is a band I’d heard of, in a vague sense, but I didn’t know anything beyond that. My son, whose knowledge of what I think of as “angry young man” music is quite extensive, tells me they were a really good band, with a lot of potential, but that they were torn apart (as too many bands are) by music industry issues.

Lyrics:

Your soul a pit of stone,
the depths I wish I could have known
Dangerous, black and full of spite,
thoughts of you fill my night
But now we lay naked on the floor
I’m lost, I’m drowning in your soul
I was searching for some answer in your eyes
I find malicious laughter and a love that has died
You are haunting my reality
Your lies are the only truth that I believe
You are haunting my reality
Now every time I think about you I die

You are haunting my reality
Your lies are the only truth that I believe
You are haunting my reality
Now every time I think about you I die [repeat]
Lies

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“Lies”, Thompson Twins, 1983 appearance on Solid Gold 

Songs called “Lies”, 6th in a series

There are posts you come across on Tumblr that remind you that the old days weren’t all that different from today, that despite the different fashions of earlier times, people were still people, and that there is a timeless quality to the truly beautiful that doesn’t fade.

And then there are posts like this one.

I think this recording of the Thompson Twins lip-syncing “Lies” on Solid Gold may represent the absolute summit of 1980s cheesiness. This clip was already embarrassingly dated when it aired. I lived through this time, and yes, people actually watched this show. It was super popular.

I wasn’t really a Thompson Twins fan, though they were inescapable on MTV. “Lies” wasn’t a favorite of mine, though I did kind of like “If You Were Here” and “Hold Me Now”.

Lyrics:

you told me you loved me
so i don’t understand
why promises are snapped in two
and words are made to bend
(the bigger, the better)
some stolen from japan
collected from around the world,
they’ll catch you if they can

oh you know i know
lies lies lies yeah

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“Lies”, Chvrches, 2012, available on The Bones of What You Believe (2013)

Songs called “Lies”, 5th in a series

The Scottish synthpop trio chvrches (creatively misspelled to help disambiguate them in web searches; clever, that) released “Lies” as a free download in May 2012; their first official single, “The Mother We Share,” was released four months later. Their debut album The Bones of What You Believe came out in September 2013.

Fun fact: Lead singer Lauren Mayberry has a four-year law degree and a masters in journalism.

Alternate fun fact: When one digs through every song ever recorded called “Lies”, some of them are extremely lame. Not this one, though. I actually like this one.

Lyrics:

Faster, faster, you won’t go far
Shouldn’t leave, feeling faith, we both know why
You got to show me, both knees, cold I lie
Hold me slowly, hide me till I can fly
Always we can sing, we can make time
Old songs, flood and flame, you could be mine
But you got to show me, both knees, skin and bone
Clothe me, throw me, move me – till

I can sell you lies
You can’t get enough
Make a true believer of
Anyone anyone anyone
I can call you up if I feel alone
I can feed your dirty mind
Like I know, like I know, what you want

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“Lies”, The Knickerbockers, 1965/1966

Songs called “Lies”, 4th in a series

The Knickerbockers get referred to as “one-hit wonders”, and reading their Wikipedia article, there is a certain That Thing You Do quality to their story. The song “Lies” was their first and biggest hit, reaching the Top 20. It was an attempt to imitate the sound of the Beatles, and was so successful in doing so that some people supposedly have mistaken it for a “lost” Beatles track.

I vaguely recognized the song when I came across it doing research for these posts, but I’m not sure where I first heard it. On the radio growing up, I guess. My wife, on the other hand, knew it instantly, coming in right on cue for the bridge.

Some big-name musicians covered the song in later years, but that’s a subject for another post.

Fun fact: When you start actively looking, there turn out to be a ton of songs called “Lies”.

Lyrics:

Lies, lies, you’re tellin’ me that you’ll be true
Lies, lies, that’s all I ever hear from you
Tears, tears, I shed a million tears for you
Tears, tears, and now you’re lovin’ someone new

Someday I’m gonna be happy
But I don’t know when just now
Lies, lie-ies, a-breakin’ my heart

You think that you’re such a smart girl
And I’ll believe what you say
But who do you think you are, girl
To lead me on this way hey

Lies, lies, I can’t believe a word you say
Lies, lies, are gonna make you sad someday
Some day you’re gonna be lonely
But you won’t find me around
Lies, lie-ies, a-breakin’ my heart

Someday I’m gonna be happy
But I don’t know when just now
Lies, lie-ies, a-breakin’ my heart

You think that you’re such a smart girl
And I’ll believe what you say
But who do you think you are, girl
To lead me on this way hey

Lies (ah!), lies (yeah baby), I can’t believe a word you say
Lies, lies, are gonna make you sad someday
Some day you’re gonna be lonely
But you won’t find me around
Lies, lie-ies, a-breakin’ my heart
I said, baby, now (breakin’ my heart)
Oh, yeah, you’re still breakin’ my heart (breakin’ my heart)

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“Lies” (acoustic version) – Marina and the Diamonds, Electra Heart (2012)

Songs called “Lies”, 3rd in a series

Fun fact: One of the first ‘lies’ Tumblr URL suitors to respond in detail when I asked why she wanted it told me it was because she loved this song. It is a measure of how out-of-touch I am that I had never heard of Marina and the Diamonds before that.

Lyrics:

You’re never gonna love me, so what’s the use?
What’s the point in playing a game you’re gonna lose?
What’s the point in saying you love me like a friend?
What’s the point in saying it’s never gonna end?

Lies, don’t wanna know, don’t wanna know oh
I can’t let you go, can’t let you go oh
I just want it to be perfect
To believe it’s all been worth the fight
Lies, don’t wanna know, don’t wanna know oh

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“Rebellion (Lies)” – Arcade Fire, Funeral (2005)

Songs called “Lies”, 2/X (value of X unknown)

sleeping is giving in no matter what the time is
sleeping is giving in so lift those heavy eyelids
people say that you’ll die faster than without water
but we know it’s just a lie, scare your son and scare your daughter
people say that your dreams are the only things that save ya
come on baby in our dreams we can live our misbehaviour
every time you close your eyes, lies, lies!
people try and hide the night underneath the covers
people try and hide the light underneath the covers
come on hide your lovers underneath the covers
come on hide your lovers underneath the covers
hidin’ from your brothers underneath the covers
come on hide your lovers underneath the covers
people say that you’ll die faster than without water
but we know it’s just a lie, scare your son, scare your daughter
now here’s the sun, it’s alright! now here’s the moon, it’s alright!
now here’s the sun, it’s alright! now here’s the moon, it’s alright!
but every time you close your eyes, lies!

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“Lies” – Trifonic, Emergence (2008)

Songs called “Lies”, 1/X (value of X unknown)

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