But for a quick look-up of why Sinatra thought thirty-five was such a very good year, you can’t beat them. They usually distinguish themselves with better or worse look-up navigation and broader or narrower artist lists. “Who owns the domain name owns the market” doesn’t apply here, so skip lyrics.com (Just one Willie Nelson album, and a non-functioning site search dialog box!?)
Give it a go instead at: seeklyrics.com, oldielyrics.com or azlyrics.com.
Yahoo seems to be hiding their old directory these days but you’ll get a good list of similar sites in their Entertainment Directory.
Now, you can always do the old “throw it at Google and see what comes up” trick, and this works surprisingly well if you pick a distinctive short phrase from the lyrics. But as a map is useless without knowing where you are, if you’re starting out with a full-on bad interpretation of the song you’ll wander around a bit before you hit pay dirt. Though you might find kindred spirits who have posted the same goof-ball misinterpretation you cherish.
If you crave background info in addition to lyrics, Wikipedia is still piling it on. That is, if you really want to know if “Mellow Yellow” dated from before or after Donovan was hanging out with Mia Farrow, The Beatles and the Maharishi in India, Wikipedia’s entry on Donovan is as good a place to start as any.
But what of specialty sites devoted to single artists? The near infinite universe of Bob Dylan lyrics is mostly available at Slopbucket. The Book of Bob there offers a “Frisk Bob” search tool that’s loads of fun. (Hey! I don’t get out to those windy beaches with naked chicks much anymore, so “fun” is where I find it.)
Never neglect going to an artist’s own site or the official fan site. Self-made figures in hip-hop like Sage Francis are generous with lyrics that warrant study and sometimes publish only outside traditional distribution channels.
I have one strong warning for you:
If you truly love Led Zeppelin (or are just pretending to love Zep so your boyfriend will stop bugging you) don’t look up their lyrics on the Web. Total buzz-kill. Some mortal voices are only meant to be heard in the presence of their guitar god overlords. “We come from the land of the ice and snow/From the midnight sun where the hot springs blow.” I really wish there was an easy misinterpretation for that line! Maybe if the hot springs were blowing on a really nice pair of … nah.
