This is the first day of my life/
Swear I was born right in the doorway.

The lyrics of Lisa Loeb’s “First Day of My Life” are fantastic.  The original song was written by Bright Eyes. They are the most outstanding lyrics of the past twenty or so years. They are clear and concise.

There are not many songs that you can listen to for the first time and say “I understand what he/she is saying” AND “those are great lyrics”.  And also like the song. Sometimes you have to do a lot of work to find the inner-greatness in lyrics. Any song that hits you immediately is something to take notice of.

There are so many great lines. I can’t think of many artists who hit on this level—lyrically—other than Dylan. And even that is a different kind of experience. Maybe Paul Simon is a better comparison. His lyrics are more accessible.

So why the Lisa Loeb version rather than Bright Eyes? It sounds better than the original. She adds a bit of melody to the song that is lacking in the original. (This is coming from a fan of folk music). She retains the simple guitar sound and overall feel…and also, her voice simply sounds better. No slight against the original version. This may be one of the more controversial choices on the list: not the song—the version.

First Day Of My Life Lyrics

This is the first day of my life
Swear I was born right in the doorway
I went out in the rain, suddenly everything changed
They’re spreading blankets on the beach

Yours was the first face that I saw
I think I was blind before I met you
And I don’t know where I am, I don’t know where I’ve been
But I know where I want to go

And so I’d thought I’d let you know
Yeah, these things take forever, I especially am slow
But I realized that need you
And I wondered if I could come home

Remember the time you drove all night
Just to meet me in the morning?
And I thought it was strange, you said everything changed
You felt as if you just woke up

And you said
“This is the first day of my life
I’m glad I didn’t die before I met you
But now I don’t care, I could go anywhere with you
And I’d probably be happy”

So if you wanna be with me
With these things there’s no telling
We just have to wait and see
But I’d rather be working for a paycheck
Than waiting to win the lottery

Besides, maybe this time is different
I mean, I really think you like me

written by Conor Oberst

And the songbirds are singing, like they know the score/
And I love you, I love you, I love you, like never before.

Lyrically, “Songbird” is a simple song about new love. New love can make the world feel just right—like all your pain will forever disappear or songbirds will sing around you two like a Disney movie. Everything is alright.

“Songbird” is a Fleetwood Mac song sung by Christine McVie. It is McVie’s greatest contribution to Fleetwood Mac. She has a bunch of top forty hits, but none sound as magical and personal as “Songbird”.

She is accompanied by just a piano. Notice the sound of the piano. It sounds majestic. You can almost picture the medium size room and echoing concrete floors and grand piano. The acoustics are great, and it feels “live”.

Can you believe this is another song from their Rumours album? That album is just ridiculous. It is going to have five of the top 500 songs on this list. Not Fleetwood Mac—just songs of Fleetwood Mac’s from their Rumours album. No one else can match that, not even The Beatles or Dylan.

Songbird Lyrics

For you, there’ll be no more crying.
For you, the sun will be shining.
And I feel that when I’m with you,
It’s alright, I know it’s right.

To you, I’ll give the world.
To you, I’ll never be cold.
‘Cause I feel that when I’m with you,
It’s alright, I know it’s right.

And the songbirds are singing, like they know the score.
And I love you, I love you, I love you, like never before.

And I wish you all the love in the world.
But most of all, I wish it from myself.

And the songbirds keep singing, like they know the score
And I love you, I love you, I love you
Like never before, like never before, like never before.

written by Christine Mcvie

Love, look at the two of us/
Strangers in many ways.

You’ve heard The Carpenters version of “For All We Know”. It is great, but did you know it was written by Bread? Their version is superior. It was only released on one of their box sets and it is almost impossible to find. It is also incredibly short at 1:23. The Carpenters fixed this by singing the verse twice. It appears that Bread never had any intention of releasing the song, so the only recording is just the one-time run-through of the verse. However, it is so captivating it is extremely worthy of this spot.

“For All We Know” is not sung by the usual lead singer of Bread, David Gates, it is sung by guitarist James Griffin. The song’s theme is unique. It talks about the excitement of meeting someone new, but in the context of getting to take a lifetime to get to know everything about them. This seems to be one of the truer expressions of love that we find in all of music.

Bread’s sound is very different here, but it shows how versatile the band is.  With “For All We Know”, and If, we see that they are very much in the singer-songwriter vein of the great artists of the 70s in addition to the hits machine that delivered ten top ten radio hits. I love the subtle sound of the guitar and Griffin’s voice. There are no accouterments, just a singer and his guitar (and another guitar). This song is a diamond in the rough and I encourage you to give it a listen.

For what it is worth, The Carpenter’s version on its own would also appear on this list, but together, the two versions push them into the top 50.

For more great songs by Bread.

For All We Know Lyrics

Love, look at the two of us-
Strangers in many ways.
We’ve got a lifetime to share,
So much to say,
And as we go
From day to day.
I’ll feel you close to me.
But time alone will tell.
Let’s take a lifetime to say,
“I knew you well”
For only time will tell us so,
And love may grow
For all we know.

Love, look at the two of us-
Strangers in many ways.
Let’s take a lifetime to say,
“I knew you well”.
For only time will tell us so,
And love may grow
For all we know.

written by Bread