Blue Oyster Cult - Live For Me Lyrics

Elevator music period.

Which years they were album released?

It was a wet night
And the other guy
Was lubricated with a pint of Jack
His truck hit
Jimmy's chevy
With a sound like a thunder crack

I was working late but I felt it happen
I knew that my brother was laid low
I waited for the call
And then the damn call came
And I knew what I knew and didn't want to know

Live for me
Live for me
Live twice as big
Love twice as long
Work twice as hard
Play all of your cards
Live for me
Live for me
Burn twice as bright
Three times as long
But brother, don't do no one wrong

Beth thought he would make it through the winter
I never really thought so myself
The dark spirit was always hoverin' nearer
And I knew in my heart there was just no help

When he called me to the bed
Took my hand to say goodbye
He said he wouldn't blame nobody
Said he wouldn't ask the Lord why

And when he passed on
A March wind blew
Sun drew away a veil of cloud
We buried him smiling
We buried him deep
And I could hear him sayin' right out loud

Live for me
Live for me
Live twice as big
Love twice as long
Work twice as hard
Play all of your cards
Live for me
Live for me
Burn twice as bright
Three times as long
But brother, don't do no one wrong
Brother, don't do no one wrong

The sound of the kids voices on the playground at the end always gets to me, the ghosts of yesterday...

It was a wet night
And the other guy
Was lubricated with a pint of Jack
His truck hit
Jimmy's chevy
With a sound like a thunder crack

I was working late but I felt it happen
I knew that my brother was laid low
I waited for the call
And then the damn call came
And I knew what I knew and didn't want to know

Live for me
Live for me
Live twice as big
Love twice as long
Work twice as hard
Play all of your cards
Live for me
Live for me
Burn twice as bright
Three times as long
But brother, don't do no one wrong

Beth thought he would make it through the winter
I never really thought so myself
The dark spirit was always hoverin' nearer
And I knew in my heart there was just no help

When he called me to the bed
Took my hand to say goodbye
He said he wouldn't blame nobody
Said he wouldn't ask the Lord why

And when he passed on
A March wind blew
Sun drew away a veil of cloud
We buried him smiling
We buried him deep
And I could hear him sayin' right out loud

Live for me
Live for me
Live twice as big
Love twice as long
Work twice as hard
Play all of your cards
Live for me
Live for me
Burn twice as bright
Three times as long
But brother, don't do no one wrong
Brother, don't do no one wrong...

I didn't know the exact words. Thank you

i waited for the call. and then the damn call came

Bucky, your tone in this song is perfect for this mix! Reminds me of Satriani, who IMHO has one of the coolest tones as well. Buck you da cray-cray MASTUH of Spiritual Haunting Tasty Volcanic Emotion!!

Purchased the CD because I was going to see them that year fell in love with this track

This is an incredible song. Message received. Boc one of the greatest and yet I'm baffled by how many ppl don't listen to more of their criteria. Really sad, they missing out.

what i learned about BOC is that songs shorter than 4 min are good enough and those over 5 min are the best !

its so bad that this album and curse of the hidden mirrors is not on spotify.

Man what a great tune! Buck is so under rated as a writer and musician. I love his guitar parts and melodic sense.

Agree Danny. Melody (and I would add tone) are Buck's signature strengths as a guitar player. In this tune he presses all the right buttons.

I remember only the heavier mags like metal maniacs gave this some promo

They thought he'd make it threw the winter!

I never really thought so myself ..... :))

waited for the call
when the damn call came

Buck fuckin' Dharma!

GREAT ALBUM!!!!

One of their greatest tracks

Yes RoeserFan this song of Buck's is that wonderful that it might crack Blue Oyster Cult's Top 30 Greatest songs ... as we long time fans know that's a huge compliment for a song to have ...

burn twice as bright!

Awesome Lyrics

Trivia fact .. this is the only track on this album where Bobby Rondinelli is on drums. The band wanted him to redo them because he was now the live drummer & they wanted him to be on the album.
John Shirley said in retrospect he wishes the band had chosen this track as the single to promote ..

Steven Wilkinson I got to see Bobby with B.O.C. at a local casino ,talk about epic,Allen on keys and guitar,R.I.P. last days of may still get me

Wow, Buck, wow ... let's add "Moving" & "Touching" to your list of greatness .. we expect quality lyrics, a beautiful vocal & special lead guitar passages .. that's a given, but now we get a song with raw emotions as well ... wow.

In thee, great sun jester, i love the night, sole survivor, perfect water, morning final to name a few. 🤔

From 4:01 on it is just sonic poetry

Think about the juxtaposition between this song - a heartfelt paean with soaring, gorgeous guitar tones set in a complex arrangement - and Hammer Back - a straight ahead smash mouth piece of raw, heavy rock and roll - both flawlessly executed by the same band on the same album. Who else is capable of this?

I have always considered Rush to be in the same league as BOC & Hawkwind for a period of time (they were incredibly creative & accomplished in the 70's) but neither of those bands affects Blue Oyster Cult's status as America's Greatest classic rock act .. or as my all time favourite band.

Steven, I will have to listen to Hawkwind, I don't know know them. I concur on Rush, they are three exceptionally talented musicians (and my first concert ever in 77!). By the way, thanks for the intro to Wishbone Ash. I had not heard them before either but they are great.

Yes I think you could be missing out on Hawkwind ... many BOC fans "get it" with them as well... try Warrior on the Edge of Time (full album) start with Assault & Battery & Golden Void if that doesn't blow your mind they might not be your thing. I highly recommend Space Ritual (1972) live it's incredible & one of the most remarkable double live albums ... Lemmy is playing Bass (very well !!!) on it.
There really are only a few bands that come close to BOC (also The Doors, Yes & Wishbone Ash in different ways imo)

For Ash I'd check out the debut album, Argus, Live Dates, New England & then finally Just Testing (1980) ... my first ever concert was Wishbone Ash on the Just Testing tour & they were brilliant that night.

Poignant. Beautiful. Epic.

Blue Oyster Cult is timeless! Epic American Metal! \m/ \m/. Still going strong after 1972! Always Epic!

Incredibly beautiful guitar work!

entire album is a masterpiece that was totally ignored by main stream radio and the media!!!

i cant even skip to the next song,something just pulls my hand back and says dont even think of touching it!!!

BOC is EPIC!!!

Totally agree Robert. It is one of their best albums. 10 for 10 songs are good, with several positively great and a couple masterpieces. All of this 26 years after their first album. A remarkable achievement.

robert hughes it's too good for main stream

what a great tune,

fucking i can't help but think of my twin brother when i hear this. you have to understand, i don't cry. i try to be as manly as i can be day in day out. fucking i had to wipe a tear. godFUCKINGdammit

@elf man oh, the guy is still alive, it's the thought of getting that damn call

+Queerien lannister  Wow dude I am so glad to know that.But I know exactly what u mean about those kind of calls.Saw BOC tonite.  AWESOME!

@elf man awesome, where was this?

@elf man niiiiice, wish i could have been there

"Heaven Forbid" and "The Curse of the Hidden Mirror" are two real gems. About ten years after the, at the time, latest studioalbum and almost twenty years since the original line-up went off. A band that many probably was seen as a distance memory for most people. And then they get two new studioalbums and a live one that really holds up to the legacy. Many great songs to be found on these!

+Georg Hägglund They definitely made a great comeback.

Proved that they were still out there and making great music!

FUCK- YEAH...

You are spot on.....Buck's guitar magic just gets stronger & stronger

They really were great albums. And how about Bucks clever,, Still Burning,, sequel to The 1980 hit Burning for you. I believe he definitely had his wife in mind while writing that masterpiece. They were creative as any other band out there if not more and on tour forever. Go BOC.

aside from buck dharma and the bass ( player unknown) does anyone know how many guitars this band use when playing a standard track. I think its at least two more and a stun guitar whatever that is i could of course be wrong

@rick BENNETT It's Danny Miranda on bass ;). As to your question - no idea.

+rick BENNETT  I never knew what a stun guitar was either.Just always sounds great.

+rick BENNETT Sometimes 2, Sometimes 3. Back In The Old Days All 5 Played. Eric Bloom Vocal Guitar Keys, Allen Lanier Keys Guitar For The Most Part....Now Ritchie Castellano Has Replaced Allen Lanier (RIP)

+rick BENNETT The stun guitar was a tongue-in-cheek term they came up with in the old days. Eric Bloom played it and it was characterized by holding notes for a long time. Listen to some tracks on Tyranny & Mutation, especially "Mistress of the Salmon Salt." Eric's long notes create this buzzy effect that stuns the mind.

I've seen all of them get up and rock!

Live for Thee.

Why the scary pics

@GreenRobotDancer thank you thank you, it's actually the album cover

@Queerien lannister
no problem anytime

@GreenRobotDancer amazing album, do you know "secrets of the hidden mirror''?

+GreenRobotDancer Old question, but it's inspired by old horror novels, and this album had a lot of songs referring the supernatural (such as this) and eldritch horror (like Harvest Moon).

Always thought it was a spoof on old horror movies.
Not sure.....

another fine example of a great boc album with no filler!!!

This song is deep and I love it.
BOC still rocks.

elf man BÖC will always rock.

Yeah this is Great!

Why does nobody like the cover?

I think because it depicts ugly, scares, images and tends to minimalise this complex , multi- dimensional band.

Never heard this album, listened to a couple from it now but, so-so..
then of course They ambushed me here.

30 years must gone since the Q of the best band in the world and
i hate to not mention atleast 20, but the big library so high quality and the
generously amount of mad beats, tunes and ways of assamble it not done before

I completely agree - just a very dumb cover

its an awesome cover imo

how cares about the LP cover..this kicks asss

This song always makes me cry a little

Absolutely beautiful song by a great band but the album cover is absolutely horrible!

They replaced it with a Morgan Fairchild look on the cover

Such a gorgeous track. Best on Heaven Forbid, and up there with some of their best work.

Best song of the album.

Having BOCs songs from all of their albums up here has given me a chance to catch up on what I didn't hear in many years. All of their albums have merit. These guys are musicians and creative artists. They deserve our open minds, witnessing the evolution of their sound and character. They gave us great rock and metal in the early years, pop rock in the intermediate term and then a very mature, lyrical sound in the later years. How does anyone not like these guys?

John Houlgate it deffinatly has a diffrent sound than mirrors or agents of fortune but kinda has a similar sound to Club Ninja

Heaven forbid is quickly becoming my favorite BOC album. Outstanding tracks on this one.

It's remarkable for a comeback after 10 years & without Joe & Albert as well, some stunning songs on here.. Harvest Moon, See You In Black, Cold Gray Light of Dawn & Live For Me are top drawer BOC (say no more). I just wish they had found one more instead of the live version of In Thee ... it just feels a bit out of place & tacked on even though it's nice ..

Even thier bubblegum rock songs always had good guitar licks... Loved this band from highschool till now...wow, 34 years and going..

one of BOCs greatest and most underrated songs. Buck is majestic on it

Are you kidding me people? This song is even better having only these 3000 views. Because, this song is like a hidden treasure. Not everyone deserves to have it, and listen to it.

Absolutely amazing but very sad song. The guitar, Buck's vocals, just perfect. I love this track.

Classic track!! Why the HELL is'nt this better known?? Some people just don't know what they're missing.

@KyleJS30 Heaven Forbid we do so.

Aynone else reminded of a Splicer from Bioshock from the cover?

Great album anyway.

I'm just discovering this awesome band, from the first 10 seconds I already knew this is going to be a great song. Their guitar tones are amazing. The band just gets better and better.

superb song

I can't find the BOC logo on the album art, where is it??

Buck said the logo is in the guy's eye on the cover ... absolutely glorious Donald Roeser track btw ...

Love this album/ CD cover.

I know it's not exactly new. What I mean is the way people compare the first albums to the more recent albums. I've read a lot of comments about the first three albums being the best and that BOC was never as good as that again and it really bugs me. Because I think they're still as good as they ever were.

This song is a true story about one of Buck's friends. Sorry for your loss.

For people who say that the new BOC isn't the same, I say listen to this song. If I didn't know better, I'd say it WAS one of their early songs. Which proves that they still rock as hard as they ever did.