Not someone I really have any knowledge of beyond the radio hits, but I love these lines:
“I went home with the waitress, the way I always do
How was I to know, she was with the Russians, too?”
- Warren Zevon “Lawyers, Guns and Money”
I posted the end lyrics in the thread about beautiful closing lines. Beautiful in its anger and truth.
Here’s the intro: We’re not in Kansas anymore kids!
Tin soldiers and Nixon’s coming
We’re finally on our own
This summer I hear the drumming
Four dead in Ohio
Ohio - CSNY
Utter angst and pain that Clapton has never matched in his search to be a bluesman. Oh…the original, not that bastardized Unplugged version he did!
What’ll you do when you get lonely
And nobody’s waiting by your side?
You’ve been running and hiding much too long
You know it’s just your foolish pride
Layla - Derek and the Dominos
Woke up this morning, put on my slippers, walked in the kitchen and died.
John Prine, Please Done Bury Me
I got up this morning and I put on my shoes
I tied my shoes then I washed my face
I went to the mirror for to comb my head
I made a move didn’t know what to do
I tipped way forward got to break and run
Oh Baby
Oh Baby
Baby, this ain’t me
Baby, this ain’t me
Got so ugly I don’t even know myself
That is, indeed, a great one. 
Personally, I think the opening lyrics of the full version hit even harder;
Cold and misty morning, I heard a warning borne in the air
About an age of power where no one had an hour to spare
Where the seeds have withered, silent children shivered in the cold
Now their faces captured in the lenses of the jackals for gold
I’ll be there
I’ll be there
I’ll be there
Suzanne takes you down to her place near the river
You can hear the boats go by, you can spend the night forever
And you know that she’s half crazy, but that’s why you want to be there
And she feeds you tea and oranges that come all the way from China
And just when you mean to tell her that you have no love to give her
She gets you on her wavelength and she lets the river answer
That you’ve always been her lover
“Suzanne” has been a favorite of mine since I was 13 and was my introduction to Leonard Cohen songs.
I am the god of hell fire and I bring you
Fire
I’ll take you to burn
Fire
I’ll take you to learn
I’ll see you burn!
You fought hard and you saved and learned
Fire - Arthur Brown
Well we got no choice
All the girls and boys
Makin’ all that noise
'Cause they found new toys
Well we can’t salute ya can’t find a flag
If that don’t suit ya that’s a drag
School’s out for summer
School’s out forever
School’s been blown to pieces
School’s Out - Alice Cooper
We don’t need no education
We dont need no thought control
No dark sarcasm in the classroom
Teachers leave those kids alone
Hey! Teachers! Leave them kids alone!
All in all it’s just another brick in the wall.
All in all you’re just another brick in the wall.
Another Brick in the Wall Part 2 - Pink Floyd
Remember when you were young?
You shone like the sun.
Shine on, you crazy diamond
Now there’s a look in your eyes
Like black holes in the sky
Shine on, you crazy diamond
Shine On You Crazy Diamond - Pink Floyd
If I leave here tomorrow
Would you still remember me?
For I must be traveling on now
'Cause there’s too many places I’ve got to see
Free Bird - Lynard Skynard
Company
Always on the run
Destiny is the rising sun
Oh I was born six gun in my hand
Behind a gun I’ll make my final stand
That’s why they call me
Bad Company - Bad Company
Ooo gaa chaka
Ooo gaa Ooo gaa chaka
Ooo gaa chaka
Ooo gaa Ooo gaa chaka
Ooo gaa chaka
Ooo gaa Ooo gaa chaka
Blue Swede - Hooked on a Feeling
The world is a vampire, set to drain
Smashing Pumpkins, “Bullet With Butterfly Wings”
The sirens are screaming, and the fires are howling
Way down in the valley tonight
There’s a man in the shadows with a gun in his eye
And a blade shining oh so bright
There’s evil in the air and there’s thunder in the sky
And a killer’s on the bloodshot streets
And down in the tunnels where the deadly are rising
Oh, I swear I saw a young boy down in the gutter
He was starting to foam in the heat
“I went to the witch doctor, and this is what he said;
he went 'ooh, eeeh, ooh ahh ahh; ting tang, Walla Walla bing bang.”
Witch Doctor- Dave Seville
Except those aren’t the opening lines of the song.
John Prine:
"I woke up this morning to a garbage truck
Looks like this ol’ horseshoe’s done run out of luck
If I came home, would you let me in?
Fry me some pork chops and forgive my sin?"
___Boundless Love
I ain’t got nobody
Hangin’ round my doorstep
Ain’t got no loose change
Just a hangin’ round my jeans
___Knockin’ on Your Screen Door
"The lonesome friends of science say
The world will end most any day
Well, if it does then that’s okay
'Cause I don’t live here anyway
I live down deep inside my head
Where long ago I made my bed
I get my mail in Tennessee
My wife, my dog and my family
Uh-huh"
___Lonesome Friends of Science
“Jumping Jack Flash,” the Rolling Stones:
I was born in a crossfire hurricane
And I howled at my ma in the driving rain
Dublin Blues - Guy Clark
Well, I wished I was in Austin, mmm
In a chilly parlor bar
Drinkin’ Mad Dog Margaritas
And not carin’ where you are
I’m a Fool to Care - Les Paul and Mary Ford
I’m a fool to care when you treat me this way
I know I love you but what can I do, I’m a fool to care
I’m a fool to cry when you tell me goodbye
You left me so blue when you were untrue, I’m a fool to care.
Sweet Old World - Lucinda Williams
See what you lost when you left this world, this sweet old world
See what you lost when you left this world, this sweet old world
The breath from your own lips, the touch of fingertips
A sweet and tender kiss
The sound of a midnight train, wearing someone’s ring
Someone calling your name
Somebody so warm cradled in your arm
Didn’t you think you were worth anything
A couple from the Old 97s.
Doreen
When I first met Doreen
She was barely seventeen
She was drinking whiskey sours in a bar
The way she tossed them back
I would have had a heart attack
But as it is I let her drive my car
Barrier Reef
The Empty Bottle was half empty
The tide was low and I was thirsty
Saw her sittin’ at the bar
Well you know how some girls are
Always making eyes
Well she wasn’t making eyes…
That’s what I get for getting my info from Homer Simpson.
Working on a sex farm
Trying to raise some hard love
Getting out my pitchfork
Poking your hay.
From Muddy Waters: “Ohhhhh Yeahhhh; oh yeah. Everything’s gonna be all right; everything’s gonna be all right this mornin’. Ohhh yeahhh.” Duh-duhhh-duh-duh…