# Best single lines in rock lyrics **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** music\ **Created:** [November 20, 2022, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-single-lines-in-rock-lyrics/975262 "2022-11-20T16:21:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 18
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2023, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-single-lines-in-rock-lyrics/975262/341 "2023-01-09T03:10:42Z")
We’ll meet again, don’t know where, don’t know when… I’m the Berlin Wall, I’m a Communist, You’re a wrecking ball in a summer dress… Now the lounge is full of farmers for the 7:30 draw They shot a movie once, in my home town Another day breaks and the last one’s gone, you dig deep just to carry on Dark eyes and careless hair, you were fashionably sensitive but too cool to care So much for all your highbrow Marxist ways ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2023, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-single-lines-in-rock-lyrics/975262/342 "2023-01-09T15:17:49Z")
Do you listen to music, or do you just skim through it? Playing crokinole with the Princess of Monaco ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2023, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-single-lines-in-rock-lyrics/975262/343 "2023-01-09T15:36:12Z")
I can be handy mending a fuse when the lights have gone Will you read my book, it took me years to write - will you take a look? When you say she’s looking good she acts as if it’s understood Now we know how many holes it takes to fill the Albert Hall ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2023, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-single-lines-in-rock-lyrics/975262/344 "2023-01-09T15:50:25Z")
Thanks for all those, **Dr\_Paprika**! I want to listen to so many of those songs now. So, can you repost all of yours with the artists’ names? I doubt it, it’d take half a day. How about just two? > [@Dr\_Paprika](#): > > We’ll meet again, don’t know where, don’t know when… > > … > > They shot a movie once, in my home town Thanks for all your work on our behalf. ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2023, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-single-lines-in-rock-lyrics/975262/345 "2023-01-09T17:05:58Z")
I was thinking of making a thread getting people to guess the songs. Some of them are too Canadian to be widely known. I figure they can be easily Googled if anyone much cares. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2023, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-single-lines-in-rock-lyrics/975262/346 "2023-01-09T17:28:11Z")
> [@digs](#): > > Thanks for all those, **Dr\_Paprika**! I want to listen to so many of those songs now. So, can you repost all of yours with the artists’ names? > > I doubt it, it’d take half a day. > > How about just two? > > > [@Dr\_Paprika](#): > > > > We’ll meet again, don’t know where, don’t know when… I only guessed about a third of @Dr_Paprika 's contributions, but this is obvious (but not really a rock song): Vera Lynn’s “We’ll Meet Again”, one of the most famous British pop songs ever and a boost for morale of British soldiers and civilians in WWII. [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/HsM_VmN6ytk/hqdefault.jpg?sqp=-oaymwEmCOADEOgC8quKqQMa8AEB-AH-BIAC4AOKAgwIABABGEUgZShlMA8=&rs=AOn4CLC_1LvqKZ8tAgZm2cJ7MBbMuPSMDQ "Vera Lynn - We'll Meet Again") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HsM_VmN6ytk) Though there are connections to rock: I first enconuterd the name “Vera Lynn” in the song “Vera” on Pink Floyd’s “The Wall”, and the first version of the actual song I heard was the Byrds cover. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/bCawgpFg_Bg/maxresdefault.jpg "Vera") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bCawgpFg_Bg) [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/KrdYa7W-R4c/maxresdefault.jpg "The Byrds, "We'll Meet Again"") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KrdYa7W-R4c) ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2023, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-single-lines-in-rock-lyrics/975262/347 "2023-01-09T17:29:54Z")
I was thinking Vera Lynn and it could be easily argued this isn’t rock music. Of course I was aware of later uses. The other song is by a band so Canadian that two of its members were named Gordon - The Tragically Hip. The song is _Blow At High Dough_ or something similar. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2023, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-single-lines-in-rock-lyrics/975262/348 "2023-01-09T18:07:09Z")
_I shoulda known right then it was too good to last,_ _God it’s such a drag when you’re livin’ in the past_ –“Even The Losers” / Tom Petty ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2023, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-single-lines-in-rock-lyrics/975262/349 "2023-01-09T22:26:39Z")
Now that song’s going through my head, and the line before the one you posted is haunting: _Two cars parked on the overpass._ _Rocks hit the water like broken glass._ ---
**Author:** ![Steven\_Maven](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steven_maven/32/3272_2.png) [@Steven\_Maven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steven_Maven)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2023, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-single-lines-in-rock-lyrics/975262/350 "2023-01-10T14:46:52Z")
> [@digs](#): > > Thanks for all those, **Dr\_Paprika**! I want to listen to so many of those songs now. So, can you repost all of yours with the artists’ names? Let me expand that request to EVERYBODY. Please include artist & song title on ALL quotes. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2023, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-single-lines-in-rock-lyrics/975262/351 "2023-01-10T18:45:56Z")
> [@Steven\_Maven](#): > > Let me expand that request to EVERYBODY. Please include artist & song title on ALL quotes. As the OP, I endorse this request. Identify the title and artist, always, as a rule. ---
**Author:** ![Askance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askance/32/8281_2.png) [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2023, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-single-lines-in-rock-lyrics/975262/352 "2023-01-10T22:31:03Z")
Several lines from **Venus** by **Television** : _The world was so thin between my bones and skin_ _There stood another person who was a little surprised_ _To be face to face with a world so alive_ _I fell right into the arms of Venus De Milo_ _I stood up, walked out of the arms of Venus De Milo_ ---
**Author:** ![Ssounder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d07c76/32.png) [@Ssounder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ssounder)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2023, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-single-lines-in-rock-lyrics/975262/353 "2023-01-11T04:14:27Z")
_Try as I might._ _To succeed at this site_ _I followed this thread with all measure_ _But soon it was clear, “Single Line” disappeared_ _And people still posted with pleasure._ _Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not trying to fight_ _Just trying to follow the flow._ _And maybe I might guess what posting is right_ _And won’t be told where to go._ (played on rock guitar) - **Ssounder** ---
**Author:** ![outlierrn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/outlierrn/32/3005_2.png) [@outlierrn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/outlierrn)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2023, 7:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-single-lines-in-rock-lyrics/975262/354 "2023-01-11T07:23:05Z")
And the sign said, “The words of the prophets are written on the subway walls, and tenement halls” And then she kissed me and I realized she probably was right There must be fifty ways to leave your lover She said, “A good day ain’t got not rain” She said, “A bad day’s when I lie in bed And I think of things that might have been” ---
**Author:** ![kwintenstraler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kwintenstraler/32/10698_2.png) [@kwintenstraler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kwintenstraler)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2023, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-single-lines-in-rock-lyrics/975262/355 "2023-01-11T15:07:51Z")
phoney Beatlemania has bitten the dust The Clash - London calling ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2023, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-single-lines-in-rock-lyrics/975262/356 "2023-01-12T19:24:40Z")
From Taylor Swift’s “The Story of Us”: “I’ve never heard silence quite this loud”. ---
**Author:** ![mixdenny](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mixdenny/32/2962_2.png) [@mixdenny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mixdenny)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2023, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-single-lines-in-rock-lyrics/975262/357 "2023-01-13T04:54:32Z")
> [@Johanna](#): > > Dude. For _me_ to quote _that_ song would be way too obvious, as my Joan Baez avatar suggests. But I sure am glad you did! 🙂 It’s truly one of the most quotable songs in the world, and your pick is one of the most perfect lines ever written. I can’t believe I never heard _Visions of Johanna_ before. Or at least I don’t remember it. What quintessentially perfect Dyan lyrics! On the ragged edge of nonsense but wonderfully coherent. It was released when I was 20 and I would have loved to have heard it back then. ---
**Author:** ![mixdenny](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mixdenny/32/2962_2.png) [@mixdenny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mixdenny)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2023, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-single-lines-in-rock-lyrics/975262/358 "2023-01-13T05:40:52Z")
> [@Steven\_Maven](#): > > “Little old lady got mutilated late last night” Possibly the most alliterative line in rock and roll. ---
**Author:** ![mixdenny](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mixdenny/32/2962_2.png) [@mixdenny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mixdenny)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2023, 5:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-single-lines-in-rock-lyrics/975262/359 "2023-01-13T05:55:36Z")
> [@Dr\_Paprika](#): > > It smelled like turpentine it looked like India ink “I held my nose I closed my eyes…I took a drink” You pulled that out of thin air, I wonder how many know where it’s from. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2023, 6:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-single-lines-in-rock-lyrics/975262/360 "2023-01-13T06:10:57Z")
I know where it’s from and I played in a band that played that song. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-single-lines-in-rock-lyrics/975262.md?page=17) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-single-lines-in-rock-lyrics/975262.md?page=19)