# 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:** 22
**Author:** ![Ssounder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d07c76/32.png) [@Ssounder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ssounder)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2023, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-single-lines-in-rock-lyrics/975262/421 "2023-02-24T03:44:26Z")
Christian rock? No offense meant. I honestly don’t know. ---
**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:** [February 24, 2023, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-single-lines-in-rock-lyrics/975262/422 "2023-02-24T03:51:13Z")
@Ssounder, what are you referring to? The songs before yours are The Walrus and Time, and your last post was It’s Too Late… not a Messiah in the mix. ---
**Author:** ![Ssounder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d07c76/32.png) [@Ssounder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ssounder)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2023, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-single-lines-in-rock-lyrics/975262/423 "2023-02-24T03:53:53Z")
My error. Should have quoted. I was referring to Dr.\_Paprika’s lyrics above. I’m not trying to make an issue out of it. ---
**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:** [February 24, 2023, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-single-lines-in-rock-lyrics/975262/424 "2023-02-24T05:15:08Z")
As said, this Shakespearean quote is in a short speech near the ending to _I Am The Walrus_ (Beatles). It’s not really the best single line in music, but it has some class. ---
**Author:** ![Treppenwitz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treppenwitz/32/3445_2.png) [@Treppenwitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Treppenwitz)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2023, 8:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-single-lines-in-rock-lyrics/975262/425 "2023-02-24T08:54:40Z")
_A whistling woman with a comb in her hand is abomination unto the Lord!_ Marbles (Why You Say Yes… ?) by Black Grape j ---
**Author:** ![fordgt100](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@fordgt100](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fordgt100)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2023, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-single-lines-in-rock-lyrics/975262/426 "2023-02-28T04:37:18Z")
“I wanna be sedated” The Ramones ---
**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:** [February 28, 2023, 6:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-single-lines-in-rock-lyrics/975262/427 "2023-02-28T06:42:09Z")
But in the town it was well known when they went home at night their fat and psychopathic wives would thrash them within inches of their lives. –Pink Floyd ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2023, 12:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-single-lines-in-rock-lyrics/975262/428 "2023-02-28T12:09:54Z")
“We have to shout above the din of our Rice Krispies.” -The Police ---
**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:** [February 28, 2023, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-single-lines-in-rock-lyrics/975262/429 "2023-02-28T17:15:56Z")
> [@Dr\_Paprika](#): > > Sit down father, rest you. > [@Dr\_Paprika](#): > > As said, this Shakespearean quote is in a short speech near the ending to _I Am The Walrus_ (Beatles). It’s not really the best single line in music, but it has some class. I didn’t find anybody else mentioning that the source is _King Lear_, Act 4, Scene 6. John wanted something random for that part of the song, so they tuned to one of the BBC radio stations, and that’s what was playing. ---
**Author:** ![MortSahlFan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3bc359/32.png) [@MortSahlFan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MortSahlFan)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2023, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-single-lines-in-rock-lyrics/975262/430 "2023-02-28T17:30:30Z")
Roger Waters line in Pink Floyd “Echoes” **Strangers passing in the street,** **By chance, two separate glances meet,** **And I am you, and what I see is me** ---
**Author:** ![fordgt100](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@fordgt100](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fordgt100)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2023, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-single-lines-in-rock-lyrics/975262/431 "2023-03-03T20:47:30Z")
One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer. George Thorogood and the Destroyers. Saw them in New Orleans at Tchoupitoulas, they tore the house down. Great showmanship, amazing singer and guitarist. Bad To the Bone and Move It On Over are pretty cool lines of theirs too. ---
**Author:** ![fordgt100](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@fordgt100](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fordgt100)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2023, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-single-lines-in-rock-lyrics/975262/432 "2023-03-03T20:49:51Z")
> [@MortSahlFan](#): > > **Strangers passing in the street,** > **By chance, two separate glances meet,** > **And I am you, and what I see is me** Very similar to the Beatles “I am you and you are me and we are all together”. ---
**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:** [March 3, 2023, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-single-lines-in-rock-lyrics/975262/433 "2023-03-03T20:51:24Z")
> [@fordgt100](#): > > One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer. George Thorogood and the Destroyers. Saw them in New Orleans at Tchoupitoulas, they tore the house down. Great showmanship, amazing singer and guitarist. “One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer” is not a Thorogood original. > **[One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_Bourbon,_One_Scotch,_One_Beer)** > > "One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer" (originally "One Scotch, One Bourbon, One Beer") is a blues song written by Rudy Toombs and recorded by Amos Milburn in 1953. It is one of several drinking songs recorded by Milburn in the early 1950s that placed in the top ten of the Billboard R&B chart. Other artists released popular recordings of the song, including John Lee Hooker in 1966 and George Thorogood in 1977. > "One Scotch, One Bourbon, One Beer" is one of Amos Milburn's popular alcohol-themed song... ETA: > [@](#): > > Bad To the Bone and Move It On Over are pretty cool lines of theirs too. “Move It On Over” is a Hank Williams cover, IIRC his first single from 1948, and one of the songs often named as the first rock’n’roll song. ---
**Author:** ![Ssounder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d07c76/32.png) [@Ssounder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ssounder)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2023, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-single-lines-in-rock-lyrics/975262/434 "2023-03-03T21:24:59Z")
> [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > “One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer” is not a Thorogood original. George’s best line in that song is: _everybody funny, now you funny too_ ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2023, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-single-lines-in-rock-lyrics/975262/435 "2023-03-03T23:32:47Z")
> [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > “One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer” is not a Thorogood original. It’s also not a good thing to try. After a shot of bourbon, the scotch shot tastes awful and the beer chaser is not good either. And yet I’ve done it a few times just for fun. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2023, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-single-lines-in-rock-lyrics/975262/436 "2023-03-04T00:41:00Z")
> [@Ssounder](#): > > _And the sons of Pullman porters, and the sons of engineers_ > _ride their fathers’ magic carpets made of steel_ > > The City of New Orleans Oh yes. That is just brilliant. ---
**Author:** ![dirtball](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dirtball/32/18772_2.png) [@dirtball](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dirtball)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2023, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-single-lines-in-rock-lyrics/975262/437 "2023-03-04T02:54:24Z")
“Take your little brother swimmin’ with a brick.” From Queen’s anthem to teenage sexual frustration “Tie Your Mother Down.” ---
**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:** [March 4, 2023, 11:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-single-lines-in-rock-lyrics/975262/438 "2023-03-04T11:40:46Z")
Try this quiz based on the above lyrics. How many songs can you guess? (Best at time of this writing, 55 of 108…) > [@Music Quiz - Name Popular Song Given Brief Lyric](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-quiz-name-popular-song-given-brief-lyric/980697): > > Taken from the “Best Single Lines in Rock Music” thread, can you identify the song and group of any of these fairly popular songs (mostly rock or pop) over many decades? Have you come here to play Jesus To the lepers in you head? If I just lay here Would you lie with me and just forget the world? Elvis was a hero to most You don’t need to be a Weather Man To know which way the wind blows The only girl I’ve ever loved Was born with roses in her eyes And every handout in ev… ---
**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:** [March 11, 2023, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-single-lines-in-rock-lyrics/975262/439 "2023-03-11T13:19:41Z")
“Einstein was not a handsome fellow Nobody ever called him Al” Quark, strangeness and charm - Hawkwind ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Borgia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/larry_borgia/32/156_2.png) [@Larry\_Borgia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Borgia)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2023, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-single-lines-in-rock-lyrics/975262/440 "2023-04-08T18:45:57Z")
We are victorious, we are young All the time in the world to regret what we’ve done. Clutch–“Jackhammer our names” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-single-lines-in-rock-lyrics/975262.md?page=21) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-single-lines-in-rock-lyrics/975262.md?page=23)