# 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:** 24
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2024, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-single-lines-in-rock-lyrics/975262/461 "2024-03-07T16:54:34Z")
Clever but creepy, _Two people can never be closer than the killer’s knife and the victim’s plea for life._ -Candy Butchers ---
**Author:** ![Dropo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ce7236/32.png) [@Dropo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dropo)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2024, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-single-lines-in-rock-lyrics/975262/462 "2024-03-07T19:36:14Z")
“Get your black suit on And be a son of a bitch I need a scratch from the hand of the ass that sold me the itch.” —Masters of Reality, “High Noon Amsterdam” ---
**Author:** ![Coriolanus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/coriolanus/32/18769_2.png) [@Coriolanus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coriolanus)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2024, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-single-lines-in-rock-lyrics/975262/463 "2024-03-07T20:53:00Z")
> \*Long-as-she-got-a-dime-the-music-wont-never-stop Chuck Berry - Roll-Over Beethoven ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2024, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-single-lines-in-rock-lyrics/975262/464 "2024-03-07T21:47:47Z")
I don’t know if I’ve posted in this thread before, and there are a lot of posts to look over, so… “The bugle of my backside blows a blues in B.” Supersuckers Born With A Tail ---
**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 7, 2024, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-single-lines-in-rock-lyrics/975262/465 "2024-03-07T22:33:46Z")
“Keats and Yeats are on your side, while Wilde is on mine”. (Cemetery Gates, _The Smiths_). ---
**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 7, 2024, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-single-lines-in-rock-lyrics/975262/466 "2024-03-07T22:36:27Z")
Nitpick: the complete line is : “Keats and Yeats are on your side, _but you lose_, because Wilde is on mine”. Yeah, it’s the greatest line from my favorite Smiths song. ---
**Author:** ![stui\_magpie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stui_magpie/32/11010_2.png) [@stui\_magpie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stui_magpie)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2024, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-single-lines-in-rock-lyrics/975262/467 "2024-03-07T22:53:26Z")
“Keep your drink, just give me the money It’s just you and your hand tonight” Pink. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2024, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-single-lines-in-rock-lyrics/975262/468 "2024-03-07T23:13:45Z")
So whistle in the sweet pine trees the imaginary airport breeze it flickers and flows fans fires in the road and all we want to do is go home _Someone’s Gonna Break Your Heart_ - Fountains of Wayne ---
**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:** [March 8, 2024, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-single-lines-in-rock-lyrics/975262/469 "2024-03-08T02:05:09Z")
More from “The Boxer”: This line most of all: **Seeking out the poorer quarters where the ragged people go** “Looking for the places only they would know.” There’s something weirdly magical about 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:** [March 8, 2024, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-single-lines-in-rock-lyrics/975262/470 "2024-03-08T03:11:55Z")
Nitpick: I think mine might be the correct line from the first verse; but the song ends with your quote, from the fourth verse? ---
**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 8, 2024, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-single-lines-in-rock-lyrics/975262/471 "2024-03-08T03:44:10Z")
“Give me one good reason why I should never make a change”, George Ezra, Budapest “From the moment I could talk, I was ordered to listen”, Cat Stevens, Father and Son “‘Cause everybody knows that smokin’ ain’t allowed in school”, Motley Crüe, Smokin’ In The Boys’ Room “Blame it on the bossa nova with its magic spell” “I heard somebody whisper “Please adore me’, and when I looked the moon had turned to gold”, The Marcels, Blue Moon “We’ll get there fast and then we’ll take things slow”, Beach Boys, Kokomo “So if you pass me by, three hearts will break in two, ‘cuz me myself and I, are all in love with you”, Billie Holiday “These are the contents of my head, And these are the years that we have spent, And this is what they represent”, Annie Lennox, Why “I got a John de conqueroo, I’m gonna mess with you”, Muddy Waters, Hoochie Coochie Man “Out of my window I could see them in the moonlight, two silhouettes saying good night by the garden gate”, Cone Dancing, The Kinks “You can have it all but how much do you want it?”, Supersonic, Oasis Draining the glass, they walk home at last, Reaching for each other’s hands. Nothing is said, he goes to bed, Dreaming of her on his own. She stays up all week, watching him sleep, Scared that she’ll wake up alone.”, Sleeper, What Do I Do Now? “Well if you want to sing out, sing out And if you want to be free, be free”, Cat Stevens ---
**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 8, 2024, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-single-lines-in-rock-lyrics/975262/472 "2024-03-08T04:04:49Z")
“Who’s the Black Sheep, what’s the Black Sheep? Know not who I am, or when I’m coming so you sleep”, Black Sheep, The Choice Is Yours “Ain’t got no future or family tree/ But I know what a prince and lover ought to be”, Spin Doctors, Two Princes “And just like fashion it’s a passion for the with-it and hip, if you got the goods, they’ll come and buy it just to stay in the clique”, Smash Mouth, Walking On The Sun “And you, to whom adversity has dealt the final blow ; With smiling bastards lying to you everywhere you go; Turn to, and put out all your strength of arm and heart and brain”, Stan Rogers, The Mary Ellen Carter “Well it’s too late, tonight, to drag the past out into the light; we’re one but we’re not the same”, U2 “Both mother and daughter, workin’ for the Yankee dollar, oh you vex me, you vex me”, Andrews Sisters, Rum and Coca Cola “The essence, the basics without did you make it? Allow me to make this childlike in nature… Rhythm, you have it or you don’t - that’s a fallacy”, Gorillaz, Clint Eastwood ---
**Author:** ![Mona\_Lott](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ee7513/32.png) [@Mona\_Lott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mona_Lott)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2024, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-single-lines-in-rock-lyrics/975262/473 "2024-03-08T05:41:17Z")
And we’ll go dancing baby, then you’ll see How the magic’s in the music and the music’s in me Do You Believe In Magic The Lovin’ Spoonful ---
**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 8, 2024, 11:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-single-lines-in-rock-lyrics/975262/474 "2024-03-08T11:43:31Z")
Yes, you’re right. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Winston\_OBoogie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.winston_oboogie/32/2945_2.png) [@Dr.Winston\_OBoogie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Winston_OBoogie)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2024, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-single-lines-in-rock-lyrics/975262/475 "2024-03-08T22:59:12Z")
Meet the new boss, same as the old boss. _Won’t Get Fooled Again_, The Who ---
**Author:** ![P-man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/p-man/32/3606_2.png) [@P-man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/P-man)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2024, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-single-lines-in-rock-lyrics/975262/476 "2024-03-08T23:10:02Z")
“How many friends have I really got? Who love me Who want me Who’ll take me as I am?” The Who, “How Many Friends” ---
**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:** [March 9, 2024, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-single-lines-in-rock-lyrics/975262/477 "2024-03-09T00:12:23Z")
Along those lines (pun intended): “One good friend in life is more than most men ever have.” Bill Camplin ---
**Author:** ![chappachula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d2c977/32.png) [@chappachula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chappachula)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2024, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-single-lines-in-rock-lyrics/975262/478 "2024-03-09T04:25:35Z")
There’s an old man sitting next to me Making love to his tonic and gin. A lifetime of angst , in 7 words (Billy Joel, The Piano Man ) ---
**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 9, 2024, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-single-lines-in-rock-lyrics/975262/479 "2024-03-09T21:16:30Z")
“¿Qué horas son, mi corazón?” Manu Chao, Me Gustas Tú. “Il avait de grands yeux très clairs Où parfois passaient des éclairs Comme au ciel passent des orages Il avait plein de tatouages Que j’ai jamais très bien compris Son cou portait « pas vu, pas pris » Edith Piaf, Mon Legionnaire “Soy la mera vena jugando con el ritmo Mono me da el tono, yo pongo los modismos Puro vandalismo, puro carnalismo Seguimos en lo mismo, somos de los mismos Vamos por lo mismo, pero ahora son un chingo La neta hasta los gringos andan zumbando en mi lingo” Cartel de Santa, Bombas y Tarolas “Creo en lo imposible, Creo que es posible Hacer de este mundo Un mundo sensible Creo en nuestros sueños Como punta de lanza, El arma perfecta para nivelar la balanza, Creo en las acciones, las acciones quotidianas Que te llenan de vida, te llenan de esperanza” Ana Tijoux, Creo En Tí “Yo ya estoy hasta la madre de que me pongan sombrero, escuche entonces cuando digo: “No me llames frijolero” Molotov, Frijolero « Je ris au nez des vendeurs d’ordre Des exploiteurs endimanchés Distributeurs de cochonneries Et de bonheurs préfabriqués Allez vous en au paradis. » Les Colocs, Pissiômoins « Mais qu’est-ce qu’un gars peut faire quand y a pus l’goût de boire sa bière? Quand y est tanné de jouer à mère avec la fille de son voisin? Tous mes amis sont disparus Pis moé non plus j’me r’connais pus… » Beau Dommage, Les Blues de la Métropole ---
**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:** [March 9, 2024, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-single-lines-in-rock-lyrics/975262/480 "2024-03-09T21:32:13Z")
Piaf? Pardon, monsieur, j’ai dis _ **rock.** _ 🎸 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-single-lines-in-rock-lyrics/975262.md?page=23) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-single-lines-in-rock-lyrics/975262.md?page=25)