# 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:** 25
**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, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-single-lines-in-rock-lyrics/975262/481 "2024-03-09T21:33:18Z")
Surely someone by now has tried to cover it and make it electrosamba, reggaeton and synth pop? If not, that is still a rockin’ tattoo. 🎧 ---
**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 10, 2024, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-single-lines-in-rock-lyrics/975262/482 "2024-03-10T16:40:40Z")
“Today’s music ain’t got no soul”. ---
**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 11, 2024, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-single-lines-in-rock-lyrics/975262/483 "2024-03-11T05:17:03Z")
“en el mundo siempre habrá Buena gente, mala gente El que niega, el creyente Sabio, necio, indiferente” Rodolfo, Tabaco y Ron « Mais qui est-ce qui m’a dit que toujours tu m’aimais? Je ne me souviens plus, c’était tard dans la nuit. J’entends encore la voix, mais je ne vois plus les traits: "Il vous aime, c’est secret, lui dites pas que je vous l’ai dit » Carla Bruni, Quelqu’un m’a dit Saskatchewan Tu m’as pris ma femme Mon cheval me parle plus Mes vaches me disent « tu » Les Trois Accords, Saskatchewan « Come te po’ capì’ chi te vo’ bene Si tu le parle miezo americano? Quanno se fa l’amore sott’a luna Come te vene 'ncapa ‘e di’ “I love you”? » Yolanda Be Cool, We No Speak Americano “Ah, get born, keep warm, short pants, romance, Learn to dance, get dressed, get blessed, try to be a success. Please her, please him, buy gifts, don’t steal, don’t lift. Twenty years of schoolin’ and they put you on the day shift” Bob Dylan, Subterranean Homesick Blues “If you don’t like Bob Marley, you better stay away from me.” Forro In The Dark, Nonsensical “My thirsty wanted whisky; my hungry needed beans, but it’d been of month of paydays since I’d heard that eagle scream. So with a stomach full of empty and a pocket full of dreams…” Kris Kristofferson, Beat The Devil ---
**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:** [April 28, 2024, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-single-lines-in-rock-lyrics/975262/484 "2024-04-28T23:38:42Z")
Maybe this earworm can be squished by posting it here: _Maybe the sky doesn’t cry; the rain drops are just condensation our tears cry for children that lie_ -“Maybe the Madman” by The Troggs ---
**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 23, 2026, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-single-lines-in-rock-lyrics/975262/485 "2026-01-23T18:26:04Z")
**I went out on lower Broadway and I felt that place within, That hollow place where mothers weep and angels play with sin.** Bob Dylan, “Dirge” ---
**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 23, 2026, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-single-lines-in-rock-lyrics/975262/486 "2026-01-23T22:41:54Z")
This list is not bad, but not all single lines. > **[62 Of The Most Beautiful Song Lyrics Ever Written](https://www.buzzfeed.com/hannahdobro/most-beautiful-song-lyrics-of-all-time)** > > "Limitless, undying love, which shines around me like a million suns. It calls me on and on, across the universe." ---
**Author:** ![mnemosyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c4cdca/32.png) [@mnemosyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mnemosyne)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2026, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-single-lines-in-rock-lyrics/975262/487 "2026-01-24T01:54:03Z")
I’m currently listening to the same band I already posted a line from but here’s a couple more from The Flatliners: “Let’s walk away from this grave, and from the notion that being foolish is being brave” “No, your spirit’s not broken. It’s just worn out, razor thin.” They do a cover of The Tragically Hip’s _Ahead by a Century_ which includes the following brilliant line: “no dress rehearsal, this is our life’“ I firmly believe there’s no single best song or lyric. It’s what’s best _right now_ when you need to hear it. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2026, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-single-lines-in-rock-lyrics/975262/488 "2026-01-24T03:05:50Z")
“I need to be youthfully felt, cuz God I never felt young.” Hozier, Jackie & Wilson ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2026, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-single-lines-in-rock-lyrics/975262/489 "2026-01-24T03:16:24Z")
> [@Biotop](#): > > Another from The Residents, this time from The Aging Musician: > > “If you like to pretend that you’ll never get old, you got what it takes to rock and roll.” Lies can often give you power Like a coffin filled with flowers Gives life to the living, not the dead. – _Silver, Sharp, And Could Not Care_ by The Residents ---
**Author:** ![Thing.Fish](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thing.fish/32/9168_2.png) [@Thing.Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thing.Fish)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2026, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-single-lines-in-rock-lyrics/975262/490 "2026-01-24T21:53:39Z")
“I wasn’t born, so much as I fell out” — The Clash, “I’m Not Down” ---
**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 24, 2026, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-single-lines-in-rock-lyrics/975262/491 "2026-01-24T21:55:37Z")
Wrong song (though both are great). That line is from “Lost In The Supermarket”. ---
**Author:** ![Thing.Fish](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thing.fish/32/9168_2.png) [@Thing.Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thing.Fish)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2026, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-single-lines-in-rock-lyrics/975262/492 "2026-01-24T21:57:19Z")
You are correct! You win a half-gallon of Guaranteed Personality. ---
**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 24, 2026, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-single-lines-in-rock-lyrics/975262/493 "2026-01-24T21:59:37Z")
Thanks! So finally I have at least _some_ personality. 😄 ---
**Author:** ![2\_More\_Bits](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/2_more_bits/32/4148_2.png) [@2\_More\_Bits](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/2_More_Bits)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2026, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-single-lines-in-rock-lyrics/975262/494 "2026-01-24T22:08:45Z")
“Oh, my distant sons and daughters I hope you can forgive yourselves And I hope you forgive me Oh, my distant sons and daughters There were too many distractions Too much good TV” Sons and Daughters by Bell x1 ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2026, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-single-lines-in-rock-lyrics/975262/495 "2026-01-24T22:20:00Z")
And I remember there was a radio Coming from the room next door And my mother laughed The way some ladies do When it’s late in the evening And the music’s seeping through ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2026, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-single-lines-in-rock-lyrics/975262/496 "2026-01-24T22:53:40Z")
Lot of Springsteen song mentions-- when I do a thread search for ‘Springsteen’ I get 18 hits. And for good reason… I didn’t really appreciate Springsteen when I was younger, but as I’ve gotten older I’ve come to appreciate more and more that the man is a damn blue collar poet. Especially after he stopped trying to copy Dylan in the earlier part of career and found his own voice. But I don’t think anyone’s quoted anything from the song ‘Atlantic City’. I watched _Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere_ last night-- so-so biopic, but that song featured prominently, since the movie focuses on the making of the _Nebraska_ album, and it’s been haunting me all day. I even picked up my acoustic today after neglecting it for months and I’ve been strumming and singing the simple, sparse song. _Well now, everything dies, baby, that’s a fact_ _But maybe everything that dies someday comes back_ ---
**Author:** ![Meatwater](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meatwater/32/20074_2.png) [@Meatwater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meatwater)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2026, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-single-lines-in-rock-lyrics/975262/497 "2026-01-25T14:21:55Z")
“Women seem wicked, when you’re unwanted” People are Strange - The Doors Think most dude bros need to consider this from time to time. ---
**Author:** ![Hazel2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/7cd45c/32.png) [@Hazel2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hazel2)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2026, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-single-lines-in-rock-lyrics/975262/498 "2026-01-25T22:52:47Z")
“You don’t need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows” is **from Bob Dylan’s 1965 song “Subterranean Homesick Blues”** ---
**Author:** ![Al128](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/al128/32/16541_2.png) [@Al128](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Al128)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2026, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-single-lines-in-rock-lyrics/975262/499 "2026-01-25T23:58:07Z")
I woke up Sunday morning with no way to hold my head so it wouldn’t hurt. ---
**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:** [January 26, 2026, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-single-lines-in-rock-lyrics/975262/500 "2026-01-26T00:07:48Z")
From Tom Waits: “There’s no eye for an eye, there’s no tooth for a tooth. I saw Judas Iscariot carrying John Wilkes Booth.” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-single-lines-in-rock-lyrics/975262.md?page=24) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-single-lines-in-rock-lyrics/975262.md?page=26)