And we could equally well go with:
Last time I saw Marie she’s waving me good-bye
With hurry home drops on her cheek that trickled from her eye
j
If Berry had been white, Elvis would be a footnote.
Hurry home drops was coined by Chuck, so far as I can tell. But I was surprised to find that Botheration is also credited to him.
My mother used Botheration all the time. I’m guessing she didn’t know who coined it.
/aside
j
“I’ll be in my basement room with a needle and a spoon
With another girl to take my pain away”
- The Stones - Dead Flowers
“Dancing at the disco, bumper to bumper, wait a minute… where’s me jumper” - Sultans of Ping FC
A couple more drug-related ones:
“I never thought you’d be a junkie because heroin is so passe.”
The Dandy Warhols, “Not If You Were the Last Junkie On Earth”
“He found a dragon that bites a hole in his arm at night where all the money goes”
Aldo Nova, “Monkey On Your Back”
The entirety of the lyrics of Simon & Garfunkel’s The Boxer were golden, but I like this one especially:
I have squandered my resistance
for a pocket full of mumbles such are promises
And from Crosby Stills Nash & Young’s Woodstock, the chorus:
We are stardust, we are golden
We are billion year old carbon
And we got to get ourselves back to the garden
And from the same guys, this delicious bit from Suite Judy Blue Eyes:
Chestnut brown canary
Ruby throated sparrow
Sing a song, don’t be long
Thrill me to the marrow
The CSN&Y version is great, but we have to give credit to Joni Mitchell for the lyrics (and the tune).
A line so great Jimmy Destri used it in two different Blondie songs:
Like a millionaire walking on imported air
Pre-dated by John Prine’s 1971 (non-rock) classic Sam Stone:
“There’s a hole in daddy’s arm where all the money goes”
“I’ve looked at life from both sides now”
Joni Mitchell, Both Sides Now
Just bought Joni’s ‘Hejira’ LP, that starts with a beautiful breakup song:
No regrets, Coyote.
We just come from such different sets of circumstance.
I’m up all night in the studio,
And you’re up early on your ranch.
You’ll be brushin’ out a brood mare’s tail
While the sun is ascending
And I’ll just be getting home with my reel to reel,
There’s no comprehending…
There are many great lines in that song, but this is my favorite.
So many things I would have done, but clouds got in my way.
The Band, “We Can Talk About It”: “Did you ever milk a cow? I had a chance one time but I was all dressed up for Sunday.”
Some people might think that the line “Little old lady got mutilated late last night” counts as “violence against against women.” … or not.
BTW, “Jim” doesn’t refer to a man named James. It is 1950s slang for a non-specific person, like today we would say, “dude.”
Throw down your gun, you might shoot yourself
Or is that what you’re trying to do?
Put up a fight you believe to be right
And someday the sun will shine through
You’ve always got something to hide
Something you just can’t tell
And the only time that you’re satisfied
Is with your feet in the wishing well
Wishing Well - Free
When my fist clenches, crack it open
Before I use it and lose my cool
When I smile, tell me some bad news
Before I laugh and act like a fool
… And if I swallow anything evil
Put your finger down my throat
And if I shiver, please give me a blanket
Keep me warm, let me wear your coat When my fist
Behind Blue Eyes - The Who
There are sooo many bands/artists and so many songs. I’m overwhelmed trying to pick.
Oh, here’s one:
It’s all come back too clearly
Yes, I loved you dearly
And if you’re offering me diamonds and rust
I’ve already paid
Joan Baez - Diamonds and Rust
One of these days I’m going to cut you into little pieces!
One Of These Days - Pink Floyd
From Dillinger’s song “Cocaine Running Around My Brain” (even though I don’t like cocaine and don’t want to implicitly endorse it), I think
A knife. A fork. A bottle and a cork. That’s the way we spell New York
belongs in the Oxford Anthology of English Verse.
“No no Jim, you have made a mistake!”
Zevon has a lot of fun with this one on his live Stand in the Fire album (recorded in LA). Some sample lines:
“I saw a werewolf drinking a Perrier at Trader Vic’s”
“I saw Jackson Browne walking down the avenue,
You know his heart is perfect”
“And he’s looking for James Taylor!”