Whoosh!
There’s a bathroom on the right.
Ok, after all the many Springsteen lines, I’ll have to post my favorites:
They wanted to know why I did what I did
Sir, I guess there’s just a meanness in this world
“Nebraska”
We learned more from a three minute record, baby
Than we ever learned in school
“No Surrender”
“We’re all microscopic cogs in his catastrophic plans,
Designed and directed by his Red Right Hand.” (Nick Cave)
“I wrote for luck. They sent me you.” (Happy Mondays)
“Jesus died for somebody’s sins but not mine.” (Patti Smith)
“I fell right into the arms of Venus de Milo.” (Television)
“Should we awake and find it gone, remember this, our favorite town.” (Talking Heads)
“And, and then we get naked.”
Actually, I recall my 8th grade music teacher exclaiming that Number 9 was not a song. That it was acid rock and only made sense to people on LSD. So the White Album was one of the first albums I tripped to in college. Thanks, music teacher! You were right on.
The Champs had a way with word:
Tequila!
Actually, it’s a terrible diss, because she is in fact really going out with him.
Wipeout!
We’ve had similar threads in the past and and my go-to line is the same as OP’s.
The opening line from year of The Cat and just prior to the above:
On a morning from a Bogart movie
In a country where they turn back time
You go strolling through the crowd like Peter Lorre
Contemplating a crime.
Al Stewart is is an excellent wordsmith.
So many great replies! This morning I was listening to the Wailers’ song “Get Up, Stand Up” and remembered that this line about Black history has always haunted me:
Half the story has never been told
I’m guessing that soft country/pop is outside the OP’s bounds of “rock”, but I’ve always loved this line from Faith Hill’s “This Kiss”:
Cinderella said to Snow White, “How does love get so off-course/All I wanted was a white knight with a good heart, soft touch, fast horse”
…I don’t want to go to Chelsea
j
Richard Thompson has a bunch of great lyrics. My personal favorite:
Red hair and black leather, my favorite color scheme
1952 Vincent Black Lightning
In my nightmare you forgive me - the cruelest gift you could ever give me.
I Can’t Wake Up to Save My Life
I do everything I’m supposed to do, but something’s wrong, and it must be you.
I know the ways of a woman, I’ve read about love.
Read About Love
This would have been my second pick for a Richard Thompson lyric.
ETA:
another favorite:
But I’ve got a suitcase full of fifty pound notes
And a half-naked woman with her tongue down my throat
“I Feel So Good”
Oooh! That reminded me of
Flying back from Lubick, I saw Jesus on a plane. Or maybe it was Elvis - you know they kinda look the same.
Henley, If Dirt were Dollars
Which, of course, brought me to
Two men say they’re Jesus - one of them must be wrong.
Dire Straits - Industrial Disease
Which now has my brain going through the entire verse of
*Doctor Parkinson declared "I’m not surprised to see you here. *
You’ve got smokers cough from smoking, brewers droop from drinking beer!
I don’t know how you came to get those Bettie Davis [editor’s note - is it “knees” which doesn’t make sense, or a very very bad pronounciation of “eyes” meant to rhyme with ]
but worst of all, young man, you’ve got Industrial Disease!
I think that’s a clever Dylanesque absurdism, like “It ain’t my cup of meat” in “Mighty Quinn”.
Remember that Kim Carnes’ “Bettie Davis Eyes” was a recent hit when “Love Over Gold” was released.
A couple of further songs.
I suspect the Magazine song The Honeymoon Killers is little known. Shame, because it really is remarkable - it describes in a chilling manner a murderous spree, but without describing any murders…or indeed anything much. And ends:
Then we listened closely to some Mantovani and waited for the cops to come
Better known is Another Girl Another Planet by The Only Ones
I always flirt with death, I look ill but I don’t care about it
j
Oh Man, another ETA
Reverend Black Grape by Black Grape
We are the tea-time tribe and we are over-friendly
That song almost got me killed. I was at a bon fire; had my arm around a girl; looked deep into here eyes when I got to the line “You aint’ a beauty, but, hey, you’re alright.”, and she tried to push me into the fire!
Yeah, but “Betty Davis eyes” was a phrase before Kim Carnes
I knew, but I guess that this was a phrase mostly common in America, and the song popularized the term across the world.
Football songs anyone? I believe there’s a world cup going on at the moment?
There’s only ever been one good football song so far as I’m aware - England’s Irie by Black Grape. Man, were they funny at their best. Every other line could be in this thread. Here’s a couple:
Raise a glass to the perfect pass and dribble around my socks,
Check my shirt and drink my shots and squeeze me in the box [Note 1]
My wife’s lactating and I’m spectating - it’s a football thing
England? Well, it’s the best kept village in Europe, isn’t it?
j
Note 1: I’m not sure if this is just too English to be generally understood. I guess it’s obvious that this couplet - er - line is full of double meanings, but just in case:
Dribble = run with the football OR leak spittle from the mouth (actually, they might not mean mouth)
Shot = attempt on goal OR glass of spirits
Box = Penalty area (of the pitch) OR (from cricket) genital area; so Squeeze me in the box means both “deny me room to turn or pass the ball close to goal” and " squeeze my - uh - box"