I saw her from the corner when she turned and doubled back
And started walkin toward a coffee colored Cadillac
I was pushin through the crowd to get to where she’s at
And I was campaign shouting like a southern diplomat
Chuck Berry - Nadine
Their small-town eyes will gape at you
In dull surprise when payment due
Exceeds accounts received
At seventeen
—Janis Ian, “At Seventeen” (lots of good lines in that song)
Sure, why not? The future’s uncertain and the end is always near.
A couple of mentions earlier of “Closer to Fine” by the Indigo Girls, but not the best line:
Well, darkness has a hunger that’s insatiable;
And lightness has a call that’s hard to hear.
From “Mother Knows Best”:
So your baby’s hungry, so your baby’s sick
Don’t make babies, that’ll do the trick
Simon and Garfunkel - My Little Town
“In my little town, I never meant nothin. I was just my father’s son.”
Let’s start from the beginning. Shame on me - it’s “Bette”, not “Betty”" or “Bettie”. I knew this. See what happens when you type too damned fast? Actually, I blame a cold for fogging up my head. Second, I’m not a scholar on the song “Bette Davis Eyes”, so I didn’t realize that it was written and performed in the early 70s. Ignorance fought. No, I was saying the phrase “Bette Davis eyes” was a thing before the song was written.
I remember hearing the phrase; I remember hearing take-offs on the phrase. I will fully admit that I’m also not a linguist, and my searches on the origins are coming up short. Any of the Googling I’m doing is grossly dominated by the song, and less about the phrase. So, I’m willing to admit my memories may be faulty, however, I will say this: she got her first part because of her eyes; directors did a lot of close-ups of her eyes; her eyes were the subject of many many reviews. Here eyes and her intense performances are what she’s remembered for.
I think that can be said about a whole lot of Dylan songs.
Sometimes the title says it all:
“I fought the law, and the law won.”
written by Sonny Curtis
first recorded by the Crickets
made famous by the Ben Fuller Four
also covered by Sam Neely, the Clash, the Dead Kennedys, and Green Day
The sweet, sweet burn of the first drink of the night
Underage
Knowing that you’re gonna get away with it.
Neko Case: Curse of the I-5 Corridor
Really the whole song is nothing but great lines.
“You were a good man before you knew it”
Does Tom Waits count as “rock”? Because I really like this line from “The Piano Has Been Drinking”:
And you cannot find your waitress with a Geiger counter
And she hates you and your friends and you just can’t get served without her
There was a version in my neck of the woods called “'Liz’beth Taylor Thighs.” I leave it to your imagination.
I don’t know if it’s Rock or Country, but it’s great:
God does, but I don’t
God will, but I won’t
And that’s the difference
Between God and me
Lyle Lovett
I’d count it.
My favorite Tom Waits comes from Step Right Up
The large print givith, and the small print taketh away.
All Your Favorite Bands by Dawes
I hope that life without a chaperone is what you thought it’d be
I hope your brother’s El Camino runs forever
I hope the world sees the same person that you’ve always been to me
And may all your favorite bands stay together
I also love their song A Little Bit of Everything. Unfortunately, it is not possible to extract a small quote. There are 3 verses, each of which will break your heart, plus an amazing coda.
You know that I ain’t evil, just want to have some fun
There’s so much shit in Texas, I’m bound to step in some.
—Johnny Winter, “Dallas”
I’m a big Boston fan, and this is one of my favorite lines from “To Be a Man”:
How can you be a man
'Til you see beyond the life you live?
Which also leads into a really cool stanza:
What does it take to be a man?
The will to give and not receive
The strength to say what you believe
The heart to feel what others feel inside
To see what they can see
Suggesting a whole story about a conscript who doesn’t believe in the war, but still finds himself toting a gun, because you’re old enough to kill, but not for votin’ made one hell of a good point in no time flat.
It’s better to burn out than fade away.
neil young