This thread was inspired by the recent Powerful Lyrics thread. The difference is that I’m looking for one, two, maybe three lines, not a whole song.
Here’s a couple of my favorites :
“I want to meet you barefoot, barely breathing.”
–Sophie B Hawkins - As I Lay me Down (I guess I’m just a sucker for alliteration)
“Emancipate yourself from mental slavery”
–Bob Marley - Redemption Song
“The stars aren’t aligned
Or the gods are malign
Blame is better to give than receive”
–Rush - Freewill
And the less I seek my source
for some definitive,
the closer I am to fine…
“My girl don’t just walk, she unfurls.” - She Didn’t Know
“If I had loads of money, to make me tame and sour
I’d pay you to remind me of my baby by the hour.” - The Luxury
“It’s the end of rent-a-movie weather, it’s time to end this seige together.” - Thompson Girl
Cowboy Junkies
“I just wanna live fast, diarrhea!”
The Vandals, Live Fast, Diarrhea
“You can’t see California without Marlon Brano’s eyes”- Eyeless by Slipknot (still have no clue what this is supposed to mean, just sounds good!)
“Stupid people do stupid things, smart people outsmart each other”- DDevil by System of a Down.
“No bullsht, No Slave Ships, No Motherfcking Hootie and The Blowfish.” - No by Soulfly
“Who aked you to cry for me, Who asked you to lie for me, Who asked you to pray for me, I’m asking you answer me.”
-Sh*t Life by Dope
“Hello, I’m Johnny Cash…” from the live version of “Fulsom Prison Blues.”
“If you wanna kiss the sky,
better learn how to kneel-
ON YOUR KNEES, BOY!” - U2, Mysterious Ways
and, because we Scots are a sentimental people…
“A night in summer long ago
The stars were falling from the sky
And still, my heart, I have to know
Why do you love me, lady, why?” - Mark Knopfler
“If I don’t believe my own advice
I could never fool a child
And they don’t forgive you once they see you’ve tried”
-- Freedy Johnston
“The ones who love us best
Are the ones we’ll lay to rest
And visit their graves on holidays at best
The ones who love us least
Are the ones we’ll die to please
If it’s any consolation, I don’t begin to understand”
-- Paul WesterbergOn s’etait dit rendez-vous dans 10 ans
Meme jour, meme heure, meme pommes
On verra quand on aura 30 ans
Sur les marches de la place des grands hommes
Le jour est venue et moi aussi
Mais je ne veux pas etre le premier
Si on avait plus rien a se dire et si et si…
Patrick Bruel - Place des Grands Hommes
This is quite possibly the most hideous and overrated singer ever. He has, however, done a few great songs. For some reason, this one gets me every time. I’ll give a brief translation, and I’m sure the true Francophones will correct my errors 
We had promised to meat again in ten years time
Same day, same hour, same apples (apple trees?)
We’ll see when we’re 30 years old
At the stairs of the Square of Great Men
The day has come, and so have I
But I don’t want to be the first one there
What if we don’t have anything to say anymore, what if what if…
I have loved, and I have waited
Been picked up, and been sedated.
Mental health is overrated.
–BNL, This is Where it Ends
So you wanted to take a break
Slow it down some, and have some space
Well, fuck you too!
Give me my money back, give me my money back, you bitch!
–Ben Folds Five, Song for the Dumped
“She done me wrong, but at least she done me”
The Red Elvises Sad Cowboy song
“Can’t find a dame, It’s always the same, Gonna shame my family name. Going Homo.
I always used to flirt, my feeling’s got hurt, Now I’m going out with Burt. Going Homo”
The Dickies Going Homo
I’m a sucker for Vox Populi so the recent ‘get rid of Milosevic’ demostrations in Yugoslavia have had this running through my head:
“Arms entwined, the chosen few
Newspapers say, say it’s true it’s true
We can break through”
-New Years Day, U2
“Helplessly hoping her harlequin hovers nearby, awaiting a word.”
CSN (&Y?)
“And in her eyes, you see nothing,
No sign of love behind the tears cried for no one,
A love that should have lasted years.” –For No One
(NB: This song has the best lyrics McCartney ever wrote, and is a far better song than “Yesterday,” IMNSHO.)
“And in the end, the love you make
is equal to the love you take.” –The End
“I wish I was queer so I could get chicks.” Bloodhound Gang
One night of lovin’ don’t make up for six days of hurt." – Willie Nelson
“Thoughts arise like butterflies” -Evenflow by Pearl Jam (Ten still rocks)
“It only took my little finger to blow you away” -Watching the Detectives by Elvis Costello
“If you can’t make it, baby,
your sister Lucille said she wanna go,
and I sho’ will take her” -Statesboro Blues by the Allman Brothers
This could go on forever for me…
All around the world,
Statues crumble for me
I don’t know the song’s title…leave me alone.
DEVO
They tell us that,
we lost our tails,
evolving up from little snails,
I say it’s all just wind in sails,
Are we not men? We are DEVO.
Jocko Homo…from the “Are we not men, we are Devo” album
Geez I love DEVO
From the Dixie Chicks’ Cowboy Take Me Away:
I wanna sleep on the hard ground
In the comfort of your arms
On a pillow of bluebonnets
In a blanket made of stars
I really like the imagery of this phrase. And being a proud native Texan, any song than can work in a reference to bluebonnets is alright by me.
I guess it don’t matter how old you are
Or how old one lives to be
I guess it boils down to what we did with our lives
And how we deal with our own destinies
But something happens when you reach a certain age
Particularly to those ones that are young at heart
It’s a lonely proposition when you realize
That there’s less days in front of the horse
Than ridin’ in the back of this cart
“The Real Life” by John Mellencamp