So, lately I’ve been taking advantage of the Music Choice channels that come with our digital cable. We get like thirty channels of different styles and genres of music ranging from big band to salsa. My current obsession is with the “Classic Country” channel. Of course, it makes me feel really old when they play a song from my college days in the 80s and I realize that the song is now twenty or more years old! But I digress.
Anyway, a few days ago, I heard Glen Campbell’s Wichita Lineman, which I’ve come to the conclusion is a “perfect song”. Everything works - lyrics, melody, orchestration, production. Especially perfect is this line:
“I need you more than want you, and I want you for all time”
Wow. Never before have I seen a depth of passion, love and devotion expressed so powerfully in so few words. Absolutely brilliant!
Another song which I think has a great line is Patty Loveless’ Nothing But The Wheel. If you’re not familiar with the song, the narrative follows a woman who is driving through the night thinking about the relationship she has just left. She describes driving down the backroads, where she can be alone as she comes to the conclusion that she’s “Holding on to nothing but the wheel.” Anyway, I have always been struck by these lines and the image they paint in the listener’s mind:
“And forty-one goes on and on
And the lights go winding in the dawn
The sky’s the color now of polished steel”
I would never have thought to describe the color of a pre-dawn sky as “polished steel”, but it is a perfect image.
So, what do you consider to be an example of great lines in songs?
What good am I if I know and don’t do,
If I see and don’t say, if I look right through you,
If I turn a deaf ear to the thunderin’ sky,
What good am I?
Was the dark of the moon on the Sixth of June in a Kenworth pullin logs
Cab over Pete with a reefer on and a jimmy haulin hogs
We was headin for bear on I-one-oh bout a mile outta Shakytown
I says “Pigpen, this here’s the Rubber Duck and I’m about to put the hammer down” Convoy - It’s just so beautiful, man!
"those who know what’s best for us
Must rise and save us from ourselves
Quick to judge, Quick to anger
Slow to understand
Ignorance and prejudice
And fear walk hand in hand" RushWitch Hunt
“One likes to believe in the freedom of music
But glittering prizes and endless compromises
Shatter the illusion of integrity”
RushThe Spirit of Radio
when I worked in the radio industry this one really came home…
"Wind… In my hair
Shifting and drifting
Mechanical music
Adrenaline surge…
Well-weathered leather
Hot metal and oil
The scented country air
Sunlight on chrome
The blur of the landscape
Every nerve aware" RushRed Barchetta If this line doesn’t make you want to hit the open road… there’s something wrong with you.
“All the creatures born of ink and rage and lies
Crawled from my pen and ran across the page to die;
Facination was the germ of their disease
Degradation was the term of their release”
Gordon Lightfoot"s “Sundown” has a line that all of us that have had a few too many can relate to:
That whole song is pretty damn good.
I’ve been on a Steve Earle kick lately, I really like his songwriting and story telling.
“Copperhead Road” is about a guy who’s grandfather and father were moonshiners “up the holler down Copperhead road”. The first two verses tell their story. He tries to stay away, but eventually succumbs to his destiny, with one exception.
Also check out “The Devil’s Right Hand” for just all-around good songwriting
And of course, just about anything by Dylan classifies as a “great line”
The entire song “I’m Not In Love” by 10CC is a perfect protests-too-much poem.
“I keep your picture
Upon the wall
It hides a nasty stain that’s lying there
So don’t you ask me
To give it back
I know you know it doesn’t mean that much to me
I’m not in love, no no, it’s because…”
I also like Sting’s wordsmithing:
“Mephistopheles is not your name;
I know what you’re up to just the same.”
And of course Paul Simon has had some great moments:
“A man walks down the street,
It’s a street in a strange world.
Maybe it’s the Third World.
Maybe it’s his first time around.
He doesn’t speak the language,
He holds no currency.
He is a foreign man,
He is surrounded by the sound, sound …
Cattle in the marketplace.
Scatterlings and orphanages.
He looks around, around …
He sees angels in the architecture,
Spinning in infinity,
He says, Amen! and Hallelujah!” - You Can Call Me Al
