# Great lines in songs **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 27, 2004, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-lines-in-songs/247328 "2004-05-27T13:26:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Kepi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kepi/32/7251_2.png) [@Kepi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kepi)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2004, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-lines-in-songs/247328/1 "2004-05-27T13:26:08Z")
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? ---
**Author:** ![Roland\_Orzabal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c2a13f/32.png) [@Roland\_Orzabal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roland_Orzabal)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2004, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-lines-in-songs/247328/2 "2004-05-27T13:31:19Z")
_Turn the tables, we’ll burn the fables Lies beneath our visions and daydreams Fooled by ‘now’, we mystify our past Like a dream…it never happened_ –Roland Orzabal (Tears For Fears - Swords and Knives) ---
**Author:** ![Genghis\_Bob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/45deac/32.png) [@Genghis\_Bob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Genghis_Bob)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2004, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-lines-in-songs/247328/3 "2004-05-27T13:33:32Z")
Not a single line, but a twisting of the line; from “Workin’ on our Night Moves”, when they’re young, to “Ever notice how the night moves” when he’s older, slower, and more contemplative. ---
**Author:** ![Mbossa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@Mbossa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mbossa)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2004, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-lines-in-songs/247328/4 "2004-05-27T13:37:08Z")
For some odd reason, that _Wichita Lineman_ line reminded me of a line that I really like from Ben Fold’s _Emaline_: > [@](#): > > When money talks, > I hate to listen, > But lately it’s been screaming in my ear. I’m not really sure what the song’s about, but I subscribe to the theory that Emaline is a horse who is turning out to be too expensive to keep. ---
**Author:** ![CandidGamera](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/candidgamera/32/2878_2.png) [@CandidGamera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CandidGamera)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2004, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-lines-in-songs/247328/5 "2004-05-27T13:38:46Z")
Best Line Ever: “Hey, Momma…/ Look at me…/ I’m on my way to the Promised Land…” From AC/DC’s Highway to Hell. Geniusly inverts the meaning of Promised Land. ---
**Author:** ![pontia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/839c29/32.png) [@pontia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pontia)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2004, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-lines-in-songs/247328/6 "2004-05-27T13:48:24Z")
Bob Dylan’s “What good am I?” 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? And pretty much any other song he wrote. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Moto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de0a6/32.png) [@Mr.Moto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Moto)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2004, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-lines-in-songs/247328/7 "2004-05-27T14:24:54Z")
Another good Bob Seger line, from “Against the Wind”. “Wish I didn’t know now what I didn’t know then.” ---
**Author:** ![Rufus\_Xavier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eada6e/32.png) [@Rufus\_Xavier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rufus_Xavier)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2004, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-lines-in-songs/247328/8 "2004-05-27T14:28:28Z")
‘Lump lingered last in line for brains - and the one she got was sort of rotten and insane’ _Lump_, by P.o.t.U.S.A. ---
**Author:** ![DeVena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dec6dc/32.png) [@DeVena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DeVena)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2004, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-lines-in-songs/247328/9 "2004-05-27T14:37:24Z")
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](http://holyjoe.org/poetry/mccall1.htm) - It’s just so beautiful, man! ---
**Author:** ![verbenabeast](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/c4cdca/32.png) [@verbenabeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/verbenabeast)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2004, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-lines-in-songs/247328/10 "2004-05-27T14:46:21Z")
Rush fan chiming in… "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" **Rush** _Witch Hunt_ “One likes to believe in the freedom of music But glittering prizes and endless compromises Shatter the illusion of integrity” **Rush** _The 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" **Rush** _Red Barchetta_ If this line doesn’t make you want to hit the open road… there’s something wrong with you. ---
**Author:** ![Wolfian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/7ea924/32.png) [@Wolfian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wolfian)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2004, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-lines-in-songs/247328/11 "2004-05-27T14:47:12Z")
Loving you girl is so damn easy. -Just U and Me- Chicago ---
**Author:** ![js\_africanus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/87869e/32.png) [@js\_africanus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/js_africanus)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2004, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-lines-in-songs/247328/12 "2004-05-27T14:53:07Z")
“In the Time of Chimpanzees, I was a monkey.” ---
**Author:** ![ThatDuckIsEvil](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f08c70/32.png) [@ThatDuckIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThatDuckIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2004, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-lines-in-songs/247328/13 "2004-05-27T15:15:06Z")
I don’t know who sang it, and it’s been bothering me for quite a while, but I love this line: “I was so much older then, I’m younger than that now.” I heard Eddie Vedder slip it into an encore version of something else, I know it’s not his or anything. I just dont know where it originated. ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2004, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-lines-in-songs/247328/14 "2004-05-27T15:22:50Z")
“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” -“Terminal Street”, Be Bop Deluxe ---
**Author:** ![Mollie\_Magill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mollie_magill/32/20882_2.png) [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2004, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-lines-in-songs/247328/15 "2004-05-27T15:25:53Z")
> [@ThatDuckIsEvil](#): > > I don’t know who sang it, and it’s been bothering me for quite a while, but I love this line: > > “I was so much older then, I’m younger than that now.” > > I heard Eddie Vedder slip it into an encore version of something else, I know it’s not his or anything. I just dont know where it originated. I know the Birds sang it. Maybe it was the name of the song. I like “You’re the wonder in everything that’s wonderful.” Stone Temple Pilots. ---
**Author:** ![edwino](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/35a633/32.png) [@edwino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/edwino)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2004, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-lines-in-songs/247328/16 "2004-05-27T15:48:21Z")
> [@ThatDuckIsEvil](#): > > I don’t know who sang it, and it’s been bothering me for quite a while, but I love this line: > > “I was so much older then, I’m younger than that now.” > > I heard Eddie Vedder slip it into an encore version of something else, I know it’s not his or anything. I just dont know where it originated. Dylan, “My Back Pages” > [@](#): > > Crimson flames tied through my ears > Rollin’ high and mighty traps > Pounced with fire on flaming roads > Using ideas as my maps > We’ll meet on edges, soon, said i > Proud ’neath heated brow. > Ah, but I was so much older then, > I’m younger than that now. Too pithy for me (except for the classic refrain). I prefer his “Shelter From The Storm” from Blood on the Tracks: > [@](#): > > Not a word was spoke between us, there was little risk involved > Everything up to that point had been left unresolved. > Try imagining a place where it’s always safe and warm. > Come in, she said, > I’ll give you shelter from the storm. I’ve been partial to the Stones “Sympathy For the Devil” > [@](#): > > Anastasia screamed in vain and more recently, Modest Mouse “3rd Planet” > [@](#): > > The universe is shaped exactly like the earth > if you go straight long enough you’ll end up where you were. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2004, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-lines-in-songs/247328/17 "2004-05-27T16:37:20Z")
My all time favourite rock lyric - John Mellencamp _Born Reckless_: Well what I really want to say is I guess I don’t know, what it is I really wanna say ---
**Author:** ![jk1245](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/49beb7/32.png) [@jk1245](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jk1245)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2004, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-lines-in-songs/247328/18 "2004-05-27T16:40:43Z")
Gordon Lightfoot"s “Sundown” has a line that all of us that have had a few too many can relate to: > [@](#): > > Sometimes I think it’s a shame, when I get feeling better when I’m feeling no pain 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. > [@](#): > > I volunteered for the Army on my birthday > They draft the white trash first,'round here anyway > I done two tours of duty in Vietnam > And I came home with a brand new plan > I take the seed from Colombia and Mexico > I plant it up the holler down Copperhead Road > Well the D.E.A.‘s got a chopper in the air > I wake up screaming like I’m back over there > I learned a thing or two from ol’ Charlie don’t you know > You better stay away from Copperhead Road 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” ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2004, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-lines-in-songs/247328/19 "2004-05-27T17:03:42Z")
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 ---
**Author:** ![rjk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ed655f/32.png) [@rjk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjk)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2004, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-lines-in-songs/247328/20 "2004-05-27T17:12:06Z")
Since the OP mentioned classic country: > [@](#): > > I’m crazy for trying > and crazy for crying > And I’m crazy for loving you. There’s also the first song Kris Kristofferson sold to Johnny Cash: > [@](#): > > And there’s nothin’ short of dyin’ > Half as lonesome as the sound > Of the sleepin’ city sidewalks > Sunday mornin’ comin’ down [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-lines-in-songs/247328.md?page=2)