# 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:** 4
**Author:** ![petelin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/71c47a/32.png) [@petelin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/petelin)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2004, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-lines-in-songs/247328/61 "2004-05-28T16:30:34Z")
There are so many good lines…but here are a couple: From Greg Brown’s “Just By Myself” “Love never made a fool of me…I always was one, as you can see.” and from Shea Seger’s “Wasting the Rain” “Come on, baby we’re wasting the rain, Can’t we stay inside and the world go on its way, Give me one kiss for every moment that remains…” that’s a great song. ---
**Author:** ![maniondl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/cdc98d/32.png) [@maniondl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/maniondl)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2004, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-lines-in-songs/247328/62 "2004-05-28T17:07:47Z")
Crud. Somebody already cited “Lawyers, Guns, and Money” Warren, we’re gonna miss ya. By the way, the London Hilton (home of Trader Vic’s) gets really testy when a bunch of drunk americans stagger in and demand pina coladas. 😃 But before Billy Joel got all wierd and unable to drive, he gave us this: “They burned the churches up in Harlem Like in that Spanish civil war The flames were everywhere But no one really cared They’d always burned up there before” From “Miami 2017” - a rocking little ditty about the end of the world. Or something. And then there’s Social Distortion’s "As the years went on I made a few mistakes There was trouble bound for this young man. The Police knocking at my door Well he don’t live here no more And he’s playing in a rock and roll band. From “Born to Lose” I’d cite damn near everything Social D ever did, but I’m not that hot a typist. ---
**Author:** ![Interrobang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/interrobang/32/17463_2.png) [@Interrobang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Interrobang)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2004, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-lines-in-songs/247328/63 "2004-05-28T21:47:29Z")
The New Pornographers: “Nobody knows the wreck of the soul the way you do.” – “Miss Teen Wordpower” “The tune you’ll be humming forever, all the words are replaced and wrong.” – “Letter from an Occupant” Liz Phair: “He said he liked to do it backwards. I said that’s just fine with me. That way we can fuck and watch TV.” – “Chopsticks” “You can take me home, but I will never be your girl I won’t let your mystery unfurl.” – “Headache” "What ever happened to a boyfriend The kind of guy who tries to win you over, and What ever happened to a boyfriend The kind of guy who makes love cause he’s in it, and I want a boyfriend I want a boyfriend I want all that stupid old shit Like letters and sodas." – “Fuck and Run” Magnetic Fields (and hell, just read the lyrics sheet to _69 Love Songs_): “I see that kiss-me pucker forming but maybe you should plug it with a beer.” – “Papa Was a Rodeo” “Reno Dakota there’s not an iota of kindness in you. You know you enthrall me and yet you don’t call me. It’s making me blue. Pantone 292.” – “Reno Dakota” “Cause I always say I love you when I mean turn out the light, and I say let’s run away when I just mean stay the night. But the words you want to hear you will never hear from me. I’ll never say ‘happy anniversary’ never stay to say ‘happy anniversary.’” – “I Think I Need a New Heart” Madonna: “Beauty’s where you find it, not just where you bump and grind it.” – “Vogue” ---
**Author:** ![koeeoaddi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/koeeoaddi/32/408_2.png) [@koeeoaddi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/koeeoaddi)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2004, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-lines-in-songs/247328/64 "2004-05-28T23:07:25Z")
**Incredible String Band** _“Born in a house where the door is shut tight Shadowy fingers on the curtains at night”_ – Koeeoaddi There 🙂 _“And who would ride backwards on a giraffe Stopping every so often to laugh”_ – A Very Cellular Song **James McMurtry** _“If you’re lookin’ for a good time you’re a little bit late we rolled up the sidewalks at a quarter to eight. It’s a small town, can’t sell you no beer. It’s a small town, son may I ask what you’re doin’ here?”_ – Talkin’ at the Texaco _“I’m not from here but people tell me it’s not like it used to be they say I should have been here back about ten years before it got ruined by folks like me”_ – I’m Not From Here ---
**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 28, 2004, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-lines-in-songs/247328/65 "2004-05-28T23:13:21Z")
‘Happy campers are poopin’ in their pampers when the mountain becomes a fountain’ —Volcano ---
**Author:** ![Kaitlyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/73ab20/32.png) [@Kaitlyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kaitlyn)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2004, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-lines-in-songs/247328/66 "2004-05-29T03:48:22Z")
Sam: You are correct that Steve Goodman wrote it, thanks for the correction. However, I still believe the David Allen Coe version is the superior one. ---
**Author:** ![ddgryphon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/8c91f0/32.png) [@ddgryphon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ddgryphon)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2004, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-lines-in-songs/247328/67 "2004-05-29T04:31:52Z")
When I think great lyrics I think of [This Waltz](http://www.cs.rice.edu/~ssiyer/minstrels/poems/1447.html) by Leonard Cohen But my favorite verse from it is probably: There’s a concert hall in Vienna Where your mouth had a thousand reviews There’s a bar where the boys have stopped talking They’ve been sentenced to death by the blues Ah, but who is it climbs to your picture With a garland of freshly cut tears? Ay, Ay, Ay, Ay Take this waltz, take this waltz Take this waltz it’s been dying for years and he’s had many other great lyrical moments, but this song is perhaps my favorite by him. Also not to be not mentioned is “Suzanne” at [http://www.seeklyrics.com/lyrics/Leonard-Cohen/Suzanne.html](http://www.seeklyrics.com/lyrics/Leonard-Cohen/Suzanne.html) my favorite verse is : Now Suzanne takes your hand And she leads you to the river She is wearing rags and feathers From Salvation Army counters And the sun pours down like honey On our lady of the harbour And she shows you where to look Among the garbage and the flowers There are heroes in the seaweed There are children in the morning They are leaning out for love And they will lean that way forever While Suzanne holds the mirror I’m also fond “Coal Tattoo” by Billy Ed Wheeler: Somebody said that’s a strange tattoo You have on the side of your head I said that’s the mark of the number 9 coal A little more and I’d be dead. Dire Straits gave us the immortal: “Two men say they’re Jesus, one of them must be wrong” And some quickies: “Let us be lovers, we’ll marry our fortunes together” Paul Simon “Don’t shoot, I dig farmers” Bob Dylan “How would you feel if I turned on the bath, Ducked your head under and started to laugh?” Kieth Moon and Pete Townsend The old rocker wore his hair too long Wore his trouser cuffs too tight Unfashionable to the end Drank his ale too light Death’s head belts buckle, yesterday dreams The Transport Caf’ prophet of doom Ringing no change in his double-sewn seams In his post-war-babe gloom -Ian Anderson - 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 - Lennon and McCartney - “The Dove has torn her wings, so no more songs of love, We are not here to sing, we’re here to kill the Dove.” – Jacques Brel – and finally Dylan again: “And I hope that you die And your death will come soon I’ll follow your casket In the pale afternoon And I’ll watch as you’re lowered Down to your death bed And I’ll stand o’er your grave 'Till I’m sure that you’re dead” And that’s just the short list ---
**Author:** ![vl\_mungo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/bc8723/32.png) [@vl\_mungo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vl_mungo)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2004, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-lines-in-songs/247328/68 "2004-05-29T18:59:14Z")
One of the best single lines ever comes courtesy of **Tom Waits** … _Don’t you know there ain’t no devil, there’s just god when he’s drunk_ — Heartattack and Vine Not a single line, and not necessarily profound, but cool… **Robyn Hitchcock** _thirteen men with long black heads all came and stood around her bed and when the morning light came in she saw their heads had all caved in their rotting brains fell to the floor and crawled away towards the door_ — Sleeping With Your Devil Mask ---
**Author:** ![peculiar\_hailstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/46a35a/32.png) [@peculiar\_hailstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peculiar_hailstone)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2004, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-lines-in-songs/247328/69 "2004-05-29T20:29:54Z")
Wow, faaaarrrrrr too many great songwriters out there to pick just a line, but Jackson Browne always comes to mind as one the great wordsmiths. “somewhere between the time you arrive and the time you go may lie a reason you were alive, but you’ll never know.” -from For A Dancer, Late For the Sky album ---
**Author:** ![TeaElle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8491ac/32.png) [@TeaElle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TeaElle)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2004, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-lines-in-songs/247328/70 "2004-05-30T00:43:27Z")
Back to Sting: Sink like a stone that’s been thrown in the ocean My logic has drowned in a sea of emotion - _Be Still My Beating Heart_ The oft’ maligned Bernie Taupin: There are women and women And some hold you tight While some leave you counting Stars in the night - _Come Down in Time_ I have no feelings, I have no heart Love always cuts out the warm and tender part - _Cold_ Lastly, a universally loathed bit of Duran Duran that I happen to love: Now I’m saying this in private If I had a car I’d drive it insane - _Cracks in the Pavement_ ---
**Author:** ![Treviathan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/838e76/32.png) [@Treviathan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Treviathan)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2004, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-lines-in-songs/247328/71 "2004-05-30T02:12:05Z")
I always use these threads to boost the reputation of one **Ben Gibbard** , songwriter for Death Cab for Cutie and The Postal Service: _I can’t see why you’d want to live here, Billboards reach past the tallest buildings, You can’t swim in a town this shallow, 'Cause you will most assuredly drown tomorrow._ - “Why You’d Want to Live Here” _I wish the world was flat like the old days, when I could travel just by folding a map._ - “The New Year” _I’ll be your platform shoes, undo what heredity’s done to you; You won’t have to strain to look into my eyes._ - “Brand New Colony” _I think I’m drunk enough to drive you home now._ - “Champagne from a Paper Cup” ---
**Author:** ![pepperlandgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f17d59/32.png) [@pepperlandgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pepperlandgirl)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2004, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-lines-in-songs/247328/72 "2004-05-30T02:12:30Z")
I love this line from **A Case of You** that I wish on a daily basis I wrote it instead **Love is touching souls Surely you touched mine Because a part of you pours out of me In these lines from time to time** From **Ben Fold’s Five** _Evaporated_ **And I poured my heart out I poured my heart out It evaporated, see?** and later in the song **I’m sure back home they think I’ve lost my mind** From **The Man Who Sold the World** _Oh no. Not me, we never never lost control_ No real reason, I just like it. From REM’s **At My Most Beautiful** **You always say your name Like I wouldn’t know it’s you At your most beautiful**. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2004, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-lines-in-songs/247328/73 "2004-05-30T02:30:22Z")
From Cowboy Junkie’s _Crescent Moon_: _“Won’t you come with me?” She said, “There’s plenty of room in my iron bed You’re looking cold and tired and more than a little human I know I’m not part of the life you had planned But I think once your body feels my hand Your mind will change and your heart will lose its pain”_ And from _Seven Years_ on the same album: _Haven’t seen the sun in seven days; November’s got her nails dug in deep Haven’t seen my son in seven years; And chances are we’ll never again meet_ Hell, I could fill a thread quoting from Cowboy Junkie’s lyrics. ---
**Author:** ![Wasabee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f05b48/32.png) [@Wasabee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wasabee)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2004, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-lines-in-songs/247328/74 "2004-05-30T02:59:32Z")
* * * He likes to read books written for girls He thinks he’s a man of the world In the darkest of places he gets his thrills -Camera Obscura * * * This is the story of the boys who loved you Who love you now and loved you then And some were sweet, some were cold and snuffed you And some just laid around in bed. Some had crumbled you straight to your knees Did it cruel, did it tenderly Some had crawled their way into your heart To rend your ventricles apart This is the story of the boys who loved you -The Decemberists I’m a legionnaire Camel in disrepair hoping for a frigidaire to come passing by I am on reprieve lacking my joie de vive missing my gay paris in this desert dry -The Decemberists * * * I remember quiet evenings trembling close to you. -Tom Waits ---
**Author:** ![Already\_in\_Use](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a9adbd/32.png) [@Already\_in\_Use](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Already_in_Use)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2004, 10:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-lines-in-songs/247328/75 "2004-05-30T10:47:32Z")
Well, I suppose I should get _the most profound song lyric of all time_ out of the way first: “I don’t have no problem with you fucking me But I have a little problem with you not fucking me.” – Ol’ Dirty Bastard, “Baby I Got Your Money” Runners-up (off the top of my head) include: “Love without anger isn’t love at all.” – Devo, “Love Without Anger” “Jane fonda on the screen today Convinced the liberals it’s okay So let’s get dressed and dance away the night! While they kill kill kill kill kill the poor, kill kill kill kill kill the poor, kill kill kill kill kill the poor tonight!” – the Dead Kennedys, “Kill the Poor” “We are forces of chaos and anarchy Everything they say we are, we are! And we are very proud of ourselves! Up against the wall! Up against the wall, motherfucker! Tear down the wall!” – Jefferson Airplane, “We Can Be Together” “I gave you my high school ring At the root beer stand We had a teenage love I thought it was sharp, it was really so grand!” – Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention, “Go Cry On Somebody Else’s Shoulder” “Limitless, undying love, which shines around me like a million suns, and calls me on and on across the universe” – the Beatles, “Across the Universe” (the entire song has great lyrics) And basically anything by [Anal Cunt](http://www.darklyrics.com/a/analcunt.html), for their marvelous use of shock value to the point of hilarious inanity. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Death](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ecccb3/32.png) [@Evil\_Death](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Death)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2004, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-lines-in-songs/247328/76 "2004-05-30T13:27:11Z")
> [@Interrobang!?](#): > > The New Pornographers: > > “Nobody knows the wreck of the soul the way you do.” > – “Miss Teen Wordpower” > > “The tune you’ll be humming forever, all the words are replaced and wrong.” > – “Letter from an Occupant” You can mention the New Pornographers without mentioning Mass Romantic? Pass the crackpipe, brother, it’s rude not to share. “Mass romantic fool, separated by sheets when the curtain calls you Speaking on the themes of stolen virtue missing from the radio Now this romantic duel’s into the streets, bon appetit You’ve eaten me alive. Do you realise this is not the way?” **Jophiel** : I’m with you on the Cowboy Junkies. Looking forward to the new album next week, too. A personal favourite: “Everything is not enough, nothing is too much to bear Where you’ve been is good and gone, all you keep’s the getting there.” - _To Live Is To Fly_ A few original suggestions: “Why should I forgive you, after all that I’ve seen? Quietly whisper, when my heart wants to scream?” - Portishead, _Seven Months_ The entire of _I Want The Drugs_ by the Supersuckers, just because it’s daft. “If I could, you know I would So hold my hand and understand that I’m the man who loves you.” - Wilco, _I’m The Man Who Loves You_ “Trip on fence post line, sifting through the remains One man’s close pursuit is another man’s last chance To make it through the divide Last chance; suffer the weight, or get buried by this black heart Sweeping over the land Black heart, crawling its way to the four corners of the world.” - Calexico, _Black Heart_ ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2004, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-lines-in-songs/247328/77 "2004-05-30T13:53:22Z")
Dylan again, from **Mr. Tambourine Man** > [@](#): > > Yes, to dance beneath the diamond sky with one hand waving free, > Silhouetted by the sea, circled by the circus sands, > With all memory and fate driven deep beneath the waves, > Let me forget about today until tomorrow. ---
**Author:** ![Kitchen\_Wench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f08c70/32.png) [@Kitchen\_Wench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kitchen_Wench)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2004, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-lines-in-songs/247328/78 "2004-05-30T14:51:06Z")
Another Rush fan, here. Being that I was only 8 years old when they released their Moving Pictures album, I wasn’t old enough to appreciate Rush’s music, let alone the lyrics. Up until I was 16 or so, Rush was just another band my older brother liked. The first time I listened to _Subdivisions_ on the headphones, lyrics in hand, it hit me like a ton of bricks. I guess it’s the relief of knowing that I’m not the only one who felt trapped by the imposed boundaries of the “norm,” and yet at the same time, seeking acceptance from a world I wanted no part of. Sprawling on the fringes of the city In geometric order, an insulated border In between the bright lights And the far unlit unknown. Growing up it all seems so one sided Opinions all provided, the future pre decided Detached and subdivided In the mass production zone. Nowhere is the dreamer Or the misfit so alone. Subdivisions In the high school halls In the shopping malls Conform or be cast out. Subdivisions In the basement bars In the backs of cars Be cool or be cast out. Any escape might help to smooth The unattractive truth But the suburbs have no charms to soothe The restless dreams of youth. Drawn like moths we drift into the city A timeless old attraction Cruising for the action Lit up like a firefly Just to feel the living night. Some will sell their dreams for small desires Or lose the race to rat’s, get caught in ticking traps And start to dream of somewhere To relax their restless flight. Somewhere out of a memory Of lighted streets on quiet nights. ---
**Author:** ![Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/cc9497/32.png) [@Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capt.Ridley_s_Shooting_Party)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2004, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-lines-in-songs/247328/79 "2004-05-30T14:58:29Z")
**The Stone Roses** had some great lyrics. From _Made of Stone_: > [@](#): > > Your knuckles whiten on the wheel, > The last thing that your hands will feel, > Your final flight can’t be delayed. > > All sky, no land, it’s so serene, > Your big fat lips let go a scream, > You fry and melt, I love the scene. > > … > > I’m standing warm against the cold, > Now that the flames have taken hold, > At least you left your life in style, > For as far as I can see, > Tin twisted grills grin back at me, > Bad money dies, I love the scene. And from _Waterfall_: > [@](#): > > Chimes sing Sunday morn, > Today’s the day she’s sworne, > To steal what she never could own, > And race from this hole she calls home. > > … > > See the steepled pine, > The hills, as old as time, > Soon to be put to the test, > To be whipped by the winds of the west. > > Stands on shifting sands, > The scales, up in her hands, > The wind it just whips her and wanes, > And fills up her brigantine sails. ---
**Author:** ![NoCoolUserName](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5fc32e/32.png) [@NoCoolUserName](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NoCoolUserName)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2004, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-lines-in-songs/247328/80 "2004-05-30T17:47:59Z")
Along with **ddgryphon** , I believe that Lenord Cohen has written some fine lyrics. I’m particularly enamored of _Hallelujah_ I heard there was a secret chord That David played and it pleased the Lord But you don’t really care for music do you Well it goes like this: The fourth, the fifth, the minor fall and the major lift The baffled king composing With the 4th on “the fourth,” the 5th on “the fifth,” the minor to major change between “minor fall” and “major lift” Not to mention the happy/mournful tone of the whole thing and all the clever biblical references. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-lines-in-songs/247328.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-lines-in-songs/247328.md?page=5)