Lines in a song that anchor it or cause it to turn a corner for you

Cafe Society
21

I first heard of Mose Allison on the cool Greg Brown song, Mose Allison Played Here.

Parchman Farm is sort of unique in blues song among that it modulates.

22

Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah”:

Well, maybe there’s a God above
As for me all I’ve ever learned from love
Is how to shoot somebody who outdrew you
But it’s not a crime that you’re hear tonight
It’s not some pilgrim who claims to have seen the Light
No, it’s a cold and it’s a very broken Hallelujah

Also, Pink Floyd’s “Time”:

And then one day you find
Ten years have got behind you
No one told you when to run
You missed the starting gun

23

Dar Williams’s The Babysitter’s Here tells the story of the title character through the eyes of the girl she’s sitting for. Naturally, the narrator is not quite as perceptive as the audience. The first verse is about how cool the babysitter is, and the second verse starts to talk about her wonderful love life:

Her boyfriend is Tom but we call him the king of romance,
He wears an American flag on the butt of his ripped up pants,
Will they get married, with kids of their own?
He says “not if she’s going to college she won’t” WHAT?

and for the refrain and the bridge the audience sees things very differently from the narrator, who does grow up a little herself in the final verse, and manages to deal with her loss:

And I’ll make you a picture for college next year’

24

Good one. Poignant song.

25

I almost posted this in the great lyrics thread, but then I realized it fit here.

Cake, Comfort Eagle

A dystopian song about corporatization.
Lots of fun, right?

We are building a religion
We are building it bigger
We are widening the corridors
And adding more lanes

We are building a religion
A limited edition
We are now accepting callers
For these pendant key chains

It’s funny! But vaguely sinister.

And then the final verse just twists the blade:

There’s no need to ask directions
If you ever lose your mind
We’re behind you
We’re behind you
And let us please remind you
We can send a car to find you
If you ever lose your way

This was before the attention economy and the commodification of user data really kicked in. Actually kind of prophetic if you think about it.