Cusm

There are several songs that have lines that I love and stick in my brain, for me it is like big movie quotes. What line from a song hits you?

Of Montreal The Past is a Grotesque Animal
"But it's like we weren't made for this world
Though I wouldn't really want to meet someone who was"


Wolf Parade Dear Sons And Daughters Of Hungry Ghosts
"So I got a plan, it's the best I can do
Say, is it in God's hands?
But God doesn't always have the best goddamn plans, does he?"


Queens of the Stone Age You Can’t Quit Me Baby
"I want you to notice when I'm not around
Wherever you are"


Queens of the Stone Age Go With the Flow
"But I want something good to die for
To make it beautiful to live"

The Infidel

Each of us, a cell of awareness, imperfect and incomplete
Genetic blends with uncertain ends, on a fortune hunt that's far too fleet
-- Rush "Freewill"

Whoever said 'there's nothing new under the sun'
never thought much about individuals
But he's dead, anyway
-- The Refreshments "Down Together"

Nick Danger

And then sweeping up the jokers that he left behind
you find he did not leave you very much
not even laughter

Leonard Cohen "The Stranger Song"

stvn1974

"And if my thought-dreams could be seen
They'd probably put my head in a guillotine
But it's alright, Ma, it's life, and life only"

Bob Dylan's It's Alright, Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)

Paff

"Chewin' out a rhythm on my bubblegum"

The Ramones, Rockaway Beach

Certainly not profound or insightful, but damn doesn't it just set the mood for the song with that handful of words??

parrotheads4

mspmms

She can kill with a smile, she can wound with her eyes
She can ruin your faith with her casual lies
And she only reveals what she wants you to see
She hides like a child but she's always a woman to me
She can lead you to love, she can take you or leave you
She can ask for the truth but she'll never believe you
And she'll take what you give her as long as it's free...

She's Always a Woman
Billy Joel

ultimaton

Am I thinking what everybody's thinking?
I'm so glad I came, but I can't wait to leave

-St. Vincent, "Slow Disco"

Kurt D

Was enjoying some Declan Mamanus last week, and this one stuck out as amazing for its wordplay and economy:

So in this almost empty gin palace
Through a two-way looking glass
You see your Alice

Paff

For the reverse of "economy", how about the wordiest way of saying your song is about a girl from Vietnam?

"Make a hole with a gun
Perpendicular to the name of this town on a desktop globe
Exit wound in a foreign nation
Showing the home of the one this was written for"

-Ana Ng, They Might Be Giants

musick

Geofferson

Ray Davies - Village Green Preservation Society

We are the Sherlock Holmes English speaking vernacular
Help save Fu Manchu, Moriarty and Dracula
We are the office block persecution affinity
God save little shops, china cups and virginity

I do think the extended final verse from David Allan Coe's popular song (written by Steve Goodman) is damn near perfect.

Well, a friend of mine named Steve Goodman wrote that song
And he told me it was the perfect country & western song
I wrote him back a letter and I told him it was not the perfect country & western song
Because he hadn't said anything at all about mama
Or trains, or trucks, or prison, or getting' drunk
Well, he sat down and wrote another verse to the song and he sent it to me
And after reading it I realized that my friend had written the perfect country & western song
And I felt obliged to include it on this album
The last verse goes like this here

Well, I was drunk the day my mom got out of prison
And I went to pick her up in the rain
But before I could get to the station in my pickup truck
She got run over by a damned old train

Nick Danger

^^ That's your favorite single line from a song?

orangerunner

Joe Walsh, Ordinary Average Guy

Geofferson

^ Always liked Davies for his ability to be quirky and fun given the serious topics and events they covered in their material. VGPS references Donald Duck, Dracula and virginity in the same song - the lyrics alone were sometimes entertaining enough.

Josh-da-man

Mordred

Without much thought, these two lines from "Curtain Calls" by Old 97's.

I don't believe in cards, I don't believe in signs
But I'll be leavin' soon, I'm here tonight

There's just something about the vocal delivery and the way "believe in" becomes "be leavin'" in the next. It's just perfect.

Traxan

"The less you understand, the more you're driven." Nevermore, "Enemies of Reality."

Boy did Warrel sum up modern politics in one shot.

bralph

"Poison, baby you're like poison ivy. You make me itch and I'm out of calamine."

DVD Josh

"I shot a man in Reno, just to watch him die."

The Immortal Johnny Cash.

redtornado

"Do you remember Rick Astley?
He had a big fat hit that was ghastly
He said I'm never gonna give you up or let you down
Well I'm here to tell ya that dick's a clown"

DVD Josh

Kurt D

"I was in this Drop D Metal Band we called Requiem" - 'Sister Jack', Spoon

For rhythmic chops at the very least.

Norm de Plume

Not a favourite, but I always get a laugh out of Dylan's wording and venomous reading of:

Tweedle-Dee Dum said to Tweedle-Dee Dee
"Your presence is obnoxious to me"

If the occasion presents itself and I remember, I'll use it sometime.

MeridithHartt

"I Will Survive" by Gloria Gaynor

Do you think I'd crumble
Did you think I'd lay down and die?
No, not I, I will survive
Long as I know how to love
I know I'll stay alive
I've got all my life to live
And all my love to give and I'll survive.
I, I, I will survive.

I also love "I Believe I Can Fly" by R. Kelly

If I can see it, then I can do it
If I just believe it, there's nothing to it
I believe I can fly.