Your Favourite Line or Verse from a song and why?

Steve_o

Just an idea i had.....This can be any song by any artist, and explain why you chose the line/verse.

Mine has to be - Positively 4th Street by Bob Dylan

You gotta lotta nerve to say you are my friend
When I was down you just stood there grinnin'
You gotta lotta nerve to say you got a helping hand to lend
You just wanna be on the side that's winnin'
You say I let you down, you know it's not like that
If you're so hurt why then don't you show it?

I picked this verse because i find it hugely relevant to stuff that went on in my life in the past. Brilliant lyrics!

frobisher

Great thread idea but hard to come up with. There are so many for different times. But I have always loved Bird on a wire from Leonard Cohen:

Like a bird on a wire
Like a drunk in a midnight choir
I have tried in my way to be free

joe_chicken

Agreed, great thread idea.

Gonna go with an oldie too, I'm sure It'll change by the end of this thread.
From Old Man by Neil Young:

"Doesn't mean that much to me, to mean that much to you"

Not sure why I like it so much, I think it's more the matter of fact tone he sings it in. I'd love to be able to say it to someone and mean it.

nervous_twitch

'And after my dreaded beheading I tied that sucker back on with a string, and I guess I'm pretty different now, considering...'

- Manhole, Ani DiFranco


'It's a stiff competition to see who can stay up later,
the stars or the street light?
When all I really want, its to be alone with the darkness,
No more wish I may, No more wish I might.
It takes a stiff upper lip, just to hold up my face,
I gotta suck it up and savour the taste of my own behaviour,
I am spinning with longing, faster than a roulette wheel,
this is not who I'm meant to be, this is not how I'm meant to feel'

- a couplet of verses taken from 'Wish I May' by the same artist. Both of them carry so much weight because they bear a striking relevance to a headspace I was in a few years back.

Yup, big Ani fan

Steve_o

frobisher wrote:

Great thread idea but hard to come up with. There are so many for different times. But I have always loved Bird on a wire from Leonard Cohen:

Like a bird on a wire
Like a drunk in a midnight choir
I have tried in my way to be free

I love Leonard Cohens stuff aswell...he's a genious

Ok folks keep em comin!!

oooops

Speaking of Leonard Cohen..from Famous blue raincoat..


Thanks for the trouble you took from her eye, I thought it was there for good, so I never tried....

Poignant lyrics indeed

Fad

''My greatest gift gift to you is a DANCEFLOOR''
''we will persist untill all thats left is a perfect sphere''
~Alexisonfire (i love them)
and the obligitary emo one:
''drop the dagger and lather the blood on your hands''
a la Gerard Way

RAIN

''The only girl I've ever loved
Was born with roses in her eyes
But then they buried her alive
One evening 1945
With just her sister at her side
And only weeks before the guns
All came and rained on everyone
Now she's a little boy in Spain
Playing pianos filled with flames
On empty rings around the sun
All sing to say my dream has come''

holland,1945 by Neutral Milk Hotel
I was obsessed with this song for nearly a year
and it took me about a month to realise he was talking about anne frank.

At the moment though ''Fake Empire'' by The National has some great Lines in the verse

pinksoir

Oh, oh, what a night
Oh what a garden of delight
Even now that sweet memory lingers
I was playin' my guitar
lying underneath the stars
Just thankin' the Lord for my fingers
For my fingers

Paul Simon - Duncan

Last few lines get me every time. It's the winner.

Killaqueen!!!

When I awoke today suddenly nothing happened
But in my dreams I slew the dragon
And down this beaten path
And up this cobbled lane
I'm walking in my own footsteps once again

And you say,"Just be here now
Forget about the past
Your mask is wearing thin"
Let me throw one more dice
I know that I can win
I'm waiting for my real life to begin

-Colin Hay "Waiting For My Real Life To Begin"

Ok, it's a verse and chorus but I just love the lyrics and the way he sings them.

davyjose

Most of the time it's well understood
Most of the time I wouldn't change it if I could
I can make it all match up
I can hold my own
I can deal with the situation right down to the bone
I can survive and I can endure
And I don't even think about her
Most of the time

Bob Dylan - Most of the Time

There's something about his fragile indignance ... I dunno, its something only Dylan can do.

Anto McC

Today i keep repeating these lyrics in my head:

"I keep walking you into those lamposts again
But i'd rather do that then let go of your hand"

"I must confess that in my quest I felt depressed and restless
But this casanova's roving days are over more or less"

By BellX1 and Thin Lizzy respectively.

Flattery

Oh, the Union Central is pullin' out and the orchids are in bloom,
I've only got me one good shirt left and it smells of stale perfume.
In fourteen months I've only smiled once and I didn't do it consciously,
Somebody's got to find your trail,
I guess it must be up to me.

From "Up To Me" by Bob Dylan.

My favourite verse from an all-time favourite song. As ever, Dylan proving himself the king of observation.

lukegriffen

from The Magnetic Fields 'I Don't Believe you'
opening line...

"so you quote love unquote me.."

a brilliantly simple way of getting across a sarcastic lyric

belleray

For Cohen my favourite lines are
"Jane came by with a lock of your hair, she said that yo gave it to her, that night that you planned to go free, did you ever go free?"

best opening ever in Springsteens tunnel of love
"fat man sitting on a little stool, takes the money from my hand while his eyes take a walk all over you, hands me a ticket, whispers good luck, well cuddle up angel, cuddle up"

Sir Graball

Great thread :

Joni Mitchell's 'Refuge of the Roads' from the album 'Hejira' ( best album ever about touring) has a final verse which is stunning. She's writing about a photo of the earth she sees on a calendar in a gas station-

In a highway service station, over the month of June
Was a photograph of the earth taken comin' back from the moon
And you couldn't see a city on that marble bowling ball
Or a forest or a highway or me here least of all
You couldn't see these cold water restrooms
Or this baggage overload
West bound and rollin'
Taking refuge in the roads

Brilliant song writer

Best opening line has to be The Smiths - 'This Charming Man'

Punctured bicycle on a hillside -desolate!


You're imagining it I know!!!

Photi

"The ghost of 'lectricity howls in the bones of her face"

Bob Dylan - Visions Of Johanna

One of the best lyrics ever written in popular music.

mct1

That's a coincidence Steve O. Before I opened the thread, I was going to post this other bit of Positively 4th Street)


I wish that for just one time, you could stand inside my shoes
And just for that one moment I could be you
Yes, I wish that for just one time you could stand inside my shoes
You'd know what a drag it is to see you

lilly03

Hey,

A bit corny this one but it always gets me -

"the history book on the shelf, forever repeating itself"

Any takers on who penned it ???

Flattery

Abba, n'est pas?


Am I admitting I know this?

*Grudgingly submits reply*

coady

But I want something good to die for
To make it beautiful to live.

im_invisible

...gets me thinking of:

And nothing ever happens, nothing happens at all
The needle returns to the start of the song
And we all sing along like before

And we'll all be lonely tonight and lonely tomorrow

-Del Amitri

judas101

'If you ever need self validation,
just meet me in the alley by the railway station'

-The one and only Morrissey

Sir Graball

judas101 wrote:

'If you ever need self validation,
just meet me in the alley by the railway station'

-The one and only Morrissey

Yeah Bigmouth Strikes Again.

He has to rank as one of the wittiest lyricists of all time

'Now I know how Joan of Arc felt
As the flames rose to her Roman nose
And her Walkman started to melt':D

DarrenAF

Great thread!

I was hankering between this and a few lines from "Up the Junction" by Squeeze, but I went with this in the end 'cos every time I hear it it chills me down to the bone:

"When I was a young boy
my momma told me: son,
always be a good boy,
and don't ever play with guns,
but I shot a man in Reno,
just to watch him die"

Johnny Cash, Fulsome Prison Blues

jmck87

One of my fav lyrics of modern times is from alex turner in "When the sun goes down" by the Arctic Monkeys.....

"And Ive seen him with girls of the night,
and he told Roxanne to put on her red light,
theyre all infected but he'll be allright,
coz hes a scumbag dont you know..."

The Roxanne bit did it for me.... modern classic.. great band too.

sophiemarie

"He ain't got no distractions
Can't hear those buzzers and bells
Don't see lights a flashin'
Plays by sense of smell
Always gets a replay
Never tilts at all
That deaf, dumb and blind kid
Sure plays a mean pinball"

The Who, Pinball Wizard

Extreme-LoopZ

"How I wish, How I wish you were here, we're just two lost souls swimming in a fish bowl, year after year, running over the same old ground, what have we found? the same old fears."
- Pink Floyd, Wish you were here


What if this whole crusade's
A charade
And behind it all there's a price to be paid
For the blood
On which we dine
Justified in the name of the holy and the divine

Just how deep do you believe?
Will you bite the hand that feeds?
- NIN, The hand that feeds

sophiemarie

What if this whole crusade's
A charade
And behind it all there's a price to be paid
For the blood
On which we dine
Justified in the name of the holy and the divine

Just how deep do you believe?
Will you bite the hand that feeds?
- NIN, The hand that feeds[/QUOTE]

Great Lyrics...

Steve_o

Come gather 'round people, wherever you roam
And admit that the waters around you have grown,
and accept it that soon you'll be drenched to the bone,
if your time too you is worth savin',
Then you better start swimming or you'll sink like a stone,
for the Times They are A Changin'

Its very powerful and its also quite ageless, it has been used in context since the 60's and still holds a valid meaning....the genius of Bob Dylan i guess!

lilly03

Can we have 2 favourites?

I'd add GreenDay

So take the photographs
and still frames in your mind.
It's not a question
but a lesson learned in time.

It's something unpredictable
but in the end it's right.
I hope you had the time of your life

_hybrid_

"At my window
Watching the sun go
Hoping the stars know
Its time to shine
Daydreams
Aloft on dark wings
Soft as the sun streams
At days decline"

sometimes theres another line added somewhere in the middle;
"let the sky sing this song of mine"

coolhandc

Cant believe hotel california hasnt been mentioned yet!

Mirrors on the ceiling,
The pink champagne on ice
And she said ’we are all just prisoners here, of our own device’
And in the master’s chambers,
They gathered for the feast
The stab it with their steely knives,
But they just can’t kill the beast

also elephant by damien rice

What's the point of this song? Or even singing?
You've already gone, why am I clinging?
Well I could throw it out, and I could live without
And I could do it all for you
I could be strong
Tell me if you want me to lie
'Cause this has got to die

I said, this has got to stop
This has got to lie down, down
With someone else on top

and if i could pick three id pick the whole hallelujah song!

Caveat

For the sheer cheek, Bitter Sweet by Roxy Music

He compares love/passion/regret with wine and then goes into a rant in German rhyming wine with "Nein" :

"How rich in contrast love can be, I'm almost quite amused to see it twist and turn, to taste both sweet and dry.

These vintage years, lovers, you consume my friend as others their wine... (pause)

NEIN! - das ist nicht das ende der welt!"

It's maybe one of those - 'you'd have to hear it' ones

Also, From Bowie's portrait of paranoia/obsession etc Scary Monsters:

"She asked me to stay and I stole her room. She asked for my love and I gave her a dangerous mind"

Not deep or anything - just sounds great.

SxE Punk

Pretty much anything by Billy Bragg I could put in this thread, right now I'm thinking Waiting for the great leap forwards though.


It may have been Camelot for Jack and Jacqueline
But on the Che Guevara highway filling up with gasoline
Fidel Castro's brother spies a rich lady who's crying
Over luxury's disappointment
So he walks over and he's trying
To sympathise with her but he thinks that he should warn her
That the Third World is just around the corner

In the Soviet Union a scientist is blinded
By the resumption of nuclear testing and he is reminded
That Dr Robert Oppenheimer's optimism fell
At the first hurdle

In the Cheese Pavilion and the only noise I hear
Is the sound of someone stacking chairs
And mopping up spilt beer
And someone asking questions and basking in the light
Of the fifteen fame filled minutes of the fanzine writer

Mixing Pop and Politics he asks me what the use is
I offer him embarrassment and my usual excuses
While looking down the corridor
Out to where the van is waiting
I'm looking for the Great Leap Forwards

Jumble sales are organised and pamphlets have been posted
Even after closing time there's still parties to be hosted
You can be active with the activists
Or sleep in with the sleepers
While you're waiting for the Great Leap Forwards

One leap forward, two leaps back
Will politics get me the sack?

Waiting for the great leap forwards

Here comes the future and you can't run from it
If you've got a blacklist I want to be on it

Waiting for the great leap forwards

It's a mighty long way down rock 'n roll
From Top of the Pops to drawing the dole

When you're waiting for the great leap forwards

If no one out there understands
Start your own revolution and cut out the middleman

Waiting for the great leap forwards

In a perfect world we'd all sing in tune
But this is reality so give me some room

Waiting for the great leap forwards

So join the struggle while you may
The Revolution is just a T-shirt away
Waiting for the Great Leap Forwards
Waiting for the Great Leap Forwards...

Fall_Guy

"If I could make it rain today,
And wash away this sunny day down to the gutter, I would.
Just to get a change of pace.
Things are getting worse but I feel a lot better,
And that's all that really matters to me."-Adam Duritz.

THis song has been in my head all day so they were the first lyrics that came to me when i saw this thread. I don't know why I like these lyrics, but their delivery and what's being said conveys a sort of disconnection to everyday life that I can relate to at times.

Gerard.C

I know someday you'll have a beautiful life,
I know you'll be a star,
In someboday else's sky,
But why can't it be mine?

"Black" - Pearl Jam.

harmacist

I've always loved the fairly blunt opening lines of the Verve's Bitter Sweet Symphony...

"Cause it's a bitter sweet symphony this life
Trying to make ends meet, you're a slave to the money then you die"

Bleak, direct and challenging (all sung over that glorius string loop!)

donomo

Ok how about this classic bob dylan verse from "Tombstone blues"

The Commander-in-Chief answers him while chasing a fly
Saying, "Death to all those who would whimper and cry"
And dropping a bar bell he points to the sky
Saving, "The sun's not yellow it's chicken"

That would probably be my favourite at the moment...either that or

In an mmmbop they're gone
In an mmmbop they're gone. In an mmmbop they're not there
In an mmmbop they're gone. In an mmmbop they're not there
In an mmmbop they're gone. In an mmmbop they're not there
In an mmmbop they're gone. In an mmmbop they're not there

emoKILLER

"The greatest thrill of my life
To slit my own cock with a knife"

RubyXI

"Don't your feet get cold in the wnter-time
The sky won't snow and the sun don't shine
It's hard to tell the night-time from the day"

dream brother

These lyrics always put me in a good mood!


Mr. Mojo Risin', Mr. Mojo Risin'
Mr. Mojo Risin', Mr. Mojo Risin'
Got to keep on risin'
Mr. Mojo Risin', Mr. Mojo Risin'
Mojo Risin', gotta Mojo Risin'
Mr. Mojo Risin', gotta keep on risin'
Risin', risin'
Gone risin', risin'
I'm gone risin', risin'
I gotta risin', risin'
Well, risin', risin'
I gotta, wooo, yeah, risin'
Woah, ohh yeah

Jack DeValera

Oh 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.....


Doesn't get much more beautiful than that. Nobody comes close to Dylan in this regard really.

orestes

I want to hurt you just to hear you screaming my name

Alice Cooper, Poison

Fobia

Some great ones so far...especially the Dylan ones!

It's tricky to pick a favourite but I'd like to go for 2 really nice bunches of lines anyway..

Crosby Stills And Nash - Helplessly Hoping
"Helplessly hoping
Her harlequin hovers nearby
Awaiting a word
Gasping at glimpses
Of gentle true spirit
He runs, wishing he could fly
Only to trip at the sound of good-bye"

Gregory And the Hawk - Boats and Birds
"If you'll be my star, I'll be your sky
You can hide underneath me and come out at night
When I turn jet black, and you show of your light
I live to make you shine.."

berliner

Steve_o wrote: »

Just an idea i had.....This can be any song by any artist, and explain why you chose the line/verse.

Mine has to be - Positively 4th Street by Bob Dylan

You gotta lotta nerve to say you are my friend
When I was down you just stood there grinnin'
You gotta lotta nerve to say you got a helping hand to lend
You just wanna be on the side that's winnin'
You say I let you down, you know it's not like that
If you're so hurt why then don't you show it?

I picked this verse because i find it hugely relevant to stuff that went on in my life in the past. Brilliant lyrics!

I read somewhere that this is Roy Kean's favourite song.

Jack DeValera

It's in his top five he says. He also likes Oasis which is a bit of a bummer.

TelePaul

"Now our luck may have died and our love may be cold
But with you forever Ill stay
Were goin out where the sands turnin to gold
Put on your stockins baby, `cause the nights getting cold"

"Used to play in a rock n' roll band,
but they broke up
We were young and we were wild,
It ate us up"

"Early one mornin' the sun was shinin',
I was layin' in bed
Wond'rin' if she'd changed at all
If her hair was still red."

No1XtinaFan

"Sometimes I feel..... like I don't belong anywhere.
And it's gonna take.... so long for me to get to somewhere.........

Sometimes I feel so heavy hearted.., but I can't explain cuz I'm so guarded.
But that's a lonely road to travel, and a heavy load to... bear.

And it's a long, long way to heaven but I gotta get there.....
Can you send an angel.....?
Can you send me an angel...... to guide me."

Prelude to A Kiss-Alicia Keys

I feel like this song was written about me!

Steve_o

No1XtinaFan wrote: »

I feel like this song was written about me!

I've never heard someone say that sober!!

No1XtinaFan

Steve_o wrote: »

I've never heard someone say that sober!!

Haha! True!! But I really do feel it was!!!!
I'm sure you've listened to a song and thought wow, that's exactly what I'm feeling right now!
Although maybe I'm just a weirdo:p