Favorite Song lyric EVER

[MissMillie]

Mind you, I'm not looking for a whole song.... I'm looking for the one line that just makes you go "hmmmmmm" (or "wow!" or "yikes" or whatever reaction that it evokes from you...)

Mine is this:

"I firmly believed that I didn't need anyone but me
I sincerely thought I was so complete
Look how wrong you can be"



From Every Picture Tells a Story

[Heidi]

1. From "Anthem," by Leonard Cohen:

"Ring the bells that still can ring
Forget your perfect offering
There is a crack in everything
That's how the light gets in."

[graywarrior]

7. YES! I love that Cohen stanza!

[redqueen]

21. Those last two lines...

those always stay with me.

Nice choice. :thumbsup:

[Tallison]

96. "The Future" is full of great lyrics

I love what "Democracy" has to say...

It's coming through a hole in the air,
from those nights in Tiananmen Square.
It's coming from the feel
that this ain't exactly real,
or it's real, but it ain't exactly there.
From the wars against disorder,
from the sirens night and day,
from the fires of the homeless,
from the ashes of the gay:
Democracy is coming to the U.S.A.

It's coming through a crack in the wall;
on a visionary flood of alcohol;
from the staggering account
of the Sermon on the Mount
which I don't pretend to understand at all.
It's coming from the silence
on the dock of the bay,
from the brave, the bold, the battered
heart of Chevrolet:
Democracy is coming to the U.S.A.

It's coming from the sorrow in the street,
the holy places where the races meet;
from the homicidal bitchin'
that goes down in every kitchen
to determine who will serve and who will eat.
From the wells of disappointment
where the women kneel to pray
for the grace of God in the desert here
and the desert far away:
Democracy is coming to the U.S.A.

It's coming to America first,
the cradle of the best and of the worst.
It's here they got the range
and the machinery for change
and it's here they got the spiritual thirst.
It's here the family's broken
and it's here the lonely say
that the heart has got to open
in a fundamental way:
Democracy is coming to the U.S.A.

It's coming from the women and the men.
O baby, we'll be making love again.
We'll be going down so deep
the river's going to weep,
and the mountain's going to shout Amen!
It's coming like the tidal flood
beneath the lunar sway,
imperial, mysterious,
in amorous array:
Democracy is coming to the U.S.A.

Sail on, sail on ...

I'm sentimental, if you know what I mean
I love the country but I can't stand the scene.
And I'm neither left or right
I'm just staying home tonight,
getting lost in that hopeless little screen.
But I'm stubborn as those garbage bags
that Time cannot decay,
I'm junk but I'm still holding up this little wild bouquet:
Democracy is coming to the U.S.A.

[taterguy]

2. Every day, I get up and pray to Jah

And he decreases the number of clocks by exactly one

[Felix Mala]

6. Sounds like Peter Gabriel, but I don't know...

[taterguy]

38. Camper Van Beethoven

I thought memorizing Michael Moore movies was a requirement for hanging out here. It's "Take the Skinheads Bowling" which was resurrected by Bowling for Columbine. May have gotten the words a little wrong though

[scarlet_owl]

31. That's a great song!

[blondeatlast]

76. A Camper fan!

Welcome to DU! :toast:

I refuse to lick your knees, though...

[driver8]

88. I'm a Camper fan, too...

And I also refuse to lick your knees!

[taterguy]

94. knees

I don't think my wife would appreciate it if a stranger licked my knees. Exchanging thoughts about esoteric bands is ok though

[SeattleGirl]

3. "She just can't be chained

to a life where nothing's gained
and nothing lost
at such a cost"

Ruby Tuesday, The Rolling Stones

[Initech]

4. From "Armageddon Days Are Here Again" by The The:

(yes, there really is a band called The The)

"If the real Jesus Christ were to stand up today
He'd be gunned down cold by the CIA"

Pretty cold lyrics, yes, but it's the truth!

[atomic-fly]

19. great album....

[Dastard Stepchild]

58. yes.. yes...

:thumbsup: to one of the most excellent bands ever.

[calmblueocean]

86. Don't forget "God doesn't even go to church!"

They ought to publicly re-release "Mindbomb". It sounds even more relevant today than when it was first recorded. Classic.

[Felix Mala]

5. I've posted this before.

Just reading it makes my eyes tear up...

"One day up near Salinas, Lord, I let him slip away.
He’s looking for that home and I hope he finds it;
But I’d trade all of my tomorrows for one single yesterday
To be holding Bobby’s body next to mine."

[Debi]

39. Freedom's just another word for nothing left to lose n/t

[wildhorses]

47. nothing ain't worth nothing but it's free n/t

[wildhorses]

48. well, I think I touched her soul....Star

I don't want to play wicked games....Chris Issak
and
I just want to rock your gypsy soul....Van Morrison

[dajoki]

8. anyone remember this one?

let's swim to the moon
let's climb through the tide
penetrate the evening that the city seeks to hide

[DelawareValleyDem]

10. One of the doors best

[dajoki]

16. yep...

first song morrison wrote.

[Shell Beau]

9. Hard to choose! So many that I love. Here is one from "Imagine"

Imagine no possesions,
I wonder if you can,
No need for greed or hunger,
A brotherhood of man,
Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world...

[Rising Phoenix]

55. When I grow up...

I'll be stable
When I grow up
I'll turn the tables...
- Garbage

[DelawareValleyDem]

11. These

Who will provide the grand design?
What is yours and what is mine?
'Cause there is no more new frontier
We have got to make it here

We satisfy our endless needs and
justify our bloody deeds,
in the name of destiny and the name
of God

And you can see them there,
On Sunday morning
They stand up and sing about
what it's like up there
They call it paradise
I don't know why
You call someplace paradise,
kiss it goodbye

[northzax]

34. I prefer...

some rich man came and raped the land
nobody caught him
put up a bunch of ugly boxes
and Jesus, people bought 'em.

it's a great song.

[toey]

12. "I like your pants around your feet"

[Josephine]

13. To Live is to Fly by Cowboy Junkies

To live is to fly
Low and high
So shake the dust off of your wings
And the sleep out of your eyes

[taterguy]

49. Townes Van Zandt

I hate to be a music snob that's a cover of a Townes Van Zandt song. Do yourself a favor and pick up a copy of the recently reissued "Live at the Old Quarter", the Rosetta Stone of Texas music. Trust me, even though you don't know me.

[Josephine]

50. I know it's a cover

I prefer their version (I know, it's a herasy) But I will take a listen to the reissue. Thanks for the tip!

[taterguy]

60. not herasy

I haven't heard the Cowboy Junkies version but it might be great. I can think of countless examples of songs interpreted by others that are worthy: most notably Aretha Franklin doing the Otis Redding penned tune Respect. However, since the thread title said lyrics I thought it would be appropriate to give proper credit.

[bunkerbuster1]

14. 'The media-as-watchdog is absolute SH*T"

Paul Weller, of the Jam, at the tender age of 18 in 1976, absolutely nailed it.

And it only took me ~28 years to realize just how right he was.

[JimmyJazz]

15. 'N' every gimmick hungry yob digging gold from rock 'n' roll

Grabs the mike to tell us he'll die before he's sold
But i believe in this-and it's been tested by research
he who................will later join the church.

**********

death or glory

Either that, or:

"Please remember Victor Jara in the Santiago Stadium" - Washington Bullets.

[taterguy]

56. Dances in moonlight?

Just trying to come up with a phrase where the number of letters equals the number of ellipses in your redacted post. I know I didn't get it exactly but that's good enough for government work.

[JimmyJazz]

67. you aren't really even close.

:rofl:

[taterguy]

69. I beg to differ

You used thirteen ellipses, my phrase had twelve letters. That's close. Whether or not dancing in moonlight is close to the phrase you were referring to but unwilling to say is a matter of opinion. :)

[JimmyJazz]

71. I didn't count ellipses

The proper line is:

He who (blanks) nuns will later join the church...

[Midlodemocrat]

17. I think the best song lyric ever is

I'd like to find your inner child and kick its little ass.

From: Get Over It by the Eagles.

[atomic-fly]

18. i like this Billy Bragg verse from New England

I saw two shooting stars last night
I wished on them but they were only satellites
Is it wrong to wish on space hardware
I wish, I wish, I wish you’d care

[redqueen]

20. Oooh tough question!

I can't choose an absolute favorite of all time... but right now the one for me would be:

But still the warmth flows through me
And I sense you know me well
It's only common sense
There are no accidents around here

I am willing - lay your hands on me
I am ready - lay your hands on me
I believe - lay your hands on me, over me
over me


from Lay Your Hands On Me, by Peter Gabriel

[clintoncomeback]

22. My hands are tied, For all I've seen has changed my mind

But still the wars go on as the years go by
With no love of god or human rights
Cuz all these dreams are swept aside
By bloodied hands of the hypnotized
Who carry the cross of homicide
And history bears the scars of our civil wars

Guns N' Roses

[livetohike]

23. And if I don't meet you no more in this world

Then I'll, I'll meet you in the next one
And don't be late, don't be late

Hendrix (Voodoo Child slight return)

[lpbk2713]

24. "In the clearing stands a boxer and a fighter by his trade,

And he carries the reminders of every glove that laid him down,
Or cut him 'til he cried out in his anger and his shame,
"I am leaving, I am leaving."
But the fighter still remains."



S&G


Ed: It's really tough to nail down just one favorite when it comes to S&G.

[Tallison]

97. I'm not much of a Paul Simon fan

but that lyric affects me, too. Good pick. :thumbsup:

[asthmaticeog]

25. "I feel a hunger / It's a hunger"

Eddie Money, "Take Me Home Tonight."

[AVulgarianHue]

26. Neil Young

"On The Way Home"

When the dream came
I held my breath with my eyes closed
I went insane,
Like a smoke ring day
When the wind blows

[MissMillie]

27. Neil is such a poet

isn't he?

[khashka]

45. How little I know!

I thought "Speaking Italian with Robert Dinero" was your fave lyric.

(The only reason I know that song is because of you.)

Khash.

[AVulgarianHue]

75. Re: "How little I Know!"

Again, "On the Way Home"

In a strange game
I saw myself as you knew me

[khashka]

84. You ever check out Sex and The City?

I still think Miranda is you. Smart, sexy. a little sarcastic.....

Khash.

[no name no slogan]

28. "Don't Fall" by the Chameleons

My favorite two lines:
"So don't fall my friend
All nightmares have an end."


===========================================================

Don't fall! Don't fall!

Alone in a room I've been in once before
Shapes in the hall
I'm running for the door
I'm out on the edge
But I'm not defeated yet
I hear my name above everything else
Mark! Mark!
Above everything else
Don't fall!

It's a freak out
Nothing's familiar
Nothing seems to fit into the scheme of things
Seeing faces where there shouldn't be faces
No-one's ever certain what tomorrow brings
So don't fall my friend
All nightmares have an end.

Hiding inside
A room that's running red
The place to be
Exists only in your head
And the focus of fear
In the creases of a dress
A female dress
How did I come to be drowning in this mess
This fuckin' mess
Don't fall

It's a freak out
Nothing's familiar
Nothing seems to fit into the scheme of things
Seeing faces where there shouldn't be faces
No-one's ever certain what tomorrow brings
Don't fall

I know your back's against the wall
But this roaring silence
Won't devour us all
Don't fall

[Rude Horner]

29. From Pearl Jam - Black

I know someday you'll have a beautiful life
I know you'll be a Sun in somebody else's sky
But why, why why can't it be mine?

[Rising Phoenix]

51. oohh, good choice

[TallahasseeGrannie]

30. I have two

Let it be, let it be, let it be; whisper words of wisdom, let it be.


and


You can't always get what you want. But if you try sometimes you just might find you get what you need.

[Rising Phoenix]

59. and if you take more of those...

you will get an overdose...
no more running for the shelter of your mother's little helper

[ccjlld]

32. I love the imagery of this

And the sons of pullman porters
And the sons of engineers
Ride their father's magic carpets made of steel.

From City of New Orleans

[Rising Phoenix]

61. you women aren't woman enough to take my man...

[BigMcLargehuge]

33. from Marillion's - Warm Wet Circles

favorite bolded -

(Dick/Kelly/Mosley/Rothery/Trewavas)

On promenades where drunks propose to lonely arcade mannequins
Where ceremonies pause at the jeweller's shop display
Feigning casual silence in strained romantic interludes
Till they commit themselves to the muted journey home
And the pool player rests on another cue
Last nights hero picking up his dues
A honeymoon gambled on a ricochet
She's staring at the brochures at the holidays

Chalking up a name in your hometown
Standing all your mates to another round
Laughing at the world till the barman wipes away the warm wet circles
The warm wet circles

I saw teenage girls like gaudy moths
A classroom's shabby butterflies
Flirt in the glow of stranded telephone boxes
Planning white lace weddings from smeared hearts and token proclamations
Rolled from stolen lipsticks across the razored webs of glass
Sharing cigarettes with experience with her giggling jealous confidantes
She faithfully traces his name with quick bitten fingernails
Through the tears of condensation that'll cry through the night
As the glancing headlights of the last bus kiss adolescence goodbye
In a warm wet circle

Like a mothers kiss on your first broken heart, a warm wet circle
Like a bullet hole in Central Park, a warm wet circle
And I'll always surrender to the warm wet circles

She nervously undressed in the dancing beams of the Fidra lighthouse
Giving it all away before it's too late
She'll let a lovers tongue move in a warm wet circle
Giving it all away and showing no shame
She'll take a mother's kiss on her first broken heart a warm wet circle
She'll realise that she played her part in a warm wet circle

[redqueen]

62. Son of a bitch...

my favorite song by Marillion... was just thinking about that yesterday.

:toast:

[BigMcLargehuge]

87. :)

Great minds think alike. The first three and the last one on Clutching at Straws are a masterpiece.

[redqueen]

101. Indeed...

I'm always pleased to find another Marillion fan. :hi:

[dannofoot]

35. Tom Waits...

Andre is at the piano
behind the Ivar in the Sewers
with a buck a shot for pop tunes
and a fin for guided tours
he could of been in Casablanca
he stood in line out there all day
but now he's spillin' whiskey
and learnign songs about the one that got away...

Tom Waits, "The One That Got Away"

[khashka]

44. A little more Tom Waits...

I love this song...

The wind is making speeches
And the rain sounds just like a round of applause



Ok I posted the whole thing before, but you can never get enough Tom Waits.

Khash.

[redqueen]

63. you can never get enough Tom Waits

Truer words...

[Cocoa]

82. "You must be reading my mail..."

for some reason that line always makes me laugh. From "I never talk to strangers."

[jane_pippin]

36. You don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows.

Damn straight.

[Debi]

37. Proclaimer's Joyful Kilmarnock Blues

I'm not going to talk about doubts and confusion
on a night when I can see with my eyes shut.

The question doesn't matter
The answer's always aye
the best view of all
is when the land meets the sky

[u4ic]

40. A couple:

"There's lots of food for thought, but not a great deal on our plate"

Up Here in the North of England, Icicle Works


"I'm a pretty good cook
I'm sitting on my groceries
Come up to my kitchen
I'll show you my best recipe" :*

Raised on Robbery, Joni Mitchell

[khashka]

41. It's not a classic Cadillac

Tori Amos - Me and A Gun.

From the same song -

So I wore a slinky red thing
Does that mean I should spread
For you, your friends, your father, Mister Ed?



That song always makes me cry.


Khash.

[DS1]

42. a portion of one of my favs

And in between
Sips of Coke
He told me that
He thought
We were sellin' out,
Layin' down,
Suckin' up
To the man.

Well now I've got some
A-dvice for you, little buddy.
Before you point the finger
You should know that
I'm the man,

And if I'm the man,

Then you're the man, and
He's the man as well so you can
Point that fuckin' finger up your ass.

[Parche]

43. FAVORITE

Did I ask too much, more then alot, you gave me nothing
now its all I got...............

[bertha katzenengel]

46. "don't confront me with my failures - I have not forgotten them"

:headbowed:

[LA lady]

52. I think Jim Croce wrote "Time in a Bottle"

If I had a box just for wishes and dreams that had never come true.
The box would be empty except for the memory of how they were answered by you.

[Rising Phoenix]

53. God sometimes you just don't come through...

tori amos

[khashka]

74. Ah Tori!

Years go by
Will I still be waiting for someobody else to understand?
Years go by
If I'm stripped of my beauty and the orange clouds raining in my head?
Years go by
Will I choke on my tears 'til nothing's left?
One more casualty
You know we're too easy easy easy......


Khash.

(Actually the girl is fucking brilliant. "When will you love you as much as I do" haunts me....)

[Ksec]

54. "If there's a bustle in your hedgerow..."

If there's a bustle in your hedgerow
Don't be alarmed now
It's just a spring clean for the May Queen

Stairway to Heaven -Led Zep

[Dastard Stepchild]

57. And if a double-decker bus crashes into us...

to die by your side is such a heavenly way to die.

I almost selected as my DU name DoubleDeckerDeath, but I thought it a bit too macabre to use. So I settled on the hideously dull and highly forgettable sjbech.

[redqueen]

64. I love it when you sing to me

And you
You can sing me anything

[DanCa]

65. stephan smith you aint a cowboy

Remember when that pr firm flew you out on the boat
Was is so that they could inflate your coat
Or was it by chance so that a million children
could get a look at your pants
From stephan smith you aint a cowboy
www.stephansmith.com
You aint a cowboy.

[flvegan]

66. One of mine, from "State of the Union"

by Rise Against...

If we're the flagship of peace and prosperity
We're taking on water and about to fuckin' sink
No one seems to notice, no one even blinks
The crew all left the passengers to die under the sea

[Tafiti]

68. One of my favs:

"...weapons, not food, not homes, not shoes.
Not need, just feed the war cannibal animal.
I walk the corner to the rubble.
That used to be the library,
line up to the mind cemetery now.
What we don't know keeps the contracts alive and moving.
They don't gotta burn the books, they just remove 'em.
While arms warehouses fill as quick as the cells,
Rally 'round the family with a pocket full of shells."

[gmoney]

70. "At night..." and "Now either..."

"At night I drink myself to sleep and pretend I don't care that you're not here with me." - R.E.M "Rockville"

"Now it's either I'm dead and I haven't done anything that I want, or I'm still alive and there's nothing I want to do." - They Might Be Giants "Dead"

Not all time greatest, but I think they're brilliant turns of phrase.

[KG]

72. 'I've seen you on the corners and cafes, it seems, red hair and black

leather, my favorite color scheme'

1952 Vincent Black Lightning, Richard Thompson.

[Left Is Write]

73. From one of my favorite songs...

"Well, she's walking downtown on a foggy summer evening
everybody watches with a blend of wonder and disgust..."

[anarch]

77. sometimes I think it's a shame

when I get feelin' better when I'm feelin' no pain.

[fudge stripe cookays]

78. Perfect Skin- Lloyd Cole

"At the age of ten she looked like Greta Garbo
And I loved her then, but how was she to know that"

[jus_the_facts]

79. We're just two lost souls swimmin' in a fish bowl...year after year....

...runnin' over the same old ground...what have we found...the same old fears...wish you were here. ~Pink Floyd~

[mac56]

80. And I know I could have me a million more friends

And all I'd have to lose is my point of view
But I had no idea what a good time would cost
Till that night that I sat and talked with you

John Prine

[Cocoa]

81. a Dylan phrase is currently running thru my head

Little red wagon little red bike
I ain't no monkey but I know what I like

from "Buckets of Rain"

[La Lioness Priyanka]

83. she's been everybody elses girl

maybe someday she'll be her own

[lizziegrace]

85. Two From Ellis Paul

from: Sweet Mistakes

Pop the cork, a champagne glass
Raise to the future, drink to the past
Thank the Lord for the friends he cast,
In the play he wrote for you.

And if you love the girl, man, light up a torch
Blaze a trail to her front porch
Kiss her till your lips are scorched
Till the rain comes down on you

Bless your sweet mistakes,
That crumbled you down to your knees.
That brought you to this place
Changing you by degrees…
When change was just what you needed…
What you needed…


from: Kiss The Sun (A Song for Pat Tillman)

I heard Pat Tillman died
in the hills of Afghanistan
He came for justice
not for greed, not for ego
His truth came through the fog
like the hometeam’s marching band
Are you a warrior, or a savior,
or the great American hero?
(chorus)

My wife, she’s writing
the war’s on CNN
“It looks pretty bad from here…”
“You should see it from my end –”
I’m just a sentinel
Just a sentinel
Fighting an oilman’s war
And I need to know, I need to know
Is that what Pat Tillman died for?
(chorus)

edited for link www.ellispaul.com

[spacelady]

89. From "Death on Two Legs" by Queen--"Now You Can Kiss My Ass Goodbye"

fairly naughty stuff back in the day...

[WCGreen]

90. It's a town full of losers, I'm pullin' outa here to win......

Or,,,,

Deep in the Bosom of Suburbia.....

[Gregorian]

91. She smiled at me. So I flipped her off.

The Zeros.

I can't remember the song. A great tune for a semi-glam punk band.

[HEyHEY]

92. I feel like a stranger from another world, but at least I'm living again

[Ready4Change]

93. This one captured a certain period in my life.

"As a moon may adore you and remain, high moon
The wind may crown your head with leaves, and keep blowing
So I'll stop and I'll watch you, for I love, I love
And then be on my way. And then be on my way."

[Jamastiene]

95. "Hate your next door neighbor but don't forget to say grace." from

"Eve Of Destruction" by Barry McGuire

Also,
"...the man from Mars stopped eating cars
And eating bars
And now he only eats guitars."
from "Rapture" by Blondie

[taterguy]

98. Says it all . . .

Gabba gabba HEY!

[CBHagman]

99. My gut reaction is...

...the opening from "Year of the Cat" by Al Stewart:

"On a morning from a Bogart movie, in a coutntry where they turn back time,

You go strolling through the crowd like Peter Lorre contemplating a crime."


Then again, I love more than a few passages on "Born to Run" and especially "Greetings from Asbury Park, New Jersey," particularly the line "I lost everything I ever loved or feared."

[SarahB]

100. Oddly enough, it's Morrissey.

In the song Dial-A-Cliche from Viva Hate, there's this line:

Dial-A-Cliche

"when you find that you've organized
your feelings, for people
who didn't like you then
and certainly don't like you now"

How many times in life have we tried to think and feel what we were supposed to think and feel only to find ourselves miserable? Never again will I be a person who attempts to do that. That line struck me when I was 15 or 16, yet it took me until I was 32 to begin to live it. Some people never do. I'm lucky.