Your Favorite Lyric Lines

[Jim Nazium]

Here's another. When I first heard this song, I was having a very intense, difficult personal struggle with my religious beliefs, and I think these lyrics catured it perfectly:

Is it this place that makes me fall from you?
Forget the words that once rang so true
Did we expect that life was ever fair? My God -
I sowed a field of rose and reaped a whipping rod

And all the things I held too tight inside
Could make a part of me die
And if my lips could only speak the words
The dam would break

What is this ice that gathers 'round my heart?
Stops the flood of warmth before it even starts
It could make me blind to what I thought would always be
The only constant in the world for me

And every hour, of every day, I need to
Fight from pulling away
And if my lips could only speak the words
The dam would break

~ Toad the Wet Sprocket

[Yango]

The paper holds their folded faces to the floor
And everyday the paperboy brings more

Pink Floyd—absolutely brilliant!

[Baer]

My favorite for many, many years was from Van Morrison's Brown Eyed Girl.

"Gunning down the old man with a transistor radio."

I was crushed when I found out the real lyric was "Going down the old mine with a transitor radio." The wrong lyric is soooo much better.

[nutso42]

"Oh, how you were my hero
Oh, but now you're never here though"
- Glasvegas, Daddy's Gone


"A-well-a, everybody's heard about the bird
Bird, bird, bird, b-bird's the word
A-well-a, bird, bird, bird, the bird is the word
A-well-a, bird, bird, bird, well, the bird is the word
A-well-a, bird, bird, bird, b-bird's the word
A-well-a, bird, bird, bird, well, the bird is the word
A-well-a, bird, bird, b-bird's the word
A-well-a, bird, bird, bird, b-bird's the word
A-well-a, bird, bird, bird, well, the bird is the word
A-well-a, bird, bird, b-bird's the word"
- The Trashmen, Surfin' Bird

[cdef]

"Leave me something so I won't forget,
more than a nick or a scratch,
to remind me that in you I met,
in you I met my match.
Nothing on the surface,
I don't want it to show.
Something I can hide inside
so only you and I will know.
You know I'd do the same for you -
leave me scarred for life.
And if we never meet again,
for all the time we spent,
leave me with a tender spot,
something permanent."

- Peter Blegvad

[whitedk57]

Every drop of flame
Lights a candle in
The memory of the one
Who lived inside my skin

Shadow on the Sun - Audioslave

[ma4rk]

'Why ask your head when your hips are swinging'

[osv]

Today I've been rocking to:

It's gonna take more than a break in the law
To make me smile pretty for the wreckin' ball

Skid Row

[Solarmist]

What do you mean I ain't kind?
Just not your kind

Megadeth

[plankspanker13]

In the land of the free
And the not-so-often brave
There's both love and money
Now choose which you will save

-Joe Jackson

[the yeti]

i never ever sweated for the fortune and fame game.
nevertheless, im flying down the left lane.

house that peterbuilt, clutch

[bearhart74]

Anything ever written by Declan Mcmanus (Elvis Costello)

[SactoBass]

A seasoned witch could call you from the depths of your disgrace,
And rearrange your liver to the solid mental grace,
And achieve it all with music that came quickly from afar,
Then taste the fruit of man recorded losing all against the hour.

CLOSE TO THE EDGE - YES

[SactoBass]

Another favorite of mine:

Everybody seems to think I'm lazy
I don't mind, I think they're crazy
Running everywhere at such a speed
Till they find there's no need

I'M ONLY SLEEPING - THE BEATLES

[SactoBass]

And the lyrics that I think best describe me:

No his mind is not for rent
To any god or government

TOM SAWYER - RUSH

[N.F.A.]

A good subthread of this could center just on stuff from Dylan or Ray Davies. Talk about clever lyricists... Tom Waits, Kris Kristofferson, tons of 'em.

[jaxom]

Hello you straight-laced lady,
dressed in white but your shoes aren't clean.
Painted them up with polish
in the hope we can't see where you've been.

Sossity, You're a Woman

The Poet and the Painter casting shadows on the water
as the sun plays on the infantry returning from the sea.
The do-er and the thinker: no allowance for the other
as the failing light illuminates the mercenary's creed.
The home fire burning: the kettle almost boiling
but the master of the house is far away.
The horses stamping, their warm breath clouding
in the sharp and frosty morning of the day.
And the poet lifts his pen while the soldier sheaths his sword.
And the youngest of the family is moving with authority.
Building castles by the sea, he dares the tardy tide to wash them all aside.

The cattle quietly grazing at the grass down by the river
where the swelling mountain water moves onward to the sea:
the builder of the castles renews the age-old purpose
and contemplates the milking girl whose offer is his need.
The young men of the household have all gone into service
and are not to be expected for a year.
The innocent young master - thoughts moving ever faster -
has formed the plan to change the man he seems.
And the poet sheaths his pen while the soldier lifts his sword.
And the oldest of the family is moving with authority.
Coming from across the sea, he challenges the son who puts him to the run.

Thick As A Brick
Jethro Tull
Jethro Tull

[jaxom]

My grip is surely slipping
I think I've lost my hold
Yes, I think I've lost my hold
I cannot get insurance anymore
They don't take credit, only gold
Is that a dagger or a crucifix I see
You hold so tightly in your hand
And all the while the distance grows between you and me
I do not understand

Blood Of Eden

Peter Gabriel

[MarkMgibson]

And while the Pope owns 51% of General Motors
And the stock exchange is the only thing he's qualified to quote us

George Harrison - Awaiting On You All

I always liked that line.

[a2zbassman]

All I want is the same as everyone
Why am I here, and for how long

And I raise my head and stare
Into the eyes of a stranger
Ive always known that the mirror never lies
People always turn away
From the eyes of a stranger
Afraid to know what
Lies behind the stare

Eyes of a Stranger - Queensryche - Operation: Mindcrime

----------------------

The faithful live Awake . . . the rest remain misled

Innocence Faded - Dream Theater - Awake

----------------------

Life's ambition occupies my time
Priorities confuse the mind
Happiness one step behind
This inner peace I've yet to find
Rivers flow into the sea
Yet even the sea is not so full of me
If I'm not blind why can't I see
That a circle can't fit
Where a square should be
There's a hole in my heart
That can only be filled by you
And this hole in my heart
Can't be filled with the things I do
Hole hearted
Hole hearted

Hole Hearted - Extreme - Pornograffitti