Best rock lyric ever?

[Tim Skaggs]

You have to be trusted by the people that you lie to,
So that when they turn their backs on you,
You'll get the chance to put the knife in.

 

[Renaissance]

Somewhere out on that horizon

 

[blliB]

I’ve got a rocket in my pocket and a finger in the socket

 

[k31bassman]

We can't even think of a word that rhymes...

 

[bassstrangler]

Time flies, time crawls
Like an insect up and down the walls

It jerks out of me like blood
In this still life, heart beats up love

Magazine-"The Light Pours out of Me" Howard Devoto

The bass line by Barry Adamson kicks it too.

 

[vvvmmm]

"How old are you?
How young am I?
Let's count the rings around my eyes"
P. Westerberg

"Caroline and Sue - I want you
Sucking one and f*------ two"
G.G. Allin

"Momma said, spend your money and don't look back
never seen a hearse with a luggage rack"
S. Landreth

 

[Tim Skaggs]

All that you touch
And all that you see
All that you taste
All you feel

And all that you love
And all that you hate
All you distrust
All you save

And all that you give
And all that you deal
And all that you buy,
Beg, borrow or steal

And all you create
And all you destroy
And all that you do
And all that you say

And all that you eat
And everyone you meet
And all that you slight
And everyone you fight

And all that is now
And all that is gone
And all that's to come
And everything under the sun is in tune
But the sun is eclipsed by the moon.

 

[bassstrangler]

but it's also sexy, fun,

Interesting, I've never considered the lyrics to Closer to be any of these adjectives.

 

[CarpeBasso]

Ain't no doubt about it we were doubly blessed, 'cause we were barely seventeen and we were barely dressed.....

 

[the harp unstrung]

 

[Tim Skaggs]

Trapeze, You are the music, We're just the band.

The whole song is great really but the chorus is especially beautiful:

"You are the music, we are the band
We're gonna make it, we both need a hand
'Cause you are the music... we are the band
Together we'll make it, across this land"

And the 2 main verses:

"Makes you feel better
Go right and stomp your feet
Take the hands of your sisters
And the brothers that you meet
We are all one together
Partyin' feeling fine
You can't take the music, it's yours and mine

Get up to the rhythm
Start by clapping your hands
You don't need the words now
It's easy to understand
Get your body movin'
Keep time with the beat
Somewhere in the middle
We're all 'gonna to meet"

Sung by one of the best singers in rock; Glenn Hughes

 

[JeezyMcNuggles]

Not a poll and I know there is no correct answer. Just wondering what lyric you think is the best ever.

I'm specifically saying lyric as opposed to lyrics. Just one line, not a whole verse or chorus.

I went to see Nine Inch Nails last night and I think Trent Reznor came up with the best rock lyric ever. First line to the chorus of Closer: I want to **** you like an animal.

It's nasty, vulgar, offensive, dangerous, and menacing but it's also sexy, fun, and crazy. It's a song that is rough enough for the boys but still sexy enough for the girls to get into as well. A nice balance. And it was a wonderful experience to be in a room with thousands of women screaming that line at the top of their lungs.

I did it all for the nookie

 

[CarpeBasso]

Now you're messin' with a son of a b**ch.

 

[Muddslide]

Keep your 'lectric eye on me babe
Put your ray gun to my head
Press your space face close to mine, love
Freak out in a moonage daydream oh yeah
So many Bowie lyrics...

Hell. Yes. Miss ya, David.

 

[Muddslide]

Remember flying higher than the clouds
Get pretty sentimental now and then
But the loneliest people in the whole wide world
Are the ones you're never gonna see again

-- The Mountain Goats

Mountain Goats! John Darnielle has penned some great lyrics. Check the words to "Orange Ball of Hate" and "Going to Bristol."

 

[Michedelic]

She was a fast machine
She kept her motor clean

Only to be topped by “She told me to come, but I was already there”. Yep.

 

[whero]

Not exactly rock, more like folk, but some of my favourite lyrics:

She said it was just a figment of speech and I said, "You mean figure"
and she said, "No, figment" because she could never imagine it happening.
But it did.

When we first met I played the shy boy.
When she spoke to me for the first time my nose began to bleed.
She guessed the rest.

The next day we went on a bus ride to the ferry
and when nobody came to collect our fares
well, I knew then this was something special.

I couldn't stop thinking about her
and every time I switched on the radio
there was somebody else singing a song about the two of us.

It was just like being on a fast ride at the fun fair.
The sort you want to get off because its scary
and then as soon as you're off you want get straight back on again.

But all love is strange
and you have to learn to take the crunchy with the smooth I suppose.
She began going out with Mister Potato Head.
It was when I saw her in he car park
with his coat around her shoulders that I realized.

I went home and thought about the two of them together
until the bathwater went cold around me.
I thought about her eyes and the curve of her breasts
and about the point where their bodies met.

I confronted her about it.
I said, "I'm the most illegible bachelor in town."
And she said, "Yeah.
That's why I can never understand any of those silly letters you send me."

And then one day it happened.
She cut her hair and I stopped loving her.

 

[bassstrangler]

The lyrics to "Splendid Isolation" by Warren Zevon are absolutely brilliant, but hey, most of what he did was brilliant.

I'd also have to say Lou Reed was a huge lyricist. Too many to mention. I celebrate his whole catalog!

 

[Basshappi]

They call it paradise, I don't know why
Call someplace paradise, kiss it goodbye.

 

[BassBrass]

There was a guy
An under water guy who controlled the sea
Got killed by ten million pounds of sludge
From New York and New Jersey

This monkey's gone to Heaven

The creature in the sky
Got sucked in a hole
Now there's a hole in the sky
And the ground's not cold
And if the ground's not cold
Everything is gonna burn
We'll all take turns, I'll get mine too

This monkey's gone to Heaven

(Rock me Jo)
If man is five, if man is five, if man is five
Then the devil is six, then the devil is six
The devil is six, the devil is six and if the devil is six
Then God is seven , then God is seven, then God is seven
This monkey's gone to Heaven

And one more, Joni Mitchell:

I'll ply the fire with kindling now, I'll pull the blankets up to my chin
I'll lock the vagrant winter out and bolt my wandering in
I'd like to call back summertime and have her stay for just another month or so
But she's got the urge for going and I guess she'll have to go