Greatest lines in Rock 'n Roll history

muchodeanarrow wrote:

The legend lives on from the Chippewa on down

Of the big lake they called Gitche Gumee

The lake, it is said, never gives up her dead

When the skies of November turn gloomy

That song has some of the great and poetic lines.

I always loved: “Lake Huron rolls, Superior sings in the rooms of her ice water mansion.”

And: “Does any one know where the love of God goes when the waves turn the minutes to hours?”

"There's still crime in the city, but it's good to be free"

Neil Young

Great lyrics in that song, the way it was sung in Weld was great.

U2 - One

You say love is a temple, love a higher law

Love is a temple, love the higher law

You ask me to enter, but then you make me crawl

And I can't be holding on to what you got

When all you got is hurt

Rain wrote:

Springsteen

THE RIVER

Is a dream a lie that don't come true or is it something worse?

Not a line but I couldn't resist adding this verse:

ITS HARD TO BE A SAINT IN THE CITY

And the sages of the subway sit just like the living dead

As the tracks clack out the rhythm their eyes fixed straight ahead

They ride the line of balance and hold on by just a thread

But it's too hot in these tunnels you can get hit up by the heat

You get up to get out at your next stop but they push you back down in your seat

Your heart starts beatin' faster as you struggle to your feet

Then you're outa that hole and back up on the street

I heard Adam Raised a Cain this morning. What a great song, it might be a little underappreciated.

Anyway, it's got some really good lines in it.

"In the darkness of your room

Your mother calls you by your true name

You remember the faces, the places, the names

You know it's never over it's relentless as the rain."

And then:

"Daddy worked his whole life for nothing but the pain

Now he walks these empty rooms looking for something to blame

But you inherit the sins, you inherit the flames."

I don't believe anyone has mentioned James McMurtry yet, so I will.

Lights of Cheyenne:

"'Cause the money tree's light

And the whiskey stream's low."

and then:

"And she's got a cowboy problem

And this last one's a sight

All dressed up like Gunsmoke

For Saturday night."

And this maybe isn't really a great line, but if you like McMurtry's dry sarcasm, this is a great example of it. From "Valley Road":

"He missed a curve on his hard tail sled

Nothin' broken 'cept for his head."

agip wrote:

You may find yourself living in a shotgun shack

You may find yourself in another part of the world

You may find yourself behind the wheel of a large automobile

You may find yourself in a beautiful house with a beautiful wife

You may ask yourself, well, how did I get here?

And you may tell yourself "this is not my beautiful wife."

Well you left my heart empty as a vacant lot

For any spirit to haunt

U2

Not rock, but here are some good ones from the late John Prine, who we recently lost to covid. Sometimes funny. Sometimes sad. Always thoughtful:

Dear Abby:

If it weren't so expensive, I'd wish I were dead

Sam Stone:

There's a hole in daddy's arm where all the money goes

Spanish Pipedream:

Well, I sat there at the table

And I acted real naive

For I knew that topless lady

Had something up her sleeve

Please don't bury me:

Woke up this morning

Put on my slippers

Walked in the kitchen and died

Hello in there

Old people just grow lonesome

Waiting for someone to say, "Hello in there, hello"

Stratocaster dancer wrote:

"Counting the cars on the New Jersey Turnpike, they've all come to look for America..."

-Paul Simon, from Simon and Garfunkel's "America".

Bernie's use of that song was genius.

But if you are going to quote Simon and Garfunkel on a running site, you are required to use something from The 59th Street Bridge Song in honor of the NYC marathon. Every time I hear that song I think of running across that bridge. After miles of cheering crowds the only thing you hear on the bridge is footsteps and heavy breathing of fellow runners.

Anyhow, this quote from the song should suffice:

Slow down, you move too fast

You got to make the morning last

Let the morning time drop all its petals on me

Life, I love you, all is groovy

"I'm a street walking cheetah with a heart full of napalm

I'm a runaway son of the nuclear A-bomb"

-Iggy and The Stooges-Search and Destroy

Table’s turned, now it’s her turn to cry

Because I used to love her, but it’s all over now.

Bobby Womack

In the morning, don’t say you love me, cause I’ll only kick you out of the door.

Stay with Me

Faces (with Rod Stewart)

There's soooo many, but random picks....

Finished with my woman 'cos she couldn't help me with my mind.

I can't complain but sometimes I still do.

She told me to come but I was already there

AC/DC

Hold onto 16 as long as you can, changes come around real soon make us women and men.

I've always been partial to Warren Zevon's writing ability.

Grandpa pissed his pants again

He don't give a damn

Brother Billy has both guns drawn

He ain't been right since Vietnam

"Sweet home Alabama"

Play that dead band's song

Turn those speakers up full blast

Play it all night long

Daddy's doing Sister Sally

Grandma's dying of cancer now

The cattle all have brucellosis

We'll get through somehow

As others have already shared, he also had this gem:

I went home with a waitress, the way I always do

How was I to know, she was with the Russians, too?

I was gambling in Havana, I took a little risk

Send lawyers, guns and money, dad, get me out of this, ha

My 3rd favorite is probably the end of Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner

In Ireland, in Lebanon, in Palestine and Berkeley

Patty Hearst heard the burst of Roland's Thompson gun and bought it

My sex-change operation got botched

My guardian angel fell asleep on the watch

Now all I got is a Barbie Doll crotch

I got an Angry Inch

Six inches forward and five inches back

I got a—I got an Angry Inch

Safe to say that Zevon was the only musician to ever use "brucellosis" in a song.

Johnny, good post. I never realized the direct commentary on his father, Douglas Springsteen.

After reading his Autobiography, I see it now.

seattle prattle wrote:

"I'm a street walking cheetah with a heart full of napalm

I'm a runaway son of the nuclear A-bomb"

-Iggy and The Stooges-Search and Destroy

Hard to top that one.

A few more:

"There's no point in asking you'll get no reply"

"Let fury have the hour, anger can be power. Do you know that you can use it?"

"Kiss ass while you b*tch, so you can get rich, but your boss gets richer off you."