The best *one line* from song lyrics?

[swee'pea99]

Yeah, another one of those threads...

The stress on the 'one line' being 'cos we've had lots of threads on 'great lyrics', but people end up (myself included) cut 'n pasting whole songs, which I suspect no-one else ever reads. Basically, no cut 'n pasting...if it's too long to type, it's too long.

Two of my favourites, to kick off...

First, for all the Beatles-haters among us:

"Eleanor Rigby, wearing a face that she keeps in a jar by the door"

...the simplicity yet strikingness of the image, the monsyllabicity (shutup) and unshowiness of the words, and the overall understated rhythm of the phrase perfectly conveying the song's quiet melancholy.

And, perhaps my favourite:

"We're so happy we can hardly count."

"Oh and by the way, which one's pink?" is generally quoted as the standout from 'Have a cigar boy', but I just love the brash, vulgar humour of my preferred line. Again, it's the ethos of the song (if not the entire album) summed up in one pithy phrase.

 

[green1]

Tom McRae, walking to Hawaii:
Falling feels like flying, until you hit the ground.

 

[numbnuts]

There's blood in the dust where the city's heart beats
Strawbs – Grave new world

Why don't you ever learn to keep your big mouth shut
Annie Lennox

 

[fimm]

I seem to have left an important part of my brain somewhere in a field in Hampshire
- Pulp, "Sorted for Es and Whizz"
I have no idea why I like this line so much.

(I do like Jarvis Cocker's lyrics:
"She told me that her Dad was loaded
I said, 'In that case, I'll have a rum and Coca Cola'"
("Common People") is another good one. Similar sense of humour, or something?)

 

[Mr Haematocrit]

Nothin' proper about ya propaganda
Fools follow rules when the set commands ya - "Bullet In The Head" by RATM

 

[User169]

Sparklehorse: Spirit Ditch

The owls have been talking to me / But I'm sworn to secrecy

 

[Fnaar]

I was never a huge Smiths fan, but some of the songs have really grown on me over the years. The first line of "This charming man", in the space of six words, sets a context that many (here) can relate to, and most listeners will be able to inmagine themselves in.

"Punctured bicycle, on a hillside desolate"

And there you have it. The starting context for the song. Very well done imho

 

[accountantpete]

Morrissey's mate Cliff with a typical drugs slant to the prose.

Power from the needle to the plastic A.m.-F.m. I feel so ecstatic now

 

[swee'pea99]

I was never a huge Smiths fan, but some of the songs have really grown on me over the years. The first line of "This charming man", in the space of six words, sets a context that many (here) can relate to, and most listeners will be able to inmagine themselves in.

"Punctured bicycle, on a hillside desolate"

And there you have it. The starting context for the song. Very well done imho

You bring to mind a Viz carton I came across y'day while looking for something else...

 

[Beebo]

"I've got an allergy to Perrier, daylight and responsibility"
Taken from one of Fish's more light hearted lyrics.

 

[ColinJ]

John Cooper Clarke's masterpiece, Beasley Street (from the great album Snap, Crackle & Bop), is crammed full of them, but the one that made me shudder was ...

Keith Joseph smiles and a baby dies in a box on Beasley Street

You can listen to the track (or whole album) on YouTube. Well worth it!

 

[Luddite Joe]

I have to agree with Beasley Street being crammed full of them:

'The smell of yesterday's cabbage
And the ghost of last year's wife'.

 

[Kestevan]

New Model Army - Master Race

"And though kids scrawl frustration on the back street wall
Most of them can't even spell bastard"

 

[threebikesmcginty]

Randy Travis

Since my phone still ain't ringing I assume it still ain't you.

 

[TVC]

John Cooper Clarke's masterpiece, Beasley Street (from the great album Snap, Crackle & Bop), is crammed full of them, but the one that made me shudder was ...

Keith Joseph smiles and a baby dies in a box on Beasley Street

You can listen to the track (or whole album) on YouTube. Well worth it!

Or you could go see him do it live like I did last Monday