Yer Favorite Line(s) From Songs

[troutman]

Inspired from the Tragically Hip thread - let's see your favorite lines, verses from songs you like. Some great poetry out there. Please explain if a line has a personal significance or meaning to you.

He snatches at you and you match his cigarette
She pulls the eyes out with a face like a magnet
I don't know how much more of this I can take
She's filing her nails while they're dragging the lake
- Elvis Costello "Watching The Detectives"

Some view the song as a complaint about a non-present partner watching television, but I think it also works as a picture of a woman actually being investigated for a murder. The last line is one of my all-time favorites. Grace under pressure.

[troutman]

You read common knowledge, stockpile your brain
You get burned in the sun, you get wet in the rain
What they teach you to fix, needs to be broke
I say he who laughs first didn’t get the joke
-Paul Westerberg "Knockin On Mine"

[polak]

Honestly, it's an entire verse but Eminem absolutely kills this one:

Since I'm in a position to talk to these kids and they listen
I ain't no politician but I'll kick it with 'em a minute
Cause see they call me a menace, and if the shoe fits I'll wear it
But if it don't, then why y'all swallow the truth grin and bear it
Now who's these king of these rude ludicrous lucrative lyrics
Who could inherit the title, put the youth in hysterics
Using his music to steer it sharing his views in his marriage
But there's a huge interference, they're saying you shouldn't hear it
Maybe it's hatred I spew, maybe it's food for the spirit
Maybe it's beautiful music I made for you to just cherish
But I'm debated disputed hated and viewed in America
As a mother####ing drug addict, like you didn't experiment?
Now now, that's when you start to stare at who's in the mirror
And see yourself as a kid again, and you get embarrassed
And I got nothing to do but make you look stupid as parents
You ####ing do-gooders, too bad you couldn't do good at marriage!
And do you have any clue what I had to do to get here I don't
Think you do so stay tuned and keep your ears glued to the stereo
Cause here we go, he's (Jigga joint Jigga-chk-Jigga)
And I'm the sinister, Mr. Kiss-My-Ass it's just the Renegade!

Worth listening to as the way he rhymes words using the middle syllable in this song (the "u" sound) is also phenomenal. This is why he's all time.

Just his verse: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0jmVU2OOcgU

[JiriHrdina]

I'm not much of a lyric guy. Generally I like songs for the musical components and not the words. However some resonate with me.

Grey Street:
There’s an emptiness inside her
And she’d do anything to fill it in
And though it’s red blood bleeding from her now
It’s more like cold blue ice in her heart
She feels like kicking out all the windows
And setting fire to this life
She could change everything about her using colors bold and bright
But all the colors mix together - to grey
And it breaks her heart
It breaks her heart
To grey

Book of Love
The book of love is long and boring
No one can lift the damn thing
It's full of charts and facts, some figures and instructions for dancing

[Senator Clay Davis]

These aren't my favorite lines by any stretch, but I'm listening to De-Loused in the Comatorium (Mars Volta) right now at work, and these have to be some of the most nonsense lyrics ever put to paper.

Transient jet lag ecto mimed bison
This is the haunt of roulette dares
Ruse of metacarpi
Caveat emptor....to all that enter here
Open wrist talks back again
In the wounds of its skin
They'll pinprick the witness
In ritual contrition
The am trinity fell upon asphyxia-derailed
In the rattles of...
Made its way through the tracks
Of a snail slouching whisper
A half mass commute through umbilical blisters
Specter will lurk
Radar has gathered
Midnight neuces from boxcar cadavers
Exoskeletal junction at the railroad delayed
Exoskeletal junction at the railroad delayed
It's because this is
Cranial bleeding
Leaches train the living
Cursed are they who speak its name
Ruse of metacarpi
Caveat emptor to all that enter here
Exoskeletal junction at the railroad delayed
Exoskeletal junction at the railroad delayed
It's because this is
Rattling the laughter
Hinges splintering inside
Bludgeoned to a saddle
Rang the cloister bell inside
inside
inside
exoskeletal junction at the railroad delayed
exoskeletal junction at the railroad delayed
it's because this is

[Jbo]

I had my hands in the river, my feet back up on the banks
Looked up to the lord above and said, Hey, man, thanks -"New Orleans Is Sinking"
The Tragically Hip

[Finger Cookin]

Who fuses the music
With no illusions
Producing the blue prints
Clueless?
Automator - defy the laws of nature
Electronic monolith throw a jam upon the disc
The futuristic looper with the quickness
Hyper-producin' hydrogen fusion liquids keep your distance

The Mastermind, by Deltron 3030

[undercoverbrother]

Don't the hours grow shorter as the days go by
You never get to stop and open your eyes
One day you're waiting for the sky to fall
The next you're dazzled by the beauty of it all

When you're lovers in a dangerous time
Lovers in a dangerous time

These fragile bodies of touch and taste
This vibrant skin, this hair like lace
Spirits open to the thrust of grace
Never a breath you can afford to waste

When you're lovers in a dangerous time
Lovers in a dangerous time

When you're lovers in a dangerous time
Lovers in a dangerous time

When you're lovers in a dangerous time
Sometimes you're made to feel as if your love's a crime
But nothing worth having comes without some kind of fight
Got to kick at the darkness 'til it bleeds daylight

When you're lovers in a dangerous time
When you're lovers in a dangerous time
When you're lovers in a dangerous time
Lovers in a dangerous time
Lovers in a dangerous time
Lovers in a dangerous time
Lovers in a dangerous time

Writer/s: COCKBURN, BRUCE

he can write

[undercoverbrother]

The only thing he knew how to do was to keep on keepin' on

B Dylan, Tangled up in Blue

[PsYcNeT]

Gangstarr - Moment Of Truth

The same sheisty cats that you hang with, and do your thang with
could set you up and wet you up, ##### peep the language
It's universal, you play with fire it may hurt you
or burn you, lessons are blessings you should learn through
Let's face facts, although MC's lace tracks
it doesn't mean behind the scenes there ain't no dirt to trace back
That goes for all of us, there ain't nobody to trust
It's like sabotage, it's got me ready to bust
But I can't jeapordize, what I have done up to this point
So I'ma get more guys, to help me run the whole joint
Cultivate, multiply, motivate, or else we'll die
You know I be the masterof the who what where and why
See when you're shinin, some chumps'll wanna dull ya
Always selfish jealous punks, will wanna pull ya
down, just like some shellfish in a bucket
cause they love it, to see your ass squirm like a worm
But just as you'll receive what is comin to you
Everybody else is gonna get theirs too
I ain't no saint, therefore I cannot dispute
That everyone must meet their moment of truth

Big KRIT - Life

Transmission I miss my mark day one
I was so close to the sun, I burnt the top off my roof
I travelled a million miles to uncover what most would doubt
Although I believe in God, I need proof
I'm itching for conversation, answer if you can hear
Where you lost amongst shining stars?
Life can seem oh so clear, death can seem oh so near
Dodging these comets, I promise my baby I be back if I loose cons*audio cuts*
Tell her I love her, I miss her
I keep her picture upon my dash
And I wish her the best of luck, that's if I crash
I saw a few flash just the other day while I was making haste
Could be reaching, but I found a beacon attention base
I get paranoid swerving around these asteroids
Lord forbid I have to abort my mission
But it gets hard when you searching in the dark
For that one and only spark
I think I see what's missing

A Tribe Called Quest - Scenario

Watch, as I combine all the juice from the mind
Heel up, reel up, bring it back, come rewind
Powerful impact BOOM! from the cannon
Not braggin, try to read my mind just imagine
Vo-cab-u-lary's necessary
When diggin into my library
Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh!
Eating ayea toadstool like the one Peter Tosh-a
Uh, uh uhh, alone with the track man
Uh, pardon me, uhh, as I come back
As I did it yo I heard you beg your pardon
When I travel to the Sun I roll with the squadron
RRRRRROAW RRRRRRROAW like a dungeon dragon
Change your little drawers cause your pants are saggin
Try to step to this, I will, fits you in a turban
And had you smellin right, like some old stale urine
Checkady-choco, the chocolate chicken
The rear #### diesel, for chicks they were kickin
Yo, bustin out before the Busta bust a nut the rhyme
the rhythm is in sync (UHH!) the rhymes are on time (TIME!)
Rippin up this dance just like a radio
Observe the vibe and check out the scenario!!

[Cecil Terwilliger]

Pink Floyd - Echoes

Strangers passing in the street
By chance two separate glances meet
And I am you and what I see is me
And do I take you by the hand
And lead you through the land
And help me understand the best I can
And no one calls us to move on
And no one forces down our eyes
No one speaks
And no one tries
No one flies around the sun

[undercoverbrother]

http://www.sputnikmusic.com/list.php?listid=61442

I know trout likes lists.

[Cecil Terwilliger]

Finger Eleven - Slow Chemical

The wonder of the world is gone I know for sure
All the wonder that I want I found in her

As the whole becomes a part I strike to burn
And no flame returns

Every intuition fails to find it's way
One more table turned around I'm back again

Finding I'm more lost and found when she's not around
When she's not around I feel it coming down

Give me what I could never ask for
Connect me and you could be my chemical NOW

Give me the drug you know I'm after
Connect me and you could be my chemical

[PsYcNeT]

Deltron 3030 - Madness

I must appeal to you people with your faculties
Cause everybody else is gonna laugh at me
People try to get over and take a crack at me
The universe is one and I can see what rap can be glorious
Put in the Smithsonian my podiums for holy hymns
But you see who's controlling them
#### myself off cause of the egotistical mode I'm in
No I can't slap you no five
When you and your cutty is talkin' #### about me outside
People take pride in what they have no hand in
Sorta like a phantom holographic handsome
But deep inside he want to do what his man done
Just because his peers jeer and and clown
When you're six foot deep no one hears you now
They say were not compatible like deers and cows and owls
So many rules and regulations say you're not allowed

[Cecil Terwilliger]

One of the few where I'm gonna post the entire song, not just a verse.

Tool - Right in Two

Angels on the sideline,
Puzzled and amused.
Why did Father give these humans free will?
Now they're all confused.

Don't these talking monkeys know that
Eden has enough to go around?
Plenty in this holy garden, silly monkeys,
Where there's one you're bound to divide it.
Right in two.

Angels on the sideline,
Baffled and confused.
Father blessed them all with reason.
And this is what they choose.
And this is what they choose...

Monkey killing monkey killing monkey
Over pieces of the ground.
Silly monkeys give them thumbs,
They forge a blade,
And where there's one
they're bound to divide it,
Right in two.
Right in two.

Monkey killing monkey killing monkey.
Over pieces of the ground.
Silly monkeys give them thumbs.
They make a club.
And beat their brother, down.
How they survive so misguided is a mystery.

Repugnant is a creature who would squander the ability to lift an eye to heaven conscious of his fleeting time here.

Cut and divide it all right in two [x4]

Fight over the clouds, over wind, over sky
Fight over life, over blood, over prayer,
overhead and light
Fight over love, over sun,
over another, Fight for each other,
for the ones who are rising.

Angels on the sideline again.
Benched along with patience and reason.
Angels on the sideline again
Wondering when this tug of war will end.

Cut and divide it all right in two [x3]
RIGHT IN TWO!

Right in two...

[polak]

Originally Posted by Cecil Terwilliger

Pink Floyd - Echoes

Strangers passing in the street
By chance two separate glances meet
And I am you and what I see is me
And do I take you by the hand
And lead you through the land
And help me understand the best I can
And no one calls us to move on
And no one forces down our eyes
No one speaks
And no one tries
No one flies around the sun

I like Pink Floyd and this song but these rhymes make me cringe.

[Cecil Terwilliger]

You don't like lyrics that rhyme?

[polak]

Originally Posted by Cecil Terwilliger

You don't like lyrics that rhyme?

Not ones that sound like they're rhymed by kindergarten kids.

[troutman]

Well focus on the quasar in the mist
The Kaiser has a cyst
And I'm a blank want list
The qualms you have and if they stick
They will drown you in a crick
In the neck of a woods
That was populated by
Tired nation on the fly
Everybody knows advice
That was given out for free
Lots of details to discern
Lots of details
-Pavement "Stereo"

Nonsensical, but so musical. Beck writes like Malkmus too.

[CorsiHockeyLeague]

Basically the entirety of "The Past is a Grotesque Animal" by Of Montreal, but to extract:

Somehow you've red-rovered the gestapo circling my heart
And nothing can defeat you
No death, no ugly world
You've lived so brightly
You've altered everything
I find myself searching for old selves
While speeding forward through the plate glass of maturing cells

Or half of Pedro the Lion's discography.

Originally Posted by Simple Economics

The volunteers were tired
Heads were hanging low
The news had spoiled their appetite
For stuffing envelopes
Twelve points was an awful lot
To be down in the polls
With only two weeks to go
Shouldering the phone
Loosening his tie
His running mate on pricks and pins
Hovering beside
The candidate wrote furiously
As if to save his life
Then hung up the phone
And spoke with great conviction:
"When you're nothing but a boyfriend
Dangling by a thread,
Keep in mind the bottom line
Diamonds are a girl's best friend"

Of course, there are tons of obvious ones, like Cohen or Dylan or etc but those are some less widely appreciated ones.