Best single line lyric in a song?

[Boxlicker101]

Then I crossed the empty street,
'n caught the Sunday smell of someone fryin' chicken.
And it took me back to somethin',
That I'd lost somehow, somewhere along the way.

That song has several good lines: "I fumbled in the closet for my cleanest dirty shirt." and "The beer I had for breakfast wasn't bad so I had one more for dessert."

 

[Super-Surprise]

"You walked into the party, like you were walking onto a yacht, your hat strategically dipped below one eye, your scarf it was apricot..."


"You had one eye in the mirror, as you watched yourself Gavotte, and all the girls dreamed that they'd be your partner..."


"You're so vain, you probably think this song is about you, you're so vain..."


"I had some dreams, they were clouds in my coffee, clouds in my coffee..."


"Well you're where you should be all the time, and when you're not you're with some underworld spy or the wife of a close friend..."






Having may great lines in a single song certainly helps, but also having a camouflaged underlying storyline is even more superior.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j13oJajXx0M

 

[Sean]

I go to parties, I drink until four. It's hard to leave when you can't find the door.

 

[Killswitch]

Look, I'll pay you for it. What the fuck...

From Everybody wants some - Van Halen

 

[Wife of Bath]

I stopped by the bar at 3 a.m.
To seek solace in a bottle or possibly a friend
I woke up with a headache like my head against a board
Twice as cloudy as I'd been the night before
I went in seeking clarity.

This is one of my all time faves as well.

All the wild horses
Tell her with tears in their eyes
May no man's touch ever tame you
May no man's reins ever chain you

 

[Joeybagadonuts]

They keep you doped with religion and sex and TV
And you think you're so clever and classless and free
But you're still fucking peasants as far as I can see.

 

[MNGuy]

"My hump, my hump, my hump, my hump, my hump, my hump.
My lovely lady lumps."

Just kidding.

I've always like this line from Bob Seger's Turn the Page:

"You pretend it doesn't bother you, but you just want to explode."

 

[thør]

They wouldn't listen to the fact that I was a genius
The man say, we got all that we can use.

 

[Sean]

They keep you doped with religion and sex and TV
And you think you're so clever and classless and free
But you're still fucking peasants as far as I can see.

All of The Revolution Will Not Be Televised.

 

[Lorilei]

Oh, by the way, which one's Pink?

 

[Joeybagadonuts]

All of The Revolution Will Not Be Televised.

absolutely!

 

[Scrawney]

More life in a tramps vest
Stereophonics

 

[Sean]

More life in a tramps vest
Stereophonics

Just reminded me, "If I can shoot rabbits, then I can shoot fascists".

 

[Wings]

Don't worry sweet baby!
Don't you ever worry 'bout a thing.
Put them worries on the shelf 'in' learn to love yourself.
Don't be your own worst enemy.

 

[XtraKat]

...my pride, my ego, my needs and my selfish ways caused a good strong woman like you to walk out my life...

When I was your man,
Bruno Mars.

 

[Wings]

Don't worry sweet baby!
Don't you ever worry 'bout a thing.
Put them worries on the shelf 'in' learn to love yourself.
Don't be your own worst enemy.

I guess this isn't a single line, sorry. It sticks in my head and I sing it to myself when I need it.

 

[Lorilei]

Silence means security, silence means approval, watch a zenith on the TV. Tiger run around the tree, follow the leader, run and turn to butter.

 

[Mrdarkblueeyes]

Most-prescient lines ever:

We are young but getting old before our time
We'll leave the TV and the radio behind
Don't you wonder what we'll find?

Joe Jackson, “Stepping Out."

 

[Sean]

I'm just going to throw this out there, because Billy is a lyrical genius.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I4v8VJ0LRgA

 

[Farrah]

"I wish you'd see yourself as beautiful as I see you."

"And if you're loved by someone, you're never rejected.
Decide what to be, and go be it."

"Which is the poison and which is the wine?
The scent and the colors are so much alike."

"The day will come, the sun will rise, and we'll be fine."

"Like a bird in a cage; I broke in and demanded that somebody free it."

And on and on...

 

[Wings]

That gun is loaded, but it's not in my hand
The fire burns, I'm not the one with the match, man.

 

[Farrah]

I'm just going to throw this out there, because Billy is a lyrical genius.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I4v8VJ0LRgA

Written by Woody Guthrie, but performed by Billy Bragg and Wilco...

I’d like to dream my troubles all away
On a bed of California stars
Jump up from my starbed and make another day
Underneath my California stars
They hang like grapes on vines that shine
And warm the lovers glass like friendly wine
So, I’d give this world just to dream a dream with you
On our bed of California stars

 

[lovetoread]

I'm not fluffy enough for this thread.

 

[Lorilei]

I guess this isn't a single line, sorry. It sticks in my head and I sing it to myself when I need it.

Mine haven't all been single lines, either. Rulebreakers, we are.

 

[Lord_Michael]

"When I think back on all the crap I learned in high school,
It's a wonder I can think at all."

--Simon & Garfunkel, "Kodachrome"