There are lines so good that the writer’s immortality should be assured even if they never wrote anything else. There are lines so insightful that they make you realize a thing you knew all along. Sometimes to get the full effect, the music has to be there too. But the ones I like best, all pretty much stand alone. They’re in no particular order.
I know this feeling might be crazy but it’s the only one I’ve got
Dylan
You been sleepin’ with leeches, it’s making you sick
Kevin Johnson
Everywhere I turn I see your face
It’s no better anyplace
Martha Davis
And if you’ve got no other choice
You know you can follow my voice
Through the dark turns and noise
Of this wicked little town
Stephen Trask
Do you feel what I feel?
Can we make that so it’s part of the deal?
Robbie Robertson
I think pretty is nice but I’d rather see something new
Ani DiFranco
Deal me up another future from some brand new deck of cards
Bob Seger
We won’t do one single song that we can’t do from the heart
Daniel Market
Just a perfect day
You made me forget myself
I thought I was someone else
someone good
Lou Reed
The things that pass for knowledge I can’t understand.
Steely Dan
Who’re you going to be if you can’t be yourself?
Ani DiFranco
I’d be much happier if I were home
Uriah Heep
Even though it all went wrong
I’ll stand before the Lord of Song
with nothing on my tongue but hallelujah
Leonard Cohen
Wish I was here
Phil Ochs
If you had my feelings I’m sure you’d feel the same.
James Booker
Dig themselves a hole and blame you for the dirt
Kevin Johnson
And it’s a shame that all our friends can’t be here with us today
Jimi Hendrix
You can’t play the blues in an air-conditioned room
B.B. King
I’d sell anything to buy some time
Kevin Johnson
I should be drinking a toast to absent friends instead of these comedians
Elvis Costello
It’s tired and I’m getting late
Peter Rowan
Better not look down if you want to keep on flyin’
B.B. King
No one told you when to run
You missed the starting gun
Pink Floyd
Wish I didn’t know now what I didn’t know then
Bob Seger
Who am I to ask you to lick my sores?
Bruce Springsteen
Every tool is a weapon if you hold it right
Ani DiFranco
No matter where you sleep tonight or how far you run
She’s the one.
Bruce Springsteen
Hearing strange words stutter from the mixed-up mind of you
Hendrix
I would rather be anywhere else than here today
Elvis Costello
I’ll get to you if I have to crawl
Robbie Robertson
You try changing their minds and you burst into flame
Kevin Johnson
You’re all grown up and you don’t care any more
And you hate all the people that you used to adore
And you despise all the rumors and lies of the
life you led before
Elvis Costello
She wrote a long letter on a short piece of paper
Travelling Wilburys
