Brilliant Lyrics

I turn on the radio and hear a line in a song by Kelly Clarkson that states, "my life would suck without you."  Really?  Is that all you got, songwriters Dr. Luke and Max Martin?  That line is so base and banal that it makes my ears cringe, but it did get me to thinking about the best lines that I've ever heard in a song.  I came up with three pretty quickly.

Lest you think that I'm merely an old fogey who hates all modern music, the first line that comes to mind is from a 2005 Anna Nalick song entitled "Breath ( 2 AM)":  Life's like an hourglass glued to the table." Now THAT's a great line; easily understood, but incredibly meaningful.  It's certainly superior to say, "You can't go back and that sucks."

A second great line comes from a song that I've blogged about before, the 1936 Eric Maschwitz song, "These Foolish Things (Remind Me of You)":  The sigh of midnight trains in empty stations.  That is such a strong image that you can feel the activity that had taken place in the busy train station during the day, but now, at midnight, when all is empty, even the train is lonely.

The last line that I love has nothing to do with imagery and everything to do with poetic devices.  I love alliteration and assonance (check out the first sentence of this paragraph) and there is no better example than a line from an old Bob Wills tune entitled "Across the Alley From the Alamo":  Across the alley from the Alamo, when the summer sun decides to settle low; a fly sings an Indian 'Hi-de-ho' to the people passing by.  There's a lyric that is, well, wonderfully lyrical.

Some time soon, we'll review the most insipid lyrics ever committed to paper, but I'd like to know what you think.  What are your nominations for the best line in a song.  For your contemplating pleasure, here's the Mills Brothers version (and the best version) of  "Across the Alley From the Alamo."

Comments

[Jennifer]

I also like that Anna Nalick line. Not sure which line of this song is my favorite, but this Skynyrd song has always gotten to me, it's just raw and honest:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pOds3lKl58I

[Austin]

Thanks for commenting, Jennifer. Please do so often! You'll have to weigh in when I get to the worst lyrics of all time.

[Melissa Dodge]

For me it would have to be a line from the last song that all 4 Beatles recorded collectively: 'The End' on side 2 of Abbey Road: "And, in the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make".

That pretty much sums it all up--doesn't it?

Now when I'm in a thoughtful, existential, funky kind of mood just about anything from Pink Floyd hits the spot. From the most criticized and partially unknown album 'The Final Cut' the song "Your Possible Pasts" is provocatively pensive:
"They flutter behind you your possible pasts
Some bright-eyed and crazy some frightened and lost
A warning to anyone still in command
Of their possible future to take care".

Can we move on to some of the most misunderstood/heard lyrics next? I got a million of 'em!

[Austin]

Wow, Melissa, that's quite an enlightened commentary, although for me "funky" and "Pink Floyd" would never appear in the same sentence, but I understand what you're saying! Misunderstood lyrics is a GREAT topic, so yes; we'll move on to that, perhaps on Wednesday. Maybe you can help me out now, however: Why is it in "Help Me Rhonda" the Beach Boys begin the song with "Well since she put me down I've got owls puking in my head"?

[Melissa Dodge]

Hehehe--funky as in a philosophical funk--not 'Funkytown'---careful--you're dating yourself! ;o}