Great lyrics.........

[roylor4]

Jonathan Byrd from the song "Ballad of Larry" talking about a lonely and ragged old vet that picks up a free piano -

"A broken old piano, and a broken down old man - drove away smokin' in a broken down old van"

Used to punch me in the gut every time I heard it.

[bhbayless]

What are these voices outside love's open door
Make us throw off our contentment
And beg for something more

Don Henley


Eleanor Rigby died in the church and was buried along with her name
Nobody came

?

[nba59]

Steve Earle - I Ain't Ever Satisfied
"I was born by the railroad track, well the train whistle wailed and I wailed right back"

Steve Earle - Ben McCulloch
"well his eyes were cold as the lead and steel forged into tools of war, he took the lives of many, and the souls of many more"

Pops Staples - Down in Mississippi
"For back as I can remember, either had to plow or hoe,
that old long 9ft cotton sack, standin' at the old turn row"

Pearl Jam - Rearview Mirror
"I'm not about to give thanks, or apologize"

[jdl]

Pierce Pettis:
Can't be bought or sold or faked
That kind of love
Always gives itself away
That kind of love
Wiser than the wisest sage
Its innocence makes me ashamed
Til I'm not sure that I can take
That kind of love

[GHS]

" If the phone doesnt ring, its me" by Jimmy Buffet

[billgennaro]

"God have mercy on the man who doubts what he's sure of"

Bruce Springsteen - Brilliant Disguise

(not a big fan of the song per se, but that one line always stuck with me)

[epluribus36]

I've got a mountain of dreams to climb, before I get to that house on the hill
That keeps the lady of my morning life, on a brown earthen pot on the sill
of the window that looks out across the valley, and probably always will-
Ozark Mountain Daredevils

[billyg]

Great thread, so many great lyrics -- just a few:

John Prine: "Exactlyodo, Quasimodo"

Dylan: "Do I understand your question man, is it hopeless and forlorn? Come in she said I'll give ya, shelter from the storm."


Two more from John Prine: "I heard sirens on the train track, howl naked gettin' nuder..." and later in the same song "Sat on a park bench kissed the girl with the black hair and my head shouted down to my heart, 'you better look out below'..."
I think Chain of Sorrow has great lyrics from beginning to end, as do so many of his songs.

[Rmz76]

Originally Posted by rmyAddison

Even though the words may be simple, it is a skill to say a lot, or paint a picture with just a few words or a single phrase.

This thread is about examples of great lyrical phrases, not a verse or chorus, just a single line that evokes emotion, or makes you think, or paints a picture in your mind.

Here's my example from Annie Lennox.....

No more I love yous.....changes are shifting outside the words

And yours............

To get to what you're after it's all about the emotional vocal delivery. Listen to The blowers Daughter by Damien Rice

[veryzer]

I guess I'll never make it back to home / My muddy water Mississippi delta home.

--Norman Blake

No attempts at profundity, wordplay, etc. It's just poignant.

[Legolas1971]

To lessen my troubles
I stopped hanging out with vultures
And empty saviours like you.....

Chris Robinson - Sometimes Salvation

[bernerdawg]

Two out of many:

Warren Zevon:

"How you gonna make your way in the world, woman, when you weren't cut out for workin'?"

Drive By Truckers (one of the greatest -- if not THE greatest) country line:

"No the bottle ain't to blame and I ain't going to, it don't make you do a thing it just lets you."

[gfa]

So many, so many. Two at random;

1. Drive By Truckers (narrator is a father giving advice to his young adult son) - "Don't call what you're wearing an outfit"

2. Gillian Welch - "Your affront to my virtue was a touch too much, but you left a little twinkle in my eye."

[architype]

Bruce Springsteen

Thunder Road:

"You ain't a beauty, but hey, you're alright.

Racin' in the Street:

"I got a '69 Chevy with a 396, Feulie heads and a Hurst on the floor.
She's waiting tonight in the parkin' lot outside the 7-11 store."

Also from Racin' in the Street:

For all you shut down strangers and hot rod angels rumblin' through this promised land,
tonight my baby and me we're gonna ride to the sea and wash these sins off our hands."

[Yanto]

architype - good choices. There's yet another from Racing in the Street
' She sits on the porch of her Daddy's house
But all her pretty dreams are torn,
She stares off alone into the night
With the eyes of one who hates for just being born '
The man is a genius!