Ten of Top 100 Song Lines and Lyrics

Ten of Top 100 Song Lines and Lyrics by Roxanne McDonald

Oh I want you, I want you, I want you/On a chair with a dead magazine/In the cave at the tip of the lily/In some hallways where love’s never been/On a bed where the moon has been sweating/In a cry filled with footsteps and sand/Take this waltz, take this waltz/Take its broken waist in your hand. “Take This Waltz;” Leonard Cohen; Mojo Presents

Some obvious, some obscure…many yet to come. So this, I guess, is Part I.

As a writer, I have always had a thing for the play of words, the metaphors and symbols, the poetry of two, the music of many, the sublime.

I have for as long as I have been able to hold a pencil kept little books of collected favorites—from great quotes from Bartlett’s or Oxford companions to lyrics from album liners and ears.

Now I recreate the long ago-recorded flora ledgia, one at a time and as I think of them.

1. It’s Amazing/With the blink of an eye you finally see the light/It’s Amazing/When the moment arrives that you know you’ll be alright.
“Amazing”; Aerosmith; Get a Grip

2. If everyone cared and nobody cried/If everyone loved and nobody lied/f everyone shared and swallowed their pride/ We’d see the day when nobody died.
“If Everybody Cared;” Nickelback; All the Right Reasons

3. Mother, mother/There’s too many of you crying./Oh, brother, brother, brother/There’s far too many of you dying./That’s Right/You know we’ve got to find a way/To bring some lovin’ here today.
“What’s Goin’ On”; Marvin Gaye; Anthology

4. Jesus died of somebody’s sins, but not mine.
“Gloria”; Patti Smith; Horses

5. I’m sick of love…, but I’m in the thick of it.
“Love Sick”; Bob Dylan; Time Out of Mind

6. Some people work hard all their lives for nothin’/They take it, and they don’t say a word.
“Wander This World;” Johnny Lang; Wander This World

7. Excuse me while I kiss the sky. “Purple Haze;” Jimi Hendrix; Kiss the Sky

8. So where are the strong/And who are the trusted?/And where is the harmony?/Sweet harmony./’Cause each time I feel it slippin’ away, just makes me wanna cry./What’s so funny ’bout peace love & understanding?
“(What’s so Funny ‘bout) Peace, Love and Understanding;” Elvis Costello; The Very Best of Elvis Costello

9. Ooh-ooh, child, things are gonna get easier. Ooh-ooh, child, things’ll get brighter.
“Ooh Child”; The Five Stairsteps; The First Family of Soul

10. Freedom’s just another word for nothing left to lose/Well, nothing ain’t nothing if it ain’t free….
“Me and Bobby McGee;” Janis Joplin; Pearl

2 Comments »

1. i don’t know about you, but i think that’s a pretty good. list

   my one request were some lines from “The weight” by the band

   ” i pulled into nazareth, was feelin bout half past dead / just want to find a place where i can rest my head/ hey mister can you tell me where a man might find a bed/ he just grinned and shook my hand ‘no’ was all he said”

   good song

   Comment by James Bishop — July 23, 2007 @ 10:05 am

2. Thanks, James!

   I uttered, out loud, OHHHHHH, when I read your suggestion. Methinks we need to have a part XI!

   I keep thinking of (or hearing) more great possibilities, too.

   Respectfully,
   RM

   Comment by Roxanne — August 8, 2007 @ 12:36 am

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