Your Take: Favorite Line From A Song

Off the top of my head, Mistress of the Metaphor, Miranda Lambert, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend:

“Somebody tell that girl to step up to the plate, I wanna pitch.”

I my aging memory ain’t what it used to be. I’ll have to think about some others.

“Jesus forgives, but a daddy don’t forget” Colin Raye, Little Rock- gave the song more emotional depth without being sappy

“I gave forgiveness I’d been denying” Tim McGraw, Live Like you Were Dying- after saying he would go skydiving and rocky mountain climbing this was the line that is the I think is most important

“Stand out in the yard and cry all night long, go ahead and water the lawn” My give a damn’s busted, Jo Dee Messina- This just made me laugh

“AS I sit here on my front porch blowing smoke rings in the dark” Smoke Rings in the dark, Garry Allan- this hwole song is wonderful but I chose this one because it changes it from a metaphor to being realistic and I get a picture in my mind of someone sitting on their porch “blowing smoke rings in the dark”

I couldn’t choose just one, so here’s nine that didn’t require a lot of digging.

1. We all got holes to fill / Them holes are all that’s real.
   Townes Van Zandt - “To Live’s To Fly”
   You might have problems, but so does everyone else.
2. I got a tattoo with her name / Right through my soul.
   Guy Clark - “Stuff That Works”
   That’s love.
3. And she felt wholly empty like she’d felt it every time. / And he was feelin’ just the same, ‘cept he was tryin’ to make it rhyme.
   Guy Clark - “Instant Coffee Blue”
   Shows the subtle differences in emotion and thoughts of a woman and a man after a one night stand, without beating you over the head with it.
4. Now he’s out in the traffic checking the sun / and he’s killed by a car as he goes for his gun.
   Guy Clark - “The Last Gunfighter Ballad”
   Tells the story of an old man whose probably survived everything there is to survive, except he can’t survive the progress of man itself.
5. I ain’t sayin’ I beat the devil, but I drank his beer for nothing. / Then I stole his song.
   Kris Kristofferson - “To Beat The Devil”
   Gotta love a song where a mere mortal bests the Devil.
6. That Southern Baptist parking lot is where I’d go to smoke my pot and sit there in my pickup truck and pray.
   Jamey Johnson - “The High Cost of Livin’”
   It perfectly captures the hypocritical intricacies of human nature.
7. Down at the bottom of that dirty ol river / Down where the reeds and the catfish play / There lies a dream as soft as the water / There lies a bluebird thats flown away.
   Townes Van Zandt - “The Catfish Song”
   I like desperate songs and what’s more desperate than an unrealized dream?
8. There is a spider in my dreams / Long and silent is his name / Cold as lightning is his smile / Final is his sting.
   Townes Van Zandt - “The Spider Song”
   Try and decipher that.
9. They roll by his marker and don’t even notice, like livin’ and dyin’ is all he ever did.
   The Highwaymen - “The Last Cowboy Song”
   Looks back with nostalgia on a more romanticized time in our history.

I could fill a book with my favorites, but just a few for now:

Daddy didn’t pull out but he never apologized. Rock n’ Roll means well but it can’t help tellin’ young boys lies - Drive-by Truckers - “Marry Me”

There’s a lot of bad wood underneath the veneer - Drive-by Truckers - “Hell No, I Ain’t Happy”

Days up and down they come
Like rain on a conga drum
Forget most, remember some
But dont turn none away - TVZ - “To Live is To Fly”

Then I fumbled in my closet through my clothes
And found my cleanest dirty shirt - Kris/Johnny - “Sunday Morning Coming Down”

Haha, there are way way too many unbelievable lines to make any sort of real list of favorites, but here are some good ones that come to mind.

1. “As you’ll leave you’ll see the nursery, oh she left me, without mercy, taking nothing but, our baby and my heart” - “the Grand Tour” - George Jones.

After touring the whole house, Jones lays the final word on you. Awesome.

2. “I may drown in still water, but I’ll never swim Kern River again” - “Kern River” - Merle Haggard

When Hag makes a vow, he means it.

3. “Time she’s a fast old train, she’s here and she’s gone and she don’t come again, won’t you take to my hand” - “If I had no place to fall” TVZ

The image of standing at the station, while the train in all of it’s noise and bluster barrels by, and the long quiet after it’s leaving, it’s an incredible metaphor for life, and Townes gives it to us in a non-chalant way, succint way.

I may come back with more later.

BestBreak Up Line-
And take your cat and leave my sweater “You’ll Think Of Me” Keith Urban

Best Heartache Lines-
Cuz when your dialing her number just to hang up the phone
Driving cross town just to see if she’s home
waking a friend in the dead of night, just to hear ‘em say it’s gonna be alright “More than a Memory” Garth Brooks perhaps no other song so accurately captures the pain of love gone wrong

Best I’m Over You Lines-
‘Cause I been doin’ fine without you
Forgettin’ all the love we once knew
And girl, I ain’t the one that slammed that door
“Love Don’t Live Here” Lady Antebellum

Here are a few from one of my current fav songs - Miranda Lambert’s “Guilty in Here”:

“Him number one is shakin’ hands with numbers two and three
Is it guilty in here or is it just me?

I’ve made a point of not mixing love and pleasure in my life
‘Cause daytime boys and nighttime boys
Usually don’t see eye to eye
But I’ve been on a roll of late and they’re all down on their knees
Is it guilty in here or is it just me?”

“Watch what you say to someone who’s got nothin’, it’s almost like havin’ it all”
-Todd Snider: “Looking for a Job”

“Freedom’s just another word for nothin’ left to lose”
-Kris Kristofferson/Janis Joplin: “Me & Bobby Magee”

“You’re entitled to the grace that you don’t show”
-Austin Collin: “Unapology”

“I don’t know God, but I fear His wrath”
-Drive by Truckers: “Righteous Path”

“Love’s as much the symptom, darlin’, as the cure.” - Shut Up and Kiss Me (Mary Chapin Carpenter)

oops…and my comment on all of them is when i heard them all the first time i thought to myself “i wished i’d a wrote that line!”

conways hello darlin says it all to me.also love tobys how do you like me now.

“she could’ve cried but she didn’t have time” From Terri Clark’s song She didn’t have time. Sometimes we give up much to fast and start crying.

“I can make anybody pretty
I can make you believe any lie
I can make you pick a fight
With somebody twice your size”
From Brad Paisely’s song Alcohol. There are so many songs about Alcohol but I’ve never heard such funny words about it before.

I love songs that nail life’s little truths in a clever and humorous way, so here’s a couple of my favorites:

I’ll let you guess the title of this song from the Nashville based club favorites J.R. and The Roadkill Choir:
“Too ugly to be cheating on me,
Too ugly to be cheating on me,
I settled for you ’cause I thought you’d be true,
You’re too ugly to be cheating on me!”

Or how about a Mom that worries about her wayward songs in “(When Momma’s) Glory Bound”:
“Who’s gonna fidget and bite her fingernails?,
Who’ll call the hospital, the preacher and the jails?’
Who will run a background check on every girl we date?,
Who’ll check our pulse and vital signs if we’re not up by eight?….”

And finally Dave Cox is a husband that unashamedly announces he is a cheater in “I’d Hate Me Too”:
“Well I’ve always been the cheatin’ kind I must admit,
Always been so full of lies, so full of….Well,
Now that you’ve found out I’ve cheated on you,
If I were you honey I’d hate me too…”

OK, so maybe its not Shel Silverstein caliber, but its getting close! (lol)

“I want the world to just keep on turning,
I want the dawn in my rear view mirror,
I want to hear my own voice singing,
No fear”
-from “No Fear” by Terri Clark. Every line of that song inspires me.

It’s really hard for me to choose, after all, one of the many reasons I love country music is that the lyrics are so DANG good! ;o) I’ll try to pick a few of my favs that weren’t already listed (’cause some were.) Here they are, in no particular order.

“I ain’t got a dime but what I got is mine. I ain’t rich but Lord I’m free.”
‘Amarillo By Morning by George Strait~

“Little things I should have said and done
I just never took the time … but you were always on my mind.”
~’Always On My Mind’ by Willie Nelson~

“. . . you know that you`re gonna find me if you keep on drinkin` fast. `Cause honey I`m right there waitin` on you at the bottom of your glass.”
~’Here I Am’ by Patty Loveless

“Forgetting you is not that hard to do. I’ve done it a thousand times a day.”
~’A Thousand Times A Day’ by Patty Loveless (or George Jones)

“If I am truly crazy, don’t you know I like my life that way? And if I’m really going on out of my mind, won’t you hop on board and make your getaway?! . . .
~’Crazy’ by Pat Green~

“I wanna honor your mother and I wanna learn from your paw. I wanna steal your attention like a bad outlaw.”
~’Memories Of Us’ by Keith Urban~

“She tried to pretend he wasn’t drinkin’ again
But daddy left the proof on her cheek.” ~’Independence Day’ by Martina McBride~

EVERY line of ‘Cowboy In Me’ by Tim McGraw.

” . . .hours become days,
days become years. And you could burn down this town if they made matches from fear.”
~’Stealing Kisses’ by Faith Hill~

“I’d tell ya that I’m happy if I wasn’t so damn sad.”
~’Down In Flames’ by Mindy Smith

‘I remember how you used to kiss me,
But now I’m gone and you don’t seem to miss me’.
- Jim Lauderdale, YOU DON’T SEEM TO MISS ME

“I’ll just touch your face and drift away
Like smoke rings in the dark”
- Gary Allan, “Smoke Rings in the Dark”
It’s so simple yet so vivid and haunting. It doesn’t quite connect with you until you experience unrequited love yourself and then…bam.

“Days go by
I can feel em’ flying
Like a hand out the window in the wind”
- Keith Urban, “Days Go By”
I guess I just like a good, creative simile. This line takes a potentially burdensome idea - the inevitable passage of time - and makes it sound like a gift to be enjoyed. I love that.

Two favs - one isn’t country, but the lyric is worth it:

“You’re so vain, you probably think this song is about you.”

And in the same vein (yes, I know I dissed Billy Ray in an earlier post, however):

“I’m so miserable without you, it’s almost like you’re here.”

Stand back up by Sugarland -
‘Cause I’ll stand back up,
And you’ll know just the moment when ive had enough,
Sometimes im afraid and I dont feel that tough,
But I’ll stand back up,

Terri Clark - I wish he’d been drink whiskey

Oh, I wish he’d been drinkin’ whiskey
When he told me he didn’t love me
But he was stone cold sober
He meant what he said
And he did what he did
‘Cause in his heart it was already over
The truth doesn’t lie
So I can’t deny it like I’ve always done before
Oh, I wish he’d been drinkin’ whiskey
When he told me he didn’t love me no more

Martina McBride - Cheap Whiskey

And the darkness still echoes her warning
You can’t have two loves in your life
Now the things that will haunt him
Until the day that he dies
Is the smell of cheap whiskey
And the sound of goodbye

I am sure that there are others - but these are the ones that hit me off the top of my head

Just the title of the song says it all - “Ain’t Wastin’ Good Wiskey on You.” Trick Pony (RIP)

“In front of the Alamo, that’s a pretty good place to make a make a stand.” Hal Ketchum

“I have never seen a hearse with a luggage rack.”

I’m late to the party, and there’s a lot of favorites already listed. Here’s five that haven’t been mentioned yet:

Hank Williams, “Honky Tonk Blues”:

Well, I left my home out on the rural route
I told my paw I’m going stepping out
And get the honky tonk blues

(An amazingly succinct line about the major shift in America post-World War II, as young adults left rural agrarian communities and moved to industrialized cities in search of opportunity and the conflicts brought on loosening morals and new temptations.)

Steve Earle, “Someday”

There ain’t a lot that you can do in this town
You drive down to the lake and then you turn back around
You go to school and you learn to read and write
So you can walk into the county bank and sign away your life

(I went to high school in a small Southern town. We all lived the first couplet. Some of us always knew we’d leave; some of my best friends knew they never would.)

Rodney Crowell, “Song for the Life”

I don’t drink as much as I ought to
Lately it just ain’t my style
And the hard times don’t hurt like they used to
They pass quicker like when I was a child
Somehow I learned how to listen
To a sound like the sun goin’ down
In the magic that morning is bringin’
There’s a song for the life I have found

(A lot of people, including Alan Jackson and even Rodney at times in concert, have changed “ought to” to “used to,” but I like Rodney original’s version.)

Rosanne Cash, “Seven Year Ache”

Everybody’s talking but you don’t hear a thing
You’re still uptown on your downhill swing
Boulevard’s empty, why don’t you come around?
Baby, what is so great about sleeping downtown?

Billy Joe Shaver, “Honky Tonk Heroes (Like Me)”

Well there’s one in every crowd
For crying out loud
Why’s it always turning out to be me?

“The way to keep a woman happy
And make her do what’s right
Is love her every mornin,’ bawl her out at night”

– Hank Williams, “You’re Gonna Change (Or I’m Gonna Leave”

Then again, maybe not the guy to take romantic advice from …

My favorite line(s) is from Hank III’s song “Country Heroes” It’s such a great song.

I’m drinkin’ some George Jones,
and a little bit of Coe
Haggard’s easin’ my misery
and Waylon’s keepin’ me from home
Hank’s givin’ me those high times -
Cash is gonna sing it low
I’m here gettin’ wasted -
here with my country heroes

We could probably do Hank lines all day–pretty amazing for a guy who only recorded for five years.

One thing he’s great at is occasionally sneaking hilarious lines into his most heartbroke songs. Even “I’ll Never Get Out of This World Alive” has a funny couplet or two.

This one from “I Just Don’t Like This Kind of Livin’” is pretty brilliant in its simplicity, and funny as hell too:

Why do we stay together
We always fuss and fight
You ain’t never known to be wrong
And I ain’t never been right

A simple line that, to me, is just beautiful: “I didn’t get this pretty to be all alone tonight” … from “El Dorado” on Robyn Ludwick’s first album, For So Long.

Also some great lyrical sequences from Sam Baker on both his albums.

Keith Whitley - When You Say Nothing At All
“Old Mr. Webster could never define what’s being said between your heart and mine.”

“A passion junkie’s fix is never satisfied.”
-Strange Love -The Goo Goo Dolls

“If home is where the heart is
Then my home is where you are.”
-I’m Taking You With Me- Relient K

“Bullets can blow your dreams away
Faster than angels fly.”
-Faster than angels fly- Big and Rich

“Unless the moon falls tonight
Unless continents collide
Nothings gonna make me
Break from her side.”
-Driving with the brakes on- Doc Walker

“If our days are numbered
Then why do I keep counting?”
-Why do I keep counting- The Killers

–I really love song lyrics, i have two books full of my favorite lyrics from songs…the first one here has to be my favorite :) –

“Do you remember cutting class, heading to the creek doing 95 down a 2 lane street..”

-Crazy Days - Adam Gregory

Last one just reminded me of ANOTHER GREAT ONE…
“Well I ain’t first class, but I ain’t white trash, I’m wild and a little crazy too, some girls don’t like boys like me, ah but some girls do”
“Some Girls Do” - Sawyer Brown

Lori McKenna’s “Witness to Your Life” The whole song is actually pretty wonderful, but I really like this line:
“…All you really need is someone to be here, someone who’ll never let you disappear and I will be that witness to your life…”

Tristan Prettyman “Don’t work yourself up”
(not country, but wonderful, look her up…)
“…guess i havent found what i’m loooking for, can’t kep my hands to myself or my eyes off the door…if the sadness won’t ever go away, I suppose I’ll build it a home so it will have a nice place to stay… seems like we always want what we can’t have, but that’s just life baby, you can’t get mad… no one to blame and nothing here to see, you recall, I don’t blame you. I don’t even trust me… Don’t work your self up, to much…”

I could keep going forever… I can’t just pick single lines though…

That’s my girl
My whole world
But that ain’t my truck…

Rhett Aikins

man, this is one great site!

“…..forgiveness doesn’t come with a debt”

mary-chapin carpenter: i take my chances

A Few:

“I Wear More In Swimming Then You Where To Parties”
- Loretta Lynn’s “Woman Of The World”

“But if you’re happy I’ll get through somehow”
- Lady Antebellum’s “All We’d Ever Need”

“I’ve paid with prayers and I’ve paid with tears
And I’ll probably pay for years”
- Jason Michael Caroll “Angel Of Broken Hearts

“The reasons I’m alone I know by heart, But I don’t want to spend forever in the dark”
- Josh Turner’s Another Try

“Throw A Dog A Bone I’ll Take It If I Have To, Go Real Fast Like There’s Somewhere We Can Get To”
- Miranda Lambert’s “Desperation