Favorite Song Lyrics of All Time. What Say You?

"I got sick of my job, sick of my wife. Sick of my future and sick of my life. I jumped in the car and hit the gas and told everybody to kiss my a--."

ozzy

Many James McMurtry songs.

He is a chip off the old block, I guess.

..:Well, I don't exactly know
What's going on in the world today
Don't know what there is to say
About the way the people are treating
Each other, not like brothers

Leaders take us far away from ecology
With mythology and astrology
Has got some words to say
About the way we live today
Why can't we learn to love each other
It's time to turn a new face
To the whole world wide human race

Stop the money chase
Lay back, relax
Get back on the human track
Stop racing toward oblivion
Oh, such a sad, sad state we're in
And that's a thing

Do you recognize the bells of truth
When you hear them ring
Won't you stop and listen
To the children sing
Won't you come on and sing it children…

- Leon Russell

I was thrilled and couldn’t agree more with many lyrics noted above. Here are a couple others that rattle around in me.

No, don't ask me to apologize
I won't ask you to forgive me
- Elvis Costello

I’m not giving in an inch to fear

- David Crosby

I agree with James McMurtry as a writer of great lyrics, although one would have to quote the entire song to fully appreciate the lyrics.  His are not one-liner lyrics. 

Greg Brown also writes great lyrics, again not one-liners and a couple of songs off his Poet's Game album are incredibly good.  The title track about the power of words and the ultimate futility of words is particularly good in the context of current events.  Another song on this album called "Brand New Dodge" describes a young boy riding in the new family car--a '64 Dodge they bought in November of '63.  It describes the innocence that of that time that is about to be shattered by the Kennedy assassination.  The only mention of Kennedy is the boy's description of the people he thinks Jesus loves which includes "And Jesus loves our president, even though he is a Catholic."  Actually, there is a one-liner from a song called "Jesus & Elvis" on the same album that describes the two miracle workers; the song opens with "Jesus had some water, said "wine would be better yet, Elvis picked up a guitar and made all the women wet."