So, MJ's death had me thinking about pop music in general. Also, I have been playing Ricky Nelson's "Garden Party" over and over on my Ipod, and I think mostly for the line "If memories were all I sang, I'd rather drive a truck." I just love that line.
Later, I started to think of just PERFECT pop music lines. Some of them off the top of my head:
"I once had a girl, or should I say, she once had me." - Beatles
"My smile is my make up, I wear, since my break up with you" - Smoky Robinson and Miracles
"You don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows" - Bob Dylan
"The underground is over-crowded" - Archers of Loaf
"I can't stand it, I know you planned it, I'ma set it straight, this 'Watergate'." - Beastie Boys
"Birthdays were the worst dayz, now we drink champagne when we're thirsty." - Notorious B.I.G.
"Take a sad song and make it better." - Beatles
"Los Angeles give me Norfolk Virginia, Tidewater four ten O nine. Tell the folks back home this is the promised land callin', And the poor boy's on the line." - Chuck Berry
"I know my kisses are not his; I'm not gonna tell you why that is!" - Bob Dylan
"The highways jammed with broken heroes on a last chance power drive" - Bruce Springsteen
And, I think, the best ever pop lyric is:
"Is this a lasting treasure, or just a moment's pleasure? Can I believe the magic of your sighs?
Will you still love me tomorrow?" Gerry Goffin and Carol King (made famous by the Shirelles)
This song/lyric survives pretty mediocre performances by Shirelles singer Shirley Owens and the author itself Carol King (with even worse back-up by James Taylor). (Of course, the Shirelles version is the pinnacle of Phil Spector's "wall of sound" and a great record, and Carol King was a great song-writer but a passable vocalist at best--e.g. compare her version of "Natural Woman" to Aretha Franklin's.) Side note, Dusty Springfield's version of this song is killer.
Ok, so what are some of your favorite pop song lines?
"I just see my ex girl standin' wit ma next girl standin' wit da girl dat i'm f*****' right now"
"We from a small town
And everybody talks and everybody listen
And somehow the truth just always comes up missin'"
-Drake
Posted by: Brett Wager | October 24, 2009 at 02:54 PM