#Doc you listen to uhhhh....a shitton of folk and country

[docholligay]

Do you have a favorite line of of lyrics from a song? If so, what is it and why?

This is really hard for me because I think there are some really beautiful song lyrics peppered throughout the course of history, and I know I will forget someone and it will KILL ME. THANK YOU FOR NOT ASKING ABOUT BOOK LINES WE’D BE HERE ALL FUCKING DAY. 

But here are some off the top of my head. This doesn’t include songs that are all-around impactful, this includes just lyrics where the individual line makes me SCREAM. 

The heart of a king who loves everything like the hammer loves the nail.---Anais Mitchell, Epic (part II) (I think it’s Epic (part III) in the musical itself) 

I’ve literally made standalone posts about about this lyric. I think about it all the time. It describes so perfectly that WAY of loving something, that WAY of being in the world, and it puts it so simply and succinctly and I am JEALOUS of this line in the way that a writer can only be when realizing they DIDN’T write something that perfect. 

And the sidewalk holds diamonds like a jewelry-store case--Bright Eyes, Land Locked Blues

I think I actually have stolen this line, oops. I will attempt very sincerely not to just include Bright eyes lines, as I think he’s one of the better standalone modern poets, but I had to include this one because who HASN’T Looked at a sidewalk in the light and SEEN that? This whole song is gorgeous actually but here we are, this line sticks with me. 

You said, I am as constant as the Northern star/and I said, constantly in the darkness, where’s that at, if you want me I’ll be in the bar. ---Joni Mitchell, A Case of You 

GOD. I think this is one of the earliest lyrics where I was like, “I think I found what I like in music, and it’s poetry” Lyrics MATTER to me, a great deal more than I think they do to some, and this reaches into the far back of my mind to 14 year old me getting my shit rocked. 

I count the days in cups of wine and candles I have burned--Dave Carter and Tracey Grammer--Sweet Kate and the Ghost of Lost Love

This is another one of those where the idea of it provides such a clear mental picture without saying very much at all, this idea of loss and that sort of lingering loss of time. 

Love is not a victory march, it’s a cold and it’s a broken hallelujah--Leonard Cohen, Hallelujah 

I almost didn’t include this one because it’s so basic bitch, and because it’s been covered by so many people, and because there’s so many deeper Cohen cuts I could have picked--he’s an exceptional poet, you want to read a modern Song of Songs read DAnce Me to The End of Love, you want an exceptional amount of anger and confusion toward God read You Want it Darker--but I wanted to be truthful, and the truth of it is that this line is a fucking banger and speaks to a side of love often not shown in songs. 

It’s like just before dark, jump in the car, buying ice cream and see how far we can ride before it melts sometime/that’s how your love makes me feel inside/there’s a cow on the road and your swerve to the left, fate skips a beat and it scares you to death, and you laugh until you cry, that’s how your love makes me feel inside---Diamond Rio, How Your Love Makes Me Feel

The best part about this song is it opens by saying “I’m no poet, and I know it” and then breaks down the sickening beautiful feeling of early love with this very country and very grounded description of the whole thing. I love the playfulness of this song and specifically this lyric so much 

Life’s a dance you learn as you go, sometimes you lead, sometimes you follow--John Michael Montgomery, Life’s a Dance

I think about this all the time whenever life is confusing or hard. The song itself is enjoyable but not even that great, but this lyric specifically really speaks to the way we don’t have a choice except to live through our experiences and the very simple way i feel about it. 

There’s no mercy in a live wire, no rest at all in freedom--The (formerly known as Dixie) Chicks, Let Him Fly

I’ve talked some about that sort of Stray Dog Freedom (ironically, also a title of another Bright Eyes song) and this encapsulates that feeling for me. That feeling of how being let go, and going free, and answering to no one, has it’s own price. 

She put that bottle to her head, and pulled the trigger--Braid Paisley and Alison Krauss, Whiskey Lullaby

FUCK. This was one of those lyrics I heard (loving a sad story-song like I love few other things) and just screamed immediately. I feel like I’m repeating a theme, but maybe I’m just winnowing down what it is I love--something that perfectly explains a complex happening, in a single moment. I love Alison Krauss anyway, but this duet in general is so good even outside of this line. 

OKAY I HAVE BEEN WORKING ON THIS FAR TOO LONG AND I WILL MOVE ON