Here are my five:
ELO: Rain is Falling
Line: “A thousand rivers running past my door”
I was introduced to ELO by a friend around 1979/80. He bought a lot of their back catalogue, which I taped, because I really like pretty much everything. Then in 1981 they brought out a new album. It’s hard to beat the excitement of a new album from a band you love. It sounded fresh, there were no filler tracks, I was really happy with. That line from Rain is Falling stood out to me because it was surreal. It felt like we were going to a new place with this album. It was also the last ELO album I really paid attention to.
elbow: Mirrorball
Line: “You make the moon our mirror ball”
The Seldom Seen Kid, where this track came from, one the Mercury award and on impulse I bought the CD album. It quickly became my favourite album of modern bands. Mirrorball is a simple, yet beautiful track, and Guy Garvey’s lyrics paint an amazing picture. For the sake of variety I’ll choose other bands for some of my other tricks.
Bruce Springsteen: Dancing in the dark
Line: “ Man I’m just tired and bored with myself”
I wouldn’t say I’m a fan of Bruce, but I can see why he’s so popular. I imagine he must be fantastic live in concert. There are lots of songs about happiness and sadness, but not many about boredom and tiredness. So this line stands out for me as sometimes I’ve been just that.
Pink Floyd: Comfortably Numb
Line: “ When I was a child I had a fever
My hands felt just like two balloons”
OK, technically two lines. Pink Floyd are one of my favourite old bands. Again, a line I can really relate to. From time to time when I’m ill or really tired my hands feel like that. I wonder if I’m remembering what it was like to be in the womb when my hands were much bigger relative to my body. There are also these lines:
“ When I was a child
I caught a fleeting glimpse
Out of the corner of my eye
I turned to look but it was gone
I cannot put my finger on it now”
That’s incredibly sad, and not something I can relate to. Imagine living the rest of your life wondering what that thing you glimpsed was.
The Beatles: Eleanor Rigby
“Eleanor Rigby, picks up the rice in the church where a wedding has been”
Lennon and McCartney were genius songwriters together, I think I can say without contradiction. This song must be one of their finest though — so full of sadness. I used to wonder why she was picking up rice, and then when I was older I heard about the tradition of throwing rice at weddings. So first it puzzled me, and then it became evocative of the emotion in the song.
So two happy and three sad, but all songs with a line that stands out.
(The original article this was a response to has disappeared from Medium, but here it is: 5 songs I listen to for one line.
