Favorite Song Lyrics

HoustonSaint68 said

To the OP's original suggestion for only a stanza or line, next to hearing Billie Holiday's voice in my head singing,

Pastoral scene of the gallant South
The bulging eyes and the twisted mouth

the line I personally have the most visceral lyric-vocal reaction to is:

But I shot a man in Reno just to watch him die
When I hear that whistle blowin', I hang my head and cry.

Johnny Cash was the man. And to finish with Hurt? Just amazing.

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The Man in Black is The Man; however, did you know that line from Folsom Prison Blues was inspired by a much older song (Cash said as much in an interview at least once)?

Blue Yodel No. 1 - Jimmie Rodgers (recorded in 1930):

I'm gonna shoot poor Thelma just to watch her jump and fall.

Funny story about this song: One of my best friends in high school had an ongoing conflict with his Dad over the "immoral" lyrics of that rock music he listened to. Well, when he was a Senior in high school, his Dad was able to find and buy a Victrola, and he pulled out his record collection of old country albums. The first or second song he played was Blue Yodel No. 1. Of course, my friend had never heard this song before, so when the line "I'm gonna shoot poor Thelma" came on, he was taken aback and with shock, said, "Dad! You talk about my music?!?" His Dad turned to him and said, "Yeah, but this is a classic!" :LOL:

That was a long ago memory (and I never knew what the actual song was as he didn't tell me that when he told me the story) until last year when I was listening to Bluegrass Junction on sirius radio and Blue Yodel No. 1 came on. When I heard that line, I began laughing out loud, then paid close attention to who and what it was. I looked it up right away when I got home. Turns out it's a bit of a misnomer to play it on Bluegrass Junction as it predates bluegrass music by about 6-8 years depending on how you want to look at it, but all the same, "it's a classic."