Top 25 Best-loved Song Lyrics
Music. It touches the untouchable within us. It gently anchors our conflicted emotions and draws us into community, reminding us that we’re not alone. It reminds us that under all our raging differences, our hearts bleed the same color. From sad to smile-worthy, from overt to subtle, here’s a selection of some of the best-loved lyrics on my playlists. And one beautiful performance from a recent contestant on America’s Got Talent.
As a side note, I do feel that Bruce Springsteen and Leonard Cohen each deserve their own Top 25 lists. What else belongs here? I’d love to hear your best-loved lines!
…Is a dream a lie if it don’t come true
The River – Bruce Springsteen
or is it something worse…
…In the midst of the music
Anything But Mine – Kenny Chesney
I tell her I love her
And we both laugh,
cause we know it isn’t true…
…Ring the bells that still can ring,
Anthem – Leonard Cohen
Forget your perfect offering,
There is a crack, a crack in everything,
That’s how the light gets in…
…I’m lookin’ back on my life
Pieces of my Life – Elvis Presley
To see if I can find the pieces,
I know that some were stolen
And some just blew away,
Well I found the bad parts,
Found all the sad parts,
But I guess I threw the best parts away…
…Arms wide open, I stand alone,
Wrong Side of Heaven – Five Finger Death Punch
I’m no hero and I’m not made of stone,
Right or wrong, I can hardly tell,
I’m on the wrong side of heaven
And the righteous side of hell…
…You know your daddy told me when I left
Little Rock – Collin Raye
That Jesus would forgive,
but a daddy don’t forget…
…O’ beautiful for spacious skies
End of the Innocence – Don Henley
But now those skies are threatening,
They’re beating plowshares into swords
For this tired old man that we elected king,
Armchair warriors often fail
And they’ve been poisoned by these fairy tales…
…It’s hard to hold a candle
November Rain – Guns ‘n Roses
In the cold November rain…
…I washed my hands in muddy water,
I Washed my Hands in Muddy Water – Elvis Presley
Washed my hands, but they didn’t come clean,
Tried to do like daddy like told me
But I must have washed my hands
in a muddy stream…
…And in the naked light I saw
The Sound of Silence – Disturbed
Ten thousand people, maybe more,
People talking without speaking,
People hearing without listening,
People writing songs that voices never share,
And no one dared
Disturb the sound of silence…
…There’s nothing sure to dying
Sunday Morning Coming Down – Johnny Cash
half as lonesome as the sound
On a sleepy city sidewalk,
Sunday morning coming down…
…Would you know my name
Heaven – Eric Clapton
If I saw you in heaven?
…Cast me gently into morning
Answer – Sarah McLachlan
For the night has been unkind…
…I went from Jim Beam to my Bible
Jesus and Bocephus – Kid Rock
With Jesus and Bocephus
right here by my side…
…Well, everybody’s got a story to tell
Need You Now – Plumb
And everybody’s got a wound to be healed,
I want to believe there’s beauty here
‘Cause, oh, I get so tired of holding on…
..I’ve been reading books of old,
Something Just Like This – The Chainsmokers and Coldplay
The legends and the myths,
The testaments they told,
The moon and its eclipse,
And Superman unrolls a suit before he lifts,
But I’m not the kind of person that it fits…
…Whatever you do today
You’ve Got to Stand for Something – Aaron Tippin
you’ll have to sleep with tonight…
…So put on your best, boys,
If I Die Young – The Band Perry
and I’ll wear my pearls,
What I never did is done…
…And now I’m glad I didn’t know
The Dance – Garth Brooks
The way it all would end, the way it all would go,
Our lives are better left to chance,
I could have missed the pain
But I’d have had to miss the dance…
…Son can you play me a memory?
Piano Man – Billy Joel
I’m not really sure how it goes,
But it’s sad and it’s sweet, and I knew it complete
When I wore a younger man’s clothes…
…So we open up a quarrel
The Living Years – Mike and the Mechanics
Between the present and the past,
We only sacrifice the future,
It’s the bitterness that lasts…
…Seventeen and knew it all,
Jesus and Mama – Confederate Railroad
My dreams were big
but my thoughts were small,
So many roads – somehow I chose
The wrong one…
…If drinking don’t kill me
If Drinking Don’t Kill Me – George Jones
her memory will…
…So after all those one night stands
Believe – Trans Siberian Orchestra
You’ve ended up with heart in hand
A child alone
On your own
Retreating
Regretful for the things you’re not
And all the things you haven’t got
Without a home
a heart of stone lies bleeding…
…Well, I’ve been afraid of changin’
Landslide – Fleetwood Mac
‘Cause I’ve built my life around you,
But time makes you bolder,
Even children get older,
And I’m getting older too…
And this last one brings it to #26, but she deserves a listen. She appeared on America’s Got Talent in June, 2021 and she brought the audience to its feet and made even Simon a bit emotional. Her beautiful heart shines through every bit of her performance.
I moved to California in the summer time,
I changed my name
thinking that it would change my mind…
I wrote a hundred pages but I burned them all,
I drove through yellow lights and don’t look back at all…It’s okay, it’s okay, it’s okay,
Nightbirde – America’s Got Talent
it’s okay if you’re lost,
We’re all a little lost and it’s alright…
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