This is a sort of quotes list for song lyrics, for those bits of songs I found particularly memorable... it doesn't include those killer riffs or drum fills which often make a song uniquely powerful, but it's a start... it's a compedium of lines which stick in your head because they're witty, philosophical, or just plain shocking.

This is an entirely personal list... I don't expect everyone (or anyone, for that matter) to agree with my selection. It's for me to read, really, but you never know what other people might stumble upon if you stick it up on the net, so, well, here goes... It probably says a lot about my personality, or something...

Inclusion in this list is usually a recommendation for the band in general as well as just the song... I realise that some of these songs are rare, or hard to obtain... or haven't officially been released, in some cases... please humour me, and if you find you have similar tastes to mine, I'd love to hear from you!

(I get a lot of music from band websites, magazine cover CDs, and have an occasional root around on MP3.com, so I may or may not be familiar with a band's entire catalogue... the only band I'm especially trainspotter-ish about are The Wildhearts...)

Anyway, enough waffle... on with the quotes!

"If I talk your talk the words I say come back around a different way... the end is just a breath away... if you ain't got a weapon then you'll never get a say..."
- 3 Colours Red, "Nuclear Holiday"

"Don't bother waking me at five in the morning... 'cause I don't wanna know..."
- A, "Five In The Morning"

"You live, you learn, you love, you learn, you cry, you learn, you lose, you learn, you learn, you bleed, you learn, you scream, you learn, you grieve, you learn, you choke, you learn, you laugh, you learn, you choose, you learn, you pray, you learn, you ask, you learn, you live, you learn..."
- Alanis Morissette, "You Learn"

"Her boyfriend... he don't know... anything... about her... he's too stoned... nintendo... I wish that I could make her see..."
- American Hi-Fi, "Flavor Of The Weak"

"I clicked my heels together three times, they sparked a little, but nothin' happened... and the big, bad wolf's still in my bed... I am, I feel... I sometimes think that you forget that I am, and I feel... I've got to get away from here..."
- Alisha's Attic, "I Am, I Feel"

"Are we too cynical?.. could use a miracle..."
- Andreas Johnson, "The Games We Play"

"...and I hate everyone... and I hate... and I hate... and I hate..."
- Angelwhore, "Superman"

"Take me in your arms again... lead me in my dreams again..."
- Ash, "A Life Less Ordinary"

"My friends were all there, my heart was glad, and my life felt actually alright..."
- Ash, "Halloween"

"...every now and then, I turn it on again... but it's plain to see that the radio still sucks..."
- Ataris, "The Radio Still Sucks"

"There's nothing you can do that can't be done... nothing you can sing that can't be sung... nothing you can say but you can learn how to play the game... it's easy..."
- Beatles, "All You Need Is Love"

"Build your dream castle out of sand, it's bound to get washed up anyway..."
"Live your life a jigsaw, it goes back in the box in the end..."
- Beautiful South, "Foundations"

"The world won't end in darkness, it'll end in family fun... with Coca-Cola clouds behind a Big Mac sun..."
- Beautiful South, "One God"

"...I hope he grins like Jack Nicholson... and forces you to play a game called 'Balls On Chin'... and whatever happens next is all a blur, but you remember 'fist' can be a verb, and when you finally regain consciousness, you're bound and gagged in a wedding dress, and the prison guard looks the other way..."
"...I hope this helps to emphasise... I hope this helps to clarify..."
- Bloodhound Gang, "I Hope You Die"

"Woo-hoo!"
- Blur, "Song 2"

"It ain't all for nothing... life ain't written in the sand... you know the tide is coming... so it's time we made a stand..."
- Bon Jovi, "Miracle"

"It's not my time to wonder why"
"I don't want this, remember that"
"I couldn't change, though I wanted to"
- Bush, "Glycerine"

"Dare, dare to believe you can survive... dare to be all that you can be..."
- Stan Bush, "Dare"

"When they call for me, I'll be sittin' on my desk, with a gun in my hand and a bullet-proof vest, singing 'my, my, my, how the time does fly, when you know you're gonna die by the end of the night'... when they call for me, I'll be sittin' on my desk..."
- Catch 22, "Keasbey Nights"

"Remembering your touch... your kiss... your warm embrace... I'll find my way... back to you... if you'll be waiting too..."
- Tracy Chapman, "The Promise"

"You never loved me! You only loved Fozzie Bear!"
- Charlotte, "Muppet"

"Timmy and Trevor had a car crash together, and Jack had a heart attack mowing the lawn... and then they found David with his head amputated, and they're still out looking for Shawn... I guess it's quite clear male genitalia have never been more than unlucky to me... so now I'm surviving because I'm muff-divin'... I'd like y'all to meet Anne-Marie..."
- Clam Abuse, "Unlucky In Love"

"Will you still care for me? No! No! No! No! I don't f~ckin' think so!"
- Crocketts, "Will You Still Care"

"Why do you build me up, buttercup baby, just to let me down, and mess me around... and then worst of all, you never call baby when you say you will... I need you still... I need you..."
- Dandy Viking Crew, "Build Me Up Buttercup" (cover)

"Please wake me up before you go-go, 'cause there's something I wanna know..."
"Next time you think about going retro, this is what you oughta know..."
"I wanna know... I wanna... I wanna know... I wanna..."
- Donots, "Whatever Happened To The 80s?"

"Stand up and fight, and I'll stand up with you!"
- Dropkick Murphy's, "The Gauntlet"

"Is it overwhelming... to use a crane to crush a fly? It's a good time for Superman... to lift the sun into the sky... 'cause it's getting heavy..."
"It's just too heavy for Superman to lift..."
- Flaming Lips, "Waitin' For A Superman"

"One last thing before I quit... I never wanted any more than I could fit into my head, I still remember every single word you said and all the shit that somehow came along with it... still there's one thing that comforts me... since I was always caged and now I'm free..."
- Foo Fighters, "Monkey Wrench"

"My only promise is that I'll never tell... keep you a distance from the things that I felt... I'll bite the bullet, take the beating until... I take it all back anyway, what was I supposed to say?"
- Foo Fighters, "Wind Up"

"Funny how the ground can find my wheels... I'm going where the road won't dare... an' only ridin' down the path we made... to Union Square..."
- Fountains of Wayne, "Survival Car"

"Goodbye my friend it's hard to die... while all the birds are singing in the sky..."
- Gigantic, "Seasons In The Sun" (cover)

"And the grace keeps flowing just as long as we can stay undressed..."
"And the sacred moments of silliness are where I find my heaven..."
- Gigolo Aunts, "Where I Find My Heaven"

"I know I'm running circles but I can't quit... and I'm so confused about what to do... sometimes I wanna throw it all away..."
- Goldfinger, "Superman"

"Do you have the time... to listen to me whine... about nothing and everything all at once? I am one of those melodramatic fools... neurotic to the bone, no doubt about it... sometimes I give myself the creeps... sometimes my mind plays tricks on me... it all keeps adding up... I think I'm cracking up... am I just paranoid, or am I just stoned?"
- Green Day, "Basket Case"

"Another turning point, a fork stuck in the road... time grabs you by the wrist, directs you where to go... so make the best of this test and don't ask why... it's not a question but a lesson learned in time... it's something unpredicable, but in the end, it's right... I hope you had the time of your life..."
- Green Day, "Good Riddance (Time Of Your Life)"

"Gotta make a plan, gotta do what's right, can't run around in circles if you wanna build a life... but I don't wanna make a plan for a day far away... while I'm young and while I'm able all I wanna do is... (play)"
- Green Day, "J.A.R."

"Hey Kathy, how're you doin'? I'm doin' fine... so leave me alone!"
- Groovie Ghoulies, "Doin' Fine"

"You just better start sniffing your own rank subjugation Jack, 'cause it's just you against your tattered libido, the bank and the mortician forever man, and it wouldn't be luck if you could get out of life alive..."
- Guns 'N' Roses, "Knockin' On Heaven's Door" (cover)

"Please allow me to introduce myself, I'm a man of wealth and taste..."
"...pleased to meet you... hope you guessed my name..."
- Guns 'N' Roses, "Sympathy For The Devil" (cover)

"My name is might've-been... my name is never-was... my name's forgotten... hey! so glad you could make it, yeah! now you really made, hey! there's only us left now..."
- Hole, "Celebrity Skin"

"Together as one... all the rest can be tossed back to Hell... you can look down on me... your blood will never pump as fast as mine... alright now... you're not me so give it up..."
- Hybrid Children, "Like Every Day Is The Last"

"Tell us when our time's up, show us how to die well, show us how to... let it all go..."
- James, "Destiny Calling"

"I'm on my feet, I'm on the floor, I'm good to go... all I need is just to hear a song I know... I wanna always feel like part of this... was mine... I wanna fall in love tonight..."
- Jimmy Eat World, "A Praise Chorus"

"Pretend they're not the same as you... do you know about his strength and convictions? Or how she puts all her faith in religion? Did we take the time to really discover... how little... we know about each other?"
- Less Than Jake, "All My Best Friends Are Metalheads"

"Can't we forget the things I said when I was drunk... I didn't mean to call you that... I can't remember what you said or what you threw at me... please tell me..."
- Lit, "My Own Worst Enemy"

"Feeling misconscious, suicidal, unhappy... makes me think maybe I should leave... run home backwards, hang myself up with her scarves... one in a million or one in two?"
- Little Miss Moody, "Na, na, na na"

"When thing are looking good there's always complications,
I can't be with you so I'm at the railway station..."
- Lush, "500 (shake baby shake)"

"No-one seems to be holding on to me... no-one seems to want to stick around... and no-one cares for you, like the way I do, but even that was not enough for you..."
- LWL, "Emone"

"I don't wanna grow up, I'm a pop punk kid, there's a million songs on radio I can't relate with... those country songs seem so damn long about a bunch of old drunken hicks... I don't wanna grow up, 'cause baby if I did, I couldn't be a pop punk kid..."
- LWL, "Pop Punk Kid"

"Time to see... believe this in me... this pain that I feel deep inside..."
- Machine Head, "From This Day"

"I loved you then as I love you still... I put you on a pedestal, you put me on the pill... I don't feel bad about letting you go, I just feel sad about letting you know..."
"I don't want to change the world, I'm not looking for New England... are you looking for another girl?"
"Once upon the time at home, I sat beside the telephone... waiting for someone to call me through, when at last it didn't ring, I knew it wasn't you..."
- Kirsty MacColl, "New England"

"You are pure, you are snow... we are useless sluts that bemoan... rock 'n' roll is our epiphany... culture, alienation, boredom and despair..."
- Manic Street Preachers, "Little Baby Nothing"

"Rock... it's deader than dead... shock... it's all in your head... your sex and your dope, it's all that we're fed, so f~ck all your protests and put 'em to bed... God is in the TV..."
- Marilyn Manson, "Rock Is Dead"

"There's no time to discriminate, hate every muthaf~cka that's in your way..."
- Marilyn Manson, "The Beautiful People"

"Suicide is painless... it brings on many changes... and I can take or leave it if I please... the game of life is hard to play... gonna lose it anyway..."
- M*A*S*H, Theme

"Well I know the day has to end... and I'm sure that the storm will go past... while I'm here in the eye and the day's going by I'll enjoy the feeling I feel while it lasts... if it lasts me forever I know the last thing I do would be run... today I'm just gonna stay here... and pray that the day... is never done..."
- Mighty Mighty Bosstones, "Storm Hit"

"Always look on the bright side of death... just before you draw your terminal breath... 'cause life's a piece of sh~t, no matter how you look at it... life's a laugh and death's a joke it's true... you'll see it's all a show, keep on laughin' as you go; just remember that the last laugh is on you..."
"What you gotta lose, you know? You've come from nothing, you're going back to nothing... what you lost? Nothin'..."
- Monty Python, "Bright Side Of Life"

"Just remember that you're standing on a planet that's evolving and revolving at 900 miles an hour..."
"...so remember when you're feeling very small and insecure, how amazingly unlikely is your birth: And pray that there's intelligent life somewhere out up space, 'cause there's bugger all down here on Earth..."
- Monty Python, "Galaxy Song"

"Kebab or shag... shag or kebab... kebab or shag?"
- Murry The Hump, "Kebab Or Shag"

"You bared your soul... you showed us your Hole..."
"Hope I'm not out of place, but... Courtney Love, sit on my face... Courtney Love... don't throw it all away... Courney Love... What about me?! I'm not gay!"
- Nerf Herder, "Courtney"

"I was thinking of you while I jerked off into my sock last night..."
"...I was thinking of you..."
"...'cause I didn't have anything better to do... I was thinking of you while I jerked off into my sock..."
- Nerf Herder, "Doin' Laundry"

"Come on... Vivian! Put your.... glasses on! Yeah, you've gone away to med school... and I've gone out of my mind..."
- Nerf Herder, "Vivian"

"I'm a negative creep, I'm a negative creep, I'm a negative creep an' I'm stoned..."
- Nirvana, "Negative Creep"

"wannafey-atamay... mai-ole! AI! AI! AI! AI, AI, AIIIII!"
- Nirvana, "tourette's"

"Parasitic music industry..."
"We'll show them how it's supposed to be..."
"We're gonna kill the seven-record deal, make records better, more than one good song... dinosaurs will slowly die, and I do believe no-one will cry, I'm just f~cking glad I'm gonna be... there to watch it fall..."
"Extinction never felt so good..."
- NOFX, "Dinosaurs Will Die"

"They're tryin' hard to put me in my place, and that is why I gotta keep running..."
- Oasis, "I Hope, I Think, I Know"

"20-20-24 hours to go... I wanna be sedated... nothing to do, nowhere to go home... I wanna be sedated... just get to me to the airport and put me on a plane... hurry hurry hurry, before I go insane... I can't control my fingers, can't control my brain, no no no no no no..."
- Offspring, "I Wanna Be Sedated" (cover)

"There's just a million better bands... with a million better songs... singers who can drum... and singers who can sing... Deep... in my heart... I do believe... we're not gonna make it..."
- Presidents Of The United States Of America, "We're Not Going To Make It"

"If I could be who you wanted... all the time... I would..."
- Radiohead, "Fake Plastic Trees"

"Romantically you martyr me and miss this story's point...where is my strength, my destiny...this is the road that I've chosen...who cast the final stone? who threw the crushing blow? Someone has to take the fall...why not me? why not me?"
- REM, "Falls To Climb"

"It's like you're always stuck in second gear... when it hasn't been your day, your week, your month, or even your year..."
"I'll be there for you... 'cause you're there for me too..."
- Rembrants, "I'll Be There For You"

"I believe in karma, what you give is what you get, returned..."
- Savage Garden, "Affirmation"

"I did it... myyyyy wayyyyy!"
- Sex Pistols, "My Way" (cover)

"Since your love was over... you haven't yet been sober... you, you have held me back so long... everything you do is wrong... oh, I ought to dump you..."
- Silverchair, "Pop Song For Us Rejects"

"I like the snow and better still, and better still, I like it when you're not around... give me my loan back, all of my ex-girlfriends think we're sh~t... this is the last day of your life..."
- Silver Sun, "Last Day"

"So come on, FEEL the noise!"
- Slade, "Cum On Feel The Noize"

"I can't go on... taking roses from your grave..."
- Smashing Pumpkins, "Behold! The Night Mare"

"...and I knew she was the one, 'cause she was reading Naked Lunch..."
"..all dressed in black, it's a fact she's my beatnik girl..."
- Snug, "Beatnik Girl"

"I don't really want to get along... no!.."
- Spunge, "Get Along"

"...the beer don't taste the same without my name painted on my glass..."
- Stereophonics, "Last Of The Bigtime Drinkers"

"Mac the Knife swigs a can and sing the day away... there's more life, more life, more life than a tramp's vest..."
- Stereophonics, "More Life Than A Tramp's Vest"

"Is anyone going anywhere? Everyone's gotta be... somewhere..."
- Stereophonics, "Traffic"

"I know I'm not the one you thought you knew back in high-school..."
"I don't wanna waste my time, become another casualty of society... I'll never fall in line, become another victim of your conformity..."
"Don't count on me..."
- Sum 41, "Fat Lip"

"Takin' one day at a tiiiiime!"
- Symposium "One Day At A Time"

"I sit... in my desolate room... no lights... no music... just ANGER... I've killed everyone... run away away forever... but I'm feeling better... what do I feel? what do I say? f~ck you! it all goes away!"
- System Of A Down, "Sugar"

"I have a secret to tell... from my electrical well... it's a simple message and I'm leaving out the whistles and bells... so the room must listen to me... philibuster vigilantly... my name is blue canary... one note: spelled l-i-t-e..."
"I'm your only friend, I'm not your only friend, but I'm a little glowing friend, but really I'm not actually your friend but I am...
- They Might Be Giants, "Birdhouse In Your Soul"

"I've been here, and I've been there, and not too much surprises me now... I've seen it all... but I... don't mind! I'll find a bright side one more time, and I... don't mind! I'll give it one more try..."
- Ten Foot Pole, "I Don't Mind"

"I want to live my life, multiply my existence, and feel like I got the lot..."
- Terrorvision, "Junior"

"I once had a girlfriend... but then one day she dumped me... and everywhere I go people would ask me where she was... I don't want to talk about her... someone always asks about her... so I tell them all my girlfriend's dead..."
- Vandals, "My Girlfriend's Dead"

"A time to live... a time to die... a time to open up your arms and sing... I'm in love with the rock 'n' roll world... I'm in love with the rock 'n' roll world..."
"...so good to be so f~cked up..."
- Wildhearts, "Anthem"

"I want everyone to know that nothing is important, everything's alright..."
- Wilt, "No Worries"

"I'll remember you... that is all that I can do... but I'll remember"
- Sophie Zelmani, "I'll Remember You"