The Top 100 Greatest Lyrics in Rock N’ Roll

1. I hope someday you’ll join us, and the world will live as one- John Lennon
2. How many roads must a man walk down, before you can call him a man- Bob Dylan
3. Emancipate yourself from mental slavery, non but ourselves can free our minds- Bob Marley
4. Mother, mother, there’s far too many of you crying, brother, brother, there’s far too many of you dying- Marvin Gaye
5. I can’t get no satisfaction- The Rolling Stones
6. Scuse me while I kiss the sky- Jimi Hendrix
7. Why Don’t You all fade Away, and don’t try to dig what we all say- The Who
8. How does it feel to be on your own- Bob Dylan
9. Go Johnny Go- Chuck Berry
10. Oh I believe in Yesterday- The Beatles
11. A change has gotta come- Sam Cooke
12. So take a good look at my face, you’ll see my smile is outta place- Smokey Robinson & the Miracles
13. Come on baby, light my fire- The Doors
14. Please To Meet You, Hope you guessed my name- The Rolling Stones
15. You ain’t no friend of mine- Elvis Presley
16. You know you’re mine, I walk the line- Johnny Cash
17. R.E.S.P.E.C.T. find out what it means to me- Aretha Franklin
18. It’s fun to lose and to pretend- Nirvana
19. Please to meet you, hope you guessed my name- The Rolling Stones
20. Have you come here to play Jesus to the lepers in your head- U2
21. I wanna hold your hand- The Beatles
22. A-Wop, Bop-a looma, ba, bop, bop, bop- Little Richard
23. Cause London is drowning and I live by the river- The Clash
24. Ai oh! Lets go!- The Ramones
25. I’ll make you so happy- The Ronettes
26. Tell your mama, tell your pa, I’m going to sing it back to Arkansas- Ray Charles
27. Cause tramps like us, baby we were born to run- Bruce Springsteen
28. And she’s climbing the stairway to Heaven- Led Zeppelin
29. Just Sitting on the dock of the baby wasting time- Otis Redding
30. Papa’s gotta brand new bag- James Brown
31. Then you put the load down on me- The Band
32. And it’s deeper, with every… and it getting higher…- Ike and Tina Turner
33. Whole lotta shaking going on- Jerry Lee Lewis
34. For the times they are a changing- Bob Dylan
35. In My life, I love you more- The Beatles
36. When I hear that whistle blowing, I hang my head and cry- Johnny Cash
37. Hey white boy what you doing uptown?- The Velvet Underground
38. Mercy!- Roy Orbison
39. Ziggy played guitar- David Bowie
40. Help me- The Beatles
41. Like a bridge over troubled waters, I will lay me down- Simon & Garfunkel
42. I guess you will make me feel this way, my girl- The Temptations
43. Will you still love me tomorrow- The Shirilles
44. I wanna be Anarchy!- The Sex Pistols
45. That’s be the day when you say goodbye- Buddy Holly
46. Louie, Louie- The Kingsmen
47. This is what it sounds like when doves cry- Prince
48. We’ve got to live together- Sly & The Family Stone
49. Loving you forever- Al Green
50. I’ll stand up next to a mountain and chop it down with the edge of my hand- Jimi Hendrix
51. I Feel Good- James Brown
52. We haven’t had that spirit since 1969- The Eagles
53. You never close your eyes anymore when I kiss your lips- The Rightgeous Brothers
54. Living just enough for the city- Stevie Wonder
55. This is the end, my only friend the end- the doors
56. Just a sweet simple song keeps Georgia on my mind- Ray Charles
57. I wish they all could be California girls- The Beach Boys
58. See I remember when we used to sit in a government yard in trenchtown- Bob Marley
59. There is a house in New Orleans, they call the rising sun- The Animals
60. Hey Mr. Tambourine man, play a song for me- The Byrds
61. Billie Jean is not my lover, she’s just a girl, who thinks I am the one- Michael Jackson
62. Born to be wild- Steppenwolf
63. I’m going to walk you down to New Orleans- Fats Domino
64. You got a boy child coming, he gonna be a son of a gun- Muddy Waters
65. It’s like a jungle sometimes I wonder how I keep from going under- Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five
66. Your cheating heart, will make you weep- Hank Williams
67. Stop children what’s that sound, everybody look whats going round- Buffalo Springfield
68. You my brown eyed girl- Van Morrison
69. Bass, how low can you go, death row, what a brother know- Public Enemy
70. Keep on searching for a heart of gold, and I’m getting old- Neil Young
71. It ain’t me, it ain’t me, I ain’t no fortunate one- Creedence Clearwater Revival
72. Try a little tenderness- Otis Redding
73. If I was in L.A.- The Mamas And the Papas
74. She got eyes of the bluest skies as if they thought of rain- Guns N’ Roses
75. Jesus died for someone’s sins but not mine- Patti Smith
76. I’m a loser baby, so why don’t you kill me- Beck
77. I had a feeling I could be someone- Tracy Chapman
78. Help me, I think I’m falling in love too fast- Joni Mitchell
79. We can be Heroes, just for one day- David Bowie
80. Walk this way- Run D.M.C. & Aerosmith
81. I never loved a man the way I love you boy- Aretha Franklin
82. There is season turn, turn, turn- The Byrds
83. … and fake plastic love- Radiohead
84. Just a little spoonful of your precious love, satisfy my soul- Howlin’ Wolf
85. This whole town’s filled with sin, it’ll swallow you in- Gram Parsons
86. Go ask Alice, when’s she ten feet tall- Jefferson Airplane
87. Cupid, draw back your bow, and let your arrow go, straight to my lover’s heart for me- Sam Cooke
88. Fuck the police, coming straight from the Underground, a young nigger got it bad cause I’m brown.
89. I wanna be your dog- The Stooges
90. Li, Li, Li, Li,- Simon & Garfunkel
91. You only got one shot, do not miss your chance to blow, because Opportunity comes once in a lifetime.- Eminem
92. Don’t have to be rich to be my girl, you don’t have to be cool to rule my world- Prince
93. Johnny’s in the basement, mixing up the medicine, I’m on the pavement, thinking about the government- Bob Dylan
94. When you believe in things you don’t understand, and your suffer Superstition- Stevie Wonder
95. Well, how did I get here?- Talking Heads
96. Papa was a rolling stone, wherever he laid his hat was his home- The Temptations
97. Heroin, it’s my wife, and it’s my life- The Velvet Underground
98. Teenage Wasteland, only teenage wasteland- The Who
99. Thank god, for mom and dad for sticking to-together, cause we don’t know how- Outkast
100. Crrrryyyyyyyy Baby!- Janis Joplin

Oops I just realized I put the Stone's quote from Sympathy for the Devil twice by accident. In your mind omit that, and put at the bottom: "Now I ain't saying she's a gold digger..." Kanye West.

Nice list but how the hell can someone screaming Mercy! be considered a great lyric? same with "help me"???

What was your criteria for including or excluding artists? Especially since there's not many repeats.
It looks more like a popularity list than a greatest list.

Am I right that some of these 100 quotes have more to do with the vocal performance than the lyrics?

Here's a favorite of mine:
"I am not Jesus though I have the same initials, I am the man who stays home and does the dishes" - Jarvis Cocker, Pulp

Interesting list, you obviously put some thought into it. A couple of great lyrics that came to my mind immediately that are missing are:
"I once had a girl / Or should I say, she once had me." - The Beatles
"Meet the new boss / Same as the old boss." - The Who

No list is complete without those two, because they can stand on their own even out of the context of the songs they are a part of.

My favourite lyric is:

"Brenda's iron sledge/Please don't call me Reg/It's not my name". Robyn Hithcock, 'Brenda's Iron Sledge' from 'Gotta Let This Hen Out' (deleted).

If you went to high school with me, and asked me to sign your yearbook, here's what you got:

"He who fucks nuns will later join the church" - The Clash