We asked members of the BuzzFeed Community to tell us what they consider to be the most beautiful song lyric ever written. Here are the results:
2. "The greatest thing you'll ever learn is just to love and be loved in return."
—Nat King Cole, "Nature Boy"
Suggested by perpetualoptimism
3. "Maybe there's a God above, but all I've ever learned from love was how to shoot somebody who outdrew ya. And it's not a cry that you hear at night. It's not somebody who's seen the light. It's a cold and it's a broken Hallelujah."
—Leonard Cohen (verse sung by Jeff Buckley), "Hallelujah"
Suggested by lrymgn
4. "Let me tell you what I wish I'd known when I was young and dreamed of glory: You have no control who lives, who dies who tells your story."
—Hamilton, "Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Tells Your Story"
Suggested by colleend9
5. "And you could have it all. My empire of dirt. I will let you down. I will make you hurt. If I could start again, a million miles away, I would keep myself. I would find a way."
—Nine Inch Nails, "Hurt"
Suggested by s4bb472acb
6. “Don’t worry where we end up. Ending-up’s not real. The life we build, we never stop creating”
—Jimmy Eat World, "Delivery"
Suggested by natashaldn92
8. "Time cast a spell on you, but you won’t forget me. I know I could have loved you, but you would not let me. I'll follow you down 'til the sound of my voice will haunt you."
—Fleetwood Mac, "Silver Springs"
Suggested by AJMercury
10. "So, I never fell for Vietnam. We got the wall of D.C. to remind us all that you can't trust freedom when it's not in your hands. When everybody's fighting for their promised land."
—Guns N' Roses, "Civil War"
Suggested by neb377
11. "I wrapped my arms around the moment like I'm clutching a memory; You, alive in your madness, in love with the night."
—The Wonder Years, "The Bluest Things On Earth"
Suggested by superwittyusername
12. “But you know that when the truth is told, that you can get what you want, or you can just get old.”
—Billy Joel, "Vienna"
Suggested by kellyb82
14. "So when you look at me, you better look hard and look twice. Is that me, baby, or just a brilliant disguise?"
—Bruce Springsteen, "Brilliant Disguise"
Suggested by altheab
15. “Idealism sits in prison, chivalry fell on its sword. Innocence died screaming, honey, ask me, I should know.”
—Hozier, “From Eden”
Suggested by brooklynchavez546
16. "And there will come a time, you'll see, with no more tears and love will not break your heart, but dismiss your fears. Get over your hill and see what you find there, with grace in your heart and flowers in your hair."
—Mumford & Sons, "After The Storm"
Suggested by freshlatte91
17. "So much of me is made of what I learned from you. You'll be with me, like a handprint on my heart."
—Wicked, "For Good"
Suggested by beatrixmenegakis
18. "My soul is painted like the wings of butterflies. Fairytales of yesterday grow, but never die. I can fly, my friends."
—Queen, "The Show Must Go On"
Suggested by puss_pastry
20. "Father, father, we don't need to escalate. You see, war is not the answer. For only love can conquer hate. You know we've got to find a way to bring some lovin' here today."
—Marvin Gaye, "What's Going On"
Suggested by smroney
21. "You can think that you're in love when you're really just in pain."
—Ashe, "Moral of the Story"
Suggested by vcox0498
22. "And, if you listen very hard, the tune will come to you at last. When all are one and one is all, to be a rock and not to roll. And she's buying a stairway to Heaven."
—Led Zeppelin, "Stairway to Heaven"
Suggested by neb377
23. "Did you see the frightened ones? Did you hear the falling bombs? Did you ever wonder why we had to run for shelter when the promise of a brave new world unfurled beneath a clear blue sky?"
—Pink Floyd, "Goodbye Blue Sky"
Suggested by e406d476b3
24. "What's the problem with the world today? The land of the free, somebody lied."
—Prince, "Call My Name"
Suggested by blacklammybear
26. "They got money for wars, but can't feed the poor."
—Tupac Shakur, "Keep Ya Head Up"
Suggested by margaretb49238f5cc
27. "If I had a box just for wishes and dreams that had never come true, the box would be empty, except for the memory of how they were answered by you."
—Jim Croce, "Time in a Bottle"
Suggested by pumpkin_lindsay
28. "The storms are raging on the rolling sea and on the highway of regret. The winds of change are blowing wild and free. You ain't seen nothing like me yet."
—Bob Dylan, "To Make You Feel My Love"
Suggested by kathyw410e2d4b7
29. “Sounds of laughter, shades of life are ringing through my open ears, inciting and inviting me. Limitless, undying love, which shines around me like a million suns. It calls me on and on, across the universe.”
—The Beatles, "Across The Universe"
Suggested by gogogirl74
30. "Just as time knew to move on since the beginning, and the seasons know exactly when to change. Just as kindness knows no shame, know through all your joy and pain, that I'll be loving you always.”
—Stevie Wonder, "As"
Suggested by ariellej4
32. "I was born by the river in a little tent. Oh, and just like the river, I've been runnin' ever since."
—Sam Cooke, "A Change Is Gonna Come"
Suggested by Vbunton
33. "I see friends shaking hands, saying, 'How do you do.' They're really saying, 'I love you.'"
—Louis Armstrong, "What a Wonderful World"
Suggested by hiitsnicetomeetyou
34. "It's been a long, dark night, and I've been a-waitin' for the morning. It's been a long hard fight, but I see a brand new day a-dawning."
—Dolly Parton, "Light of a Clear Blue Morning"
Suggested by emmanz
35. "Somebody crowd me with love. Somebody force me to care. Somebody let me come through. I'll always be there, as frightened as you, to help us survive being alive."
—Company, "Being Alive"
Suggested by emmanz
36. "We're just two lost souls swimming in a fish bowl. Year after year, running over the same old ground. What have we found?"
—Pink Floyd, "Wish You Were Here"
Suggested by smokingkrillz
38. "It's not easy to know; I'm not anything like I used to be. Although, it's trueI was never attention sweet center, I still remember that girl. She's imperfect, but she tries. She is good, but she lies. She is hard on herself. She is broken and won't ask for help. She is messy, but she's kind. She is lonely most of the time. She is all of this mixed up and baked in a beautiful pie. She is gone, but she used to be mine."
—Sara Bareilles, "She Used To Be Mine"
Suggested by robinb4b795a687
39. "Did you ever know that you're my hero? You're everything I wish I could be. I could fly higher than an eagle, for you are the wind beneath my wings."
—Bette Midler, "Wind Beneath My Wings"
Suggested by jennies4783ed5b8
40. "Many times I've been alone, and many times I've cried. Anyway, you'll never know the many ways I've tried. And still they lead me back to the long, winding road."
—The Beatles, "The Long and Winding Road"
Suggested by megana459810788
41. “If you really want to free me, tell my mummy that she’s pretty. Melanin is not your enemy.”
—Joy Crookes, "Power"
Suggested by ilovethewordhello
43. "It’s better to feel pain than nothing at all. The opposite of love is indifference."
—The Lumineers, "Stubborn Love"
Suggested by HaleyKuehn
44. "He says, 'Son, can you play me a memory? 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.'"
—Billy Joel, "Piano Man"
Suggested by megana459810788
45. “Hey, you call me up again just to break me like a promise. So casually cruel in the name of being honest."
—Taylor Swift, "All Too Well"
Suggested by taylors42375c9d6
46. "You can't always get what you want. But, if you try sometime, you find you get what you need."
—The Rolling Stones, "You Can't Always Get What You Want"
Suggested by isthatmesandwich
48. "I lose my way, and it's not too long before you point it out. I cannot cry because I know that's weakness in your eyes. I'm forced to fake a smile, a laugh every day of my life. My heart can't possibly break when it wasn't even whole to start with. Because of you, I never stray too far from the sidewalk. Because of you, I learned to play on the safe side so I don't get hurt. Because of you, I find it hard to trust not only me, but everyone around me. Because of you, I am afraid."
—Kelly Clarkson, "Because Of You"
Suggested by margaretb49238f5cc
49. “You fill up my senses like a night in a forest, like the mountains in springtime, like a walk in the rain, like a storm in the desert, like a sleepy blue ocean. You fill up my senses. Come fill me again.”
—John Denver, "Annie's Song (You Fill Up My Senses)"
Suggested by jasminemayforth
50. "So I close my eyes softly, 'til I become that part of the wind that we all long for sometime, yeah. And to those that I love, like a ghost through a fog, like a charmed hour, and a haunted song, and the angel of my dreams."
—Stevie Nicks, "Angel"
Suggested by witchbitxh
51. “Look at the way we live. I wasn't hidin' my kid from the world, I was hidin' the world from my kid. From empty souls who just wake up and look to debate. Until you starin' at your seed, you can never relate.”
—Drake, "Emotionless"
Suggested by jaylanevans
52. "Onward to the eastern skies, with bluing effort kiss the seas. I sigh in place for those blue eyes that have hope and love for me. For they obey, have stolen away, that heart that truly once was mine. Like some lone bird without a mate, my weary heart is desolate."
—The Carter Family, "I Never Loved But One"
Suggested by larssona19
54. "Come mothers and fathers, throughout the land. And don't criticize What you can't understand. Your sons and your daughters are beyond your command. Your old road is rapidly agin'. Please get out of the new one if you can't lend your hand. For the times, they are a-changin'."
—Bob Dylan, "The Times They Are A-Changin'"
Suggested by Shahbano Malik
55. “I am the one thing in life I can control. I am inimitable; I am an original. I’m not falling behind or running late. I’m not standing still: I am lying in wait.”
—Hamilton, "Wait for It"
Suggested by zoep123
56. "They told me all of my cages were mental, so I got wasted like all my potential."
—Taylor Swift, "this is me trying"
Suggested by haleyhastings2003
57. "I took my love, took it down. I climbed a mountain, and I turned around. And I saw my reflection in the snow-covered hills, 'til the landslide brought me down."
—Fleetwood Mac, "Landslide"
Suggested by fannyfolye
59. "'Cause love's such an old-fashioned word, and love dares you to care for the people on the edge of the night. And love dares you to change our way of caring about ourselves."
—David Bowie and Queen, "Under Pressure"
Suggested by AJMercury
60. “There are places I'll remember all my life, though some have changed. Some forever, not for better. Some have gone, and some remain. All these places had their moments with lovers and friends, I still can recall. Some are dead, and some are living. In my life, I've loved them all.”
—The Beatles, "In My Life"
Suggested by ccvalentinemusic
61. “Will you stay with me? Will you be my love among the fields of barley? We'll forget the sun in his jealous sky as we lie in fields of gold. See the west wind move like a lover, so upon the fields of barley. Feel her body rise when you kiss her mouth among the fields of gold.”
—Sting, "Fields of Gold"
Suggested by mounit
62. "May you grow up to be righteous. May you grow up to be true. May you always know the truth, and see the light surrounding you. May you always be courageous, stand upright and be strong. May you stay forever young."
—Bob Dylan, "Forever Young"
Suggested by gddobrogosz
Do you have a special song lyric that didn't make it into this post? Drop it in the comments below!
Note: Submissions have been edited for length and clarity.