This line has been stuck in my head recently:
"For don't you know that it's a fool, who plays it cool, by making his world a little colder."

Thanks dr. john for not leaving me hangin'. That's one of my favorite ones too.

Dunno how profound it is, but I always felt like Wilco's "I live my life like a wasn't invited" line summed up a bit too much for me.

more like "I live my life like I wasn't invited."

One that might hit close for everybody at some point:
“You need the money, so you’ve got to play it dumb. But if you play it long enough, it’s just what you become.”

I, too, struggle with making out lyrics, even with my favorite artists. I rarely refer to lyrics sheets, but I do like to read Andy Partridge's lyrics. "People are always willing to wipe their feet on anything with 'welcome' written on it" is one that often crops up to explain situations I get myself into. Likewise, Costello's rare bit of effective and meaningful wordplay, in my opinion - now I'm blanking on the exact quote, but it's the line from "Riot Act" - oh, "Don't wear your heart out on your sleeve, when your remarks are off the cuff."

defnitely not profound but I was just listening to the Jackson 5's "The Love You Save" and the lines

"Stop The Love You Save May be Your Own. Darling Look both way beofre you cross me; Your heading for a danger zone"

I have always found that very clever.

Welcome back to the States, Mr Mod. Don't even ask me about the Phils!

"'Cuz I like feelin' like I do, and I see in your eyes that you're likin' it... I'm likin' it too... oh, yeah, all right."

Classic example of a lyric that rock nerds of the world would unite behind if only it had been bellowed into an SM-57 by Iggy with the Stooges, rather than crooned into a Gene Rayburn teevee mic by Dr. Hook with the Medicine Show. Lesson learned? Most rock lyrics are a giant waste of time.

But some most definitely are not. I was really groovin' on Chuck Berry's "Havana Moon," faux Jamaican patois and all. But I was frustrated by the fact that I think the lyric goes on for exactly one verse too long! Had he only ended the song here, it would have been rock and roll perfection:

Havana moon, havana moon
Me all alone with jug of rum
Me stand and wait for boat to come
It's long the night, it's quiet the dock
The boat she late since 12 o'clock
Me watch the tide easin' in
Is low the moon, but high the wind

Havana moon, havana moon
Me all alone, me open the rum
It's long the wait for boat to come

American girl come back to me
We'll sail away across the sea
We'll dock in new york, the buildings high
We'll find a home up in the sky

Havana moon, havana moon
Me still alone, me sip on the rum
Me wonder where the boat she come
To bring me love, sweet little thing
She rock and roll, she dance and sing
She hold me tight, she touch me lips
Me eyes they close, me heart she flip

Havana moon, Havana moon
But still alone, me drinkin' the rum
Begin to think the boat no come
American girl, she tell a lie
She say till then, she mean goodbye

... instead, Chuck adds this extra stanza, which ends things a lot more explicitly, and somehow less poetically:

Havana moon, havana moon
Me lay down alone, was good the rum
Me fall asleep, the boat she come
The girl she look till come the dawn
She weep and cry, "return for home"
The whistle blow, me open me eyes
Was bright the sun, was blue the sky
Me grab me shoes, me jump and run
Me see the boat head for horizon
Havana moon, is gone the rum
The boat she sail, me love she gone
Havana moon, havana moon

... yeah, yeah, I know; that's more than a line or two. But it's been on my mind. I suppose if I was forced to carve out the profound line, it would be the killer:

American girl, she tell a lie
She say 'til then, but she mean goodbye.

go easy, step lightly, stay free.

Love is all there is
it makes the world go 'round
love and only love
it can't be denied
no matter what you think about it
you won't be able to do without it
take a tip from one who's tried.

I Threw It All Away, Bob Dylan

I have to admit, as a person with a history of violence (not the overblown film), Lou Reed's "I'm gonna stop wasting my time/Somebody else would have broken both of her arms," in the context of "Sad Song," strikes me as one of the most sincere expressions of very bad vibes by a song narrator this side of some classic Scorcese character. I don't understand the sentiment, but I admire the way it's expressed and see some truth in it.

I would say any Billy Bragg song because they all seem to impact me in a profound way - he's one of my heroes - but The Great Leap Forwards beckons the most:

"The Revolution is just a T-shirt away"

;)