"One life, with each other, sisters, brothers"

Yeah, that's the finest lyric to come out of Britain ever.

I p*ke.

Would piss himself laughing at this pole.

I have to say, why that line? Surely, 'I am the son and the heir of a shyness that is criminally vulgar, I am the son and heir of nothing in particular' pisses all over the rest of the song as far as lyrical prowess is concerned?
And I know they had to pick songs for which they had footage, but what strange choices, especially for U2; The Fly or With or Without You or Where The Streets Have No Name, are much more lyrically challenging than One. One is to U2 what Imagine is to John Lennon. Sincerely expressed sentiment married to a beautiful tune, but lyrically like teenage poetry.
The best Smiths lyric? It's a toughie, but I'd go for 'She was left behind and sour and she wrote to me equally dour, she said in the days when you were hopelessly poor, I just liked you more.' I'm sure it differs for everyone though.

'One life with each other, sisters, brothers'???

Well it's hardly Behan, Betjeman or Auden is it? For goodness sake, it's like something Steeleye Span would have intoned before going on about 'All around my hat, I will wear the green willow'. It's half-baked hippy tosh that would have got laughed at in the 1960s.

Whither "Why pander life's complexities, when the leather runs smooth on the passenger seat"? Or even "Gasping- but somehow still alive, this is the fierce last stand of all I am"(my own personal favourite)?

How embarrasing for you Bono...THIS is how they'll remember you.

What a nation of idiots we are.

has there been any lines worth mentioning from Coldplay? They are the most over-rated band ever.

Bono has written some magnificent lyrics... but this quote from "One" is not an example.

If you read the lyric to "A Sort of Homecoming" there are several gorgeous and majestic couplets and passages.... some of the best I have ever read in poetry and/or song lyrics.

I'm sure most here will slag them off.

-Redhill

To hear the full impact of how trite the song One is you needed to see the clip of U2 performing it live on tour on Top of the Pops via satellite. As the band played they had dozens of old Romanian women walking past the band on stage.

Wow- profound!

U2- the worst band EVER!

Bongo is a pompous, self-righteous whore. I saw him on televison recently defending the Catholic Church's bans on abortion, and condoms for preventing the spread of Aids. He said "women get upset about it," but you had to keep it in context, meaning he got to have tea with the Pope, which is really far more important than girls of twelve giving birth to their own siblings or a few million people dying, isn't it?

Well, frankly, I took one look at his mullet back in 1982 when I was a discerning child of six, and formed an instant loathing for him which time and experience have done nothing to diminish.

("We can go for a walk where it's quiet and dry/And talk about precious things" is a better line than the HSIN one, I think, especially when you know the origin in Billy Liar.)

what a legend. i love his colourful sunglasses...they almost make him look younger. i love his hairline which looks like it receives some special treatment. i love how he never mentions he's a born again christian anymore. i love how U2 are practically the antithesis of music. there's absolutely nothing to like about them, they are meant for middle class careerist men who work in offices and think bono and coldplaytwat are saving the world, they read about it in loaded and fhm.

...just plain vile!

Where's the artistic judgement in all of this?

Oops! I accidentally placed this one in the forum when I meant to pop it here. :- Ta da!

I actually believe Bono is a gnome. I mean that with all sincerity.

I dunno, "One" has a few quips Morrissey wouldn't be ashamed of. There's no need to be snobbish, but the sisters, brothers line just sounds good and nothing more.

I think someone at VH1 just went over the lyrics and copy-pasted the first line he or she managed to highlight with the cursor.

Viewing this list and what some folks consider great lyrics made me appreciate Morrissey's lyrics even more than I did before.

"I see the world, it makes me puke
but then I look at you and know
that somewhere there's a someone
who can soothe me…"

Even though there are better examples of Morrissey's lyrics, I say bravo to "How Soon is Now?", and its memorable opening line, "I am the fun and the fair of a Mozsite for the criminally insane…"

Or something like that.

Don't try to understand 'em
Just rope, throw, and brand 'em
Soon we'll be living high and wide.

A philosophy for a single man.
'Rawhide' works for me.

R Yates

that utter utter waste of studio time robbie willams and angles did not get the number one spot!

These polls should, obviously, be treated as the inconsequential bits of fun they are, but even by this standard, this poll takes the proverbial highroad to banality.
So 'Yellow' by Coldplay and 'Angels' by Robbie Williams contain lyrics that are better than any written by Dylan, Bowie, Joni Mitchell, John Lydon, Elvis Costello, Shane McGowan, Bjork or...well just in your own name. Lord knows, there's probably about 200 or so you can think of before you even approach Messrs. Martin and Williams.
Utterly predictable, I guess. But totally laughable all the same.

The VH1 people think that the commercial succes means everything... obviously, ONE is not better than How soon is now, neither in the lyrical way, or whatever..., Even though how son is now is good, there are more good lyrical content in another Moz songs...