# BEST opening line of song lyrics **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 18, 2017, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-opening-line-of-song-lyrics/799174 "2017-10-18T00:49:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Greathouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/greathouse/32/2992_2.png) [@Greathouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Greathouse)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2017, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-opening-line-of-song-lyrics/799174/61 "2017-10-18T20:15:15Z")
A winter’s day, in a deep and dark December ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2017, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-opening-line-of-song-lyrics/799174/62 "2017-10-18T20:19:45Z")
“You’re one sad and sorry son of a bitch, I hope you’re gone for good” - Paul Sanchez, The Hate Song “Ivana’s a sculptor she’s tending bar” - Emmet Swimming, Arlington ---
**Author:** ![Greathouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/greathouse/32/2992_2.png) [@Greathouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Greathouse)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2017, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-opening-line-of-song-lyrics/799174/63 "2017-10-18T20:23:41Z")
I am a dominant gene. Live as I die Never say forever 'cause forever’s a lie ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2017, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-opening-line-of-song-lyrics/799174/64 "2017-10-18T20:54:25Z")
A couple from John Prine: _It was Christmas in prison and the food was real good We had turkey and pistols carved out of wood The last time that I saw her She was standing in the rain With her overcoat under her arm Leaning on a horsehead cane_ mmm ---
**Author:** ![Patx2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/73ab20/32.png) [@Patx2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patx2)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2017, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-opening-line-of-song-lyrics/799174/65 "2017-10-18T20:57:16Z")
> [@montag01](#): > > Please allow me to introduce myself . . . > > Well I heard there was a secret chord . . . > > Early one mornin’ the sun was shinin’, I was layin in bed . . > > There must be someway out of here, said the joker to the thief I was going to post the opening line to Sympathy for the Devil also 😊! ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2017, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-opening-line-of-song-lyrics/799174/66 "2017-10-18T21:28:51Z")
"Couple in the next room bound to win a prize They’ve been going at it all night long " -Paul Simon,\* Duncan\* “The way I see it, he said You just can’t win it” -Joni Mitchell, _Free Man in Paris_ “There’s something happening here What it is ain’t exactly clear” -Buffalo Springfield, _For What It’s Worth_ ---
**Author:** ![teela\_brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@teela\_brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teela_brown)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2017, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-opening-line-of-song-lyrics/799174/67 "2017-10-18T21:32:12Z")
\*Heard of a van that is loaded with weapons packed up and ready to go \* ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2017, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-opening-line-of-song-lyrics/799174/68 "2017-10-18T21:32:40Z")
I am a lineman for the county, And I ride the main road. Searchin’ in the sun for another overload. _Wichita Lineman_, Jimmy Webb It’s knowin’ that your door is always open And you path is free to walk, That tends to make me leave my sleepin’ bag rolled up And stashed behind your couch. _Gentle On My Mind_, John Hartford The place I would like to see I know But not the place where you told me to go So anything that moves will be okay I’ll take anything leaving town today. _Anything Leaving Town Today_, Dave Dudley Now you say you ain’t never met my wife, you ain’t never seen her befo,’ Say you ain’t been hangin’ roun’ my crib; well here’s somethin’ I wanna know… I wanna know what in the worl’ is goin’ down, How come my dog don’t bark when you come around? _How Come My Dog Don’t Bark_, Dr. John ---
**Author:** ![teela\_brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@teela\_brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teela_brown)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2017, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-opening-line-of-song-lyrics/799174/69 "2017-10-18T22:02:25Z")
_I am just a poor boy Though my story’s seldom told I have squandered my resistance For a pocket full of mumbles, such are promises_ ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2017, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-opening-line-of-song-lyrics/799174/70 "2017-10-18T22:04:23Z")
_Shut up and get on the plane_- **Drive-By Truckers** _"Well your wishes and your feelings Your bad dreams and intuitions Are about as much good to me right now as a brand new set of golf clubs_" ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2017, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-opening-line-of-song-lyrics/799174/71 "2017-10-18T22:19:48Z")
If he was from Venus, would he feed us with a spoon? If he was from Mars, wouldn’t that be cool? — The Replacements, “Alex Chilton” Look for a while at the China Cat Sunflower Proud-walking jingle in the midnight sun Copper-domed Bodhi drip a silver kimono Like a crazy-quilt stargown Through a dream night wind — Grateful Dead, “China Cat Sunflower” Everybody’s building the big ships and boats Some are building monuments Other are jotting down notes Everybody’s in despair, every girl and boy but when Quinn the Eskimo gets here Everybody’s gonna jump for joy — Dylan, “Quinn the Eskimo” ---
**Author:** ![74westy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/74westy/32/3950_2.png) [@74westy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/74westy)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2017, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-opening-line-of-song-lyrics/799174/72 "2017-10-18T22:29:52Z")
I woke up Sunday morning with no way to hold my head that didn’t hurt. And the beer I had for breakfast wasn’t bad so I had one more for dessert. ---
**Author:** ![jaycat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jaycat/32/3015_2.png) [@jaycat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jaycat)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2017, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-opening-line-of-song-lyrics/799174/73 "2017-10-19T02:53:17Z")
Far between sundown’s finish and midnight’s broken toll We ducked inside the doorway, thunder crashing As majestic bells of bolts struck shadows in the sounds Seeming to be the chimes of freedom flashing. ---
**Author:** ![scabpicker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scabpicker/32/8268_2.png) [@scabpicker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scabpicker)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2017, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-opening-line-of-song-lyrics/799174/74 "2017-10-19T02:55:20Z")
Some more of my favorites: [We’re in the basement, learning to print.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mBRr_TqLDf4) - The B52s, “Legal Tender” [We’re gonna kill the California girls.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cP4I_kHmC-Q) - Sonic Youth, “Expressway to Your Skull” [Look before you leap, OK?](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3VQ46a0Mf_k) - Sonic Youth, “I Dream I Dreamed” ---
**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2017, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-opening-line-of-song-lyrics/799174/75 "2017-10-19T04:14:13Z")
“There lived, a house, in Baton Rouge.”\* “Sittin on the dock of the bay.” “Mommy told me, yes she told me, I’d meet girls like you; she also told me - stay away, you’ll never know what you’ll catch.” “Don’t know much about dancin, That’s why I write this song, One of my legs Is shorter than the other And both of my feet’s too long, 'Course now right along with’em, I got no natural rhythm, But I go dancin every night, Hopin one day I might get it right.” One of my favourites, from Killdozer: [“Hamburger Martyr” - NSFW](https://youtu.be/EWJsgSrnhqg?t=482) And maybe the greatest opening lyrics ever, from Captain Beefheart: “A squid eating dough in a polyethylene bag is fast and bulbous, got me?” (I’ll be a expecting a large, expensive prize for that.) \*just kidding! N’olins! \ ***Scabpicker** dangit you beat me to it with the opener from the Buttholes’ “Shah Sleeps In Lee Harvey’s Grave”. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2017, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-opening-line-of-song-lyrics/799174/76 "2017-10-19T04:24:12Z")
I spent my last $10 on birth control and beer; My life was so much simpler when I was sober and queer! ~“I Spent My Last $10 on Birth Control and Beer” by The 2 Nice Girls Talking to myself and feeling old… ~“Rainy Days and Mondays” by the Carpenters Some will strut and some will fret; See this, their hour on the stage. ~“Virginia Woolf” by the Indigo Girls This is where the party ends, 'Cause I can’t stand here listening to you And your racist friend. ~“Your Racist Friend” by They Might be Giants ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2017, 8:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-opening-line-of-song-lyrics/799174/77 "2017-10-19T08:28:30Z")
> [@John\_DiFool](#): > > [Just have a continuing moral obligation here to [maintain the Balance of the Board](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=839005), ya understand] > > 1st nomination, opening lines of The Church’s Myrrh: > _Emerald haunt in overdrive_ > Heard it hundreds of times by now, still not sure what it means, but remains evocative and powerful, somehow… Agh! I was going to suggest “Hotel Womb” _(Volcano pierce the air / Ashes block out the sun / Down in the lair where I met her there was a price for everyone)_ or “Pharaoh” _(Hi to all the people that are selling me / Here’s one straight from the factory)_ Can we agree on The Church in general? (And yes, I seem to recall learning that the productions of those albums, _Starfish_ and _Gold Afternoon Fix_, were like a twice-suffered nightmare for the band.) ---
**Author:** ![eunoia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eunoia/32/97_2.png) [@eunoia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eunoia)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2017, 8:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-opening-line-of-song-lyrics/799174/78 "2017-10-19T08:51:09Z")
“Sideburns in the shape of a prairie province, Bookcased his face, baby, he looked alot like Elvis…” SNFU - Head Smashed In Buffalo Jump (Kendall Stephen “Ken” Chinn for Canadian Parliamentary Poet Laureate 2020!) ---
**Author:** ![jerez](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c68b51/32.png) [@jerez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jerez)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2017, 9:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-opening-line-of-song-lyrics/799174/79 "2017-10-19T09:00:46Z")
Two more from John Prine: Grandpa was a carpenter he built houses, stores and banks chain-smoked Camel cigarettes and hammered nails in planks * * * Last night I saw an accident on the corner of Third and Green two cars collided and I got excited just being part of that scene It was Mrs. Tom Walker and her beautiful daughter Pamela was driving the car they got hit by a man in a light-blue sedan who had obviously been to a bar ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2017, 10:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-opening-line-of-song-lyrics/799174/80 "2017-10-19T10:38:29Z")
“I went home with a waitress, the way I always do– How was I to know she was with the Russians, too?” Warren Zevon, _Lawyers, Guns, and Money_ [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-opening-line-of-song-lyrics/799174.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-opening-line-of-song-lyrics/799174.md?page=5)