I pulled back my hand and I showed him the door - House of Orange, by Stan Rogers.
Some others in this thread have spoken about lines that instantly set a scene and a mood. For me, that’s the line.
“I cut my bangs with some rusty kitchen scissors.” This Ain’t My Mama’s Broken Heart - Miranda Lambert
Now, that’s a country song opening.
Once upon a time, not long ago
When people wore pajamas and lived life slow
“Canadian mounted baby, a police force that works
Red and black, that’s their color scheme”
“My heart is black, and my lips are cold
Cities on flame with rock and roll”
“Raise your can of beer on high
And seal your fate forever”
“Deep in the heart of Germany
Lucy clutched her breast in fear”
“I have this feeling that my luck is none too good
This sword here at my side don’t act the way it should”
“You see me now a veteran of a thousand psychic wars
I’ve been living on the edge so long”
__Blue Oyster Cult
One toke over the line sweet Jesus
One toke over the line
Sittin’ downtown in a railway station
One toke over the line
Well, it was all that I could do to keep from cryin’
Sometimes it seemed so useless to remain
But you don’t have to call me darlin’, darlin’
You never even called me by my name
-David Allan Coe
Busted flat in Baton Rouge, waiting for a train
I was feeling near as faded as my jeans
Jeremiah was a bullfrog…
- Three Dog Night, Joy to the World. Belted out at top volume, of course. Always tempted to break into this in church when “Joy to the World” is sung.
Hey Joe, where you goin’ with that gun of yours?
Bobby said he’d pull out/Bobby stayed in
You’re probably wondering why I’m here. And so am I, so am I…Zappa
Less metaphysical: You shake my nerves and you rattle my brains, Too much love drives a man insane…Killer
I don’t give a damn 'bout my reputation
You’re living in the past it’s a new generation “Bad Reputation” most notably by Joan Jett
A long time ago came a man on a track
Walking thirty miles with a sack on his back “Telegraph Road” Dire Straits
She struts into the room
Well I don’t know her
But with a magnifying glance
I just sorta look her over “Be My Lover” Alice Cooper
Love any shoutout to Wilco!
“One day, you’re gonna have to face a deep, dark truthful mirror…and it’s gonna tell you things that I still love you too much to say”
- Elvis Costello, “Deep Dark Truthful Mirror”
I wormed my way to the heart of the crowd
I was shocked to find what was allowed.
Magazine, “Shot By Both Sides”
As the day stops dead, at the place where we’re lost
I will drug you and fuck you, on the permafrost
Magazine, “Permafrost”
It’s always raining over the border
There’s been a plane crash out there
In the wheatfields they’re picking up the pieces
We could go and look and stare
Magazine, “Feed The Enemy”
Time flies
Time crawls
Like an insect
Up and down these walls
Magazine, “The Light Pours Out Of Me”
Actually, pretty much anything Howard Devoto wrote for Magazine.
Steve walks warily down the street with the brim pulled way down low
I’ma quit reading this now. A gazillion earworms
More Paul Simon: The Mississippi Delta was shining like a National guitar… Graceland
“Health-food faggot with a bartered bride…” - The Great Deceiver by King Crimson
“It’s one o’clock and time for lunch. Bum-de-dum-de-dum…” I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe) by Genesis
He’s got himself a homemade special
You know his glass is full of sand
And it feels just like a jaybird
The way it fits into his hand
Tom Waits, “Walking Spanish”
With a purposeful grimace and a terrible sound
He pulls the spitting high-tension wires down
Helpless people on subway trains
Scream, bug-eyed, as he looks in on them