# Best opening lines in a song **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 9, 2018, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-opening-lines-in-a-song/824228 "2018-11-09T04:19:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![xizor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xizor/32/102_2.png) [@xizor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xizor)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2018, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-opening-lines-in-a-song/824228/21 "2018-11-09T15:26:52Z")
Do spoken words before the singing starts count? Because this exchange from Meatloaf’s _You Took The Words Right Out of My Mouth_ is a favorite: He: On a hot summer night would you offer your throat to the wolf with the red roses? She: Will he offer me his mouth? He: Yes She: Will he offer me his teeth? He: Yes She: Will he offer me his jaws? He: Yes She: Will he offer me his hunger? He: Yes She: Again, will he offer me his hunger? He: Yes! She: And will he starve without me? He: Yes! She: And does he love me? He: Yes She: Yes He: On a hot summer night would you offer your throat to the wolf with the red roses? She: Yes He: I bet you to say that to all the boys. ---
**Author:** ![RobDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f07891/32.png) [@RobDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RobDog)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2018, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-opening-lines-in-a-song/824228/22 "2018-11-09T16:02:05Z")
_She came from Greece, she had a thirst for knowledge She studied sculpture at St Martin’s college That’s where I Caught her eye_ Pulp - Common People I find those lines strangely pleasing in and of themselves, but they perfectly set up the rest of the song too. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2018, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-opening-lines-in-a-song/824228/23 "2018-11-09T16:20:45Z")
Punctured bicycle On a hillside desolate Will Nature make a man of me yet? _[This Charming Man](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cJRP3LRcUFg)_, The Smiths HANDS UP WHO WANTS TO DIE! _[Sonny’s Burning](https://youtu.be/YKouxFN6AlA?t=2535)_, The Birthday Party and from the previous thread, but always so good: Suddenly shattered, ear to ear, cut to the gut and I’m screaming to be! _[Shatter](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c2Zz7BX3tsQ)_, Shelleyan Orphan ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2018, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-opening-lines-in-a-song/824228/24 "2018-11-09T16:41:29Z")
[Ray Wylie Hubbard - Conversation with the Devil](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yJm4jNrldek) I had a dream last night I was cast into Hell by a jealous God The Devil walked up and said, “You don’t need no lightning rod It hardly ever rains down here, I can’t recall the last storm You ain’t gonna need that leather jacket, it gets kinda warm But there’s one way in there’s no way out It looks like you’re here to stay The place is a mess, it’s overcrowded, more are coming in every day.” ---
**Author:** ![BrickBat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac91a4/32.png) [@BrickBat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrickBat)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2018, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-opening-lines-in-a-song/824228/25 "2018-11-09T17:31:00Z")
“Put your hand in my pocket, grab onto my rocket” KISS. ‘Take me’, from the ‘Rock & Roll Over’ albym of 1976. ---
**Author:** ![ekedolphin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ekedolphin/32/10003_2.png) [@ekedolphin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ekedolphin)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2018, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-opening-lines-in-a-song/824228/26 "2018-11-09T17:34:20Z")
“Mirror, mirror, on the wall, the face you show me scares me so.” –“Snowblind”, Styx ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2018, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-opening-lines-in-a-song/824228/27 "2018-11-09T17:39:13Z")
IMHO, _I woke up this morning, got myself a gun_\* is so good, it could be the opening line of a novel. - Alabama 3, [The Sopranos theme song - Woke up this morning - YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YDDkCiUhHCc) ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2018, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-opening-lines-in-a-song/824228/28 "2018-11-09T20:04:31Z")
“guess I should’ve known By the way you parked your car sideways that it wouldn’t last” Little Red Corvette, Prince ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2018, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-opening-lines-in-a-song/824228/29 "2018-11-09T20:22:01Z")
Why me, Lord? Kris Kristofferson ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2018, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-opening-lines-in-a-song/824228/30 "2018-11-09T21:03:57Z")
“Is she really going out with [him](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UZu8aDWhM9Y)” “Hey baby, let’s get [f\*\*\*\*\*](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IoOoBbqMFKk) up.” ---
**Author:** ![Yorkshire\_Pudding](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/59ef9b/32.png) [@Yorkshire\_Pudding](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yorkshire_Pudding)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2018, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-opening-lines-in-a-song/824228/31 "2018-11-09T21:34:11Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > Pulled in to Nazareth… > Was feeling 'bout half past dead… One of the best ever. I also have a very, very soft spot for “It was nearly summer, we sat on your roof We smoked cigarettes and we stared at the moon” Awash with youthful promise and what must have felt like ‘they’ll never understand us’ rebellion. Doubt it makes many people’s lists, but it’s up there for me. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2018, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-opening-lines-in-a-song/824228/32 "2018-11-09T23:00:08Z")
I’m certain that I posted the same answer maybe 8 years ago in a similar thread, but it’s worth repeating: The first lines of the first song on Elvis Costello’s first album: “Now that your picture’s in the paper being rhythmically admired And you can have anyone that you have ever desired All you gotta tell me now is why, why, why, why? [Welcome to the working week](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oyH9xPDDy80)” ---
**Author:** ![chaika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chaika/32/405_2.png) [@chaika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chaika)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2018, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-opening-lines-in-a-song/824228/33 "2018-11-09T23:41:41Z")
“Fairytale of New York”: It was Christmas Eve, babe, In the drunk tank. An old man said to me, “Won’t see another one.” “Hallelujah”: Now I heard there was a secret chord That David played and it pleased the Lord, But you don’t really care for music, do you? ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2018, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-opening-lines-in-a-song/824228/34 "2018-11-09T23:49:28Z")
> [@Inigo\_Montoya](#): > > “Is she really going out with [him](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UZu8aDWhM9Y)” That’s the refrain. The opening lines are: _Pretty women out walking with gorillas down my street From my window I’m staring while my coffee grows cold_ Some more: Harvey Danger, Flagpole Sitta: _I had visions, I was in them, I was looking into the mirror To see a little bit clearer, rottenness and evil in me_ TMBG, Birdhouse in Your Soul: _I’m your only friend, I’m not your only friend But I’m a little glowing friend, but really I’m not actually your friend But I am_ Sugar Ray, Fly \* All around the world statues crumble for me Who knows how long I’ve loved you\* Wallflowers, One Headlight _So long ago, I don’t remember when That’s when they say I lost my only friend_ Florence + The Machine, Ship To Wreck _Don’t touch the sleeping pills, they mess with my head Dredging the Great White Sharks, swimming in the bed_ Chris Cornell, Nearly Forgot My Broken Heart \* Every time I stare into the sun Trying to find a reason to go on All I ever get is burned and blind Until the sky bleeds the pouring rain\* Miss you, Chris. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![chaika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chaika/32/405_2.png) [@chaika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chaika)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2018, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-opening-lines-in-a-song/824228/35 "2018-11-09T23:53:43Z")
Oh, and I’ve always liked the opening lines of “Where’s me Jumper?” My brother knows Karl Marx, He met him eating mushrooms in the people’s park. He said, “What do you think about my manifesto?” “I like your manifesto, put it to the testo.” ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2018, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-opening-lines-in-a-song/824228/36 "2018-11-09T23:53:50Z")
> [@digs](#): > > A lot of nice first lines from Bob: > > **Well, in my time of dying don’t want nobody to mourn > All I want for you to do is take my body home…** > > I ain’t lookin’ to compete with you, > Beat or cheat or mistreat you. > > My love she speaks like silence, without ideals or violence > She doesn’t have to say she’s faithful, yet she’s true, like ice, like fire. > > She’s got everything she needs > She’s an artist, she don’t look back… > > Well, I wake up in the morning > There’s frogs inside my socks > Your mama, she’s hidin’ > Inside the icebox > Your daddy walks in wearin’ > A Napoleon Bonaparte mask > Then you ask why I don’t live here > Honey, do you have to ask? > > Well, God said to Abraham, “Kill me a son” > Abe says, “Man, you must be puttin’ me on” > > When you’re lost in the rain in Juarez > And it’s Eastertime too > > Well there was this movie I seen one time > about a man riding across the desert > and it starred Gregory Peck. > (Bob with Sam Shepherd) > If not for you, babe, I couldn’t find the door > Couldn’t even see the floor > I’d be sad and blue if not for you. > > **How many times have you heard someone say > If I had his money I’d do things my way > Hmm, but little they know > Hmm, it’s so hard to find > One rich man in ten with a satisfied mind.** > > Heart of mine be still > You can play with fire, but you’ll get the bill. > > Love that’s pure hopes all things > Believes all things, won’t pull no strings > > In the time of my confession, in the hour of my deepest need, > when the pool of tears beneath my feet flood every newborn seed… > > Well, if I had to do it all over again > Babe, I’d do it all over you > > Buckets of rain, buckets of tears > Got all them buckets comin’ out of my ears > > Early one morning the sun was shining > I was laying in bed > Wondering if she’d changed at all > If her hair was still red… > And some first stanzas of love songs: > > Been so long since a strange woman has slept in my bed > Look how sweet she sleeps, how free must be her dreams > In another lifetime she must have owned the world, or been faithfully wed > To some righteous king who wrote psalms beside moonlit streams. > > Well the pressure’s down, the boss ain’t here > He gone North, for a while > They say that vanity got the best of him > But he sure left here in style > By the way, that’s a cute hat > And that smile’s so hard to resist > But what’s a sweetheart like you doing in a dump like this ? > > 'Twas in another lifetime one of toil and blood > When blackness was a virtue, the road was full of mud > I came in from the wilderness a creature void of form > “Come in,” she said, “I’ll give you shelter from the storm.” > > * * * > > Johnny’s in the basement, mixin’ up the medicine. > I’m on the pavement, thinkin’ 'bout the government… > > Far between sundown’s finish an’ 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 > > Crimson flames tied through my ears > Rollin’ high and mighty traps. > Pounced with fire on flaming roads > Using ideas as my maps… > > Sometimes I’m in the mood, I wanna leave my lonesome home > > You say you love me, and you’re thinkin’ of me, but you know you could be wrong. > > Everything went from bad to worse, money never changed a thing > Death kept followin’, trackin’ us down, at least I heard your bluebird sing! > > And this is cheating, but a line later in that song is so cool: > > Oh, the only decent thing I did when I worked as a postal clerk > Was to haul your picture down off the wall, near the cage where I used to work. > Was I a fool or not to try to protect your real identity? > You looked a little burned out, my friend, I thought it might be up to me. > Well, I see you got your brand new leopard-skin pill-box hat… > Yes, I see you got your brand new leopard-skin pill-box hat… > (okay, even Dylan can’t be Dylan all the time…) All great, but the bolded lyrics are not Bob’s own though he sang them. One more: “The sweet pretty things are in bed now, of course The city fathers, they’re trying to endorse The reincarnation of Paul Revere’s horse But the town has no need to be nervous” ---
**Author:** ![Tinker\_Grey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tinker_grey/32/8136_2.png) [@Tinker\_Grey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tinker_Grey)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2018, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-opening-lines-in-a-song/824228/37 "2018-11-10T00:07:27Z")
Jeremiah was a bullfrog ---
**Author:** ![Tinker\_Grey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tinker_grey/32/8136_2.png) [@Tinker\_Grey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tinker_Grey)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2018, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-opening-lines-in-a-song/824228/38 "2018-11-10T00:08:54Z")
Small Change got rained on with his own thirty-eight ~ Tom Waits (Title and line) ---
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2018, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-opening-lines-in-a-song/824228/39 "2018-11-10T00:12:10Z")
“I cut my bangs with some rusty kitchen scissors.” “This Ain’t My Mama’s Broken Heart” - sung by Miranda Lambert, written by Brandy Clark, Shane McAnally, and Kacey Musgraves ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2018, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-opening-lines-in-a-song/824228/40 "2018-11-10T00:20:11Z")
> [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > All great, but the bolded lyrics are not Bob’s own though he sang them. > > One more: > > “The sweet pretty things are in bed now, of course > The city fathers, they’re trying to endorse > The reincarnation of Paul Revere’s horse > But the town has no need to be nervous” Ok, one more from Dylan, then I’ll let it go: “I married Isis on the fifth day of May But I could not hold on to her very long So I cut off my hair and I rode straight away For the wild unknown country where I could not go wrong” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-opening-lines-in-a-song/824228.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-opening-lines-in-a-song/824228.md?page=3)