# Best opening lines in a song **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** music\ **Created:** [February 3, 2022, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-opening-lines-in-a-song/958866 "2022-02-03T18:45:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2022, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-opening-lines-in-a-song/958866/1 "2022-02-03T18:45:18Z")
What do you consider great opening lines in a song? I’d like to limit this to opening lines, not somewhere in it or the chorus. I thought of this because I heard ‘Sunday Morning Coming Down’ this morning. _“Well, 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”_ Really sets the tone for this song. ---
**Author:** ![lobotomyboy63](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobotomyboy63/32/2900_2.png) [@lobotomyboy63](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lobotomyboy63)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2022, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-opening-lines-in-a-song/958866/2 "2022-02-03T18:51:47Z")
_In the mornin’ don’t say you love me 'cause I’ll only kick you out of the door_ really sets up You won’t need too much persuadin’ I don’t mean to sound degradin’ But with a face like that you got nothin’ to laugh about [Stay with Me](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f514cAZucCg) ---
**Author:** ![Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/half_man_half_wit/32/21766_2.png) [@Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Half_Man_Half_Wit)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2022, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-opening-lines-in-a-song/958866/3 "2022-02-03T18:52:38Z")
I always liked the beginning of _[We Came Along This Road](https://youtu.be/PHXkTkqRd9g)_ by Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds: _I left by the back door With my wife’s lover’s smoking gun_ Sorta tells a whole story right there in two lines. ---
**Author:** ![dirtball](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dirtball/32/18772_2.png) [@dirtball](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dirtball)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2022, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-opening-lines-in-a-song/958866/4 "2022-02-03T18:56:13Z")
“Born to Be Wild” comes to mind immediately: Get your motor running Head out on the highway Looking for adventure In whatever comes our way Draws me right in, although I think the best lines in the song, and a strong contender for best in all of rock and roll, are “Fire all of your guns at once and explode into space.” ---
**Author:** ![Author\_Balk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Author\_Balk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Author_Balk)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2022, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-opening-lines-in-a-song/958866/5 "2022-02-03T18:59:04Z")
Somewhere over the rainbow way up high There’s a land that I heard of once in a lullaby ---
**Author:** ![Charlie\_Tan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/charlie_tan/32/12582_2.png) [@Charlie\_Tan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Tan)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2022, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-opening-lines-in-a-song/958866/6 "2022-02-03T19:00:08Z")
Peter Gabriel - Inrruder (on “Melt”) I know something about Opening windows and doors I know how to move quietly To creep across creaky wooden floors ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2022, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-opening-lines-in-a-song/958866/7 "2022-02-03T19:05:27Z")
Springsteen, [Blinded by the Light](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uozMTmEjxHc). The first lines on the first song of his first album: Madman drummers bummers indians in the summer with a teenage diplomat In the dumps with the mumps as the adolescent pumps his way into his hat ---
**Author:** ![lobotomyboy63](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobotomyboy63/32/2900_2.png) [@lobotomyboy63](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lobotomyboy63)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2022, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-opening-lines-in-a-song/958866/8 "2022-02-03T19:12:25Z")
> [@dirtball](#): > > Draws me right in, although I think the best lines in the song, and a strong contender for best in all of rock and roll, are “Fire all of your guns at once and explode into space.” I’ve always thought that that song is like distilled sex. I think it’s because of the parts where the lead guitar is snarling and wailing while the singer sings, beginning at “Yeah darlin’ gonna make it happen” etc. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2022, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-opening-lines-in-a-song/958866/9 "2022-02-03T19:25:54Z")
Bruce Springsteen’s _Thunder Road_ begins: > The screen door slams, Mary’s dress waves > Like a vision, she dances across the porch as the radio plays I can imagine exactly what Mary looks like, the kind of dress she’s wearing, the fact that she’s barefoot, and her twirly dance steps. @Lucas_Jackson: yeah, Sunday Morning Coming Down opens perfectly as well. ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2022, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-opening-lines-in-a-song/958866/10 "2022-02-03T19:26:16Z")
Styx, “Renegade” > Oh,Mama, I’m in fear for my life from the long arm of the law. > Lawman has put an end to my running, and I’m so far from my home. > Oh, Mama, I can hear you a-crying, you’re so scared and all alone. > Hangman is coming down from the gallows, and I don’t have very long. ---
**Author:** ![dirtball](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dirtball/32/18772_2.png) [@dirtball](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dirtball)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2022, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-opening-lines-in-a-song/958866/11 "2022-02-03T19:26:24Z")
All in all, one of my favorite songs. “Be free!” ---
**Author:** ![whitetho](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whitetho/32/1059_2.png) [@whitetho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whitetho)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2022, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-opening-lines-in-a-song/958866/12 "2022-02-03T19:34:46Z")
“Rock and Roll Dreams Come Through” by Jim Steinman: _You can’t run away forever But there’s nothing wrong with getting a good head start_ ---
**Author:** ![Chad\_Sudan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chad_sudan/32/4509_2.png) [@Chad\_Sudan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chad_Sudan)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2022, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-opening-lines-in-a-song/958866/13 "2022-02-03T19:45:45Z")
He left no time to regret Kept his dick wet With his same old safe bet – Amy Winehouse, [“Back to Black”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TJAfLE39ZZ8) (2007) ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2022, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-opening-lines-in-a-song/958866/14 "2022-02-03T19:51:41Z")
Tom Waits song _Tom Traubert’s Blues (Four Sheets to the Wind in Copenhagen)_ (often mistakenly called _Waltzing Mathilda_) opens beautifully: > Wasted and wounded, it ain’t what the moon did, I’ve got what I paid for now > See you tomorrow, hey Frank, can I borrow a couple of bucks from you > To go waltzing Mathilda, waltzing Mathilda, > You’ll go waltzing Mathilda with me You know right from the get go that old Tom is taking you somewhere interesting. ---
**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:** [February 3, 2022, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-opening-lines-in-a-song/958866/15 "2022-02-03T20:29:59Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > Springsteen, [Blinded by the Light](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uozMTmEjxHc). > > The first lines on the first song of his first album: > > Madman drummers bummers indians in the summer with a teenage diplomat > In the dumps with the mumps as the adolescent pumps his way into his hat The first lines of Elvis Costello’s first song of his 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_ His wit and everything else he’s known for came out fully developed. ---
**Author:** ![mixdenny](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mixdenny/32/2962_2.png) [@mixdenny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mixdenny)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2022, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-opening-lines-in-a-song/958866/16 "2022-02-03T20:56:28Z")
McCartney’s “Band on the Run”. It’s not really the opening line but the way the song is played it’s what I think of. Slow music, “Stuck inside these four walls…” Then a bit up tempo, “If I ever get out of here…” Then dramatic power chords and the song shifts into high gear: "Well, the rain exploded with a mighty crash As we fell into the sun And the first one said to the second one there “I hope you’re having fun, band on the run…” ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2022, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-opening-lines-in-a-song/958866/17 "2022-02-03T21:00:08Z")
With a lot of great intros, it’s not the lines, but the delivery. Consider Pink Floyd’s “Comfortably Numb”. > Hello . . . > Is there anybody in there? > Just nod if you can hear me . . . > Is there anyone at home? By themselves, the lyrics are pretty prosaic. But it’s the tune, and the tone, and the echoes, and the instruments that grab your attention. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2022, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-opening-lines-in-a-song/958866/18 "2022-02-03T21:05:04Z")
I was just listening to [Colin Hay](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GYq1Ul1ADKE) doing a cover. “Dirty old river, must you keep rolling, flowing into the night.” ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_McQwark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4da419/32.png) [@Steve\_McQwark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_McQwark)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2022, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-opening-lines-in-a-song/958866/19 "2022-02-03T21:22:54Z")
Brooks and Dunn, “That ain’t no way to go” Lipstick letter 'cross the mirror this morning Said good-bye baby, she left without warning ---
**Author:** ![penultima\_thule](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penultima_thule/32/3833_2.png) [@penultima\_thule](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/penultima_thule)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2022, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-opening-lines-in-a-song/958866/20 "2022-02-03T21:27:50Z")
[Marseille](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CPkanDMMiwc) by The Angels _"Bought me a box of French cigars_ _Bought me a black beret_ _Get my French from a girl next door_ _Teaching me night and day"_ [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-opening-lines-in-a-song/958866.md?page=2)