# 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:** 10
**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:** [February 19, 2022, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-opening-lines-in-a-song/958866/181 "2022-02-19T05:58:43Z")
Another one from Black Francis/Frank Black > [@](#): > > One, Two, Three > She’s a real left winger 'cause she been down south and > Held peasants in her arms > She said “I could tell you stories that could make you cry” > "What about you? " > I said, “Me too!” > I could tell you a story that will make you cry > and she said, “Ahhh” – I’ve Been Tired ---
**Author:** ![outlierrn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/outlierrn/32/3005_2.png) [@outlierrn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/outlierrn)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2022, 8:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-opening-lines-in-a-song/958866/182 "2022-02-19T08:46:56Z")
We were standing on a mountain top, where the cactus flowers grow, I was wishing that the world would stop, when you said ‘we’d better go.’ _Gringo Honeymoon_, Robert Earl Keen. Slid out of my dreams like a baby out of the nurse’s hand onto the hard floor of day. _When You Give it Away_, Bruce Cockburn I Met a Gin Soaked Barroom Queen in Memphis. ---
**Author:** ![MeepersC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meepersc/32/12088_2.png) [@MeepersC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeepersC)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2022, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-opening-lines-in-a-song/958866/183 "2022-02-20T03:54:45Z")
_I may not always love you But as long as there are stars above you You never need to doubt it I’ll make you so sure about it God only knows what I’d be without you_ God Only Knows, **The Beach Boys** ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2022, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-opening-lines-in-a-song/958866/184 "2022-02-20T17:47:33Z")
_Just yesterday mornin’, they let me know you were gone_ _Suzanne, the plans they made put an end to you_ _I walked out this morning and I wrote down this song_ _I just can’t remember who to send it to_ [apologizes if this has been mentioned before] ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2022, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-opening-lines-in-a-song/958866/185 "2022-02-20T21:01:10Z")
> [@dirtball](#): > > “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.” On a similar note: In the day we sweat it out on the streets Of a runaway American dream At night we ride through the mansions of glory In suicide machines “Born To Run” - Bruce Springsteen ---
**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:** [February 20, 2022, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-opening-lines-in-a-song/958866/186 "2022-02-20T22:05:34Z")
Prince has a solid record for opening lines “Guess I should’ve known by the way you parked your car sideways that it wouldn’t last” (little red corvette) “In France a skinny man died of a big disease with a little name” (Sign O’ the times) ---
**Author:** ![BrickBat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac91a4/32.png) [@BrickBat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrickBat)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2022, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-opening-lines-in-a-song/958866/187 "2022-02-20T22:08:56Z")
“_Put your hands into my pocket, grab on to my rocket_” ‘Take Me’, KISS, from the ‘Rock & Roll Over’ album of 1976. ---
**Author:** ![saucywench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/85e7bf/32.png) [@saucywench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saucywench)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2022, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-opening-lines-in-a-song/958866/188 "2022-02-21T02:13:02Z")
Nibblin’ on sponge cake Watchin’ the sun bake All of those tourists covered with oil Strummin’ my six-string On my front porch swing Smell those shrimp They’re beginnin’ to boil _ **Margaritaville** _ - Jimmy Buffett All the lines are great actually. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2022, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-opening-lines-in-a-song/958866/189 "2022-02-21T03:36:24Z")
> [@Procrustus](#): > > _Just yesterday mornin’, they let me know you were gone_ > _Suzanne, the plans they made put an end to you …_ Or the version on National Lampoon’s _ **Lemmings** _ [_(with Christopher Guest as James Taylor)_ :](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GBKedT4Bp2A) Hitchin’ down the freeways of my soulful movie mind, Baby why’d you treat me so unkind? I miss your paisley curtains and your morning buttered toast, But my highway toes are thumbin’ to the coast… _Farewell New York City, with your streets that flash like strobes,_ _Farewell to Carolina, where I left my frontal lobes…_ ---
**Author:** ![Fugazi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f08c70/32.png) [@Fugazi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fugazi)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2022, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-opening-lines-in-a-song/958866/190 "2022-02-21T03:43:59Z")
Woke up this morning with a wine glass in my hand Whose wine? What wine? Where the hell did I dine? Must have been a dream I don’t believe where I’ve been Come on, let’s do it again Peter Framptom - Do You Feel Like We Do ---
**Author:** ![moes\_lotion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ba0ec/32.png) [@moes\_lotion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/moes_lotion)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2022, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-opening-lines-in-a-song/958866/191 "2022-02-21T04:02:31Z")
It was three in the morning when she took me apart She wrecked the furniture, she wrecked my heart She danced on my head like Arthur Murray The scars ain’t never going to mend in a hurry Tear Stained Letter - Richard Thompson ---
**Author:** ![moes\_lotion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ba0ec/32.png) [@moes\_lotion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/moes_lotion)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2022, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-opening-lines-in-a-song/958866/192 "2022-02-21T04:23:25Z")
In the dark who can see his face? In the dark who can reach him? He hides like a child He hides like a child Keeps his finger on the trigger He can’t stand the day Shoot out the lights Shoot out the lights Shoot Out The Lights - Richard and Linda Thompson ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2022, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-opening-lines-in-a-song/958866/193 "2022-02-21T04:35:07Z")
The silicone chip inside her head gets switched to overload ---
**Author:** ![california\_jobcase](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@california\_jobcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/california_jobcase)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2022, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-opening-lines-in-a-song/958866/194 "2022-02-21T04:41:02Z")
She shadows me in the mirror She never leaves on the light And some things that I say to her They just don’t seem to bite It’s all mixed up The Cars, _All Mixed Up_ ---
**Author:** ![Askance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askance/32/8281_2.png) [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2022, 5:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-opening-lines-in-a-song/958866/195 "2022-02-21T05:55:26Z")
Really don’t mind if you sit this one out. My words but a whisper, your deafness a SHOUT. I may make you feel, but I can’t make you think. Your sperm’s in the gutter, your love’s in the sink. So you ride yourselves over the fields and You make all your animal deals and Your wise men don’t know how it feels To be thick as a brick. _Thick as a Brick, Part 1_ **Jethro Tull** ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2022, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-opening-lines-in-a-song/958866/196 "2022-02-21T16:08:21Z")
Just put on some vinyl… (Music To Browse Dat Dope By). First song came on, and I thought “Would this have been so popular when I was in school, if it weren’t for that first line?” _When I think back on all the crap I learned in high school,_ _it’s a wonder I can think at all…_ ---
**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:** [February 21, 2022, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-opening-lines-in-a-song/958866/197 "2022-02-21T17:11:09Z")
Sure, quite NSFW [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/nlavtCtKxao/maxresdefault.jpg "Hamburger Martyr") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nlavtCtKxao) ---
**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:** [February 22, 2022, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-opening-lines-in-a-song/958866/198 "2022-02-22T04:16:42Z")
More of the Surfers’ better openers. > [@](#): > > YOUR PAIN MAKES ME HUNGRY! > I AM HUNGRY FOR PAIN! > YOUR DEATH IS MINE, MOTHERFUCKER! > DON’T EVEN TRY TO ESCAPE! > BECAUSE YOU ARE MINE > YOU ARE ALL MINE! > YOU ARE ALL IN MY GRASP! > I WILL PEEL YOU LIKE A POTATO! > (unintelligible) > OH SHIT, YOU’RE GONNA DIE!" - The Revenge Of Anus Presley > [@](#): > > I don’t give a fuck about the FBI > I don’t give a fuck about the CIA > I don’t give a fuck about the (unintelligible) > I don’t give a fuck about anything -Goofy’s Condern (it pretty much ends up being a love song) ---
**Author:** ![saucywench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/85e7bf/32.png) [@saucywench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saucywench)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2022, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-opening-lines-in-a-song/958866/199 "2022-02-22T16:01:41Z")
Wastin’ away again in _ **Margaritaville** _ Today is National Margarita Day (2-22-22). It synched up with Taco Tuesday here. ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2022, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-opening-lines-in-a-song/958866/200 "2022-02-22T19:46:19Z")
> Dropkick me, Jesus, through the goalposts of life > End over end, neither left nor the right > Straight through the heart of them righteous uprights > Dropkick me, Jesus, through the goalposts of life. –Bobby Bare [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-opening-lines-in-a-song/958866.md?page=9) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-opening-lines-in-a-song/958866.md?page=11)