# 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:** 2
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2022, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-opening-lines-in-a-song/958866/21 "2022-02-03T21:32:27Z")
“Why are men great til they gotta be great?” - Lizzo My apologies to Not All Men. ---
**Author:** ![Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/marvin_the_martian/32/2898_2.png) [@Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marvin_the_Martian)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2022, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-opening-lines-in-a-song/958866/22 "2022-02-03T21:47:03Z")
Not the opening lines on the album version, but what most people would consider the opening lines of the song: _Welcome back my friends, to the show that never ends We’re so glad you could attend, come inside, come inside_ ELP, _Karn Evil 9_ ---
**Author:** ![Paintcharge](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/paintcharge/32/7946_2.png) [@Paintcharge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paintcharge)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2022, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-opening-lines-in-a-song/958866/23 "2022-02-03T22:02:58Z")
I like Brandi Carlile’s The Story. All of these lines across my face Tell you the story of who I am So many stories of where I’ve been And how I got to where I am ---
**Author:** ![XOldiesJock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/ec9cab/32.png) [@XOldiesJock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XOldiesJock)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2022, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-opening-lines-in-a-song/958866/24 "2022-02-03T22:10:11Z")
About 30 years ago I spent some time as a Country DJ. I never became a dyed-in-the-wool fan, but I enjoyed some of the music. We played a song by George Strait called “Baby’s Gotten Good at Goodbye,” with an opening line that set you up to wondering what would come next: “What a rotten day this turned out to be.” ---
**Author:** ![Wolf333](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolf333/32/3460_2.png) [@Wolf333](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wolf333)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2022, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-opening-lines-in-a-song/958866/25 "2022-02-03T22:15:18Z")
Once upon a time, not long ago When people wore pajamas and lived life slow - Slick Rick “Children’s Story” ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2022, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-opening-lines-in-a-song/958866/26 "2022-02-03T22:17:04Z")
Dylan’s Romance in Durango: “Hot chili peppers in the blistering sun Dust on my face and my cape Me and Magdalena on the run I think this time we shall escape” Sets the story perfectly. ---
**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:** [February 3, 2022, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-opening-lines-in-a-song/958866/27 "2022-02-03T22:21:40Z")
“Free Fallin’” - Tom Petty She’s a good girl, loves her mama Loves Jesus and America, too She’s a good girl, crazy 'bout Elvis Loves horses and her boyfriend, too “All I Wanna Do” - Sheryl Crow Hit it This ain’t no disco It ain’t no country club either This is LA ---
**Author:** ![ZonexandScout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zonexandscout/32/544_2.png) [@ZonexandScout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZonexandScout)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2022, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-opening-lines-in-a-song/958866/28 "2022-02-03T22:22:03Z")
“He wore that cowboy hat to cover up his horns.” Brokenheartsville, sung by Joe Nichols. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2022, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-opening-lines-in-a-song/958866/29 "2022-02-03T22:29:27Z")
I had to check when that was released (2002), since the 1998 song [“Ten Gallon Hat”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qJ5Iv5f76G8) by Terry Scott Taylor begins with the line: “I’ll put a ten-gallon hat over my devil horns.” (Which reminds me that I like the opening line of the title track from the same album, “John Wayne”: “The mighty grunion are rising up and storming the beach.”) ---
**Author:** ![lost4life](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c4cdca/32.png) [@lost4life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lost4life)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2022, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-opening-lines-in-a-song/958866/30 "2022-02-03T22:30:05Z")
Does _Kick out the jams, motherfuckers_ count? ---
**Author:** ![dorvann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df705f/32.png) [@dorvann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dorvann)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2022, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-opening-lines-in-a-song/958866/31 "2022-02-03T22:38:13Z")
Metallica “One”: _I can’t remember anything_ _Can’t tell if this is true or dream_ _Deep down inside I feel the scream_ _This terrible silence stops me_ _Now that the war is through with me_ _I’m waking up, I cannot see_ _That there’s not much left of me_ _Nothing is real but pain now_ ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2022, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-opening-lines-in-a-song/958866/32 "2022-02-03T22:50:24Z")
_Balloons flying_ _Children sighing_ _What a day to go kite flying_ _Breezes cool_ _Away from school_ _Cowboys fighting out a duel_ _Time seems to stand quite still_ _In a child’s world it always will_ —_ **Another Morning** _, The Moody Blues _Deep down in Louisiana close to New Orleans_ _Way back up in the woods among the evergreens_ _There stood a log cabin made of earth and wood_ _Where lived a country boy named Johnny B. Goode_ _Who never ever learned to read or write so well_ _But he could play a guitar just like a-ringin’ a bell_ —_ **Johnny B. Goode** _, Chuck Berry _In May of nineteen forty-one the war had just begun_ _The Germans had the biggest ship that had the biggest guns_ _The Bismarck was the fastest ship that ever sailed the seas_ _On her deck were guns as big as steers and shells as big as trees_ _Out of the cold and foggy night came the British ship, the Hood_ _And every British seaman, he knew and understood_ _They had to sink the Bismarck, the terror of the seas_ _Stop those guns as big as steers and those shells as big as trees_ —_ **Sink the Bismarck** _, Johnny Horton ---
**Author:** ![peccavi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peccavi/32/388_2.png) [@peccavi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peccavi)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2022, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-opening-lines-in-a-song/958866/33 "2022-02-03T22:56:06Z")
Pancho & Lefty (Townes Van Zandt) _Living on the road my friend_ _Was gonna keep you free and clean_ _And now you wear your skin like iron_ _And your breath as hard as kerosene_ ---
**Author:** ![anny\_m](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/96bed5/32.png) [@anny\_m](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anny_m)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2022, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-opening-lines-in-a-song/958866/34 "2022-02-03T22:56:57Z")
Creedence Clearwater Revival, _Proud Mary_ Left a good job in the city, Workin’ for the man ev’ry night and day, And I never lost one minute of sleepin’, Worryin’ 'bout the way things might have been. Aerosmith, _Dream On_ Every time when I look in the mirror All these lines on my face getting clearer The past is gone T Bone Walker, _Stormy Monday_ They call it stormy Monday, But Tuesday’s just as bad ---
**Author:** ![Railer13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/railer13/32/9742_2.png) [@Railer13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Railer13)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2022, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-opening-lines-in-a-song/958866/35 "2022-02-03T22:57:31Z")
_Hello darkness, my old friend_ _I’ve come to talk with you again_ _Because a vision softly creeping_ _Left its seeds while I was sleeping_ _And the vision that was planted in my brain_ _Still remains_ _Within the sound of silence_ **The Sound of Silence** by Simon & Garfunkel ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2022, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-opening-lines-in-a-song/958866/36 "2022-02-03T23:03:06Z")
_Lovers in the long grass_ _Look above them_ _Only they can see_ _Where the clouds are going_ _Only to discover_ _Dust and sunlight_ _Ever make the sky so blue_ _Afternoon is hazy_ _River flowing_ _All around the sounds_ _Moving closer to them_ _Telling them the story_ _Told by Flora_ _Dreams they never knew_ —_ **Flora’s Secret** _, Enya _What should I write?_ _What can I say?_ _How can I tell you how much I miss you?_ _The weather here has been as nice as it can be_ _Although it doesn’t really matter much to me_ _For all of the fun I’ll have while you’re so far away_ _It might as well rain until September_ _I don’t need sunny skies for things I have to do_ _'Cause I stay home the whole day long and think of you_ _As far as I’m concerned each day’s a rainy day_ _So it might as well rain until September_ —_ **It Might as Well Rain until September** _, Carole King ---
**Author:** ![Yodalicious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yodalicious/32/8195_2.png) [@Yodalicious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yodalicious)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2022, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-opening-lines-in-a-song/958866/37 "2022-02-03T23:11:28Z")
**The Spirit of Radio - Rush** Begin the day with a friendly voice A companion unobtrusive Plays that song that’s so elusive And the magic music makes your morning mood ---
**Author:** ![BlankSlate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blankslate/32/80_2.png) [@BlankSlate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlankSlate)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2022, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-opening-lines-in-a-song/958866/38 "2022-02-03T23:12:41Z")
Another Springsteen, the opening to **Tunnel of Love**. _Fat man sitting on a little stool takes the money from my hand_ _While his eyes take a walk all over you_ Boom, you’re in a crumbling amusement park on the Jersey shore. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2022, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-opening-lines-in-a-song/958866/39 "2022-02-03T23:26:00Z")
_Tumble outta bed and I stumble to the kitchen_ _Pour myself a cup of ambition_ — Dolly Parton, setting the stage in 9 to 5 ---
**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, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-opening-lines-in-a-song/958866/40 "2022-02-03T23:32:59Z")
Bob Dylan, With God On Our Side: _Oh my name it ain’t nothin’_ _My age it means less_ _The country I come from_ _Is called the Midwest_ _I was taught and brought up there_ _The laws to abide_ _And that land that I live in_ _Has God on its side_ Another Dylan song, Visions Of Johanna: _Ain’t it just like the night to play tricks when you’re tryin’ to be so quiet?_ _We sit here stranded, though we’re all doin’ our best to deny it_ Sorry, I have to add a third Dylan song, Idiot Wind: _Someone’s got it in for me_ _They’re planting stories in the press_ _Whoever it is I wish they’d cut it out quick_ _But when they will I can only guess_ _They say I shot a man named Gray_ _And took his wife to Italy_ _She inherited a million bucks_ _And when she died it came to me_ _I can’t help it if I’m lucky_ [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-opening-lines-in-a-song/958866.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-opening-lines-in-a-song/958866.md?page=3)