# 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:** 3
**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, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-opening-lines-in-a-song/958866/41 "2022-02-03T23:36:29Z")
You’ll Never Leave Harlan Alive (Darrell Scott) _In the deep dark hills of eastern Kentucky_ _That’s the place where I trace my bloodline_ _And it’s there I read on a hillside gravestone_ _“You’ll never leave Harlan alive”_ ---
**Author:** ![Skunkdog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c2a13f/32.png) [@Skunkdog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skunkdog)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2022, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-opening-lines-in-a-song/958866/42 "2022-02-03T23:36:46Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > 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 Came to post the exact same lyrics. Talk about vivid imagery. ---
**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, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-opening-lines-in-a-song/958866/43 "2022-02-03T23:42:57Z")
_Her hair is Harlow gold_ _Her lips a sweet surprise_ _Her hands are never cold_ _She’s got Bette Davis eyes_ _She’ll turn her music on you_ _You won’t have to think twice_ _She’s pure as New York snow_ _She got Bette Davis eyes_ _And she’ll tease you, she’ll unease you_ _All the better just to please you_ _She’s precocious, and she knows just what it_ _Takes to make a pro blush_ _She got Greta Garbo’s standoff sighs, she’s got Bette Davis eyes_ —_ **Bette Davis Eyes** _, Kim Carnes ---
**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, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-opening-lines-in-a-song/958866/44 "2022-02-03T23:46:22Z")
> [@Skunkdog](#): > > Talk about vivid imagery. Tik Tok (Ke$ha) _Wake up in the mornin’ feelin’ like P Diddy (hey, what up girl?)_ _Grab my glasses, I’m out the door, I’m gonna hit this city (let’s go)_ _Before I leave, brush my teeth with a bottle of Jack_ _‘Cause when I leave for the night, I ain’t comin’ back_ 😝 ---
**Author:** ![Akaj](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/akaj/32/145_2.png) [@Akaj](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Akaj)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2022, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-opening-lines-in-a-song/958866/45 "2022-02-03T23:59:03Z")
Plenty of Dylan already but this one wins it for me: _God said to Abraham, kill me a son_ _Abe said man, you must be puttin’ me on_ > [@kayaker](#): > > Bruce Springsteen’s _Thunder Road_ Yes, a great opening, but these lines later on might be the best he ever wrote: _There were ghosts in the eyes of all the boys you sent away_ _They haunt these dusty beach roads in the skeleton frames_ _Of burned-out Chevrolets_ ---
**Author:** ![Wilson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/96bed5/32.png) [@Wilson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wilson)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2022, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-opening-lines-in-a-song/958866/46 "2022-02-04T00:07:01Z")
At the risk of turning this in to a Bob Dylan thread… _They’re selling postcards of the hanging_ _They’re painting the passports brown_ _The beauty parlor is filled with sailors_ _The circus is in town_ from Desolation Row. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2022, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-opening-lines-in-a-song/958866/47 "2022-02-04T01:39:59Z")
_Hey, hey, Mama said the way you move Gonna make you sweat, gonna make you groove._ So much raw energy right out of the gate. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2022, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-opening-lines-in-a-song/958866/48 "2022-02-04T01:45:10Z")
_I can see her lying back in her satin dress_ _In a room where you do what you don’t confess_ Sundown - Gordon Lightfoot ---
**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 4, 2022, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-opening-lines-in-a-song/958866/49 "2022-02-04T01:49:04Z")
Hallelujah (L. Cohen) _Now I’ve heard there was a secret chord_ _That David played, and it pleased the Lord_ _But you don’t really care for music, do you?_ _It goes like this, the fourth, the fifth_ _The minor falls, the major lifts_ _The baffled king composing Hallelujah_ ---
**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 4, 2022, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-opening-lines-in-a-song/958866/50 "2022-02-04T02:00:46Z")
Year of the Cat - Al Stewart _"On a morning from a Bogart movie_ _In a country where they turn back time_ _You go strolling through the crowd like Peter Lorre_ _Contemplating a crime"_ ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2022, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-opening-lines-in-a-song/958866/51 "2022-02-04T02:00:57Z")
He was born in the summer of his twenty-seventh year Comin’ home to a place he’d never been before ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2022, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-opening-lines-in-a-song/958866/52 "2022-02-04T02:05:10Z")
My all-time favorite opening line, written by Paul Simon: “Fat Charlie the Archangel sloped into the room” It’s a little weird, it’s extremely evocative, and it makes me want to know more about Fat Charlie, and where his nickname came from. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/GbaDwh7xeJE/maxresdefault.jpg "Paul Simon - Crazy Love, Vol. II (Official Audio)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GbaDwh7xeJE) ---
**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 4, 2022, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-opening-lines-in-a-song/958866/53 "2022-02-04T02:10:46Z")
No I would not give you false hope On this strange and mournful day But the mother and child reunion Is only a motion away… For those who don’t know, > The title has its origin in a [chicken-and-egg dish](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oyakodon) called “Mother and Child Reunion” that Simon saw on a [Chinese restaurant](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_cuisine)’s menu.[[4]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mother_and_Child_Reunion#cite_note-rs72-4) The song’s lyrics were inspired by a pet dog that was run over and killed. > **[Mother and Child Reunion](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mother_and_Child_Reunion)** > > "Mother and Child Reunion" is a song by the American singer-songwriter Paul Simon. It was the lead single from his second studio album, Paul Simon (1972), released on Columbia Records. The song reached No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in March 1972. > It was, at the time, one of the few songs by a non-Jamaican musician to use prominent elements of reggae. Simon was a fan of reggae music, and he listened to artists such as Jimmy Cliff, Desmond Dekker, and Byron Lee; he wanted to go to Kingston... ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2022, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-opening-lines-in-a-song/958866/54 "2022-02-04T02:27:31Z")
“I woke up alarmed” \_\_\_Liz Phair, Fuck and Run “Well I didn’t come here to deal with a doggone thing I just came here to hear the drummer’s cymbal ring There ain’t no way you can put me down I just wanna say that hell’s my wife’s home town” \_\_\_Bob Dylan, My Wife’s Home Town “She used to work in a diner Never saw a woman look finer I used to order just to watch her float across the floor” \_\_\_Neil Young, Unknown Legend ---
**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 4, 2022, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-opening-lines-in-a-song/958866/55 "2022-02-04T02:32:58Z")
> [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](#): > > He was born in the summer of his twenty-seventh year > Comin’ home to a place he’d never been before I didn’t realize what an awesome song this was until I was waiting for a movie to start and they were piping music before the coming attractions. Are the lyrics zen or something? Enigmatic? I really listened to it because I had no choice. Very nice, and an excellent vocal performance with some great harmony at the end. Isn’t it interesting that he also sang about the mountains in West Virginia…then it seemed to be all Colorado? Mrs. L and I are the opposite. Much as we like Colorado, we gravitate to the mountains in the eastern US. [More about the song, including lyrics](https://www.wideopencountry.com/rocky-mountain-high-lyrics/) @Mean_Mr.Mustard my favorite song on that album, [You and Me](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OJWMzk7Rmkc): Open up your eyes See how life time flies Open up and let the light back in Open up your heart Let the lovin’ start Open up and let the light back in ---
**Author:** ![Dropo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ce7236/32.png) [@Dropo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dropo)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2022, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-opening-lines-in-a-song/958866/56 "2022-02-04T02:35:11Z")
Cream - “Pressed Rat and Warthog” “Pressed rat and warthog have closed down their shop. They didn’t want to; 'twas all they had got. Selling atonal apples, amplified heat, And pressed rat’s collection of doglegs and feet.” ---
**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 4, 2022, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-opening-lines-in-a-song/958866/57 "2022-02-04T02:36:44Z")
> [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](#): > > Neil Young, Yeah, Neil. Once I thought I saw you In a crowded, hazy bar Dancing on the lights From star to star ---
**Author:** ![Peanuthead](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peanuthead/32/360_2.png) [@Peanuthead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peanuthead)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2022, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-opening-lines-in-a-song/958866/58 "2022-02-04T02:38:53Z")
Tom Waits. “Mr. Siegal” I spent all my money in a Mexican whorehouse, Across the street from a catholic church, ---
**Author:** ![xenophon41](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xenophon41/32/253_2.png) [@xenophon41](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xenophon41)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2022, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-opening-lines-in-a-song/958866/59 "2022-02-04T03:00:42Z")
I got green and I got blues And every day there’s a little less difference between the two. I belly up and disappear Well, I ain’t really drownin’ 'cause I see the beach from here Goddamn Lonely Love Drive By Truckers The Dirty South One of the best lost love songs ever recorded, with possibly the best lost love song title ever written. Made me a Jason Isbell fan. ---
**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 4, 2022, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-opening-lines-in-a-song/958866/60 "2022-02-04T03:34:33Z")
“Alison”, Elvis Costello: _Oh, it’s so funny to be seeing you after so long, girl_ _And with the way you look, I understand that you are not impressed_ _But I heard you let that little friend of mine_ _Take off your party dress_ _I’m not going to get too sentimental_ _Like those other sticky valentines_ _'Cause I don’t know if you were loving somebody_ _I only know it isn’t mine_ [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-opening-lines-in-a-song/958866.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-opening-lines-in-a-song/958866.md?page=4)