# 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:** 6
**Author:** ![P-man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/p-man/32/3606_2.png) [@P-man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/P-man)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2022, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-opening-lines-in-a-song/958866/101 "2022-02-05T19:44:30Z")
I’ll raise you a The bigger the cushion, the sweeter the pushin’ That’s what I said. The looser the waistband, the deeper the quicksand Or so I have read ---
**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 5, 2022, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-opening-lines-in-a-song/958866/102 "2022-02-05T19:47:00Z")
We’ve been doing this longer than you’ve been alive. Propelled by some mysterious drive. And they still let me do it as weird as that seems. And I do it most nights and then again in my dreams. Infinite hallways in giant hotels. Dressing room looks 'bout as good as it smells. ---
**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 5, 2022, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-opening-lines-in-a-song/958866/103 "2022-02-05T20:29:24Z")
_The concrete broke your fall…_ Why Not Smile - REM ---
**Author:** ![NDP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ndp/32/55_2.png) [@NDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NDP)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2022, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-opening-lines-in-a-song/958866/104 "2022-02-05T23:05:39Z")
So far, no David Bowie openings. Let me fix that. _[This ain’t rock’n’roll, this is genocide]_ _As they pulled you out of the oxygen tent_ _You asked for the latest party_ _With your silicone hump and your ten inch stump_ _Dressed like a priest you was_ _Todd Browning’s freak you was_ “Diamond Dogs” _Pushing through the market square_ _So many mothers sighing_ _News had just come over_ \*We had five years left to cry in \* _News guy wept and told us_ \*Earth was really dying \* _Cried so much his face was wet_ _Then I knew he was not lying_ “Five Years” _I’m an alligator_ _I’m a mama-papa comin’ for you_ _I’m the space invader_ _I’ll be a rock ‘n’ rollin’ bitch for you_ _Keep your mouth shut_ _You’re squawking like a pink monkey bird_ _And I’m bustin’ up my brains for the words_ “Moonage Daydream” ---
**Author:** ![veryfrank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/87869e/32.png) [@veryfrank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/veryfrank)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2022, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-opening-lines-in-a-song/958866/105 "2022-02-05T23:19:05Z")
_Let’s put our heads together and start a new country up_ _Our father’s father’s father tried, erased the parts he didn’t like_ _Let’s try to fill it in, bank the quarry river, swim_ _We knee-skinned it you and me, we knee-skinned that river red_ R.E.M., “Cuyahoga” _If you can play on the fiddle_ _How’s about a British jig and reel?_ _Speaking King’s English in quotation_ _As railhead towns feel the steel mills rust_ _Water froze_ _In the generation_ _Clear as winter ice_ _This is your paradise_ The Clash, “Straight to Hell” _Lightning never strikes anymore but I can’t make it rain_ _Because it would only lightning again_ Roky Erickson, “You Don’t Love Me Yet” ---
**Author:** ![Dropo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ce7236/32.png) [@Dropo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dropo)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2022, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-opening-lines-in-a-song/958866/106 "2022-02-06T00:14:04Z")
Roky Erickson - “Creature with the Atom Brain” “Creature with the atom brain Creature with the atom brain Why is he acting so strange Do you think he’s one of them?” ---
**Author:** ![Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/prof.pepperwinkle/32/13627_2.png) [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2022, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-opening-lines-in-a-song/958866/107 "2022-02-06T00:33:40Z")
_Nothing Compares 2 U_ (by Prince, performed by Sinead O’Connor) _It’s been seven hours and fourteen days Since you’ve been away_ ---
**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 6, 2022, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-opening-lines-in-a-song/958866/108 "2022-02-06T01:03:46Z")
Murder ballads tend to have the best opening and closing lines. To bookend the closing lines post I made: Kate McCannon - Colter Wall _Well the raven is a wicked bird_ _His wings are black as sin_ _And he floats outside my prison window_ _Mocking those within_ Another recent murder ballad Rosemary - Sierra Ferrell _way back on the mountain in our deeply forest hill_ _where me and my true love, we said “i do”_ _but nothing lasts forever in today’s world though it seems_ _when there’s so much evil, evil_ ---
**Author:** ![Chez\_Guevara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/aeb1de/32.png) [@Chez\_Guevara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chez_Guevara)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2022, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-opening-lines-in-a-song/958866/109 "2022-02-06T04:30:13Z")
This band’s music is fertile ground for such a thread. ‘No light fantastic ever crosses my mind That meditation stuff can make you go blind Just crank that volume to the point of pain Why waste good music on a brain.’ There’s plenty more where that came from. ---
**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 6, 2022, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-opening-lines-in-a-song/958866/110 "2022-02-06T04:30:27Z")
_All God’s children need travelling shoes_ _Drive your problems from here_ _All good people read good books_ _Now your conscience is clear_ _I hear you talk girl_ _Now your conscience is clear_ _In the morning when I wipe my brow_ _Wipe the miles away_ _I like to think I can be so willed_ _And never do what you say_ _I’ll never hear you_ _And never do what you say_ —_ **Twist in My Sobriety** _, Tanita Tikaram ---
**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 6, 2022, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-opening-lines-in-a-song/958866/111 "2022-02-06T04:47:52Z")
> [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](#): > > _It’s been seven hours and fourteen days > Since you’ve been away_ That didn’t sound quite right. _It’s been seven hours and fifteen days_ _Since you took your love away_ ---
**Author:** ![Galactus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/galactus/32/3581_2.png) [@Galactus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Galactus)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2022, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-opening-lines-in-a-song/958866/112 "2022-02-06T05:27:28Z")
All aboard Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha Ay, ay, ay, ay, ay, ay, ay Crazy, but that’s how it goes Millions of people living as foes Maybe it’s not too late To learn how to love And forget how to hate -Ozzy ---
**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 6, 2022, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-opening-lines-in-a-song/958866/113 "2022-02-06T12:30:36Z")
Looks like it’s time for more Dylan: _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_ **\_\_\_Love Minus Zero / No Limit** _The guilty undertaker sighs_ _The lonesome organ grinder cries_ _The silver saxophones say I should refuse you_ _The cracked bells and washed-out horns_ _Blow into my face with scorn_ _But it’s not that way_ _I wasn’t born to lose you_ **\_\_\_I Want You** _Your breath is sweet_ _Your eyes are like two jewels in the sky_ _Your back is straight your hair is smooth_ _On the pillow where you lie_ _But I don’t sense affection_ _No gratitude or love_ _Your loyalty is not to me_ _But to the stars above_ **\_\_\_One More Cup of Coffee** ---
**Author:** ![saucywench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/85e7bf/32.png) [@saucywench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saucywench)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2022, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-opening-lines-in-a-song/958866/114 "2022-02-06T15:37:42Z")
This one really paints a picture… With a purposeful grimace and a terrible sound He pulls the spitting high tension wires down Helpless people on subway trains Scream bug-eyed as he looks in on them He picks up a bus and he throws it back down As he wades through the buildings toward the center of town Oh no, they say, he’s got to go Go go Godzilla, yeah Oh no, there goes Tokyo Go go Godzilla, yeah _ **Godzilla** _ - Blue Öyster Cult ---
**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 6, 2022, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-opening-lines-in-a-song/958866/115 "2022-02-06T15:44:31Z")
> [@saucywench](#): > > This one really paints a picture… _ **“JEREMIAH . . . WAS A BULLFROG!”** _ — sung out with 100% sincerity ---
**Author:** ![veryfrank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/87869e/32.png) [@veryfrank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/veryfrank)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2022, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-opening-lines-in-a-song/958866/116 "2022-02-06T15:47:56Z")
_Ah the man she wanted all her life was hanging by a thread_ _"I never even knew how much I wanted you, " she said._ _His muscles they were numbered and his style was obsolete._ _“O baby, I have come too late.” She knelt beside his feet._ _"I’ll never see a face like yours in years of men to come_ _I’ll never see such arms again in wrestling or in love."_ _And all his virtues burning in the smoky Holocaust_ _She took unto herself most everything her lover lost._ Leonad Cohen, “Death of a Ladies’ Man” ---
**Author:** ![saucywench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/85e7bf/32.png) [@saucywench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saucywench)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2022, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-opening-lines-in-a-song/958866/117 "2022-02-06T15:48:35Z")
Are you sure? Maybe you just liked drinking his wine. ---
**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 6, 2022, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-opening-lines-in-a-song/958866/118 "2022-02-06T16:40:07Z")
Well, he always had some mighty fine wine. ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2022, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-opening-lines-in-a-song/958866/119 "2022-02-06T16:50:55Z")
**Patti Smith** (sorta) did a cover of _Gloria_ by Van Morrison; she kept the chorus lyrics, but changed the rest. I always liked her opening line: > Jesus died for somebody’s sins but not mine ---
**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 6, 2022, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-opening-lines-in-a-song/958866/120 "2022-02-06T22:04:17Z")
Sittin here wishin on the cement floor Wishin that I had something you wore “Cactus” by Pixies [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-opening-lines-in-a-song/958866.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-opening-lines-in-a-song/958866.md?page=7)