“Why are men great til they gotta be great?” - Lizzo
My apologies to Not All Men.
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
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
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.”
Once upon a time, not long ago
When people wore pajamas and lived life slow
- Slick Rick “Children’s Story”
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.
“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
“He wore that cowboy hat
to cover up his horns.”
Brokenheartsville, sung by Joe Nichols.
I had to check when that was released (2002), since the 1998 song “Ten Gallon Hat” 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.”)
Does Kick out the jams, motherfuckers count?
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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.
Tumble outta bed and I stumble to the kitchen
Pour myself a cup of ambition
— Dolly Parton, setting the stage in 9 to 5
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