As an aside, I just got my first turntable in thirty years, right about Thanksgiving. so my first LP was Charlie Brown’s Christmas… and the second was Year of the Cat.
On The Border
The fishing boats go out across the evening water
Smuggling guns and arms across the Spanish border
The wind whips up the waves so loud
The ghost moon sails among the clouds
Turns the rifles into silver on the border
On my wall the colours of the maps are running
From Africa the winds they talk of changes coming
The torches flare up in the night
The hand that sets the farms alight
Has spread the word to those who’re waiting on the border
Before the phone hits the receiver You’re halfway to the door The voice said 'get out while you can There’s just ten minutes, nothing more’
Time only for the essentials Better gather them and run The false name inside the passport The gold bars and the gun
And once again they’ve come out of the past And though your mind is cool your heart is beating fast You’ve been through it all before Each time you wish a little more that you could ask
What do you want from me? What do you need from me? There’s no rest for the running man Why can’t you let him be?’
When I was young, it seemed that life was so wonderful
A miracle, oh it was beautiful, magical
And all the birds in the trees, well they’d be singing so happily
Oh joyfully, playfully watching me
But then they send me away to teach me how to be sensible
Logical, oh responsible, practical
For a guy who seemed to write his lyrics out of necessity (after all, you’re here for the sonic assault), Steve Albini seemed to have the wisdom to make his first verse pretty memorable. One of the memorable, less potentially controversial ones is from Cables
David Yow is another unconventional songwriter/singer who also has some great intro lines. Scratch Acid’s Flying Houses is a good example. It’s about tornadoes, and it gets caught in my head.
Oh, and well, no matter the subject matter, the Butthole Surfers had no shortage of great opening lines. I mean, who can forget classics such as Sweat Loaf
Or, Boiled Dove
Again, you’re really here more for the sonic assault than a story song (though they do their own version of that, the second one has a kind of a story), but those are some opening lines that can grab ya.
My friend assures me, “It’s all or nothing” I am not worried, I am not overly concerned My friend implores me, "For one time only make an exception" I am not worried Wrap her up in a package of lies Send her off to a coconut island
It was Christmas Eve babe In the drunk tank An old man said to me, won’t see another one And then he sang a song The Rare Old Mountain Dew I turned my face away And dreamed about you
“The boy ran away to the city from his home at harvest time
They were Scots of the Riverina, and to run from home was a crime
The old man burned his letters, the first and last he burned
And he scratched his name from the Bible when the old girl’s back was turned.”
Scots of the Riverina - John Schumann And The Vagabond Crew (written by Henry Lawson)
An ex-girlfriend of mine was attending a fund raiser for her college’s drama department, and Mr. Peppermint was a booster for that department. He was at the party, wearing his outfit. One of the persons working the event approached him with a tray of drinks and asked him if he’d like one. He responded:
“Why, yes! I’d like a drink. And you know what that means: when Mr. Peppermint drinks, everybody drinks!”
I think Gibby is a bit like his dad was, just fewer puppets.
Caught between the twisted stars the plotted lines the faulty map that brought Columbus to New York Betwixt between the east and west he calls on her wearing a leather vest the earth squeals and shudders to a halt A diamond crucifix in his ear is used to help ward off the fear that he has left his soul in someone’s rented car Inside his pants he hides a mop to clean the mess that he has dropped into the life of lithesome Juliette Bell.
Lou Reed, “Romeo Had Juliette”
