# Best opening lines (song edition) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 8, 2010, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-opening-lines-song-edition/559930 "2010-11-08T17:29:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Cuckoorex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ad7895/32.png) [@Cuckoorex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cuckoorex)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2010, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-opening-lines-song-edition/559930/1 "2010-11-08T17:29:06Z")
The title says it all; list your favorites! “I was born in a crossfire hurricane.” “The world is a vampire.” “Born down in a dead man’s town, the first hit I took was when I hit the ground,” “I’m not aware of too many things; I know what I know, if you know what I mean.” “We’re both dirty baby, that’s just the way it goes, you breathe deep when it comes to you and hold tight when it blows.” ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2010, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-opening-lines-song-edition/559930/2 "2010-11-08T17:36:36Z")
_If I leave here tomorrow, would you still remember me?_– **Free Bird** - Mama told me when I was young Come sit beside me, my only son And listen closely to what I say And if you do this it’ll help you some sunny day\*– **Simple Man** _Busted flat in Baton Rouge, waiting for a train And I’s feeling nearly as faded as my jeans._– **Me & Bobby McGee** ---
**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:** [November 8, 2010, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-opening-lines-song-edition/559930/3 "2010-11-08T17:36:45Z")
“Bobby’s in the basement, mixin’ up the medicine. . .” \ "Everybody’s gone away; said they’re moving to L.A. . . " “Hit it! This ain’t no disco. . .” “Want some whiskey in your water. Sugar in your tea. What’s all these crazy questions they askin’ me?” ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2010, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-opening-lines-song-edition/559930/4 "2010-11-08T17:42:26Z")
_A long, long time ago… I can still remember How that music used to make me smile._– **American Pie** _The legend lives on from the Chippewa on down Of the big lake they call Gitche Gumee_- **The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald** _It was the third of June, another sleepy, dusty Delta day…_– **Ode to Billie Joe** ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2010, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-opening-lines-song-edition/559930/5 "2010-11-08T18:05:18Z")
Jeremiah was a bullfrog! Was a good friend of mine. Open if you dare. 😃 It’s a world of laughter A world of tears It’s a world of hopes And a world of fears ---
**Author:** ![Alpha\_Twit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alpha_twit/32/265_2.png) [@Alpha\_Twit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alpha_Twit)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2010, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-opening-lines-song-edition/559930/6 "2010-11-08T18:10:14Z")
_I’ve got a mind to give up living, And go shopping instead I’ve got a mind to give up living, And go shopping instead Pick me up a tombstone, And be pronounced dead_ ---
**Author:** ![Gangster\_Octopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a8b319/32.png) [@Gangster\_Octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gangster_Octopus)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2010, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-opening-lines-song-edition/559930/7 "2010-11-08T18:13:51Z")
Sweetness, sweetness I was only joking When I said I’d like to smash every tooth In your head ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2010, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-opening-lines-song-edition/559930/8 "2010-11-08T18:17:02Z")
There is a house in New Orleans they call the Rising Son And it’s been the ruin of many a poor boy. And God, I know I’m one. ---
**Author:** ![BobArrgh](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobarrgh/32/2881_2.png) [@BobArrgh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobArrgh)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2010, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-opening-lines-song-edition/559930/9 "2010-11-08T18:20:01Z")
I absolutely love the word picture Neil Diamond paints in the first verse of “I Am, I Said”: L.A.‘s fine, the sun shines most the time And the feeling is laid back Palm trees grow, and rents are low But you know I keep thinkin’ about Making my way back Well I’m New York City born and raised But nowadays, I’m lost between two shores L.A.'s fine, but it ain’t home New York’s home, but it ain’t mine no more ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2010, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-opening-lines-song-edition/559930/10 "2010-11-08T18:24:02Z")
Sitting in the morning sun, I’ll be sitting when the evening vomes. Watching the ships rolll in, then I’ll watch them roll away again. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2010, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-opening-lines-song-edition/559930/11 "2010-11-08T18:32:13Z")
“I met her in a club down in old Soho where they drink champagne and it tastes just like Coca-Cola.” ---
**Author:** ![zoog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7ea924/32.png) [@zoog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoog)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2010, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-opening-lines-song-edition/559930/12 "2010-11-08T18:39:58Z")
_I’m sitting on the toilet with my sunglasses on wondering what you are up to_ John Hiatt - Ethylene ---
**Author:** ![Promethea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Promethea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Promethea)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2010, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-opening-lines-song-edition/559930/13 "2010-11-08T18:41:53Z")
_I dream of occasional fanzine mentions, I’ve been to one too many David Lynch conventions._ Half Man Half Biscuit, Aad3DCD \*You’ve been told that this won’t do. They put me in the picture but the film turned blue, a glimpse of you, turning the town red. \* Elvis Costello, Turning The Town Red or _With a handful of backhanders and a bevy of beauty, You’re going off limits Going off duty, Going off the rails, Going off with booty._ Elvis Costello - Clubland. Actually, most Costello tracks have fantastic opening lines. ---
**Author:** ![Huerta88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/82dd89/32.png) [@Huerta88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Huerta88)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2010, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-opening-lines-song-edition/559930/14 "2010-11-08T18:45:48Z")
I backed my car into a cop car the other day He just drove off sometimes life’s okay. Modest Mouse, _Float On_ ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2010, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-opening-lines-song-edition/559930/15 "2010-11-08T18:50:45Z")
Bye-bye, love. Bye-bye, happiness. ---
**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:** [November 8, 2010, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-opening-lines-song-edition/559930/16 "2010-11-08T18:58:21Z")
“I am the god of hellfire!” - Arthur Brown ---
**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:** [November 8, 2010, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-opening-lines-song-edition/559930/17 "2010-11-08T19:01:37Z")
“It’s getting to the point where I’m no fun anymore” - Crosby, Stills & Nash ---
**Author:** ![Wheelz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wheelz/32/5718_2.png) [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2010, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-opening-lines-song-edition/559930/18 "2010-11-08T19:06:22Z")
“I know you want to leave me, but I refuse to let you go” – The Temptations, _Ain’t Too Proud to Beg_ “Scarecrow on a wooden cross, blackbird in the barn; 400 empty acres that used to be my farm” –John Mellencamp, _Rain on the Scarecrow_ “Once upon a time, you dressed so fine, threw the bums a dime in your prime, didn’t you?” –Bob Dylan, _Like a Rolling Stone_ ---
**Author:** ![Wargamer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/df705f/32.png) [@Wargamer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wargamer)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2010, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-opening-lines-song-edition/559930/19 "2010-11-08T19:45:03Z")
“I saw her today at a reception, a glass of wine in her hand…” The Rolling Stones _You Can’t Always Get What You Want_ ---
**Author:** ![Jas09](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d07c76/32.png) [@Jas09](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jas09)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2010, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-opening-lines-song-edition/559930/20 "2010-11-08T19:51:53Z")
I am an American aquarium drinker, I assassin down the avenue ~I Am Trying to Break Your Heart, Wilco [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-opening-lines-song-edition/559930.md?page=2)