# Favorite Song Opening Lines **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 27, 2000, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-song-opening-lines/16509 "2000-04-27T18:44:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Coldfire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a587f6/32.png) [@Coldfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coldfire)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2000, 11:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-song-opening-lines/16509/21 "2000-04-28T11:26:00Z")
> [@](#): > > Originally posted by Kvallulf: > **All alone now, except for the memories.** 10 pm. I feel the rain pouring down. Remind me to buy you a beer, Kvallulf 😉 ---
**Author:** ![pldennison](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9fc29f/32.png) [@pldennison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pldennison)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2000, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-song-opening-lines/16509/22 "2000-04-28T12:31:00Z")
Off the top of my head: “Your day breaks, your mind aches, you find that all her words of kindness linger on when she no longer needs you.” _For No One_, the Beatles “I could stand here and do this again; I could say it but where to begin?” _Because of You_, Letters to Cleo “Out here in the fields, I fight for my meals, I put my back into my living.” _Baba O’Riley_, the Who ---
**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:** [April 28, 2000, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-song-opening-lines/16509/23 "2000-04-28T13:28:00Z")
“The girls today in society Go for classical poetry So to win them all you much quote with ease Aesculus and Euripides.” “Folks are dumb where I come from . . .” “We’ve got sunlight on the shore We’ve got moonlight on the sea We’ve got mangoes and bananas that you pick right off a tree.” “I say ya got trouble, my friends, I say ya got lots and lots of trouble.” “I dreamed last night I got on a boat to heaven.” “The loviness of Paris seems somehow sadly gay. The glory that was Rome was of another day.” _Which is the perfect segue into the next group:_ “I have seen Mr. Apollo uproot trees with his bare hands.” “She’s broken all the super-hearts of the superheroes of the galaxy. So why does she want to mess around with me?” “Greetings. Glad to see you stuck around. Like to introduce Legs Larry Smith, drums.” “Life’s like that, isn’t it?” “Wendy Wetlips stares from her poster Ignoring the drawing adorning her smile.” “We arrived at the gig looking rough.” * * * “What we have here is failure to communicate.” – Strother Martin, anticipating the Internet. [www.sff.net/people/rothman](http://www.sff.net/people/rothman) ---
**Author:** ![Xploder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/a183cd/32.png) [@Xploder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xploder)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2000, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-song-opening-lines/16509/24 "2000-04-28T13:38:00Z")
one — “Sing a Mean Tune Kid from Chicago 3” ---
**Author:** ![Tally-Ho](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e495f1/32.png) [@Tally-Ho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tally-Ho)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2000, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-song-opening-lines/16509/25 "2000-04-28T14:28:00Z")
“You are as reliable as a painting in wave wet sand” _Wavw Wet Sand_ by Ace of Base A planet on the go It’s ok, watching the weeds grow and if you listen really hard the earth, she hums when it’s dark. _I Just Wanna See_ Smash Mouth Chrisbar * * * St. Chrisbar: Patron Saint of Newbies who have already caught on to the fact that nothing else matters, as long as your post count is high. _Courtesy of SwimmingRiddles_ ---
**Author:** ![dekayx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@dekayx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dekayx)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2000, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-song-opening-lines/16509/26 "2000-04-28T14:33:00Z")
Harry got up Dressed all in black Went down to the station And he never came back They found his clothing Scattered somewhere down the track And he won’t be down on Wall Street in the morning
 * * * I am diagonally parked in a parallel universe. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Sip\_n\_Fly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/91b2a8/32.png) [@The\_Sip\_n\_Fly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Sip_n_Fly)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2000, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-song-opening-lines/16509/27 "2000-04-28T14:35:00Z")
Royal Crown Revue - Friday the 13th It was a fine left coast morning I found my self planted outside the cap’n court tippin’ back the hops to calm my damson hands see I don’t usually play that tired up watchdog routine, lookin’ up and down the street * * * A long time ago, The Sip’n Fly invented velcro, and there was much rejoicing, then he invented cheese, and there was even more rejoicing! ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2000, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-song-opening-lines/16509/28 "2000-04-28T14:42:00Z")
A man came up to me and said I’d like to poison your mind With wrong ideas that appeal to you, though I am not unkind (TMBG, Whistling in the Dark) Hey maman, pourquoi je suis pas un garçon? (MylĂšne Farmer, Sans Contrefacon) My friend Jerry Vandergriff kissed me in home ec class Later in the afternoon some jarheads in the locker room kicked my ass (Bloodhound Gang, I Wish I Was Queer So I Could Get Chicks) Eh Mec! Ton regard oblique en rien n’est lubrique Ta maman t’a trop fessĂ© Ton gout du revers n’a rien de pervers et Ton bĂ©bĂ© n’est pas fĂąchĂ© (MylĂšne Farmer, Pourvu qu’elles soient douces) ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2000, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-song-opening-lines/16509/29 "2000-04-28T14:54:00Z")
Put on my blue suede shoes, and I boarded the plane
 Walkins in Memphis; don’t recall the singer I can see clearly now, the rain is gone
 Bright, Sunshiny Day (Four Seasons?) * * * Chaim Mattis Keller [ckeller@kozmo.com](mailto:ckeller@kozmo.com) “Sherlock Holmes once said that once you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the answer. I, however, do not like to eliminate the impossible. The impossible often has a kind of integrity to it that the merely improbable lacks.” – Douglas Adams’s Dirk Gently, Holistic Detective ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2000, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-song-opening-lines/16509/30 "2000-04-28T15:01:00Z")
Chaim– It’s Marc Cohn ---
**Author:** ![ChiefScott](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/58f4c7/32.png) [@ChiefScott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ChiefScott)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2000, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-song-opening-lines/16509/31 "2000-04-28T15:24:00Z")
Another Dead tune: “Sugar Magnolia blossoms blooming Head’s all empty and I don’t care. Saw my baby down by the river, Knew she’d have to come up soon for air.” And the Springsteen classic: "The screen door slammed, Mary’s dress waves. Like a vision she dances across the porch as the radio plays Roy Orbison singing for the lonely, Yeah, that’s me and I want you only
 * * * Guest contributor Straight Dope Science Advisory Board [My 15 minutes of fame](http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mkiwi.html) ---
**Author:** ![struuter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b9e5f3/32.png) [@struuter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/struuter)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2000, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-song-opening-lines/16509/32 "2000-04-28T15:24:00Z")
Happy, and I’m smiling Walk a mile to drink your water J. Tull ``` No, I'm never gonna do it without the fez on... Steely Dan ``` ---
**Author:** ![John\_Corrado](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a88e4f/32.png) [@John\_Corrado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Corrado)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2000, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-song-opening-lines/16509/33 "2000-04-28T15:33:00Z")
“When you attend a funeral it is sad to think that sooner’l later those goodbyes are being said for you And you may have thought it tragic Not to mention other adjec tives to think of all the weeping they will do But don’t you worry; No more ashes, nor more sack cloth And an armband made of blackcloth Will someday never more adorn a sleeve For when the bomb that drops on you Kills your friends and neighbors too There’ll be nobody left behind to grieve!” –Tom Lehrer, “We’ll All Go Together When We Go” “I was working late at night in my office When a man I had recently killed Called me up from the phone near my building So I looked out the window at him He had the same obsequious manner Which was the reason I had him killed So to calm my nerves I sang this song to him over the phone
” –They Might Be Giants, “Turn Around” * * * JMCJ “Y’know, I would invite y’all to go feltch a dead goat, but that would be abuse of a perfectly good dead goat and an insult to all those who engage in that practice for fun.” -weirddave, set to maximum flame ---
**Author:** ![TheMadHun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/53a042/32.png) [@TheMadHun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheMadHun)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2000, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-song-opening-lines/16509/34 "2000-04-28T15:54:00Z")
“In the second city of the Empire, Mother Glasgow watches all her weans, trying hard to feed her little starlings unconsciously she clips their little wings” - Mother, Glasgow, Hue and Cry (makes me think of home) Not an opening lyric but I like it: “Looked out at the ocean, tried hard to imagine, the way they felt the day they sailed from Wester Ross to Nova Scotia” Last but not least: “Time, why you punish me?” Story of my frickin life 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![drewbert](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drewbert/32/15890_2.png) [@drewbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewbert)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2000, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-song-opening-lines/16509/35 "2000-04-28T16:21:00Z")
two from REM: Looking at your watch a third time waiting in the station for a bus Going to a place that’s far, so far away and if that’s not enough Going where nobody says hello, they don’t talk to anybody they don’t know - (Don’t Go Back to) Rockville You wake up in the morning and fall out of your bed Mean cat eat parakeets and this one’s nearly dead. - Parakeet * * * “Lisa! In this house we OBEY the laws of Thermodynamics!” - Homer Simpson ---
**Author:** ![Jai\_Pey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a4c791/32.png) [@Jai\_Pey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jai_Pey)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2000, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-song-opening-lines/16509/36 "2000-04-29T05:02:00Z")
Woke up this morning, put on my slippers / Walked into the kitchen, and died. -John Prine. Oh the year was 1778 (how I wish I was in Sherbrooke now) -Stan Rogers. She gets too hungry for dinner at 8
 -Frank Sinatra. (or was it Ella??) In the chilly hours and minutes / of uncertainty, I want to be / in the warm hold of your loving mind. / To feel you all around me / to take your hand along the sand / Ah but I may as well try and catch the wind. - The Irish Descendants. Regards, Jai Pey ---
**Author:** ![Milossarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Milossarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Milossarian)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2000, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-song-opening-lines/16509/37 "2000-04-29T05:05:00Z")
Springsteen’s got a bunch of them. From “No Retreat, No Surrender”: _Well we busted outta class, Had to get away from those fools, We learned more from a three-minute record baby than we ever learned in school._ This isn’t really an opening **line** , but it still gets my adrenaline AND testosterone pumping when Robert Plant does that battle shriek at the beginning of “Immigrant Song.” Any rock song with the line “Valhalla, I am coming,” must automatically be placed among the all-time coolest. * * * Give me immortality, or give me death! ---
**Author:** ![G.B.H.Hornswoggler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c67d28/32.png) [@G.B.H.Hornswoggler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/G.B.H.Hornswoggler)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2000, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-song-opening-lines/16509/38 "2000-05-03T17:21:01Z")
Some More: “Make a hole with a gun perpendicular To the name of this town on a desktop globe Exit wound in a foreign nation Showing the home of the one this was written for.” – They Might Be Giants, “Ana Ng” “Uncle Vernon, Uncle Vernon, independent as a hog on ice He’s a big shot down there at the slaughterhouse Plays accordion for Mr. Weiss.” – Tom Waits, “Cemetery Polka” “The women all control their men With razors and with wrists” – Tom Waits, “In the Colliseum” “They say you’re stupid That you’re too young to vote They say you’ll swallow anything That they shove down your throat” – Oingo Boingo, “Grey Matter” and, of course, as has already been mentioned: ---
**Author:** ![seriousart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ebca7d/32.png) [@seriousart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/seriousart)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2000, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-song-opening-lines/16509/39 "2000-05-03T18:01:57Z")
I used to know a girl, she had two pierced nipples and a black tatoo
 -heroin girl by Everclear ---
**Author:** ![JSexton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/96bed5/32.png) [@JSexton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JSexton)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2000, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-song-opening-lines/16509/40 "2000-05-03T18:28:07Z")
“I don’t try anymore, 'cause only booze improves with age.” -Urge Overkill, View of the Rain “I am just a poor boy, though my story’s seldom told. I have squandered my resistance for a pocketful of mumbles Such are promises.” -Simon & Garfunkel, The Boxer “In every heart there is a room, A sanctuary safe and strong, To heal the woudns of lovers past Until the next one comes along.” -Billy Joel, And So It Goes “Tell me something I don’t know, something I can’t use Push the buttons, connect the goddammned dots!” Ministry, TV II [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-song-opening-lines/16509.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-song-opening-lines/16509.md?page=3)