"I leave my oasis,
and I struggle through the desert
When I know there ain’t no water out there
Set out from the farmland,
in search of rocky soil
When I know I cannot plant a flower there"
From the same song as my sig line, “The King of Futility”.
“All the snow has turned to water, Christmas time has come and gone” Souvenirs John Prine and Steve Goodman
“Big gorilla in the LA zoo snatched the glasses right off my face, stole the keys to my BMW, left me here to take his place” Warren Zevon Gorilla You’re a Desperado
“I saw her standing on her front lawn, twirling her baton”
Nebraska Bruce Springsteen
Keith
The easily offended or humorless may want to skip to the next post …
Best opening lyrics:
“It was the biggest cock you’d ever seen
But you’ve no idea where that cock has been”
(Arab Strap, “Packs of Three”)
and
“Oh the snot has caked against my pants
It has turned into crystal”
(Love, “Live And Let Live” - I think)
Both of these records are much nicer listening than these lyrics suggest 
“Fool enough to almost be it.
Cool enough to not quite see it.
Doomed.”
“Mayonaise”
The Smashing Pumpkins
I love all the TMBG lines!
Nobody yet has mentioned my favorite group, Garbage, which has some great lines:
From their first album:
“Queer”
Hey boy, take a look at me
Let me dirty up your mind
“Vow”
I can’t use what I can’t abuse
From Version 2.0, which I have been listening to for the last week:
“Temptation Waits”
I’ll tell you something I am a wolf but I like to wear sheep’s clothing
I am a bonfire I am a vampire I’m waiting for my moment
“You Look So Fine”
You look so fine
I want to break your heart
And give you mine
On a side note, I’m straight, but I am so madly in love with Shirley Manson–I’ve seen them in concert three times, and she has got the most amazing energy. WOW.
“I knew a girl named Nikki I guess you could say she was a sex fiend. Met her in a hotel lobby masturbating with a magazine.” Prince, Darling Nikki
(I am torn between thinking this line is the stupidest or the coolest line ever, but it certainly grabs my attention. God I love Prince.)
“World was on fire and no one could save me but you.” Chris Isaac, Wicked Game
“It was a stormy night, ya know the kind where the lightning strike, and I was hanging out with some of my artsy friends, oweeoweeowww.” Erykah Badu, Apple Tree
“Words are flowing out like endless rain into a paper cup/ they slither while they pass/ they slip away across the universe.” John Lennon, Across the Universe
“I was staring at the sky, just looking for a star to pray on or wish on or something like that.” Fiona Apple, Paper Bag
“Well she’s walking through the clouds with a circus mind running round/ butterflies and zebras and moonbeams and fairy tales/ all she ever talks about it riding with the wind.” Jimi Hendrix (redone by Sting, my fave), Little Wing
Geobabe, you forgot my all-time favorite TMBG song! The opening line, and only line:
“Minimum waaaaaage! Hyah!”
Beadalin said:
“Geobabe, you forgot my all-time favorite TMBG song!”
Umm, I didn’t quote any TMBG songs…I was just seconding the ones that had already been cited. I was putting in a plug for Garbage. Just wanted to clear that up, 'cuz I just hate getting blamed for something I didn’t do! 
Bruce has some of the best opening lines around. Surprised no one has mentioned the classic:
In the days we’d sweat it out on the streets of a run-away american dream
At night we’d ride to mansions of glory in suicide machines
– Bruce Springsteen “Born to Run”
Here’s another:
I’m packed and I’m holding, I’m smiling, I’m leaving
She goes then she leaves for me, say’s she leaves for me elation
whoa motivation
she comes round and she goes down on me.
– Third Eye Blind “Semi-Charmed Life”
I sit around and watch the phone but no ones calling. Call me pathetic call me what you will
– Greenday “Longview”
I can’t stand it, I know you planned it. I’m gonna set it straight, this Watergate.
You can’t see nothing when your in here, guess your crystal ball ain’t so crystal clear
I just sit back and wonder why I’ve got this f***ing thorn in my side
– Beastie Boys “Sabotage”
You say you’ve got a revolution, well you know we’re all trying to change the world.
– Beatles “Revolution”
Clearly my brain is on vacation today. I meant to write Democritus, and then scanned to make sure no one else had named Minimum Wage. Geobabe’s name was the last one I saw with TMBG by it, so I wrote that. That’s what I get for posting too quickly. Sorry.
Also I have thought of a few more:
“I change my clothes ten times
Before I take you on a date
I’m in a cold sweat, my panic it makes me late
I know you never asked for this
I know
My shots will always miss”
–The Police
“Aisha, we’ve only just met, and I think you oughta know I’m a murderer”
–Death in Vegas
Nobody has mentioned the Replacements yet? C’mon you guys!
If it’s a temporary lull
Why am I bored right out of my skull
And I’m dressin sharp and feelin dull
A dream too tired to come true
Like a rebel without a clue
And I’m looking for something to do
-The Replacements
“I’ll be you”
Ladies let me tell you about myself
I’ve got a dick for a brain and my
brain is going to sell my ass to you.
-Be Sweet, Afghan Whigs.
Lost my shape, trying to act casual
can’t stop, I might end up in the hospital
-Crosseyed and Painless, Talking Heads
What does friend mean to you?
A word so wrongfully abused.
Are you like me, confused?
-Frogs, Alice in Chains
“What is it that makes me just a little bit queasy?”
Pajamas in the daytime!!!
Afternoons and Coffeespoons—Crash Test Dummies
OK Robbabba
“God what a mess on the ladder of success” Bastards of Young.
"You Don’t wear no suit, you don’t wear no tie.Waitress in the Sky, both by the Replacements
Keith
Wow, really great lines here. Enough to send me down to the CD store. Here are some classics, IMHO
The instant image at the start of King of Pain (Sting)
“There’s a little black spot on the sun today…”
The way Steely Dan ‘Deacon Blues’ sets the stage:
“This is the day of the expanding man,
That shape is my shade, there where I used to stand,”
“Man in the mirror” (Michael Jackson) picks me right up (It was on my 5-song morning wakey-wakey tape throughout med school)
“I’m gonna make a change,
For once in my life,
It’s gonna feel real good,
Gonna make a difference,
Gonna make it right.”
For me, one of the most gut wrenching ‘Hey man, I been there’ first lines for me was “At this Moment” (Billy Vera and the Beaters)
“What did you think I would do at this moment
When you’re standing before me
With tears in your eyes…”
And for some reason, “Lives in the balance” (Jackson Brown), a song that just flew past me for a decade, now hits me like a rock - very moving (But, I hope, not prophetic)
I’ve been waiting for something to happen
For a week or a month or a year
With the blood in the ink of the headlines
And the sound of the crowd in my ear
You might ask what it takes to remember
When you know that you’ve seen it before
Where a government lies to a people
And a country is drifting to war
These three song, whose opening lines say it all,were the trilogy of my entry into the world of dating in at the teen transition (12-15). Looking back, I was a bit precocious -and darn lucky!- but at the time I considered my romantic life a constant slo-mo meltdown
[I must be getting old and nostalgic]
Sister Golden Hair (America) pretty much summed up half my life…
“Well I tried to make it Sunday,
But I got so damned depressed
That I set my sights on monday,
and i got myself undressed…”
“That it Easy” (Eagles or Jackson Brown, whichever version you prefer) summed up the other half:
“Running down the road
trying to loosen my load
I’ve got seven women on my mind
Four that want to stone me,
Two that want to own me,
One says she’s a friend of mine”
(Take it easy
Eagles or Jackson Browne;
Whichever version you prefered)
Which summed up the other half…
Put the two moods together, and you get “Part of the plan”
(Dan Fogelberg)
I have these moments
All steady and strong
I’m feeling so holy and humble;
The next thing I know
I’m all worried and weak
And I feel myself
Starting to crumble.
The meanings get lost
And the teachings get tossed
And you don’t know what you’re
Going to do next.
You wait for the sun
But it never quite comes,
Then some kind of message
Comes through to you,
Some kind of message shoots through…
Found some more:
“MMMMM, my lips hurt…MMMM…Tie me up, tie me up.” ~ Janet Jackson, Rope Burn
(So that’s why they call her Miss. Nasty)
“I’m so tired of playing, playing with this bow and arrow.” ~ Portishead, Glory Box.
(If you hear the actual song, the intro is enthralling.)
“You look like the perfect thing for the girl in need of a tourniquet.” ~Aimee Mann, Save Me
(I think that’s what she is saying. Makes sense to me.)
“Grandpa pissed his pants again,
He don’t give a damn.
Brother Billy’s got both guns drawn,
He ain’t been right since Vietnam.”
This is turning into a Zevon fest.
The 'phone don’t ring, no
And the sun refused to shine
Never thought I’d have to pay so dearly
For what was already mine
Accidentally Like a Martyr
Welcome To The Jungle
(Guns N’ Roses)
Appetite For Destruction
Welcome to the jungle
We’ve got fun ‘n’ games
We got everything you want
Honey, we know the names
We are the people that can find
Whatever you may need
If you got the money, honey
We got your disease
In the jungle
Welcome to the jungle
Watch it bring you to your
knees, knees
I wanna watch you bleed
and,
Sympathy For The Devil (Jagger/Richards)
Please allow me to introduce myself
I’m a man of wealth and taste
I’ve been around for a long long year stolen many man’s soul and faith
I was around when Jesus Christ had His moment of doubt and pain
Made damn sure that Pilate washed his hands and sealed His fate
Pleased to meet you hope you guess my name
But what’s puzzling you is the nature of my game
when i think of more i will post them