# Worst opening line of song lyrics **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 15, 2017, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-opening-line-of-song-lyrics/798947 "2017-10-15T16:38:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2017, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-opening-line-of-song-lyrics/798947/1 "2017-10-15T16:38:58Z")
Buying groceries yesterday and the insipid strains of England Dan and John Ford Coley’s “Really Like to See You Tonight” leached out of the P.A. Their oh-so-cazsh\* opening line “Hello, yeah, it’s been a while/Not much, how about you” made me think - ok - are there _really_ any other song lyric openings that are total and complete _ass_, like that one? If you think so - have at it. \*could never figure out the diminutive for “casual”. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2017, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-opening-line-of-song-lyrics/798947/2 "2017-10-15T16:56:01Z")
I love that opening line. And the song too, actually. ETA: I hope this isn’t regarded as thread shitting. In a sort of reverse manner. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2017, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-opening-line-of-song-lyrics/798947/3 "2017-10-15T17:02:08Z")
^ I’ll back you up, **Leaffan** ; the _real_ bad line is “I’m not talkin’ ‘bout movin’ in…” had no idea for years what they were sayin’. The opening line is no worse that ELO’s, “Telephone Line.” ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2017, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-opening-line-of-song-lyrics/798947/4 "2017-10-15T17:08:37Z")
> [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](#): > > ^ I’ll back you up, **Leaffan** ; the _real_ bad line is “I’m not talkin’ ‘bout movin’ in…” had no idea for years what they were sayin’. I just listened to it, and it still sounds like “meridian”. ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2017, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-opening-line-of-song-lyrics/798947/5 "2017-10-15T17:13:31Z")
> [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](#): > > ^ I’ll back you up, **Leaffan** ; the _real_ bad line is “I’m not talkin’ ‘bout movin’ in…” had no idea for years what they were sayin’. > > The opening line is no worse that ELO’s, “Telephone Line.” Agreed, though I like the ELO song better. . ---
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2017, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-opening-line-of-song-lyrics/798947/6 "2017-10-15T17:34:05Z")
> [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](#): > > ^ I’ll back you up, **Leaffan** ; the _real_ bad line is “I’m not talkin’ ‘bout movin’ in…” had no idea for years what they were sayin’. > > The opening line is no worse that ELO’s, “Telephone Line.” Interestingly, that’s the EXACT song that leapt to my mind. Probably because of the similarity of the words in the lines. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2017, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-opening-line-of-song-lyrics/798947/7 "2017-10-15T17:38:34Z")
How about “Jeremiah was a bullfrog”? I like the song, but the first verse is kind of stupid. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2017, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-opening-line-of-song-lyrics/798947/8 "2017-10-15T17:50:41Z")
I don’t understand why there’s confusion regarding “I’m not talking 'bout moving in.” It’s been blatantly obvious to me forever. Now, those warm winds blowing the stars around is another issue. ������ ---
**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2017, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-opening-line-of-song-lyrics/798947/9 "2017-10-15T17:55:53Z")
> [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](#): > > … the _real_ bad line is “I’m not talkin’ ‘bout movin’ in”… For some reason when I was a kid I heard it through crappy PA speakers as “I’m not talkin’ 'bout religion”. Though I’m not exactly excoriating about it - the Beatles getting all quotidian with “Friiiiiii-day morning at niiiiiiiiine o’clock, as the day begins.” didn’t really smack of…something or other…to me. “Goodbye to you my trusted friend.” Terry Jacks. “Seasons in the Sun” Just a _little_ lachrymose, perhaps. > [@Leaffan](#): > > Now, those warm winds blowing the stars around is another issue. �� Indeed, the warm wind and blowing stars needed to be liquid papered out of existence. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2017, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-opening-line-of-song-lyrics/798947/10 "2017-10-15T17:57:31Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > I don’t understand why there’s confusion regarding “I’m not talking 'bout moving in.” It’s been blatantly obvious to me forever. > > Now, those warm winds blowing the stars around is another issue. �� Yeah, but you say, “…talkin’ _'boot_ movin’ in.” 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2017, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-opening-line-of-song-lyrics/798947/11 "2017-10-15T18:09:55Z")
Dang - that should be “Wednesday morning at 5 o’clock…”:smack: ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2017, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-opening-line-of-song-lyrics/798947/12 "2017-10-15T18:10:37Z")
_Anna Sun_, that shit song from that shit band… _Screen falling off the door door hanging off the hinges my Feet are still sore my back is on the fringes We tore up the walls we slept on couches We lifted this house we lifted this house_ What Crap! ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2017, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-opening-line-of-song-lyrics/798947/13 "2017-10-15T18:57:13Z")
_Love, love me do…_ [ducks and runs] ---
**Author:** ![koeeoaddi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/koeeoaddi/32/408_2.png) [@koeeoaddi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/koeeoaddi)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2017, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-opening-line-of-song-lyrics/798947/14 "2017-10-15T19:16:19Z")
_Muskrat, muskrat candlelight…_ ---
**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2017, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-opening-line-of-song-lyrics/798947/15 "2017-10-15T20:26:24Z")
“I saw her today/I saw her face” “Needles and Pins” Bit of an _in medias res_-sounding affectation for my liking. ---
**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2017, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-opening-line-of-song-lyrics/798947/16 "2017-10-15T21:32:37Z")
“We Built this City” ---
**Author:** ![ekedolphin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ekedolphin/32/10003_2.png) [@ekedolphin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ekedolphin)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2017, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-opening-line-of-song-lyrics/798947/17 "2017-10-15T21:46:04Z")
I love Styx, and will sing along to the entire _Paradise Theatre_ album, but the first words of its first song, “A.D. 1928”, are a little weird. “Tonight’s the night we’ll make history, as sure as dogs can fly…” Um, what? ---
**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2017, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-opening-line-of-song-lyrics/798947/18 "2017-10-15T21:52:40Z")
> [@ekedolphin](#): > > I love Styx, and will sing along to the entire _Paradise Theatre_ album, but the first words of its first song, “A.D. 1928”, are a little weird. > > “Tonight’s the night we’ll make history, as sure as dogs can fly…” > > Um, what? With those scofflaws, I’ll go with “Laaaaayy-deee, when you’re with me I’m smiiii-liiiiiiiiiing…” ---
**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2017, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-opening-line-of-song-lyrics/798947/19 "2017-10-15T22:06:00Z")
Not the biggest burn, but Steve Miller’s “Some people call me the Space Cowboy” from “The Joker” is annoying “look at what I’ve done” self-referencing. ---
**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2017, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-opening-line-of-song-lyrics/798947/20 "2017-10-15T22:24:18Z")
Wow - it’s coming to me in a torrent of something-given wonder… “Luh-uuuhvin yoooouuuuu, is easy 'cause you’re beautiful…” And no, it’s not just the way it’s sung (I’m doing that simply to hammer home the grossness) - it _is_ the lyrics too. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-opening-line-of-song-lyrics/798947.md?page=2)