# 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:** 2
**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 16, 2017, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-opening-line-of-song-lyrics/798947/21 "2017-10-16T01:10:05Z")
Supertramp’s “Take a look a look at my girlfriend, she’s the only one I got.” (“Logical Song”) An example of Roger Hodgson being a little twee, cute. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_Draper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Don\_Draper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_Draper)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2017, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-opening-line-of-song-lyrics/798947/22 "2017-10-16T01:18:25Z")
The line “The world is a vampire” from Bullet the Butterfly’s Wing by Smashing Pumpkins always grated on my nerves for some reason. ---
**Author:** ![It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/it_s_not_rocket_surgery/32/312_2.png) [@It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/It_s_Not_Rocket_Surgery)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2017, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-opening-line-of-song-lyrics/798947/23 "2017-10-16T01:22:25Z")
I love the \*Misplaced Childhood \*album from Marillion, but only once I get past the opening line of: “Huddled In the safety of a pseudo silk kimono wearing bracelets of smoke, naked of understanding…” Boy does that line shout “we’re fancy art-rockers!” ---
**Author:** ![installLSC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/54ee81/32.png) [@installLSC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/installLSC)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2017, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-opening-line-of-song-lyrics/798947/24 "2017-10-16T03:58:19Z")
The rare Kinks track, [When I Turn Off the Living Room Light](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ho1aZv-Blhc), is one of those “you’re funny looking but I still love you” songs. It’s a pretty good song, but the opening line is “Who cares if you’re Jewish/and your breath smells of garlic”. Even factoring in irony/sarcasm, that song nearly kills the song at the start. ---
**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 16, 2017, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-opening-line-of-song-lyrics/798947/25 "2017-10-16T04:30:41Z")
“Have you heard, about the lonesome loser…” ---
**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 16, 2017, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-opening-line-of-song-lyrics/798947/26 "2017-10-16T05:01:23Z")
> [@Don\_Draper](#): > > The line “The world is a vampire” from Bullet the Butterfly’s Wing by Smashing Pumpkins always grated on my nerves for some reason. Yeah, that’s bad! ---
**Author:** ![DooWahDiddy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9bcb4/32.png) [@DooWahDiddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DooWahDiddy)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2017, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-opening-line-of-song-lyrics/798947/27 "2017-10-16T05:04:59Z")
No conversation about horrible lyrics is complete without mentioning “MacArthur Park”. I can’t even bring myself to copy and paste it, or link to it; find it yourself, if you dare. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2017, 11:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-opening-line-of-song-lyrics/798947/28 "2017-10-16T11:26:24Z")
> [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](#): > > I just listened to it, and it still sounds like “meridian”. Yes!!! I second this. For years I thought he was saying “meridian” ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2017, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-opening-line-of-song-lyrics/798947/29 "2017-10-16T12:50:26Z")
> [@koeeoaddi](#): > > _Muskrat, muskrat candlelight…_ :eek: You stop that right now! Funny, I was just listening to “Play It All Night Long” by Warren Zevon on the way to work this morning and was impressed by the awfulness of its opening line: Grandpa pissed his pants again, he don’t give a damn… ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2017, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-opening-line-of-song-lyrics/798947/30 "2017-10-16T12:53:46Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > I second this. For years I thought he was saying “meridian” Me too. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2017, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-opening-line-of-song-lyrics/798947/31 "2017-10-16T13:46:47Z")
> [@Gatopescado](#): > > Yeah, that’s bad! I love the Pumpkins, but Billy’s lyrics often smack of bad angsty adolescent poetry. While “Bullet with Butterfly Wings” does make me slightly cringe, “Ava Adore”’s opening line is the one that really makes me want to gag: “It is you that I adore/you will always be my whore.” ---
**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:** [October 16, 2017, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-opening-line-of-song-lyrics/798947/32 "2017-10-16T13:49:55Z")
“Please lock me away and don’t allow the day here inside where I hide with my loneliness” World Without Love, written by Paul McCartney and sung by Peter and Gordon. John Lennon thought it was the worst opening line of a song every. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2017, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-opening-line-of-song-lyrics/798947/33 "2017-10-16T14:08:32Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > “Please lock me away and don’t allow the day here inside where I hide with my loneliness” > > World Without Love, written by Paul McCartney and sung by Peter and Gordon. John Lennon thought it was the worst opening line of a song every. See, that’s one of many written-out lyrics that look goofy on the page, but, when sung, actually sound quite good and natural. I think it’s actually quite a beautiful line that captures the feeling of adolescent longing for love. There’s a youthful innocence/naivete about it. ---
**Author:** ![TRC4941](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trc4941/32/6792_2.png) [@TRC4941](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TRC4941)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2017, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-opening-line-of-song-lyrics/798947/34 "2017-10-16T14:29:02Z")
> [@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. �� HAHAHA!! That was my first thought too. I thought for years they were saying - warm winds blowing the stars around. I still sing it that way! ---
**Author:** ![TRC4941](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trc4941/32/6792_2.png) [@TRC4941](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TRC4941)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2017, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-opening-line-of-song-lyrics/798947/35 "2017-10-16T14:31:21Z")
> [@DooWahDiddy](#): > > No conversation about horrible lyrics is complete without mentioning “MacArthur Park”. I can’t even bring myself to copy and paste it, or link to it; find it yourself, if you dare. Agree wholeheartedly!! UGH ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2017, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-opening-line-of-song-lyrics/798947/36 "2017-10-16T14:33:55Z")
Sorry to go 180 on you, but this thread has me unable to think of anything other than one of my fave first lines: I wish to the lord I’d never been born or died when I was young Cheery little sentiment from “I Truly Understand That You Love Another Man.” Love me them [Carolina Chocolate Drops](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pIecwgQ_Q3Q)! Sorry for the digression… ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2017, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-opening-line-of-song-lyrics/798947/37 "2017-10-16T14:37:34Z")
“I walk 47 miles of barbed wire” A bizarre opening line to a bizarre song. The singer brags about his collection of dead snakes and human skulls and then asks Arlene to take a walk with him. Nobody ever saw Arlene again. ---
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2017, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-opening-line-of-song-lyrics/798947/38 "2017-10-16T15:20:12Z")
> [@DooWahDiddy](#): > > No conversation about horrible lyrics is complete without mentioning “MacArthur Park”. I can’t even bring myself to copy and paste it, or link to it; find it yourself, if you dare. Except, as opening lines go, that one wasn’t so bad: “Spring was never waiting for us, girl;” As for England Dan and John Ford Coley, I know there are actually lyrics sites that use the misheard lyrics about the wind and the stars. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2017, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-opening-line-of-song-lyrics/798947/39 "2017-10-16T15:30:41Z")
> [@DSYoungEsq](#): > > As for England Dan and John Ford Coley, I know there are actually lyrics sites that use the misheard lyrics about the wind and the stars. 😃 I know this has been debated interminably, here and elsewhere, but does anyone have a from-the-horse’s-mouth, “that settles it once and for all” cite for what the official lyrics are? ---
**Author:** ![DrCube](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a3d4f5/32.png) [@DrCube](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrCube)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2017, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-opening-line-of-song-lyrics/798947/40 "2017-10-16T16:26:00Z")
It’s “I’m not talking 'bout millennium”, guys. He’s reassuring the woman he’s wooing that he isn’t in a crazy cult or trying to sell her on some end of the world obsession. He’s just a regular guy who wants to get laid, even if he has the nickname “England” weirdly despite being from Texas. Also, not opening lyrics to the _song_, but one of the non-Tupac rappers in “Hit 'em Up” starts out, “I’m from N-E-W Jerz, where plenty murders occurs”. So, not as many murders as New York, but he’s not some hick from Podunk either who’s only seen like, one or two murders. Dude’s got cred, even if he _is_ from N-E-W Jerz. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-opening-line-of-song-lyrics/798947.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-opening-line-of-song-lyrics/798947.md?page=3)