Songs that have great opening lines

Turn the lights down
(Way down low)
Turn up the music
(Hi as Fi can go)
All the gangs here
(Everyone you know)
Its a crazy scene
(Hey there just over your shoulder)
Get the picture?Yes
(No no no no)
Roxy Music 'Mother of Pearl'

 

I Am the Walrus.

 

They're selling postcards of the hanging...

 

Hush was the first word you were taught

 

Every night I tell myself, "I am the cosmos. I am the wind." But that won't bring you back again.

Chris Bell

 

"Don't ya want to rain dance with me?"

"Rain Dance" by the Guess Who

 

Happy lyrics from Uncle Lou...

Caroline says, as she gets up off the floor
Why is it that you beat me? it isn't any fun
- Lou Reed, "Caroline Says II"

Staring at my picture book
she looks like Mary, Queen of Scots
She seemed very regal to me
just goes to show how wrong you can be
- Lou Reed, "Sad Song"

All your two-bit psychiatrists are giving you electroshock
They said, they'd let you live at home with mom and dad instead of mental hospitals
But every time you tried to read a book, you couldn't get to page 17
'Cause you forgot where you were, so you couldn't even read
- Lou Reed, "Kill Your Sons"

Some people are into the power of power
The absolute corrupting power, that makes great men insane
While some people find their refreshment in action
The manipulation, encroachment and destruction of their inferiors
- Lou Reed, "Growing Up in Public"

Pedro lives out of the Wilshire Hotel
He looks out a window without glass
And the walls are made of cardboard, newspapers on his feet
And his father beats him 'cause he's too tired to beg
- Lou Reed, "Dirty Blvd."

How come you say you will and then you won't
you change your mind and then you say you don't
The mystery is why I play the goat
the mystery you call love
- Lou Reed, "Paranoia Key of E"

 

I pulled into Nazareth, was feelin' about half past dead
I just need some place where I can lay my head
Hey mister can you tell me where I might find a bed
He just grinned and shook my hand and no was all he said.

Robbie Robertson - The Weight

 

I smoke two joints in the morning
I smoke two joints at night
I smoke two joints in the afternoon
It makes me feel alright

The Toyes - Smoke Two Joints

 

"I don't know just where I'm going, but I'm gonna try for the kingdom if I can." - "Heroin", the Velvet Underground

"We lost a great, great man today
But outside it's just another Wednesday..."
- "Jasper", the Hooton Tennis Club

"I get up, and nothing gets me down." - "Jump", Van Halen

 

Raven hair, ruby lips
Sparks fly from her fingertips...

- Eagles, Witchy Woman

I've always loved that opener. Lyrically, the rest of the song is less than great, musically it isn't something I care much for, but those two lines strike me as near perfect.

 

Weeeeeell, have you heard the news?
There's a good rockin' tonight!

(Either Elvis or Bruce)

 

"In a town of chimpanzees I was a monkey" (Beck, "Loser")

 

"She came in through the bathroom window . . . ."

 

Jilly's on smack, and she won't be comin' back
No she won't be comin' back, for the holidays

Jilly`s on smack by Primus

 

Mother, don't you recognize your son? - Faces: "Bad 'n' Ruin" (1971)

 

They sentenced me to twenty years of boredom...

 

As I stepped out upon the handing, my heart was already down the stairs
- Elvis Costello, "Next Time Around"

I am not Jesus, but I've got the same initials
- Jarvis Cocker, Pulp's "The Dishes"

You don't have to take this crap
- Paul Weller, The Style Council's "Walls Come Tumbling Down!"

 

I got a black widow spider for mama, Lord
Got a diamond-backed rattler for pa
Well, I got me a woman down in New Orleans
Got a friend in Arkansas

Townes Van Zandt - Black Widow Blues

 

Woke up this morning
Put on my slippers
Walked in the kitchen and died

John Prine - Please Don’t Bury Me

 

This was the first thing I thought of, the strongest album opening ever for me.

I liked this suggestion too:
fafafa fafa fa fa fa...

 

Hi, I forgot your name
Whatever
My point is Hi, your hair's on fire

You're on fire - They Might Be Giants

 

"Oh,the snot has caked against my pants. It has turned into crystal." - "Live and Let Live" by Love

 

Landing. As I stepped out upon the landing.

Sigh.

 

I think my favorites are the ones from Zevon. They're weird, yet cool, just like Warren.