Greatest opening lines of a song

Come in here, dear boy, have a cigar.
You're gonna go far, you're gonna fly high,
You're never gonna die, you're gonna make it if you try; they're gonna love you

 

Well, I just got into town about an hour ago
Took a look around, see which way the wind blow
Where the little girls in their Hollywood bungalows
Are you a lucky little lady in the City of Light
Or just another lost angel?
City of Night, City of Night,
City of Night, City of Night, woo, c'mon

 

"Finished with my woman 'cause she couldn't help me with my mind."

 

Generals gathered in their masses
Just like witches at black masses

Black Sabbath

Well I like it

 

it's time, the tales were told
of how you took a child and make him old

 

For you, there'll be no more crying,

 

CCR: Someday Never Comes
Marvin Gaye: What's Going On
Aretha Franklin: Respect, "What you want, Baby I got it"

 

"I see myself on tv, I'm a faker, a paper clown...it's clear to all my friends that I habitually lie, I just bring them down..."

Pete Townshend "However Much I Booze"

"I'm too terrified to walk out of my own front door...they're demonstrating outside, I think they're going to start the third world war..."

Ray Davies "Acute Schizophrenia Paranoia Blues"

 

I don't think this is the greatest opening line, but it's a good one...

"If I've managed to learn anything at all from what we've done it's that even though it fills the cracks and crevices and mends the tattered soul we're each the other's nemesis and two halves do not always make a whole."

Dean Friedman - Love is Not Enough

also contains the line..."and even as I stood and watched it fall apart I loved you with all my might."

 

When the truth is found to be lies

Somebody to Love, The Jefferson Airplane

 

Tin soliders and Nixon coming, this summer were on our own .....

 

Teenage angst has paid off well
Now I'm bored and old

 

My pick
"I pulled into Nazareth, was feelin' about half past dead
I just need some place where I can lay my head"

 

This one goes out to the one I love
This one goes out to the one I've left behind
A simple prop to occupy my time
This one goes out to the one I love

 

Here's just a few of my favorites from Van Halen (off the top of my head)...

"Well they say it's kinda frightenin' how this younger generation swings
you know it's more than just some new sensation..."

"Senorita I'm in trouble again and I can't get free..."

"I live my life like there's no tomorrow..."

"Told her 'Never in Hell', no special reason
Musta lied, cuz I ain't leavin'...
We're in for a very long night..."

"We came here to entertain you, leaving here we aggravate you
Don't you know it means the same to me..."

I could go on, but IMO here's the best...
"You can't get romantic on a subway line..."

 

Say You Don't Love Me, You'll Burn
You Can Refuse But You'll Lose, It's By Me
Say You Don't Want Me, You'll Learn

Voodoo by Black Sabbath

Of course, later in the song comes the line:
Bring Me Your Children, They'll Burn

Only the late Ronnie James Dio could sing lines like that & convince you he means it.

 

"So I'm back...to the velvet underground..."

"Gypsy" -- Fleetwood Mac

 

Well, I ride on a mailtrain, baby
Can’t buy a thrill

 

Well then, you HAVE to add "Destroy your safe and happy lives before it is too late."

 

Oh I was moved by your screen dream,
Celluloid pictures of living,
Your death could not kill our love for you.

- 2HB by Roxy Music

 

I'm gonna rent myself a house in the shade of a freeway...The Pretender

 

That's what Jimi Hendrix sings, but it's actually (as sung by Dylan):
“There must be some way out of here,” said the joker to the thief

 

I love songs that paint a picture or tell a story:

You walked into a party like you were walking onto a yacht
Your hat strategically dipped below one eye, your scarf it was apricot
You had one eye in the mirror as you watched yourself gavotte
And all the girls dreamed that they'd be your partner
You're so vain you probably thing this song is about

-----------------

I like the way your sparkling earrings lay against your skin so brown
And I want to sleep with you in the desert tonight with a billion stars all around

------------------

You've got a lot of nerve to say you are my friend.
When I was down, you just stood there grinning

 

Looking through some photographs I left inside a drawer
I was taken by a photograph of you
There are one or two I know that you would have liked a little more
But they didn't show your spirit quite as true
You were turning around to see who was behind you
When I took your childish laughter by surprise
And on the moment when the camera happened to find you
There was just a touch of sorrow in your eyes.

(hope I got that all right, it was from memory)

 

"Bless my cotton socks I'm in the news!"

The Teardrop Explodes - Reward.