Songs that have great opening lines

les ailes de ma rolls effleuraient les pylones
serge gainsbourg

 

"If you think you can do it, then come on man!
I was a Green Beret in Viet Nam..."
The Ramones - 53rd & 3rd

 

see my tag line.

 

I agree.How bout these.

"It's in my hair,it's on my clothes
It's in the river,over the road
It's shining down,my angry star
Hanging off the hood of my car"
'Bull Black Nova'

"This is how I tell it
Oh,but its long
One Sunday Morning
One son is gone

I can see where they're dawning
Over the sea
My father said what I had become
No one should be
'One Sunday Morning'

 

A classic that I'm sure has been said:

"It's getting near dawn, when lights close the tired eyes..."

 

"I, I love the colourful clothes she wears/And the way the sunlight plays upon her hair"

 

Another one:

"Night falls and towns become circuit boards..."

 

This future life's been freaking me out

Pete Yorn - Future Life

 

Distant cousins, there’s a limited supply.
And we’re down to the dozens, and this is why:
Big Eyed Beans from Venus!
Oh my, oh my.

Captain Beefheart

 

I was sitting in the Hollywood Hawaiian Hotel
I was staring in my empty coffee cup
I was thinking that the gypsy wasn't lyin'
All the salty margaritas in Los Angeles
I'm gonna drink 'em up

-Warren Zevon, "Desperadoes Under The Eaves"

 

"If I leave here tomorrow, would you still remember me?"

- Allen Collins' wife, originally.

BTW, OP was seeking "opening lines" not "opening couplets" or "opening stanzas"

 

"Hey, man!
I don't feel like going' to school NOOOOOO
MORE!"

"ME, NEITHER!" - Stray Cats.

 

You came to watch the band
To see us play our parts
We hoped you'd lend an ear
You hoped we'd dress like tarts

 

'I was a little too tall coulda used a few pounds'

Night Moves

 

'the world is turning ...
i hope it don't turn away ….'

neil young - on the beach

 

Teddy sniffing glue he was 12 years old, fell from the roof on East 29
Cathy was 11 when she pulled the plug on 26 reds and a bottle of wine.

-- Jim Carroll, "People Who Died"

 

And if I say to you tomorrow...

 

I want to live all alone in the desert
I want to be like Georgia O'Keefe
I want to live on the upper east side
And never go down in the street

-Warren Zevon "Splendid Isolation"

Great song in general and this sets the stage beautifully.


Through the fish-eyed lens of tear-stained eyes
I can barely define the shape of this moment in time

-Pink Floyd "The Final Cut"

Think what you will of this album, but this is a powerful opening line.


Wasted and wounded
It ain't what the moon did
I got what I paid for now.

-Tom Waits "Tom Traubert's Blues"

This one speaks for itself, I think.


You caught me with my pants down
But I was only taking a shower

-Ray Davies "Creatures of Little Faith

This song was the first to pop into my head when I saw the topic.

 

Well the comic book and me, just us, we caught the bus.

 

"Do not listen to a word I say
Just listen to what I can keep silent."

Manic Street Preachers - This Is Yesterday

 

Well, it ain't no use to sit and wonder why, babe
Even you don't know by now

I'm a thousand miles from nowhere
Time don't matter to me


I've been throwing horseshoes over my left shoulder
I've spent most all my life searching for that four-leafed clover


Woman
I can hardly express
My mixed emotions at my thoughtlessness

 

"Don't let me hear you say life's ... taking you nowhere, angel " here's the special lead vocal only version:

 

Mommy, daddy come-a-look at me now, I'm a big man in a great big town...

 

I've always liked the opening line to Zeppelin's "Candy Store Rock" from Presence.

"Well oh baby baby"

So, it's not the words as much as how Robert Plant sings the words, that I find so catchy.

 

Also "Give Him a Great Big Kiss" by the Shangri-Las (written by George "Shadow" Morton).