Favorite Opening Line From A Song

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Actually -

"AOhhhhhhh-oh-ah-oh-ah-ohahoh, ah-ah-ahhhhh ah-ah ah-ah, ahahahaohahhh, ohahhoh!" - The Communards version of Don't Leave Me This Way.

― Mr Swygart (mrswygart), Thursday, 26 September 2002 14:38 (twenty-one years ago) link

"I don't like you, but I love you"

from 'you've really got a hold of me'.

although i saw a terrible thing on one of those "i love motown' things where diana ross, trying to describe the genius of smokey robinson, quoted that line and said " you see, smokey's not just saying he LIKES his girl, he's saying he LOVES her, that's so romantic..."

AAAAAAARGH!

On the other hand.

She sang 'Love Hangover'. What have I ever done?

― adam b (adam b), Thursday, 26 September 2002 14:48 (twenty-one years ago) link

Pissing in a river, watching it rise.

― Queen G (Queeng), Thursday, 26 September 2002 15:16 (twenty-one years ago) link

another one:

"LOUIE LOUIE! I never thought it would come to this baby..." [bottle flying by the microphone]

― gygax!, Thursday, 26 September 2002 16:15 (twenty-one years ago) link

"RRRRRAAAAAAAAAYYYYY!" "The Crusher"

― mike a (mike a), Thursday, 26 September 2002 16:18 (twenty-one years ago) link

The two that popped into my head have already been mentioned:

"Marquee Moon" and "Another Girl, Another Planet." Especially the latter. What a great line.

― Yancey (ystrickler), Thursday, 26 September 2002 16:23 (twenty-one years ago) link

When we did this a while ago someone mentioned Arab Strap's "Packs of Three":

"It was the biggest cock you'd ever seen."

Not bad.

― Mark (MarkR), Thursday, 26 September 2002 16:23 (twenty-one years ago) link

"Just got home from Illinois . . . "
CCR.

― Burr, Thursday, 26 September 2002 17:02 (twenty-one years ago) link

It's four in the morning, the end of December...

― Enid Roach (Enid Roach), Thursday, 26 September 2002 18:26 (twenty-one years ago) link

Lucifer son of the morning, I'm gonna chase you out of earth!

― Enid Roach (Enid Roach), Thursday, 26 September 2002 18:31 (twenty-one years ago) link

"got a pocket full of quartesr and I'm headed to the ARCade!"

― A Nairn (moretap), Thursday, 26 September 2002 18:35 (twenty-one years ago) link

"We're on an Island Now"
-North of America - its not so much the line as the way the guitars start farting along with it. Its the greatest Pavement noise not made by Pavement.

"I was Underwhelmed if thats a word/ I know its not cause I looked it up"
-this band called Sloan who for some strange reason are opening for the Str*k*s

― Mr Noodles (Mr Noodles), Thursday, 26 September 2002 19:03 (twenty-one years ago) link

hey....been trying to meet you

― kephm, Thursday, 26 September 2002 19:13 (twenty-one years ago) link

I like big butts and I cannot lie...

― James Blount (James Blount), Thursday, 26 September 2002 19:15 (twenty-one years ago) link

"'RRRRRAAAAAAAAAYYYYY!' 'The Crusher'"

Could've sworn it was "RRRAAAPE!!"

― g.cannon (gcannon), Thursday, 26 September 2002 19:20 (twenty-one years ago) link

"do you feel ALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLright?"

― artiste, Friday, 27 September 2002 00:55 (twenty-one years ago) link

I quote 'this ain't rock n roll, it's genocide!' all the time; and another honorable mention to "when I say I'm in love you best believe I'm in love L-U-V"

― James Blount (James Blount), Friday, 27 September 2002 00:58 (twenty-one years ago) link

Early one morning, the sun was shining,
I was laying in bed
wondering if she'd changed at all
if her hair was still red.

― o. nate (onate), Friday, 27 September 2002 14:13 (twenty-one years ago) link

Actuall, Bob Dylan and Sir Mix-a-lot OWN this thread.

― Colin Meeder (Mert), Friday, 27 September 2002 14:25 (twenty-one years ago) link

Actually, Bob Dylan and Sir Mix-a-lot OWN this thread.

― Colin Meeder (Mert), Friday, 27 September 2002 14:25 (twenty-one years ago) link

"I had a shower / And then phoned my brother up" from the Associates' "Party Fears Two" (doesn't work as well on paper).

"This goes out to all the woman in the world / Especially her" from Freak Nasty's "Da Dip"

― scott pl., Friday, 27 September 2002 14:36 (twenty-one years ago) link

"I'm brokenhearted
with all this this entails
It takes some complicated drinking
to keep me on the rails"

Max Eider, "Drink"

"Hello, my name is Billy Bob and I don't give a damn
I got myself some white sheets straight from the Klu Klux Klan
I got myself a daughter and she's a mongoloid
Because I married my sister and our gene pool's been destroyed."

Dead Milkmen, "Tiny Town"

"Sometimes I wish I was a pretty girl
So I could (oop) myself in the shower"

Robyn Hitchcock, "Sometimes I wish I was a pretty girl"

"Uh oh, Chuck, they out to get us man.
We gotta dust these boys off."

Public Enemy, "You're Gonna Get Yours"

― TMFTML (TMFTML), Friday, 27 September 2002 18:47 (twenty-one years ago) link

I'm tempted by the nerve of starting a love song with "I may not always love you", on God Only Knows, but I have to mention Jarvis Cocker, whose work is littered with magnificent openings. Maybe Razzmatazz: "The trouble with your brother / He's always sleeping with your mother."

― Martin Skidmore (Martin Skidmore), Friday, 27 September 2002 21:30 (twenty-one years ago) link

"An' I stole a twig from off the nest and gave it to a bird with nothing in her beak, I had my balls and my brain put into a vice and twisted around for a whole fuckin week"

Marianne Faithfull - "Why'd ya do it"

― Saskia, Friday, 27 September 2002 21:39 (twenty-one years ago) link

"I am the gum on your shoes, the prostitute who rings your family"
Dubstar - I Will Be Your Girlfriend

― chris j (chris j), Friday, 27 September 2002 21:43 (twenty-one years ago) link

"I am angry I am ill and I'm as ugly as sin."

Magazine - "Song From Under the Floorboards."

― nickn (nickn), Friday, 27 September 2002 22:58 (twenty-one years ago) link

I WANT SURPRISES! Brand New Lover Dead or Alive

― jean, Sunday, 29 September 2002 21:53 (twenty-one years ago) link

"All of my purple life..."

― Jody Beth Rosen, Sunday, 29 September 2002 22:10 (twenty-one years ago) link

"I was dreaming when I wrote this/Forgive me if it goes astray"
"I was working part-time in a five-and-dime/My boss was Mr. McGee"
"When you were mine/I gave you all of my money"

we could do this just on Prince songs!

― M Matos (M Matos), Sunday, 29 September 2002 22:16 (twenty-one years ago) link

You're quite right. Dig, if you will, a picture.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Sunday, 29 September 2002 22:33 (twenty-one years ago) link

"Hips like cin-dah-rella . . ."

― Ess Kay (esskay), Sunday, 29 September 2002 22:52 (twenty-one years ago) link

"When Doves Cry" definitely wins the Prince category.

"Now you wanna know the reason why I cheated on you..." from "Sweet Surrender" gets my attention like no other.

― A.V. Alexandre (Keiko), Sunday, 29 September 2002 23:11 (twenty-one years ago) link

"Punctured bicycle..."
"Let me take your hand, I'm shaking like milk"
"There was a guy, an underwater guy who controlled the sea"

And waaaay too many more to mention here.

― Charlie (Charlie), Sunday, 29 September 2002 23:41 (twenty-one years ago) link

DON'T CALL IT A COMEBACK!

― My name is Kenny, Monday, 30 September 2002 00:19 (twenty-one years ago) link

Ooh, what My name is Kenny sed.

(haha & this doesn't count because it's a sample & it's the only voice on the track, but "This is a story / about being free . . ." is fucking amazing.)

― Ess Kay (esskay), Monday, 30 September 2002 01:23 (twenty-one years ago) link

Vicious, you hit me with a flower....

― Sean (Sean), Monday, 30 September 2002 01:26 (twenty-one years ago) link

i can't believe no one has posted 'i was like' yet.

― maura (maura), Monday, 30 September 2002 01:32 (twenty-one years ago) link

hah

― jess (dubplatestyle), Monday, 30 September 2002 01:34 (twenty-one years ago) link

"I've been chasing ghosts and I don't like it" John Cale

― Chris Krohn, Monday, 30 September 2002 02:29 (twenty-one years ago) link

"Hands up, who wants to die?"

― earlnash, Monday, 30 September 2002 03:25 (twenty-one years ago) link

"Jesus died for somebody's sins but not mine", Gloria, Patti Smith

― alex in mainhattan (alex63), Monday, 30 September 2002 07:20 (twenty-one years ago) link

Sorry I forgot my favourite opening line of the first song (Disorder) on the first album (Unknown Pleasures) of one of my all-time fave bands (Joy Division):

"I've been waiting for a guide to
come and take me by the hand ..."

― alex in mainhattan (alex63), Monday, 30 September 2002 09:05 (twenty-one years ago) link

Sorry, my last post only makes sense if you replace the two "the" by two "a".

― alex in mainhattan (alex63), Monday, 30 September 2002 09:11 (twenty-one years ago) link

YOU'RE AS COLD AS ICE!

― chaki (chaki), Monday, 30 September 2002 09:26 (twenty-one years ago) link

"Jaz Coleman's implausibly phlegmy cough as the first sound on "Wardance" by Killing Joke"

Are you sure that's Jaz? I don't know why exactly, I've just always assumed that was Youth....

― Stewart Osborne (Stewart Osborne), Monday, 30 September 2002 09:52 (twenty-one years ago) link

"Charlie, I'm pregnant..."

--Tom Waits, "Christmas Card to a Hooker in Minneapolis"

― Jody Beth Rosen, Monday, 30 September 2002 10:12 (twenty-one years ago) link

--Tom Waits, "Christmas Card to a Hooker in Minneapolis"

Erm. FROM. Not TO. I haven't slept.

― Jody Beth Rosen, Monday, 30 September 2002 10:14 (twenty-one years ago) link

Pretty sure, Stew, as he repeats the signature gimmick on later albums like EXTREMIEITES (on "Money is Not Our God"). Could be Youth, I suppose, but I'd always assumed it was Jaz.

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Monday, 30 September 2002 13:45 (twenty-one years ago) link

My favourites are where the opening line falls in about halfway through a conversation - two particular examples are 'Burning airlines...' by Eno ("When I got back home I found a message on the door") and 'A new kind of water' by This Heat ("I don't know either, what is the answer?"). They just plunge you straight into the song's world and there's no escape, and I love it.

― Rob M, Tuesday, 1 October 2002 12:05 (twenty-one years ago) link

"you're gonna give me immunity"

another devoto line, this time give me everything

― george gosset (gegoss), Tuesday, 1 October 2002 14:59 (twenty-one years ago) link

Skipping 90 messages at this point... Click here if you want to load them all.

"Well, some people ain't no damn good."

― Ⓓⓡ. (Johnny Fever), Sunday, 22 October 2017 15:53 (six years ago) link

"As I went out one morning, to breathe the air around Tom Paine's"

― by the light of the burning Citroën, Sunday, 22 October 2017 16:11 (six years ago) link

"Ain't thou watchin my film"

― brimstead, Sunday, 22 October 2017 16:33 (six years ago) link

i wrote a letter to a wild flower on a classic nitrogen afternoon

― reggie (qualmsley), Sunday, 22 October 2017 19:58 (six years ago) link

"William Butler Yeats in jeans"

― Eazy, Wednesday, 25 October 2017 15:15 (six years ago) link

one month passes...

He pauses shaving and tells himself that he is the bomb

― flappy bird, Sunday, 26 November 2017 08:28 (six years ago) link

they sentenced me ton twenty years of boredom/for trying to change the system from within

― banjoboy, Sunday, 26 November 2017 09:32 (six years ago) link

Hey kids, let me tell you how I met your Mum

― Mark G, Sunday, 26 November 2017 09:51 (six years ago) link

Pushing a hoopty, bumping the Fugees, my life is a scary movie, your life is a male groupie

― flamboyant goon tie included, Sunday, 26 November 2017 19:58 (six years ago) link

Well I been watchin' you waltz all night, Diane

― gimme the beet poison, free my soul (Doctor Casino), Sunday, 26 November 2017 20:04 (six years ago) link

Nobody move, there's blood on the floor. And I can't find my heart.

(Earworm this week. Not sure about the rest of the song TBH)

― mfktz (Camaraderie at Arms Length), Sunday, 26 November 2017 20:33 (six years ago) link

I fell asleep on a rooftop
I woke up halfway down

--Stephen Fearing, "Me and Mr. Blue"

― SlimAndSlam, Sunday, 26 November 2017 21:53 (six years ago) link

You ain't no punk, you punk

― StanM, Sunday, 26 November 2017 22:00 (six years ago) link

'I've been contemplating suicide,'
Though maybe its the combination with the 2nd line
'But it really doesn't suit my style'

― Stevolende, Sunday, 26 November 2017 22:19 (six years ago) link

"LET ME TELL YOU 'BOUT THE FUCKIN' BITCH, DEAN-O!!"

― Mr. Snrub, Sunday, 26 November 2017 22:22 (six years ago) link

Sur le trottoir d'en face une fille riait

― who says no to mentals? (Noodle Vague), Sunday, 26 November 2017 22:24 (six years ago) link

one year passes...

"Anyone caught speaking Esperanto was thought crazy or headed for jail..."

― Jersey Al (Albert R. Broccoli), Thursday, 3 January 2019 17:20 (five years ago) link

three years pass...

Nww

In little sunrise of goblin eyes
I watch the coupling of the flies
Under waving trees and bumble bees
I strain to amputate my knees

The fall

When it happened we walked through all the estates, from Manchester right to Newcastle.
In Darlington, helped a large man on his own chase off some kids
Who were chucking bricks and
Stuff through his flat window.

― Peter Greenaway's Fleetwood Mac (S-), Wednesday, 25 May 2022 14:44 (one year ago) link

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