The Best Opening Lyrics Ever (pt 1)
I am the son and the heir of a shyness that is criminally vulgar.
- How Soon Is Now? The Smiths
You were working as a waitress at a cocktail bar when I met you.
- Don’t You Want Me Baby? Human League
Am I the manager or am I not?
- Am I The Manager Or Am I Not? Centro-Matic
In the day we sweat it out on the streets of a runaway American dream.
- Born To Run Bruce Springsteen
She was a fast machine she kept her motor clean. *ed. note: um, eww?
- You Shook Me All Night Long AC/DC
Somewhere over the rainbow, way up high.
- Somewhere Over The Rainbow Dorothy
What’s with these homeys dissing my girl?
- Buddy Holly Weezer
We were lovers, we were kissers, we were holders of hands we were make-believers.
- I’m Still In Love The Stills
Nicotine, valium, vicodin, marijuana, ecstasy and alcohol. Cocaine.
- Feel Good Hit Of The Summer QOTSA
Her green plastic watering can for her fake chinese rubber plant in fake plastic earth.
- Fake Plastic Trees Radiohead
I’m realizing now that this task is utterly insane. I could sit here for hours and still keep thinking of more and more songs with amazing opening lyrics. Feh. So yes, I know this list is incomplete but the sunshine awaits and I must go bask in its glorious rays. I ain’t even gonna wear no sunscreen neither. Check me out, living recklessly.
Daylight savings is retarded. I don’t like it.
-xok
March 8th, 2009 at 4:24 pm
The opening line to ‘Buddy Holly’ is fantastic, and I love that you even put ‘Somewhere Over the Rainbow’ in there. Rarely is it given the credit it deserves.
March 8th, 2009 at 4:59 pm
I’ve always liked Joe Henry’s: “Somehow I wound up with the keys//guess it’s my turn to close”
March 8th, 2009 at 5:39 pm
love this. lol it made me smile.
March 8th, 2009 at 5:44 pm
I declare shenanigans. You only picked USA Mike’s idea because you two are bumpin uglies. Give us less song lyrics and give us more hilarious Kay Hanley material. Or rants, those are good too. But only hilarious rants.
March 8th, 2009 at 6:18 pm
I’d definitely put Human League on my list…some others (and yes you could do this for hours on end & not run out of cool opening lyrics
You’ve got a reputation, for breaking some hearts. No it’s not imagination, it’s just a little spark -That Thing You Do, Dwight Twilley
Troubled heart, troubled head, you’ve got me so crazy I think I’d be
better off dead -Troubled Heart, The Rubinoos
Though it’s me that’s on fire, not this cigarette, I was stabbed in the back by that young suffragette -Someone To Talk To, The Police
Well say you’ve decided on a killing, first you make a stone of your heart, and if you find that your hands are so willing, then you can turn a murder into are -Murder By Numbers, The Police
You’ve made my soul a burning fire, you’re getting to be my one desire, you’re getting to be all that matters to me -All I Do, Stevie Wonder
Don’t wanna believe what they’re telling me but somebody’s been picking in my cherry tree, don’t wanna mistrust nobody by mistake, but I can tell someone’s been digging ’round in my cake -I Ain’t Gonna Stand For It, Stevie Wonder
Take a look at my girlfriend, she’s the only one I’ve got, not much of a girlfriend, never seem to get a lot -Breakfast In America, Supertramp
He walked the street to the corner liquor store, got some cigarettes and wine and he backed out the door, it didn’t work out quite like he thought it would, now he’s back page news down in the neighborhood -Boom, Boom, Boom The Iguanas
Another sigh with no regrets, more coins inside her hands, one time own respect, near mercernary she stands Dum Dum Girl, Talk Talk
See those trees, bend in the wind, I feel they’ve got a lot more sense than me, you see I try to resist -Rubberband Girl, Kate Bush
I used to travel in the shadows, and I never found the nerve to try and walk up to you
But now I am a man and I know that there’s no time to waste, there’s too much to lose -A Girl Like You, The Smithereens
Won’t you take me back to school, I need to learn the golden rule, won’t you lay it on the line, I need to hear it just one more time -The Voice, The Moody Blues
If I had a mind to, I wouldn’t want to think like you, and if I had time to, I wouldn’t want to talk to you, Whoa oh oh, I don’t care what you do, I wouldn’t want to be like you -I Wouldn’t Want To Be Like You, The Alan Parsons Project
Looking out a dirty old window, down below the cars in the city go rushing by, I sit here alone and I wonder why -Kids In America, Kim Wilde
You better run, you better hide, you better lock your house and keep the kids inside, here come the twentieth century’s latest scam, he’s a half-a-boy and half-a-man -Half A Boy And Half a Man, Nick Lowe
Well the bride looks a picture in the gown that her mama wore, when she was married herself nearly twenty-seven years before, they had to change the style a little but it looked just fine, stayed up all night but they got it finished just in time -I Knew The Bride (When She Used To Rock & Roll), Nick Lowe
I was dreaming of the past and my heart was beating fast, I began to lose control, I began to lose control, I didn’t mean to hurt you, I didn’t mean to make you cry, I didn’t mean to hurt you, I’m just a jealous guy -Jealous Guy, Little Jimmy Scott
Love don’t give no compensation, love don’t pay no bills, love don’t give no indication, love just won’t stand still -Love Kills, Freddie Mercury
Who you gonna run to when you’re running low, where you gonna run to, no one ever knows, and there’s a sadness in your style, an empty room behind your smile -One Day At A Time, The Knack
I was a rebel from the day I left school, grew my hair long and broke all the rules -Get A Haircut, George Thorogood
Now here I am again in this mean old town and you’re so far away from me -So Far Away, Dire Straits
Shakedown 1979, cool kids never have the time -1979, Smashing Pumpkins
Miracle of miracles, look what the night dragged in, it’s a pocket full of misery and trouble on the wind -Don’t Ask Me Why, Eurythmics
I met a gin-soaked barroom queen in Memphis -Honky Tonk Woman, The Rolling Stones
March 8th, 2009 at 6:19 pm
Damn I screwed one up
Well say you’ve decided on a killing, first you make a stone of your heart, and if you find that your hands are so willing, then you can turn a murder into art -Murder By Numbers, The Police
March 8th, 2009 at 6:20 pm
And one other to fix
Another sigh with no regrets, more coins inside her hands, one time to own respect, near mercenary she stands Dum Dum Girl, Talk Talk
March 8th, 2009 at 6:31 pm
“Dear God-hope you got the letter and, I pray-you make it better down here.” XTC-Dear God
March 8th, 2009 at 6:59 pm
Don Drennon, that whole song is one of my all time favorites ever. Thanks for the remind.
Love this post, btw, Kay!
March 8th, 2009 at 8:59 pm
My favs from your solo work:
“like a grade school valentine, my heart is asking and aching all the time” From Faded Dress
“it’s criminal how you crawl out so pristine such a happy bunny living in a sad machine” From It Hurts
From LTC:
Just living on a Sunday morning,got my toast and tea and I’m warm and I just thought I’d think about.” Here and Now
“I guess it’s been awhile and a long time too. Everything’s still the same and so are you.
From Awake
10 Other Favs:
1.“Load Up The Guns, Bring Your Friends” From Smells Like Teen Spirit by Nirvana
2 “Thinkin of a master plan” From Paid in Full by Rakim
3. “Bay, baby, baby Whats it gonna be? Baby, baby, baby Is it him or is it me?” From Beautiful Ones by Prince
4. “You look so fine, I want to break your heart, And give you mine” From You Look So Fine By Garbage
5. You must remember this A kiss is just a kiss. From As Time Goes By Written by Herman Hupfeld
6. Don’t Call It A Come Back, I’ve Been here for years” from Mama Said Knock You Out by L.L. Cool J
7. “ I think I did it again, I made you believe we’re more then just friends” From Oops I Did It Again By Britney Spears (Max Martin)
8. With so much drama in the L.B.C. Its kinda hard bein snoop d-o-double-g” From Gin and Juice by Snoop Dogg
9. In The Time Of Chimpanzees I was a Monkey From Beck’s Loser
10. “Welcome To The Jungle We Got Fun and Games” From Welcome To The Jungle by GNR (bonus points for being the first lines of the album)
k. I will stop now before my OCD kicks in and this list goes up to a 1000.
March 9th, 2009 at 4:37 am
“There’s nothing so loud as hearing when we lie. The truth is not kind, and you’ve said neither am I.” Toad the Wet Sprocket. Whoa.
March 9th, 2009 at 7:00 am
Outside another yellow moon punched a hole through the nightime
Tom Waits, downtown train
You take the skyway, high above that busy little one way. In my stupid hat and gloves I lay awake, wondering if I’ll sleep.
Paul Westerberg
Kids are loud and laced with neon, babyfaces bounce and fall
Rick Berlin - Rock and Roll Romance
On certain sundays in November, when the weather bothers me, I empty drawers of other summers where my shadows used to be.
Counting Crows - Hard Candy
March 9th, 2009 at 7:56 am
I’m not a huge fan, but everyone is missing the best song/album opening ever:
Teenage angst has paid off well.
(second line) Now I’m bored and old.
Serve the Servants by Nirvana (first track from the album In Utero”
Given the context off this, I have yet to see a better opening to an album or song.
March 9th, 2009 at 8:06 am
“sometimes you can’t get your girlfriend to cum, maybe you ate too much, drank too much, something is wrong and you can’t put your finger on it, it’s the mystery……. of the clitoris”
“mystery of the clitoris”
Nice Peter
March 9th, 2009 at 3:10 pm
“this is how we kill ourselves//and maybe we were wrong//but who will ever know”
-arlington queen by stellastarr*-
March 9th, 2009 at 4:22 pm
Wear the sunscreen. Elesclomol shit the bed..
March 11th, 2009 at 8:29 am
It is just wrong that we got all the way to #10 post before anyone even mentioned a Kay Hanley opening lyric, or LTC for that matter. Kay I can forgive, being the modest person that she is :), but the rest of us SUCK! We should be building up her fragile ego! lol. I hope that she is not weeping into her pillow right now because no one mentioned her lyrics. Come-on people.
“I think I’ll close my eyes and wait as the world goes by”
March 20th, 2009 at 4:59 pm
…staying thematically consistent: “God some times you just don’t come through.”-Tori Amos
April 3rd, 2009 at 10:18 am
When you’re back in your old neighborhood/the cigarettes taste so good. - Wilco
April 24th, 2009 at 6:27 pm
“Daylight savings is retarded” SHOULD be an opening line. I’ll look into it.
GO CELTICS!
-=Wicked Celtics
“Wicked C.” if you’re nasty!
May 31st, 2009 at 3:41 pm
love this idea! two of my favorites:
“my name is satan and I’m ruining your useless life”
-rehasher, “one shot deal”
“so I want to kill this waitress”
-tori amos, “waitress”
June 20th, 2009 at 8:56 pm
Agents of the law, luckless pedestrian / I know you’re out there with rage in your eyes and your megaphones
- Steely Dan, Don’t Take Me Alive
Mass romantic fool, wears Foster Grants / His books on tape ring true
- The New Pornographers, Mass Romantic
Monster hospital, will you please release me? / You hold my hands down, I’ve been bad
- Metric, Monster Hospital
I ebb and you flow / It’s a bit screwed but you can’t catch my love
- The Duke Spirit, May Day
Bonjour, jeune fille d’en haut / Nous avons ecoutes les sons de votre amour
- Blow, Bonjour Jeune Fille
There’s a nail in the door and there’s glass on the lawn, tacks on the floor and the TV is on / I always sleep with my guns when you’re gone
- Shivaree, Goodnight Moon
Wearing nothing is divine / Naked is a state of mind
- Lucscious Jackson, Naked Eye
Bow down before the one you serve / You’re going to get what you deserve
- Nine Inch Nails, Head Like A Hole (Clay)
I can’t get to sleep, I think about the implications / Of diving in too deep, and possibly the complications *ed note YOU KNOW YOU LOVE IT (incl. cover by Lazlo Bane)
- Men At Work, Overkill
August 17th, 2009 at 4:52 pm
“Taking off his turban, they said is this man a Jew? ‘Cause they’re working for the Clampdown”
Clampdown by the Clash and the great Joe Strummer.