The greatest opening lines....according to me
Submitted by Menindrag on Wed, 08/27/2008 - 02:13
Tags:
- "Thunder thunder lightning ahead/Now I kiss you dark & long"
- Dark & Long - Underworld
- "I am an antichrist/I am an anarchist"
- Anarchy in the UK - The Sex Pistols
- "Life stinks/I'm seeing pink/I can't wink/I can''t blink"
- Life Stinks - Pere Ubu (Written by Peter Laughner)
- "It's awfully considerate of you to think of me here/And I'm much obliged to you for making it clear that I'm not here."
- Jugband Blues - Syd Barrett
- "Shiny, shiny, shiny boots of leather/Whiplash girlchild in the dark"
- Venus in Furs - The Velvet Underground
- "How many roads must a man walk down/Before you call him a man?"
- Blowin' in the Wind - Bob Dylan
- "My smile is stuck/I cannot go back to your frownland"
- Frowland - Captain Beefheart
- "You look different every time/You come from the foam crested brine"
- Sea Song - Robert Wyatt
- "You know the day destroys the night/Night divides the day"
- Break On Through (To The Other Side) - The Doors
- "Jesus died for somebody's sins but not mine"
- Gloria - Patti Smith
- "Pigs, they tend to wiggle when they walk"
- Stereo - Pavement
- "There must be some kind of way out of here, said the joker to the thief"
- All Along the Watchtower - Bob Dylan
- "In the time of chimpanzees I was a monkey"
- Loser' - Beck
- "I was born in a cross-fire hurricane/And I howled at my ma in the driving rain"
- Jumping Jack Flash - The Rolling Stones
- "Like a bird on the wire/like some drunk in a midnight choir/I have tried, in my way, to be free"
- Bird On The Wire - Leonard Cohen
- "There is a time to fuck, and a time to crave/but the shah sleeps Lee Harvey’s Grave"
- The Shah Sleeps In Lee Harvey’s Grave - The Butthole Surfers
- "Come up with something original/Steal decent shit if you're gonna steal"
- Trilobite - Vampire Rodents
- "I have in my pocket a hurricane fighter plane"
- Hurricane Fighter Plane - The Red Krayola
- "I don't know how to start this shit"
- N.Y. State of Mind - Nas
- "Ah wanna tell ya 'bout a girl/You know, she lives in room 29"
- From Her to Eternity - Nick Cave
- "All of your friends are cunts/ Your mother is a ballpoint pen thief"
- Gareth Brown Says - Mclusky
- "Suzanne takes you down to her place near the river/ You can hear the boats go by/ You can spend the night beside her"
- Suzanne - Leonard Cohen
- "Janitor of lunacy/ Paralyze my infancy"
- Janitor of Lunacy - Nico
Author Comments:
A work in progress...
Any suggestions?
"The screen door slams/Mary's dress waves"
Thunder Road - Bruce Springsteen
I've never been a great Springsteen fans but I like those lyrics.
Included.
Here some suggestions:
"Jesus died for somebody's sins but not mine" - Gloria by Patti Smith
"Long afloat on shipless oceans/I did all my best to smile/til your singing eyes and fingers/ drew me, loving, to your isle" - Song to the Siren - words by Larry Beckett, music by Tim Buckley
I forgot that Patti Smith song. Thanks :)
I was planning to onclude Tim Buckley. I personally prefer...
"When there's wine in your belly/Love rhythm's on your tongue/For you are a woman/And each man has been too young" - Driftin'
In my mind the best opening line is "I AM THE GOD OF HELLFIRE/AND I BRING YOU...fire"
I always really liked "Make a hole with a gun perpendicualar/To the name of this town on a desktop globe/Exit wound in a foreign nation/Showing the home of the one this was written for", from They Might Be Giants "Ana Ng". It's a love song to a girl on the other side of the world, but they sure took a roundabout way of saying it. I was singing these lyrics for years before I even thought about what they meant.
This is an awesome list! I'm going to clone it, and I'll definitely purloin that Patti Smith one.
these are some off the top of my head that you did not have:
"Bird On The Wire" – Songs From A Room – Leonard Cohen – Like a bird on the wire/like some drunk in a midnight choir/I have tried, in my way, to be free
"Heroin" – The Velvet Underground & Nico – The Velvet Underground – I don’t know just where I’m going/but I’m going to try to find the kingdom if I can/cause it makes me feel like I’m a man
"Desolation Row" – Highway 61 – Bob Dylan – They’re selling postcards of the hanging/they’re painting the passports brown/the beauty parlor is filled with sailors/the circus is in town
"Just Like A Woman" – Blonde On Blonde – Bob Dylan – Nobody feels any pain/tonight is lost inside the rain
"It’s Alright Ma (I’m Only Bleeding)" – Bringing It All Back Home – Bob Dylan – Darkness at the break of noon/Shadows even the silver spoon/The handmade blade, the child's balloon/Eclipses both the sun and moon/To understand you know too soon/There is no sense in trying
"Rebellion (Lies)" – Funeral – Arcade Fire – Sleeping is giving in/no matter what the time is/sleeping is giving in/so lift those heavy eyelids
"Tried" – Start Packing – Run – You think we messed up, me too/get the impression we messed up, me too - i understand that this would not be universal
"Frownland" – Trout Mask Replica – Captain Beefheart – my smile is stuck/I cannot go back to your frownland
"The Shah Sleeps In Lee Harvey’s Grave" – The Butthole Surfers EP – The Butthole Surfers – There is a time to fuck, and a time to crave/ but the shah sleeps Lee Harvey’s Grave
there are many, many more by these artists and others.
i like the Patti Smith and The Doors choices, but i think you should credit Peter Laughner for the lyrics to "Life Stinks" and Bob Dylan for "All Along The Watchtower". Hendrix added nothing to the lyrics of the song, and Pere Ubu did not even take any credit for the instrumental part of "Life Stinks".
Thanks for the suggestions.
I didn't realise that Peter Laughner wrote those lyrics (I havn't realy done much research into Pere Ubu)
"Hendrix added nothing to the lyrics of the song,"
Your right. Dylan wrote the lyrcis who I have credited, however Hendrix turned that song from a good folk song into a glorious rock song. Dylan wrote the lyics but Hendrix added meaning to them.
I'm trying to keep it down to 1 artist at the moment. I'll include the Butthole Surfers and Leonard Cohen lyrics. Thanks
i also forgot "Trilobite" - Lullaby Land - The Vampire Rodents - come up with something original/steal decent shit if you're gonna steal. i love that.
Lol
I like that
I'll also change the Beefheart lyrics to the ones you've suggested. They start the whole album off, and what an album.
Here's another one, from "Sigmund Freud's Party" by Telex:
"The music that you are hearing/is something stolen/rhythm and all/I heard it/and then I taped it/and added singing/but no guitars"
I dunno about "greatest", but I like:
"When you come back again
would you bring me something from the fridge?
Heard a rumor that the end is near
but I just got comfortable here."
- Newsboys, "Lost the Plot".
Ya gotta read all the lyrics and understand Christian eschatology to get it, I think.
I always liked the bad-ass opening lines of "Who Do You Love" by Bo Diddley. Couldn't edit down the first verse to fit your list, tho
"Suzanne" should actually be credited to Leonard Cohen.
Thank you x
i kept forgetting to write this one:
"I like the way you fill out your clothes,
I want to soak my head under your hose"
"Clothes Hoist" - Hole - Foetus