I don't believe in "good" or "bad" songs or lines in songs. I just think some songs or some lines work or don't work for certain people. Here are some of my favorite first lines of songs, some my own, some from other artists. I'm not saying these are the "best" first lines I've heard, just some of my favorites. I'd love it anyone reading this would comment and add some of your favorite first lines of songs. Or if you're reading this as a result of a Facebook link, you can add your favorites there.
Starting with my all time favorite and then proceeding in no particular order...
"If there's a cure for this, I don't want it"
"Hey just between us--I'm an undiscovered genius"
"You've got a lot of nerve to say you are my friend"
"Songs are like tattoos, you know I've been to sea before"
"Woke up this morning, one of my kidneys was gone"
"I woke up this afternoon and both the cars were gone"
"Everybody's mad, you don't know what it is, you're all covered in glitter like fairy jizz''
"I was raised in Arizona, just outside of Boston, in the heart of the Great Northwest"
"From this valley they say you are going"
"Twinkle, twinkle little star, how I wonder what you are"
"I am blind but I don't care, I take my blindness everywhere"
"People will know when they see this show the kind of a guy I am"
"You shake my nerves and you rattle my brain, too much loving drives a man insane"
"I'm too old to expect to feel good every day"
"I would wile away the hours, conferring with the flowers, consulting with the rain"
"We had the presents under the tree, what Santa didn't bring, we didn't need"
"He said you took the blues out of that Dylan song, I said I took the Dylan out of that blues songs"
"I was born in a cross-fire hurricane"
"Ever since I was a young boy, I played the silver ball"
"She's a good girl, loves her mama, loves Jesus and America too"
"Hey Mr. Wall Street on the 50th floor, can't make the payments on your penthouse no more"
"I've got you under my skin, I've got you deep in the heart of me"
"Is there anybody going to listen to my story, all about the girl who came to stay?"
"She would never say where she came from"
"Hello darkness my old friend, I've come to talk with you again"
"She's back on the pills, she's back on the booze, it might be sad but it sure ain't news"
"Everything went from bad to worse, money never changed a thing"
"T'was in another lifetime, one of toil and blood, when blackness was a virtue and the road was full of mud"
"You may find yourself living in a shotgun shack"
"I don't know why I love you like I do, all the changes you put me through"
"I met my old lover on the street last night, she seemed so glad to see me I just smiled"
"When I find myself in times of trouble, Mother Mary comes to me"
"Once I had nothing, now I have less"
"Man, I wish I was jamming with The Stones on a beach in Barbados, and not stuck in Idaho in a stoner band called "The Baked Potatoes"
"Couple in the next room, they're bound to win a prize, they've been going at it all night long"
"Poets would be lost, there would be no tides, nothing hanging over this saloon"
"Hear that lonesome whippoorwill, he sounds too blue to fly"
"I was alone, I took a ride, I didn't know what I would find there"
"Yesterday, all my troubles seemed so far away"
"Don't tell me you don't know what love is when you're old enough to know better"
"He thought he was the King of America where they pour Coca-Cola just like vintage wine"
"You're a born again porn queen who finally found her niche, acting like a schoolgirl with an overwhelming itch"
"Just yesterday morning they let me know you were gone"
"May you never lay your head down without a hand to hold"
"In the morning you go gunning for the man who stole your water"
"Five name that I can hardly stand to hear, including yours and mine and one more chimp who isn't here"
"There's a lady who's sure all that glitters is gold and she's buying a stairway to Heaven"
"Pretty women out walking with gorillas down my street"
"Hello, is there anybody in there, just nod if you can hear me, is there anyone at home?"
"Fools in love, well are there any other kinds of lovers?"
"Well I bet you're wonderin' how I knew, 'bout your plans to make me blue"
I could probably go on for hours, these are just some of the first that came to mind. How about you?
Starting with my all time favorite and then proceeding in no particular order...
"If there's a cure for this, I don't want it"
Love Hangover (Sawyer/Mcleod)
"Hey just between us--I'm an undiscovered genius"
Undiscovered (Gene Burnett)
"You've got a lot of nerve to say you are my friend"
Positively 4th Street (Bob Dylan)
"Words are flying out like endless rain into a paper cup"
Across The Universe (John Lennon)
"Songs are like tattoos, you know I've been to sea before"
Blue (Joni Mitchell)
"Sunset is an angel weeping, holding out a bloody sword"
Pacing The Cage (Bruce Cockburn)
"Woke up this morning, one of my kidneys was gone"
Beijing Blues (Gene Burnett)
"I woke up this afternoon and both the cars were gone"
Suburban Blues (Martin Mull)
"Everybody's mad, you don't know what it is, you're all covered in glitter like fairy jizz''
Didgeridon't (Gene Burnett)
"I've seen love go by my door, it's never been this close before"
You're Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go (Bob Dylan)
"I was raised in Arizona, just outside of Boston, in the heart of the Great Northwest"
Fated (Gene Burnett)
"From this valley they say you are going"
Red River Valley (Traditional)
"Twinkle, twinkle little star, how I wonder what you are"
Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star (Taylor/Traditional)
"I am blind but I don't care, I take my blindness everywhere"
Jump For Joy (Gene Burnett)
"People will know when they see this show the kind of a guy I am"
One Man Guy (Loudon Wainwright III)
"You shake my nerves and you rattle my brain, too much loving drives a man insane"
Great Balls Of Fire (Jerry Lee Lewis)
"I'm too old to expect to feel good every day"
A Good Misunderstanding (Gene Burnett)
"Think I'll pack in and buy a pick-up, take it down to L.A."
Out On The Weekend (Neil Young)
"I would wile away the hours, conferring with the flowers, consulting with the rain"
If I Only Had A Brain (Harburg/Arlen)
"We had the presents under the tree, what Santa didn't bring, we didn't need"
Let's Put The Ass Back In Christmas (Gene Burnett)
"He said you took the blues out of that Dylan song, I said I took the Dylan out of that blues songs"
My Song Now (Gene Burnett)
"I was born in a cross-fire hurricane"
Jumping Jack Flash (Mick Jagger/Keith Richards)
"Ever since I was a young boy, I played the silver ball"
Pinball Wizard (Pete Townsend)
"She's a good girl, loves her mama, loves Jesus and America too"
Free Fallin' (Tom Petty)
"Hey Mr. Wall Street on the 50th floor, can't make the payments on your penthouse no more"
Jump You Fuckers (Gene Burnett)
"I've got you under my skin, I've got you deep in the heart of me"
I've Got You Under My Skin (Cole Porter)
"Is there anybody going to listen to my story, all about the girl who came to stay?"
Girl (Lennon/McCartney)
"She would never say where she came from"
Ruby Tuesday (Mick Jagger/Keith Richards)
"The first time we made love was bad and worse each time after that"
Ten Good Days (Gene Burnett)
"Hello darkness my old friend, I've come to talk with you again"
The Sounds Of Silence (Paul Simon)
"She's back on the pills, she's back on the booze, it might be sad but it sure ain't news"
Watch Her Drown (Gene Burnett)
"Everything went from bad to worse, money never changed a thing"
Up To Me (Bob Dylan)
"T'was in another lifetime, one of toil and blood, when blackness was a virtue and the road was full of mud"
Shelter From The Storm (Bob Dylan)
"You may find yourself living in a shotgun shack"
Once In A Lifetime (Talking Heads)
"I don't know why I love you like I do, all the changes you put me through"
Take Me To The River (Green/Hodges)
"I met my old lover on the street last night, she seemed so glad to see me I just smiled"
Still Crazy After All These Years (Paul Simon)
"When I find myself in times of trouble, Mother Mary comes to me"
Let it Be (Paul McCartney)
"Once I had nothing, now I have less"
Brand New World (Gene Burnett)
"Man, I wish I was jamming with The Stones on a beach in Barbados, and not stuck in Idaho in a stoner band called "The Baked Potatoes"
Ninja (Gene Burnett)
"Couple in the next room, they're bound to win a prize, they've been going at it all night long"
Duncan (Paul Simon)
"Poets would be lost, there would be no tides, nothing hanging over this saloon"
Without The Moon (Gene Burnett)
"Hear that lonesome whippoorwill, he sounds too blue to fly"
I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry (Hank Williams)
"I was alone, I took a ride, I didn't know what I would find there"
Got To Get You Into My Life (Lennon/McCartney)
"Yesterday, all my troubles seemed so far away"
Yesterday (Paul McCartney)
"Don't tell me you don't know what love is when you're old enough to know better"
Everyday I Write The Book (Elvis Costello)
"He thought he was the King of America where they pour Coca-Cola just like vintage wine"
Brilliant Mistake (Elvis Costello)
"You're a born again porn queen who finally found her niche, acting like a schoolgirl with an overwhelming itch"
The Best Deal (Gene Burnett)
"Just yesterday morning they let me know you were gone"
Fire And Rain (James Taylor)
"May you never lay your head down without a hand to hold"
May You Never (John Martyn)
"In the morning you go gunning for the man who stole your water"
Do It Again (Fagen/Becker)
"Five name that I can hardly stand to hear, including yours and mine and one more chimp who isn't here"
Bad Sneakers (Fagen/Becker)
"There's a lady who's sure all that glitters is gold and she's buying a stairway to Heaven"
Stairway To Heaven (Led Zeppelin)
"Pretty women out walking with gorillas down my street"
Is She Really Going Out With Him? (Joe Jackson)
"Hello, is there anybody in there, just nod if you can hear me, is there anyone at home?"
Comfortably Numb (Pink Floyd)
"Fools in love, well are there any other kinds of lovers?"
Fools In Love (Joe Jackson)
"Well I bet you're wonderin' how I knew, 'bout your plans to make me blue"
Heard It Through The Grapevine (Whitfield/Strong)
I could probably go on for hours, these are just some of the first that came to mind. How about you?
"Take me back to a time in Centralia Illinois, when my only concern was getting wasted with my boys."
ReplyDeleteSo. Ill. Soldiers Theme (Noah Smith)
"She said this is love not war. What are you defending yourself for?"
Left Behind (Hernandez)
"I hear the crying of the hungry in the deserts where they're wandering."
I Hear Them All (Dave Rawlings/Ketch Secor)
"I'll bet the sun is shining, down in San Francisco. The place you tell everybody that you're from, but you hardly ever get to go."
Tacoma (John Craigie)
"If there was a Hurricane, we'd know who to blame for tearing the house down."
Act of God (Raina Rose)
I too could go all day, but have to run for now!
Life is a series of hellos and goodbyes, I'm afraid it's time for a goodbye again - B Joel
ReplyDeleteI'll wait for you, should I fall behind wait for me - Bruce
I've got those "so long see ya, buicks waitin' outside weddin' blues" - T Waits
I've been alone with you inside my mind. Lionel Richie
ReplyDeleteNow the boys who will be guys in ties watch coeds on mopeds go riding by. Gene Burnett
What kind of people were your parents when you were born? Gene Burnett
People in love don't come with no guarantee. Gene Burnett
If we stopped all the people making money poisoning the air, the earth, and the sea, this whole world would stop on a dime. Gene Burnett
Wow! Thanks for the comments. Some "good" additions to the list. And Anonymous seems to be aware of my "fossil record"!! Haven't thought of those tunes in some time...
ReplyDelete