Best Opening Line Of A Song

[Redbeard]

Loving this thread. Been thinking about great songs all morning. Here's another one that keeps popping up:

"Everyone in Nacogdoches knew Tom Ames was gonna come to some bad end. Well, the sheriff had caught him stealing chickens and such by the time that he was 10."

"Tom Ames Prayer" by Mr. Steve Earle

[earri]

I woke up in a Soho doorway
A policeman knew my name
He said, "You can go sleep at home tonight
If you can get up and walk away"

The Who - Who Are You

[Norml]

"Lend me your ear while I call you a fool." Ian Anderson/Jetro Tull - The Witches Promise

"They're selling postcards of the hanging". Bob Dylan - Desolation Row

[Bax Burgess]

When I stole a twig from our little nest
And gave it to a bird with nothing in her beak,
I had my ----- and my brains put into a vice
And twisted around for a whole ----ing week.

The delightful Marianne Faithfull from her bubblegummyish ''Why'd Ya Do It ?

[harmonics101]

Nobody Loves me but my Mother, and she could be Jivin' Too - B.B. King,

H

I see MartinD42 beat me to the punch

[Riverwolf]

He came dancing across the water with his galleons and guns...

Old man look at my life, I'm a lot like you were...

Neil Young

Solitude stands by the window, she turns her head as I walk in the room
I can see by her eyes she's been waiting, standing in the slant of the late afternoon

Suzanne Vega
"Solitude Standing"

[harmonics101]

I can't seem to face up to the facts
I'm tense and nervous and I
Can't relax
I can't sleep 'cause my bed's on fire
Don't touch me I'm a real live wire

Talking Heads,

H

Okay, that's more like a verse, but I like it

[MrBJones]

Lot of good ones from Paul Simon. Here's another:

"When I think back on all the crap I learned in high school..
It's a wonder
I can think at all
And though my lack of education
Hasn't hurt me none
I can read the writing on the wall"
.

[werkout52]

"I read the news today oh boy"
Still gives me the chills

[Dogberry415]

"He tells her, 'I wanna paint you naked on a big, brass bed / With bright orange poppies all around your head"


-- Joshua Kadison, Painted Desert Serenade

[Laughingboy68]

Sherry was a waitress at the only joint in town;
She had a reputation as a girl who'd been around.

Robert Earl Keen - "The Road Goes On Forever"

[woodbox]

Posted earlier, but was written by Kris Kristofferson:

"Well, I woke up Sunday morning with no way to hold my head that didn't hurt"


Howsabout another John Prine:

"We have an apartment, in the city.
Me and Loretta like livin there.
Its been years since the kids have grown, a life of their own, left us alone."


And Rodney Crowell:

"Well the bus pulled away, in a roarin' black cloud.
I stood there in the road and honey I hollered right out loud."

Well Billy rapped all night about his suicide
How he'd kick it in the head when he was twenty-five
Speed jive, don't want to stay alive when you're twenty-five

---David Bowie, All the Young Dudes

[Jukie]

I'm a running down the road
Trying to loosen my load
Got seven women on my mind

The Eagles
Take It Easy

Written by Glen Frey and Jackson Browne

[KarlK]

Ryan Adams opening lines

"If the walls of the room could talk, I wonder, would they laugh?" (Please do not let me go)

"Let me go, I'm only letting you down, I've got nothing to say to you now." (Sweet Illusions -- and then spends the next 3 verses trying to explain it all).

"When they call your name, will you walk right up, with a smile on your face
Or will you cower in fear, in your favorite sweater, with an old love letter." (Come Pick me Up)

"Well, I found a bunch of letters they were written for the fellow who broke your momma's heart
And the envelope folds smelled of her ancient perfume" (Houses on the Hill)