The Greatest Opening Lines In Music

Special First Impressions
The Greatest Opening Lines In Music
intro
The best songs in music history are made of more than just a poignant melody or a catchy beat – they’re poetry tied up in song. Some of the most memorable among them grab the listener right from the start, with opening lyrics that set the tone for the rest of the tune to come. We explore the greatest opening lines ever written – and the talented songwriters who dreamed them up.

By James Lee-Tullis

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Special First Impressions
The Greatest Opening Lines In Music.
Werewolves
WARREN ZEVON, WEREWOLVES OF LONDON – 1978: “I saw a werewolf with a Chinese menu in his hand, walking through the streets of Soho in the rain.” Proof positive that sometimes the most beguiling lyrics are simply ones that put the listener in the heart of a scene, however bizarre that scene might be.

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The Greatest Opening Lines In Music.
Albion
PETE DOHERTY, ALBION – 2005: “Down in Albion, they’re black and blue, but we don’t talk about that.” Invoking ‘Albion’ the poetical name for England, Doherty prefaces a litany of elegiac, plaintive and, at times, pathetic images of England with a disclosure about the grubby, but somehow faintly heroic vision of England that he is about to reveal. “Down in Albion, they’re black and blue, but we don’t talk about that.” Indeed.

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The Greatest Opening Lines In Music.
Fairytale of new york
THE POGUES, FAIRYTALE OF NEW YORK – 1988: “It was Christmas Eve, babe, in the drunk tank. An old man said to me: ‘Won’t see another one.’” Another song on our list that takes a decidedly dramatic approach, placing the audience as a fly on the wall, but already starting to give the heartstrings a sharp tug.

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The Greatest Opening Lines In Music.
All along the watchtower
BOB DYLAN, ALL ALONG THE WATCHTOWER – 1967: “‘There must be some way out of here,’ said the joker to the thief.” Surely the most accomplished songwriter in the history of popular music, Dylan lends proceedings here an elemental, almost mythical note by labelling his characters as ‘the joker’ and ‘the thief’. Jimi Hendrix recognised the cataclysmic power of the song and took it to an incandescent level with his famous cover version.

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The Greatest Opening Lines In Music.
Common People
PULP, COMMON PEOPLE – 1995: “She came from Greece, she had a thirst for knowledge, she studied sculpture at Saint Martin’s College.” Did you see what they did there? They rhymed ‘knowledge’ with ‘college’? Okay, it might not be the most sophisticated lyric ever, but that is its strength. The naturalistic, conversational style draws the audience close and gets them rooting for the characters involved.

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The Greatest Opening Lines In Music.
Paranoid Android
RADIOHEAD, PARANOID ANDROID – 1997: “Please could you stop the noise, I’m trying to get some rest, from all the unborn chicken voices in my head.” Dark, brooding, unsettling, these are lyrics deliberately intended to make you stop, feel, think and ponder the uncomfortable themes of the song and its album, OK, Computer.

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Special First Impressions
The Greatest Opening Lines In Music.
First we take Manhattan
LEONARD COHEN, FIRST WE TAKE MANHATTAN – 1987: “They sentenced me to 20 years of boredom, for trying to change the system from within.” This entire list could easily have been filled with Leonard Cohen lyrics, but this particular highlight perfectly captures the mordant, sardonic wit that characterised many of his best songs.

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The Greatest Opening Lines In Music.
Comfortably Numb
PINK FLOYD, COMFORTABLY NUMB – 1980: “Hello, Is there anybody in there, just nod if you can hear me, is there anyone at home?” Are the band singing about themselves? About their former leader Syd Barrett? Who knows, but the listener is hooked from the first line… and there’s no way back.

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The Greatest Opening Lines In Music.
Gloria
PATTI SMITH, GLORIA – 1975: “Jesus died for somebody’s sins, but not mine.” Bold, brooding, unashamed, Patti Smith’s opening lines heralded one of the most powerful debut albums ever recorded, and the arrival of one of the greatest poets in popular music.

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The Greatest Opening Lines In Music.
Life On Mars
DAVID BOWIE, LIFE ON MARS – 1971: “It’s a God-awful small affair to the girl with the mousy hair, but her mummy is yelling no and her daddy has told her to go.” It’s the poignant details (the mousy hair, the God-awful small affair) that lend these opening lyrics a haunted, haunting quality that the song goes on to explore.

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The Greatest Opening Lines In Music.
In Dreams
ROY ORBISON, IN DREAMS – 1963: “A candy-colored clown they call the Sandman tiptoes to my room every night.” Delivered in a half-sung, half-spoken style, Orbison’s inspired opening line invites the Sandman to put himself to sleep – a state in which Orbison freely admitted that many of his songs stemmed from, allowing the dreams of his love to emerge.

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The Greatest Opening Lines In Music.
Big Yellow Taxi
JONI MITCHELL, BIG YELLOW TAXI – 1970: “They paved paradise and put up a parking lot, With a pink hotel, a boutique and a swinging hot spot.” There are endless examples of memorable Joni Mitchell lyrics, but with this line – from one of her most famous songs – she had her audience smiling, singing and shaking their heads all at the same time.

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The Greatest Opening Lines In Music.
Everyday is like Sunday
MORRISSEY, EVERYDAY IS LIKE SUNDAY – 1988: “Trudging slowly over wet sand, back to the bench where your clothes were stolen.” The deliciously miserabilist tone of the song is set from the opening line. Morrissey was tapping into a rich seam with this and the song’s subsequent images.

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The Greatest Opening Lines In Music.
Lola
THE KINKS, LOLA – 1970: “I met her in a club down in old Soho, where you drink Champagne and it tastes just like cherry cola.” One of many classic Ray Davies lyrics, the opening line sets the scene adroitly – and sets the stage for the surprise of ‘the dark brown voice’ and much more to come.

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The Greatest Opening Lines In Music.
Sign o' the times
PRINCE, SIGN O’ THE TIMES – 1987: “In France a skinny man died of a big disease with a little name.” Prince’s lyrical abilities were often underrated, but when the muse took him, no one could deny that he knew how to turn a phrase. This devastatingly concise opening line signposted the emergence of AIDS in the popular consciousness.

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Special First Impressions
The Greatest Opening Lines In Music.
Sympathy for the devil
THE ROLLING STONES, SYMPATHY FOR THE DEVIL – 1968: “Please allow me to introduce myself, I’m a man of wealth and taste.” Jagger at his most sly, seductive and insinuating best. His charm was never more devilish than here.

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The Greatest Opening Lines In Music.
Love And Affection
JOAN ARMATRADING, LOVE AND AFFECTION – 1976: “I am not in love, but I’m open to persuasion.” By turns flirtatious, feisty and wistful, this monumental ballad captured the hearts and minds of its listeners from the first line. Really, she had us at ‘persuasion’…

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The Greatest Opening Lines In Music.
Working Class Hero
JOHN LENNON/PLASTIC ONO BAND, WORKING CLASS HERO – 1970: “As soon as you’re born, they make you feel small…” Lennon distilled all the power and bitterness of his suppressed political rage into just one line. More than a line, it echoes as a warning.

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The Greatest Opening Lines In Music.
Whiter Shade Of PAle
PROCUL HARUM, WHITER SHADE OF PALE – 1967: “We skipped the light fandango, turned cartwheels ‘cross the floor.” An enduring classic, the lyrics of the song are at times gnomic and elusive, but intrigue all the more for that.

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The Greatest Opening Lines In Music.
Three Little Birds
BOB MARLEY, THREE LITTLE BIRDS – 1977: “Don’t worry about a thing, cause every little thing gonna be alright.” This classic track first appeared on the reggae icon’s Exodus album in 1977. More than anything, it shows that even a deceptively simple opening line can reassure and capture the attention of an audience.

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The Greatest Opening Lines In Music.
Sound Of Silence
SIMON & GARFUNKEL, SOUND OF SILENCE – 1965: “Hello darkness, my old friend, I’ve come to talk with you again.” Was there ever a more arresting opening line than this one? And its blacker than black tone wasn’t from a gothic-infused death metal band or an incendiary gangsta rap act, but rather from those folk-pop ‘bad boys’ Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel. Who’d a thunk it?

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The Greatest Opening Lines In Music.
God Save The Queen
GOD SAVE THE QUEEN, SEX PISTOLS – 1977: “God save the queen, The fascist regime, They made you a moron, A potential H-Bomb.” Well, that was a conversation stopper. And a conversation starter, as it happens. With the opening line to their second single, the Pistols’ ‘honoured’ Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II’s Silver Jubilee with a raucous and, to many, gleefully impudent rage. Punk had landed.

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The Greatest Opening Lines In Music.
Eleanor Rigby
THE BEATLES, ELEANOR RIGBY – 1966: “Ah, look at all the lonely people!” No band before or after ever matured from pure pop to something so much more substantial in the way that The Beatles did. The profound vision of Paul McCartney’s song is signalled in magnificent brevity from its very first line.

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The Greatest Opening Lines In Music.
New Slang
THE SHINS, NEW SLANG – 2001: “Gold teeth and a curse for this town, were all in my mouth.” In the late ‘90s, grunge seemed to fade away as fast as it had arrived in the wake of Kurt Cobain’s tragic death. In a quieter, but still utterly beguiling way, James Mercer’s hymn to disoriented alienation filled some of the space that grunge had left in the musical landscape.

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Special First Impressions
The Greatest Opening Lines In Music.
Born to run
BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN, BORN TO RUN – 1975: “In the day we sweat it out on the streets of a runaway American dream.” Was there ever a more quintessentially Bruce moment than this? All sweat-drenched intensity infused with Americana. Whatever, it worked. Bruce sang his heart out – and the world listened.

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Special First Impressions
The Greatest Opening Lines In Music.
Lose yourself
EMINEM, LOSE YOURSELF – 2002: “Look, if you had one shot, or one opportunity to seize everything you ever wanted, in one moment, would you capture it or just let it slip?” For all the controversies that swirled around Marshall Bruce Mathers III, aka Slim Shady, aka Eminem, he showed a complete mastery of his art with this opening line, putting his listeners and fans right at the heart of the drama. Who wouldn’t want to listen on after that?

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The Greatest Opening Lines In Music.
Johnny B Goode
CHUCK BERRY, JOHNNY B. GOODE – 1958: “Deep down in Louisiana close to New Orleans, way back up in the woods among the evergreens, there stood a log cabin made of earth and wood, where lived a country boy named Johnny B. Goode.” Berry seamlessly sets the scene for one of rock music’s first myth-building ‘rags to riches’ songs and creates the template for many more to come.

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Special First Impressions
The Greatest Opening Lines In Music.
Into My arms
NICK CAVE & THE BAD SEEDS, INTO MY ARMS – 1997: “I don’t believe in an interventionist God, but I know, darling, that you do.” Perhaps the greatest lyricist of his generation, Cave always knows how to command the attention of the listener – and he does it here with a compelling and hypnotic intensity.

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The Greatest Opening Lines In Music.
NWA
N.W.A, STRAIGHT OUTTA COMPTON – 1998: “Straight outta Compton, crazy mother***a named Ice Cube, from the gang called Ni**az Wit Attitudes.” The first line of the first song on their first studio album, and N.W.A single-handedly invent gangsta rap and announce themselves to the world with unmatchable bravado and, yes, attitude.

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Special First Impressions
The Greatest Opening Lines In Music.
Tutti Frutti
LITTLE RICHARD, TUTTI FRUTTI – 1955: “A-wop-bop-a-loo-bop-a-lop-bam-boom.” We end our list with this wild clarion call from Richard Wayne Penniman. With all due respect to Bill Haley and his trusty Comets, who released Rock Around the Clock a year earlier, it was Penniman – better known as Little Richard – who set the template for future icons from Jagger and Bowie to Mercury, Prince et al. More than that, with this opening line, rock and roll had found its voice.

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Special First Impressions

The Greatest Opening Lines In Music

31/30

Special First Impressions