Best first line of a song?

[Phillycat]

Both words and delivery. I choose Tom Waits--Mr Siegel.

"Well I spent all my money in a Mexican whorehouse, across the street from a Catholic church."

Edited to add please put the artist in there too!

[mac56]

1. "Well, I used to be disgusted...

but now I try to be amused."

[Phillycat]

3. Who is that?

[Gato Moteado]

7. elvis

nt

[Phillycat]

8. Ah!

The King. :)

[mac56]

13. indeed

[Phillycat]

17. Double Ah!

THAT Elvis. :)

[billybob537]

19. Elvis Costello, The Angels want to wear my red shoes?

[fudge stripe cookays]

2. "Your love is like greasy friend noodles....

instantly gratifying...makes me wanna come back for more."

TPOH
"Food"

[Phillycat]

5. Who is TPOH?

[asthmaticeog]

10. The Pursuit of Happiness.

late '80s - early '90s smartassy college rock band. Decent stuff, for Canadians.

[Phillycat]

11. Blame Canada!

:)

[mairceridwen]

4. Love's "Live and let live"

oh, the snot has caked against my pants It has turned into crystal

[TN al]

6. "I heard Woodrow Wilson's guns"...

...Warren Zevon

[BigMcLargehuge]

9. Hotel Hobbies padding dawn's hollow corridors

bellboys checking out the hookers in the bar
sluglike fingers drag the star spangled clouds of cocain on the mirror
the short straw took it bow.

From Marillion's "Hotel Hobbies"

The other great first line from that album is from the "At That Time of the Night"...

"It was a wedding ring, destined to be found in a cheap hotel, lost in a kitchen sink, or thrown in a wishing well."

[Phillycat]

16. Ooh, I really like the second one. n/t

[Magrittes Pipe]

12. They sentenced me to 20 years of boredom...

...for trying to change the system from within.

Gotta go with Lenny on this one.

[eyesroll]

14. "It began when they come took me from my home

and put me in Dead Row, of which I am nearly wholly innocent, you know..."

[Phillycat]

30. NEARLY wholly innocent?

Is that like being kind of pregnant?

[eyesroll]

36. "Mercy Seat," Nick Cave.

Great song live.

[CanuckAmok]

38. "It was a miracle I even got out of London alive..."

Mr. Cave's "I'll Love You 'til the End of the World".

His first lines are great.

[eyesroll]

42. The first line of Into My Arms cracked up our wedding attendees:

"I don't believe in an interventionist god..."

(This was our "first dance" song. I went through an obnoxious-atheist phase in high school and most of my relatives thought the song funny.)

[JimmyJazz]

50. It's up to you not to heed the call up

you must not act the way you were brought up...


(What did you expect from me - Barry Manilow :7)

[ET Awful]

15. I still smell tobacco on my fingers, my breath reeks of pot, wine and sex

"Chelsea Hotel" by Dan Bern

[Phillycat]

46. Okay, that might be my favorite so far.

I'd have to hear the delivery though.

[ET Awful]

47. It's kind of a folk-rock feel . . .

I still smell tobacco on my fingers
My breath reeks of pot and wine and sex
My eyes open up like they haven’t in years
So I don’t miss whatever happens next
You call me a thief, all right I’m a thief
Grab your summons, come and ring my bell
I’ll be making love with my baby in the Chelsea hotel

I told you to meet me at eight o’clock
I said I’ll be drinking at the bar
I drove between Newark and LaGuardia
Trying to return a rented car
We’ve been missing connections today
But tomorrow would be just as well
I gotta go make love with my baby at the Chelsea hotel

I’ve been walking all around your neighborhood
My former love
You seem as far away and as sad to me
As those rain clouds above
I hope you’re happy, and whatever you're doing
I hope you’re doing well
And please don’t try to contact me at the Chelsea hotel

I was starting to think
The world was going to end when the calendar turned
But now you’re here I see the future baby
And they can let the calendar burn

New love is beautiful, but new love is sad
New love brings back all the old loves
That you’ve ever had
I put out a casting call, and you cast a spell
And we’re practicing for the millennium at the Chelsea hotel

So who knows what tomorrow brings
But I know where I’ll be waking up
Let’s just listen to our breath tonight
And the breeze through the window that you opened up
Can you feel our hearts beating
Which one’s yours, which one’s mine, you can’t tell
It’s just another day of making love at the Chelsea hotel
I spent all day making love at the Chelsea hotel

[Phillycat]

53. Those are cool lyrics!

Here are the full lyrics to the Tom Waits song I picked:

Mr. Siegal"

I spent all my money in a mexican whorehouse,
Across the street from a catholic church,
And then I wiped off my revolver, and I buttoned up my burgundy shirt
I shot the morning in the back, with my red wings on
I told the sun he'd better go back down
If I can find a book of matches, I'm goin' to burn this hotel down.

You got to tell me brave captain, why are the wicked so strong?
How do the angels get to sleep, when the devil leaves the porchlight on?

Well I dropped thirty grand on the Nugget slots
I had to sell my ass on Fremont street
And the drummer said there's sanctuary, over at the Bagdhad room
And now it's one for the money, two for the show, three to get ready,
and go man go
I said tell me Mr. Siegel, how do I get out of here?

Well Willard's knocked out on a bottle of heat
Drivin' dangerous curves across the dirty sheets
He said man you ought to see her, when her parents are gone
Man you ought to hear her when the siren's on.

You got to tell me brave captain, why are the wicked so strong?
How do the angels get to sleep, when the devil leaves the porchlight on?

Don't you know that ain't no broken bottle, that I picked up in my
headlights
On the other side of the nevada line
Where they live hard, die young, and have a good lookin' corpse every time
Well the pit-boss said I should keep movin'
This is where you go when you die
And so I shot a black beauty, and I kissed her right between the eyes.

Well Willard's knocked out on a bottle of heat
Drivin' dangerous curves across dirty sheets
He said when the bitch is wound up, and her parents
are gone, man you ought to hear her with the siren on.
You got to tell me brave captain, why are the wicked so strong?
How do the angels get to sleep, when the devil leaves the porchlight on?

[ET Awful]

57. Dan's a cool guy :)

His latest album is "My Country II" and it's subtitled as "Music to Beat Bush By" :).

[billybob537]

18. Looking back at the crash site,

I don't see me by the roadside.

[ChavezSpeakstheTruth]

20. Doo doo doo doo doo doo doo kicker of elves

[ChavezSpeakstheTruth]

22. Bass. How low can you go?

[Phillycat]

23. Death Row! What a brother know!

[flvegan]

82. Once again, back is the incredible, the rhyme animal, D

Public Enemy number one

[SidDithers]

21. I was happy in the haze of a drunken hour...

but heaven knows I'm miserable now.

Sid

[Phillycat]

24. Oh, I love Morrissey.

[SidDithers]

27. I figured we needed some Morissey representation up there

:toast:

Sid

[Squeech]

25. Captain Beefheart, "Lick My Decals Off Baby"

Rather than I wanna hold your hand, I wanna swallow you whole"

[tigereye]

43. When I see Mommy I Feel Like A Mummy

pretty much all of CB's lyrics are pretty out there.

[nyhuskyfan]

26. I like this one...

Spotcheck Billy got down on his hands and knees; he said, "Hey Mama, hey, let me check your oil, all right?"

All right, it's probably my favorite song ever written (Fat Man In The Bathtub), so that makes my vote a little bit suspect.

[redqueen]

28. History repeats the old conceits

The glib replies, the same defeats

[billybob537]

29. Crazy Janey and her mission man,

were back in the ally trading hands.

[Quahog]

31. "With karate I'll kick your ass...

... from here to Tiananmen Square
Oooh, yeah you mutherfucka gonna kick your fuckin derierre."

Tenacious D

[MissMillie]

32. Criminal by Fiona Apple

"I've been a bad, bad girl...."

[gpandas]

33. i was drunk

the day my ma got outta' prison.-david allen coe

[markus]

37. an' I went / to pick her up / in the rai-ain!

Man, I love that song.

Fond memories of the Abbey on Decautur St. in N'wawlins when Betz Brown was the owner.

[livinginphotographs]

34. With so much drama in the LBC

it's kind of hard being Snoop D O double G..."

Like every good suburban white kid, I know the entire first verse and most of the rest of the song.

Don't even get me started on the Fresh Prince theme song.

[Surf Cowboy]

35. I was born in a cross-fire hurricane,

[sniffa]

39. you don't... fuck wit shady

cuz shady.. wiLL fucking kiLL you

[CanuckAmok]

40. "And I was gripped (snap) by that deadly phantom"...

Death is a Star, by the Clash.

[JimmyJazz]

55. That's my favorite!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I ALMOST used that one, but I chose the first line of the call up instead!!!!!!!! I thought it was more appropriate for the times. You rock CanuckAmok!!!!!

Okay, if you figure this out, you are my new best friend: "Dean had every right to die the sweet deaths of complete love of his Marylou. I didn't want to interfere, I just wanted to follow."

[kermujin]

71. when they kick in your front door/...

how're you gonna come?
with your hands on your head
or on the trigger of your gun?
...
(the clash, "guns of brixton")

i dunno. i'm the world's biggest pacifist, but this song causes me to ROCK OUT!
:D

[Magrittes Pipe]

41. Doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo.

Everybody loves some Suzanne Vega, right?

Hello?

*crickets*

[tigereye]

45. well after Capt Beefheart

it would have to be Warren Zevon:

I saw a werewolf with a Chinese menu in his hand

I know it is ubiquitous, but it's still a great, great line.

[Beaverhausen]

59. Dee dee dee dee dee dee dee dee dee dee dee dee dee dee

doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo
etc.

and here's to you Mrs. Robinson...

[asthmaticeog]

44. Desperado...

...why don't you come to your senses? You been out ridin' fences for so long now.

Awwwww yeah, that's the GOOD stuff!

[Magrittes Pipe]

49. HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

:D

[CBHagman]

48. "On a morning from a Bogart movie...

...in a country where they turn back time, you go strolling through the crowd like Peter Lorre contemplating a crime."

-- Al Stewart, "The Year of the Cat"

Any song that manages to mention both Bogie and Peter Lorre in its first line is all right with me. Then again, I love "Up on Cripple Creek" partly because it mentions Spike Jones.

[goodboy]

51. Clever got me this far, then tricky got me in....APC

[Beware the Beast Man]

52. "Ooh, baby, I like it raw..."

ODB

[Phillycat]

58. "I got the illest p***sy on the planet"

Foxy Brown.

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

54. well it's 40 below and I don't give a fuck got a heater in my truck

and I'm off to the rodeo

[Phillycat]

60. AWESOME.

[asthmaticeog]

61. I have that record.

I'm not like, proud or anything, just surprised as hell to see it quoted!

[HEyHEY]

56. God save the Queen - the facist regime

I don't know, there are so many good lines

[kariatari]

62. I can't believe the news today, I can't close my eyes and make it go away

[Phillycat]

67. How long? How long must we sing this song?

Great delivery too.

[HEyHEY]

69. Yeah, that line used to send shivers up my back

[Duncan Grant]

84. That's a perfect choice; great delivery and great opening line.

:thumbsup:

[UpsideDownFlag]

63. johnny cash's "sunday morning coming down" is a good opener

"Well, I woke up Sunday morning
With no way to hold my head that didn't hurt.
And the beer I had for breakfast wasn't bad,
So I had one more for dessert.
Then I fumbled in my closet through my clothes
And found my cleanest dirty shirt.
Then I washed my face and combed my hair
And stumbled down the stairs to meet the day."

[JimmyJazz]

66. Very good choice n/t

[Phillycat]

68. Wow, I love that.

[VOX]

73. Great song! Actually, it was written by Kris Kristofferson...

http://www.nashvillesongwritersfoundation.com/fame/kristof.html

It's often attributed to Cash (who gave Kristofferson his big break).

:thumbsup:

[Ron Green]

64. "Take out the papers and the trash!"

...opening line of "Yakkety Yak" by the Coasters. Probably written by Lieber/Stoller. Starts cold, no intro. Best opening line of a song.

[JimmyJazz]

65. It ain't my fault it's 6:00 in the morning...

Broadway - Sandinista

[bobbobbins]

70. anything from bruce springsteen

he has a way of grabbin you at the first line.

[fishwax]

72. Oh, God said to Abraham, Kill me a son

Any first line from any other song off Dylan's Highway 61 Revisited would work too, though :)

[Texasgal]

74. I like your pants around your feet.....

And I like the dirt that's on your knees
And I like the way you say please
While you're looking up at me
You're like my favorite damn disease

-Nickeback

[VOX]

75. "Would you let me walk down your street naked if I want to?"

Moby Grape, 1967, "Naked If I Want To"

Would you let me walk down your street
Naked, if I want to?

Can I pop fireworks
On the Fourth of July?

Can I buy an amplifier
On time?

I ain't got no money now,
But I will pay you before I die.

[Bossy Monkey]

76. Are you still telling people that you're better off dead?

Steve Wynn, "Closer"

[Phillycat]

77. Hey, I remember that song!

[SheWhoMustBeObeyed]

78. "Tadpoles keep screaming in my ear, 'Hey there! Rotter's Club!' -

Explain the meaning of this song and share it."
- "Share It," Hatfield & The North

[Forkboy]

79. In San Francisco you can be mayor at 18 but you gotta be 26 to drive a cab

From "The Myth Is Real-Let's Eat!" by Jello Biafra and NoMeansNo.

[shingashong]

80. "I'm me, baby, goddamn, I am! I can't sing and hear me, know me!"

IF YOU WANT TO DESTROY MY SWEATER!
PULL THIS THREAD AS I WALK AWAY!!!!

Love that song!

[shingashong]

81. Oops...forgot to put, it's "Sweater (The Undone Song)" by Weezer n/t

[flvegan]

83. Mama, take this badge off of me...Dylan

[lpbk2713]

85. Kris Kristofferson

Well I woke up Sunday morning with no way to hold my head that didn't hurt.
And the beer I had for breakfast wasn't bad, so I had one more for dessert.



He wrote it. He and Cash both had hits with it.

Ed: Sorry for the dupe, I just noticed #63 above. (When a thread is this long I don't always read all the posts.)

[Duncan Grant]

86. At last...

My love has come along
My lonely days are over
And life is like a song

Etta James - "At Last"

The first two words won't stop you in your tracks but the delivery will. :thumbsup:

[Kenneth ken]

87. Here's wishing you the bluest skies

and hoping something better comes tomorrow.
- Ray Davies

but I learnt it from Dar Williams version.