re: Best opening line in a song

Early one morning the sun was shining, I was layin’ In bed;
Wonderin’ If you’d changed at all,
If your hair was still red

Flew in from Miami Beach BOAC, didn't get to sleep last night

Dear Doctor, please help me, I'm damaged

I been run down, and I been lied to

Here come old flattop, he come grooving up slowly

Well, I been down so god-damn long, that it looks like up to me

The only things in life that make it worth livin' are guitars tuned good and firm-feelin' women

I am he as you are he as you are me and we are all together

Whiskey river, take my mind
Don't let her memory torture me
Whiskey river, don't run dry
You're all I got, take care of me.

I like the way Clapton busts right into “It’s in the way that you use it” with the very first guitar chord.

I'm Lester the Nightfly
Hello Baton Rouge

quote:

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Please allow me to introduce myself
I’m a man of wealth and taste

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/thread

It was the third of September
A day I'll always remember
Cause that was the day my Daddy died
(Papa Was a Rolling Stone - The Temptations 1972)


Living on the road my friend
was going to keep you free and clean.
Now you wear your skin like iorn,
and your breath's as hard as kerosene.
(Pancho and Lefty - Townes Van Zandt 1972)

Come gather 'round people
wherever you roam
and admit that the waters around you have grown.
And accept it now soon,
you'll be drenched to the bone.
If your time to you is worth saving
Then you better start swimming
or you'll sink like a stone
for the times they are a changin.
(The Times They Are a Changin - Bob Dylan 1964)

This thread proves that there is obviously no one "best" - been giving out upvotes right and left

Here's one of my favorites from Robert Johnson:

quote:

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I got to keep moving
I got to keep moving
Blues falling down like hail
Blues falling down like hail
And the day keeps on remindin' me
There's a hellhound on my trail
Hellhound on my trail
Hellhound on my trail

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Here's a somewhat obscure one (well, obscure in that you never hear it on the radio anymore, despite the fact that it was a top 20 hit from an album that sold 10 million copies):

quote:

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Sometimes in my bed at night
I curse the dark and I pray for light
And sometimes the light's no consolation

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But my all time favorite would have to be this one from Bobby "Blue" Bland, as written by Brock Benton:

quote:

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I know you've been hurt by someone else
I can tell by the way you carry yourself

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But it's much more effective hearing the man sing it himself

Iron Maiden-The Trooper
You'll take my life, but I'll take yours too
You'll fire your musket, but I'll run you through
So when you're waiting for the next attack
You'd better stand, there's no turning back

NIN/Johnny Cash-Hurt
I hurt myself today
To see if I still feel
I focus on the pain
The only thing that's real
The needle tears a hole
The old familiar sting
Try to kill it all away
But I remember everything