Great First Lines of Song Lyrics

Vinny, over at Bond's Big Leather Couch, always has the most interesting memes to do. This may end up being one of my alltime favorites, along with the great guitar solo one about a year back (that one was freaking AMAZING!!) ... so I stole it.


The name of the game is to list the 10 best opening lines of song lyrics. This took me a while because there are so many truly inspired lyrics that it was difficult to narrow the field to only 10.

In the spirit of fun, I've listed the opening lines and then further down the page, I named the song and the artist responsible. How many can you get without peeking?


Here we go - 10 of the best opening lines of song lyrics, in no particular order, according to the gospel of Coco:



10. "Hey Mr. President, all you congressmen, too: you got me frustrated and I don't know what to do cuz I'm trying to make a living and I can't save a cent, it takes all of my money just to eat and pay my rent."

9. "How can you stand the silence that pervades when we all cry; how can you watch the violence that erupts before your eyes?"

8. "Heaven can wait and a band of angels wrapped up in my heart will take me through the lonely night, through the cold of the day."

7. "Really don't mind if you sit this one out, my words but a whisper - your deafness a SHOUT."

6. "We skipped the light fandango, turned cartwheels 'cross the floor."

5. "And the men who hold high places must be the ones who start to mold a new reality closer to the heart."

4. "Old pirates, yes, they rob I, sold I to the merchant ships minutes after they took I from the bottomless pit."

3. "Is it getting better or do you feel the same, will it make it easier on you now you've got someone to blame?"

2. "If I could save time in a bottle, the first thing that I'd like to do is to save every day till eternity passes away just to spend them with you." (for my dear One - miss you always)

1. "There are places I remember all my life, though some have changed."


And here are the song titles and artists:

10. "Inflation Blues" - Louis Jordan

9. "Wonderful Remark" - Van Morrison (you KNEW I'd include at least one, right?)

8. "Heaven Can Wait" - Meat Loaf

7. "Thick As A Brick" - Jethro Tull

6. " Whiter Shade of Pale" - Procol Harum

5. "Closer To The Heart" - Rush

4. "Redemption Song" - Bob Marley and the Wailers

3. "One" - U2

2. "Time In A Bottle" - Jim Croce

1. "In My Life" - The Beatles


Dang, I could have gone on for hours. These are not just great first lines, but incredibly POWERFUL songs, overall. This was a lot of fun - thank you for the idea, Vinny.

Now, I can't resist sharing one of these amazing songs ...