Favorite opening lines

[redbird]

Sorry (as usual) if this sort of thread has been done to death before, but I thought I'd make a time-passer for your favorite opening lines of Mac songs. Songs from all eras are welcome though I don't have the time right now to mentally rifle through all seventeen albums Anyway here's mine from the Rumours line-up

"Rhiannon rings like a bell through the night and wouldn't you love to love her?" - Rhiannon

"Have mercy, baby, on a poor girl like me" - Say You Love Me

"I took my love and I took it down" - Landslide

"Now here you go again, you say you want your freedom" - Dreams

"She broke down and let me in" - Never Going Back Again

"Loving you isn't the right thing to do" (and "How can I change things that I feel?") - Go Your Own Way

"Listen to the wind blow, watch the sunrise" - The Chain

"Sweet, wonderful you" - You Make Loving Fun

"Rock on, gold dust woman" - GDW

"Wait a minute baby, stay with me a while" - Sara

"What makes you think you're the one who can laugh without crying?" - WMYTYTO

"Sometimes the most beautiful things ... the most innocent things ..." - Angel

"You look at me with those brown eyes, what are you going to do?" Brown Eyes

"Why don't you ask him if he's going to stay, why don't you ask him if he's going away?" - Tusk

"Can't help it 'bout the shape I'm in" - Oh Well (I know, but they did perform it)

"Standing in the shadows of the man I used to be" - Can't Go Back

"Meet me down by the railway station" - That's Alright

"I'm out of my mind and it's only over you" - Only Over You (I'm not big on the whole song but that's a cool line)

"Looking out for love in the night so still" - Big Love

"Go on, save yourself" - Smile At You

"Well once again she steals away" - Bleed to Love Her

I feel like these lines are either really iconic or get to the point really quickly, or are just interesting ways to start a song. Like the opener of "Sara" places you immediately in the middle of a scene and introduces the element of fascination. Or, you know, some just sound really cool to me. If I didn't know the songs and was only reading the lyric sheet they'd make me want to know more.

[michelej1]

I know you're doing FM, but I love:


I'm tired. I'm thirsty. I'm wild eyed, in my misery. SN

Fire still burning, in awhile she'll make it rain. LB

Long and slender, altar in the sky. LB

My love sits like a curse, voodoo from the past. CM (well Dan, really)

I'm falling down inside myself, like a thousand times before. Dan again

Michele

[redbird]

Originally Posted by michelej1

I know you're doing FM, but I love:


I'm tired. I'm thirsty. I'm wild eyed, in my misery. SN

I love that one too. And anything vaguely FM related works for me, more to talk about.

[GypsySorcerer]

After the music ended, there was nowhere to go but down.

Temptation falls in your path.

Could you ever need me?

I hear your heart as you pass through.

If it's me that's driving you to this madness.

[michelej1]

Originally Posted by GypsySorcerer

I hear your heart as you pass through.

If it's me that's driving you to this madness.

These are great ones. I'm using FM lyrics in something I'm writing and I didn't think of Under the Skin, but now I will add it to the list.

Michele

[johnnystorms]

Step into the velvet of the morning

Every night that goes between, I feel a little less

If I could turn the page in time then i'd rearrange just a day or two

[MacShadowsBall]

Originally Posted by redbird

"Have mercy, baby, on a poor girl like me" - Say You Love Me

"Now here you go again, you say you want your freedom" - Dreams

"Loving you isn't the right thing to do" (and "How can I change things that I feel?") - Go Your Own Way

"Listen to the wind blow, watch the sunrise" - The Chain

"Sweet, wonderful you" - You Make Loving Fun

Some of my fav's right there.

[Villavic]

At first I thought you meant live opening lines, then I recalled:

"This isa song about a Welsh witch"
‎

[fairydust75]

Your hands held mine......so few hours....but I'm not a child anymore...I'm not a child...oh no..

[PenguinHead]

Originally Posted by fairydust75

Your hands held mine......so few hours....but I'm not a child anymore...I'm not a child...oh no..

Nice lyric, but not an opening line.

[PenguinHead]

Rhiannon rings like a bell through the night

Meet me down by the railway station

Loving you isn't the right thing to do

Could you ever need me, and would you know how?

Listen to the wind on the water

It's not home, and it's not Tara

So I'm back to the velvet underground

New York, open your eyes to me

All the saints and sinners, they pay handsomely

When the sun goes down and the moon shines bright

Dim and wavering on a wind-blown night

You can take me to paradise, then again, you can be cold as ice

Sliding down the karma slide

Step into the velvet of the morning

Sanity, we long to see you

[shackin'up]

tarantula.... Yes, Michelej !

For some reason, I've always liked:

Countin' on my fingers / Countin' on my toes / Slippin' thru your fingers / Watchin' how it grows.

[michelej1]

I got a bad complication. I keep it to myself. I got some strange information. I can't think of nothin' else.

The lyrics that make you want to probe further for an explanation are the best openers.

Michele

[WildHearted]

I think "Sara" wins overall for me... it just kind of sets the mood, and I like it because you get the sense that the entire purpose of those lines is to draw you into the song - that section, musically, is never repeated again.

[moon]

My favourites:

- "Intense silence, as she walked in the room..."

- "What can I say this time, which card shall I play?"