Best opening lyrics to an album?
And yes, that means song one, side one, track one, line one. However you want to say it, the first words you hear when you press play (assuming it's not on shuffle).
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7 comments:
Ok, so this one was heartbreaking because there are so many great opening lyrics but here they are in no specific order. oh yeah, and i narrowed it down to 9... sorry, couldn't cut any more.
9) DC Talk - Jesus Freak - "I got something for ya man" This lyric wasn't even in a song, it was just the first words you heard when you started the cd. In 7th grade, it's prolly the coolest way to start a song
8) Flogging Molly - Swagger - Salty Dog "I'll wait for you 'til i turn blue there's nothing more a man can do don't get your bollocks in a twist now settle down don't take a fit!" The energy alone puts these lyrics up there for me
7) Green Day - Dookie - Burnout "I declare I don't care no more, I'm burning up and out and growing bored, in my smoked out boring room" The way the words fit into the melody of the song are unique and what appropriate lyrics to start a cd from the grunge era
6) Weezer - Pinkerton - Tired of Sex "I'm tired, so tired, I'm tired of having sex." This lyric surprised the heck out of me when I first heard it and I loved the frustration you feel when you hear it, another case where the lyrics and the style of music just fit
5) Tim Mcgraw - Everywhere - Where the Green Grass Grows "6 lanes, taillights, red ants marching into the night, they disappear to the left and right again" This is the lyric that started my love affair with country music. Listen to it and even if you don't like country it's got to appeal to you!
4) Blues Traveler - Four - Run Around "Oh once upon a midnight dreary I woke with something in my head..." Everybody knows this lyric and everybody can sing along to the song, the only problem is, this is one of the few lyrics you can actually follow, ha! how could it not be in this list!
3) U2 - Joshua Tree - Where the streets have no name "I want to run, I want to hide, I want to tear down the walls that hold me inside" Why is this not number one? because everybody else will prolly have it there. listen to it
2) Relient K - Mmhmm - The one I'm Waiting For "The way that girl can break a heart, it's like a work of art, and this is the worst part, she knows it" Anyone who's had their heart broken relates to this lyric! Again it meets my criteria for having to fit in with the music. great lyric
1) Stone Temple Pilots - Core - Dead and Bloated "I am smelling like a rose that somebody gave me on my birthday deathbed. I am smelling like a rose that somebody gave me 'cause I'm dead and bloated" Just listen to the opening of the song and tell me this isn't one of the toughest introductions to any cd. You can't help but sing along
There it is, sorry for the long list. Enjoy!
Dang! That is such a freakin' solid list. You definitely did steal some of mine... but no worries, that's a good sign I guess... so now I gotta compete with that... hmm
I actually haven't finished consolidating my list, I was just thinking about this yesterday as I heard the opener for a CD.... so jury is still out. Will have answer soon. Great list though... I got chills hearing Bono in my head...
alright. It's hard for me but in a different way because I think it's not so much the opening lyrics but the opening chords and music to an album that set the tone for me so it was hard to separate them. Also, there are moments within certain albums, and not necessarily at the beginning, which truly define the album or define my love for it. so I'm having trouble separating it and answering and what the question's asking. I think this is a list of openings that told me "this album is going to be so good!!"
this isn't ranked in order.
1) "Well it's 50 cups of coffee and you know it's on..." Beastie Boys on Hello Nasty.
2) "Rollin' down the road goin' nowhere, guitar packed in a trunk." Marc Broussard's Carencro
3)"Oh I've been haunted by this old ghost before" Teitur, Poetry and Airplanes
4)"I want you to be my love" Over the Rhine on Drunkard's Prayer.
5)"Step out the front door like a ghost into a fog where no one notices the contrast of white on white" yeah I don't need to cite the reference here.
6) "Sweep the dirty stairs, the ones you left me on" Jimmy Eat World, Clarity
7)"You belong among the wildflowers" Tom Petty off Wildflowers
8) "You play your stereo loud, you got your headphones. I see you dancing around to your favorite song" Josh Rouse's Nashville.
9) "And you know it's time to go, through the sleet and driving snow"
U2's The Unforgettable Fire
10) "So long ago I don't remember when, that's when they say I lost my only friend" Wallflowers' Bringing Down the Horse.
WOO I did it. I better post before I second guess myself into oblivion.
The wallflowers song almost made my list!!! it was one song away! we should talk about best musical cd intro next 'cause i've got some good ones. Get that list out there dan! let's see what you've got!
11) “I’ve been waiting all night long \ I’ve been waiting to sing your song tonight \ If you help me, just help me find your key.” A Man Like Me by Beulah. A band with the talent to set the mood and dominate the heartstrings. You are dearly missed.
10) “I'm starting to fashion an idea in my head \ Where I would impress you with every single word I said \ It would come out insightful, or brave, or smooth, or charming \ And you'd want to call me.” For You To Notice Me by Dashboard Confessional. Talk about setting the stage, the whole EP was based on him wanting to ask this girl out... and this is where it all begins. Here's to man-ing up and "seeing about a girl."
9) “As I walk through the valley where I harvest my grain, I take a look at my wife and realize she’s very plain. But that’s just perfect for an Amish like me, you know I shun fancy things like electricity.” Amish Paradise – Weird Al. You know you love it…
8) “Was it you who spoke the words that things would happen but not to me? \ Oh things are gonna happen naturally” You and I Both by Jason Mraz. The boy’s voice is sick… like butter. Let’s just say I was mrazmerized…
7) “I’m sinking like a stone in the sea \ I’m burning like a bridge for your body.” Tautou by Brand New. Such a dramatic song, simple but deep lyrics, sets the stage for the forces battling throughout the album and inside him. Makes me think "uh oh, this could get messy..."
6) “Oh, this is the start of something good, don’t you agree? \ I haven’t felt like this in so many moons, you know what I mean?” Follow Through by Gavin Degraw. I distinctly remember playing this CD for the first time in the car (outside the former Tower Records in Ffx) and being immediately hooked. Too bad he ended up being a douche (cue Matt for his mandatory Ryan Cabrera joke…)
5) “Step out the front door like a ghost... angels get a better view of the crumbling difference between wrong and right.” Round Here by Counting Crows. I know, it seems redundant… but I love this album and this song always, always opens Adam's greatest musical novel. Waiting through 13 seconds of silence has never been so worth it…
4) “Take control of the atmosphere \ Take me far away from here, there is no better loss than to lose myself in you \ In a parachute tonight, I am captive in your sky \ Surrender somehow becomes so beautiful“ Control by Mute Math. These lines opened my eyes to Mute Math's music and beyond. They still have the power to move me and blow me away. I listened to this song three times through before going on to track 2.
3) “Woke up today to everything grey \ And all that I saw just kept going on and on” What You Wish For by Guster. My first taste of Guster on the ride back from snowboarding. I think I started smiling uncontrollably and wishing I knew the words so I could sing along... while eating Sheetz MTO
2) "Well in the end, my friend, we will all be together again \ Clutching onto my hand, in the valley we'll stand, just living again" City On Down by O.A.R. My favorite O.A.R. opening lines, and yes, I like the live version from Any Time Now best, but didn’t count live albums, so this will have to be track 1 version from Souls Aflame. Still money...
1) "Well it's 50 cups a coffee and you know it's on \ I move the crowd to the break-a-break-a-dawn \ Can't rock the house without the party people \ Cause when we're gettin' down, we are all equal" - Super Disco Breakin' by Beastie Boys. This was the song that started the whole debate in my head. Every time I hear it I think, “Damn, those have to be the best opening lines ever…”
nice list... i love it. i almost had mute math and 2 different counting crows cd's on my list... and amish paradise???? how stinkin cool is that. Definitely caught me off guard but what a great intro, well done sir...
I'm gonna have to add a 10th just to fit in so here goes
10) Led Zeppelin - IV - Black Dog "Hey hey mamma, said the way you move, gonna make you sweat gonna make you groove..." I love how it starts off with what sounds like a dog panting and then it just gets after it... it's a great way to start off the epic cd that has stairway to heaven
I know I'm weeks behind on this, but I just found your blog and had to put my two cents in.
1. Don't let your mind get weary and confused / Your will be still, don't try / Don't let your heart get heavy child / Inside you there's a strength that lies
- Ray LaMontagne – Be Here Now, from Til the Sun Turns Black
Such a good beginning. This song lets you know exactly what you’re gonna get from this album: slow, sweet, close-your-eyes-and-listen kind of melodies.
2. Slow night, so long / She’s frenching out the flavor / She’s seventeen / But I done went and plum forgot it
- Kings of Leon – Slow Night So Long, from Aha Shake Heartbreak
This album is awesome – upbeat from beginning to end. And surprises around every corner, as most of the time you can’t understand what he’s saying. When you can though, it’s cool, cool, cool.
3. I certainly haven’t been shopping for any new shoes /
I certainly haven’t been spreadin myself around / I still only travel by foot and by foot it’s a slow climb / But I’m good at being uncomfortable so I can’t stop changing all the time
- Fiona Apple – Extraordinary Machine, from EM II
After a five year hiatus, Fiona let us have it with this one. A big slap in the face to all her “she’s washed up” critics.
4. I don’t know you / But I want you all the more for that
- Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova – Falling Slowly, from the Once soundtrack
Great song on a great album for a great movie. His voice makes it what it is.
5. All of a sudden she disappears / Just yesterday she was here / Somebody tell me if I am dreaming / Someone should be with me here / Cause I don’t want to be alone
- Counting Crows – Catapult, from Recovering the Satellites
Best album (in my opinion) from the Crows and I love the way this song starts it off.
6. We might kiss, when we are alone / Nobody’s watching, might take you home / We might make out, when nobody’s there / Not that we’re scared, it’s just that it’s delicate
- Delicate – Damien Rice, from O
I love this album – Damien’s such a lyricist and puts such power behind his voice. This song starts off so sweet and kicks it up a notch at the end, kind of a foreshadowing of the whole album.
7. This is it she says / I will walk to the fields of fire
and lay myself down in the road / Goodnight Elizabeth / She says, she says / I will lay myself down in the fields of fire / And give you these roses
- Counting Crows – (Adam’s mumbling before) Anna Begins, from Live at Elsee Montmartre
There’s nothing I love more than the little mutterings that Adam has perfected. This Desert Life has several songs that showcase his talent, and this intro to Anna Begins shows how great he is a weaving one song into another. I love it at the shows when he goes back to flip through his lyric/song binder. You know you’re in for some good stuff when that happens.
8. Hey, my friend / It seems your eyes are troubled / Care to share your time with me / Would you say you're feeling low and so / A good idea would be to get it off of your mind
- Dave Matthews Band – Best of What’s around, from Under the Table and Dreaming
My love for Dave has definitely gone downhill; however, this song (and all the other songs on the album) tugs at my heartstrings and brings back memories of high school and driving around with my friends.
9. Me and all my friends / We're all misunderstood / They say we stand for nothing and / There's no way we ever could
- John Mayer – Waiting on the World to Change, from Continuum
While not my favorite song off the album, this is definitely one of my top recent albums. When I hear the opening of this song, I get excited, because I know I’m in for an awesome hour of music from someone who’s had my affection going through hills and valleys over the years.
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