What is the best opening lyric?

[wolfking]

"I got pictures of naked ladies, lying on their beds".

The next line is better, though (I say slightly sarcastically). 

The whole damn thing.   

[bl5150]

"I got pictures of naked ladies, lying on their beds".

The next line is better, though (I say slightly sarcastically). 

The whole damn thing.   

Funnily enough when I saw this topic one of the first things that came to mind was "A tattooed madman, I'm hell on wheels"..........not a particularly clever lyric or anything but used to use that song to fire me up for athletic comps and the first line sets the mood damn quick

[HOF]

This one is really good:

“Step out the front door like a ghost into a fog where no one notices the contrast of white on white.”

I love Round Here and that entire first album.

Adam Duritz from the Counting Crows is an AMAZING lyricist. Mrs. Potters Lullaby (from their 3rd album This Desert Life) in particular is just non stop beauty. The melody is only 2 chords, but the incredible word pictures are captivating.

August and Everything After is gold, and Duritz was really writing at such a high level for a debut. Those first 4 albums all range from good to great, but there was a bit of a diminishing return with each subsequent album and I kind of lost touch with them. Across a Wire is an amazing live album though. I think This Dessert Life was just a bit of a letdown after how good those first two releases and that live album were. They released something this year which was king of an extended epic that I started and have been meaning to come back to. Maybe tonight!

[jammindude]

This one is really good:

“Step out the front door like a ghost into a fog where no one notices the contrast of white on white.”

I love Round Here and that entire first album.

Adam Duritz from the Counting Crows is an AMAZING lyricist. Mrs. Potters Lullaby (from their 3rd album This Desert Life) in particular is just non stop beauty. The melody is only 2 chords, but the incredible word pictures are captivating.

August and Everything After is gold, and Duritz was really writing at such a high level for a debut. Those first 4 albums all range from good to great, but there was a bit of a diminishing return with each subsequent album and I kind of lost touch with them. Across a Wire is an amazing live album though. I think This Dessert Life was just a bit of a letdown after how good those first two releases and that live album were. They released something this year which was king of an extended epic that I started and have been meaning to come back to. Maybe tonight!

Don’t want to hijack the thread too much, but I actually thought Satellites was a bit of a letdown (though there are some very high highs) and TDL was a return to form. And Mrs Potter’s Lullaby is his all time #1 lyrical moment.

[Stadler]

I may go and check some of the lyrics out.  I know it's shallow and unfair, but always turned off by the music and the vibe.  There seemed to be a lot of pretentiousness in the imaging that I wasn't interested in (fat prep school kid with dreads dating "Friends" actresses is not my identifier).  And the "parking lot" lyric was kind of obvious and trite to me.   But he's got to be doing something right.  I remember they appeared on Jools Holland once and I didn't know the song but liked it.

[Elite]

“ Yo, I'll tell you what I want, what I really, really want
So tell me what you want, what you really, really want
I'll tell you what I want, what I really, really want
So tell me what you want, what you really, really want
I wanna, (ha) I wanna, (ha) I wanna, (ha) I wanna, (ha)
I wanna really, really, really wanna zigazig ah ”


(nobody did this yet? )

[emtee]

When I fell from grace
I never realized
How deep the flood was around me

[Architeuthis]

"Lost in the sky, clouds roll by and I roll with them"   

[Lonk]

"Lost in the sky, clouds roll by and I roll with them"   

Which song is that again? I don't think I know it 

[Kotowboy]

Meh don't bother. The song is so sh*t they couldnt even be bothered finishing it 

[HOF]

I may go and check some of the lyrics out.  I know it's shallow and unfair, but always turned off by the music and the vibe.  There seemed to be a lot of pretentiousness in the imaging that I wasn't interested in (fat prep school kid with dreads dating "Friends" actresses is not my identifier).  And the "parking lot" lyric was kind of obvious and trite to me.   But he's got to be doing something right.  I remember they appeared on Jools Holland once and I didn't know the song but liked it.

I can get how you might have been turned off at the time. Adam Duritz is one of those love or hate type of singers/writers without a lot of people falling in between it seems (and I’d more or less agree about the “parking lot” line). For my age at the time it all really resonated with me, and even more so when I got into young adulthood. But I really think that whole first album was just really well done on a songwriting, performance, and production level. Given the discussion yesterday in another thread about production styles, I think you might really like it if you gave it a shot.

[Stadler]

I may go and check some of the lyrics out.  I know it's shallow and unfair, but always turned off by the music and the vibe.  There seemed to be a lot of pretentiousness in the imaging that I wasn't interested in (fat prep school kid with dreads dating "Friends" actresses is not my identifier).  And the "parking lot" lyric was kind of obvious and trite to me.   But he's got to be doing something right.  I remember they appeared on Jools Holland once and I didn't know the song but liked it.

I can get how you might have been turned off at the time. Adam Duritz is one of those love or hate type of singers/writers without a lot of people falling in between it seems (and I’d more or less agree about the “parking lot” line). For my age at the time it all really resonated with me, and even more so when I got into young adulthood. But I really think that whole first album was just really well done on a songwriting, performance, and production level. Given the discussion yesterday in another thread about production styles, I think you might really like it if you gave it a shot.

I'm not looking to slag him off, either.  I'm thinking that something like Mr. Jones is something I would dig, given that it's a throwback reference to both Dylan and The Beatles (well, John Lennon), and while not exactly the same topic, they are tangentially related (the pitfalls of stardom).   There's probably a lot there; I just haven't experienced it yet.  Duritz is clearly no dummy, and clearly has a sharp take on the world.

[TAC]

“ Yo, I'll tell you what I want, what I really, really want
So tell me what you want, what you really, really want
I'll tell you what I want, what I really, really want
So tell me what you want, what you really, really want
I wanna, (ha) I wanna, (ha) I wanna, (ha) I wanna, (ha)
I wanna really, really, really wanna zigazig ah ”


(nobody did this yet? )

 

I ain't gonna lie. That IS a great opening!

[Harmony]

"I got sunshine in my stomach like I just rocked my baby to sleep."  <--- such a great description of a feeling 

Genesis - In the Cage

[KevShmev]

Ooooohhh, that Genesis one is a good one.  Good call on In the Cage. 

[TAC]

So, The Cage is a metaphor for the womb?

[wolfking]

"I got pictures of naked ladies, lying on their beds".

The next line is better, though (I say slightly sarcastically). 

The whole damn thing.   

Funnily enough when I saw this topic one of the first things that came to mind was "A tattooed madman, I'm hell on wheels"..........not a particularly clever lyric or anything but used to use that song to fire me up for athletic comps and the first line sets the mood damn quick

Mean motberfucking man!!   

[hefdaddy42]

"The world is a vampire" - Smashing Pumpkins, Bullet With Butterfly Wings

"There's a lipstick sunset smeared across the August sky" - John Hiatt, Lipstick Sunset

"When I look out into your eyes out there
When I look out into your faces
You know what I see?
I see a little bit of Elvis
In each and every one of you out there" - Mojo Nixon, Elvis Is Everywhere

[Zydar]

"The screen door slams, Mary's dress sways. Like a vision she dances across the porch as the radio plays" - Thunder Road, Bruce Springsteen

[TAC]

The cynical view that has been taken
Is blowing my mind
I can't seem to piece it all together
I guess it takes time to unwind
To let the dust settle
And let cooler heads prevail

-John Bush (Armored Saint-Tainted Past)

[svisser]

This one might seem like an odd one, but:

there's a battle for my soul between God, the devil, and rock n roll

It's the first lines from "Room For The Dead," by Plea For Purging. Not my fav band, nor my fav song, but damn it's a hell of a line.

[DoctorAction]

I have to add some more Paul Simon. I think my favourite lyricist ever. The way he speaks/sings/writes is so beautiful.

"It was a slow day
And the sun was beating
On the soldiers by the side of the road
There was a bright light
A shattering of shop windows
The bomb in the baby carriage was wired to the radio

These are the days of miracle and wonder
This is the long distance call
The way the camera follows us in slo-mo
The way we look to us all
The way we look to a distant constellation
That's dying in a corner of the sky
These are the days of miracle and wonder
And don't cry baby, don't cry, don't cry"

Or

"Well I'm accustomed to a smoother ride.
Or maybe I'm a dog that's lost its bite.
I don't expect to be treated like a fool no more.
I don't expect to sleep the night."