Old Rope is not one for lists. Even simple shopping lists end up becoming an incomprehensible mess. But on the other hand this blog is not afraid to invite accusations of hack-work or repetition (Old Rope – all filler and no killer since 2009!). With this in mind and following a post last month about great introductions, we present a selection of ‘Songs with Great Opening Lyrics’!
These are in no particular order and, once again, they are the first dozen that sprung to mind. Your suggestions will be welcome at the end…
Heard It Through The Grapevine - Marvin Gaye
“Well I bet you’re wondering how I knew / about your plans to make me blue”
After a subtle, slinky musical prelude that should really have been in the ‘Cracking Introductions’ selection, we slingshot into the middle of a drama. Coming on like a smug TV detective, you can practically see starvin’ Marvin pacing about the conservatory explaining to the assembled throng of potential suspects exactly how he solved this particular riddle: “Well, sergeant, it were that pesky grapevine wot done it”
Reward - The Teardrop Explodes
“Bless my cotton socks I’m in the news!”
A brass fanfare and Julian Cope hurdles onto centre stage, every bit the cavorting thespian. “Hullo!” He is the only lyricist one could conceivably imagine saying ‘lawks a mercy!’ or such like in a song and getting away with it. Apparently, this line has been misheard by some as “Wash my cotton socks I never use” or the much better, “Bless my cotton socks I’m in the nude!” The track’s opening lyric was inspired by an article in the music press.
Black Steel In The Hour of Chaos - Public Enemy
“I got a letter from the government the other day / I opened it and read it, it said they were suckers”
Serving as a scathing criticism of National Service, ‘Black Steel in the Hour of Chaos’ presents us with one of Carlton Douglas Ridenhour’s finest lyrics. It is a stinging attack, as Chuck D lays it on the line, “They wanted me for the army or whatever, picture me giving a damn I said ‘Never’!” With the Vietnam War ending only dozen years before and its impact still keenly felt on African Americans, D cuts to the chase, “They could not understand that I’m a black man and I could never be a veteran”. The opening lines are funny, with a sombre set-up and a pay-off that confounds expectations, made all the more powerful by the gravitas of its delivery in D’s baritone voice. At their peak PE’s lyrics were usually of a high standard, yet the opening lines were seldom their best when taken in isolation, even leaving aside the obligatory inane yapping of Flavour Flav. ‘Black Steel…’, however, kicks off with a cracker and keeps going, all guns blazing.
Fuck Tha Police - N.W.A
“Fuck tha police comin straight from the underground / A young nigga got it bad ’cause I’m brown”
Angry, violent and succinct, NWA’s infamous clarion call does not fuck about. Teeming with indignant and bitter resentment, this track cuts to the rotten core of American policing, summarised neatly in its opening two lines. Railing against police brutality and racial profiling, the lyrics – mostly written by Ice Cube, Eazy-E and MC Ren – are an articulate response to the life of the urban youth on the streets of California. A violent response to violent repression, the song drew the attentions of the FBI and a highly critical letter from its assistant director to the band’s label can still be seen in the Rock Hall of Fame. Three years after the song was released, LA would be in flames following Rodney King’s beating by police officers. Old Rope omitted Sam Cooke’s ‘A Change Is Gonna Come” from this list at the 11th hour. The opening lines of ‘Fuck Tha Police’ are the bitter echo of Cooke’s optimism twenty years earlier.
Express Yourself - N.W.A
“I’m expressing with my full capabilities / and now I’m living in correctional facilities”
Heavily sampling a song of the same name by Charles Wright & the Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band, ‘Express Yourself’ tackles the subjects of censorship and expression in rap music. Its opening line is also very funny. Tell it like it is and get yo ass thrown in jail for the privilege. In 1990, after ‘Fuck Tha Police’ was banned by the Australian government, radio station Triple J played ‘Express Yourself’ some 360 time in a row in protest.
Be Bop A Lula - Gene Vincent
“Well be-bop-a-lula, she’s my baby / Be-bop-a-lula I don’t mean maybe”
To the misguided and naive this may seem like a flippant jumble of gibberish when it is in fact a statement of such profundity that it will continue to echo through the ages, like a whispered message from the gods.
Living With Unemployment - Newtown Neurotics
“I was living in a new town. I had problems with my parents”
Simple and stark, it is singer Steve Drewett’s delivery that makes this opening shot so amusing: “Oi was livin in a nyoo tarn! Oi had problims wiv moi pare-runts”. In two lines Drewett epitomises the howl of the western teenager. The track continues in this vein, delivering a brutal yet matter-of-fact account of life on the dole. Great lyrics, great song.
Like A Rolling Stone - Bob Dylan
“Once upon a time you dressed so fine, threw the bums a dime in your prime, didn’t you?”
Renowned for his lyrical dexterity, this is perhaps the most obvious and popular slice of Dylan. Mr Zimmerman manages to cram four (half)rhymes into the one line and even, rarely for him, stays on-topic. Ooh it’s like a beat poem or coherent scat-jazz. Dig?
Hurricane – Bob Dylan
“Pistols shots ring out in the barroom night / Enter Patty Valentine from the upper hall”
Dylan again… this time conjuring up a vivid and dramatic scene, emphasised by stage directions and a reference to gunfire. It grabs the listener’s attention, which is handy cos we’ve 8 minutes of pissed-off railing against injustice to get through here. If we allow ourselves to read the full opening stanza, the lyric is complete:
“Pistols shots ring out in the barroom night
Enter Patty Valentine from the upper hall
She sees the bartender in a pool of blood
Cries out “My God they killed them all”
Highway 61 Revisited - Bob Dylan
“Oh God said to Abraham, ‘Kill me a son’ / Abe says, ‘Man, you must be puttin’ me on’
Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! Bobby gets to the nub of this infamous Old Testament tale. In the biblical version, old Abe seems alarmingly quick to get the old butchers knife out and do in his own lad. Location aside, Highway 61 offers a more realistic account. Last Dylan entry, though I promise.
The Revolution Will Not Be Televised - Gil Scott Heron
“You will not be able to stay home, brother / You will not be able to plug in, turn on and cop out.”
Our Gil firmly reminds us all that the Rev will be a participatory affair and that there will be no room for apathy. He’s right, of course, cometh the day we must all be engaged in the events or the shizzle will hit the fizzle and the new world will not be shaped by those who need to live in it. Still, a brother should try not to sound too much like he’s lecturing everyone.
Party For Your Right To Fight - Public Enemy
“Power equality / And we’re out to get it”
Damned straight. Chuck D turns the infamous hedonistic Beastie Boys title on its head, stripping it of its nihilistic undertones and forging something altogether more serious and politically minded. The opening lines are direct and unequivocal and further evidence, were it needed, that PE shit all over BB.
An honorary mention goes to Patti Smith’s ‘Gloria’ (“Jesus died for somebody’s sins, but not mine”), deliberately omitted from the above list as it was mentioned in the follow up to the Crackin Introductions post.
If anyone has any other suggestions please post them in the comments section below, I’m sure there will be many more. There is also a Spotify playlist containing some of the above which can be found here: Great Opening Lyrics. Those who are hip can add to the playlist as well…
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