most evocative opening lines of songs

Guess who just got back today?
Them wild eyes boys that have been away
hadn't changed, hadn't much to say,
Man I still think them cats are crazy!

They were asking if you were around,
how you was where you couold be found
told them you were living downtown
driving all the old men crazy.............



There was a lot of rocking going on that night
Cruising time for the young bright lights
Just down past the gasworks, by the meat factory door
The five lamp boys were coming on strong
The Saturday night city beat had already started
And the, the pulse of the corner boys just sprang into action
And young Billy watched under the yellow street light
And said tonight of all nights there's gonna be a fight .....................



True you ride the finest horse
I've ever seen
Standing sixteen one or two
With eyes wild and green
You ride the horse so well
Hands light to the touch
I could never go with you
No matter how I wanted to......................


SJB

If you're talking evocative, then:

Over bridge of sighs
To rest my eyes in shades of green
Under dreamin' spires
To Itchycoo Park, that's where I've been.

wins for the first three lines...

regards,

Giles

"When routine bites hard,
And ambitions are low,
And resentment rides high,
But emotions won't grow,
And we're changing our ways, taking different roads.

Then love, love will tear us apart again.
Love, love will tear us apart."

Always brings up the goosebumps.



Jono

I've got a bike
You can ride it if you like

or

Arnold Layne
Had a strange
Hobby
Collecting clothes
Moonshine
Washing Line
They suit him fine

or

Leave, when I ask you to leave, Lucy
Please, far away from me, Lucy
Oh, go little girl

He truly was Pink.

Early one morning I was laying in bed
wonderin' if she'd change it all if her hair was still red

Walk in silence,
Dont walk away, in silence.
See the danger,
Always danger,
Endless talking,
Life rebuilding,
Dont walk away.

Walk in silence,
Dont turn away, in silence.
Your confusion,
My illusion,
Worn like a mask of self-hate,
Confronts and then dies.
Dont walk away.

People like you find it easy,
Naked to see,
Walking on air.
Hunting by the rivers,
Through the streets,
Every corner abandoned too soon,
Set down with due care.
Dont walk away in silence,
Dont walk away.

Richard,

Nice.



Jono

Angus, Angus, Angus.

I want to tell you a story, about a woman I know.

quote:

Originally posted by Sloop John B:
Guess who just got back today?
Them wild eyes boys that have been away
hadn't changed, hadn't much to say,
Man I still think them cats are crazy!

They were asking if you were around,
how you was where you couold be found
told them you were living downtown
driving all the old men crazy.............

Didn't you love the scene in "Once" where he was engaging the band who were busking in front of the statue of Sir Phil in Dublin? I remember seeing the aforementioned wild eyed boys many years ago. Great stuff.

quote:

Originally posted by winkyincanada:
Didn't you love the scene in "Once" where he was engaging the band who were busking in front of the statue of Sir Phil in Dublin? I remember seeing the aforementioned wild eyed boys many years ago. Great stuff.

winky,
You might like this npr - tiny desk concert (August 10) of The Swell Season previewing some new songs.

Vissi d'arte, vissi d'amore,
non feci mai male ad anima viva!...
Con man furtiva
quante miserie conobbi, aiutai...
Sempre con fe sincera,
la mia preghiera
ai santi tabernacoli sali.
Sempre con fe sincera
diedi fiori agli altar.
Nell'ora del doloer perche
perche, Signore, perche,
me ne rimuneri cosi?...
Diedi gioirlli
della Madonna al manto,
e diedi il canto agli astri,
al ciel, che ne ridean piu belli.
Nell'ora del dolre Perche,
perche, Signore,
perche me ne rimuneri cosi?

And if you want to know what it's all about, CLICK HERE

"Climbing up on Solsbury Hill,
I could see the city lights.
Wind was blowing, time stood still.
Eagle flew out of the night."


OR

"Been dazed and confused for so long it's not true.
Wanted a woman never bargained for you."


OR

"The leaded window opened to move the dancing candle flame,
And the first moths of summer suicidal came, suicidal came.
And a new breeze chattered in its May-bud tenderness,
Sending water-lillies sailing as she turned to get undressed."

OR

"So he found his way to a smiling shore.
A year or two from a strange war.
Gentle lies to dying eyes,
A thousand miles of walking."

quote:

Originally posted by zarniwoop:
"The leaded window opened to move the dancing candle flame,
And the first moths of summer suicidal came, suicidal came.
And a new breeze chattered in its May-bud tenderness,
Sending water-lillies sailing as she turned to get undressed."

Thanks for reminding me! As a country boy I've always found this rather evocative:

Iron-clad feather-feet pounding the dust,
An October's day, towards evening.
Sweat-embossed veins standing proud to the plough,
Salt on a deep chest seasoning.
Last of the line at an honest days toil,
Turning the deep sod under.
Flint at the fetlock, chasing the bone
Flies at the nostrils plunder.

The Suffolk, the Clydesdale, the Percheron vie
With the Shire on his feathers floating,
Hauling soft timber into the dusk
To bed on a warm straw coating.

Heavy horses, move the land under me
Behind the plough gliding, slipping and sliding free,
Now youre down to the few,
And there's no work to do,
The tractor's on its way.

Let me find you a filly for your proud stallion seed
To keep the old line going.
And we'll stand you abreast at the back of the woods
Behind the young trees growing,
To hide you from eyes that mock at your girth,
Your eighteen hands at the shoulder,
And one day when the oil barons have all dripped dry
And the nights are seen to draw colder,
They'll beg for your strength, your gentle power,
Your noble grace and your bearing,
And you'll strain once again to the sound of the gulls,
In the wake of the deep plough, sharing.

Standing like tanks on the brow of the hill
Up into the cold wind facing,
In stiff battle harness, chained to the world,
Against the low sun racing.
Bring me a wheel of oaken wood,
A rein of polished leather,
A heavy horse and a tumbling sky,
Brewing heavy weather.

Bring a song for the evening,
Clean brass to flash the dawn
Across these acres glistening,
Like dew on a carpet lawn.
In these dark towns folk lie sleeping
As the heavy horses thunder by,
To wake the dying city
With the living horseman's cry.

At once the old hands quicken -
Bring pick and wisp and curry comb -
Thrill to the sound of all
The heavy horses coming home.

For those "hard of comprehension" can you all stop being smartie pants and let us know who the lyrics are by please?

quote:

Originally posted by BigH47:
For those "hard of comprehension" can you all stop being smartie pants and let us know who the lyrics are by please?

I thought the rules were if you simply 'didn't know' you should stick to your Vivaldi or Chris de Burgh collections and stop playing with us so cool big boys on here? Is that not right?...Adam, sort it out man, standards need to be maintained.

Well the last one was Heavy Horses by Jethro Tull.

quote:

Well the last one was Heavy Horses by Jethro Tull.

I knew that one, who is Adam?

[QUOTEI thought the rules were if you simply 'didn't know' you should stick to your Vivaldi or Chris de Burgh collections and stop playing with us so cool big boys on here? QUOTE]

Oh sorry I thought it might be to enlighten others?

quote:

Originally posted by BigH47:
For those "hard of comprehension" can you all stop being smartie pants and let us know who the lyrics are by please?

If you mean me they were (can't edit original post now):

Solsbury Hill/Peter Gabriel
Dazed & Confused/Led Zeppelin
Moths/Jethro Tull (Ian Anderson)
A Smiling Shore/Andrew Cronshaw (sung by June Tabor on Abyssinans)

I appreciate it, I have a problem remembering lyrics, even really my most favourite artists.

Especially one liners.

It helps when the song title is in the quote though.

It's funny the way (on this thread) a few songwriters have cropped up a few times...Ian Anderson, Bob Dylan and Ian Curtis etc.

I always thinks it's interesting the way some folk can write melodies, some lyrics, some both, some neither. To me at least, lyrics are as potent as melodies.

Off topic I know, as it's the entire lyric, not the opening couplet, but I listened to this in the car the other day...heard it many times, but never really considered what a great lyric it is:

Kinky Friedman and 'Ride em Jewboy'

Ride, ride ‘em Jewboy,
Ride ‘em all around the old corral.
Oh, I’m, I’m with you boy
If I’ve got to ride six million miles.

Now the smokes from camps are rising
See the helpless creatures on their way.
Well, old pal, it’s still surprising
How far you can go before you stay.

Don’t you let the morning blind ya
When on your sleeve you wore the yeller star.
Old memories still live behind ya,
Can’t you see by your outfit who you are.

How long will you be driven relentless ‘round the world,
The blood in the rhythm of the soul.

Wild ponies all your dreams were broken,
Rounded up and made to move along.
The loneliness which can’t be spoken
Just swings a rope and rides inside a song.

Dead limbs play with ringless fingers
The melody which burns you deep inside.
Oh, how the song becomes the singers,
May peace be ever with you as you ride.

In the window candles glowing
Remind you that today you are a child,
The road ahead, forever rolling,
And anything worth cryin’ can be smiled.

So ride, ride ‘em Jewboy,
Ride ‘em all around the old corral.
I’m, I’m with you boy
If I’ve got to ride six million miles.

To avoid any confusion my quote was Atmosphere......by Joy Division, not Russ Abbot.

quote:

Originally posted by Richard S:
To avoid any confusion my quote was Atmosphere......by Joy Division, not Russ Abbot.

To be fair though, Russ's version is very good.

This thread wouldn't be complete without him.

quote:

From Wave:

I waved to you as my boat was leaving
Hats flew up and everybody cheered,
But you turned as I guess someone spoke to you,
And in a sea of arms you disappeared

quote:

From Time Is A Lion:

If you fear the angels above while you sleep
Then I'll be the blood, you paint on your door
Your dream is a worry that nothing will keep,
But time is a story and there will be more
Your dream is a worry that nothing will keep,
But time is a story and there will be more

quote:

From God Only Knows:

Darkness settles on the ground
And leaves the day stumbling blind,
Coming to a quiet close
And maybe just in time:
We'd almost lost the heart to know
How to keep our best in mind,
We'd almost lost the heart to know
How to keep our best in mind

Joe Henry

And of course him. But there are so many of his songs to choose from...

quote:

From The Partisan:

When they poured across the border
I was cautioned to surrender,
this I could not do;
I took my gun and vanished

quote:

From Leaving Green Sleeves:

Alas, my love, you did me wrong,
to cast me out discourteously,
for I have loved you so long,
delighting in your very company

quote:

From First We Take Manhattan:

They sentenced me to 20 years of boredom
For trying to change the system from within
I'm coming now, I'm coming to reward them
First we take Manhattan, then we take Berlin

quote:

From In My Secret Life:

I saw you this morning,
You were moving so fast
Can't seem to loosen my grip
On the past
And I miss you so much
There's no one in sight
And we're still making love
In my secret life

quote:

From Alexandra Leaving:

Suddenly the night has grown colder
The god of love preparing to depart
Alexandra hoisted on his shoulder
They slip between the sentries of the heart

quote:

From A Thousand Kisses Deep:

The ponies run, the girls are young,
The odds are there to beat
You win a while, and then it's done -
Your little winning streak
And summoned now to deal
With your invincible defeat,
You live your life as if it's real,
A Thousand Kisses Deep

And of course:

quote:

From Hallelujah:

Now I've heard there was a secret chord
That David played, and it pleased the Lord
But you don't really care for music, do you?

Leonard Cohen

Surprised nobodies given Nick Cave an airing?