A curator's collection: 50 Great Song Lyrics; First Line Division

Monday, November 10, 2014

50 Great Song Lyrics; First Line Division

From "Row, Row, Row your boat" to Notorious B.I.G.'s "You're nobody until somebody kills you" every hit song needs a melody and a lyric that grabs you by the ear within seconds and won't let go - that stay with you for the rest of the day, that delivers plenty of "plop, plop, fizz, fizz."
Then there are the great songs that quicken the mind and pulse; that linger as long as there is memory. These are songs that remind us that no matter the time or place, somewhere, another's heart understood your own. When the music is wedded to a great lyric, the understanding is apparent within the very first words.

The First Line Champs

The other day, my head was buzzing with looney tunes. To quiet them, I wrote down the first 50 great opening lines to songs that came to mind. Actually, the very first line that came to mind was, "She Loves You, Yeah, Yeah!" but when I quizzed my mother and she knew that one, I opted for a little more subtlety. Then, I listened to some, most or all of them to be sure they were as indelible as I remembered them to be. When I was able to confirm they were, I decided to share them with you. Bet'cha there aren't many that you don't know from the very first few words.

Most regrettable omission? Marcie Blaine's towering masterpiece, "Bobby's Girl", with it's indelible first line, "When people ask of me, what would you like to be, now that you're not a kid anymore?" Too long; too many dependent clauses.

Second most regrettable omission? Every Bob Dylan, "You got a lotta nerve", fuck off song not already included here. Had to leave room for Jiminy Cricket as the coda. Best find? Sinatra in the recording studio reminiscing at having once been 17.

PS Without vouching for the math, there are actually 55 songs here. That's because there were 5 more songs that I just couldn't leave behind. You know which ones they are.

WELL, HOW DID WE GET HERE?

Tell Automatic Slim, tell Razor Totin' Jim

Boom Boom Boom Boom

Gonna write a little letter, mail it to my local DJ

Warden threw a party in the county jail

We were borne (born?) before the wind also younger than the sun

Words are flowing out like endless rain into a paper cup