Songs With The Best Opening Lines

For most of our adult lives, a good friend and I have debated “best of” lists. Whether it’s the best songs to play on Halloween or the greatest movie quotes, we seemingly never get tired of revisiting previous lists and creating new ones.

One of our favorite debates is songs with the best opening lines. While the definition of best is subjective, we’ve managed to agree the first line has to be both catchy on its own and evocative of the rest of the song. Despite agreeing on this, we’ve had trouble narrowing the list down to just 10 songs.

This weekend, while cleaning out a drawer, I stumbled upon a yellowed piece of paper titled “Best opening song lines: 60s and 70s.” Scribbled along the bottom of the page were the phrases “no repeat bands” and “no repeat years.” Instinctively, I called my friend who claimed he remembered our debate – from more than 20 years ago!

Here are the songs we had on the list, in the order they were released:

“Hello darkness, my old friend” – Simon & Garfunkel, “The Sound of Silence” 1964

“Once upon a time you dressed so fine…” – Bob Dylan, “Like a Rolling Stone” 1965

“Picture yourself in a boat on a river, with tangerine trees and marmalade skies” – The Beatles, “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds” 1967

“Please allow me to introduce myself, I’m a man of wealth and taste” – The Rolling Stones, “Sympathy for the Devil” 1968

“Out here in the fields, I fight for my meals” – The Who, “Baba O’Riley” 1971

“Old man, look at my life / I’m a lot like you were…” – Neil Young, “Old Man” 1972

“Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy?” – Queen, “Bohemian Rhapsody” 1975

“I saw a werewolf with a Chinese menu in his hand…” – Warren Zevon “Werewolves of London” 1977

“At first I was afraid, I was petrified…” – Gloria Gaynor, “I Will Survive” 1978

“We don’t need no education” – Pink Floyd, “Another Brick in the Wall, Part 2” 1979

While I was reading the list to him, my friend interrupted me and claimed I had overruled him on the Warren Zevon song. He believed it should have been The Eagles “Hotel California“:

“On a dark desert highway / Cool wind in my hair / Warm smell of colitas / Rising up through the air.”

In retrospect, my friend was right. As much as I still like the catchiness of the opening line to Werewolves of London and the associated campy movie, it’s not nearly as iconic as Hotel California.

It occurred to me these fun debates can serve as a model for how to handle discussions in the work place when there are lots of subjective opinions but no objective right answer. Establish the ground rules (e.g., what does ‘best’ mean), authentically solicit input from those who might have different opinions, and be willing to change your mind over time.

I’ve gotten better at doing this over the years but could still improve. Or as Tom Petty sang, “I’m learning to fly, but I ain’t got wings”.