Subject: Unlikely first lines From: Jerry Rasmussen Date: 16 Jul 04 - 12:31 AM Some songs start out very unexpectedly, and it's hard to get a clue where the song is going. Here's a first line about a dog as an example from One Dog Per Verse: "Right underneath the "By Order Of The Health Department No Dogs Allowed, you'd find him every day." Any other ones come to mind? Jerry |
Subject: RE: Unlikely first lines From: mooman Date: 16 Jul 04 - 04:07 AM Crash Test Dummies - The Bereft Man's Song: I have all my wisdom teeth Two up top...two beneath Peace moo |
Subject: RE: Unlikely first lines From: Wolfgang Date: 16 Jul 04 - 05:29 AM translation from German song "My big brother Franz Villon lives with me in my room" (The French poet Francois Villon is dead since some hundred years) Wolfgang |
Subject: RE: Unlikely first lines From: Strollin' Johnny Date: 16 Jul 04 - 06:10 AM "There's acrimony down in the card-room, with winning hands thrown on the baize". Stan The Man. |
Subject: RE: Unlikely first lines From: Barbara Date: 16 Jul 04 - 08:44 AM "Afflictions though they seem severe, Are oft times in mercy [sent?]{seen?]..." From a UK revival hymn about the prodigal son. It always amazed me that someone would start a song with the word "afflictions" partly because of its meaning, but also because it's not particularly easy to sing. Blessings, Barbara |
Subject: RE: Unlikely first lines From: Snuffy Date: 16 Jul 04 - 09:00 AM CASTLES IN THE AIR (Anne Swithinbank) Happy are those children that have railways in the hall |
Subject: RE: Unlikely first lines From: Jerry Rasmussen Date: 16 Jul 04 - 10:08 AM Good ones, all. I keep thinking of opening lines for songs that don't exist... maybe for a song challenge: It was twilight in the garden of Eden The end of another perfect day Jerry |
Subject: RE: Unlikely first lines From: Mark Dowding Date: 16 Jul 04 - 10:28 AM "I love a good bum on a woman, it makes my day" From "On Again, On Again" by Jake Thackray |
Subject: RE: Unlikely first lines From: Celtaddict Date: 16 Jul 04 - 05:17 PM "If they ever drop the bomb, you said..." ["...I'll find you in the flames."] Jimmy Webb, "All I Know" |
Subject: RE: Unlikely first lines From: Burke Date: 16 Jul 04 - 05:56 PM "How tedious and tasteless the hours," When Jesus no longer I see! Green Fields in Sacred Harp p. 127 Lyrics: John Newton, 1779 |
Subject: RE: Unlikely first lines From: Jerry Rasmussen Date: 16 Jul 04 - 06:18 PM At Joe Offer's request, the rest of the words to One Dog Per Verse are posted in another thread of that title.. Jerry |
Subject: RE: Unlikely first lines From: Kent Davis Date: 16 Jul 04 - 08:25 PM Hymns often use startling imagery, leading to some unlikely first lines: 1."There is a fountain filled with blood drawn from Immanuel's veins." 2."There's a stranger at the door: Let Him in!" 3."This world is not my home. I'm just a-passing through." 4."Pierce my ear, O Lord my God. Take me to your door this day." |
Subject: RE: Unlikely first lines From: michaelr Date: 16 Jul 04 - 08:41 PM If I had a boat I'd go out on the ocean And if I had a pony I'd ride him on my boat (Lyle Lovett) |
Subject: RE: Unlikely first lines From: Jerry Rasmussen Date: 16 Jul 04 - 08:42 PM Good one, Michael! Love the song Jerry |
Subject: RE: Unlikely first lines From: Joybell Date: 16 Jul 04 - 08:49 PM Yes we do too! We all wanted to be Roy Rogers didn't we? One of my favourite first lines is: She was morning and I was night-time (or was it the other way around? Anyway to go on) I one day woke up to find her lying beside my bed.... What was the poor girl doing on the floor I've always wondered? Joy |
Subject: RE: Unlikely first lines From: Celtaddict Date: 16 Jul 04 - 09:20 PM "The ways of man are passing strange; He buys his freedom and he counts his change." The Ways of Man Gordon Bok |
Subject: RE: Unlikely first lines From: Bill D Date: 16 Jul 04 - 10:47 PM "They passed an ordnance in the town, Said we'd have to tear it down, That little brown shack out back so dear to me..." Bill Ed Wheeler .."The Passing of the Backhouse" |
Subject: RE: Unlikely first lines From: Bill D Date: 16 Jul 04 - 10:53 PM "Here's little song about 4 wet pigs.." (Greg Brown??) "I've just been wondrin' how flamingos would taste.." (do a search) "There were five, five constipated men in the Bible..." |
Subject: RE: Unlikely first lines From: Bobert Date: 16 Jul 04 - 11:17 PM "there's a man on TV he's killed 23." Golden Smog, "Don't Wanta Walk Were He Walked" I know. Sick. But, hey, the song gets sicker... Bobert |
Subject: RE: Unlikely first lines From: Bev and Jerry Date: 17 Jul 04 - 01:19 AM "Woke up this morning, put on my slippers, walked in the kitchen and died" John Prine - Please Don't Bury Me Bev and Jerry |
Subject: RE: Unlikely first lines From: Mark Cohen Date: 17 Jul 04 - 04:39 AM "Nero's expedition up the Nile failed." By Moondog...it's one of my all-time favorite rounds. The whole thing goes: Nero's expedition up the Nile failed Because the water hyacinths had clogged the river Denying Nero's vessels passage Through the Sud of Nubia It's got all kinds of wonderful jazzy chords in it. Supposedly it was a line from a history textbook. Aloha, Mark |
Subject: RE: Unlikely first lines From: George Papavgeris Date: 17 Jul 04 - 04:39 AM "The Omega Incabloc Oyster Accutron 72 Is the only wristwatch for a drummer..." (Pete Atkin - Wristwatch for a Drummer) "You've got to help me, doc, I see things in the night" (Pete Atkin/Clive James - Screen Freak) "Your manifest perfections never cease To drive the day-long terrors out of mind" (Pete Atkin/Clive James - Double Agent) You might have guessed it - they're heroes of mine. Clive James writes unparalleled lyrics; the closest one can get to him is that other wonderful man, Tom Lehrer. The best I can offer from my own scribblings is: "Beware of the bite of the underdog" (from the song of the same title) |
Subject: RE: Unlikely first lines From: GUEST,Barrie Roberts Date: 17 Jul 04 - 07:21 AM How about Bill Caddick's 'The Writing of Tipperary', which begins: King Edward the Seventh, who some called the Peacemaker, died in 19 and 10, He was buried at Windsor, and in the procession walked the finest and greatest of men'. |
Subject: RE: Unlikely first lines From: Nerd Date: 18 Jul 04 - 02:53 AM Traditional songs can have weird opening lines too they say old man your horse will die and they say so, and we hope so... he's followed her up and he's followed her down and it's into the room where she lay... How about the Christy Moore one At the early age of thirty-eight me mother sent me west Get up, says she, and get a job, Says I, I'll do me best... |
Subject: RE: Unlikely first lines From: JennyO Date: 18 Jul 04 - 04:51 AM "It was cosmic and freaky, one midsummer day..." |
Subject: RE: Unlikely first lines From: alanabit Date: 18 Jul 04 - 05:17 AM "I hate myself for loving you and the weakness which it showed..." I think it's from Dirge by Bob Dylan. It's a pretty miserable song, but it is also a convincing character sketch. |
Subject: RE: Unlikely first lines From: Charley Noble Date: 18 Jul 04 - 09:46 AM One of our more successful collaborations on Mudcat has to be "The Blow at Witch's Hole," the first verse of which runs: As we set out one evening, upon the Northern Sea, Headed out a-fishing, for to earn our daily fee; Headed out to fish, me lads, and set our course so bold, When our ship was (when our ship was), When our ship was (when our ship was), Overwhelmed, dragged down the Witch?s Hole! Cheerily, Charley Noble |
Subject: RE: Unlikely first lines From: GUEST,Gerry Date: 19 Jul 04 - 02:16 AM In my opinion, the most unlikely *third* line in a song is "Blow the dustcake from your nose" from Stan Rogers' The Field Behind the Plow. Terrific song, if you can get past that third line. |
Subject: RE: Unlikely first lines From: Bert Date: 19 Jul 04 - 08:59 AM ...can happen to the best of us.... Someone's been cutting their toenails |
Subject: RE: Unlikely first lines From: Chris Green Date: 19 Jul 04 - 09:43 AM How about 'Drop kick me, Jesus, through the goalposts of life'? |
Subject: RE: Unlikely first lines From: Chris Green Date: 19 Jul 04 - 11:00 AM Or, from a folk perspective, anything that starts with 'As I was a-walking one morning in December..' |
Subject: RE: Unlikely first lines From: GUEST,Vic at work Date: 19 Jul 04 - 11:51 AM "When I was alive I was thought a good Laugh by my friends and relations, that was enough" From The Pit at Penzance by George Thomas, a great wordsmith. |
Subject: RE: Unlikely first lines From: Micca Date: 19 Jul 04 - 03:19 PM "In my room I have the plans of the First exploding handshake and the calculated trajectories of Custard pies!" for El Greko another Pete Atkin |
Subject: RE: Unlikely first lines From: GUEST,JTT Date: 19 Jul 04 - 04:05 PM Is cosuil gor mheith tu, is gur threigh tu an ghreann... (It's like you're fading, and failing in funniness...) From An Mhaighdean Mhara, a song about a mermaid with other wonderful lines, such as "is an sneachta ag frasach ar bheal na h-abhainn" (and the snow pouring down at the mouth of the river [as the mermaid swims there]). As everyone knows, mermaids are incapable of seeing the humour of things - one of the first symptoms is the loss of a sense of humour. Beware. |
Subject: RE: Unlikely first lines From: GUEST,fionnghaile Date: 19 Jul 04 - 04:17 PM Dia duit gach cailin agus buachaill, Sin an darna lesh go mach gus go mhaill me mall na deireadh leitir, Suil a Ruin de Clannad go blasta agus Maire go iontach maith, Slan anois, obviously from someone who knows not a bit of gaelic tut tut haha |
Subject: RE: Unlikely first lines From: McGrath of Harlow Date: 19 Jul 04 - 06:43 PM "Penny Lane is in your ears and in your eyes" "Through bushes and through briars I lately took my way..." |
Subject: RE: Unlikely first lines From: George Papavgeris Date: 20 Jul 04 - 01:44 AM Not folk, but... "No milk today" (Herman's Hermits) And a crap song it is too. |
Subject: RE: Unlikely first lines From: Hrothgar Date: 20 Jul 04 - 06:03 AM There was apop song a couple of years ago that started: "I don't believe in an existentialist God" Does this qualify? |
Subject: RE: Unlikely first lines From: ScottAndrews Date: 20 Jul 04 - 06:37 AM 'I really liked her but she's dead, And that really kind of blows' Jim's Big Ego Scott |
Subject: RE: Unlikely first lines From: A Wandering Minstrel Date: 20 Jul 04 - 08:10 AM I'm sure it doesn't exist but there should be a song which begins: As I stayed at home on a wet May morning I could not hear any small birds sing No comely maid tripped past my doorway It was a typical damp English Spring...! |
Subject: RE: Unlikely first lines From: GUEST,Lindsay Date: 20 Jul 04 - 10:20 AM Someone left a cake out in the rain... |
Subject: RE: Unlikely first lines From: Strollin' Johnny Date: 20 Jul 04 - 10:39 AM Is that the first line Lindsay? |
Subject: RE: Unlikely first lines From: Rain Dog Date: 20 Jul 04 - 12:44 PM Hrothgar I believe that first line is ' I don't believe in an interventionist God ' From the Nick Cave song Into My Arms And a very fine song it is too |
Subject: RE: Unlikely first lines From: GUEST,JTT Date: 20 Jul 04 - 02:53 PM Then there's Cad a dheinfhimid feasta gan adhmad... (What shall we do now for timber...) from Cill Aodain, an 18th-century Irish song about the beastly English felling the woods (and by extension, the Gael) to roove their houses of parliament and give masts to their warships. Yeah, a good start and what the writers of Casablanca called a "wow finish" are important. Something nice and allegorical, but with a little wow of its own. |
Subject: RE: Unlikely first lines From: The Fooles Troupe Date: 20 Jul 04 - 06:39 PM We should perhaps peruse the work of McGonnigal, the world's worst poet, but they weren't really songs... but I suppose singing them probably couldn't make them worse.... |
Subject: RE: Unlikely first lines From: TS Date: 20 Jul 04 - 06:45 PM .."Get out of the hayloft Maybelle, there's lots of chickens that need to be plucked and lots of roosters that need a good...." - Captain Tractor |
Subject: RE: Unlikely first lines From: JennyO Date: 20 Jul 04 - 08:40 PM Here's one you probably won't have heard of unless you are an Aussie: "I shared a urinal with Martin Ferguson.." That's the name of the song too, and it's by Bruce Watson, who's one of our favourites here. Funny song, too. Unfortunately I can't seem to find the lyrics. They are in his songbook I believe, but I don't have the songbook. |
Subject: RE: Unlikely first lines From: Herga Kitty Date: 20 Jul 04 - 09:17 PM "If it's a good year, there's rain in the summer" - Helen Akitt's "Smoke in the Valley", which she wrote after visiting China... Kitty |
Subject: RE: Unlikely first lines From: Jerry Rasmussen Date: 20 Jul 04 - 10:28 PM There's a new country song... not sure these are the first two lines but they're good ones.. "It's hard to kiss the lips goodnight That've been chewing your ass out all day" Jerry |
Subject: RE: Unlikely first lines From: GUEST,Lindsay Date: 21 Jul 04 - 01:55 AM "Someone left a cake out in the rain I don't think that I can take it 'Cos it took so long to bake it And I'll never have that recipe again" ...it wasn't a "first line" - it was the chorus of "MacArthur Park" |
Subject: RE: Unlikely first lines From: TS Date: 21 Jul 04 - 02:03 AM and that last one just sounds so great when you listen to Homer sing it...hehe....Slainte! |
Subject: RE: Unlikely first lines From: alanabit Date: 21 Jul 04 - 02:36 PM I ache for the touch of your lips dear But much more for the touch of your whips dear... "Masochism Tango" by Tom Lehrer. |
Subject: RE: Unlikely first lines From: The Fooles Troupe Date: 21 Jul 04 - 08:33 PM 'all the kings & queens in the bible could not turn back time' |
Subject: RE: Unlikely first lines From: Ellenpoly Date: 22 Jul 04 - 08:49 AM "All the world seems in tune on a spring afternoon, when we're poisoning pidgeons in the park..." (Bless you Tom Lehrer) ..xx..e |
Subject: RE: Unlikely first lines From: Betsy Date: 23 Jul 04 - 09:00 AM Ground gred and gutter |
Subject: RE: Unlikely first lines From: Bert Date: 23 Jul 04 - 09:05 AM I'm a Lonely Little Petunia in an Onion Patch |
Subject: RE: Unlikely first lines From: The Fooles Troupe Date: 23 Jul 04 - 09:18 AM Isn't it Grand, to be bloody well dead! |
Subject: RE: Unlikely first lines From: GUEST,Augie Date: 23 Jul 04 - 12:41 PM "After the Rain, in the Streets light flows like Blood, I can just taste Salt on a Humid Wind" The always awesome Bruce Cockburn from "After the Rain",~1979 |
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