The BBC Radio 2 is currently holding a poll for the best first line in a popular song. One suggestion is from A Design For Life by Manic Street Preachers.

"Libraries gave us power"

Any other suggestions?

Maybe we could ask the students currently taking part in the international debate to join in.

"We don't need no education, we don't need no thought control"

Whereas the Manic Street Preachers lyrics reflect a 19th century view of education, the Pink Floyd’s is a much more a recent cynical view. I am a supporter of the Manic Street Preachers position. Of course education can be manipulated to support the dominant ideology. However, history shows us that there are always enough teachers with integrity to make sure this does not happen in a democratic society. As you know, I am the eternal optimist.

"Don't know much about History"

'Sweetness, sweetness I was only joking when I said I'd like to smash every tooth in your head' by the greatest lyricist in History.

If I ventured in the slipstream
Between the viaducts of your dream
Where immobile steel rims crack
And the ditch in the back roads stop


Van Morrison - Astral Weeks

I can't resist adding a bit more

Could you find me?
Would you kiss-a my eyes?
To lay me down
In silence easy
To be born again

You mean second greatest lyricist...

after William Bragg:

'The party that became so powerful, by sinking foreign boats...'

Back to first lines please Nick!

What about the best last lines:

Diving for dear life
When we could be diving for pearls

Elvis Costello (Shipbuilding)

Belligerent ghouls
Run Manchester schools
Spineless swines
Cemented minds

The Headmaster Ritual, The Smiths.

'She cut her hair and I stopped loving her.'

Billy Bragg - Walk Away Renee

What about this one?

Won't you scratch my itch, sweet Annie Rich

Gram Parsons - Return of the Grievous Angel

Did Billy Bragg actually write that?

Walk Away Renee

The Four Tops version will be the most memorable

Written by B.Calilli, M.Brown, T.Sansone

And here are a few more

Oh the snot has caked against my pants

Love – Live and Let Live


I saw yuh baby dancin’ in yer x-ray gingham dress
I saw you were under duress

Captain Beefheart and his Magic Band – My Human Gets Me Blues

More challenging tunes at

http://www.live365.com/stations/285707

Sorry should made that clear earlier...

Billy Bragg - Walk Away Renee (Version)

Interestingly enough with J. Marr (Smiths again) on guitar.

Let's be clear on this - the ultimate version of 'Walk Away Renee' is by The Left Banke.

This is probably more important than any league tables or SATs results!

Here are some good first lines from Don Mclean, one of the best songwriters over the last 30 years. I have chosen these because of what follows these excellent introductions:

It started out quite simply, as complex things can do, a set of sad transparencies till no one could see through (The Pride Parade)

A long, long time ago I can still remember how that music used to make me smile (American Pie)

No days you can borrow, no time you can buy. No trust in tomorrow. It's a lie. (Dreidel)

I coulda been almost anything I put my mind to be but a cowboy’s life was the only life for me. (Bronco Bill’s Lament)

I feel the trembling tingle of a sleepless night (Empty Chairs)

The following was written by Janis Ian when she was in her late teens. Unfortunately, her creativity went into decline after this bright start.

I learned the truth at seventeen: that love was meant for beauty queens and high school girls with clear skinned smiles who married young and then retired. (At Seventeen)

You might be interested in the rest of the song. Could be used in the classroom.

I LEARNED THE TRUTH AT SEVENTEEN
THAT LOVE WAS MEANT FOR BEAUTY QUEENS
AND HIGH SCHOOL GIRLS WITH CLEAR SKINNED SMILES
WHO MARRIED YOUNG AND THEN RETIRED
THE VALENTINES I NEVER KNEW
THE FRIDAY NIGHT CHARADES OF YOUTH
WERE SPENT ON ONE MORE BEAUTIFUL
AT SEVENTEEN I LEARNED THE TRUTH

AND THOSE OF US WITH RAVAGED FACES
LACKING IN THE SOCIAL GRACES
DESPERATELY REMAINED AT HOME
INVENTING LOVERS ON THE PHONE
WHO CALLED TO SAY - COME DANCE WITH ME
AND MURMURED VAGUE OBSCENITIES
IT ISN'T ALL IT SEEMS AT SEVENTEEN

A BROWN EYED GIRL IN HAND ME DOWNS
WHOSE NAME I NEVER COULD PRONOUNCE
SAID - PITY PLEASE THE ONES WHO SERVE
THEY ONLY GET WHAT THEY DESERVE
THE RICH RELATIONED HOMETOWN QUEEN
MARRIES INTO WHAT SHE NEEDS
WITH A GUARANTEE OF COMPANY
AND HAVEN FOR THE ELDERLY

SO REMEMBER THOSE WHO WIN THE GAME
LOSE THE LOVE THEY SOUGHT TO GAIN
IN DEBENTURES OF QUALITY AND DUBIOUS INTEGRITY
THEIR SMALL-TOWN EYES WILL GAPE AT YOU
IN DULL SURPRISE WHEN PAYMENT DUE
EXCEEDS ACCOUNTS RECEIVED AT SEVENTEEN

TO THOSE OF US WHO KNEW THE PAIN
OF VALENTINES THAT NEVER CAME
AND THOSE WHOSE NAMES WERE NEVER CALLED
WHEN CHOOSING SIDES FOR BASKETBALL
IT WAS LONG AGO AND FAR AWAY
THE WORLD WAS YOUNGER THAN TODAY
WHEN DREAMS WERE ALL THEY GAVE FOR FREE
TO UGLY DUCKLING GIRLS LIKE ME

WE ALL PLAY THE GAME, AND WHEN WE DARE
WE CHEAT OURSELVES AT SOLITAIRE
INVENTING LOVERS ON THE PHONE
REPENTING OTHER LIVES UNKNOWN
THAT CALL AND SAY - COME ON, DANCE WITH ME
AND MURMUR VAGUE OBSCENITIES
AT UGLY GIRLS LIKE ME, AT SEVENTEEN

I'm afraid they are full songs rather than first line but here are some interesting lyrics which certainly could be used in the classroom. Firstly Randy Newman

Political Science Lyrics
No one likes us
I don't know why.
We may not be perfect
But heaven knows we try.
But all around even our old friends put us down.
Let's drop the big one and see what happens.

We give them money
But are they grateful?
No they're spiteful
And they're hateful.
They don't respect us so let's surprise them;
We'll drop the big one and pulverize them.

Now Asia's crowded
And Europe's too old.
Africa's far too hot,
And Canada's too cold.
And South America stole our name.
Let's drop the big one; there'll be no one left to blame us.

Bridge:
We'll save Australia;
Don't wanna hurt no kangaroo.
We'll build an all-American amusement park there;
They've got surfing, too.

Well, boom goes London,
And boom Paris.
More room for you
And more room for me.
And every city the whole world round
Will just be another American town.
Oh, how peaceful it'll be;
We'll set everybody free;
You'll have Japanese kimonos, baby,
There'll be Italian shoes for me.
They all hate us anyhow,
So let's drop the big one now.
Let's drop the big one now.

Short People Lyrics

Short People got no reason
Short People got no reason
Short People got no reason
To live

They got little hands
And little eyes
And they walk around
Tellin' great big lies
They got little noses
And tiny little teeth
They wear platform shoes
On their nasty little fett

Well, I don't want no Short People
Don't want no Short People
Don't want no Short People
Round here

Short People are just the same
As you and I
(A Fool Such As I)
All men are brothers
Until the day they die
(It's A Wonderful World)

Short People got nobody
Short People got nobody
Short People got nobody
To love

They got little baby legs
And they stand so low
You got to pick 'em up
Just to say hello
They got little cars
That got beep, beep, beep
They got little voices
Goin' peep, peep, peep
They got grubby little fingers
And dirty little minds
They're gonna get you every time
Well, I don't want no Short People
Don't want no Short People
Don't want no Short People
'Round here

Or my own personal favourite from Leonard Cohen below

Please Don't Pass Me By (A Disgrace)

I was walking in New York City and I brushed up against the man in front of
me. I felt a cardboard placard on his back. And when we passed a streetlight,
I could read it, it said "Please don't pass me by - I am blind, but you can
see - I've been blinded totally - Please don't pass me by." I was walking
along 7th Avenue, when I came to 14th Street I saw on the corner curious
mutilations of the human form; it was a school for handicapped people. And
there were cripples, and people in wheelchairs and crutches and it was snowing,
and I got this sense that the whole city was singing this:
Oh please don't pass me by,
oh please don't pass me by,
for I am blind, but you can see,
yes, I've been blinded totally,
oh please don't pass me by.
And you know as I was walking I thought it was them who were singing it, I
thought it was they who were singing it, I thought it was the other who was
singing it, I thought it was someone else. But as I moved along I knew it was
me, and that I was singing it to myself. It went:
Please don't pass me by,
oh please don't pass me by,
for I am blind, but you can see,
well, I've been blinded totally,
oh please don't pass me by.
Oh please don't pass me by.
Now I know that you're sitting there deep in your velvet seats and you're
thinking "Uh, he's up there saying something that he thinks about, but I'll
never have to sing that song." But I promise you friends, that you're going
to be singing this song: it may not be tonight, it may not be tomorrow, but
one day you'll be on your knees and I want you to know the words when the
time comes. Because you're going to have to sing it to yourself, or to another,
or to your brother. You're going to have to learn to sing this song, it goes:
Please don't pass me by,
ah you don't have to sing this .. not for you.
Please don't pass me by,
for I am blind, but you can see,
yes, I've been blinded totally,
oh please don't pass me by.
Well I sing this for the Jews and the Gypsies and the smoke that they made.
And I sing this for the children of England, their faces so grave. And I sing
this for a saviour with no one to save. Hey, won't you be naked for me? Hey,
won't you be naked for me? It goes:
Please don't pass me by,
oh please don't pass me by,
for I am blind, but you can see,
yes, I've been blinded totally,
oh now, please don't pass me by.
Now there's nothing that I tell you that will help you connect the blood
tortured night with the day that comes next. But I want it to hurt you, I
want it to end. Oh, won't you be naked for me? Oh now:
Please don't pass me by,
oh please don't pass me by,
for I am blind, but you can see,
but I've been blinded totally,
oh, please don't pass me by.
Well I sing this song for you Blonde Beasts, I sing this song for you Venuses
upon your shells on the foam of the sea. And I sing this for the freaks and
the cripples, and the hunchback, and the burned, and the burning, and the
maimed, and the broken, and the torn, and all of those that you talk about at
the coffee tables, at the meetings, and the demonstrations, on the streets,
in your music, in my songs. I mean the real ones that are burning, I mean the
real ones that are burning
I say, please don't pass me by,
oh now, please don't pass me by,
for I am blind, yeah but you can see,
ah now, I've been blinded totally,
oh no, please don't pass me by.
I know that you still think that its me. I know that you think that there's
somebody else. I know that these words aren't yours. But I tell you friends
that one day
You're going to get down on your knees,
you're going to get down on your knees,
you're going to get down on your knees,
you're going to get down on your knees,
you're going to get down on your knees,
you're going to get down on your knees,
you're going to get down on your knees,
you're going to get down on your knees,
you're going to get down ..
Oh, please don't pass me by,
oh, please don't pass me by,
for I am blind, yeah but you can see,
yes, I've been blinded totally,
oh, please don't pass me by.
Well you know I have my songs and I have my poems. I have my book and I have
the army, and sometimes I have your applause. I make some money, but you know
what my friends, I'm still out there on the corner. I'm with the freaks, I'm
with the hunted, I'm with the maimed, yes I'm with the torn, I'm with the down,
I'm with the poor. Come on now ...
Ah, please don't pass me by,
well I've got to go now friends,
but, please don't pass me by,
for I am blind, yeah but you can see,
oh, I've been blinded, I've been blinded totally,
oh now, please don't pass me by.
Now I want to take away my dignity, yes take my dignity. My friends, take my
dignity, take my form, take my style, take my honour, take my courage, take
my time, take my time, .. time .. 'Cause you know I'm with you singing this
song. And I wish you would, I wish you would, I wish you would go home with
someone else. Wish you'd go home with someone else. I wish you'd go home with
someone else. Don't be the per ause I can't make it by myself. I'm not by myself
anymore because the man I was before he was a tyrant, he was a slave, he was
in chains, he was broken and then he sang:
Oh, please don't pass me by,
oh, please don't pass me by,
for I am blind, yes I am blind, Oh but you can see,
yes, I've been blinded totally,
oh, please don't pass me by.
Well I hope I see you out there on the corner. Yeah I hope as I go by that I
hear you whisper with the breeze. Because I'm going to leave you now, I'm
going to find me someone new. Find someone new.
And please don't pass me by. son that you came with. Oh, don't be the person
that you came with, Oh don't be the person that you came with. Ah, I'm not
going to be. I can't stand him. I can't stand who I am. That's why I've got to
get down on my knees. Bec

Has anyone noticed that all the contribution to this section on 'First Lines' are from men.

What does this say?

Is this just a second hand way of expressing our emotions?

I don't know you, you've been lately on my mind - New Riders of the Purple Sage

I started a strand on another forum of my top 20 albums. Once again only men contributed. At the time I thought it was something to do with men’s interest in lists.
I am surprised by this one. From my experience, women are always better at remembering the words of songs.

Just thought I'd drop this one in. Sorry, it's another whole song:

It's a Hard Life Wherever You Go

I am a backseat driver from America
They drive to the left on Falls Road
The man at the wheel's name is Seamus
We pass a child on the corner he knows
And Seamus says, Now, what chance has that
kid got?
And I say from the back, I don't know.
He says, There's barbed wire at all of these exits . . .
And there ain't no place in Belfast for that kid
to go.

(chorus)
It's a hard life
It's a hard life
It's a very hard life
It's a hard life wherever you go
If we poison our children with hatred
then, the hard life is all that they'll know
And there ain't no place in (Belfast) for
these kids to go
(Chicago)
(This world)

A cafeteria line in Chicago
The fat man in front of me
Is calling black people trash to his children
he's the only trash here I see
And I'm thinking this man wears a white hood
in the night when his children should sleep
But, they slip to their window and they see him
And they think that white hood's all they need

(repeat chorus)

I was a child in the sixties
dreams could be held through TV
With Disney, and Cronkite, and Martin Luther
Oh, I believed, I believed . . I BELIEVED
Now, I am the backseat driver from America
I am not at the wheel of control
I am guilty, I am war, . . . I am the root of all evil
Lord, and I can't drive on the left side of the road

(repeat chorus)

Nanci Griffith

'What's her name, Virginia Plain.' Roxy Music

'Wear your hair long babe you can't go wrong' Marc Bolan

'Any way the wind blows' Queen

'With a love like that, you know you should be glad.' Beatles

My current issue regarding whether I remain in teaching or try something else reminds me of this line:
'Should I stay or should I go?' Clash

Also Manic Street Preachers but not a first line:
"If you tolerate this your children will be next!"

Like ships without anchors
Wide is the ocean, no islands, no shores
All is well, only
This is such a lonely feeling to be lonely

Fame is illusion
Bright are the lights and you -
You are left in confusion
All is well, only
This is such a lonely feeling
This is such a lonely feeling

Driving fast, as fast as I can
Or sitting quietly on the windowsill
You've got all and nothing
Just put no more loneliness on my bill

This is such a lonely feeling

All songs should be happy
Actors young and soap operas crappy
Movies are x-rays
Our destinies are choosing our ways
And what should we do?
To enjoy life the most
Or hiding like ghosts?
All is well, only
This is such a lonely feeling
This is such a lonely feeling

Brainstorm - Lonely Feeling (To Be Lonely)

Hey hey, good times
You're in so many lives
Why don't you walk into mine?
I've waited here for a lifetime
But you never showed your face
I'm sorry if I've been wasting my time
I lied to myself
I lie and I know
I can't figure out how my story goes
But, I lie to myself
And there's no Holy Grail
So why don't you come and lay your body down
on my bed of nails?

Hey hey I'm down
Well I'm stuck in a hole and I can't see
any way out

Remember when we were younger
And I showed you what to say
And now it seems I've lost that hunger

Why don't you lay
Why don't you lay
Why don't you come and lay your body down?

I thought it would last a lifetime
It only lasts a day
You've started wasting my time
Why don't you come and change the way
I lie to myself
I lie and I know
I can't figure out
how my story goes
I lie to myself
I lie all the time
I can't figure out why what's yours ain't mine

Hear me out (Hear me out)
Hear me out (Why don't you hear me out?)
Hear me now (Hear me now)
Hear me now

---------

Hey Hey I'm Down - Puressence

Them that's got shall get,
Them that's not shall lose

Kill me
I begged and love said no
Leave me
for dead and let me go
Kill me
I cried and love said no


HIM - And Love Said No

And the hardest part was letting go, not taking part.

The Hardest Part - Coldplay

I see your face before me,

I would call you up every Saturday night
And we'd both stay out 'til the morning light
And we sang, "Here we go again"
And though time goes by, I will always be
In a club with you in 1973

James Blunt - 1973

Curiousity becomes a heavy load,
Too heavy to hold, too heavy to hold.
Curiousity becomes a heavy load,
Too heavy to hold, will force you to be cold.

Arctic Monkeys - Do Me A Favour

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y5AahFXSqz4

I only miss her when I think of her,
And I think of her all the time

Why don't we do it in the road?

Dan,

It would be good if you could add the artist and the song title to your post.
It sounds a bit intriguing....

Cigdem,

That would be from an obscure band out of Liverpool, England and the song title is the same as the first line. Off of the album The Beatles, also known as "The White Album" (1968); possibly one of Mr. Lennon's experiments in "free association" with Ms. Ono.

Take care,
Dan

I dare you: Show me one that says it better.

Charles

***

The sleepless nights,
the daily fights,
the quick toboggan when you reach the heights,
I miss the kisses and I miss the bites,
I wish I were in love again!

The broken dates,
the endless waits,
the lovely loving and the hateful hates,
the conversations with the flying plates,
I wish I were in love again!

No more pain,
no more strain,
now I'm sane but ...
I would rather be gaga!
The pulled-out fur
of cat and cur,
the fine mismating of a him and her,
I've learned my lesson, but I wish I were
in love again!

REFRAIN 2
The furtive sigh,
the blackened eye,
the words "I'll love you till the day I day,"
the self-deception the believes the lie,
I wish I were in love again!

When love congeals
it soon reveals
the faint aroma of performing seals,
the double-crossings of a pair of heels.
I wish I were in love again!

No more care,
no despair,
I'm all there now,
But I'd rather be punch-drunk!
Belive me sir,
I much prefer
the classic battle of a him and her,
I don't like quiet and
I wish I were in love again!

"I Wish I Were in Love Again" from Babes in Arms

Rodgers and Hart

No, not Roy and William S.

Richard and Lorenz.

"The faint aroma of performing seals" ... Indeed.

Oh well...I've never been into the Beatles' music much. I was a huge Elvis fan..still am.
I can imagine what your next post will be like...but Dan, I warn you...don't ever think about it!

Jesus! Are you that young?

Kathy C

Why Don't We Do It in the Road? was Paul McCarntey's entirely.

Kathy C

My own choices for best opening lines?

"Here come old blacktop/ He come cruisin' up slowly..."

This brought a lawsuit. Chuck Berry sued John Lennon ("Come Together").

Or:

"I read the news today, oh boy..."

"A Day in the Life" -- Beatles

Kathy C

You're right, Kathleen. Thanks, my mistake.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Why_Don't..._in_the_Road%3F

I don't know what you're referring to that I should be warned against, Cigdem. I always liked Elvis too much to make fun of him, in spite of doing occasional impressions. And in the end it's too pathetic a story, what with the middle-aged, bloated, drug-addled, sequined-spandex-wearing self-caricature and self-destructiveness of the Vegas Phase. (But those were the '70s, back when everyone was bent on destroying themselves.)

I'm thinking maybe we won't have much to talk about if you've "never been into the Beatles' music much." That surprises me, since they were the original worldwide "boy band" phenomenon -- you know, the kind young girls go crazy about. (And I can remember listening to "Hey Jude" on a little white, one-speaker AM radio when I was 4 or 5 years old.) But at least we share some interest in art.

Take care,
Dan

No. I was uninterested.

You're as dark as the ocean
As cold as the rain
You've got me weak with emotion
You're such a beautiful pain
Such a beautiful pain

Beautiful Pain - The Tears

Just found this 4-YO thread

"The screen door slams, Mary's dress awaits, Like a vision she dances across the porch as the radio plays."

Bruce Springsteen- "Thunder Road"


"It's not the heat
It's the inhumanity
Plugged into the sweat of a summer street."

Rush- "Ceiling Unlimited"


"I saw you from a foreign window
Bearing down the sufferin road
You were carrying your burden
To the palace of the lord"

Van Morrison "Foreign Window"

We're dancing in the dark

London calling to the faraway Towns, now war is declared, and battle come down..London's calling..The Clash.

I am he as you are he as you are me, and we are all together, see how they run like Pigs from a gun, see how the fly, I'm crying..I am the walrus..John Lennon.

They talked to the Sister, the Father and the Mother, with a microphone in one hand, and a chequebook in the other..Pills and Soap..Elvis Costello.

Manics - Motorcycle Emptiness
Culture sucks down words, itemise loathing and feed yourself smiles
Organise your safe tribal war, hurt maim kill and enslave the ghetto

The Smiths - Hand in Glove

Hand in glove, the sun shines out of our behinds

Happy Mondays - Kinky Afro

Son, I'm 30, I only went with your mother 'cause she's dirty