Best Opening and Ending Lines In A Song

[DudeAsInCool]

Spinner recently put together their list of the best 25 openings for a song...so NPR decided to follow up with the best endings.

***

You'll have to listen to NPR to get their listings...meanwhile The Brawler has put together a pretty good list

Best Opening Lyrics

25. "You were working as a waitress in a cocktail bar"

--Human League's 'Don't You Want Me'

24. "I've been a bad, bad girl"

--Fiona Apple's 'Criminal'

23. "You never close your eyes anymore when I kiss your lips"

--The Righteous Brothers' 'You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin''

22. "Go, shorty. It's your birthday"

--50 Cent's 'In Da Club'

21. "Hello, Darkness, my old friend"

--Simon and Garfunkel's 'The Sound of Silence'

20. "I am an Antichrist"

--Sex Pistols' 'Anarchy in the UK'

19. "Well, I guess it would be nice if I could touch your body"

--George Michael's 'Faith'

18. "We don't smoke marijuana in Muskogee"

--Merle Haggard's 'Okie From Muskokee'

17. "I was dreaming when I wrote this"

--Prince's '1999'

16. "Pigs, they tend to wiggle when they walk"

--Pavement's 'Stereo'

15. "She was more like a beauty queen from a

movie scene"

--Michael Jackson's 'Billie Jean'

14. "There must be some kind of way out of here, said the joker to the thief"

--Jimi Hendrix's 'All Along the Watchtower'

13. "What's with these homies dissin' my girl?"

--Weezer's 'Buddy Holly'

12. "A candy-colored clown they call the sandman tiptoes to my room every night"

--Roy Orbison's 'In Dreams'

11. "Oh, I just don't know where to begin"

--Elvis Costello's 'Accidents Will Happen'

10. "Tommy used to work on the docks"

--Bon Jovi's 'Livin' on a Prayer'

9. "Jesus died for somebody's sins but not mine"

--Patti Smith's 'Gloria'

8. "Well, it's one for the money, two for the show, three to get ready, now go, cat, go!"

--Carl Perkins' 'Blue Suede Shoes'

7. "In the time of chimpanzees I was a monkey"

--Beck's 'Loser'

6. "Why do birds suddenly appear every time you are near?"

--The Carpenters' 'Close to You'

5. "Don't call it a comeback"

--LL Cool J's 'Mama Said Knock You Out!'

4. "Well, she was just seventeen -- you know what I mean"

--The Beatles' 'I Saw Her Standing There'

3. "Hey, ho, let's go!"

--The Ramones' 'Blitzkrieg Bop'

2. "I was born in a cross-fire hurricane"

--The Rolling Stones' 'Jumpin' Jack Flash'

1. "She's a very kinky girl"

--Rick James' 'Superfreak'

Best Closing Lyrics

25. So I walked/As day was dawning/while small bird sang/and leaves were falling/to where we once watched/the rowboats landing/on the broad, majestic Shannon -- The Pogues, "The Broad Majestic Shannon"

24. Do you think that you could make it with Frankenstein? -- New York Dolls, "Frankenstein (Original Version)"

23. And I guess I just don't know -- The Velvet Underground, "Heroin"

22. Every junkie's like a setting sun -- Neil Young, "Needle and the Damage Done"

21. I know you're dying baby/And I know you know it too/Every time I see you/I just don't know what to do -- Van Morrison, "Slim Slow Slider"

20. There is no future and England's dreaming/No future...The SexPistols, "God Save the Queen"

19. You're a wasted face/you're a sad-eyed lie/you're a holocaust -- Big Star, "Holocaust"

18. I remember you well/in Chelsea Hotel/that's all/I don't even think of you that often" -- Leonard Cohen, "Chelsea Hotel No. 2"

17. There's never been a man/that's ever shook this can/but I know a man who tried/the newspapers called it a jailbreak plan/but I know it was suicide/I know it was suicide-- Johnny Cash, "The Wall"

16. All the little fillies at the Yukon Club/Are gunning for the Gold Rush/They just can't get enough -- The Hold Steady, "Payne Avenue"

15. Millions of people/swarming like flies/round Waterloo Undergound/But Terry and Julie cross over the river/where they feel safe and sound -- The Kinks, "Waterloo Sunset"

14. When I woke up/mom and dad are rolling on the couch/rolling numbers/rocking and rolling/got my Kiss records out -- Cheap Trick, "Surrender"

13. A denial -- Nirvana, "Smells Like Teen Spirit"

12. Houses of crack, I've seen too much/I go ready, aim, fire then I'll blow 'em up -- Public Enemy, "Raise the Roof"

11. I never felt so much alike alike alike -- The Clash, "London Calling"

10. Bitch, rant down to the practice room/attention and fame/so career career career -- Pavement, "Cut your hair"

9. Life passes slow in slippers and robe/but my ghost still bangs on the roof/like John the Baptist in the rain/While the nurses play Crazy Eights -- The Handsome Family, "My Ghost"

8. And I wondered how that same moon outside/over this Chinatown fair/could look down on Illinois/and find you there/you know I love you baby" -- Tom Waits, "Shore Leave"

7. And the iceberg broke/and the Okies fled/and the Great Emancipator/took a bullet in the back of the head" -- Gillian Welch, April the 14th Part 1

6. And it feels like 1974/digging Led Zeppelin in Grimsby/Oh, Christ -- Robyn Hitchcock, "1974"

5. Honey last night I met this guy/and I'm gonna do a little favor for him -- Bruce Springsteen, "Atlantic City"

4. The harmonicas play the skeleton keys and the rain/and these visions of Johanna are all that remain -- Bob Dylan, "Visions of Johanna"

3. Child in the backseat, about four or five years/Lookin' out the window/Little bit of dirt mixed with tears/Car wheels on a gravel road -- Lucinda Williams. "Car wheels on a gravel road"

2. We could stand for a century/starin'/with our heads cocked/in the broad daylight at this thing/joy/landlocked/in bodies that don't keep/don't keep!/dumbstruck with the sweetness of being/till we don't be/told; take this/and eat this -- Joanna Newsom, "Emily"

1. And in the end/the love you make/is equal to the love you take -- The Beatles, "The End"

[Excrement_Cranium]

My favorite closing line:

"'Cause who I'm talkin' 'bout yall is Hip-Hop" - Common - I used to love H.E.R.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3A9u9rG3Q7g...ted&search=

Edited September 8, 2007 by Excrement_Cranium

[rainbowdemon]

Is this the real life, is this just fantasy?

[DudeAsInCool]

Don't know, but I like these opening lyrics:

Please allow me to introduce myself, Im a man of wealth and taste

[rainbowdemon]

1. And in the end/the love you make/is equal to the love you take -- The Beatles, "The End"

Best closing line ever!!

It ended the song, the album, and the band's career.

[DudeAsInCool]

Best closing line ever!!

It ended the song, the album, and the band's career.

I absolutely agree and you beat me to that post

[Shawn]

Top of my head and available for editing......

Starting

The world is a vampire... sent to drain - Pumpkins

I'm not like them, but I can pretend - Nirvana

Polly wants a cracker, maybe I should get off her first - Nirvana

It's time to play the game - Motorhead

As I was hunting wild turkey and sipping on Jim Beam... - Mark Chestnut

I met her in a club down in north soho where they drink champagne and it tastes just like cherry cola - Kinks

Ending

And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts

And I looked and behold, a pale horse

And it's name it said on him was Death

And Hell followed with him. - Johnny Cash

[DudeAsInCool]

As I was hunting wild turkey and sipping on Jim Beam... - Mark Chestnut