![]() ![]() His answer, cryptic as it may be, is in the title, "Blowin' in the Wind." When a song starts with a question, perhaps listeners will be curious enough to stick around to hear an answer. Sticking with Dylan, "How many roads must a man walk down before you call him a man?" is one of his most famous lines. They've had a falling out, and what we're about to hear isn't going to be pretty. Following McEntires progression between those two songs is an absorbing experience, hearing her try on different styles from song to song. Hailed as the king of songwriting, Bob Dylan starts "Positively Fourth Street" with the sneer, "You got a lot of nerve to say you are my friend." Right from the start, we know the song is about two people: the narrator and someone who has done him wrong. It opens with the rootsy 'How Blue' from 1984s My Kind Of Country, ending with the Kelly Clarkson-cameoed 'Because Of You' from 2007s Reba: Duets. It's how Justin Timberlake starts "Losing My Way." Better: "Please allow me to introduce myself, I'm a man of wealth and taste," from the Rolling Stones' "Sympathy for the Devil."Ĭulture Club doesn't sound terribly intelligent when they start "The War Song" with "War, war is stupid, and people are stupid." As social commentary, a more thought-provoking beginning is "They paved paradise, put up a parking lot" in Joni Mitchell's "Big Yellow Taxi."Įven a simple, straightforward sneer can set a premise, though it may not be spelled out. Yes, that's an actual first line to a song. "Hi, my name is Bob and I work at my job" is, to be polite, lacking. "A vague or rambling statement about someone or something you could care less about," makes for a bad first line, he says. Now we're going to hear their story.Ĭlarity and simplicity, Carnes said, can make a big impact. Following his 1981 tour, Kristofferson hit the stage for the first of three ACL appearances with classics including Me and Bobby McGee, Lovin Her Was. Molly has red hair and appreciates the bike, the look of James, or both. ![]() It begins, "Says Red Molly to James, 'That's a fine motorbike …' " You can gather a lot from such a short line. Consider "1952 Vincent Black Lightning" by Richard Thompson, another esteemed songwriter. Great first lines reveal something about characters, places or times, and hopefully give listeners a hint at what's about to come. Kris Kristofferson mastered the trick in "Me & Bobby McGee." Best known as sung by Janis Joplin, the song begins with her raw vocals, "Busted flat in Baton Rouge, waitin' for a train, and I was feelin' near as faded as my jeans …" ![]()
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