GREATEST OPENING OF A SONG

[buckjohnson]

I've got sunshine on a cloudy day.
When it's cold outside I've got the month of May

http://www.songfacts.com/lyrics.php?findsong=1225

I have been listening to music all day while doing chores and I heard this great opening line from the Temptations, "My Girl". Smokey's lyrics, plus the great James Jamerson bass playing, (a melodic riff reminiscing/mimicry of a heartbeat) and David Ruffin's sweet but very aggressive singing style all together makes this the greatest opening of a song ever, The metaphoric above-mentioned line, the bass playing, and the singing voice all combine to give the song an opening that allows is to stay on point and conversely speak of and define the greatest human emotion, love, and its greatest collateral damage, heartbreak. It is nostalgia at it best, and when listen with an open mind, a fresh mind (because of the numbing times it has been played in TV shows and movies) it betrays a tenderness that goes beyond music genres, race, class, and sex. It is a lonesome song without sadness, a stalking quality without being predatory, and wholesomeness without being saturated or full sugary connotations (despite the bee and honey imagery)

I would like others to comment on what they think is the greatest opening of a song and add additional commentary on why.

[Dirky]

The Temptations knew how to start a song off. Ball of Confusion has a terrific beginning too. That might be my favorite intro.

As for opening lines, I'll have to think it over a bit.

[rockabilly]

Gotta have " Enter Sandman " on here.

[BellaBellucci]

G'n'F'n'R - Sweet Child O' Mine

Incredible riff. Great lyrics.

'She got a smile that it seems to me reminds me of childhood memories.'

Sure, the working is a little clunky, but it gives you a great visual.

~BB~

[shemale-411]

One song, and one song only - Bulls On Parade - Rage Against The Machine, grabs me buy the balls, flings me around the room, kicks me out the front door and makes me wanna run outside and join a riot from the first heart pounding thump!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-58-36lSqG4

[scroller]

I'm not going to claim this is my "best ever" (it's not even remotely the kind of music I normally listen to), but... the other day Sophie B. Hawkins' "Damn I Wish I Was Your Lover" came on and it made the hair on my arms stand on end from the first note. Something incredibly creepy/seductive about that song, it must have gotten hardwired in my brain sometime in the 90's.

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

[jaycanuck]

G'n'F'n'R - Sweet Child O' Mine

I was going to say Welcome to the Jungle. :)

[rockabilly]

ACDC's " You shook me all night long "

[JeniferTS]

'hit me baby one more time'

[Jericho]

Carry on my wayward son:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pw6_VXPwm6U

[fordly66]

I can tell by your eyes that you've probly been crying for ever. "I don't want to talk about it" by Rod Stewart. And it is actually writtin "probly"

[jaycanuck]

The Madness - Our House
David Bowie / Freddy Mercury - Under Pressure
Blondie - Dreaming
Sex Pistols - God Save the Queen
The Clash - London Calling

Those are all old..but great. :)

[2009AD]

The best, ever

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yu_moia-oVI

[rockabilly]

Sex Pistols - Pretty Vacant has a great opening.

[liisawinklergirl]

A Song for you - the Carpenters

"I've been so many places in my life and time "

speaks tons about the kind of lifestyle escorts live....:) :(

[raybbaby]

Damn! I just got Rick rolled! Well played my friend. I will probably change my mind in a bit, but the first thing I heard in my head when I read this thread title was the opening guitar line to "over the hills and far away" by Led Zeppelin. "Hey lady....."


edit;Madness is just called Madness, no "the" involved. And anyone who names anything by the Sex Pistols has to write the words "fashion victim" on their forehead and walk around like that aaaall day tomorrow. And be careful if you do it in the mirror, don't write it backwards. The Sex Pistols, what the fuck were you thinking?

[bte]

Welcome Home by Coheed and Cambria

[TomSelis]

Machine Gun- Jimi Hendrix

Achilles' Last Stand- Led Zeppelin

Barracuda- Heart

The Song Remains the Same- Led Zeppelin

Black Sabbath- Iron man

Enter Sandman- Metallica

[Dino Velvet]

The song Black Sabbath by Black Sabbath with the thunder and rain and the church bells then you hear the dooming sound of Tony Iommi's guitar. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U9ejr1YOk68

[a994]

Four prog classics:

"Tarkus" by Emerson, Lake, and Palmer

"Close To the Edge," "Sound Chaser," and "Tempus Fugit" by Yes

[transmaven]

These chords could start a new and better universe. Ah Angus --


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CJnGseM5iNI


http://api.ning.com/files/RjRnaBK4eVd3MMsZw2F34IQlLhYcFb74APD5EJgbmKLiYg5r*d GuLzNIwOUQ3e7677k3c9ZTY0gITYd01jSnfXbl8Sqk3Zvw/0814_143107_AngusYoung.LPA.04022008.jpg

[JohnnyWalkerBlackLabel]

My entry

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=027xUm6KGKY

The Greatest Intro I've ever heard, and probably the most sampled intro ever in hop hop (could be wrong)

[lupinIII]

This is a sweet thread. I threw up the horns when I saw it.

I have like a billion songs that turn my spine to ice and compel my brain to release incredible amounts of adrenaline, dopamine and other happy chemicals. Some notable ones though.

Thunderstruck and Back in Black by AC/DC (or Acka Dacka as we Aussies call them).

Ace of Spades by Motorhead.

Immigrant Song by Led Zeppelin

Save the Day by the Living End

Anything by the Ramones, Dee Dee yelling "1 2 3 4!" Then the chainsaw guitars of Johnny, fucking sweet.

Guerilla Radio, Killing in the Name, Bulls on Parade, People of the Sun by Rage Against the Machine.

London Calling, Death or Glory, Rock the Casbah, pretty much anything by The Clash.

And, as clichéd as it is I still turn into a nihilistic little punk at the intro to Smells Like Teen Spirit.

[rockabilly]

Bella forgot about this?!
Muse - Knights of Cydonnia
great opening and video

The Darkness - I believe in a thing called love

[Quiet Reflections]

Punk Rock Girl by Dead Milkmen

[theremin]

Opening line:

"If nothing happens, they will electrocute us right after midnight"

Sacco's letter to his son
From the album "The Ballad of Sacco and Vanzetti" by Woody Guthrie
although this song is actually performed by Pete Seeger

[vman2375]

heart of the sunrise

[muhmuh]

very very cliche but the intro did manage to send a shiver down me spine once
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ntm1YfehK7U&fmt=18

[buckjohnson]

My entry

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=027xUm6KGKY

The Greatest Intro I've ever heard, and probably the most sampled intro ever in hop hop (could be wrong)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MzMVk8m5Fzs&feature=related
Thanks for the recommendation. From that, I was able to pull the above Pavarotti and James Brown singing together video. I thought it was going to be train wreck...but it was very moving and emotional It is the kind of musical suprise , like christina aguilera & herbie hancock perfoming Song for You (Christina's voice was amazing and perfect pitch, tone, and key) or Miles playing Lauper's Time after Time (esp live version), that keeps me listenin and searching

As for sampling, you are right, Man's World sampled a lot. My brief op of sampling is this. Some sort of sampling has always been happening. Folks biting Parker, Dizzy, Coltrane, and the whole 70 and 80's had Commodores biting Ohio Players biting Bar-kays biting Parliament, but today's sampling lack reverance of past "sampling"

[ed_jaxon]

Layla

Derek and the Dominoes

[rockabilly]

Punk Rock Girl by Dead Milkmen

Dead Milkmen Fuckin Rule !!

Van Halen - Hot for teacher

[HUNGTOP552]

SYMPATHY FOR THE DEVIL

[Willie Escalade]

"Smiling Faces Sometimes"...the original version by The Temptations
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fSUb2zX4POA

"Drowning In The Sea Of Love", by Joe Simon
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sU9vA4ILkQE

"Summer In The City"...Quincy Jones' version (which was sampled by The Pharcyde)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XOZdtbGQXOQ

"Masterpiece"...Grover Washington, Jr's version
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M4O3yCYmFBc

"Impeach The President", by The Honeydrippers. One of the most sampled drum loops EVER.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wg0N5woIPPI

[yngtxmale24]

"The only two things in life that make it worth living, are guitars that tune good and firm feeling women.

sorry douche's, but you usually gotta go to country music for classic intros. and if you know who sings it without looking it up, i'm impressed

[baileyandkc]

Fool for the City (FOGHAT)

[BrassVillanueva]

From my previous life as a disc jockey, I'll tell you right now that one of the greatest songs to talk up the intro to is KC & The Sunshine Band's "Get Down Tonight". Especially if you were working in radio when it was a current record and you were one of the "BIG" personalities. If only I had fit that description! Music radio's glory days... how I miss them.

Other good ones (the first of which has already been mentioned): "Immigrant Song" by Led Zeppelin, "The Spirit of Radio" by Rush, showing my love for the 80's with "Cold Days, Hot Nights" by Moti Special, and one I'm surprised no one has mentioned yet, "Thunderstruck" by AC/DC.

[buckjohnson]

"Smiling Faces Sometimes"...the original version by The Temptations
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fSUb2zX4POA

"Drowning In The Sea Of Love", by Joe Simon
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sU9vA4ILkQE

"Summer In The City"...Quincy Jones' version (which was sampled by The Pharcyde)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XOZdtbGQXOQ

"Masterpiece"...Grover Washington, Jr's version
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M4O3yCYmFBc

"Impeach The President", by The Honeydrippers. One of the most sampled drum loops EVER.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wg0N5woIPPI



Nice songs...But some of the versions you listed are not even the best version of the songs. Others have done summer in the city and smiling faces much better .And none of the songs are culturally significant

[buckjohnson]

I see a lot of obscure rock songs listed here as "great". Besides the lack of vocal quality inherent in almost all rock songs, if a song has no cultrual significance, can it be considered "great". I am no music critic, but I have to repeat a line(s) spoken a few times in Prince's Purple Rain

"No one digs your music but yourself/The only person who gives a fuck about your music is yourself"
By the way, who could forget Apollonia's apperance in the lake.
http://shawn-avery.blogspot.com/2009/06/princes-purple-rain-25-years-later.html

[cassieukts]

stone roses - i am the resurrection

[bassman2546]

The Spirit of Radio - Rush

[buckjohnson]

Ark Blakely & Jazz Messengers

Night in Tunisia

[Prospero]

Let me take you down cos I'm going to, strawberry fields. nothing is real, nothing to get hung about.

Strawberry fields forever - the beatles

The opening power chord of A Hard day's Night

You've got a lot of nerve
to say you are my friend
when i was down
you just stood there grinning

Positively fourth street Bob Dylan

the snare drum kick and rolling organ of Like A Rolling Stone by Dylan

[Stavros]

Two very different songs, both dark in their own way, and both of which use a tambourine to chilling effect in the intro, as if to warn...

The Doors - The End - YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GGXeXm0uMDo)

Marvin Gaye - I Heard It Through The Grapevine - YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hajBdDM2qdg)

[Paladin]

Three i particularly like:
Time - Pink Floyd
Big ol Jet Airliner - Steve Miller
Never Been any Reason - Head East - The lead singer sounds like Rush's Geddy Lee. Think i'll play it now!

[Prospero]

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

Patti Smith, Gloria

[Nivek]

ACDC "Hells Bells"

[Prospero]

How does it begin, Nivek?

[Prospero]

The Internationale.....

Arise, you prisoners of starvation!
Arise, you wretched of the earth!
For justice thunders condemnation:
A better world's in birth!

[Nivek]

hells bells - YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Kjh9lQXLWk&feature=youtube_gdata_player)

[maxpower]

The opening power chord of A Hard day's Night
I agree. Unmistakeable and instantly recognizeable. I would also add the feedback squall/guitar intro to "I Feel Fine," which is equally recognizeable. If I'm not mistaken it's the first instance of (intentionally) recorded feedback in a pop song. One of the Beatles many firsts.

The Beatles I Feel Fine - YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5vDMgn9Xles)

[MdR Dave]

SYMPATHY FOR THE DEVIL
That IS a great opening. They used it for the opening of an episode of "Moonlighting" once to great effect.

A bit off topic:
As for the song itself- if you haven't heard this version check it out- live, released on Triple X records just before they hit it big. The ending is incredible. (On the album they lead in with Velvet Underground's "Rock and Roll"- also awesome. Go buy it!)

http://m.youtube.com/watch?gl=US&hl=en&client=mv-google&v=nFM8XjrRDuw

[Stavros]

Dave that must be the worst cover I have ever heard, I dont know who Jane's Addiction are but the pills are obviously not working. Have you seen the Godard film One Plus One -1968- Part of the film is the Stones recording this song, only for most of the film they play it at least half as slower as the finished version. In addition, when the film was premiered at the London Film Festival, Godard discovered that his producer had re-cut the ending of the film so that the audience could hear the final version of the song uninterrupted (its played over the closing credits as Anna Wiazemsky is hoisted on top of a crane). Godard punched his producer in the face and was then physically thrown out of the National Film Theatre -I don't believe he has ever set foot in the UK since then, not that anyone would have noticed. The film was rubbish in 1968, time has not been kind to it.

Another controversy followed when the Stones played the song on tv show and over the closing chant, Jagger took off his shirt, which in those days was considered outrageous. I think some people thought if you make a song about the Devil you have it coming!

[MdR Dave]

Dave that must be the worst cover I have ever heard, I dont know who Jane's Addiction are but the pills are obviously not working!
LOL! That's good!

But I stand by this regardless- no fidelity to the original but at the end the guitar summons a sinister sound that the Stones could only dream about. (And I'm a Stones fan- here in the states moat folks take their pick of Mick and the boys or the Beatles and make fun of the others.)

That said, Mick is a bit ridiculous- the swagger, the pout, the fleeing like a little girl when the Hells Angels started killing at Altamont (during Sympathy, at that). Great sound- but that's Keith and Ron for the most part.

[maxpower]

The celesta and sliding bass opening to "Sunday Morning" by The Velvet Underground

The Velvet Underground & Nico - Sunday Morning - YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n3TW49VCd3I)

[runningdownthatdream]

I like this a lot.....the first time I heard that voice I was floored!

Tim Buckley Sweet Surrender (HQ) - YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tpczhSOCF-8&feature=related)

[south ov da border]

Dazed And Confused-Led Zeppelin - YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=auDv6cf2PBM)

Been Dazed and Confused for so long it's not true.
Wanted a woman never bargained for you
lots of people talk and few of them know
the soul of a woman was created below...

[south ov da border]

great rifts to start off

Crowbar - Existence is Punishment - YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VMRGs19mhG8)

[south ov da border]

first 15 seconds sound like a Super Nintendo game's boss level

jamiroquai - scam - the return of the space cowboy - YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZtrGW--ot44)

[buckjohnson]

Great songs!!!

[south ov da border]

funny intro to me

Milk- Get Off My Log (Jazzyfatwoody Remix).wmv - YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ijXT5151S8)

[Prospero]

This isn't a song - so may not be right. But the opening is so evocative of the world's greatest city.

Rhapsody in Blue ~ Part 1/2 ~ Leonard Bernstein - YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZmUHI2yTtVY)

Manhattan - Woody Allen (opening scene_English) - YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0o6QKpNK9Cc)

[CORVETTEDUDE]

The cogh sequence at the beginning of Black Sabbath's "Sweetleaf"

[Prospero]

Miles lonesome night time music - the opening (and the rest) of this is aunting.

miles davis "generique" - YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bq5CZjJutrc)

[buckjohnson]

Miles lonesome night time music - the opening (and the rest) of this is aunting.

miles davis "generique" - YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bq5CZjJutrc)

Beautiful. I played it tonight.

[Devilboy]

The opening riff of Paranoid....nothing better.