Random 10

stupidity and suffering are on that ticket too

Grant Lee Buffalo, "Truly Truly"
Hindu Love Gods, "Raspberry Beret"
Billie Holiday, "God Bless the Child"
Sinead O'Connor, "The Last Day of Our Acquaintance"
Sam Cooke, "A Change is Gonna Come"
Hall & Oates, "You Make My Dreams Come True"
Beastie Boys, "No Sleep 'Til Brooklyn"
Bush, "Come Down"
The Hold Steady, "Stevie Nix"
Aztec Camera, "Down the Dip"

(Thankyouthankyouthankyou to whoever it was a few months ago who told me to check out The Hold Steady.)

Taking nominations in comments below for the opening lines of pop songs that can compete with the beginning of "Raspberry Beret":

I was working part time in a five-and-dime
My boss was Mr. McGee ...

Comments

[scottmichael]

That's a tall order, but I'll give it a shot:

Old Red Eyes is back/Red from the night before the night before/Walked into the wrong bar, walked into a door. - "Old Red Eyes Is Back," The Beautiful South

Mama told me, yes she told me, I'd meet girls like you/She also told me, "Stay away, you never know what you'll catch." - "Surrender," Cheap Trick

Ziggy played guitar, jammin' good with Weird and Gilly, the Spiders from Mars. - "Ziggy Stardust," David Bowie

Lucy at the gym, she's there every time I go/And I don't go that often, so she must live at the gym. - "Lucy at the Gym," Jill Sobule

Just before our love got lost you said, "I am as constant as a northern star"/And I said, "Constantly in the darkness, where is that at? If you want me I'll be in the bar." - "A Case of You," Joni Mitchell

Life is a mystery, everyone must stand alone/I hear you call my name and it feels like home. - "Like A Prayer," Madonna

The book of love is long and boring/No one can lift the damn thing. - "The Book of Love," Magnetic Fields

I can dish it out but you know I can't take it/When you told me every time that you came that you were fakin'. - "Little Head," The Marvelous 3

There is freedom within, there is freedom without/Try to catch the deluge in a paper cup. - "Don't Dream It's Over," Crowded House

Wake up, kids, we got the dreamer's disease/Age 14, we got you down on your knees/So polite, you're busy still saying please. - "You Get What You Give," New Radicals

Jesus died for somebody's sins but not mine. - "Gloria," Patti Smith

I feel so good I wanna break somebody's heart tonight. - "I Feel So Good," Richard Thompson

Hell is gone and heaven's here, there's nothing left for you to fear/Shake your ass, come over here, now scream! - "Let Me Entertain You," Robbie Williams

Wake up Maggie, I think I got something to say to you/It's late September and I really should be back at school. - "Maggie May," Rod Stewart

I got nasty habits, I take my tea at three. - "Live With Me," Rolling Stones

She's entertaining when complaining about her life/I imagine her that aging hipster's compellingly neurotic wife. - "Stranded on the Club Girls' Terrain," The Negro Problem

Well, it's a bittersweet symphony, that's life/Try to make ends meet, you're a slave to money then you die. - "Bittersweet Symphony," The Verve

I saw a werewolf with a Chinese menu in his hand, walking through the streets of Soho in the rain. - "Werewolves of London," Warren Zevon

Dear God, hope you got the letter and I pray you can make it better down here/I don't mean a big reduction in the price of beer." - "Dear God," XTC

[ajb]

I think you're the only other person I know who owns that Hindu Love Gods CD. What an under-rated work. Zevon surrounded by the caliber of musicians the latter part of his career sadly lacked. Fond memories of the TLA and Chestnut Cabaret solo shows, though.

To answer your challenge, how about another Zevon opening line "I was getting used to you. . you went and changed your tune . . . no you've got me so confused. . . I can't tell the salt from the wound."

[cm]

Holly came from Miami, FLA, hitch-hiked her way across the USA - "Walk on the Wild Side", Lou Reed

[Ben]

It's dog eat dog. Eat cat, too.
Fish eat frog. And I eat you.

AC/DC, "Dog eat dog"

[wintermute]

Have you ever stopped to think about what rats do for fun?
Sure, you always see them scurrying. Yeah, they're always on the run.
But a rat likes to have a good time, just like you and me -
I'll prove it with a tale about a rat-infested brewery.
--Dropkick Murphys - "The Good Rats"

On a distant shore of a distant land
Stands the ebony totem on ebony sand
A dream in a mist of grey.
--Syd Barrat - "Opal"

You've got an invalid haircut.
It hurts when you smile.
You'd better get out of town
Before your nickname expires.
--Warren Zevon - "Life'll Kill Ya"

You may dream the American Dream
But you still sleep with the lights on
And wake up with a scream.
--Warren Zevon - "Fistful of Rain"

Will you have whiskey with your water
or sugar with your tea?
What are these crazy questions
that you're askin' me
--Three Dog Night - "Mamma Told Me Not To Come"

[scottmichael]

I forgot one:

If I was your girlfriend, would you remember to tell me all the things you forgot when I was your man? - Prince, "If I Was Your Girlfriend"

It's only fair that Prince compete with himself, no?

[Natros]

"I woke up thinking about turkish drummers.
Didn't take long--I don't know much about turkish drummers"
-Bruce Cockburn, "Wake Up Jonah"

"Slipped out of my bed like a baby from the nurse's arms onto the cold floor of day..."
-Bruce Cockburn "Give it Away"

[Natros]

Oops! the actual line is:

"Slid out of my dreams like a baby out of the nurse's hands onto the hard floor of day."
-Brucke Cockburn, "Give it Away"

[Rasselas]

Well, there's always Lemmy:

"They say music is the food of love.
Let's see if you're hungry enough...."

[Melanie]

"The screen door slams, Mary's dress waves. Like a vision she dances across the porch as the radio plays." - Springsteen, "Thunder Road."

[Lila]

"They're writing songs of love,
But not for me..."
George and Ira Gershwin, "But Not for Me"

[jwhook]

Don't know if all the other songs mentioned above are "pop", but did my best to stick to Top 40. Titles and artists available upon request, but thought it might be fun for some to guess.

Once upon a time you dressed so fine
You threw the bums a dime in your prime, didn't you?

Looking out on the morning rain
I used to feel uninspired
And when I knew I had to face another day
Lord, it made me feel so tired

A long, long time ago
I can still remember
How that music used to make me smile

I hear the drums echoing tonight
But she hears only whispers of some quiet conversation

In 1814 we took a little trip
Along with Colonel Jackson down the mighty Mississip

The first time ever I saw your face
I thought the sun rose in your eyes
And the moon and stars were the gifts you gave
To the dark and the empty skies...

-- And even though somewhat trite, gotta include this one for paradigm shifting...

Imagine there's no heaven
It's easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us only sky

[Luthe]

I met her in a club down in old Soho,
Where you drink champagne and it tastes just like cherry cola. -"Lola", The Kinks

Sometimes I shave my legs,
Sometime I don't -"Video", india.arie

And here's to you, Mrs. Robinson
Jesus loves you more than you could know -"Mrs. Robinson", Simon & Garfunkel

[Dennis]

I'm a fleabit peanut monkey/All my friends are junkies
--"Monkey Man," The Rolling Stones

I used to be disgusted/Now I try to be amused
--"Red Shoes," Elvis Costello

[tom]

If you're gonna get your heart broke, you gotta do it just right / It's gotta be raining, and you gotta move your stuff that night. -- Dar Williams "The Blessings"

[Duane]

They put a parking lot on a piece of land
When the supermarket used to stand.
Before that they put up a bowling alley
On the site that used to be the local palais.
That’s where the big bands used to come and play.
My sister went there on a saturday.

Come dancing,
All her boyfriends used to come and call.
Why not come dancing, it’s only natural?

-"Come Dancing" Kinks

[Texmandie]

He was born in Oklahoma,
His wife's name is Betty Lou Thelma Liz;
And he's not responsible for what he's doing,
Cause his mother made him what he is.

("Up Against the Wall, Redneck Mother," Jerry Jeff Walker)

[Edward Liu]

Two from B.B. King:

"Nobody loves me but my mother, and she could be jiving me too."
-- "Nobody Loves Me But My Mother"

"I got a good mind to give up living, and go shopping instead.
Said I got a good mind to give up living, and go shopping instead.
Pick me out a tombstone, and be pronounced dead."
-- "All Over Again"

Other one: "Sala-ka-doo-la, mechika boola, bibbity bobbity boo." Best when sung by Louis Armstrong.

[Lo Ping Wong]

"Wish I was ocean size
no one moves you man,
no one tries"

Ocean Size - Janes Addiction

[michael]

Galileo's head was on the block
The crime was looking up the truth

Galileo -- Indigo Girls

[Beth]

Because of a few songs
Wherein I spoke of their mystery,
Women have been
Exceptionally kind
to my old age.
("Because Of" Leonard Cohen)

A cab combs the snake,
Tryin' to rake in that last night's fare,
And a solitary sailor
Who spends the facts of his life
like small change on strangers.
("The Ghosts of Saturday Night" Tom Waits)

They used to tell me
I was building a dream.
And so I followed the mob
When there was earth to plow
Or guns to bear
I was always there
Right on the job.
("Brother, Can You Spare A Dime?")

[Friend of the Predigtamt]

You were working as a waitress in a cocktail bar
When I met you
I picked you out, I shook you up, and turned you around
Turned you into someone new

(Human League, Don't You Want Me)

There’s a smart young woman on a light blue screen
Who comes into my house every night.
And she takes all the red, yellow, orange and green
And she turns them into black and white.

(Elvis Costello, Green Shirt)

Some people call me the space cowboy.
Yeah! Some call me the gangster of love.
Some people call me Maurice,
Cause I speak of the Pompatus of love.

(Steve Miller, The Joker)

When you raise your pencil skirt like a veil before my eyes
Like the look upon his face as he's zipping up his flies
Oh I know that you're engaged to him
Oh but I know that you want something to play with baby

(Pulp, Pencil Skirt)

[nerf poodles]

Mother doesn't go out any more
Just sits at home and rolls her spastic eyes
But every weekend through the door
Come words of wisdom from the world outside
-Joe Jackson, Sunday Papers

That's when Wendell Gee takes a tug
Upon the string that held the line of trees
Behind the house he lived in
He was reared to give respect
But somewhere down the line he chose
To whistle as the wind blows
Whistle as the wind blows, with me
-REM, Wendell Gee

Is this the place that I want
to be
Is it you who I want to see
Holding on, hold it high, show me
everything
And you're leaving me
Yeah, you're leaving me
you're leaving me with hated identity
-Blind Melon, Galaxie

A moment sits suspended in time what i a time i had with you
Living in your fantasy world, well there ain't much of a view
I rarely stepped outside of myself, always caught up in between
Some place i thought was good for my health and the place i've always been
So let me tell you now

Oh, you better stop your crying
'cause you're feeling so damn happy
You try to make me feel like dying
Oh, you better stop your crying
'cause the tears that are running down your face
They don't make me feel like dying
-Bob Mould, Stop Your Crying

[Mnemosyne]

Somebody beat me to "Red Shoes," so I'll go for another one:

While Nat King Cole sings "Welcome to My World"
You twist some song you hate, you sentimental fool
It's the force of habit
If it moves, then you fuck it
If it doesn't then you stab it
"Suit of Lights" - Elvis Costello

or

There are some things you can't cover up with lipstick and powder
But I heard you mention my name, can't you talk any louder?
"Girls Talk" - EC

one more, not EC -

The moment I wake up
Before I put on my makeup
I say a little prayer for you
"I Say A Little Prayer" - best sung by Aretha Franklin (was it a Burt Bacharach song?)

[pharoute]

Mommy had a little baby. There he is fast asleep.
He’s just a little plaything. Why not wake him up?
Talking Heads "Stay up Late"

[cjmr's husband]

Heehahahahahahahahaha, Wipeout!

[Steven Schwartz]

"It's a Raymond Chandler evening,
At the end of someone's day."

-- Robyn Hitchcock, "Raymond Chandler Evening"

[kevin]

"I got seven pictures of Buddha
The prophet's on my tongue
Eleven angels of mercy
Sighin' over that black hole in the sun
My heart's dark but it's risin'
I'm pullin' all the faith I can see
From that black hole on the horizon
I hear your voice calling me"
--Mary's Place, Springsteen

Men walkin’ ’long the railroad tracks
Goin’ someplace there’s no goin’ back
Highway patrol choppers comin’ up over the bridge
Hot soup on a campfire under the bridge
Shelter line stretchin’ ’round the corner
Welcome to the new world order
--- Ghost of Tom Joad, Springsteen

"Her world collapsed early Sunday morning
She got up from the kitchen table
Folded the newspaper and silenced the radio
Those creatures jumped the barricades
And have headed for the sea, sea"
--Belong, REM

"
She came from Greece she had a thirst for knowledge
She studied sculpture at Saint Martin's College, that's where I caught her eye.
She told me that her Dad was loaded
I said in that case I'll have a rum and coke-cola.
She said fine and in thirty seconds time she said, I want to live like common people
I want to do whatever common people do, I want to sleep with common people
I want to sleep with common people like you.
Well what else could I do - I said I'll see what I can do. "

Common People , Pulp

"I was tuning in the shine on the light night dial
doing anything my radio advised"

Radio Radio, Costello

[cjmr's husband]

Put down that chainsaw, and listen to me!

"Dare to be Stupid", Weird Al Yankovic

[substitute]

1. It's time the tale were told of how you took a child and you made him old.

2. Wake up Maggie, I think I've got something to say to you.

3. I know you wanna leave me, but I refuse to let you go.

4. Can't seem to face up to the facts...

[Tim Lehnerer]

"Well the kids are all hopped up and ready to go." --The Ramones, "Sheena is a Punk Rocker"

"Have I the right to hold you?" --The Honeycombs, "Have I the Right".

I'd put either of those two songs up against any pop music of the last sixty years, and they would win.

[WB]

When I woke up this morning, things were lookin' bad
Seem like total silence was the only friend I had
Bowl of oatmeal tried to stare me down... and won
And it was twelve o'clock before I realized
That I was havin' ... no fun

"Illegal Smile" - John Prine

[Steve]

Party's over, shut it down, I'm huntin' for someone y'all
He's a lyin' theivin' rattlesnake, and he's broken every law
He's terrorized the lives of men and he's under arrest because I've been sent with a warrant from the body of Christ
- Well, tell me what it says then! -
"Satan, bite the dust!"

~~~Satan Bite The Dust, Carman

[jwhook]

Hey Tim.

Educate an old guy. What's the deal with the Ramones?

- jw

[Steve]

Seriously....

"I give my woman half my money at the general store I said, "Now buy a little groceries, and don't spend no more." But she gave ten dollars for a ten cent hat And bought some store bought cat food for a mean eyed cat." ~ Johnny Cash, Mean Eyed Cat

"Delia, oh, Delia Delia all my life
If I hadn't have shot poor
Delia I'd have had her for my wife"
~ Johnny Cash, Delia's Gone

"I have been ungrateful And I have been unwise Restless from the cradle But now I realize It's so hard to see the rainbow Through glasses dark as these"
~ Johnny Cash, Unchained

"Paid all my money and what did I get?
Left in a smolder like some cigarette
I smoked every pack of lies made yet"
~ The Lost Dogs, Smokescreen

[Josh]

The Mississippi Delta was shining like a national guitar/ I am following the river, down the highway through the cradle of the Civil War.
-Graceland, Paul Simon

I am just a poor boy, though my story's seldom told/ I have squandered my resistance for a pocket full of mumbles, such are promises.
-The Boxer, Paul Simon

Sittin' in the morning sun, I'll be sittin' when the evening come/ Watching the ships roll in, and I watch 'em roll away again.
-(Sittin' on) The Dock of the Bay, Otis Redding

Ticking away the moments that make up a dull day/ You fritter and waste the hours at an off-hand pace.
-Time, Pink Floyd

That's great it starts with an earthquake, birds and snakes, an aeroplane/ And Lenny Bruce is not afraid...
-It's the End of the World as We Know It, REM

[Jessica Guilford]

I met this guy -- and he looked like he might have
been a hat check clerk at an ice rink.
Which, in fact, he turned out to be. And I said:
Oh boy. Right again.
(Laurie Anderson, "Let X=X")

So I want to kill this waitress
she's worked here a year
longer than I
if I did it fast,
you know that's an act of kindness. . . .
(Tori Amos, "The Waitress")

[bulbul]

My selected few:

We call them cool
Those hearts that have no scars to show
The ones that never do let go
And risk the tables being turned
We call them fools
Who have to dance within the flame
Who chance the sorrow and the shame
That always comes with getting burned
But you've got to be tough when consumed by desire
'Cause it's not enough just to stand outside the fire
~ Garth Brooks - Standing Outside The Fire

Busted flat in Baton Rouge, waitin' for a train
And I's feelin' near as faded as my jeans
Bobby thumbed a diesel down just before it rained
It rode us all the way into New Orleans
~ Me and Bobby McGee
(Because every time I hear it, I can almost smell the air just before it rains.)

I said I wanna touch the earth
I wanna break it in my hands
I wanna grow something wild and unruly
~ Dixie Chicks - Cowboy Take Me Away
(Because I want, too.)

I can tell by the way you're walking, you don't want company
I'll let you alone and I'll let you walk on and
in your own good time you'll be
~ Mary Chapin Carpenter - Jubilee
(Because she's talking to me.)

I am on a lonely road and I am traveling
Traveling, traveling, traveling
Looking for something, what can it be
Oh I hate you some, I hate you some
I love you some
Oh I love you when I forget about me
~ Joni Mitchell - All I Want
(Because we all do.)

Since most of the world does not speak English...:

Čo ak sa utopím v šedivom dave? (What if loose myself in the grey mob?)
Čo keď ma prebodnú reči pichľavé? (What if all the hurtful words finally get to me?)
~ IMT Smile - Čo ak (What if)
(What if?)

Bywa, że budzę się nad ranem i myślę: świat już pokonany.
Człowiek jest przecież koroną stworzenia.
Sometimes I wake up early and I think: the world has been conquered
people are the crown of creation)
~ Eletryczne gitary - Sen o śnie (A dream of a dream)
(Because it goes on:
Tylko oddychać nie ma czym, chciałbyś pogadać; nie wiesz z kim,
Chciałbyś pomyśleć; nie wiesz, o czym.
Chciałbyś podskoczyć, nie podskoczysz.
(But there is nothing to breathe, no one to talk to,
nothing to think about.
And you want to jump and you can't).

В который раз лечу Москва-Одесса - (Once again,I'm flying from Moscow to Odessa)
Опять не выпускают самолет. (But they won't let the plane take off)
~ Vladimir Vysotskiy - Moskva-Odessa
(Because they still don't.)

Zeig mir dein' Himmel und deine Stern' (Show me your heaven, show me your stars)
Zeig mir die Winkel, die nur dir g'hören (Show me the corners that only belong to you)
I will da nirgends hineinstechen, i will nur wissen, wo sie san
(I don't want to touch them, I just want to know where they are)
~ STS - Zeig mir dein Himmel (Show me your heaven)
(Because I really don't have any time for mistakes and I don't feel like playing games)

And finally, let me please explain one thing: I'm a freak. And a sucker for powerful anthems.

O say, can you see, by the dawn's early light...
(Because I almost can. And "dawn's early light" beats "cellar door" hands down.)

Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord;
He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored;
He hath loosed the fateful lightning of His terrible swift sword;
His truth is marching on.
(Because these four lines do a better job of describing the Last Days then all the "Left Behind" volumes. By the way, it's Friday...)

[Duane]

Crazy, but that’s how it goes
Millions of people living as foes
Maybe it’s not to late
To learn how to love
And forget how to hate

Mental wounds not healing
Life’s a bitter shame
I’m going off the rails on a crazy train

I’ve listened to preachers
I’ve listened to fools
I’ve watched all the dropouts
Who make their own rules
One person conditioned to rule and control
The media sells it and you have the role

Mental wounds still screaming
Driving me insane
I’m going off the rails on a crazy train

I know that things are going wrong for me
You gotta listen to my words
Yeh-h

Heirs of a cold war
That’s what we’ve become
Inheriting troubles I’m mentally numb
Crazy, I just cannot bear
I’m living with something that just isn’t fair

Mental wounds not healing
Who and what’s to blame
I’m going off the rails on a crazy train

"Crazy Train"
Ozzy

[Pho]

First, let me second Graceland.

Springsteen always had great beginnings. My fav:

"Spanish Johnny drove in from the underworld last night,
With bruised ribs, broken rhythm and a beat-up old Buick,
But dressed just like dynamite."
-Incident on 57th Street

He may be a connoiseur for great beginnings. When Roy Orbison died he described this as "the saddest line in rock:"

"Your baby doesn't love you anymore."
-It's Over

[Tim Lehnerer]

The deal with the Ramones:

In the early to mid 1970s, pop music was really really really overdone, to the point where you had Rick Wakeman doing a rock opera based on King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table starring figure skaters. This really happened. At the same time, a bunch of drug-addled and rather immature weirdos in New York City were trying to play rock and roll, stripped down to its essential three-chord noisy core. These were the Ramones. At the time they were starting out, you had disco, countrypolitan and various other nonrock genres capturing the public mind and dollar. For that matter, the Ramones never really made a heck of a lot of money. And their first three albums (THE RAMONES, ROCKET TO RUSSIA, RAMONES LEAVE HOME) are pretty much the best ones they did. But they were really, really necessary and also extremely influential.

[jwhook]

Tim -

Thanks. So it's context as much as talent. I get what your saying about the excess in Yes, or ELP, corporate rock, and I'd rather not even talk about disco. But as someone who could appreciate Yes or Fleetwood Mac, not necessarily as rock and roll, the Ramones musicianship leaves me pretty cold. I'd rather listen to the original rock and roll for stripped down essentials. For me, some of the good stuff in the 70s included: Springsteen, reggae, some Eagles and Jackson Browne, Tom Petty, and Dire Straits.

- jw

[Theo]

Some motherfucker is pissing on my grave
How much irrigation can I stand?
And the kids down the streets are playing with submachine guns
You know something's broken in the promised land

- Wayne Kramer, "Something's Broken in the Promised Land"

I hate everyone in the world by you
And sometimes I think I even hate you too

- Therapy?, "Opal Mantra"

[Lila]

Hey, Zorak likes the Ramones. What more need be said?

[eyelessgame]

I am made from the dust of the stars
And the oceans flow in my veins

[Thlayli]

"I need to be myself/I can't be no one else" -- "Supersonic", Oasis

"Welcome to the jungle/We got fun and games" -- "Welcome to the Jungle", Guns 'n Roses

"Every finger in the room is pointing at me" -- "Crucify", Tori Amos

"I'm the king of rock, there is none higher" -- "King of Rock", Run-DMC

"There's no point in asking, you'll get no reply" -- "Pretty Vacant", Sex Pistols

[cjmr's husband]

Aren't I kind to allow you to live in my house?
Aren't I gracious to grant you the use of my chair?

-- "Feline American Princess", Leslie Fish

[Rix]

"Well, I woke up in the morning
There's frogs inside my socks"

Bob Dylan, On the Road Again

[Beth]

You people can watch while I'm scrubbing these floors, and I'm scrubbing the floors while you're gawking
("Pirate Jenny" Bertolt Brecht)

This day and age we're living in gives cause for apprehension
With speed and new invention
And things like fourth dimension.
("As Time Goes" Herman Hupfeld)

I don't love you, but I'm lost thinking of you.
("Drowning" Joe Jackson)

[Tim Lehnerer]

Like most music, the Ramones are an acquired taste. My recommendation for you is to rent or Netflix the movie "Rock and Roll High School". If you watch that and don't like them, then you probably never will. And in that case, you can move on with your life and listen to other stuff without even the slightest twinge of conscience bothering you.

"I've got you on my wall / I've got you ten foot tall / I've got you on a colour slide"

--Colour Slide, by the Honeycombs. A surprisingly bittersweet uptempo pop song, produced by Joe Meek (who I like more than the Ramones, and I love the Ramones like pancakes).