“It was a dark and stormy night...”
“Jacob Marley was dead to begin with”
These are all amazing openings of classic novels that really gripped our attention.
Okay, it was a dark and stormy night may have been written by Snoopy, but still, an amazing opening.
It draws you in and immediately makes you want more of the story.
Songs are like that too. Great opening lyrics have been responsible for many a fabulous hit song.
One of my favorite 80’s songs is Shattered Dreams by Johnny Hates Jazz “So much for your promises” is the very first line in the 1st verse of the song. It immediately tells you that you are in for one helluva story. And it was, it was love and loss and lies and deception and of course ultimately Shattered Dreams.
Songwriting is not for the faint at heart. Writing isn’t in general, but songwriting is something that you have to dig down deep inside to find. It’s personal. That’s the avenue to me for songwriting, personal feelings and emotions and experiences. Now more than ever there are expositions of how and why songwriters write what they do. Do they know it’s going to be a hit? Rarely.
My friend and music mentor Sami Chohfi writes in his song It’s Just Me, “They say that being lost is a great place to start, I think that being lost is the way to find your heart” Immediately these lyrics invoke vulnerability and sadness and a yearning to be found when lost. We want to continue on this journey to find out what lies ahead. It’s our desire as a human to want to help.
On the other hand, we can get harsh, sarcastic almost violent lyrics from some of music history’s biggest hits. The Sex Pistols, Anarchy in the UK with “I am the Anti-Christ! And I am an Anarchist!” Johnny Lydon declares this is who he is and he doesn’t care who knows it! We are on-board with this chaotic set of emotions too because we are all for a good fight and wanting to be heard and standing up for what we believe in and down with the system. Humanity is prevalent once again.
Too harrowing? How about a beautiful love song? Eric Clapton wrote an amazing song called Wonderful Tonight, inspired by Pattie Boyd as he was waiting for her to get ready to go out. “It’s late in the evening; she’s wondering what clothes to wear. She puts on her makeup and brushes her long blonde hair” The story behind this relationship is a bit harrowing as well, but you get the idea. Who doesn’t love a good love song?
Love, Hate, Sorrow, Joy, it all makes for a great tale to tell. I’ve been known to write a few memorable song lyrics in my day. You just need to decide when you sit down and spill your insides out for the world to hear, what do you want to say? Which story of your life do you want to share? It’s not going to be easy, but nothing worthwhile ever is. Take it from me if you have something important to say, you have to make it so that people will listen.
Here’s where we part ways, I hope you enjoyed the blog feel free to leave a comment and let me know what some of your favorite great opening lyrics are. A word to the wise, “Don’t start me talking, I could talk all night” (Oliver’s Army by Elvis Costello) Ciao for Now!
