Ten Opening Lines that Hook Listeners

Robert Grashaw
Aug 8, 2017 · 7 min read

“Grab your audience by the throat.” Winnie Holtzman

The start of any written work tells an audience whether they’re in good hands. Along with the title, the opening line is the writer’s best chance to hook an audience. Hence, in lyric writing, titles and opening lines often are one and the same.

Well-crafted opening lyrics engage listeners’ curiosity and lure them into the story of the song. Poor openings permit listeners to retreat into the river of their thoughts, or worse, into smug ridicule of your work. Your duty as writer is to grab your audience by the throat and assure them that they’re in good hands.

You can catch an audience in rapt attention with any of the following devices. As we run down the list, notice how some lyricists combine two or more devices to create multiple layers of intrigue in their writing. It’s smart to do that so long as it doesn’t sacrifice the clarity of your meaning.

Here we go:

“For the intellect is to truth as an inscribed polygon is the inscribing circle,” (Cusa, 1985).

1. Contradiction

A coincidence of opposites creates intrigue through tension. The clash of two opposed forces compels the mind to engage and make sense of contradictory meanings. How you use contradictions will determine whether their impact baffles, disturbs, endears, or thrills.

“You are a picture no artist could paint.” — Arthur Freed, “I’ve Got a Feelin’ You’re Foolin’”

“Love’s a baby dat grows up wild.” — Oscar Hammerstein II, “Dat’s Love”

“Since I reached the charming age of puberty…” — Cole Porter, “Where Is the Life That Late I Led?”

“I don’t like you, but I love you.” — Smokey Robinson, “You Really Got a Hold on Me”

“There was a sinner known as Saint Jerome.” — Kemo Sabe, “Old John Law”

2. Confidence

Who doesn’t love confident people? Confidence is attractive because it inspires us to bet on ourselves, to be the fullest version of ourselves that we’re afraid to be. That’s sexy. Even when it’s a little arrogant, confidence is charming. If confidence doesn’t come to you naturally in life, writing is a great place to explore what it feels like to play confident. The clothes of confidence look good on everyone. Try ’em on. It may change how you feel about yourself.

“You can tell, by the way I use my walk, I’m a woman’s man. No time to talk.” — The Bee Gees, “Stayin’ Alive”

“Oh, I can cook, too, on top of the rest.” — Betty Comden and Adolph Green, “I Can Cook, Too”

“I’m not evil. I’m just good lookin’.” — Alice Cooper, “Feed My Frankenstein”

“I’m gonna love you like nobody’s loved you.” — Johnny Mercer, “Come Rain or Come Shine”

“In 1984 I was hospitalized for approaching perfection,” — Silver Jews, “Random Rules”

3. Provocation

Provocative statements polarize. Embrace that power. It’s preferable to milquetoast writing. But be aware and be prepared to catch flak for what you write. People may attack you personally for it. Still, it’s good writing.

“My pussy tastes like Pepsi Cola.” — Lana Del Rey, “Cola”

“I stuck my dick in this game like a rapist.” — Eminem, “Almost Famous”

“Gonna take off my pants.” — Randy Newman, “Pants”

“I’ll admit an occasional affair.” — Ray Noble, “I Hadn’t Anyone Till You”

“Jesus died for somebody’s sins, but not mine.” — Patti Smith, “Gloria”

4. Questions

Is it better to ask the right questions or to have the right answers? Questions invite us to wonder. They challenge our conceptions of the world. They resonate with our deep desire to understand. What are your perennial questions? What would happen if you wrote about them in your songs?

“Where do we go from here?” — Charles Bradley, “Where Do We Go from Here?”

“Why are people gay…?” — Ira Gershwin, “Love Is Sweeping the Country”

“Hey Joe, where you going with that gun in your hand?” — Jimi Hendrix, “Hey Joe”

“What is life?” — Laura Nyro, “To a Child”

“Why do I just wither and forget all resistance when you and your magic pass by?” — Ned Washington, “The Nearness of You”

5. Commands

Commands demand attention by virtue of their authority and conviction. You’re not asking. You’re telling.

“Get up! Get on up!” — James Brown, “Get Up (I Feel Like Being a) Sex Machine”

“Milkman, keep those bottles quiet!” — Don Raye, “Milkman, Keep Those Bottles Quiet!”

“Turn off that charm.” — Dorothy Fields “Remind Me”

“Don’t send me no young girl to love me.” — Randy Newman, “Lover’s Prayer”

“Rape me.” — Nirvana “Rape Me”

6. Contrarian Dispositions

Contrarian dispositions attract positive attention insofar as they teach us to look at thoughts, beliefs, and experiences in a new light. When we challenge ourselves to reconsider life experiences and worldviews that we take for granted, we deepen our appreciation for them and gain new insights.

“It’s an awful feeling to watch the moon and stars above” — Eddie DeLange, “Shake Down the Stars”

“A life of wealth does not appeal to me at all.” — Sandy Wilson, “A Room in Bloomsbury”

“I get along without you very well.” — Hoagy Carmichael, “I Get Along Without You Very Well”

“Life’s an empty thing.” — Noel Gay, “Me and My Girl”

“To be young, gifted, and black!” — Weldon Irvine and Nina Simone, “To Be Young, Gifted, and Black”

Brass Roots, Terrance Osborne

7. Evocative Imagery

Lyricists tend to rely primarily on visual imagery. There are six other sensory wells from which to draw water. Yeah, you heard what I said. Smell. Sound. Taste. Touch. Organic sense. Kinestetic sense. Organic sense is the awareness of your internal bodily functions. Kinesthetic sense is the awareness of your position and movement in the world through the proprioceptors in your joints and muscles. When you engage all the senses available to you as a writer, your work is more likely to live, breathe, and slay.

“Sprinkle my ashes on Frenchmen Street.” — Jon Cleary, “Frenchmen Street Blues”

“Climb aboard a butterfly and take off on the breeze.” — Kim Gannon,
“A Dreamer’s Holiday”

“The milk truck hauls the sun up.” — Randy Newman, “Living Without You”

“Seventy-six trombones led the big parade.” — Meredith Willson, “Seventy-Six Trombones”

“I read the wind on the water.” — Willie’s Nerve Clinic, “I Remember the Future”

8. Apostrophe

Apostrophe stimulates the imagination. The human tendency toward anthropomorphism renders that which is alien to us palatable, relatable, and understandable. We are able to speak to that which transcends us, and that feels fun.

“Candle, climb upward.” — Ervin Drake, “Just for Today”

“Dere’s an ol’ man called de Mississippi.” — Oscar Hammerstein II, “Ol’ Man River”

“Blow, Ill Wind.” — Ted Koehler, “Ill Wind”

“Skylark, have you anything to say to me?” — Johnny Mercer, “Skylark”

“Hello, Darkness, my old friend.” — Simon & Garfunkle, “The Sounds of Silence”

9. Alliteration, Assonance

Alliteration are assonance are devices designed to delight the ears and mind. Sure, you may hear a hipster hate on these devices. But hipsters are hacks. So there’s that.

“Black cats creep across my path.” — Tom Adair, “Everything Happens to Me”

“My ship has sails that are made of silk.” — Ira Gershwin, “My Ship”

“Finally found a fellow…” — Frank Loesser, “Murder, He Says”

“Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer…” — Johnny Marks, “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer”

“When the red, red robin comes bob, bob, bobbin’ along, along…”
— Harry Woods, “When the Red, Red, Robin Comes Bob, Bob, Bobbin’ Along”

10. Lists

If BuzzFeed is any indication, many people are list-oriented thinkers. We make lists all the time: To Do Lists, Grocery Lists, Reading Lists, Bucket Lists, Life Accomplishments by the Age of 30 Lists, List of Lists Lists, etc. Lists heighten specificity, tackle multiple aspects of a theme or thought, and cover a decent amount of territory in a short amount of space.

“I feel groggy and weary and tragic,” — Lee Adams, “But Alive”

“The butcher, the baker, the grocer, the clerk…” — Irving Berlin, “There’s No Business Like Show Business”

“Did you ever sit and ponder, sit and wonder, sit and think, why we’re here and what this life is all about?” — George M. Cohan, “Life’s a Funny Proposition After All”

“Cyanide. Arsenic. Strychnine.” — Liv Cummins and Rob Hartmann, “The Plot”

“To be young, gifted, and black!” — Weldon Irvine and Nina Simone, “To Be Young, Gifted, and Black”

What do you think? Are these devices effective? If you find yourself wanting to read the rest of the lyrics quoted, that’s a clue.

What are some of your favorite opening lines? What devices do you use to craft strong opening lines?

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