Song Club #62: Opening Lines
Writing songs that pull the listener in from the jump
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I saw MJ Lenderman at Brooklyn Steel on Wednesday. Before the show I was not a particularly deep fan, but his incendiary live guitar tone pulled me back towards Manning Fireworks and I’ve been listening since.
Long story long, beyond the tone, guy is insanely good at opening lines.
Take these one, from ‘She’s Leaving You’:
You can put your clothes back on
She’s leaving you
Or these from ‘Manning Fireworks’:
Birds against a heavy wind that wins in the end
One of these days with shorts full of sand
One of these days you’ll kill a man
There’s not a dud on the whole album, IMHO.
What makes these lines so brilliant? I would argue three things:
They are visually evocative
They drop you straight in the action
They create a question in the listeners mind
How to do the first is a matter of taste and practice. The second two are a little harder to accomplish. For instance, it’s not always obvious what point of action might be most compelling to drop listeners into. Asking questions without literally asking questions requires finesse too.
This week, I’m sharing ‘Entry Points’ to help you do both in your songwriting.
May your opening lines be stunning,
Lucy
‘Entry Points’
#1
“How’d we get here?”: Start your song in the middle of a situation that begs the question, ‘How did we get here?”. Use the rest of the song to tell what happened leading up to this moment.
#2
“Fuck, now what?”: Start your song at a moment that causes the listener wonder what the hell happens next. Use the rest of the song to slowly fill them in.
#3
Weird hot take: Open with the weirdest hot take you got. It can be silly or serious. Use the rest of the song to defend or bolster your hot take.
#4
Unspeakable question: Think of a question you dare not speak aloud. Open your song with it. Use the rest of the song to explain why you’re asking the question.
#5
Odd couple image: Think of two distinct, evocative images and place them together at the beginning of your song. Use the rest of the song build out the world around those images, making it curious and inviting to the listener.
What do you think makes a good opening? What are some of your favorites?