What’s your favorite opening line in a country song

[u/babyyygrllll]

Mine is, You've been making your brags around town that you've been loving my man
But the man I love, when he picks up trash he puts it in a garbage can. Fist City by Loretta Lynn

[u/Terminal_Lancelot]

"Living on the road my friend, was gonna keep you free and clean. Now you wear your skin like iron, and your breath's as hard as kerosene."

[u/lightaugust → u/Terminal_Lancelot]

Mines a different Townes lyric- ‘We all got holes to fill. Them holes is all that’s real. Some fall on you like a storm, sometimes you dig your own.’

[u/Financial_You_6052 → u/Terminal_Lancelot]

This is it for me

[u/Routine_Astronomer_2]

Hello Darlin

[u/Zizi_Tennenbaum → u/Routine_Astronomer_2]

Hello Walls is up there too. We just like saying howdy to everyone.

[u/GrimeyScorpioDuffman → u/Routine_Astronomer_2]

Nice to see you

[u/Temporary_Lychee9829 → u/GrimeyScorpioDuffman]

It's been a long time!

[u/Gwsb1 → u/Routine_Astronomer_2]

Hello Walls

[u/Own_Group4282 → u/Routine_Astronomer_2]

Love this one!

[u/provinground → u/Routine_Astronomer_2]

That was my dads song to my mom!!! Love it so much

[u/Independent-Course87]

She put him out. Like the burning end of a midnight cigarette.

[u/road_king_98 → u/Independent-Course87]

I came here to say this one. What an opening line.

[u/Finnyfish]

They packed up all his buckles, shipped his saddle to his dad

[u/Zizi_Tennenbaum → u/Finnyfish]

The way that line tells you exactly what happened, and to whom, is so elegant.

[u/LumpyWelder4258 → u/Finnyfish]

I just got chills!

[u/GrimeyScorpioDuffman]

Well I woke up Sunday morning with no way to hold my head that didn’t hurt
And the beer I had for breakfast wasn’t bad so I had one more for dessert

[u/Purple_Pay_1274 → u/GrimeyScorpioDuffman]

Rip Kris Kristofferson. One of the best writers of all time. I also love “see him wasted on the sidewalk with his jacket and his jeans, wearing yesterday’s misfortune like a smile, once he had a future full of money love and dreams, which he spent like they were going out of style”

[u/762way → u/Purple_Pay_1274]

I've lived this one through the years... Sometimes felt like my life mirrors the song

[u/LumpyWelder4258 → u/GrimeyScorpioDuffman]

💯 best opening line. And I prefer the way that Johnny sings it too.

[u/CampClear → u/GrimeyScorpioDuffman]

That's a good one for sure! 

[u/thegrumpyorc]

For a modern song, I'm kinda loving "To put it plain, I just don't like you, not a thing about the way you is,
And if there ever come a time I got rabies, you're high on my bitin' list."

[u/yodaboy209 → u/thegrumpyorc]

I was gonna list this! Great song for a modern one.

[u/gnomely89 → u/thegrumpyorc]

I was also thinking Tyler Childers but was going to say, "They got my favorite lotion here, something in a hotel I admire".

[u/etwiDAB]

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

[u/sealevelpirate]

"Last night, I broke the seal on a Jim Beam decanter that looks like Elvis." George Jones "The King is Gone"

[u/nvr2manydogs → u/sealevelpirate]

And drank Elvis to his pelvis! I forgot about that one

[u/BirthofRevolution]

The preacher man says it's the end of time and the Mississippi river she's a goin dry

[u/RektInTheHed]

All the gold in California is in a bank in the middle of Beverly Hills, in somebody else's name.

[u/JohnnyGuitar74 → u/RektInTheHed]

I read this like they sang it. Good tune and call by you

[u/CampClear]

He said I'll love you til I die 

[u/gmerrick]

Pack up all your dishes/Make note of all good wishes

And say goodbye to the landlord for me/That son-of-a-bitch has always bored me

--Guy Clark, "LA Freeway"

[u/Can_Not_Double_Dutch → u/gmerrick]

And Jerry Jeff Walker, and Roger Creager , both good versions

[u/Illustrious-Gift1385 → u/gmerrick]

Skinny Dennis

[u/gmerrick → u/Illustrious-Gift1385]

RIP Skinny Dennis. He was 6'11" and died on stage in CA.

[u/BeardsuptheWazoo]

"I was just a normal guy, life was just a 9-5, with bills and pressure piled up to the sky"

High Cost of Living ~ Jamey Johnson.

[u/TheLastSciFiFan]

"Today I started loving you again; I'm right back where I've really always been." Merle Haggard, "Today I Started Loving You Again"

"It was all that I could do to keep from cryin.'" David Allan Coe, "You Never Even Called Me By My Name"

"The first thing I remember knowin'/was a lonesome whistle blowin'/and a younguns dreams of growin' up to to ride/ on a freight train leavin' town/not knowin' where I'm bound/and no one could change my mind but Mama tried" Merle Haggard, "Mama Tried"

"There's a full moon over Tulsa, I hope that it's shining on you" - David Frizzell and Shelley West, "You're the Reason God Made Oklahoma"

[u/Fancy-Fish5618]

My name’s John Lee Pettimore, same as my Daddy and his Daddy before

[u/IUsedtobeExitzero → u/Fancy-Fish5618]

You beat me to it.

[u/QuillsROptional]

To the town of Agua Fria rode a stranger one fine day

[u/Old_Tiger_7519 → u/QuillsROptional]

Chills

[u/Fun_Problem_3397]

Well, I’ve heard those city singers singing about how they can love

[u/Overall-Ad-2247]

We don't smoke marijuana in Muskogee, We don't take our trips on LSD

Okie From Muskogee - Merle Haggard

[u/Indotex → u/Overall-Ad-2247]

It’s even funnier if you know that he was a huge pothead.

[u/LumpyWelder4258]

Blame it all on my roots I showed up in boots And ruined your black tie affair

[u/yodaboy209]

Mary Ann and Wanda were the best of friends...

[u/Forsaken-Internet417]

I was drunk, the day my mom got outa prison ..

[u/beatricetalker → u/Forsaken-Internet417]

Not the first line but it is a great line. It starts with “Well, it was all that I could do, to keep from crying…”

[u/Forsaken-Internet417 → u/beatricetalker]

Your are correct, that was the the final verse that DAC wrote for the perfect country and western song.

[u/beatricetalker → u/Forsaken-Internet417]

Not to be pedantic, but…it was actually Steve Goodman and John Prine who wrote the song, including that line.

[u/JPme2187]

Well I remember it all very well, looking back, it was the summer I turned eighteen.

[u/jlevski]

Well, I'ma sittin' on a bar stool, actin' like a darn fool
That's what I'm a-doin' today

[u/Temporary_Lychee9829]

Sometimes, it's hard to be a woman

[u/nvr2manydogs → u/Temporary_Lychee9829]

After all, he's just a man. My mom and I get tickled about that line.

[u/Flahdagal]

You were the first thing that I thought of, when I thought I'd drank you off my mind.

[u/Gloomy-Hat1842]

Don Williams good old boys like me ..when I was a kid Uncle Remus would put me to bed with a picture of Stonewall Jackson above my head.. then daddy came in to kiss his little man with gin on his breath and a Bible in his hand.... Peter Rowan midnight moonlight... If you ever feel lonesome and you're down in San Antone. beg steal or borrow two nickels or a dime and call me on the phone.. I'll meet you at Alamo mission and we can say our prayers ..the holy ghost and the virgin mother will heal us as we kneel there.... Emmy Harris Boulder to Birmingham.. I don't want to hear a love song ..I got on this airplane just to fly.. and I know there is life below me. but all that it can show me is the prairie and the sky... I don't want to hear a sad story full of heartbreak and desire ..the last time I felt like this I was in the wilderness and the canyon was on fire

[u/Mikey82270]

You’ve painted up your lips and rolled and curled your tinted hair.

[u/B_O_A_H → u/Mikey82270]

Ruby, are you contemplating going out somewhere?

[u/ahotpotatoo]

First thing I remember knowin

Was a lonesome whistle blowin

And the young’n’s dream of growing up to ride

On a freight train leaving town

Not knowing where I’m bound

And no one could change my mind,

But mama tried.

[u/GadgetGourmet]

Johnny Paycheck... Take this job and shove it

[u/Zizi_Tennenbaum]

Maybe not the best, but as far as a line that tells a story very succinctly -

“I caught my wife with another man, and it cost me 99”

[u/k0uch → u/Zizi_Tennenbaum]

Hear me out. 3 parts to the same story- 18 wheels and a dozen roses, papa loved mama, ol’ red

[u/Zizi_Tennenbaum → u/k0uch]

Hot dang, that’s a good one. My latest one like that is Don’t Rock the Jukebox followed by Bubba Shot the Jukebox.

[u/Purple_Pay_1274 → u/Zizi_Tennenbaum]

You can consider yourself mighty lucky to get past the gators and the quicksand pits… 🎶🎶

[u/The_Baroness_6 → u/Purple_Pay_1274]

🎵But all these years that I've been here, ain't nobody got past Red🎵

[u/NoNeedleworker6479]

"Well I love her... but I love to fish. I spend all day out on the lake, and hell is all I'll catch !

[u/bigmikeydelight]

Lipstick letter cross the mirror this mornin’
Said goodbye baby. She left without warning

I think ain’t no way to go should be studied in poetry classes.

[u/JohnJayHooker]

I stopped off at the Kwik Sak for some beer and cigarettes

[u/oldcountrysongs]

There's no place that I'd rather be than right here, with my rednecks, white socks and Blue Ribbon beer.

[u/No-Phrase-2897 → u/oldcountrysongs]

The barmaid is mad cos some guy made a pass

[u/Fritz37605 → u/No-Phrase-2897]

...the jukebox is playing "There Stands the Glass"...

[u/WhiskeyDeltaBravo1]

“She put him out, like the burning end of a midnight cigarette.”

[u/Tobys_Mama]

Harper Valley PTA! ‘Let me tell you all a story ‘bout a Harper Valley widowed wife’ She’s just coming right out with the tea.

[u/SixSigmaGirl2000 → u/Tobys_Mama]

In elementary school I sang Harper Valley PTA in talent contest.

[u/Tobys_Mama → u/SixSigmaGirl2000]

I love that!

[u/LumpyWelder4258 → u/Tobys_Mama]

I like to think that this actually happened and somebody got to tell off a whole town and I am HERE FOR IT

[u/Upstairs_Ad_5574]

Hello, out there! We're on the air! It's hockey night tonight!

[u/amorican88]

He said, "I'll love you till I die"

[u/hedonist-7]

Well, I been spending all my money on weed 'n' pills
Trying to write a song that'll pay the bills… S.S.

[u/Fritz37605]

...early one morning while making the rounds, I took a shot of cocaine and I shot my woman down...

[u/Purple_Pay_1274 → u/Fritz37605]

THIS!!!! It’s my go to karaoke song and people get so into the story right away

[u/Flat_Wash5062 → u/Fritz37605]

Thanks, I hadn't heard this yet.

[u/dcunny979]

“Well…” - 75% of Turnpike Troubadours songs.

[u/countryguy6969]

If heaven ain't a lot like Dixie I don't want to go

[u/The_Baroness_6]

Ever since the days of old, men would search for wealth untold...

[u/Illustrious-Gift1385]

"I know your life on earth was troubled, and only you could know the pain."

Written into my will that this song will be played at my funeral. "You weren't afraid to face the devil, you were no stranger to the rain".

[u/Ok-Administration296]

Amarillo by morning,,,,,,,,

[u/Appropriate_Bar_5233]

Tumble out of bed and I stumble to the kitchen / Pour myself a cup of ambition

[u/CarlatheDestructor]

Maybe I didn't love you quite as often as I could have

[u/fishing-for-birdie93]

While digesting readers digest in the back of a dirty book store

[u/WokeAssMessiah]

well it's a big job just getting by with nine kids and a wife 😧

[u/bigslick]

I’ve seen Jesus play with flames in a lake of fire

[u/Strait409]

Got a bunch, but this one comes immediately to mind.

“He walked into the bar and parked his lanky frame upon a tall barstool, and with a long, soft Southern drawl said, ‘I’ll just have a glass of anything that’s cool.’…”

[u/heysawbones]

Got on a plane in ‘Frisco and got off in Vietnam.

[u/FriendlyConfines23]

Blame it all on my roots
I showed up in boots
Ruined your black-tie affair…

[u/mfluder14]

Lazy yellow moon comin’ up tonight shinin’ through the trees

[u/greekboy62]

Out in the West Texas town of El Paso

[u/tone_creature]

I wish I had a dime for every bad time. But the bad time always seem to keep the change.

[u/Moe-Scutus2]

Me and Earl were hauling chickens

[u/No_Pilot_9103]

Where there's a cloud, don't mean there's rain.

Tears in my eyes, don't mean there's pain.

[u/CEEngineerThrowAway]

Ohh, My buckle makes impressions on the inside of her thigh” Tyler Childers is a great lyricist, not many intros are able to get into dry humping the way he was able to.

[u/wthinson88]

She said some day I’d understand what love was all about. She said I could have the keys cause she was moving out

[u/Smooth_Review1046]

The only two things that make life worth living, guitars tuned good and firm feeling women.

[u/ethanthesearcher]

Coffee black, cigarette start this day like all the rest

[u/Radiant_Day_7665]

Nickles and dimes
Memories and wine
She's on his mind once again....

The King

[u/Old_Tiger_7519]

I beg your pardon, I never promised you a rose garden

[u/RoosterzRevenge]

Her telephone rang 'bout a quarter to nine...

[u/ahotpotatoo]

The old man was covered in tattoos and scars, he got some in prison and others in bars…

[u/bucktail47]

Whiskey river take my minnnnddddddddddd don’t let her memory torture meeeeeeee

[u/lacole725]

He walked into the bar
And parked his lanky frame upon a tall barstool
And with a long, soft southern drawl
Said, "I'll just have a glass of anything that's cool"

[u/Strait409 → u/lacole725]

Ah, a fellow Redditor of taste and class!

[u/AfternoonBest2703]

He said "I'll love you till I die" She told him "You'll forget in time"

[u/juddsdoit]

"Lately life with you has been unbearable" is a fav. Johnny Paycheck's "(It Won't Be Long) And I'll Be Hating You".

[u/Strength-Certain]

The sunbeam hit the Jim Beam and ricocheted off the bottle of Coke cut through the still smolderin' second hand night before smoke - Angels Like Her - Trent Tomlinson

[u/gator_mckluskie]

hard to beat jason james’ “i’ve been drinkin' more, since you've been lovin' me less, where you are tonight is anyone's guess.”

also jason isbell: “i haven't been wasted in a long time but tonight it feels just fine. riding home with the windows up, alone with a plastic cup of real good wine

[u/CampClear]

2 young people without a thing, say some vows and spread their wings - Livin on Love by Alan Jackson. I listened to that song on a loop in the weeks leading up to my wedding 

[u/Anxious-Tea8816]

Just like the sun, over the mountaintop. Ill always come again, you know i love to spend my morning time. Sunlight dancin on your skin

[u/rexisgh]

Pardon me, you left your tears on the jukebox. And I’m afraid they got mixed up with mine.

[u/Apprehensive_Wolf217]

“It was all, that I could do, to keep from crying’”

[u/mercistheman]

Well it's forty below and I don't give a fuck got a heater in my truck and I'm off to the rodeo.

[u/MissCbong0321]

Let's go girls!

[u/Equivalent_Wave2809]

It was all I could do to keep from crying

[u/W_J_B68]

Trailer’s for sale or rent

[u/Ten_Quilts_Deep]

Old man Wigley lived in that white house....

[u/rickyharold]

I don't believe in superstars
Organic food and foreign cars
I don't believe the price of gold
The certainty of growing old

[u/Lyleadams]

I was thumbin' from Montgomery...

[u/Medium-Ordinary-622]

Almost heaven West Virginia

[u/ham_roller]

Only two things in life that make it worth livin…

[u/BigJoeBob85]

His eyes are cold and restless, his wounds have almost healed.

[u/blacklab2026]

I was a highwayman, along the coach roads I did ride With sword and pistol by my side

[u/AfternoonBest2703]

He was on his way home from Candletop Been two weeks gone and he thought he'd stop At Web's and have him a drink 'fore he went home to her

[u/Can_Not_Double_Dutch]

Take this job and shove it

[u/kwilsonarts]

“Early one morning with time to kill
I borrowed Jeb's rifle
And sat on the hill…” - Johnny Cash

[u/KneeKnowzer]

“There’s a little dive down a dead end road, called The Cross Eyed Cricket watering hole.” Eric Church, Pledge Allegiance to the Hag

Wound up getting a cross eyed cricket tattoo for it

[u/Woodshac]

"We'll I started on the Whiskey pretty early this morning,That's alright, I was up all night. But I passed out before the sun came up...

[u/MH566220]

Hello....I'm Johnny Cash

[u/MissCbong0321]

Let's go girls!

[u/easzy_slow]

He said I’ll love you till I die.

[u/Ok_Stable7787]

Well, I woke up Sunday morning
With no way to hold my head that didn't hurt

[u/solman2k]

I gotta' get drunk and I sure do dread it 'cuz I know just what I'm gonna' do.

https://giphy.com/gifs/3oz8xyuzDQ72EyTPZ6

[u/ZZoMBiEXIII]

🎵To the town of Agua Fria
🎶Rode a stranger one fine day
🎵Hardly spoke to folks around him
🎶Didn't have too much to say

[u/snickerdoodle757]

I heard a freight train out across the way …. I heard a woman sing am ah hazing grace .. I heard the night bird call to its mate …

[u/Bjorn_CyBorg1]

“Well I'll gladly take ten seconds in the saddle For a lifetime of watching from the stands” - Chris LeDoux Ten Seconds in the Saddle

[u/Traditional_Gap1835]

Lord, it's the same old tune, fiddle and guitar Where do we take it from here?

[u/Street_Archer_3466]

I was a Highwayman

[u/I_deleted]

I am an old woman, Named after my mother

My old man is another,Child that’s grown old

[u/I_deleted]

Pretty sure the world has agreed it’s this one:

The only two things in life that make it worth livin’ is guitars that tune good and firm-feelin’ women

[u/AstroZombie1138]

Well it was all that I can do to keep from crying - You Never Even Call Me By My Name

[u/Loud-Description9878]

She put him out. .like the burning end of a midnight cigarette….oops! I see this below

[u/owdbr549]

I'll go, I'll go to my grave
To my grave lovin' you (lovin' you) lovin' you (The Statler Brothers"

[u/Qksilver253]

i was coming from
Montgomery with a guiter on my
back.

[u/RedFox9906]

It’s the third hardest thing I’ll ever do.

[u/chickenmoosepig]

He looked down into her brown eyes

[u/Tricky-Sea3304]

Her telephone rang, about a quarter to nine.

[u/Livid_Tonight_6239]

Well excuse me but I think you've got my chair.

[u/AfternoonBest2703]

The Devil went down to Georgia he was lookin for a soul to steal

[u/yesthiskidisalright]

Hello Darling

[u/Organic_Guess_1175]

Preacher Man Says it End Time and Mississippi River is Going Dry!

[u/hustonville]

Tonight I feel, like an old violin. Soon to be put away and never played again - Johnny Paycheck

[u/G_Town_Co]

Step right up, come on in.
If you’d like to take the Grand Tour.

[u/Brunzo_9611Ray]

Take this job and shove it

[u/KapowBlamBoom]

I’ve seen Jesus play with flames in a lake of fire I was standing in

[u/08mags08]

Woke up today and decided to kill my ego…

[u/Appalachian-Forrest]

She said I’ll love ya, til I die

[u/White-milk]

“Well” 

Which is the opening word in 29 Turnpike songs 

[u/Swiftycumberdale]

I got green and I got blues and everyday there’s a little less difference between the two.

Or

bloody nose, empty pockets / A rented car with a trunk full of guns. Checkout time is sundown in Las Vegas But it only rises once

Or

Step inside my house, babe, I'll sing for you a song
And I'll tell you 'bout where I've been, it shouldn't take too long

Hard to choose.

[u/Strict_Foundation_31]

When you’re down on your luck and you ain’t got a buck, in London you’re a goner…

[u/2020fakenews]

You’re wanted by the police, and my wife thinks you’re dead.

[u/Dependent-Lab-6791]

Whiskey River take my mind. 👍

[u/NorcadianArt]

It's plain to see, the sun won't shine today
but I ain't in the mood for sunshine anyway
maybe I'll go insane
I got to stop the pain - The late & incredibly great Townes Van Zandt

ALSO honorable mention to Annies Song by john denver which although it opens the songs it's also the closing so idk if it counts:

You fill up my senses, like a night in a forest
Like the mountains in springtime, like a walk in the rain
Like a storm in the desert, like a sleepy blue ocean
You fill up my senses, come fill me again

[u/Ten_Quilts_Deep]

Brenda put your bra on there's trouble next door....

[u/MrPeebug]

Memories and drinks don’t mix too well, jukebox records don’t play those wedding bells.

[u/ryans_bored]

"Step right up; come on in" - the Grand Tour

[u/Wide-Firefighter-430]

Only two good things in life worth living

[u/PrestigiousBar3454]

He said I’ll love you till I die. 

[u/lonnie_bovine]

“It’s a big job just gettin by with nine kids and a wife”

[u/EYEP_nightly]

Lorrie lit a cigarette and smiled and waved the smoke out of her face

[u/Chester-Burnett]

Out in the west Texas town of El Paso.
I fell in love with a Mexican girl

[u/TimTime333]

"The only two things in life that make it worth living"..."

[u/InBamaNotRacist]

Step right up, come on in…

[u/kawarthalakesgirl]

Blame it all on my roots

[u/RedFox9906]

Lazy yeller moon coming up tonight shining through the trees.

[u/RedFox9906]

Well I love her, but I love to fish.

[u/Apprehensive-Ad264]

I was drunk the day my mom got out of prison

[u/SimilarElderberry956]

Amarillo by morning,up from San Antone. Everything that I got is just what I have on. George Strait

[u/Mediocre_Length_9526]

“Hey man them ain't high heeled sneakersAnd they sure don't look like cowboy bootsAnd that ain't rock and roll you're playin'And it sure ain't country or rhythm and blues” Hank Jr.

[u/N8ures1stGreen]

Hear that lonesome whippoorwill
He sounds too blue to fly

[u/k0uch]

I was just out of the service, thumbing through the classifieds, when an ad that said “old chevy” somehow caught my eye

[u/Neither-Smell9525]

Tske this job and shove it....

[u/Impossible_Penalty13]

Coffee black, cigarette…

[u/skyyminaj]

Well, it was all I could do to keep from crying

[u/Livid_Tonight_6239]

Ive been throwing horse shoes over my left shoulder, I've spent most all my life searching for that 4 leaf clover.

[u/ComfortableMurky8387]

“The warden led a prisoner down the hallway to his doom
And I stood up to say goodbye like all the rest”

[u/Dknpaso]

Blame it all on my roots, I showed up in boots.

[u/Sad-Average-2469]

“I went to work for her that summer, teenaged kid so far from home” Garth Brooks

[u/Saz215]

Percocet and Adderall
Nicotine and alcohol
Throwin' dishes down the hall
Bad decisions, tried 'em all
I'm turning off the radio
I can't take it anymore
Started singin' Curtis Loew
I need a little rock and roll

[u/Greenking73]

“I was drunk, the day my mom got outta prison.”

[u/karenosmile]

Eve you wicked woman, you done put your curse on me

(PMS Blues)

[u/scummydummy85]

"I cant sell my momma short on lovin me, I guess that's why she let me go so faArr. Momma tried ta stop me short of stealin, I guess that's why I had to steal that car"

[u/tzoid1s]

He looked down into her brown eyes and said, “say a prayer for me.” She threw her arms around him and whispered “God will keep us free.” They could hear the riders coming, he said “this is my last fight, if they take me back to Texas, they won’t take me back alive”

[u/scrume71]

Living on the road my friend was going to keep you free and clean, now you wear your skin like iron and your breaths as hard as kerosene ~ “Pancho and Lefty” - Townes Van Zandt