Cause it’s a bittersweet symphony this life
The opening lines of Bitter Sweet Symphony by The Verve, taken from their masterful third studio album Urban Hymns (1997). Starting with a gorgeous orchestra sound, it was a huge smash and one of the defining Britpop songs of the 1990s.
I’m gonna fight them all
A seven nation army couldn’t hold me back
The opening lines of Seven Nation Army, the lead single from The White Stripes’ fourth sutio album Elephant (2003) And a serious shout for having the best bassline ever.
Let’s dance in style, let’s dance for a while
Heaven can wait we’re only watching the skies
Taken from the song Forever Young from the 1984 debut album of the same name by the German band Alphaville. Though not a success in either the UK or US, the song has been covered numerous times and was memorably used in the film Napoleon Dynamite.
So I look in your direction
But you pay me no attention, do you
I know you don’t listen to me
‘Cause you say you see straight through me, don’t you
The opening lines of the song Shiver by Coldplay. From the English band’s debut album Parachutes (2000), it was the follow up to the hugely successful Yellow. Here’s a photo of when I saw them live, where they closed with this song.
The circus arrives without warning. No announcements precede it. It is simply there, when yesterday it was not.
The opening lines of the fantastically enchanting debut novel The Night Circus (2011) by Erin Morgenstern. I was spoiled for choice for which line to use, but I like that even from the very beginning the uniqueness and mystery of the circus has been set. Something completely pivotal to the story.
The past is a foreign country; they do things differently there.
The opening line of ‘The Go-Between’ by L. P. Hartley (1953)
Alex Raphael 