Overfed longhaired leaping gnome

Who's ready for another list?
No one? Really, no one?
Tough titties. I am.

So, in usual fashion, this list is without a doubt the definitive list on this subject. While other lists may exist on this subject, they are all wrong and this one is right. Without a doubt. Indubitably.

Ready?

Top hits for each year in the 1970's.



Why the 70's you may ask (or may not)...70's are my go to era for music....60's music was great, but I got that through osmosis (I was too young to appreciate it when it was current), 80's music mostly sucked (although I won't rule out a future list on either of these eras), 90's don't count, and post 2000 is still too new to me.

I'll try to keep this brief, (some as little as one sentence...but one incredible, well chosen, thought provoking sentence)I know you've all got more important stuff to do than invest in the five minutes it takes to read this drivel. I'll include a few video clips where I see fit...possibly on all of them

Here we go....

1970
Spill the Wine - War
That's were the title of this blog is pulled from. Oh, and that was my nickname in high school. A trippier song you will never find. At least watch this one until he gets to the gnome line..then I dare you not to finish it.

1971

Jealous Guy - John Lennon.

Yes, Jealous Guy...not Imagine. Imagine is great and all, but it's been done to death. It was my class song for crissakes. I'll put "I was dreaming of the past, and my heart was beating fast" up against "Imagine there's no heaven, it's easy if you try" any day. Plus, you can never dismiss a song with whistling in it. Whistling kicks ass. Just like this song.

1972

Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard - Paul Simon.

Another whistling song. What can I say? ...and I like the image of the Mama Pajama rolling out of bed.

Oh, and the little black girl in this video. No rhythm. God love her, but none. Zero. Zilch. Nada. Zippo.

1973

Rosalita - Bruce Springsteen.

Bruuuuuce !

Worth the 9:44 to listen to this ...even if you don't watch it. Trust me on this one. Leave it on, turn it up and go wash the dishes or something.

1974

Free Man in Paris - Joni Mitchell

Have you ever felt unfettered and alive. Have you ever even used the word unfettered. Really? You're lying if you said you had.  Use it tomorrow. I dare you.



1975

Road Runner - Modern Lovers

Screw disco...

"I say road runner once, road runner twice.

I'm in love with rock n roll and I'll be out all night"

and I love the repetitious "radio on!  radio on!

Don't you?

1976

The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald - Gordon Lightfoot

This song was epic to me. Especially when listening to it on a Miami Dolphins replica helmet AM radio

 Can't skip this one...

I saw Gordo closer than this with a dear friend back in the early 80's. Love to reminisce

1977 (Almost done.....)

Psycho Killer - Talking Heads

I also "hate people when they're not polite"...

The quirkiest grooviest white band. Ever.

1978

Surrender - Cheap Trick

Yup.

Don't deny it.

"Mommy's alright, Daddy's alright. They just seem a little weird"



1979

Train in Vain - The Clash

Brilliant simplicity.

Now that is tough. Try it sometime.

There you go.

Top songs from each year in the 70's.

Don't deny it, you know it's true.

Hope you took a minute or two to appreciate a few of these...maybe something here will ignite a desire to seek out more from one of these bands. Maybe not. Who knows?

...and see how it was done without one mention of the Bee Gees or Abba (that is, until now).

So it goes.

Betty better butter Brad's bread

That , my friends, is a tongue twister.
This blog, my friends, is a list.

You know my penchant for lists...referenced many times in past blogs, but none since my New Year's resolutions list (some of which I've still not broken)
http://pompatusofpete.blogspot.com/2011/12/take-five.html

Well, it's time for another one....and that was so last year. Literally.

I now present to you THE DEFINITIVE LIST OF THE 7 BEST OPENING LINES IN MUSIC.
Like my other lists, there is no disputing this list. You may have your own opinions, but they would be (like the other times) wrong.

Why seven do you ask ?...well because I started this out as twelve, but it was getting way to convoluted and became imminently clear to me that that I had to winnow it down a bit, hence the seven.
To avoid confusion (and because I like adding color to my blogs) my comments will be in red. The lyrics themselves will be in black. Got it?



Oh, I'll post a couple of the videos to a few of these, but mostly just the album covers (yes, albums...for crying out loud). Do yourself a favor...if any of these are unfamiliar to you, please, by all means, search them out and take a listen. Then thank me the next time you see me.


So, without further ado...
THE DEFINITIVE LIST OF THE BEST OPENING LINES IN MUSIC

7) Joe Jackson - Is She Really Going out with Him?

Pretty women out walking with gorillas down my street.
From my window I'm staring as my coffee grows cold.

What adolescent boy hasn't experienced these feelings, put so eloquently forth by Joe Jackson here? Christ, this practically brings back all three years of junior high for me in one line.


6). Dire Straits - Sultans of Swing

You get a shiver in the dark
It's raining in the park but meantime
South of the river you stop and you hold everything
A band is blowing Dixie double four time
You feel alright when you hear that music ring.

I am SO there. Outside on a cold drizzly evening...walking along a riverbank. You hear this incredible sound off in the distance-(although, for the life of me, I'm not so sure about the "Dixie double four time"...I've got a feeling it don't sound nothing like this song, but I love the description).
Love this song. No way it's not making the list.


5) Bob Dylan - Watching the River Flow



What's the matter with me,
I don't have much to say,
Daylight sneakin' through the window
And I'm still in this all-night cafe.
Walkin' to and fro beneath the moon
Out to where the trucks are rollin' slow,
To sit down on this bank of sand
And watch the river flow.


Another river song (funny, I always thought I was more of an ocean guy??). It's the juxtaposition (there's that word again) between laziness and restlessness. What's it gonna be Bob..up all night in this cafe', walking aimlessly under the setting moon, or sitting on the riverbank and do nothing but watch the river going by? Can't you feel it? Can't you? At least a little bit? Sure you can!


4) Bruce Springsteen - Blinded By The Light



Madman drummers bummers and indians in the summer with a teenage diplomat
In the dumps with the mumps as the adolescent pumps his way into his hat
With a boulder on my shoulder feelin kinda older I tripped the merry-go-round
With this very unpleasing sneezing and wheezing the calliope crashed to the ground
Stop it. Now. I could have included all 50 lines to this song, the lyrics are so ridiculously convoluted and brilliant, but I have to stick to the premise of just the opening lines, I'm keeping my promise. I was going to tackle this one once in one of my "true meaning behind the lyrics blogs" similar to thishttp://pompatusofpete.blogspot.com/2011/10/why-didnt-he-just-say-that-in-first.html...but the lyrics were so incredibly obtuse that I couldn't even begin to come up with the requisite skewering of the lyrics to squeeze even one drop of humor out of it. It was way too tough. At least I didn't think I was up for the task at the time....but now that I've laid down the proverbial gauntlet, who knows?
3) Elvis Costello - Radio Radio

I was tuning in the shine on the light night dial
Doing anything my radio advised
With every one of those late night stations
Playing songs bringing tears to my eyes
I know some of you are too young to believe, or even relate to this, but there was a time when radio mattered. Music wasn't all accessible as it is now...no itunes, no digital downloads, no music floating above us in the stratosphere. There was a time when google didn't exist....we needed to use dictionaries, and even...I hope you're sitting down...ENCYCLOPEDIAS. No kidding, there used to be these vast volumes of books that you had to look through and research to get the answers to life's mysteries...these books were SO voluminous, that you couldn't even fit all of the information in one book...sometimes ONE LETTER wouldn't even fit into one book. Mind blowing I know, but true. Oh, and if you missed the one night Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer was on, that was it. You were SOL until next year. That sucked. That happened to me one year because we had to go see this house on Summit street in Portland that did his yard up in a BIG WAY at Christmas...it would pull people from all over Greater Portland to look at his plastic snowmen and inflated snowglobes and decorated trees and Charlie Brown figures and ...................................................
PHEW
Enough of the rant, I like this one because it brings me back to listening to the radio in bed at night , waiting for your favorite song to come on. That's all.
2) The Band - The Weight

I pulled into Nazareth, was feelin' about half past dead
I just need some place where I can lay my head
"Hey, mister, can you tell me where a man might find a bed?"
He just grinned and shook my hand, "no" was all he saidC'mon, what's not to love about this one? Don't you love the image of this meeting? That one line "He just grinned and shook my hand, "no" was all he said" might be my favorite line. EVER. IN ANY SONG. OF ALL TIME. Seriously.
Finally....down to number one. Per usual, these lists don't actually have much substance, in regard to what the list is supposed to be about, now, does it? That's not the point though...it's about the journey. Sometimes the journey is to nowhere, but one I hope you enjoy going along with me.
OK. Number one.1) The Beatles - In My Life
There are places I'll remember
All my life though some have changed
Some forever not for better
Some have gone and some remain
All these places had their moments
With lovers and friends I still can recall
Some are dead and some are living
In my life I've loved them all
No way I'm not going with a Beatles song as number one. This one does it for me.... Play this one at my funeral and I'll be smiling down on you (or, God forbid, smiling up at you)...play this one at my daughter's weddings...play this one at the local hopscotch tournament...play it loud...play it soft. Just play it. Repeatedly. Let it soak into your soul and be at one with your DNA. You'll be a better person because of it. Trust me. Would I lie to you ? 
So that's it. My top seven opening lyrics of all time. No debating allowed. You'd be wrong and I am right.
....except I've already changed my mind about four of these...and it will be all seven by tomorrow.
Have fun.