What's the best opening lyric to open an album

[Ms Harmless]

I wanna leave this mind and shout sets the stage for Riot Act and is also a pretty universal feeling for the time it was made. Clearly the best opening line for a Pearl Jam album.

+1

I also think it’s the strongest opening lyric relative to the time of its release. We knew the album would be about Bush and the Iraq war, we had seen the album cover…A conceptual picture was starting to emerge. But that opening drum beat was new territory for them, and that lyrics was in immediate invitation to Ed’s experience during a time that felt pretty raw for everyone.

Contest that with Breakerfall, which is a fine opening lyrics, but didn’t take on some larger immediate context, IMO.

Well said. Though, I might be even lower on the opening Breakerfall lyric. I think it's pretty dopey. It's one of the reasons I had such a hard time finding my way to Binaural as a record.

And I guess to go even further with the Can't Keep line, I think they work far beyond their context, too. I think outside of Riot Act, just as words on a page, as an independent thought/expression, the lines are so fucking moving and potent.

I agree with you about Breakerfall, I think its lyrics might have been my very first Pearl Jam cringe; overall the song's grown on me a lot though

[Jorge]

I am glad nobody is trying to defend "you're always saying that there's something wrong"

[Ms Harmless]

darkness comes in waves, Jorge

[VinylGuy]

i love this

Drowning in their dissertations, random speakers in my mind

[epilogue]

I wanna leave this mind and shout sets the stage for Riot Act and is also a pretty universal feeling for the time it was made. Clearly the best opening line for a Pearl Jam album.

+1

I also think it’s the strongest opening lyric relative to the time of its release. We knew the album would be about Bush and the Iraq war, we had seen the album cover…A conceptual picture was starting to emerge. But that opening drum beat was new territory for them, and that lyrics was in immediate invitation to Ed’s experience during a time that felt pretty raw for everyone.

Contest that with Breakerfall, which is a fine opening lyrics, but didn’t take on some larger immediate context, IMO.

Well said. Though, I might be even lower on the opening Breakerfall lyric. I think it's pretty dopey. It's one of the reasons I had such a hard time finding my way to Binaural as a record.

And I guess to go even further with the Can't Keep line, I think they work far beyond their context, too. I think outside of Riot Act, just as words on a page, as an independent thought/expression, the lines are so fucking moving and potent.

I agree with you about Breakerfall, I think its lyrics might have been my very first Pearl Jam cringe; overall the song's grown on me a lot though

100% same for me.

[epilogue]

i love this

Drowning in their dissertations, random speakers in my mind

How can you listen to Pearl Jam when there's a war going on and a pandemic? And also world hunger.

[VinylGuy]

i love this

Drowning in their dissertations, random speakers in my mind

How can you listen to Pearl Jam when there's a war going on and a pandemic? And also world hunger.

pff i dont give a shit

my main contribution to those problems is listening to pearl jam

[epilogue]

i love this

Drowning in their dissertations, random speakers in my mind

How can you listen to Pearl Jam when there's a war going on and a pandemic? And also world hunger.

pff i dont give a shit

my main contribution to those problems is listening to pearl jam

unreal

[guitar_davey]

Thoughts? I was thinking about this a bit this afternoon (some of these lyrics get better if they play out a little further)


I admit it, what's to say? I'll relive it, without pain
Please don't go out on me, don't go on me now?
Lives opened and trashed, look ma watch me crash
Large fingers pushing paint. you're god and you've got big hands
Whose got the brain of JFK? What's it mean to us now?
There's a girl on a ledge, she's got nowhere to turn
I wanna shake, I wanna wind out, I wanna leave this mind and shout
You're always saying that there's something wrong
Do you wanna here something sick, we are but victims of desire
Everyone's a critic looking back up the river. Every boat is sinking in this town.
Drowning in their dissertations, random speakers in my mind

It's clearly Last Exit, right? Though the Brain of J lyric is fun, and drowning in their dissertations is a good phrase

Last Exit for sure, although the openings to No Code and Gigaton also really hit me in a good way.

[Monkey_Driven]

I wanna leave this mind and shout sets the stage for Riot Act and is also a pretty universal feeling for the time it was made. Clearly the best opening line for a Pearl Jam album.

+1

I also think it’s the strongest opening lyric relative to the time of its release. We knew the album would be about Bush and the Iraq war, we had seen the album cover…A conceptual picture was starting to emerge. But that opening drum beat was new territory for them, and that lyrics was in immediate invitation to Ed’s experience during a time that felt pretty raw for everyone.
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