3 of the Best Opening Lines From Bob Dylan Songs

If you wanted one lyricist from the annals of history to write you a song, it would be hard not to pick the Minnesota-born Bob Dylan. In the 1960s, his songs popularized new ideas and helped change the world of music. From his early poetic acoustic tracks to his later electrified blues offerings, Dylan did what he wanted and what he wanted was often the best.

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Here below, we wanted to explore three songs from his catalog. Specifically, we wanted to check out a trio of tracks and how they open. How they immediately grab the ear and put the listener in a place to hear. Indeed, these are three of the best opening lines from Bob Dylan songs.

[RELATED: 3 Songwriters Who Were Called “the Next Bob Dylan”]

“It’s Alright, Ma (I’m Only Bleeding)” from Bringing It All Back Home (1965)

Is this the first rap song of all time? With a killer beat played on his acoustic guitar, Bob Dylan waxes poetic with a stream-of-consciousness opening that creates images in your mind of strange, painterly things. It’s like he’s casting a spell, reciting an incantation. But he’s also speaking the lines, as if rapping them. Of course, hip-hop music wouldn’t be invented for another decade-plus. But Dylan gets close here, opening the track with,

Darkness at the break of noon
Shadows even the silver spoon
The handmade blade, the child’s balloon
Eclipses both the sun and moon
To understand you know too soon
There is no sense in trying

“Visions of Johanna” from Blonde on Blonde (1966)

Some of Dylan’s best and most beloved songs are these thoughtful tracks that boast beautiful refrains. “Desolation Row” comes to mind, as does “Tangled up in Blue.” But “Visions of Johanna” is one of those great compositions. Dylan meanders through images and stories and people and characters and then comes back to the refrain: And these visions of Johanna that conquer my mind. But it’s how this 1966 song begins that’s equally special. Dylan sings,

Ain’t it just like the night to play tricks when you’re tryin’ to be so quiet?
We sit here stranded, though we’re all doin’ our best to deny it
And Louise holds a handful of rain, temptin’ you to defy it

“Positively 4th Street” (Single, 1965)

This song opens with a simple few sentences. But that’s the magic. It’s so plain speak that it’s groundbreaking. It’s not some highfalutin idea or some grand image of misty mountains. No, it’s something a friend might say to a friend. Or something two co-workers might say in an argument. It’s the type of stuff to make Joni Mitchell realize a song could be anything. Sings Dylan,

You’ve got a lotta nerve to say you are my friend
When I was down you just stood there grinnin’
You’ve got a lotta nerve to say you got a helping hand to lend
You just want to be on the side that’s winnin’

Photo by Ron Galella, Ltd./Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images