Country is a storytelling genre, and the right opening line can be the difference between someone turning the page or shutting the book. A musician only has a few seconds to grab most listeners’ attention, making those first few lines all the more critical. Great opening lines emphasize the instrumental arrangements and gear you up for the rest of the story, whether it’s about heartache or heroes or jealous pleas to a potential other woman.
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Take, for example, these opening lines from country music that either came out or were at the top of the charts in 1973, all of which still give me that chilling, goosebumps-on-my-arms effect no matter how many times I listen to them.
“Jolene” by Dolly Parton
Dolly Parton’s iconic 1973 track, “Jolene”, is a bona fide groove from the very first downbeat. The instrumental arrangement would be enough to make the song a catchy mainstream feature. But the way Parton comes in with her pleading, “Jolene, Jolene, Jolene, Joleeeene, I’m beggin’ of you, please don’t take my man.” If someone like Dolly is saying that, then who the hell is this Jolene woman?! And that’s exactly the question Parton wanted us to ask so that we would keep listening.
“If We Make It Through December” by Merle Haggard
Although Merle Haggard wasn’t born yet when his family made the harrowing journey from Oklahoma to the West Coast, that intense struggle was still part of his heritage and upbringing. His 1973 country hit, “If We Make It Through December”, has chilling opening lines both literally and figuratively. “If we make it through December, everything’s gonna be all right, I know / and I shiver when I see the falling snow.” They’re hopeful but in a sad, reserved way, almost as if they’re conserving energy in the chill.
“Til I Get It Right” by Tammy Wynette
Tammy Wynette’s December 1972 track, “‘Til I Get It Right”, is unlike other breakup laments where the narrator insists they’ll never love again. In the opening lines alone, this 1973 country hit proves that the singer has a lot more love to give. “I’ll just keep on fallin’ in love ‘til I get it right / right now, I’m like a wounded bird hungry for the sky / but if I try my wings and try long enough, I’m bound to learn to fly.”
“Sad Songs And Waltzes” by Willie Nelson
Willie Nelson’s “Sad Songs And Waltzes”, the third track from Shotgun Willie, hooks the listener in with the plot twist in the first verse. The 1973 country track’s opening lines make it clear the song is about heartache: “I’m writing a song all about you, a true song as real as my tears.” But in the next lines, he confirms that a lonely musician is behind them. “But you’ve no need to fear it ‘cause no one will hear it / Sad songs and waltzes aren’t selling this year.”
“From The Bottle To The Bottom” by Kris Kristofferson & Rita Coolidge
Kris Kristofferson is a masterful opening lines writer, and his 1973 country duet with Rita Coolidge, “From The Bottle To The Bottom”, is no exception. “You ask me if I’m happy now, that’s good as any joke I’ve heard / it seems that since I’ve seen you last, I done forgot the meaning of the words / if happiness is empty rooms and drinkin’ in the afternoon, well, I suppose I’m happy as a clam.” So desolate, so self-pitying, and so relatable in a few lines.
“Too Little, Too Late” by Johnny Cash
Anyone who has realized that they’ve damaged a relationship beyond repair is likely to feel a twinge of shameful regret when they hear the opening lines to Johnny Cash’s 1973 track, “Too Little, Too Late” from Any Old Wind That Blows. “So, you’re feeling numb about me being gone / So, you see now you’re half-alive when you’re alone / well, I just hope the pain will ease a little as you wait / you gave me love but too little too late.”
“Satin Sheets” by Jeanne Pruett
Before there was “Lucky” by Britney Spears, there was “Satin Sheets”, made famous by Jeanne Pruett. The opening illness of this 1973 country hit reels the listener in with flowery, luxurious language, only to remind listeners that not everything that glitters is gold and money can rarely, if ever, buy true love. “Satin sheets to lie on, satin pillows to cry on / but still I’m not happy, don’t you see? / Big long Cadillacs, tailor-mades upon my back / Still, I want you to set me free.”
“Honky Tonk Heroes” by Waylon Jennings
Ever look around a room and realize you’re actually the problematic one? Waylon Jennings did with his 1973 outlaw-country track, “Honky Tonk Heroes”. “Low down leavin’ sun, done did everything that needs done / Woe is me, why can’t I see I’d best be leavin’ well enough alone? / Them neon night lights, couldn’t stay out of fights, keep a-hauntin’ me in memories / Well, there’s one in every crowd for cryin’ out loud, why was it always turnin’ out to be me?”
“Teddy Bear Song” by Barbara Fairchild
The opening lines to the 1973 country track “Teddy Bear Song” by Barbara Fairchild paint a desolate picture of heartbreak. The narrator would rather be transformed into an inanimate object to escape the pain they’re feeling, which is a special kind of sadness. “I wish I had button eyes and a red felt nose, a shaggy cotton skin and just one set of clothes / Sitting on a shelf in a local department store with no dreams to dream and nothing to be sorry for.”
“If You Wouldn’t Be My Lady” by Charlie Rich
Closing out this list of chilling opening lines from 1973 country hits is “If You Wouldn’t Be My Lady” by Charlie Rich. “Take away the song a songbird sings, take away the sound that laughter brings, take the music from a melody / Never take your love from me.” The narrator would rather live in a world without songbirds, laughter, and music than live in a world without their love, which is quite the goosebumps-inducing sentiment to which anyone who has ever been hopelessly in love can relate.
Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images
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