What's your favorite lyrics to open a song? The first line or two. Off the top of my head, mine are:

"What do you mean I don't believe in God? I talk to him everyday"
- Megadeth, "Peace Sells"

"(Hi There), I'm on my way I'm making it"
- Peter Gabriel, "Big Time"

"O God of Earth and Altar,
Bow down and hear our cry"
- Iron Maiden, "Revelations"

"At home drawing pictures of mountain tops with him on top,
lemon yellow sun, arms raised in a 'v' "
- Pearl Jam, "Jeremy"

"Something has to change, Undeniable dilemma
Boredom's not a burden anyone should bare"
-Tool, "Stinkfist"

"I can't say that I love Jesus, that would be a hollow claim. He did make some observations, and I'm quoting him today..."

REM-New Test Leper

"I'm a member of an ape-like race
At the asshole end of the twentieth century"

- James "Low Low Low"

"Um boom ba bay
Um boom ba bay
Um Um boom ba bay bay"

Queen- Under Pressure

"I am he as you are he as you are me and we are all together"
Beatles - "I am the Walrus"

"Ain't it just like the night to play tricks when you're trying to be so quiet"
Bob Dylan - "Visions of Johanna"

"I'm a fountain of blood in the shape of a girl"
Bjork - Bachelorette

to name a few...

A good first line is all in the delivery. None of mine read too well but I think they sound great.

Oh, I just don't know where to begin
Elvis Costello- Accidents will happen

Trudging slowly over wet sand, back to the bench where your clothes were stolen
Morrissey- Everyday is Like Sunday

I am an American aquarium drinker
Wilco- I am trying to break your heart

No fun, my babe, no fun
The Stooges- No Fun

Well, I thought about the Army. Dad said "son, you're fucking high"
Ben Folds Five- Army

Every night I tell myself I am the cosmos, I am the sun
Chris Bell- I am the Cosmos

(sing Michael, sing) out on the route of the 19 bus!
The Clash- Rudie can't Fail

Oh no! Here it comes again!
Black Sabbath - Neon Knights

Talking with my brother when the lights went out. Down the hallway forty years ago.
Finn Brothers- Disembodied Voices

She put nine-hundred dollars on the fifth horse in the sixth race. I think his name was "Chips Ahoy"
The Hold Steady- Chips Ahoy

"Kick out the jams, motherfucker!"
MC5

"Hello, I waited her for you, Everlong"- Foo Fighters

"I guess I shouldve known, by the way you parked your car sideways, that it wouldnt last"-Prince

"Wasted and wounded, It aint what the moon did, I got what I paid for now" - Tom Waits

"Please allow me to introduce myself, im a man of wealth and taste"-Rolling Stones

Theres just so many.

"You high-fiving motherfucker"
High-Fiving MF - Local H

All the people are so happy now, their heads are cavin' in
"Nothing's Gonna Change My Clothes" - They Might Be Giants

"The World is a vampire...send to drain"...

Bullet with Butterfly Wings..SP

This is a cool topic...

I would offer: "I may not always love you..." from The Beach Boys' God Only Knows (apparently Brian Wilson didn't like it because he felt it started too negative, then when Carl Van Sant or whatever that dude's name was finished reading the lyrics he loved it)

"Good morn' or evening, friends, here's your friendly announcer. I have serious news to pass on to everybody..." Stevie Wonder - first line of first song on SITKL, Love's in Need of Love Today

"The new moon rode high in the crown of the metropolis, shining, like who on top of this? People were tussling, arguing, and bustling; gangsters of Gotham hardcore hustling.." Blackstar - Respiration

first thing that came to mind:

"jesus died for somebody's sins, but not mine."
patti smith - gloria.

The first one that popped to mind is:

"Someone's got it in for me - they're planting stories in the press!"
- Bob Dylan, "Idiot Wind"

I think it jumped out because his tone of voice really matches the words well.

-ringding-

"In the time of chimpanzees, there was a monkey!"
~ Beck, Loser

"I would dial the numbers just to listen to your breath, and I would stand inside my Hell and hold the hand of death, just to reach you, just to reach you."

Melissa Ethridge, Come To My Window

"I know what you’re doing, I see it all too clear, I only taste the saline when I kiss away your tears."

Duncan Sheik, Barely Breathing

"Please could you stop this noise
I'm tryin' to get some rest?!"
- Radiohead, Paranoid Android

"Morning prayers took the girl unawares
She was late for class, and she knew it."
- Belle & Sebastian, Act of the Apostle, Part I

"By the time the buzz was wearing off,
We were standing out on the sidewalk
With our tattoos that looked like rings,
In the hot Nevada sun..."
- Ben Folds, You to Thank

B+S know how to start a song. I like:

"Anthony walked to his death because he thought he'd never feel this way again, If he goes back to the house then things would go from bad to worse, what could he do?"

-from "If you're feeling sinister"

Well I used to be disgusted
Now I try to be amused
- Angels Want to Wear My Red Shoes, Elvis Costello

Fun thread. Might have been even better to not put down the title/artist and have it be a trivia kind of thing. Here are a few of my favorites that are probably obvious.

"Do I stress you out?"

"Father I killed my monkey"

"I want to kill this waitress"

Good idea...

First is Alanis, second two are Tori Amos, I think.

"Here it is, a groove, slightly transformed
Just a bit of a break the norm"

"And what if God's dead? We must have done something wrong." -- This Wreckage, Gary Numan

I'd have to go with..Ministry - TV Song

"tell me something i don't know, show me something i can't use, push the button, connect the goddamned dots"

"Street's disciple, my raps are trifle
I shoot slugs from my brain just like a rifle."

Main Source ft. Nas "Live At The Barbaque