You Had Me At Hello

That's my favorite line, uttered by Charlie Steiner, from those great ESPN "This Is Sportscenter" commercials. I seem to recall it from someplace else, although I'm not sure about that. A little help?

At any rate, there are some songs that hook me right at the beginning, although not every song I love has a raucous start. In fact, some of my favorite songs start off slow before enmeshing you in a web of musicianship from which you cannot escape.

Along those lines, Led Zeppelin, usually who I consider my favorite band, is represented only four times on the following list. Yet, Guns N Roses, a band I don't consider myself to be a great fan of, has some very crafty song beginnings, and has 3 entries on my list. Weird. But alas, that is a subject for another post.

The songs I want to honor with this post are those songs that hook me from the instant I hear them. They don't necessarily have to end great, or even middle (?) great, although most do. Songs instantly recognizable, such that, unless there is some dire emergency, I'll stop to listen to whether I'm flipping the stations or just riding along in the car. Even if I only listen until the end of the song's beginning. That was a confusing sentence to write.

After a lot of thought, the following are what I believe to be the songs with the greatest beginnings. Notice a lot of these songs have strong guitar openings. Seems to be a theme for me.

I'm sure I've forgotten several, so let me know what I've omitted. And if I'm wrong about any of these, then argue your point in the comments.

My favorite song beginning? Number 10 on the playlist.

By the way, I've noticed some technical difficulties with this post. If you cannot see the player, click on "pop out player" and it will take you to the playing list.