The more I think about it, the more confused I get about first impressions.
On the one hand, they're seriously important, right? Especially in the business world. If you miss making a good first impression, you can get majorly screwed (and not in a good way). It has been found that some experts can size up your resume in 20 seconds to determine if you're a worthy candidate. Talk about needing to make a good first impression! And you're not even physically THERE! It's easy to size someone or something up in a first impression and determine if you're willing to pursue that option, and sometimes it really is necessary to do so based on a brief encounter.
But on the other hand, how many times are we mislead by first impressions? Think about the people and things in your life that you misjudged at first. Or maybe think of a time you know you gave a less than stellar first impression. I mean, if you're having a rough day, or you're sick, or you don't realize a situation is important, it can be hard to give someone a perfect idea of who you really are.
So I'm often torn on the subject. Personally, I get pretty stressed when I know I have to make an excellent impression on someone new. Makes me nervous and sweaty and jittery; in fact, I probably look like I need to switch to decaf in most situations like this.
Songs are no different, right? It's hard to get into a song if it doesn't grab you from the very beginning. So here are some songs that I think have epic beginnings and are bound to make a kick-ass first impression.
Deep Purple - "Smoke On The Water" Maybe it's because I grew up with my dad randomly busting it out, but I believe that this song has one of the coolest beginnings ever. Also, it makes for an awesome commercial. Just saying.
Hootie & The Blowfish - "I Go Blind" I have two words for you: Power chord. I used to listen to the first part of this song over and over, just because it struck me as so epically cool. Who am I kidding? I'm gonna go listen to it right now...
Queen - "Somebody To Love" Caaaaaaaaaaaaaaaan anybody find me... another song that has such an amazing vocal-based intro?? Good luck! Not only is Queen just freaking amazing, this song is just too classic to be ignored. Love it.
The Beatles - "All You Need Is Love" I remember being in middle school French class, and when I heard 'La Marseillaise' (the national anthem of France) for the first time, all I could think of was, "Hey! That's The Beatles!" I would say I'm embarrassed by that... But... I'm not. Also, I'm pretty sure my dad's response to that would've been, "We've taught you well."
Chumbawamba - "The Big Issue" Most people only remember Chumbawamba for "Tubthumping" (or, as my mom loves to call it, "Thumb-sucking" by ChubbyWubby). But my favorite track on the CD (yes, I had the CD... in fact, I STILL have it) is actually this song, if for no other reason than the beginning. I'm a sucker for a nice vocal arrangement, and this song had me at hello (er, at "there are those"?).
There are a number of other songs with fantastic beginnings. I could spend all day compiling an uber list for y'all, but these are the 5 I'm going with for now.
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