AC/DC's 'For Those About to Rock (We Salute You)' Praised for Having Best Opening Lyrics in a Rock Song by Ultimate Classic Rock

The greatest opening lyric in rock history doesn't ask for your attention. It demands it.

According to Ultimate Classic Rock, that distinction belongs to AC/DC's 1981 anthem "For Those About to Rock (We Salute You)" — a track that has been announcing itself like a declaration of war since the moment it was released on the band's landmark album of the same name.

The opening salvo is simple, direct and utterly unmistakable: "Stand up and be counted / For what you are about to receive / We are the dealers / We'll give you everything you need." Immediate notice, as Ultimate Classic Rock put it, "that good times are ahead."

Lyrics to AC/DC's 'For Those About to Rock'

What makes a great opening lyric isn't just the words, it's the delivery. And in AC/DC's case, the delivery has always been the point. Singer Brian Johnson, who joined the band in 1980 following the tragic death of original vocalist Bon Scott, brought a voice that Ultimate Classic Rock described as sounding like he "gargles with oven cleaner in his spare time." That rawness — that unmistakable, sandpaper-and-thunder quality — turns four lines of rock poetry into something that feels less like a song beginning and more like an event starting.

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♬ original sound - Loach

AC/DC had long been masters of the opening statement. From the menacing groove of "Back in Black" to the swaggering strut of "Highway to Hell," the band understood that the first thing a listener hears sets the terms of the entire experience. "For Those About to Rock" simply perfected that formula, making it not just a great AC/DC moment, but the greatest opening moment in the history of the genre.

The Song's Legacy

Released in 1981 as the title track of the band's eighth studio album, "For Those About to Rock" became one of AC/DC's most enduring live staples. Born from Angus and Malcolm Young trading guitar riffs, and it earned the band their first number one hit. It was a concert closer performed with real cannons firing on stage, turning the song's military imagery into a full-scale theatrical event. Decades later it remains a fixture of their setlists, proof that the opening lines still land exactly as hard as they did the first time.