The Top 100 Songs, Part One

Out of sheer ambition and pretense, I will tonight deliver installment 1 of the 1st Annual Jeremiah Methven Top 100 Songs Countdown, Songs #81-#100. Having recently decided that it would be a grand venture to conjure up big rankings of albums and lists annually, I decided now was a good time as any to begin unveiling the list. To keep up the suspense, I still have no idea myself of which songs will occupy positions #1-#80. I have chosen 80 other songs in addition to the 20 presented here, but I decided to weed out the comparatively weaker tunes first, and I will continue in this manner, until I get to #1-#20, at which point the truly arduous decisions will begin.
At any rate, let us begin!

100. "Say My Name"-Destiny's Child

Beyonce may have written a song superior to any God might have given her, but apparently God must not be a good enough songwriter to crack the top 100 whatsoever. For the record, I don't actually think that this is the 100th-greatest song of all time.

99. "Fake Plastic Trees"-Radiohead

Radiohead may have been unpolished on The Bends, but they were still close enough to their musical prime to uncork this gem, a ballad made great with clever use of dynamics, an approach Radiohead would refine to great success on OK Computer.

98. "Welcome to the Jungle"-Guns n' Roses

Emblematic of GnR, but pretty much the same as half a dozen other tracks on Appetite for Destruction. Still, I can never forget my star turn in Andrew Zukoski, Chris Breault, and the inimitable Kangway Chuang's 2005 film masterwork, "GorillaZilla 2".

97. "I'm Not the Man I Used To Be"-Fine Young Cannibals

Yeah, I am putting the Cannibals on this list. FYC is one of the best pop bands ever, and this track proves they could deliver a tender ballad with the best of them.

96. "Jealous Guy"-John Lennon

Lennon wins for the sheer sake of melodic ingenuity.

95. "Leave Me Alone"-Michael Jackson

To think, this was merely a bonus track on Bad. It's still arguably the best track on this album though and has an underrated video as well. A scary pop song.

94. "Femme Fatale"-The Velvet Underground

I always liked the tender REM cover of this track, but the VU version is better, for who am I to resist the German seductions of Nico? Seriously, I dig those cold Germanic vocals.

93. "Everybody Here Wants You"-Jeff Buckley

Jeff died before this track could ever be officially released, but it's a pretty damn good example of what his voice could do.

92. "Eruption"-Van Halen

Everyone's favorite guitargasm! I admire the sheer assholery of this song, especially in its live, six-minute version.

91. "Black"-Pearl Jam

Just to prove I'm hip with the grunge movement. This is actually a hell of a ballad, though; Vedder could at least sing, even if I'm still skeptical about the rest of the band.

90. "Spanish Bombs"-The Clash

Great because it sounds so effortless. Just brilliant songcraft and an epic enough pop song to make the list.

89. "Cicatriz ESP"-The Mars Volta

Slightly wounded by its long middle section of pointless sound effects, but is probably the band's finest hour as instrumentalists, with a mindraping jam right before the sound effects kick is.

88. "Jump"-Van Halen

Van Halen at their most endearing. What kind of man doesn't get a big grin on his face upon hearing the synthesizers start up "Jump"??!

87. "Civil War"-Guns n' Roses

Thanks Paul! Showcases the GnR mastery of the epic ballad at this point, and Slash could carry anything at this point in his career with his soloes.

86. "Comfortably Numb"-Pink Floyd

A generic choice, but I am a generic man. Well maybe I'm not, but I'm still a sucker for that guitar solo.

85. "London Calling"-The Clash

The genericisms are adding up now, but this is one track that gets here primarily on the strength of lyrics, and I'm often guilty of ignoring lyrics. It's got good music too, though. Don't forget that!

84. "Us and Them"-Pink Floyd

Choosing a track from Dark Side of the Moon is a fool's errand. I still did it though! Boo-yeah!

83. "Wild Horses"-The Rolling Stones

Mick Jagger did have a romantic side, apparently. That's why he was a great, man! Versatility.

82. "Beat It"-Michael Jackson

Moves up 10 places for me having learned the riff three days ago. Also, the third Van Halen-related song so far. And you won't see any more from here on out. We'll miss you, Eddie.

81. "Everybody Hurts"-REM

And closing out today's installment, a lyrically questionable song. Fortunately, I ignore lyrics if I deem it necessary, and here I deem it necessary, for this is perhaps Michael Stipe's best vocal on record.