The Top 100 Songs, Part Four

Well, this was a relatively short break between sections for once. In fact, I could have had this list up five days ago, since I've had the ranking ready for some time. My initial plan was to put off posting for a day so I would have a chance to look over it and make revisions, just like how English teachers recommend that you look over your completed papers at a later time. However, it took me awhile to get around looking over the list again, and when I did, I admit to making only one change. It was a big one, though! I dropped a song twelve places, when I realized it looked ridiculous to be ranking it ahead of so many classics. I'm happy with my list in terms of prioritizing my own tastes, but especially this high up, the songs are intensely concentrated in a handful of artists. Unfortunately, it's not in my means to get around this dilemma at this point. Thus, the initial impetus to do this ranking annually.
In other news, I purged the comment spammers from this blog. They all stemmed from scottmagill.com, so I went to the site, and I have to say, Scott Magill has an amazing knack for writing grotesquely bad lyrics.
One day I was walking, walking down the street
I thought to myself this would be so so sweet
So I took a deep breath and released it into the air
I looked at the world and I had no fear
I am flying high, really high tonight
And I don't know if it is because everything feels so right
---Scott Magill, "Never Change"
Verily, I have never heard the accompanying music, but I have strong suspicions that his work would belong on the opposite of this list! Now making a list of 100 worst songs would be an even more ambitious project, I have to say. I don't have the worst songs I know of lying around on CD, like I do with my best songs.
At any rate,
THE LIST:


40. “Fire”-The Jimi Hendrix Experience
This is supposed to be a lesser single compared to "Purple Haze," but Hendrix was never able to live up to the sheer energy of this song.

39. “Stairway to Heaven”-Led Zeppelin
I'm sure my loyal readers will give me shit for this, but I think it's worthy of some admiration. It's definitely overrated, but it's well-constructed in all parts, and as you will find out, I'm a huge sucker for epic songs.

38. “Roundabout”-Yes
However, this is a superior epic to "Stairway to Heaven" for certain. It's not as focused, but at least it's not actively trying to be the greatest song ever. All it has is the sickest keyboard jam ever. Thanks, Rick Wakeman!

37. “One of Us Must Know (Sooner or Later)”-Bob Dylan
The third epic in a row, although half of Dylan's songs are epics, I suppose. This song is quintessential peak Dylan, emphasizing all his strong sides, and with appealing melodies to make it one of his best.

36. “Pink Cigarette”-Mr. Bungle
This was actually the song that inspired my top 100. I was listening to California at 1 am and I thought, "Man, what a classic song." This is actually a ballad, and not near as avant-garde as almost all of their other songs, but it has such a melody and ingenious build-up that I still rank it as their best.

35. “Tomorrow Never Knows”-The Beatles
How far can a song based on backwards tape loops and cries of birds go? I'll tell you, screeching birds are way more cathartic than you could ever imagine. I always insist that this song is the rare aural recreation of a drug trip, except I don't actually know what I'm talking about.

34. “You are the Sunshine of my Life”-Wonder
This is an all-time great singalong. A good example of Wonder's melodic skills and his unique voice. Mostly ranked this high since I spent all summer singing it in the shower.

33. “Last Goodbye”-Buckley
I'm not near as high on Jeff Buckley when I was three years ago, when Grace was easily my favorite album ever. Then again, I was comparing it to the collected works of Live and Our Lady Peace, so maybe that wasn't such a great distinction. However, although this song is a little too slowly-paced, like most of his work, it moves through various sections excellently, eschewing a chorus, and of course, it has Jeff fucking Buckley singing, and even if I sometimes question his songwriting skills, he's still my favorite singer ever.

32. “God Only Knows”-The Beach Boys
An obvious Beach Boys classic, and worth the acclaim it gets. Perfect melodies and harmonies, and a unique approach, which is what I look for this high in the list.

31. “Somebody to Love”-Queen
Probably the best testament to Freddie Mercury's vocal acrobatics. Carried along propulsively by a call-and-response melody, it reaches startling heights in its mid-section with Mercury's frenetic improvisations.

30. “Isn’t She Lovely”-Wonder
For my money, Stevie Wonder is the best harmonica player I've ever heard. He may have been blind, but he sure did play a lot of instruments, and most of them he played well. I bring this up, because the bulk of this song is a four-minute harmonica solo, with plenty of ingenious melodic improvisations. He starts with the main theme, and then, jazz-style, he re-works the melody again and again over the same set of chord changes, sometimes paraphrasing, sometimes creating whole new melodies, and it all goes off excellently. It's one of those passages of music that I find myself humming again and again and again. He's got excellent tone and pitch control, too.

29. “Who Is It”-Michael Jackson
This is the sort of choice that makes me wonder if I'm stepping way out of bounds, but I think this is certainly the lost Michael Jackson classic, one of the few songs in his catalog that transcends pop to become emotionally resonant. Maybe it's just Mark and I, but it seems like a convincing, haunting epic to me. Plus, it's been one of my favorites since childhood. You can't account for nostalgia!

28. “One”-U2
U2 was nothing if not a great singles band, and even if Achtung Baby was inconsistent, despite the critical acclaim it received, "One" is one of the few classic ballads of the 1990's. I even adore Bono's lyrics here, especially in the bridge.

27. “Suffragette City”-Bowie
One of the three great songs that propel Ziggy Stardust into the upper echelon of classic albums, "Suffragette City" is the ultimate glam-rocker. (I suppose I overuse phrases like 'ultimate' and 'all-time great' in this list, but isn't that what it's for?) Notorious for its false ending, it's also got the rare drive and energy of the best pure rock songs.

26. “Baba O’Riley”-The Who
This is actually a perfect song, I think. It doesn't quite touch me enough to be ranked higher, but I can't find any faults with it. It's unique, melodic, and has an awesome violin solo by Keith Moon. Not to mention the synth loop intro, which proves that synthesizers were awesome, at least in moderation.

25. “Something”-The Beatles
George Harrison may have been the third songwriter in the Beatles, but you'll find more of his compositions in my top 25 than of Lennon/McCartney. In my "Nowhere Man" commentary, I pointed out that I often got the feeling that the Beatles were very detached and bored with their work. Maybe it was just their vocal style, but since I'm a lover of vocals first and foremost, all that is important to me. At any rate, a great Harrison song is often better than a great Lennon/McCartney song in my mind, because I definitely feel the pain in his work, and I hear the emotion in his voice when he sings. I definitely do not consider Harrison to be a better songwriter than either Lennon or McCartney, since even if his peak is arguably higher, he simply did not write near as many classics as either of them. But he's closer than most people think.

24. “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For”-U2
It's hard to pick the best U2 single, especially to represent the opening three songs of The Joshua Tree, which could be the best opening trio to any album ever. Seriously, I don't even like any U2 album all the way through, and I'm willing to hyperbolize like that. I guess this song gets the edge because of nostalgia again. I've loved this song forever, even if my misunderstood version of the lyrics happens to be better than what Bono actually sings. Seriously, "burning inside her" is way better than "burning desire" and you know it.

23. “Leave”-REM
In all honesty, I should be flayed for putting this song so high. I just can't escape R.E.M's unique emotional hold over me, and this is one of their most unique songs, which I always appreciate. Minimalistic, except for a wailing police siren, and seven minutes long, this is all about mood, atmosphere, vocals. It just kills me to hear it though, just makes me want to cry. And I like that in songs. I admire the song which has the power to move me so. That will become ever more apparent as I move into the top 20.

22. “Lover, You Should’ve Come Over”-Buckley
The centerpiece of Grace, I will fully admit the first half of the song can seem achingly slow at sometimes, although the chorus is pretty hard-hitting, and the verses are quite delicate. The second half is all money, though, as Buckley goes for the dramatic ending, as he is wont to do, and totally nails it. This has its flaws, but even taking those into account, it used to be my favorite song of all time, so it does deserve to be ranked this highly.

21. “While My Guitar Gently Weeps”-The Beatles
See, I proved my point. I didn't even remember that I had ranked this song here when I mentioned how I had so many Harrison songs in my top 25. This is even better than "Something," because even beyond Harrison's bleeding vocals, it has the famous Clapton guitar solo, which is everything it's cracked up to be. Great fade-out too, with Clapton playing riffs over Harrison's anguished wails. Bleeding vocals, anguished wails, guitar soloes, all that is enough to close out this section of the list in grand fashion. Hopefully 1-20 will be out soon, although this section was more exhausting than any of the previous three, meaning 1-20 will surely be the toughest of all. I should be done by the end of Thanksgiving break, though.

The Top 100 Songs, Part Three

God, why is this taking me months to finish? Good thing I started early. At any rate, I have finally gotten off my apathetic ass, and produced #60-41. I'd like to say that #40-21 would be out shortly, since I'm raring to get started on it, but unfortunately, I don't trust myself.
The thought I have with this batch of songs is that I'm finally starting to delve into some music that just floors me. And it only gets better from here! I'm excited.

60. "The Beautiful Ones"-Prince

This is a tough one, because it certainly could rate higher, but also lower. It's a decent R&B ballad for 4 minutes, but hardly good enough to breach this list. However, Prince puts on one of the finest vocals these old ears will ever hear at the song's climax, with heart-rending screams galore. As one of my favorite moments of music, it's enough to put the song fairly higher, and it makes the early part seem much more haunting as well.

59. "Cygnus Vismund Cygnus"-The Mars Volta

Another tough one, because I absolutely love the chorus and the frenetic build of this song, not to mention the screams at the end. I'm a sucker for falsettoes, I admit it. At any rate, this song is also 4 or 5 minutes too long, but I still love it endlessly.

58. "You Shook Me All Night Long"-AC/DC

I hate to be so generic, but this is just one beautifully-crafted single. Perfect hooks and everything!

57. "Behind Blue Eyes"-The Who

Damn, man. Fighting cliche is like fighting AIDS! Oh well. I find this to be a rather effective ballad from the Who, with one of the ultimate sing-along choruses. Not good enough to avoid being terrible when Limp Bizkit covered it, but is anything?

56. "Wouldn't It Be Nice"-The Beach Boys

Proves that the Beach Boys were at least equal to the Beatles in terms of sheer, sunny melodicism. Buoyant and carefree, and with subtly scandalous lyrics!

55. "Heaven and Hell"-The Who

I choose this more as a track to represent the glory of the Who live, particularly at Leeds. No studio album could match the sheer energy of this track, and Pete Townshend never lived up to the scorching guitar soloes he puts down here.

54. "1983 (A Merman I Should Turn To Be)"-The Jimi Hendrix Experience

Part of the jaw-dropping "Rainy Day, Dream Away" suite on Electric Ladyland, this track proves that Hendrix could do more than just write great guitar riffs, although this song certainly has a great guitar riff. It mostly succeeds on mood, atmosphere, and songwriting skills, and showcases well Hendrix's extraterrestrial abilities.

53. "Adore"-Prince

Maybe too long, but the classiest R&B ballad you'll ever hear, and with a killer vocal, like any great Prince song. Makes 90's R&B look shameful in comparison, and features a great shifting song structure.

52. "The Air-Conditioned Nightmare"-Mr. Bungle

Quietly cathartic, this Bungle epic captures them at heights of creativity that few bands can match. Ignoring my breathless hyperbole, it really is hard to imagine any other band getting away with such a potpourri of sounds and bringing it all together into a truly special song.

51. "Heroin"-The Velvet Underground

The best thing I can say about that song is that it makes me feel like I just stuck a needle in my vein. Now that's storytelling for you! (And distorted guitars!)

50. "Shine A Light"-The Rolling Stones

The closest thing to a Rolling Stones power ballad. It works, though, and features a sick guitar solo. Sick! It's just fucking diseased, man.

49. "Billie Jean"-Michael Jackson

I'm convinced that this is the perfect 80's pop single. Works on every level! Multiple melodies, a bass line from Valhalla, I mean, if I'm throwing nonsensical Viking references around, you know it's good!

48. "Love In Vain"-The Rolling Stones

This is actually a Robert Johnson cover. It's probably some sin against blues that I haven't heard the original. I haven't, but I would be amazed if it was better than this version. Perfectly paced, and with a great mandolin solo, of all things.

47. "Nowhere Man"-The Beatles

I have a vague criticism of the Beatles, based in part on this song. Sometimes they have a certain way of sounding very detached, like the vocals are floating above the instruments, and it sounds mechanical, like they knew they were better songwriters than anyone else, so instead of infusing their music with passion and soul, they just lorded it over everyone by churning out melodies like some game. "Nowhere Man" fits into this, and yet... And yet the melody and harmony just slaughters me. I can't stand its brilliance. Maybe I'm copping out. But there's no reason for me to dislike the Beatles just because everyone likes them, much as I'd like to be the guy who comes up with a good explanation for why they're not so great. In the end, I have to go with my gut, and my gut says that the Beatles are unrivalled in rock music.

46. "Wah-Wah"-George Harrison

To think, George Harrison was the #3 starter for the Beatles. This track is a gorgeous example of Phil Spector production at its best; with a dense wall of sound that's also intricate and complex.

45. "Paranoid Android"-Radiohead

A muscular rock epic better than most of its 70's counterparts; Radiohead really had reached rarefied air in the mid 1990's. Has all of the sections I want in a song; fast and unsettling, solid guitar solo, slow and cathartic.

44. "Tumbling Dice"-The Rolling Stones

This is sort of a left-field choice, but I never really played much baseball. For some reason, the melody just totally grabs me in this song as something really interesting and unique. Maybe it's not the melody, but the vocal style.

43. "'39"-Queen

I don't care if the melody is supposedly poached from an obscure Bob Dylan song, because I've heard the Dylan 'version' and it doesn't really sound that similar. And did Dylan really write great folk melodies like this one? I guess he did, but he didn't exactly make them easy to grasp onto. Written by Brian May, this is a tender song with chilling harmonies by Mercury and the gang.

42. "Strawberry Fields Forever"-The Beatles

A late choice; I couldn't help but defer to the compositional majesty of this song. Goes through a variety of interesting dynamics, and of course, has a great melody, shifting through keys, but also contemplative lyrics.

41. "E-Bow The Letter"-REM

I'm still unsure as to the songwriting merit of this song, but in terms of emotion, REM has a certain hold on my heart. There's something about this song that's just so piercing and cathartic; even if it's practically a rap, with no real melody or song structure. It has a flow all its own, and that's a plus as far as I'm concerned.

Whoo!