Board 8 > CasanovaZelos's Top 250 Songs Project

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72. Elton John Your Song (1970)
from the album Elton John

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FT3D1Cu6g10

Key lyrics:
I hope you dont mind, I hope you dont mind
That I put down in words
How wonderful life is while youre in the world

Though Elton John has had a long and illustrious career, nothing hits quite like his breakthrough single. Your Song is about as perfect as a traditional love song can be. The lyrics are sincerely effective, any sense of sentimentality cut down by Eltons delivery of humbling lines. As he begins a metaphor about a sculptor, he laughs and stops himself. There is a sense of self-awareness about this song, which adds to the sincerity as Elton belts out the heartfelt chorus. This is a song that has brought me tears of joy, and even when I find myself between relationships, it remains a striking reminder of the power of love. No declaration of love hits me as hard as those key lines above. The fact this was written by a teenager and performed by a closeted man only reinforces the sense Taupin and Elton tapped into a universal idea.

The arrangement allows Eltons vocals to remain front and center. During the opening, the piano takes up most of the soundscape, with the gentle strum of a guitar adding light punctuation. This is a song that swells as Elton gets caught up in his emotions. The second verse adds percussion, giving a rising sense of motion. Your Song is an exercise in how to subtly expand a quiet ballad into a showstopper. Though Elton is practically shouting by the end, there is no sense of detachment from that quiet opening. The lyrics are phenomenal, but the steadily rising emotional delivery makes Your Song a true masterpiece.

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71. John Cale Paris 1919 (1973)
from the album Paris 1919

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q5YHqWqhFkU

Key lyrics:
She makes me so unsure of myself

Though consistently overshadowed by Lou Reed in the popular sphere, John Cales solo career deserves just as much attention. Paris 1919 lacks the aggression of Cales work with The Velvet Underground, but his sense of exploration remains. The Beach Boys and The Beatles had already made great strides in establishing baroque pop, but John Cale dived deeper into the baroque side of the equation. Where songs like Eleanor Rigby and God Only Knows sounded like modern pop with classical instruments, Paris 1919 sounds like a bona fide period piece. It is a song that feels particularly difficult to place, too elaborate for the time of its setting but showing no signs of the 1970s either. Like Nick Drakes River Man or Vashti Bunyans Diamond Day, Paris 1919 is a portal to an alternate realm where popular music took a distinct turn somewhere far in the past.

Picking apart any individual element is difficult. No instrument comes off as particularly complex in its arrangement, but the simple volume of instruments is the striking point. Just as the song seems to be settling into a familiar groove, it trails off into a brief ambient atmosphere. Despite the difficult lyrics, the whole piece comes off as a celebratory parade. Cale keeps a sing-song cadence, descending into a string of la la las during the chorus. Though the total soundscape is something massive, Cales vocals turn this into an accessible and catchy tune. Paris 1919 is pure atmosphere, showcasing a magical ability for music to transport us to another time and place.

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CasanovaZelos posted...

The 1980s are funny to me because I think it is my least favorite decade for music overall since the 60s, but it also has the most songs in my top 100. I think a lot of my top 100 choices have been rather atypical for the era - "Papa's Got a Brand New Pigbag" and "Forbidden Colours" are essentially one-offs. There's a lot of really interesting ideas going on in the 80s, but none of them became a dominant force.

New Wave specifically is fascinating for that very reason. Might be the biggest era for one hit wonders ever.

70. Phoebe Bridgers Kyoto (2020)
from the album Punisher

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tw0zYd0eIlk

Key lyrics:
I wanted to see the world
Then I flew over the ocean
And I changed my mind

There are few things in life more underwhelming than achieving a lifelong dream and realizing little has changed. With Bridgers depressive lyrics, the horn-heavy Kyoto feels like an inverse of Sufjan Stevens Chicago. Both songs take the idea of visiting a distant city as an act of self-discovery, but where Sufjan found freedom, Phoebe Bridgers gets caught up in the anxiety of her home life. It is a simple yet blunt realization our inner demons cannot be escaped through physical movement.

After the first verse, the song shifts gears almost exclusively to her abusive father. She finds herself in a contradictory bubble, hating him but also fearing for him. Her specific imagery paints a stark picture of a man who halfheartedly tries to connect, and Bridgers sounds frustrated with herself for returning that same energy. Kyoto so perfectly captures the pressure to try and relate to family members, no matter what they have done. Changes in phrasing between the two choruses are so vital, linking the two central thoughts together.

With all these depressing ideas, the fact Kyoto comes off as such an uplifting song is a testament to its vibrant soundscape. The instrumentation grows increasingly dense and energetic as it progresses; while Kyoto did not provide the easy answers Bridgers desires, she has at least learned something. Kyoto in many ways feels like a rejection of her signature brooding. Instead of stewing in her disappointment, she has grown from it. She may end the song by repeatedly calling herself a liar, but the self-awareness of that statement shows room for change that no visit to a city can provide.

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69. Arctic Monkeys I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor (2005)
from the album Whatever People Say I Am, Thats What Im Not

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CYpn8yUnX_c

Key lyrics:
Stop making the eyes at me
Ill stop making the eyes at you
What it is that surprises me
Is that I dont really want you to

Arctic Monkeys may have arrived at the tail-end of the garage rock revival era, but they kicked off their career with one of the most iconic songs of the movement. I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor is about as frantic as rock comes, thrash-worthy despite never sounding anything close to metal. The lyrics suggest little more than lusting after cheap sex but add to the sickly barroom feel the band thrives on. Further, the numerous references help play up the bawdy delivery, a sonic encapsulation of young men trying to work their way into bed by being a tiny bit clever.

I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor is really as straightforward as that. Few bands, whether punk or otherwise, have truly tapped upon the fast but simple ideology Ramones established quite like Arctic Monkeys on their debut hit. This is one of those rare modern rock songs that preys upon some primal appeal. The clanging guitar and Alex Turners harsh delivery lend this the skeeviest atmosphere, one of those songs that so perfectly simulates a mood that you somehow embrace the negative associations. It calls up memories of young men visiting clubs for the first time, as confident as they are completely out of their element.

Despite never being one of those young straight men, I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor speaks to me. The rawness of Arctic Monkeys performance captures a universally recognizable passion. One can only hope to feel this intense about anything.

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68. Primal Scream Higher Than the Sun (1991)
from the album Screamadelica

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GpvccejvVng

Key lyrics:
Hallucinogens can open me or untie me

Most bands try to be clever while talking about drug use, leading to a world where any song that might be about drugs is assumed as such. Higher Than the Sun cuts straight to the point, directly referencing hallucinogens before Bobby Gillespie rambles about spiritual enlightenment. This track takes itself so seriously that it could have been laughable, but Primal Scream bring the sonic elements to back up its grandiose claims. Even today, there are few songs that sound anything like this. Higher Than the Sun blends together psychedelia, ambient, and downtempo electronic to make something distinct among its many parts. It opens with a series of slow explosions and expands into a collage of stray sounds, chanted woos sounding like tripped out owls which cast the whole experience as a trek through a neon forest.

The effect this song has had on me is hard to describe. I have never done drugs nor do I care to try, but the pure sonic ambience of this track pulls me in like nothing else. Though I dont have synesthesia, this song manages to bring to mind a specific and hallucinatory array of colors. I can count the number of songs that have consistently had this effect on one hand, so Higher Than the Sun belongs to an elite group. As such, this is one of those cases where I have no idea whether this song speaks to anyone else in the way it does me. Whatever the case, the mesmerizing soundscape on display here is essential.

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67. The War on Drugs Red Eyes (2013)
from the album Lost in the Dream

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1LmX5c7HoUw

Key lyrics:
I would keep you here, but I cant

The War on Drugs are obvious about their influences, Red Eyes being the best heartland rock song this side of Bruce Springsteen. But to command a familiar sound decades after it is established requires a finer touch. Though this captures the propulsive energy of an escape song, The War on Drugs balances a soft ambience atop their traditional rock arrangement. Those opening notes suggest something colossal, setting a tension for the building wall of sound to capitalize upon. Few songs expand so convincingly.

The song opens with a sustained synth, followed by a simple pairing of drums and guitar. The opening suggests a mellow piece, with several moments where the guitar pulls back, leaving just the quiet synth and a heavy beat. But then Adam Granduciel leads into the chorus with an explosive shout, the hardest hitting exclamation in music since the end of Wont Get Fooled Again. The lead guitar picks up a heavy riff while a handful of instruments add to the wall. Granduciels vocals become so layered they border on incomprehensible. Right as everything takes off, Red Eyes takes an extended bridge, again reducing itself largely to the beat and muted ambience. The various instruments are slow to ramp up again, but the effect is like kicking the dust up while barreling down a country road.

Red Eyes is not a song I liked at first. It is a slow build without so much a payoff as a steady flow. But the more I listened, the more I fell into its unique rhythm. Though easiest to compare to Springsteen, the true success here is its subtle touch of dream pop. Granduciels woo is the finest of wake up calls, effortlessly bridging two wildly different genres.

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66. Mitski Nobody (2018)
from the album Be the Cowboy

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qooWnw5rEcI

Key lyrics:
Give me one good movie kiss
And Ill be alright

Some songs just come out at the perfect time in your life. Be the Cowboy dropped right before I asked for my divorce, and Nobody took on the role of an immediate comfort jam. Worse yet is the more universal role it has taken on amid the COVID-19 pandemic the opening lines referencing being so lonely as to open a window in the hopes of hearing passing strangers feels all too relevant. Like B.O.B. during the early 2000s, Nobody feels disarmingly prescient.

Even without that strange coincidence, Nobody first clicked because it so expertly captures the feeling of loneliness. In the first half, Mitski asks for an honest kiss; this turns into a movie kiss by the second. Even a simulation is better than the nothing she has. The chorus is legendary in its simplicity, taking on one word but delivering it in so many different ways. By the end, each syllable of nobody is dragged out until it no longer feels whole. This is a cry of absolute despair.

Naturally, such a dire theme is paired with much happier music. The song opens with a skittering drum pattern, immediately casting this as an indie disco jam. Mitski plays this up throughout the first half, all the sonic dissonance of a New Wave track. Theres even a double-clap during the second verse to really drill it in. But then we get to the extended chorus, where Mitski repeats nobody for an entire minute. The music just keeps rising, the disco beat morphing into an aggressive anxiety attack Nobody is no longer playing at New Wave irony, suggesting Mitski can no longer force the faade. This is an expertly aching song, dangerously catchy enough that I keep returning despite all the pain.

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65. New Order Temptation (1982)
non-album single

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BnIlM79JNj8

Key lyrics:
And Ive never seen anyone quite like you before
No, Ive never met anyone quite like you before

After several years spent in the shadows of Joy Division, Temptation marked New Order truly coming into their own sound. There is a little hint of melancholy during the verses, but everything else explodes into a fit of exuberance as the narrator falls head over heels after meeting several women. This is a man caught in a constant cycle, but the sonic energy focuses almost exclusively on the bubbling sense of love at first sight. This is bubblegum New Wave at its most sweetly sincere.

Though firmly a New Order track, this catches the band before their sound became densely layered. The stark division between instrumental sounds helps this stand out as one of their catchiest tracks. Every drum beat hits with uncanny synthetic force. The synth line is frantic and giddy. Bernard Sumner is at his best here, in his element as he jumps between the nervous verses and bursts of pure ecstasy. Though I have knocked his range plenty of times, few moments hit me like his delivery of the oh youve got green eyes section. His everyman presentation works wonders for such a universal experience.

As a whole, Temptation is pure dancefloor bliss. One of the fun things about this project has been the unlikely comparisons it has brought to mind but this and I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor are excellent examples of how to take the same theme and completely change the mood. Temptation is young love with blinders on, a bright burst of joy that we can pretend never has to end.

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I think I need a break today

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Another busy night

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I look forward to seeing the rest of the list

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64. Roy Orbison Crying (1961)
from the album Crying

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tNdBLBleO90

Key lyrics:
I love you even more
Than I did before
But, darling, what can I do?

Though Roy Orbisons Crying obviously has backing instrumentation, the greatness of this song rests almost entirely within Orbisons voice. This is one of those powerhouse performances showcasing such a strong range that it becomes era-defining. For the first half, Orbison sings in his ordinary style, which is familiar but still impressive. But by the second half, he is absolutely wailing at times, shifting between highs and lows at will. His voice warbles through so many words, a perfect simulation of the crying he is describing. Crying is a perfect example of the human voice as an emotive instrument.

While it is easy to heap praise upon artists who use lyrics to tell complex stories or throw out a dozen clever phrases, there is also something noteworthy about keeping things so simple that the vocalist is left to evoke the true meaning. Like Mitskis Nobody or Pixies Hey, so much of this songs strength is in the creative repetition of a single word. Crying may have two syllables, but rarely is that enough for Orbison. Though his first uses of the word are standard, if occasionally drawn out for emphasis, the next section finds him shooting up and down his range with each extra use. After a certain point, the word itself disappears inside his almost onomatopoeia-like delivery. By the climax, he just keeps pushing to another level.

Breakup songs typically need something extra for me to care an underexplored emotion, some unique instrumentation that serves as the actual backbone of the song. Part of this is because these themes are so common that they can immediately read as generic. The other part is that Crying expresses the act of despairing over a breakup so perfectly that anyone covering the same ground has stiff competition.

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63. Public Enemy Fight the Power (1989)
from the albums Do the Right Thing: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack and Fear of a Black Planet

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jRJKjiCtVco

Key lyrics:
Most of my heroes dont appear on no stamps

Public Enemy represent a significant turning point in the hip hop scene. Though their musical stylings share a similar sound to the hardcore scene that was being taken over by gangster rap, their lyrics took on a wider view of society. Instead of focusing on local matters or personal conflict, Public Enemy tackle the systemic issues that have kept black people down. Though far from the first politically-minded hip hop group, it is Public Enemys specific combination of these themes and hardcore production that has served as a blueprint for so many acts that followed. Their sound is bare rage.

Fight the Power has an additional complexity brought on by its origins as a movie theme song. In this specific case, the song had to be designed for a character to be constantly blaring it on a boom box. The song is built upon an insistent sample, an aggressive noise that marks the entire song as a unified whole. It has an anthemic quality, telling the listener they can and should change things.

But even as an ordinary Public Enemy song, this finds the interplay between Chuck D and Flavor Flav at its height. Just take the opening line, where Flavor Flav starts things off by saying the year, only for Chuck D to join him after the first two syllables and then continue alone through the rest of the line. Though Flavor Flav is frequently used as pure exclamation on a lot of their tracks, the frequent bursts where he reinforces Chuck D on Fight the Power give an unbelievable energy. With an unforgettable sample, explosive delivery, and some killer lyrics, Fight the Power hits just as hard thirty years on.

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62. Chris Isaak Wicked Game (1989)
from the album Heart Shaped World

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oadhHk2xs6c

Key lyrics:
Nobody loves no one

Roy Orbison could be considered one of the most singular voices in popular music, if not for the fact that Chris Isaak does such a perfect imitation. Wicked Game plays like a classic Orbison track being given the sensuous freedom of a later era, layered with a disarmingly dark mood provided by a distinct sliding note on the lead guitar. This is passion at its most extreme, a man caught up in a love he cannot handle.

What makes Wicked Game as compelling as the best Orbison tracks is how it plays against a distinctly modern sound. Orbisons style of crooning seems emblematic of a particular era of pop music, where instrumentation took a backseat to vocals. Isaak instead plays himself against a guitar that could easily steal the spotlight. His insistently drawn out notes force a certain restraint on the guitar the song has to be structured around sustaining sounds as Isaak belts it out. The result is something like a mellow surf rock, a twanging sound that can play to its own rhythm while Isaak emphasizes every word.

The result is a heartbroken love song too cool to be cheesy. The guitar oozes with enough force that the fact this song is commonly considered soft rock can be easy to forget. In fact, Wicked Game seems to exist at the intersection of half a dozen styles, but Chris Isaak makes such a perfect fusion that it all goes down easy. By bridging a gap between distinct eras, Wicked Game created its own timelessness.

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61. FKA twigs Two Weeks (2014)
from the album LP1

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3yDP9MKVhZc

Key lyrics:
Pull out the incisor, give me two weeks, you wont recognize her

Crude sex songs have been a staple of popular music for several decades now. Two Weeks is about as vulgar as they come, yet FKA twigs elevates her sound to a state of pure elegance. Where she commonly casts herself in a vulnerable light, Two Weeks finds her instead playing a sex goddess. In fact, she plays it up so well her confidence suggests a sad delusion there is a painful desperation here beneath all the direct demands. Two Weeks rides on that contradiction, a woman showcasing her sexuality while the subject of her affection is himself in a vulnerable state can what she has truly be called power?

Two Weeks is all about sustained sounds. A droning synth-line sets the scene which crescendos during the chorus. FKA twigs emphasizes every syllable. A rolling snare drum adds a bit more force but settles into its own pattern. These sounds are always moving toward a boiling point, whether it be during the chorus or the pulsating bridge. FKA twigs rolls away from that boiling point with ease, keeping us in a constant cycle of build-up that never quite relieves our tension a great effect for what could pass as a siren song.

Even on a straightforward level, Two Weeks excels as a burst of female empowerment. FKA twigs has flipped the roles of a song form largely dominated by men and does it with feminine grace. Its not that she plays coy not with those lyrics but that she manages to be sexy while simultaneously demanding respect. In essence, FKA twigs has taken the central innuendo of Madonnas Like a Prayer but placed herself on the pedestal.

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60. Joy Division Transmission (1979)
non-album single

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FnWPGSQjFUc

Key lyrics:
Dance, dance, dance, dance, dance to the radio

On a surface level, Joy Divisions breakthrough single sounds like their most positive song. A propulsive rhythm makes it a genuine post-punk dance track, and the chorus encourages that movement. Yet as Ian Curtis repeats that line, almost demanding that we dance, there is an anxious tension in his delivery. The lyrics are not a self-referential acknowledgement of the songs own enchanting sound, but rather a mad swipe at our cultural tendency to use art as escapism. To dance to the radio is to conform.

It is easy to look past Curtiss dire lyrics and just enjoy the song for itself which perhaps reinforces his point. That opening bassline provides the perfect thunder for the other instruments to crash in with a frenetic energy. Curtiss cold vocals provide a contrast point, the music sounding so lively around him. His frantic delivery during the third verse only adds to the sense of motion.

Of course, his complaints about music being used as a distraction do not contradict the primal strengths of this song. Rather, it can be taken to mean that we should have more considerations for the art we consume, and also that this art should be made with that higher thought in mind. Transmission does not necessarily include itself in its critique as a breakthrough song, Joy Division could not have gone into its creation expecting a radio hit. The true genius of Joy Division is how they managed to balance such heavy subject matter with an accessible sound - the type of music that should be played on the radio.

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59. Radiohead Paranoid Android (1997)
from the album OK Computer

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lt8AfIeJOxw

Key lyrics:
When I am king
You will be first against the wall

Though not the most famous Radiohead track, Paranoid Android is easily the most definitive this is a song that explores nearly every inch of the bands sound. Like Bohemian Rhapsody and Happiness is a Warm Gun before it, Paranoid Android transitions between several distinct segments, all capturing a significant mood. While starting with the same spacey sound that defines much of OK Computer, it soon dives into a hard guitar rocker. The song then hits the brakes, Thom Yorke singing with several layers far above a downtempo beat.

The key to Paranoid Android is it lets these sequences play out for extended periods, and all three are just as engaging separately as they are together. The opening does more to establish an atmosphere than to play to traditional rock elements, though the riffs are nevertheless iconic. This is the segment that showcases Radiohead as the great experimenters of the 90s. While the middle sequence is more traditional, it is a perfect tension builder. The guitar part is unfathomably cool, first acting to support Thom Yorkes aggressive rambling before shooting even higher on its own. The transition into the next sequence is so vital, as if the guitar is pushing so hard that it gives out entirely.

Rock rhapsodies can live and die by their quietest segment; nothing is worse than getting into a groove and being spit out onto something that loses all energy. Paranoid Android is so successful because its slow finale takes on the atmosphere of a sweeping epic. Though sonically similar to some of their lighter songs, this sequence benefits by carrying over the earlier tension, resulting in an experience like sitting before a mad god. Tying everything together, the guitar rockets back in. Exemplifying the juxtaposition, the same sound that provided tension after the second section transforms into a cathartic release after the third.

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58. Pixies Hey (1989)
from the album Doolittle

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tVCUAXOBF7w

Key lyrics:
Were chained

While Pixies covered a lot of stylistic ground, their signature sound typically involved mixing quiet and loud sequences. Hey is thus one of those odd tracks that is unusual in its ordinary structure. But this is not a case of a band momentarily shedding their own sound to try something new what Hey lacks in aggression is made up by Black Franciss bizarre delivery. This is a love song through a corrupted lens.

Instrumentally, Hey is a smooth, low tempo track dominated by a groovy bassline. Much of the sound is sparse, the drums not coming in until the first verse closes. The guitar begins to wail partway through the chorus, a domineering sound that does more to amp up the tension than the volume. The following section uses quiet space perfectly, the signature bassline left with nothing but a soft cymbal patter. The understated guitar solo that follows sets up Black Francis to delve into a poignant bout of Pixies oddity. He grunts his way through several sexual encounters, connecting that grunt to a mother giving birth. It paints a desperately depressing picture of a loveless yet functioning relationship.

Most striking is the chorus, the way it uses a single phrase and lets it simmer to a boiling point. At first, Black Francis sings alone, stressing the syllables of chained several different ways. Kim Deal begins to echo that word, but in a simple monotone. Combined with the wailing guitar, these two words start to ooze with emotion. Pixies off-kilter delivery helps sell the grimy nature of love in stagnation.

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57. Daft Punk Da Funk (1995)
from the album Homework

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PwILkY9gRrc

Daft Punk have no need for words. Even without a human voice, Da Funk is as expressive as popular music gets. With this early single, the duo shot from the gate, showcasing their ability to mix and match a small handful of sounds to generate an endlessly changing soundscape. The woozy synthesizers and distant beats create an atmosphere both sinister and mysterious.

Though these electronic sounds are distinctly mechanical, the synth-line that opens the song bubbles about with a sense of curiosity. To me, this synth-line is the (I Cant Get No) Satisfaction or You Really Got Me riff equivalent of the electronic scene. Its so singularly evocative that little else can compare. Finding that magical sound, Daft Punk simply needed to build a song around it. They went beyond that, creating a beat with so much empty space that the silence between becomes its own force anytime the drum machine plays alone. That lead synth-line is designed to slither about, subtly snaking back into the mix at several points. A more rapid-fire synth-line develops over the course of the song, adding tension to an already anxious song. The final mix of everything together is as overwhelming as it is articulate the production is so crisp that nothing is lost in the chaos.

With all these powerful elements, Da Funk is a dance track without a single dominating groove, only linked together by an ever-present bass note. Daft Punks brand of house music is so effective because they immediately deconstruct themselves. Some songs are better than the sum of their parts. Da Funk eschews that notion entirely Daft Punks calculations involve as much subtraction as addition.

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Ughhhh, I fell waaaaaaay far behind on this topic..... But I'm slooowly trying to catch up before the end...maybe.

150. Lana Del Rey Video Games (2011)
from the album Born to Die

Theres just something about this song that grates on me.

148. Justice D.A.N.C.E. (2007)
from the album Cross

Yes! Justice is great. Not sure Id put this song near my personal top but, yeah, we should Rank some Justice at some point.

147. Daft Punk One More Time (2000)
from the album Discovery

Great song though not my fave from an incredible album.

146. Underworld Born Slippy .NUXX (1995)
non-album single

I liked this!

145. Stardust Music Sounds Better With You (1998)
non-album single

I remember hearing part of this on Alive 2007 and being so confused because I couldnt understand how I had missed hearing it on a Daft Punk album. That hook is just electric. An all time great!

144. The Orb Little Fluffy Clouds (1990)
from the album The Orbs Adventures Beyond the Ultraworld

Hate the lyrics being here (not the actual words)...

141. Elbow One Day Like This (2008)
from the album The Seldom Seen Kid

Its hard not to hear the Coldplay in this once you pointed it out.

137. Bjrk Bachelorette (1997)
from the album Homogenic

This was a brain dont hear lyrics song for me but the music video was certainly fun.

132. Bright Eyes First Day of My Life (2005)
from the album Im Wide Awake, Its Morning

This is a nice song.

130. Miles Davis So What (1959)
from the album Kind of Blue

I enjoyed your write up for this.

129. Dr. Dre ft. Snoop Dogg Nuthin But a G Thang (1992)
from the album The Chronic

Theres just something about this song/vibe that I really dig; its no wonder San Andreas was my fav GTA game. Also crazy to think about where Dr. Dre and Snoop are at today; ones a billionaire mogul and the other is an iconic personality hosting an Olympics show on Peacock.

126. Big Thief Not (2019)
from the album Two Hands

This is an interesting one. I enjoyed the ending solo.

125. Dead Kennedys Holiday in Cambodia (1980)
from the album Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables

Love the energy of this song.

124. Julee Cruise and Angelo Badalamenti Falling (1989)
from the albums Floating Into the Night and Soundtrack from Twin Peaks

ZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzz

122. Kraftwerk Trans-Europe Express (1977)
from the album Trans-Europe Express

This song just grates on my nerves

121. Jay-Z 99 Problems (2003)
from the album The Black Album

This is a good song.

119. The Beatles A Day in the Life (1967)
from the album Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band

Out of all my favorite Beatles songs...this is one of them (but still not the fave fave).

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Im also really looking forward to what the rest of the list is too. Discovering a lot of great songs

I want to be clear that I'm not slowing down due to disinterest but rather my life has suddenly gotten busy again. I absolutely will finish this project (even if it has taken way longer than I expected...)

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List needs more Pavement

ChainLTTP posted...

List needs more Pavement

Unfortunately, nothing - Summer Babe was in my top 100 years ago but is now in my 300 range. It, Gold Soundz, and Cut Your Hair are all in my top 1000. However, they have really been clicking with me the last few months and I expect to see Stereo specifically shooting up my ranking, so I wouldn't be surprised if the rest rise with it when I update next year.

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Got through another batch of songs. This section certainly ran the gamut of responses.

117. R.E.M. Losing My Religion (1991)
from the album Out of Time

I used to dislike this song so much when I was a kid.

116. OutKast B.O.B. (2000)
from the album Stankonia

This is a great song that Ive loved forever but I have no goddamn idea what 90% of the lyrics are.

114. The White Stripes Seven Nation Army (2003)
from the album Elephant

This song has been ruined by being chanted at too many Euro soccer matches.

113. Prince Kiss (1986)
from the album Parade

Prince is such an iconoclastic artist.

111. Yeah Yeah Yeahs Maps (2003)
from the album Fever to Tell

I fucking hate this song. It is just so offputting to me.

109. Caribou Odessa (2010)
from the album Swim

This one grew on me as the song continued on.

108. Aphex Twin Windowlicker (1999)
non-album single

Unpleasant is a great way to describe both the song and the video. Also, something about the song evokes the game Umurangi Generation for me.

107. The Beach Boys God Only Knows (1966)
from the album Pet Sounds

I dont think Ive actually listened to Pet Sounds, despite hearing and generally liking much Beach Boys over the years.

106. Johnny Cash Hurt (2002)
from the album American IV: The Man Comes Around

This isnt usually my type of song but this is very powerful and touching.

104. The Who Wont Get Fooled Again (1971)
from the album Whos Next

A classic rock song you never turn off when it comes on the radio.

101. Curtis Mayfield Move On Up (1970)
from the album Curtis

I LOVE this song! Legit one of my favorites of all time. Mostly thats the instrumentation but just a great, great song! The conga drums, the sax, so much good stuff. Never fails to brighten my day.

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CasanovaZelos posted...

Unfortunately, nothing - Summer Babe was in my top 100 years ago but is now in my 300 range. It, Gold Soundz, and Cut Your Hair are all in my top 1000. However, they have really been clicking with me the last few months and I expect to see Stereo specifically shooting up my ranking, so I wouldn't be surprised if the rest rise with it when I update next year.

Check out some of Stephen Malkmus's non-Pavement stuff. The guitar in the latter half of this makes me wet.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-wSucZmGGbM

Meant to wait for a longer round up before posting again but dammit, exclaiming my immediate love of PIGBAG will not wait! PIGBAG people! PIG BAG!

100. The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion Bellbottoms (1994)
from the album Orange

Another interesting one. If it was in Baby Driver then I heard it before but I dont particularly remember it.

99. Pigbag Papas Got a Brand New Pigbag (1981)
non-album single

Holy shit! This one grabbed me in the first 15 seconds and never let go. <goes to do a quick look/listen on Spotify> Aaaand theyre awesome. THIS is why I bother listening to every song; never know when youre going to come across solid gold.

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I will try to get back to this tonight (...and probably try to barrel through a higher amount on Saturday and Sunday)

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56. The Notorious B.I.G. Juicy (1994)
from the album Ready to Die

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jgJPcH_zGpE

Key lyrics:
Stereotypes of a black male misunderstood
And its still all good

On this five minute track, The Notorious B.I.G. covers a whole lot of ground. Born in 1972, he was at just the right age to see the birth and early evolution of hip hop. As he reflects on his upbringing, the history of hip hop is naturally intertwined. Few songs have ever been such a convincing love letter to their own influences.

Yet the more personal aspects keep me coming back. Contrasting the gangster rap scene, Juicy is a celebratory burst of self-affirmation. This is the story of a man who appears in genuine awe of his own success. There is no sense of braggadocio to this story. Rather, Biggie Smalls lets those who hurt him off the hook while simply enjoying the ease of his new life. As he covers the troubles of his youth, it is clear he intends this as an inspirational piece, to encourage others like him to strive to succeed. Even as he delves into his extravagant life, he always ties it back to the elements he escaped.

This song hits especially hard considering Biggies brief life. To think I have already outlived him by four years sometimes leaves me overwhelmed. With Ian Curtis and Kurt Cobain, I can recognize the internal struggles reflected in their music; their deaths, though tragic, at least fit some awful narrative. To hear Juicy and recognize it as a young man celebrating a life he once viewed as impossible makes his death all the more difficult to accept. But this tragedy makes Juicy a poignant reminder to celebrate what we have in the moment.

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55. Sharon Van Etten Seventeen (2019)
from the album Remind Me Tomorrow

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j7sTHoeH0eA

Key lyrics:
I wish I could show you how much youve grown

Sharon Van Ettens Seventeen is a masterful slow build. The song opens with a hint of her typical indie folk rock sound, leaning a bit harder into the rock but still familiar ground. A faint synth-line whirs in the background, mixed just low enough to barely register and be overtaken by the drums. Her words are a bittersweet nostalgia trip, reflecting on the common mix of youthful self-idealization and loneliness. She speaks of the past as a time of freedom, but the lines she fills in between suggest a higher tension.

The guitar rips to life halfway through, a gnarly rebirth of the anxiety-laced synth-line that had subtly faded and now returned. After a brief interlude, Van Etten matches the growing instrumental tension, shouting her way through the next several lines. This sequence is a victory cry though she was at first idealizing her past self, she recognizes that she has grown into a better woman. The drums pick up on her energy, creating a Springsteen-style cathartic burst. As the song approaches its end, the synth-line encroaches and takes over all else; though consisting of familiar elements, the chaotic electronics over a heartland rocker forms something inexplicably empowering.

The range of emotions Van Etten conveys over this heightened piece floors me. This is a wave of hope in the face of a self-inflicted sense of disappointment. The dawning realization of the bridge that there is no ideal moment of self is the freedom she laments losing. By the end, she coldly pushes her younger self away, not as a rejection of the past but an embracement of her current state. The roaring synth-line might be abrasive, but Van Etten leaves the song with more power than when she started.

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54. Eddie Cochran Summertime Blues (1958)
non-album single

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1C38Zevwyx4

Key lyrics:
Im gonna take my problem to the United Nations

Summertime Blues is an extraordinarily simple song. The simplicity is part of the enduring charm this is a track that feels emblematic of rock and roll at large. It is presented with the same youthful energy that would dominate the punk scene a couple decades on, a preeminent example of popular music as an expression of teenage angst. Cochrans problems feel as slight as they are hopeless. People idealize their youth, but Summertime Blues is a perfect reminder that it is a time dominated by others whims.

Cochrans delivery granted him a striking sense of personality that few rock stars of that era pulled off. The song repeatedly comes to a stop as he bellows out insulting phrases from adult figures in the most mocking tone he can manage. These instrumental pauses help highlight the simple yet frantic strums. Later lines accentuate his nave yet fitting perspective, calling upon the United Nations and U.S. senators to handle his monetary woes. Though he might be overstating things by a degree, it perfectly represents the dire feeling of being an actual teenager. What Summertime Blues lacks in depth is made up in its truth.

Though each part might be simple, the whole of Summertime Blues is ridiculously catchy. That rolling bassline gives a perfect groove, and the handclaps add a youthful energy. The lead guitar is as forceful as it is insistent. Though rock would add several layers of complexity as it evolved, Summertime Blues remains a perfect encapsulation of rock and roll in its rawest form.

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Great song; favorite version is Blue Cheer but I love pulling out the old version too all the time.

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53. Fela Kuti Zombie (1976)
from the album Zombie

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qj5x6pbJMyU

Key lyrics:
Zombie no go think, unless you tell em to think

Zombie is perhaps the oddest song I can cite as essential in the development of my musical tastes. Alongside a dozen indie and alternative rock acts, this stray Afrobeat track got me to pursue music as its own distinct hobby. Up until the late 2000s, most of my music listening was dominated by video game soundtracks. 2008 was the year that changed everything, seeing the release of both Rock Band 2 and Grand Theft Auto IV. Between those two games, I (re)discovered Smashing Pumpkins, Pearl Jam, LCD Soundsystem, Sonic Youth; I never even paid Bob Dylan much attention until playing Tangled Up in Blue a dozen times in Rock Band. But the Grand Theft Auto series is truly special in its commitment to dedicating a few in-game radio stations to more obscure genres.

Zombie was the perfect choice for a game where the player spends half their time racing through the streets. This is a twelve minute epic of marching rhythms and forceful horns, dedicating itself entirely to crafting a sense of motion. It opened my eyes to a world of music I had never imagined, slowly pushing me to reach outside my comfort zone of rock and roll.

Outside of this personal influence, Fela Kuti truly perfected a singular sound. Zombie is like jazz at full force with a funky edge, tied together by communal chanting. Fela Kuti plays the commander, shouting bitterly sarcastic orders. This is a song with purpose, a political statement so effective that it caused a military strike in response. The fact this song has an actual body count marks it as a key piece in art as an act of resistance. But more than anything, the experience of listening is absolutely enthralling. Zombie dashes through its epic length like no time has passed.

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52. The Velvet Underground Sweet Jane (1970)
from the album Loaded

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nkumhBVPGdg

Key lyrics:
But anyone who ever had a heart
Oh, they wouldnt turn around and break it

After creating two of the most experimental albums in rock during the late-60s, The Velvet Underground mellowed out after John Cale left the band. Sweet Jane is a simple pop rock tune, the type that proves its grand experimenters did, in fact, know how to make typically pleasant music and simply had bigger ideas to prove. As far as pop rock goes, this is simply one of the best.

Lou Reed was an unusual lead for a rock band. Sweet Jane helped bring his chill attitude to the front. It turned out that, when not singing about heroin or sex dungeons, Reed gives off a neighborly warmth. He sings about two subjects as a distant observer with an almost monotonous amble. Here and there, Reed inserts key exclamations, as if his typically cold demeanor cannot restrain the warmth of the scene he is describing. His low energy performance sets up an explosive third verse, where he turns his sights on the evil mothers who try to paint the world as a dire place. His impassioned delivery hits so much harder after being taught to think of him as cool and collected, a burst of sincerity from an unexpected source.

The simple structure of the instrumentation is a large part of the appeal. It has been covered numerous times, and one could easily argue the Cowboy Junkies did it better. The key to making a simple song last is all in the performance. Reed imbues Sweet Jane with a mirthful energy, joyous while acknowledging a world-weary view. If their earlier work was a journey through the myriad taboo subjects people pursue to find inner peace, Sweet Jane is their message distilled to make your own happiness in this world.

---

51. King Crimson 21st Century Schizoid Man (1969)
from the album In the Court of the Crimson King

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7OvW8Z7kiws

Key lyrics:
Nothing hes got he really needs

To simply label 21st Century Schizoid Man a progressive rock track misses out on its most definitive element. After a bigger than life opening, King Crimson descend into an extended jazz-rock jam session. Now, jazz and rock are such expansive genres that few combinations come out the same. This particular version resonates because it pulls from the most chaotic brand of jazz. This is as fiery as Minguss most brutal pieces, all while letting the typical rock instruments play their part. Most rock songs pull from the blues, making this a perfect window into a world where jazz instead served as a central foundation.

21st Century Schizoid Man has two distinct spirits, yet they never lose track of each other. By returning to the opening section, the instrumental break serves as an extended bridge. The finale erupts from this section as if nothing has happened, bigger and louder than when it started. The vocal sections are the polar opposite of the instrumental break, drawing out notes for grand emphasis. The juxtaposition of the two makes a truly intimidating atmosphere to be confronted with a self-assured madman, tossed into the abyss, only to be dragged back out again. Both chaos and structure are used for violence.

Many progressive rock tracks immediately age themselves our visions of the future tend to be marked by the time those visions took place. 21st Century Schizoid Man, however, has grown more impressive with age. The distorted vocals conjure up a mad general, but the particular battleground could be any moment in time or space. With so few bands pursuing this mix of jazz and rock, nothing has supplanted it. Many bands chase after a cool image, only for one generations idea of cool to become dorky to the next. 21st Century Schizoid Man speaks to such a pervasive idea to have never lost its cool.

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The list so far:
250. The The - This is the Day
249. Goldfrapp - Lovely Head
248. Simon and Garfunkel - Bridge Over Troubled Water
247. Cerrone - Supernature
246. Jessie Ware - Spotlight
245. SOPHIE - Bipp
244. Gil Scott-Heron - The Revolution Will Not Be Televised
243. The Beatles - Yesterday
242. The Walkmen - The Rat
241. Hank Williams - I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry
240. Wu-Tang Clan - Protect Ya Neck
239. Sigur Ros - Svefn-g-englar
238. The Clash - London Calling
237. Buffalo Springfield - For What It's Worth
236. Fever Ray - If I Had a Heart
235. Bjork - Joga
234. Fleetwood Mac - The Chain
233. Stereolab - Cybele's Reverie
232. The National - Bloodbuzz Ohio
231. Prince - When Doves Cry
230. New Order - True Faith
229. The Cure - Just Like Heaven
228. Stevie Wonder - Sir Duke
227. Vashti Bunyan - Diamond Day
226. The Beatles - Eleanor Rigby
225. Elliott Smith - Waltz #2
224. Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan - Mustt Mustt
223. Arcade Fire - Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)
222. Amy Winehouse - Rehab
221. Charles Mingus - Track C - Group Dancers
220. Rage Against the Machine - Killing in the Name
219. Janelle Monae - Tightrope
218. M.I.A. - Paper Planes
217. Soft Cell - Tainted Love
216. Elliott Smith - Between the Bars
215. Tim Buckley - Song to the Siren
214. The Beatles - Tomorrow Never Knows
213. M83 - Midnight City
212. Arcade Fire - Rebellion (Lies)
211. Arcade Fire - Wake Up
210. Johnny Cash - I Walk the Line
209. Art Ensemble of Chicago - Theme de Yoyo
208. Missy Elliott - Work It
207. Ramones - Blitzkrieg Bop
206. Violent Femmes - Blister in the Sun
205. 808 State - Pacific State
204. LCD Soundsystem - How Do You Sleep?
203. Bruce Springsteen - The River
202. Nirvana - Smells Like Teen Spirit
201. Courtney Barnett - Avant Gardener
200. Kendrick Lamar - i
199. Bruce Springsteen - Thunder Road
198. Nick Drake - River Man
197. Lucy Dacus - Night Shift
196. The Band - The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down
195. Buddy Holly & The Crickets - Peggy Sue
194. Bob Dylan - Hurricane
193. Lou Reed - Perfect Day
192. The National - Fake Empire
191. Nina Simone - Feeling Good
190. Roy Orbison - In Dreams
189. Sufjan Stevens - Should Have Known Better
188. Caribou - Can't Do Without You
187. The xx - Crystalised
186. Beck - Where It's At
185. Depeche Mode - Enjoy the Silence
184. Pixies - Debaser
183. Smashing Pumpkins - Tonight, Tonight
182. Solange - Cranes in the Sky
181. The Specials - Ghost Town
180. Todd Terje - Inspector Norse
179. Nick Cave - Into My Arms
178. Neil Young - Heart of Gold
177. Vampire Weekend - Hannah Hunt
176. Lorde - Royals
175. The Knife - Silent Shout
174. Hot Chip - Over and Over
173. Depeche Mode - Never Let Me Down Again
172. Slint - Good Morning Captain
171. The Velvet Underground - Venus in Furs
170. Bob Dylan - Subterranean Homesick Blues
169. Johnny Cash - Folsom Prison Blues
168. Nirvana - Lithium
167. Aldous Harding - The Barrel
166. David Bowie - Young Americans
165. Lou Reed - Walk on the Wild Side
164. Big Thief - Shark Smile
163. Burial - Archangel
162. Fleet Foxes - White Winter Hymnal
161. Townes Van Zandt - Pancho and Lefty
160. Chico Buarque - Construcao
159. The Beach Boys - Good Vibrations
158. Sonic Youth - Teen Age Riot
157. David Bowie - Lazarus
156. The Knife - Full of Fire
155. Dave Brubeck - Take Five
154. The Cure - Close to Me
153. James Brown - Get Up (I Feel Like Being a) Sex Machine
152. Funkadelic/Parliament - One Nation Under a Groove
151. !!! - Me and Giuliani Down by the Schoolyard
150. Lana Del Rey - Video Games
149. Nico - These Days
148. Justice - D.A.N.C.E.
147. Daft Punk - One More Time
146. Underworld - Born Slippy
145. Stardust - Music Sounds Better With You
144. The Orb - Little Fluffy Clouds
143. Jefferson Airplane - White Rabbit
142. Marvin Gaye - What's Going On
141. Elbow - One Day Like This
140. James Blake - The Wilhelm Scream
139. ANOHNI - Drone Bomb Me
138. Kate Bush - Hounds of Love
137. Bjork - Bachelorette
136. Los Fabulosos Cadillacs - Matador
135. Bob Dylan - Like a Rolling Stone
134. Billie Holiday - Strange Fruit
133. Robyn - Dancing On My Own
132. Bright Eyes - First Day of My Life
131. Bob Dylan - Tangled Up in Blue
130. Miles Davis - So What
129. Dr. Dre feat. Snoop Dogg - Nuthin' But a 'G' Thang
128. Joni Mitchell - A Case of You
127. The Supremes - Where Did Our Love Go
126. Big Thief - Not
125. Dead Kennedys - Holiday in Cambodia
124. Julee Cruise and Angelo Badalamenti - Falling
123. A Tribe Called Quest - Scenario
122. Kraftwerk - Trans-Europe Express
121. Jay-Z - 99 Problems
120. SOPHIE - Immaterial
119. The Beatles - A Day in the Life
118. Nat King Cole - Nature Boy
117. R.E.M. - Losing My Religion
116. OutKast - B.O.B.
115. New Order - Bizarre Love Triangle
114. The White Stripes - Seven Nation Army
113. Prince - Kiss
112. The Rolling Stones - Sympathy for the Devil
111. Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Maps
110. Yazoo - Situation
109. Caribou - Odessa
108. Aphex Twin - Windowlicker
107. The Beach Boys - God Only Knows
106. Johnny Cash - Hurt
105. R.E.M. - Nightswimming
104. The Who - Won't Get Fooled Again
103. Sharon van Etten - Your Love is Killing Me
102. FKA twigs - Cellophane
101. Curtis Mayfield - Move On Up
100. The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion - Bellbottoms
99. Pigbag - Papa's Got a Brand New Pigbag
98. Orange Juice - Rip It Up
97. Big Star - Thirteen
96. Nick Drake - Pink Moon
95. Spiritualized - Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space
94. The Flaming Lips - Do You Realize??
93. Four Tops - Reach Out I'll Be There
92. Kraftwerk - The Model
91. Stevie Wonder - Living for the City
90. TV on the Radio - Wolf Like Me
89. Paul Simon - Graceland
88. Brian Eno - Needles in the Camel's Eye
87. Mitski - Your Best American Girl
86. Kendrick Lamar - King Kunta
85. Kate Bush - Running Up That Hill
84. Daft Punk - Around the World
83. Le Tigre - Deceptacon
82. Future Islands - Seasons (Waiting on You)
81. Talking Heads - This Must Be the Place (Naive Melody)
80. Bruce Springsteen - Atlantic City
79. A Tribe Called Quest - Can I Kick It?
78. Joy Division - Atmosphere
77. Bjork - Hyper-Ballad
76. Wilco - Jesus, Etc.
75. The Jesus and Mary Chain - Just Like Honey
74. David Sylvian and Ryuichi Sakamoto - Forbidden Colours
73. Fleetwood Mac - Go Your Own Way
72. Elton John - Your Song
71. John Cale - Paris 1919
70. Phoebe Bridgers - Kyoto
69. Arctic Monkeys - I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor
68. Primal Scream - Higher Than the Sun
67. The War on Drugs - Red Eyes
66. Mitski - Nobody
65. New Order - Temptation
64. Roy Orbison - Crying
63. Public Enemy - Fight the Power
62. Chris Isaak - Wicked Game
61. FKA twigs - Two Weeks
60. Joy Division - Transmission
59. Radiohead - Paranoid Android
58. Pixies - Hey
57. Daft Punk - Da Funk
56. The Notorious B.I.G. - Juicy
55. Sharon Van Etten - Seventeen
54. Eddie Cochran - Summertime Blues
53. Fela Kuti - Zombie
52. The Velvet Underground - Sweet Jane
51. King Crimson - 21st Century Schizoid Man

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8 more of my top 100 artists fall

Top 100 artists (with no remaining songs; artists from the most recent batch bolded):
1. Bob Dylan: "Tangled Up in Blue (#131)
3. Nick Cave: "Into My Arms" (#179)
6. The Beatles: "A Day in the Life" (#119)
9. R.E.M.: "Nightswimming" (#105)
10. Kraftwerk: "The Model" (#92)
11. The Rolling Stones: "Sympathy for the Devil" (#112)
13. Bjork: "Hyperballad" (#77)
14. Neil Young: "Heart of Gold" (#178)
15. Kendrick Lamar: "King Kunta" (#86)
16. Kanye West: "Monster" (#309)
17. Prince: "Kiss" (#113)
18. Tom Waits: "Time" (#790)
20. Brian Eno: "Needles in the Camel's Eye" (#88)
21. The Cure: "Close to Me" (#154)
24. Miles Davis: "So What" (#130)
25. Charles Mingus: "Track C - Group Dancer" (#221)
26. Leonard Cohen: "Suzanne" (#588)
28. Nirvana: "Lithium" (#168)
31. Pixies: "Hey" (#58)
34. Arcade Fire: "Wake Up" (#211)
35. Stevie Wonder: "Living for the City" (#91)
36. Fiona Apple: "Heavy Balloon" (#275)
38. Metallica: "Master of Puppets" (#348)
39. PJ Harvey: "Rid of Me" (#472)
40. Led Zeppelin: "Kashmir" (#619)
41. Daft Punk: "Da Funk" (#57)
43. Animal Collective: "My Girls" (#307)
45. The National: "Fake Empire" (#192)
46. Joni Mitchell: "A Case of You" (#128)
47. St. Vincent: "Digital Witness" (#334)
49. U2: "One" (#434)
50. Pink Floyd: "Wish You Were Here" (#514)
51. Vampire Weekend: "Hannah Hunt" (#177)
53. The Police: "Roxanne" (#285)
54. Beastie Boys: "Sabotage" (#261)
55. Portishead: "Sour Times" (#254)
56. The xx: "Crystalised" (#187)
57. Wilco: "Jesus, Etc." (#76)
58. The Chemical Brothers: "Hey Boy Hey Girl" (#271)
60. The Kinks: "Waterloo Sunset" (#355)
61. Johnny Cash: "Hurt" (#106)
62. Creedence Clearwater Revival: "Fortunate Son" (#333)
63. Lou Reed: "Walk on the Wild Side" (#165)
64. Can: "Mother Sky" (#398)
65. Mogwai: "2 Rights Make 1 Wrong" (#399)
66. Nick Drake: "Pink Moon" (#96)
67. John Coltrane: "A Love Supreme, Part 1: Acknowledgement" (#661)
68. Aphex Twin: "Windowlicker" (#108)
69. Bob Marley: "Redemption Song" (#506)
70. Public Enemy: "Fight the Power" (#63)
71. Elton John: "Your Song" (#72)
72. Jay-Z: "99 Problems" (#121)
73. Depeche Mode: "Never Let Me Down Again" (#173)
75. Madonna: "Like a Prayer" (#336)
76. Simon and Garfunkel: "Bridge Over Troubled Water" (#248)
77. The Clash: "London Calling" (#238)
80. Sigur Ros: "Svefn-g-englar" (#239)
81. M.I.A.: "Paper Planes" (#218)
82. Bon Iver: "Skinny Love" (#262)
83. Fela Kuti: "Zombie" (#53)
84. Caribou: "Odessa" (#109)
85. Green Day: "Basket Case" (#371)
87. FKA twigs: "Two Weeks" (#61)
88. Fleetwood Mac: "Go Your Own Way" (#73)
89. SOPHIE: "Immaterial" (#120)
90. ANOHNI: "Drone Bomb Me" (#139)
91. Elvis Presley: "Suspicious Minds" (#387)
92. Fever Ray: "If I Had a Heart" (#236)
93. Beyonce: "Countdown" (#615)
94. Funkadelic/Parliament: "One Nation Under a Groove" (#152)
95. Paul Simon: "Graceland" (#89)
97. John Cale: "Paris 1919" (#71)
100. Robyn: "Dancing On My Own" (#133)

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Here's more of my pithy thoughts!

94. The Flaming Lips Do You Realize?? (2002)
from the album Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots

How did this song come out in 2002?!? It sounds like it should be from decades earlier.

93. Four Tops Reach Out Ill Be There (1966)
from the album Reach Out

Just a classic!

92. Kraftwerk The Model (1978)
from the album The Man-Machine

Ugh...did not enjoy this.

90. TV on the Radio Wolf Like Me (2006)
from the album Return to Cookie Mountain

A song like this is why my brain just turns off to lyrics. The whole damn thing, as you said, is unintelligible. I understand its a stylistic choice but it takes up too much of my mental energy trying to discern words.

86. Kendrick Lamar King Kunta (2015)
from the album To Pimp a Butterfly

I mean, I guess I shouldnt be surprised after enjoying Good Kid but, yeah, maybe I should find the time to listen to more Kendrick

84. Daft Punk Around the World (1997)
from the album Homework

I know this might be the definitive Daft Punk song (maybe) but its not one of my favorites. I think as a standalone track its just too long. This works much better in Alive 2007 where they can bring in elements of the song without the over long repetition.

83. Le Tigre Deceptacon (1999)
from the album Le Tigre

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aumW5e28xic And then apropos of nothing but just because these showed up in the related https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I_2D8Eo15wE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nFch8vH81ks

82. Future Islands Seasons (Waiting on You) (2014)
from the album Singles

I liked this one. Wasnt expecting it but it kinda grabbed me.

80. Bruce Springsteen Atlantic City (1982)
from the album Nebraska

Another good one by The Boss

77. Bjrk Hyperballad (1995)
from the album Post

I enjoyed this one. I know this is the 2nd or 3rd Bjork song on this list but its enormously clear my preconceived conception of her music from pop culture references does not seem to match the reality of her output.

73. Fleetwood Mac Go Your Own Way (1976)
from the album Rumours

Weve already Ranked it but Ill say again that Rumours is a great album.

72. Elton John Your Song (1970)
from the album Elton John

Just a beautiful song.

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At this point, there are only three artists remaining with multiple songs. One has 4, one has 3, and the other has 2. The band with three hasn't actually appeared yet! I wonder if anyone can guess who it is, based on the other ground I have covered. The band with 4 is probably obvious if you know me.

Here's the remaining decade breakdown:
1950s: 1
1960s: 5
1970s: 6
1980s: 9
1990s: 10
2000s: 11
2010s: 7
2020s: 1

I also wanted to include a genre breakdown, but even at the most basic level, some of these feel arbitrary. Additionally, quite a few of the not-rock tracks could easily have been categorized as rock. Anyway, just to give a hint of what remains:
Rock: 28
Pop: 9 (though most of these fall under 'art pop' or Britpop - the only standard pop song here is by a group typically associated with another genre...)
Electronic (including synth-pop): 7
Hip Hop: 2
R&B: 2
Soul: 1
Vocal Jazz: 1

So the upper echelon of this list is very rock-oriented. And, again, a lot of these songs defy easy classification; both R&B tracks could have easily been put under electronic, for example.

I wonder how predictable the rest of the list is with this information...

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I'm gonna go for The Smiths as the band with 3.

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50. LCD Soundsystem Someone Great (2007)
from the album Sound of Silver

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eISo-iFGGDg

Key lyrics:
And it keeps coming and it keeps coming
And it keeps coming and it keeps coming
And it keeps coming and it keeps coming
And it keeps coming til the day it stops

Of the many songs about death, few capture the initial numbness as well as Someone Great. Though ostensibly a synth-pop track, the opening synth-line here exists more to drone than to bounce. It plays somewhere between a warning signal and a phone call you are trying to ignore. Another synth intrudes, whirring up and down, fading in and out like a dawning horror. An introspective bass soon follows, with the actual lead sound taking over a minute to appear. This slow build intro covers every inch of coping short of acceptance before James Murphy says a single word. This is a soundscape many artists could learn from, the coldest electronic sounds representing the rawest human emotions.

And that is only the intro. James Murphys lyrics and delivery cover the same expansive ground, shuffling through the minor details after hearing the news. The weather fails to match the mood, morning coffee leaves him empty. Murphy appears to have been so shaken up that he can rarely confront the subject directly, turning a rather specific relationship into a universal lament. Amidst the dense instrumentation, a glockenspiel underlines his every syllable. This lone acoustic instrument floats apart from the others, a quiet ray of hope.

Someone Great reaches its high points when Murphy twice loses his typically verbose tongue. After the third verse, he can do nothing but remark upon the crashing waves of realization. It keeps coming, and it keeps coming, little reminders of what this person meant always striking at unexpected times. By the end, he seems to find acceptance but still lacks the words. What is there to say when someone great is gone? Life goes on, but there will always be this droning void where a person once stood.

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49. The Beach Boys Surfs Up (1971)
from the album Surfs Up

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v75f5W6LgLM

Key lyrics:
The music hall a costly bow
The music all is lost for now

Surfs Up is among the most effective titles I know, painting this track as The Beach Boys statement of purpose when the lyrics themselves are too dense to interpret. No matter how many boundaries they pushed on even their most radio-friendly hits, their origins as a carefree surf rock band would always hang over them. Surfs Up lives in an opera house at risk of a tidal wave; how far must a band go to change their popular image? The phrase plays on so many levels, from a mocking callback to a lament. The surf is up, meaning it is over.

Where many of their classics around this era play with a constant soundscape, Surfs Up maintains a sparse arrangement. Like Good Vibrations, this shifts between several distinct movements, but Surfs Up plays to the most extreme of their baroque sensibilities. An extended middle section consists of nothing but a piano and voice. This is the sound of a popular band shedding their image entirely to stew in their own artistic notions. A constant shift in key leaves even the quiet moments unpredictable. For this one track, The Beach Boys have truly left their popular audiences behind.

But then we reach the finale, which expands into one of their strongest harmonic arrangements. They know what their audiences want, and they know what works. Surfs Up captures The Beach Boys as introspective masters. Leaving the harmonizing for an explosive finale may have sabotaged their chance at chart success, but it stands fifty years later as their boldest statement.

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48. Hercules and Love Affair Blind (2008)
from the album Hercules and Love Affair

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2RsfGJsax9E

Key lyrics:
I wish the stars could shine now
For they are closer, they are near

Despite being part of the disco revival movement, Blind hits upon the true undercurrent of the original era that was largely overlooked once the genre made waves. The decline of disco has been treated as a celebratory act, as if underdog rock and roll toppled an unexpected giant. Really, the disco scene had been a safe haven for minorities, particularly queer people in a time when they had few others. Disco turning into the next big fad only to be brutally tossed aside tore that subculture apart.

Blind is as bleak as dance music comes, a harrowing tale of introspection turning to fear. Many songs about coming out focus on the external factors, these days serving as reassurance. Blind, instead, hits upon the realization that life will never be as easy as once imagined in the ignorance of youth. Though the lyrics stay vague, ANOHNIs powerhouse delivery makes the message clear. The life that lay before you has been whisked away, the future now an unknown. Messages like this are so necessary; though bleak, this song was a reminder during my own coming out that I was not alone in anxiously pining for the simple life I had been promised.

Blind is a comfort song, a track that invites you to dance away those negative feelings. As ANOHNI belts out those despairing lines, there is a sense of power underneath. Between her wavering vocal styling, the slight pause in the percussion, and those horns, disco has never felt more alive.

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47. James Blake Retrograde (2013)
from the album Overgrown

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XClvMMxBg1k

Key lyrics:
Ignore everybody else
Were alone now

Though James Blake had been toying with R&B on his first album, Retrograde saw him going all in. The result is the best of both worlds, an electronic R&B hybrid brimming with soul. So many fellow electronic artists have made their careers by hiding behind their music, but James Blake stands strong by putting himself in front. Perhaps he got lucky, to have an angelic falsetto to pair with his killer production. This combination has allowed him to craft love songs with an apocalyptic backdrop. Retrograde sonically suggests two lovers in a desolate wasteland with only their emotional tension to sustain them.

Retrograde opens with nearly a minute of wordless humming above a light backdrop, his intonations rising as the percussion enters. There is a ghostly element here, and his hum lingers in the background as he additionally jumps into a lead part. After a short verse, the instrumentation is overtaken by sirens. The sonic assault grows increasingly dire as Blake gets looped into the chorus. Though the backing part changes, his voice is rarely alone yet this pairing only reinforces the desolate feel. As he repeatedly insists were alone now, one can only assume the two lovers are suffering their loneliness apart.

Blake appears defeated by the end, closing out with another minute of wordless yet soulful humming. Retrograde is like the shadow of a relationship that could have meant something, the type someone hangs onto well past its expiration. The bookends suggest it is long over, the central section a pained begging for there to have been a deeper meaning.

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46. Talking Heads Once in a Lifetime (1980)
from the album Remain in Light

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fR0jgT9UX0Q

Key lyrics:
Same as it ever was, same as it ever was

I have known and loved Once in a Lifetime for over a decade now, yet I still have no idea how to put it into words. Part of the joy of New Wave music was seeing a bunch of artists really exploring what music could do, and none quite approached a limit like this one. Its odd, because Once in a Lifetime is about as ubiquitous as music comes. Talking Heads in collaboration with Brian Eno tapped into some unusual combination that nevertheless resonated with the masses, a track that has endured for its indescribable quality one can dive into the apparent Afrobeat influences, but the final result exists in its own sphere.

The effect it has on me is easier to describe. The looping instrumental elements are hypnotic, pairing well with David Byrnes ramblings about the ceaseless passage of time. The sonic elements trickle just a step above ambience, giving enough space that one could easily zone out to it if not for Byrnes vocals. Which, this is all to say that Byrnes psychotic preacher persona ties everything together. As he rambles off odd phrases, the lack of immediate meaning is overshadowed by his delivery. This is a man trying desperately to sell you something, and you might just buy it despite not knowing what it is. Unusual exclamations like this is not my beautiful wife resonate for the bizarre imagery they generate. Could it be possible we are all watching our time slip away with only half our attention? Or are all of his words meaningless fluff to get us hooked on this singular groove? Either way, I am all ears.

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CasanovaZelos posted...

167. Aldous Harding The Barrel (2019)
from the album Designer

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QyZeJr5ppm8

Thank you for this. This song is gorgeous.

I first "heard" (in that I recognized it was the song I was hearing) Once in a Lifetime when David Byrne was the musical guest on SNL. I don't know why, but something about that performance really stuck with me and I found myself thinking about it a bunch for about two weeks after. I've always liked the song since, but I dunno something about that performance seems like my favorite "version" of the song. I guess it's from his Broadway show, but I haven't really sought out anything else Talking Heads or David Byrne beyond this.

I'm weird in that sometimes I just like to know one song by one artist and have my joy isolated in it.

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ChainLTTP posted...

Thank you for this. This song is gorgeous.

Yay! I realized during this project that a significant amount of my favorite songs from the past few years have been by women with folky vibes and worried no one here would care for any of them.

I believe everything from 2018 on featured on this list is by women.

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I tend to gravitate towards a lot of the same stuff lately so keep 'em coming!

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