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Top 75 favorite songs, part 6
Mar. 14th, 2015 11:17 pmI'm really not sure how many songs are going to be in this "top-75." I made a list of nearly 80 when I started, but I've been adding and subtracting as I go along.
51. The Who - The Real Me
This song is amazing. It's not put together quite like any other song. The vocals and the bass are competing melodies, the guitar is just strumming power chords, backed up by the horns, and the drums are propelling everything at ninety miles an hour. But that bass, my god! It's just one long bass solo, lasting for three minutes and fifteen seconds!
For those who are interested, here's the isolated bass track.
And here's a slightly different version of the song. This is from the Quadrophenia soundtrack (rather than the studio album). I don't like the bass as much. it doesn't have the low-end oomph, since he's playing his 12-string bass, but I like the vocals better. They're looser - a little more rock-and-roll.
52. Eddie Vedder - Hard Sun
I don't have a whole lot to say about this song. I just love it. The tune and ringing guitar are uplifting.
You may have noticed I don't usually post an interesting video. I do that on purpose. I want you to listen to the music, and not be distracted by the pictures. People can be distracted by either "ooh, shiny!" or their own hangups about what they're watching. I like to stick to the message.
In the comments, Dave pointed out that the original was done by Indio.
53. Here's Rush again. "YYZ" (pronounced "why-why-zed," because they're Canadian). It's a fun little ditty, with some phenomenal playing.
54. It's kind of hard to pick standout U2 songs. There are so many I love, but they usually sound better in the context of an album. Here's one. "Bad"
The lyrics aren't special. Just listen.
55. Janis Joplin, "Try (Just A Little Bit Harder)"
Janis is generally known as a bust-a-gut blues singer. "Try" is more of an R&B number. Picture her in a girl group, with a sequined dress. I think I would have preferred some girl-group backing singers, though. Anyway, listen to her belt it out...
56. Patti Smith - Gone Again
Powerful, visceral, thunderous.
57. U2 - Exit
You may have noticed that most of the songs appearing in my list are not the most conventional arrangements. You haven't heard a lot of verse, chorus, verse, solo chorus verse songs here. I like music that pushes boundaries and challenges convention. I think everyone craves both originality and familiarity. I like the sound of the new, which then becomes the familiar.
Check out Edge's guitar - it's crazy. Nobody played like that back in the eighties. Now, you find that kind of thing all over. But nobody else sounds like him.
58. Nick Cave - Red Right Hand
I can't say I'm a huge Nick Cave fan, but this one... is fascinating.
He'll wrap you in his arms
And tell you that you've been a good boy
He'll rekindle all of those dreams
It took you a lifetime to destroy
He'll reach deep into the hole
Heal your shrinking soul
And there won't be a single thing
That you can do
59. Black Crowes - She Talks to Angels
Here's the acoustic, piano version.
60. This one features Joe Jackson, William Shatner and Ben Folds. The song is called "Common People," and it was originally done by Pulp, back in the mid-nineties. It's a story about class tourism. A clueless rich art student expresses her desire to live like common people and do whatever common people do.
But almost ten years after its release, Ben Folds met Shatner and decided to do an album. So, yes, The Shat. You know him from his overacted TV roles. And possibly from his overacted vocal recordings. You may recall his bizarre take on "Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds." And I won't give you a link to his version of "Bohemian Rhapsody" - you'll have to Google that horror for yourself. But this song isn't like that. He's speaking, but he's not really overdoing it, and the song lends itself well to the spoken-word style.
So that's fine. But Folds's arrangement of the catchy tune is... catchy. It's enjoyable pop-rock. But the real star of the show is Joe Jackson. He can really belt it out.
I'm not going to pretend that this is one of the best songs ever, but I really enjoy this one, and usually hit repeat when it ends.
Here is William Shatner - Common People
Part 7
51. The Who - The Real Me
This song is amazing. It's not put together quite like any other song. The vocals and the bass are competing melodies, the guitar is just strumming power chords, backed up by the horns, and the drums are propelling everything at ninety miles an hour. But that bass, my god! It's just one long bass solo, lasting for three minutes and fifteen seconds!
For those who are interested, here's the isolated bass track.
And here's a slightly different version of the song. This is from the Quadrophenia soundtrack (rather than the studio album). I don't like the bass as much. it doesn't have the low-end oomph, since he's playing his 12-string bass, but I like the vocals better. They're looser - a little more rock-and-roll.
52. Eddie Vedder - Hard Sun
I don't have a whole lot to say about this song. I just love it. The tune and ringing guitar are uplifting.
You may have noticed I don't usually post an interesting video. I do that on purpose. I want you to listen to the music, and not be distracted by the pictures. People can be distracted by either "ooh, shiny!" or their own hangups about what they're watching. I like to stick to the message.
In the comments, Dave pointed out that the original was done by Indio.
53. Here's Rush again. "YYZ" (pronounced "why-why-zed," because they're Canadian). It's a fun little ditty, with some phenomenal playing.
54. It's kind of hard to pick standout U2 songs. There are so many I love, but they usually sound better in the context of an album. Here's one. "Bad"
The lyrics aren't special. Just listen.
55. Janis Joplin, "Try (Just A Little Bit Harder)"
Janis is generally known as a bust-a-gut blues singer. "Try" is more of an R&B number. Picture her in a girl group, with a sequined dress. I think I would have preferred some girl-group backing singers, though. Anyway, listen to her belt it out...
56. Patti Smith - Gone Again
Powerful, visceral, thunderous.
57. U2 - Exit
You may have noticed that most of the songs appearing in my list are not the most conventional arrangements. You haven't heard a lot of verse, chorus, verse, solo chorus verse songs here. I like music that pushes boundaries and challenges convention. I think everyone craves both originality and familiarity. I like the sound of the new, which then becomes the familiar.
Check out Edge's guitar - it's crazy. Nobody played like that back in the eighties. Now, you find that kind of thing all over. But nobody else sounds like him.
58. Nick Cave - Red Right Hand
I can't say I'm a huge Nick Cave fan, but this one... is fascinating.
He'll wrap you in his arms
And tell you that you've been a good boy
He'll rekindle all of those dreams
It took you a lifetime to destroy
He'll reach deep into the hole
Heal your shrinking soul
And there won't be a single thing
That you can do
59. Black Crowes - She Talks to Angels
Here's the acoustic, piano version.
60. This one features Joe Jackson, William Shatner and Ben Folds. The song is called "Common People," and it was originally done by Pulp, back in the mid-nineties. It's a story about class tourism. A clueless rich art student expresses her desire to live like common people and do whatever common people do.
But almost ten years after its release, Ben Folds met Shatner and decided to do an album. So, yes, The Shat. You know him from his overacted TV roles. And possibly from his overacted vocal recordings. You may recall his bizarre take on "Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds." And I won't give you a link to his version of "Bohemian Rhapsody" - you'll have to Google that horror for yourself. But this song isn't like that. He's speaking, but he's not really overdoing it, and the song lends itself well to the spoken-word style.
So that's fine. But Folds's arrangement of the catchy tune is... catchy. It's enjoyable pop-rock. But the real star of the show is Joe Jackson. He can really belt it out.
I'm not going to pretend that this is one of the best songs ever, but I really enjoy this one, and usually hit repeat when it ends.
Here is William Shatner - Common People
Part 7
