What is the most beautiful song ever?

Hello [on a cellphone], greetings, it's me, an outlaw,
I ask you, my love, to accept happiness.
Hello, hello, it's me, Picasso,
I sent you a beep [cellphone signal], and I'm brave [or strong],
But you should know that I'm not asking for anything from you.

You want to leave but you don't want don't want to take me, don't want don't want to take me, don't want don't want don't want to take me.
Your face and the love from the linden trees,
And I remember your eyes.

I call you [over the phone], to tell you what I feel right now,
Hello, my love, it's me, your happiness.
Hello, hello, it's me again, Picasso,
I sent you a beep [cellphone signal] and I'm brave [or strong],
But you should know that I'm not asking for anything from you.

I like "Cupid de Locke" by smashing pumpkins. At the moment, that's my choice. A few years ago I would have said "Agateis Byrjun" or however you spell it.

I apologize for criticizing someone's choice of Pink Floyd upthread. I was in a bitchy state of mind that day.

everybody's coming down

"once upon a time," sonny sharrock

-- andrew m., Friday, July 20, 2007 7:00 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Link

dude on point for seriously

kersal massive

i can't believe there's only one mention of "over the rainbow".

eno "always returning"

a bay bay

Lately I'm in love with "When the Body Speaks" by Depeche Mode and "Shine" by Ulrich Schnauss.

todd rundgren - boat on the charles

Quadrant - Dub

Some neglected bands+songs on this thread:

Mogwai - either 2 Rights Make 1 Wrong or Kids Will Be Skeletons
Yes - And You And I
The The - Lonely Planet
Bark Psychosis - Rose
Mercury Rev - Frittering

Nice to see the new(ish) Eluvium album with some representation here, but I'd have chosen 'Indoor Swimming At The Space Station' rather than 'Repose In Blue' myself.

Morning, from the Peer Gynt Suite

christmas in oaxaca

I would now have to add a couple of Vashti Bunyan songs to my picks above - especially "Glow Worms" and the demo version of "Winter Is Blue."

Also: Radiohead's "Everything In Its Right Place" and "Pyramid Song." Both beautiful and nightmarish.

Madvillian (MF Doom + Madlib) - Fancy Clown (originally titled "Pretty Blood")

Until She Comes - Psychedelic Furs

method man & raekwon - respect mine

It's Rosehip November

Canon in D?!?!?!?!

King Creosote - Counselling
(hands down)

that is my final answer

props to those who said:

Beach Boys - Til I Die
Kraftwerk - Computer Lover

Anyway, my answer is:

Neutral Milk Hotel - Two-Headed Boy Pt. 2

or

Beethoven - Symphony No. 9 in Dm

or

Beethoven - String Quartet No. 14 in C#m (if we're not limiting ourselves to songs)

^I agree with you there (obviously)

Steve I was 16 in 2004 and attended too many weddings that year

also it wasn't my real answer

even Pachelbel beats NMH in my book though

abba - the day before you came

What is it with Canon in D and weddings anyway. Yargh.

Most beautiful Radiohead song is 'Meeting In The Aisle'

mmm, probably 'kind of girl' by low

arg the beuty of the song I picked is so beautiful. His voice.... has more heart than...[fill in the blank]. yes I am spamming. sorry.

'When You Were Young' by The Killers

Follow me through
A city of frost-covered angels
I swear I have nothing to prove
I just want to dance in your tangles
To give me some reason to move
But to take on the world at all angles
Requires a strength I can't use
So I'll meet you up high in your anger
Of all that is hoping and waiting for you

not sure about the music, but right now, that verse seems like the most perfect series of words ever written (lol emo)

'When You Were Young' by The Killers
-- Ismael Klata, Thursday, October 4, 2007 4:50 PM (24 minutes ago) Bookmark Link

http://i56.photobucket.com/albums/g191/formathardrive/noose2.jpg

As long as the Mary Margaret O'Hara thread has been revived, I'd say "Help Me Lift You Up".

Or Satie's Gymnopedies.

Or "Bell Bottom Blues" by Derek & The Dominos.

actually wait, I think I want to change my vote to... whatever the name of the Varttina song I played on my last radio show was, cuz it almost made me cry.

the for carnation - moonbeams

no-one said 'the look of love'

Impossible Germany - Wilco

God Only Knows is a good, and obvious, choice. There are many other, less obvious, but worthy contenders (maybe my "next tier"):

Walk Away Renee or Pretty Ballerina by The Left Banke
Many Rivers To Cross by Jimmy Cliff
Gloomy Sunday by Billie Holiday (beautifully sad, I suppose)
The Ocean by Richard Hawley
Silver Springs by Fleetwood Mac
Oh No by The Commodores
The Trapeeze Swinger or 16, Maybe Less by Iron & Wine
Carry Me Ohio by Sun Kil Moon
Always On My Mind by Willie Nelson
I Won't Share You by The Smiths
You And Your Sister by Chris Bell
In The Backseat by Arcade Fire (see Gloomy Sunday)
Will The Circle Be Unbroken, the Greg Allman version
Please Call Home by Greg Allman

And lots of songs by The Clientele. For now, let's say Dreams of Leaving. I've excluded classical works (if included, though, Pachelbel's "Cannon in D" would be hard to beat; Pachelbel's is the original "one-hit wonder"), and I know I'm forgetting a lot of worthy songs, but there it is.

Oh, and you know what? I second Kate. Impossible Germany is a worthy song, too, even with that searing guitar solo by Nels Cline. Please Be Patient With Me, from the same Wilco disc, is also worth consideration.

I just re-read my post; sorry to have sounded like a jackass. "And obvious" wasn't meant to criticize (to the contrary, God Only Knows is my choice for "most beautiful song," too). And the "Oh, and you know what" line at the end was needlessly snarky.

Normally, I'd ignore the (frequent, egregious) flaws in my writing. I'm feeling particularly un-snarky today, so I bristled when I saw my tone, and felt compelled to correct it.

eno "always returning" seconded

Max Richter - "The Trees".

God this song, relentlessly pushing upward toward something, always scraping past and bouncing back, and perpetually balancing in that spine-tingling breath before resolution. I LOVE IT

I think it was used in Waltz with Bashir.

Now, don't roll your eyes (although I'm sure I would if I hadn't heard it), but there's a bit of incidental music on the We Love Katamari soundtrack called "Beautiful Star" that just floors me every time it pops up on shuffle. It's so evocative and lovely and sad-sounding.

saddened and amazed that there's been no mention of eyvind kang on this thread. so many lovelinesses to choose from in his catalogue, but 'asa tru' and 'innocent eye, crystal see' are for me just about the most gorgeous pieces of music imaginable.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jKdsImfBnX0

ugly casanova - smoke like ribbons
thievery corporation - heaven's gonna burn your eyes
arkestra one - how could I love you more

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Keu_1ovu6Zs&feature=related

happy or sad, you always shine. never before, I've met your kind.

Contenders not yet mentioned: "My Creole Belle," Mississippi John Hurt
"Days," The Kinks
"Belle," Al Green
"Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow," The Shirelles
"It Was a Very Good Year," Frank Sinatra
"Nature Boy," Nat King Cole
"Smile," Nat King Cole