i did a top 50 a couple years ago, probably would swap a few out and i never ordered it, but i wouldn't change that much: 50 of My Favorite Songs - choose one
― grove street (party) direction (voodoo chili), Wednesday, 22 September 2021 15:08 (two years ago) link
Yeah love that list, I see at least 5 songs which I’d probably consider top 10 of their respective decade.
― ✖✖✖ (Moka), Wednesday, 22 September 2021 15:39 (two years ago) link
i honestly think i would be hard pressed to do an unnumbered top 500 so i am cool with whatever anybody wants to do with anything forever
― When Young Sheldon began to rap (forksclovetofu), Wednesday, 22 September 2021 20:09 (two years ago) link
I'll give it a shot:
Judee Sill - The KissSly and the Family Stone - Family AffairSteely Dan - King of the WorldWillie Nelson - One Day at a TimeErnie (from Sesame Street) - I Don't Want to Live on the MoonLaura Nyro - Up On the RoofThe Incredible String Band - MayaArthur Russell - That's Us/Wild CombinationTracy Chapman - Fast CarPrimitive Radio Gods - Standing Outside a Broken Phone Booth With Money in My HandGrateful Dead - Dark StarSheryl Crow - If It Makes You HappyOMD - SouvenirJoni Mitchell - The Hissing of Summer LawnsMilton Nascimento - Ponta De AreiaSeal - Kiss From a RoseThe Smiths - Heaven Knows I'm Miserable NowDolly Parton - Down From DoverBelle and Sebastian - The ModelTommy James & The Shondells - Crystal Blue PersuasionJimmy Webb - Met Her on a PlaneCocteau Twins - LoreleiBroadcast - CorporealYo La Tengo - Let's Save Tony Orlando's HousePrefab Sprout - The Sound of CryingSandy Denny - No EndBob Marley & The Wailers - No Woman, No CryThe Beatles - Dear PrudenceThe Temptations - My GirlOMC - How BizarrePrince - AdoreMoondog - Do Your ThingRichard & Linda Thompson - I Want To See the Bright Lights TonightGal Costa - BabyBruce Springsteen - Tougher Than the RestJoanna Newsom - EsmeHatfield & the North - Son Of 'There's No Place Like Homerton'Scott Walker - JoeGong - Love Is How Y Make ItVan Morrison - Snow In San AnselmoThe Cosmic Rays w/Sun Ra - DreamingThe Rolling Stones - Dead FlowersAl Green - Funny How Time Slips AwayRufus Wainwright - Greek SongCarly Rae Jepsen - Warm BloodYes - Starship TrooperRandy Newman - Living Without YouKraftwerk - Computer LoveHüsker Dü - Flexible FlyerBjörk - Hyperballad
― J. Sam, Wednesday, 22 September 2021 20:40 (two years ago) link
(no particular order)
Grateful Dead - Dark Star
Which version??
― juristic person (morrisp), Wednesday, 22 September 2021 20:43 (two years ago) link
Ideally all of them, but if I have to pick one it's 8/1/73
― J. Sam, Wednesday, 22 September 2021 20:48 (two years ago) link
gut says Once in a Lifetime
― ciderpress, Wednesday, 22 September 2021 20:51 (two years ago) link
Carly Rae Jepsen - Warm Blood
― enochroot, Thursday, 23 September 2021 01:25 (two years ago) link
Once In a Lifetime is definitely one of the greatest songs of all time
― Dan S, Thursday, 23 September 2021 02:15 (two years ago) link
had to go with Strawberry Fields
― Dan S, Friday, 24 September 2021 23:56 (two years ago) link
Scott Woods has started posting Top 50s on rockcritics.com as kind of a parallel poll for outcasts, has-beens, and never-weres like me (he's not tabulating votes, though). My list is up, followed by Scott's, and there'll be more in the coming weeks. (Two I know: Frank Kogan and Kevin J. Bozelka...also Scott's 20-year-old nephew, Ethan.)
My own list is definitely contrived/self-conscious/whatever, in that I intentionally tried to stay clear of famous hits as much as possible. (A handful snuck in.) I've just reached a point where I get tired of seeing that stuff reshuffled endlessly.
https://rockcritics.com/
― clemenza, Wednesday, 6 October 2021 22:36 (two years ago) link
"Strawberry Fields Forever." My favorite song of all time.
― Lone Wanderer Mark II, Wednesday, 6 October 2021 23:01 (two years ago) link
Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.
― System, Thursday, 7 October 2021 00:01 (two years ago) link
Looking for songs that I honestly deeply loved and that weren’t completely destroyed by hypercanonicity and media synergies, it ended up coming down to “Once in a Lifetime” vs “Papa’s Got A Brand New Bag”….
― Swag Heathen (theStalePrince), Thursday, 7 October 2021 03:14 (two years ago) link
Was tempted by Waterloo Sunset but I went for Heroes.
― Valentijn, Thursday, 7 October 2021 08:56 (two years ago) link
wasn't gonna vote and thus validate this exercise in tedious canon-forming nonsense but then I saw 15 of you had voted Bohemian Rhapsody as the worst and frankly bismillah NO
― imago, Thursday, 7 October 2021 09:10 (two years ago) link
I guess I'm going with hypercanonicity and hyperagreement by voting for the representative of the RS album #1 (I was very happy with that choice)I could have gone for Joni Mitchell, but Case of You isn't my fave from the albumTalking Heads and Notorious B.I.G certainly good options. Wonder if Heroes takes this. Or maybe there will be revenges carried on from the "worst" poll :)
― Nabozo, Thursday, 7 October 2021 09:24 (two years ago) link
And I hope some people are less cowards than me and vote for Nuthing but a G thang
― Nabozo, Thursday, 7 October 2021 09:26 (two years ago) link
Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.
― System, Friday, 8 October 2021 00:01 (two years ago) link
Go straight to hell, ILM.
― i carry the torch for disco inauthenticity (Eric H.), Friday, 8 October 2021 00:07 (two years ago) link
Lol
― ✖✖✖ (Moka), Friday, 8 October 2021 01:42 (two years ago) link
― i carry the torch for disco inauthenticity (Eric H.)
how does it feel to be on your owwwwwnnn
― So who you gonna call? The martini police (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Friday, 8 October 2021 01:44 (two years ago) link
5 votes for "dancing on my own" is about as ridiculous as its recent overrating itself
― dyl, Friday, 8 October 2021 02:42 (two years ago) link
1 vote for what's going onwhat's going on
― When Young Sheldon began to rap (forksclovetofu), Friday, 8 October 2021 03:24 (two years ago) link
its not as good as 'dancing on my own,' obviously
― xheugy eddy (D-40), Friday, 8 October 2021 03:25 (two years ago) link
I'm not the biggest Dylan fan and I voted for something else but "Like a Rolling Stone" is a 100% deserving winner. I never fail to find it compelling any time I hear it.
― Sequel to Sadness (Sund4r), Friday, 8 October 2021 03:53 (two years ago) link
"Strange Fruit" is a great record and a greater cause, but Holiday has had much better records.
― birdistheword, Friday, 8 October 2021 04:04 (two years ago) link
Well, many not MUCH better, but better records, at least performance-wise and musically speaking.
*maybe (not many)
― birdistheword, Friday, 8 October 2021 04:05 (two years ago) link
These are so nauseating and I don't understand the impulse to rank music at all, but "I only have eyes for you" is the only song I can think of where a magazine could say "this is the #1 greatest song of all time" and I would think 'yeah, that sounds about right'
― The 25 Best Songs Ever Ranked In Order (Deflatormouse), Friday, 8 October 2021 18:04 (two years ago) link
Think I'm gonna FP anyone who posts a list from here on out.
― The 25 Best Songs Ever Ranked In Order (Deflatormouse), Friday, 8 October 2021 18:10 (two years ago) link
I voted for Gimme Shelter. One of the few songs that I keep hearing pretty regularly on the radio or in movies that I somehow never really tire of and still think is great.
― silverfish, Friday, 8 October 2021 18:19 (two years ago) link
I think ranked lists are bound to lead more to argument/derision than assent or constructive debate, though I do like interesting lists (esp if they're not ranked, which I guess is rare).
― juristic person (morrisp), Friday, 8 October 2021 18:30 (two years ago) link
But how else do we know what the best songs are?
― Sequel to Sadness (Sund4r), Friday, 8 October 2021 18:47 (two years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g2FGRVRzXZM
― juristic person (morrisp), Friday, 8 October 2021 19:00 (two years ago) link
Both of Otis Redding’s songs shut out.
― aphoristical, Friday, 8 October 2021 19:06 (two years ago) link
The arguments and debates bother me as much as the lists or more, the idea that such a list could potentially be good if only they were more inclusive, or informed, or ranked in a different order, or whatever. No, the idea of a '500 greatest songs' is totally irredeemable, there are no best songs, just stop it imo
― The 25 Best Songs Ever Ranked In Order (Deflatormouse), Friday, 8 October 2021 19:10 (two years ago) link
What if were just called "500 Cool Songs You Should Totally Hear and Stuff"?
― juristic person (morrisp), Friday, 8 October 2021 19:12 (two years ago) link
How about: "500 Songs. Have at it."
― birdistheword, Friday, 8 October 2021 19:21 (two years ago) link
500 songs. Some we like, some we had to add begrudgingly for clicks.
― ✖✖✖ (Moka), Friday, 8 October 2021 19:26 (two years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fzdEd1dZJjA
― edited to reflect developments which occurred (Camaraderie at Arms Length), Saturday, 9 October 2021 06:05 (two years ago) link
At the risk of being flagged, I'll link here to the Top 50 that I contributed to Scott Woods's ongoing roundup on rockcritics.com. Much more canonical than some of the lists that have been collected thus far (including clemenza's), but less canonical than others, I guess:
https://rockcritics.com/2021/10/12/top-50-favourite-songs-jeremy-fairall/
― Les hommes de bonbons (cryptosicko), Tuesday, 12 October 2021 19:02 (two years ago) link
Good list.
― o. nate, Tuesday, 12 October 2021 20:16 (two years ago) link
8. “No Easy Way Down,” Dusty Springfield (1969)33. “Move With Me,” Neneh Cherry (1992)
hell yeah
― So who you gonna call? The martini police (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 12 October 2021 20:20 (two years ago) link
Thanks! I made several drafts before finalizing, and those two songs were never not on my list.
― Les hommes de bonbons (cryptosicko), Tuesday, 12 October 2021 23:43 (two years ago) link
"Inverness" is a nice pick if you only have one Scott Miller song.
― Halfway there but for you, Wednesday, 13 October 2021 01:49 (two years ago) link
Questlove's new list-based Music Is History sounds promising (comments & song excerpts):In his new book, Roots co-founder Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson starts in 1971 and moves year-by-year through his life, writing about memories, turning points and the songs he listened to.stream/download/transcript (Fresh Air)https://www.npr.org/2021/10/12/1045247409/questlove-spins-the-soundtrack-of-his-life-in-music-is-history
― dow, Wednesday, 13 October 2021 16:36 (two years ago) link
Bashing "Strange Fruit" because of someone else's alleged motivations in posting it is some of that ol' classick reductive ilx religion---to say the least---
― dow, Wednesday, 13 October 2021 16:40 (two years ago) link
Aaand I took the bait, sry
― dow, Wednesday, 13 October 2021 16:41 (two years ago) link