Could we please be objective cause the other POLLS are queuing up behind us - Artist Poll #94 - Belle & Sebastian - RESULTS

“Me and the Major” was my #1! I just love that darn harmonica so much.

― Mr. Snrub, Sunday, December 16, 2018 12:10 PM (one hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Oh yeah one of the best uses of the harmonica in the history of recorded sound

http://i63.tinypic.com/2n1axd3.jpg

11. Judy and the Dream of Horses
From If You're Feeling Sinister (1996)
Live at Barrowlands
Points: 564
Votes: 26
#1 Votes: 1

Too low, best track on Sinister.

Oh this top 10 is going to be so good.

thanks everyone for voting "desperation made a fool of me" into the top ten j/k

yung alex kapranos there, right?

Re: Desperation, I'm looking forward to seeing the full list past 60 as much as I'm looking forward to the top 10.

I'll post #10 pre-dawn, Glasgow time (maybe 9 hours from now) and gradually increase the pace as the bulk of ILM settles into Monday.

Summary of stuff since the last summary:

Rank Title                                              Pts    Votes  #1s
20   This Is Just a Modern Rock Song                    400    23     1
19   She's Losing It                                    412    25     0
18   Dog on Wheels                                      413    20     0
17   If She Wants Me                                    442    21     0
15=  Slow Graffiti                                      486    23     2
15=  Dirty Dream Number Two                             486    26     2
14   Stay Loose                                         489    26     4
12=  The Fox in the Snow                                509    26     1
12=  Me and the Major                                   509    24     2
11   Judy and the Dream of Horses                       564    26     1

A few facts here I didn't know:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fso8D9lgJVY

Judy my #1. Too, obviously, fucking low. This is the song that sums up the whole Belle and Sebastian project for me. And the only one that gets to joy and that shows you what it might look like not to be trapped in the state that you are in. There's a star up on your shoulder.

Really the only thing that in the entire catalog that compares with the incredible buildup of "Judy" is "Lazy Line Painter Jane" which better be really high now or I'll sulk

Wow, seems that is Kapranos. Did the crossing guard lass go on to fame and fortune too?

Yeah lazy line is coming.

Judy was my #4 for all the reasons eephus said.

Dream of horses—Ba da dum ba

I started assembling my ballot by putting Judy at #1 and it didn't end up much further. Agree with Guayaquil. No ten better B&S songs than it (but well, I did find 30 better songs than Lazy Line Painter Jane so...).

8 obvious picks
-I'm A Cuckoo
-If You're Feeling Sinister
-Get Me Away From Here I'm Dying
-Seeing Other People
-The State That I Am In
-The Boy With The Arab Strap
-Lazy Line Painter Jane
-Like Dylan in the Movies

Remaining
-Stars of Track and Field
-Sleep The Clock Around
-We Are The Sleepyheads
-Dear Catastrophe Waitress
-(I wish) Big John haft

nix the last three and there's yr list

Me and the Major was my #1. It's perfect. Everything one could want in a Belle and Sebastian song.

Want to feel old? In 3 years Sinister turns 25. Same amount of time the Major went back, remembering Roxy Music.

definitely agree on the first 8

I think Stars of Track and Field will also show up

I didn’t vote but if I had my #1 would have been Sleep Around the Clock. I saw them do it once mayve 15 years ago and it was magical. They didn’t play it the other times I’ve seen them.

Argh the clock around obvs

it makes sense that those would be the 10, as Simon H said

I would be very surprised if it was not the exact first ten Flopsy mentioned, but haven't a clue about the order

Though I do hope you're all wrong about Big John Shaft

i'm gonna be wild and say that maybe I'm A Cuckoo is out, and Dear Catastrophe Waitress makes it in. i'm not a cuckoo fan :-/

I personally wish the 10th spot would go to Belle and Sebastian (the song)

that song is all-time great

actually, ok i like cuckoo. and i can see how it would make the top 10, it's really catchy and sort of sounds like a mix of Jessica by the Allman Brothers and Big Star

Judy is only #11?!!
Judy where did you go wrong?!

Cuckoo is catchy, sure, but one of these (remaining) things is not like the others....

I thought maybe I would kick Cuckoo out of the top 10 but then I listened to it again

Perhaps I'm easily amused but the declaration, in a Scottish accent, that B&S "have no time for dumbfucks and fucknuggets" has had me chuckling like an idiot for several hours now.

Here are some fun facts which may or may not help with predictions:

The forty-nine first-place votes (3 ballots were unranked) were distributed across 27 different tracks in total. "Stay Loose" has received the greatest number (4) of first-place votes so far, but nothing in the top ten exceeds that number. In fact, #1 received fewer such votes and another track received none at all!

so "stay loose" is the true winner, makes sense

LOL. Wouldn't rule out a tie, but yeah, basically.

Sounds like we can just end the poll now. Great job everyone

Judy at #11 is a dick slap

Monday has arrived almost everywhere so best get this done. I'll return in an hour or two and see if anyone's about...

http://i67.tinypic.com/2111ati.jpg
10. Sleep the Clock Around
From The Boy With the Arab Strap (1998)
Live at Lowlands, 2006
Points: 583
Votes: 33
#1 Votes: 1

I'm here! And that was my #1. So glad I pushed it into the top 10.

I remember when I first heard it in radio session form it didn't do much for me but it opened up so much in the album version.

"And the memory will shine"

YES

I love the motorik (sorry) pulse of this one. My #3 and a song that's grown a lot in my estimation over the years

Would love to stay up for the entire top 10, but it's 1:30a here in the midwest states and I'm to bed soon

I'm going to start fairly slooowly, with the US in mind. Might still be at #7 or something by dawn. :)

this is pretty close to the most dead time of day for ilm with it being middle of the night in the us

'sleep the clock around' is lovely but i wasn't quite expecting it to make top 10. between it and the title track i always think of boy with the arab strap as their electric piano album, although it's not really as prominent on the rest of the album

Love it when the bagpipes kick in, need more bagpipes in pop.

Never read this before, Stuart Murdoch
on Sleep the Clock Around:

"That song was about walking over the brow of a hill, away from the two people I loved most, when I had betrayed them somewhat: after they cast me out of their confidence and out of the cafe. So it’s a song that cries out for recovery."

♥️

Aww, that's lovely. StCA is a song that's become part of me, molecular.

I don't think I've ever heard the background sound effects on this used anywhere else - the little burbles and whirrs. They sound like the dreams of mouldering instruments.

That's brilliant, yes.

Assume they're Chris Geddes's work. He hasn't been mentioned enough on this thread.

His work is so understated yet utterly crucial to their sound.

http://i64.tinypic.com/2efswat.jpg

9. The Boy With the Arab Strap
From The Boy With the Arab Strap (1998)
Groovy, meandering rendition at Glastonbury, 2015
Points: 623
Votes: 32
#1 Votes: 3

I can barely even remember what I voted for now. Apart from perhaps "Judy" or "Fox" any of the last dozen could plausibly have been on my shortlist.