50 Best Songs of All Time According to Rolling Stone's BRAND NEW, 100% Revamped Top 500

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So forks is coming around on Pulp. Now onto “Waterloo Sunset.”

I, the Jukebox Jury (James Redd and the Blecchs), Monday, 20 September 2021 18:32 (two years ago) link

xp Formed in 1978 when Jarvis was 15!

edited to reflect developments which occurred (Camaraderie at Arms Length), Monday, 20 September 2021 18:34 (two years ago) link

Is there an Apple Music playlist of the whole 500 up anywhere? A few quick searches revealed only partial lists, older lists, people's personal selections from the master list, etc.

Les hommes de bonbons (cryptosicko), Monday, 20 September 2021 18:39 (two years ago) link

I thought I knew every song in the top 50 but just listened to "Gasolina," and cannot recall ever hearing this curiosity. Wish I could change my vote. Video is heinous.

Indexed, Monday, 20 September 2021 18:43 (two years ago) link

Sorry, should have posted that in the Worst songs thread.

Indexed, Monday, 20 September 2021 18:43 (two years ago) link

just listened to Gasolina in full for first time and I love it

edited to reflect developments which occurred (Camaraderie at Arms Length), Monday, 20 September 2021 18:48 (two years ago) link

Is there an Apple Music playlist of the whole 500 up anywhere? A few quick searches revealed only partial lists, older lists, people's personal selections from the master list, etc.

Here you go:

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4EdmaJCUXvXsXJKXZGvj2r?si=bc91434935b6452d

I also made a playlist of all ILX track poll winers that I listed in my post from yesterday, in case anyone's interested:

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4cgduOuzi3ut0Lq2zmz0rt?si=d27239fd317645f0

bookmarkflaglink (Darin), Monday, 20 September 2021 18:49 (two years ago) link

ILXors discovering "Gasolina," perhaps one of the most consequential songs of the 21st Century, is very entertaining, plz do not stop

It's a good example of how fractured music is in the 21st Century!

the 45-year-old gaz coomber (Whiney G. Weingarten), Monday, 20 September 2021 18:59 (two years ago) link

I don't know about "discover" as I have heard it many times in bits and pieces, first time I have actually listened to it properly

edited to reflect developments which occurred (Camaraderie at Arms Length), Monday, 20 September 2021 19:01 (two years ago) link

#14 - The Kinks "Waterloo Sunset"
I like quite a lot of The Kinks music that I've heard quite a lot but I do not like this at all!

this is truly one of the most baffling opinions i've ever heard on ilx

Blues Guitar Solo Heatmap (Free Download) (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Monday, 20 September 2021 19:08 (two years ago) link

don't know what to tell you!

When Young Sheldon began to rap (forksclovetofu), Monday, 20 September 2021 19:09 (two years ago) link

nor I you!

Blues Guitar Solo Heatmap (Free Download) (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Monday, 20 September 2021 19:10 (two years ago) link

"purple rain" ranking over "when doves cry" is really grinding my gears

also

42. Bob Marley & the Wailers, "Redemption Song"

isn't even a top 20 marley song much less representing reggae as a whole in the top 50

Blues Guitar Solo Heatmap (Free Download) (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Monday, 20 September 2021 19:12 (two years ago) link

I never thought Gasolina was one of the best 50 songs of all time but in a dour playlist like this, it certainly feels like a “hell yeah!” moment when it comes on.

Siegbran, Monday, 20 September 2021 19:13 (two years ago) link

the ranking is, in general, hilarious here but it's such an obvious attempt at "sparking discourse" that i can hardly let it bother me.

as with all top whatever lists, this is a list of songs where most of them are well known and pretty good to excellent. which is not to say they are < or > than anything else.

When Young Sheldon began to rap (forksclovetofu), Monday, 20 September 2021 19:22 (two years ago) link

Gasolina was inescapable for years in huge parts of the world, but yeah, living in the US you could easily have never heard it. Of course, the same was true of Las Ketchup, and I don't see them in the top 50.

enochroot, Monday, 20 September 2021 19:44 (two years ago) link

I kinda like The Ketchup Song (Asereje), something about the slightly out-of-time, slightly-out-of-rhythm unharmonised descending-scale vocals paired with the generic upbeat backing produces this distinctive kind of unintended melancholy, it's like a V/VM version of itself.

edited to reflect developments which occurred (Camaraderie at Arms Length), Monday, 20 September 2021 19:51 (two years ago) link

very tempted to troll whiney and bring up crazy frog here

When Young Sheldon began to rap (forksclovetofu), Monday, 20 September 2021 19:58 (two years ago) link

I’m not much of a fan of “Waterloo sunset” either. I’d put 10 Kinks’ songs ahead of that one easily.

✖✖✖ (Moka), Monday, 20 September 2021 20:44 (two years ago) link

That said I don’t mind it and can see why some people think it’s one of their best songs.

✖✖✖ (Moka), Monday, 20 September 2021 20:47 (two years ago) link

There was a People's Songs episode on Radio 4 about Waterloo Sunset, and can report that after half an hour or so it becomes pretty tiresome to listen to, my wife asked me to turn the radio off.

edited to reflect developments which occurred (Camaraderie at Arms Length), Monday, 20 September 2021 20:50 (two years ago) link

I still subscribe to the Challopian Christgovian orthodoxy about "Waterloo Sunset" being "the most beautiful song in the English language," in no small part due to the ethereal harmonizing of Dave and Rasa Davies, but don't expect others to share this belief and hesitate to brand them as infidels, especially someone as nice as forks.

I, the Jukebox Jury (James Redd and the Blecchs), Monday, 20 September 2021 21:18 (two years ago) link

I saw Jon Brion do "Waterloo Sunset" with Benmont Tench & Glenn Kotche, and if memory serves me right, he called it the greatest song ever written.

Indexed, Monday, 20 September 2021 21:23 (two years ago) link

Pulp will never top "Disco 2000" imo

So who you gonna call? The martini police (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, 20 September 2021 21:24 (two years ago) link

The other perfect song on Different Class

Indexed, Monday, 20 September 2021 21:25 (two years ago) link

So many good Pulp songs, hard to pick one.

This video may have the opposite effect. Found it whilst looking for a quote from Steve Jones which I couldn't locate.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w0qnHaWfQXg

I, the Jukebox Jury (James Redd and the Blecchs), Monday, 20 September 2021 21:33 (two years ago) link

There was a People's Songs episode on Radio 4 about Waterloo Sunset, and can report that after half an hour or so it becomes pretty tiresome to listen to, my wife asked me to turn the radio off.

― edited to reflect developments which occurred (Camaraderie at Arms Length), Monday, September 20, 2021 3:50 PM (one hour ago) bookmarkflaglink

Is this supposed an indictment of the song somehow?

Blues Guitar Solo Heatmap (Free Download) (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Monday, 20 September 2021 22:14 (two years ago) link

I listened to “People Get Ready” for 24 hours straight and you know what, it’s just not that good a song.

Porking level G4 (Boring, Maryland), Monday, 20 September 2021 22:20 (two years ago) link

Sometimes I can listen to a song over and over for hours on end and sometimes I have to turn it off right away and take a break from it for a few years, not necessarily a reflection on the quality of the song.

Ha, xpost!

I, the Jukebox Jury (James Redd and the Blecchs), Monday, 20 September 2021 22:22 (two years ago) link

think my favourite songs I could listen to for half an hour on repeat and wouldn't tire of them at all, since that's the format of the show and there were lots of episodes, I would say that approx 40% of the songs got fairly annoying by the end (worst was Part Of The Union)

edited to reflect developments which occurred (Camaraderie at Arms Length), Monday, 20 September 2021 22:31 (two years ago) link

I'm trying to calculate age and location probabilities for hearing Crazy in Love for the first time in 2021. I have 8, Papua New Guinea or 72, Idaho.

I did see the video at the time, but never made it to the end till now. I haven't trusted her since she turned Destiny's Child to a trio.

What if I told you this song … did come out in 1982

Oh I hear the Clash in it now, must have been subconscious. Another I - V - IV progression, too, which I criticized in the Robyn song, and then realized is also in "Waterloo Sunset", my poll choice! (hypocrisy)

Sometimes I can listen to a song over and over for hours on end

I have a rule never to listen to a song more than once a day (unless I'm learning to play it, or practicing it); I don't want to have a song I like "go dead" on me.

Halfway there but for you, Tuesday, 21 September 2021 01:11 (two years ago) link

Is the going dead related to semantic satiation?

I, the Jukebox Jury (James Redd and the Blecchs), Tuesday, 21 September 2021 01:13 (two years ago) link

Looks like it. I remember the phrase from film critic/teacher Robin Wood, talking about Hitchcock's films.

Halfway there but for you, Tuesday, 21 September 2021 01:53 (two years ago) link

Waterloo Sunset is one of those songs that's special to me not because I want to listen to it all the time or on repeat, but because it captures a particular mood that I have felt often and there's nothing else that quite captures that particular nuance of feeling and POV for me. When you want to listen to Waterloo Sunset there are no substitutes, and if Waterloo Sunset didn't exist, there would be a big empty space where it's supposed to be.

Lily Dale, Tuesday, 21 September 2021 02:10 (two years ago) link

That perfect balance of loneliness and beauty; the way you can feel that the singer both is and isn't lying to himself when he says he doesn't need anything but this.
There's genuine awe and wonder in it, and a real joy in being an observer, and yet you never lose the knowledge that all this beauty is born out of loneliness and that loneliness will be waiting again when the moment is over.

Lily Dale, Tuesday, 21 September 2021 02:21 (two years ago) link

I did see the video at the time, but never made it to the end till now. I haven't trusted her since she turned Destiny's Child to a trio.

this is incredible

, Tuesday, 21 September 2021 02:28 (two years ago) link

lol

So who you gonna call? The martini police (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 21 September 2021 02:32 (two years ago) link

For fellow Apple Music users: https://music.apple.com/ca/playlist/rolling-stone-500-greatest-songs/pl.u-DdANeoqIaa7PdR

The only error I've encountered on this playlist so far: the Merle Haggard/Willie Nelson cover of "Pancho & Lefty" is included in place of the original.

Les hommes de bonbons (cryptosicko), Tuesday, 21 September 2021 18:21 (two years ago) link

To be honest, that's probably the version people actually voted for/think of when they think of that song.

Precious, Grace, Hill & Beard LTD. (C. Grisso/McCain), Tuesday, 21 September 2021 18:30 (two years ago) link

Blasphemy

Indexed, Tuesday, 21 September 2021 18:57 (two years ago) link

Feel free to clog this thread with fantasy ballots.

OK – I'm gonna do it (timing it after hours, for minimal annoyance).

These are in no particular order; I just listed til I hit 50, then made a few swaps. It's purely personal faves – songs that are close to my heart, for whatever reason – and not going for objective/historical significance. (The list probably has some "recency bias" – 2 songs from this year! – but I think that's OK)

I Missed the Point - Neko Case
Push It - Salt-N-Pepa
Match Made Up in Heaven - Jill
You Dropped a Bomb on Me - Gap Band
Tumbling Dice - Rolling Stones
Start Me Up - Rolling Stones
Loretta's Scars - Pavement
Found a Job - Talking Heads
Man, I Feel Like a Woman - Shania Twain
Give Him a Great Big Kiss - Shangri-Las
Out in the Streets - Shangri-Las
When U Were Mine - Prince
She Makes Me Shake Like a Soul Machine - Unrest
Shivers - Boys Next Door
Mamma Mia - ABBA
The Drum - Slapp Happy + all covers (Bongwater, Impossibles, Love and Hates)
Louisiana Woman, Mississippi Man - Loretta Lynn & Conway Twitty
Break Free - Ariana Grande ft. Zedd
NASA - Ariana Grande
She's Your Lover Now - Bob Dylan
Plekhanov - Red Crayola w/Art & Language
A Portrait of V.I. Lenin in the Style of Jackson Pollock, Part 1 - Red Crayola w/Art & Language
The United States vs. One 1974 Cadillac El Dorado Sedan - Royal Trux
Green Limousine - Howling Hex
Into the Groove - Madonna
Is It True - Brenda Lee
Look in My Diary - Reparata and the Delrons
Trash - New York Dolls
Tossin' and Turnin' - Bobby Lewis
Father Figure - George Michael
Don't Change - INXS
The Great Pretender - Platters
Nanou2 - Aphex Twin
Good 4 U - Olivia Rodrigo
Watch - Billie Eilish
Shine a Light - Wolf Parade
Breakin' Down the Walls of Heartache - The Bandwagon
When It All Comes Down - Miaow
L.A. Mist - The Sharp Ease
Part of Your World - Jodi Benson (Little Mermaid soundtrack)
What Goes On - Velvet Underground
Rare - Selena Gomez
Garden - The Fall
Ten Years Gone - Led Zeppelin
Band of Gold - Freda Payne
Wish You Were Here - Pink Floyd
These Are Days - 10,000 Maniacs
Chris Michaels - Fiery Furnaces
Centerfold - J. Geils Band
Law Man - Jefferson Airplane

juristic person (morrisp), Wednesday, 22 September 2021 05:46 (two years ago) link

(oh, it's just one from this year... OK, I feel better, lol)

juristic person (morrisp), Wednesday, 22 September 2021 05:48 (two years ago) link

Here’s a top 10 ballot I whipped up with a few days ago

Al Green - Love and Happiness
Beach Boys - God Only Knows
Donna Summer - I Feel Love
Glenn Campbell - Wichita Lineman
Stevie Wonder - Superstition
Fela Kuti - Zombie
Nina Simone - Sinnerman
Kate Bush - Cloudbusting
Deee-Lite - Groove is in the Heart
Talk Talk - New Grass

Chris L, Wednesday, 22 September 2021 06:35 (two years ago) link

I've got 40 or so and am just deciding what 10 will round it out.

i carry the torch for disco inauthenticity (Eric H.), Wednesday, 22 September 2021 12:45 (two years ago) link

That’s a pretty good top 10

✖✖✖ (Moka), Wednesday, 22 September 2021 13:51 (two years ago) link

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 Kiss
Sly and the Family Stone - Family Affair
Steely Dan - King of the World
Willie Nelson - One Day at a Time
Ernie (from Sesame Street) - I Don't Want to Live on the Moon
Laura Nyro - Up On the Roof
The Incredible String Band - Maya
Arthur Russell - That's Us/Wild Combination
Tracy Chapman - Fast Car
Primitive Radio Gods - Standing Outside a Broken Phone Booth With Money in My Hand
Grateful Dead - Dark Star
Sheryl Crow - If It Makes You Happy
OMD - Souvenir
Joni Mitchell - The Hissing of Summer Lawns
Milton Nascimento - Ponta De Areia
Seal - Kiss From a Rose
The Smiths - Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now
Dolly Parton - Down From Dover
Belle and Sebastian - The Model
Tommy James & The Shondells - Crystal Blue Persuasion
Jimmy Webb - Met Her on a Plane
Cocteau Twins - Lorelei
Broadcast - Corporeal
Yo La Tengo - Let's Save Tony Orlando's House
Prefab Sprout - The Sound of Crying
Sandy Denny - No End
Bob Marley & The Wailers - No Woman, No Cry
The Beatles - Dear Prudence
The Temptations - My Girl
OMC - How Bizarre
Prince - Adore
Moondog - Do Your Thing
Richard & Linda Thompson - I Want To See the Bright Lights Tonight
Gal Costa - Baby
Bruce Springsteen - Tougher Than the Rest
Joanna Newsom - Esme
Hatfield & the North - Son Of 'There's No Place Like Homerton'
Scott Walker - Joe
Gong - Love Is How Y Make It
Van Morrison - Snow In San Anselmo
The Cosmic Rays w/Sun Ra - Dreaming
The Rolling Stones - Dead Flowers
Al Green - Funny How Time Slips Away
Rufus Wainwright - Greek Song
Carly Rae Jepsen - Warm Blood
Yes - Starship Trooper
Randy Newman - Living Without You
Kraftwerk - Computer Love
Hüsker Dü - Flexible Flyer
Björk - Hyperballad

J. Sam, Wednesday, 22 September 2021 20:40 (two years ago) link


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