Top 10 Songs: A Challenge

Inspired by this guy who decided to put up a poll to discover the top 10 "iconic" songs of Rock and Roll, I've decided to try to come up with my top 10 favorite songs of all time. This will be a huge challenge, probably won't work, will be completely arbitrary; I'll probably leave off some really good songs that I'll get mad later that I didn't include. In fact, the list could be completely different tomorrow. But for now, let's try to get through this. Perhaps it will spark some debate.


First, the criteria:


I enjoy songs that move me. Not necessarily songs that make me want to dance (though that often helps), but songs that have a fantastic rhythm, or songs that have a fantastic mood, or even songs that have a fantastic lyric. So it has to be a song that I enjoy on many different levels. There are plenty of songs that I really enjoy, but often for only one or 2 reasons: they make we want to dance, they make me want to play air guitar, they make me want to play real guitar, they make me want to laugh or cry, they make me nostalgic, they make me want to do something like run away and start a new life in New York, or propose marriage to a beautiful girl, or travel the world and never stay in one place more than a week. Songs can inspire many, many different feelings. Most of the songs on my list will inspire lots of feelings. Some won't, and in those cases, if they made the list despite inspiring only 1 or 2 emotions, you can be sure that those are powerful songs.


Musically, it has to be a beautiful, well-written song. You may disagree when I go with a song that has 4 chords, 3 verses and a chorus, but so be it. Sometimes simple is much more beautiful and well-done than over-the-top, complex, multi-level songs. But I'm sure there will be some of those too.


Influence: I will weigh heavily a song's (or, in some cases more accurately, a band's) influence upon an era, later musicians, and society as a whole. This will be nowhere more evident than in my first choice.


Intangibles: there are some songs that I probably won't be able to explain. We'll call them the Derek Jeter songs: they're very good and deserve a place in the top tier, but are still completely overrated for reasons that remain a mystery. Or maybe it's just because they've hooked up with Mariah Carey, Jessica Alba, Jessica Biel, and numerous other hot, famous celebrities.


Finally, the last disclaimer: I reserve the right to break any and all rules at any time. What's Rock and Roll without breaking the rules?*


*And yes, I'm aware how pre-packaged and cheesy that line is. Doesn't that show us how far we've come from Rock and Roll being this revolutionary, rebellious force that destroyed all pre-conceived notions about race, music, society, morals... to simply a way for schmucks like Nickelback, Rihanna and that guy who wrote that country song about putting a boot up someone's ass (what's his name? God, he's awful) to make money and sedate our country's youth until they have no real idea about what music is?**


**And if I sound cynical, just come with me when I teach 6th grade.


On with the list:


1. "Smells Like Teen Spirit," Nirvana -- Well, you knew it was gonna be on here somewhere right? So let's just get it out of the way.


There is still a debate raging among people who were alive and cognitive when Nirvana burned brightly for a few years, then burned out. The debate is between those who believe Nirvana was the destructive, creative force that brushed aside the schlock of the hair bands and ushered in our current state of rock, or whether it would have happened without them, or if Pearl Jam should get that credit. The folks with the latter argument claim that if Eddie Vedder had killed himself instead of Kurt Cobain, P. Jam would get the attention Nirvana now does. There may be some truth to this.


The way I remember it, though, was "Teen Spirit" was overwhelming. It was everywhere. Everyone liked it. Hard rockers, teeny boppers, whoever. It was all over MTV (you know, back when they still played videos). You couldn't escape it. Pearl Jam on the other hand, was not the massive force Nirvana was. Sure, they were huge. "Jeremy" was probably a better video, and nearly as good a song as "Teen Spirit", and they deserve a lot of credit for putting us all in a flannel-wearing, shoe-staring funk, but Nirvana possessed something more.

It's like this: Nirvana was the crazy, hot, wild party girl who EVERYONE wants to be with, but after her 20s is burned out, used up, possibly OD'ed on drugs and noone wants to settle down with. Sure, she'll teach you a few things, but in the end, she'll probably end up hurting you and leaving you for some guy with tattoos who plays in a Poison cover band. Pearl Jam, on the other hand, was her cute friend who is consistently attractive, but never wildly hot. Until you hit your 30s and suddenly, you realize she's exactly what you want because even though she was at the same parties, she doesn't have all the mileage and baggage of the crazy girl. Even that metaphor doesn't get it quite right.


I don't want to spend all my time on this. Suffice it say, I can still hear the beginning of "Teen Spirit" and get fired up. It's a classic song, and will always define my generation.


2. "Nuthin' But a G Thang", Dr. Dre -- Ah, and quickly on the heels of the grunge movement, came this classic which introduced the world to real rap. Looking back on my youth, if I had to pick 2 songs to define it, these 2 are the ones I would go with. This song was unstoppable. Like "Teen Spirit", it represented an underground (or at least, not largely recognized) musical movement that finally broke through to massive popularity. Sure, we'd had "Rapper's Delight", and Run DMC, and even the Beastie Boys, but "G Thang" was it. Again, everyone knew it. Even rockers had to respect it. And you can't turn it off if it comes on. Go ahead, try. You can't do it.


3. "Folsom Prison Blues," Johnny Cash -- So now that we've gotten those 2 out of the way, we can get to some of my more personal selections. Many people would not put Cash in their top 10 rock artists. For me, he's in my top 5. The man is essentially American. His songs are classic: simple, quick, everything a rock song should be. This one represents Cash the best, to me, but you could really choose any of about 15 songs to call his "best."

4. "Ball and Chain," Social Distortion -- my first selection that's probably not well-known. To me, this song is quite possibly the perfect Rock and Roll song. It's a great blend of honky-tonk, blues, and punk. It works as a rock song with electric guitars, a great solo, and yelled choruses, and it works as a stripped-down, honky-tonk, old-school-country acoustic song. The lyrics are nothing short of majestic, powerfully matched with the bluesy feel of the music. I could go on and on, but I'll spare you.

5. "Lily, Rosemary, and the Jack of Hearts," Bob Dylan -- You could pick any number of Dylan songs. This just happens to be my favorite. It's nearly 9 minutes long, has no chorus, and no bridge. I have no clue what it's about, but I love listening to it. The man may not be able to sing worth a damn, but I love to listen to his poetry.


6. "Train in Vain," The Clash -- I love the Clash. This is probably my favorite of theirs, but if you wanted "Rock the Casbah," or "Should I Stay or Should I Go," or even "London Calling," I wouldn't argue. As an album, "London Calling" might be the most complete, unified, influential, perfect album of all time. "Train in Vain" was a originally a hidden bonus track. That should tell you how good that album is.

7. "What I Got," Sublime -- Probably some controversy here. Sublime is recognized as neither influential, immensely popular, nor as particularly good musically. And yet, in the late 90s, after they were gone, I listened to them non-stop. Maybe it was all that pot I smoked* or maybe it was just that everything on the radio then was crap. Whatever it was, Sublime has played a huge role in defining my personal musical tastes. I couldn't leave them out.

*A joke. Hi Mom!

8. "Sheena is a Punk Rocker," The Ramones -- I had a lot of trouble coming up with #8: With only 3 spots left, where do I go from here? Well, I love the Ramones. To me, they're punk rock more than those poser, British, "we're a-holes just to be a-holes" The Sex Pistols. The Ramones brought Rock and Roll back to what it was supposed to be. I once read somewhere that in a time when over-produced stadium rock was king, The Ramones did the opposite: they said what they needed to say, and got out. That's it. Their songs were simple, quick, and loud. But that's all they needed to be. Sometimes 3 chords, 3 verses and a chorus are all you need. No flashy guitar solos, no huge, over-designed massive rock opera shows; just 4 guys with instruments, buzz-sawing through power chords, banging on the drums, and yelling at you. What can be better than that?

9. "Can't Get Enough of Your Love, Babe," Barry White -- I could have easily gone with "Let's Get it On" or "Got to Give it Up (Part 1)" by Marvin Gaye, and tomorrow, I'll probably kick myself for not doing it. Marvin Gaye had some kinda way about him. And a helluva voice. The man made ladies knees buckle. How can you not respect that? But for me, this Barry White song was my first introduction to smooth R&B (or maybe you could call it "babymaking music"), and it's been one of my favorites ever since.

10. "Could You Be Loved," Bob Marley -- And what list would be complete without Bob? Most people would probably go with "No Woman, No Cry" or "Redemption Song". Certainly those are the most well-known, and even the one I've chosen is probably too well-known. His more obscure songs are undoubtedly better than those you'll find on "Legend," but really, any Bob Marley is good Bob Marley. His music is still loved all over the world. To put it another way -- and to quote one of my favorite shows -- the character Michael from "LOST", upon hearing someone sing Marley, and then ask him whether he likes Marley, says, "Man, who doesn't like Bob Marley?"

And there you have it. My attempt at a top-10 list. It is probably skewed heavily toward the last 30 years, or roughly my lifetime, but so be it. What's interesting, though, is that there's not a song from the last 15 years on it. I could probably have listed any of the music I currently listen to, and I would give an honorable mention to "Mahgeetah," by My Morning Jacket as well as a few others from the past few years.*

Another interesting note is that I have only just over half (6) of these 10 songs on my iPod currently. In fact, the first 2 songs are NOT on my iPod or in any rotation of music I listen to.

*In fact, I couldn't resist a quick list of Honorable Mentions (strictly from the last few years):
The Avett Brothers
The Arcade Fire
Bon Iver
"Eurotrash Girl," Cracker
Josh Ritter
Radiohead
The Shins

For most of them, I couldn't pick one song, because either a) they didn't have a definitive "hit", or b) they have so many that are good, I simply couldn't pick one and be happy about it to represent them.

So there's my list. I can't believe I just spent almost 2 hours putting this together. But rip it apart, agree, criticize, adjust, whatever. It's fun.