Acclaimed Music Top 5000 Songs

axolotl said:
Ladies and germs!

Before Zeeba posts the top 25, which might be very soon, I ask that you post songs that you think or believe will be in the Top 25 Songs of All Time. You can post any # of them (up to 25). You do not have to place them in order or try to pick where it appears on the list (unless you are a Type A person, or alternatively a person from Taipei), but you must name the artist and the name of the song, at least. You do not have to give the year.

I ask (but do not demand) that you not cull through the entire list of songs 6000 to 151, though you can re-review the top of the list (151 to 26) if you like.

Just name a song or songs that you believe is/are likely to appear in the Top 25. Feel free to be wrong. I do it often. It's due to my medications.

My (easy-peazy) picks:

"Stairway to Heaven" by Led Zeppelin
"Free Bird "by Lynyrd Skynyrd
"Smoke on the Water" by Deep Purple

Finally, let's all gather around the village well, hold hands, and say thanks to Zeeba for pulling this thread together and for putting usthis on. :cheer:
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#1 Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer
 
Thanks Axo,

I’m listening now but will hold off posting top 25 until tomorrow. Fun exercise - my wife (who has been listening along since 500) and I spend lunch today doing the very same thing - guessing top 25 songs

I will say, re: some of your picks: we have seen both “Freebird” (#275) and “Smoke on the Water (“171”) already.
 
Zeeba Neighba said:
Thanks Axo,

I’m listening now but will hold off posting top 25 until tomorrow. Fun exercise - my wife (who has been listening along since 500) and I spend lunch today doing the very same thing - guessing top 25 songs

I will say, re: some of your picks: we have seen both “Freebird” (#275) and “Smoke on the Water (“171”) already.
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I never said I was particularly good at this. :thumbsup:
 
Last lap:
25) "God Save the Queen" by Sex Pistols (1977)
24) "The Message" by Grand Master Flash & The Furious Five (1982)
23) "Imagine" by John Lennon (1971)
22) "(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay" by Otis Redding (1968)
21) "Stairway to Heaven" by Led Zeppelin (1971)
20) "God Only Knows" by The Beach Boys (1966)
19) "London Calling" by The Clash (1979)
18) "Billie Jean" by Michael Jackson (1982)
17) "Heartbreak Hotel" by Elvis Presley (1956)
16) "Strawberry Fields Forever" by The Beatles (1967)
15) "Anarchy in the U.K." by Sex Pistols (1976)
14) "Sympathy For the Devil" by The Rolling Stones (1968)
13) "Born to Run" by Bruce Springsteen (1975)
12) "Love Will Tear Us Apart" by Joy Division (1980)
11) "Respect" by Aretha Franklin (1967)

Gotta say haven't had the Sex Pistols in so long I completely forgot about the huge anarchic punk hits. To me they've always been more important than good, but certainly understand both so high.
"Stairway to Heaven" just outside the top 20 - it's the song that would be #1 almost every year in the 1027 song countdown that WNEW in New York (102.7 FM) would put on in my youth (I still remember the shocking year that "Layla" came in #1)
As I've said before the real surprises were between 101-200. Most of these were expected - would I have put "Billie Jean" this high personally and above some Prince Songs? Would I have put "Sympathy for the Devil" above "Jumpin Jack Flash" and "Gimme Shelter"? No to both but not surprised.

Top Ten soon...ooooh
 
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Top 10:
10) "My Generation" by The Who (1965)
9) "What's Going On" by Marvin Gaye (1971)
8) "I Heard It Through The Grapevine" by Marvin Gaye (1971)
7) "Be My Baby" by The Ronettes (1963)
6) "Johnny B. Goode" by Chuck Berry (1958)
5) "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" by The Rolling Stones (1965)
4) "Good Vibrations" by The Beach Boys (1966)

Actually a few surprises here. Sure had I realized "Be My Baby" and "Grapevine" hadn't been picked, I wouldn't be surprised - of course they're great. But jeez we haven't seen Marvin since "Let's Get It On" at #291. I expected "What's Going On" but forgot about "Grapevine" and, as wonderful as that song is, it would be a bit lower down for me

"Be My Baby" was also unexpected because it's such a deceptively simple pop song. I'm a big fan of countdowns and have never seen it in the top ten, but then I though - Why not?! It's 2 min 41 sec of pop goodness, epitomizes the "girl group" era of the early 1960s - a wonderful subgenre of rock/pop, it is a prime example of Phil Spector's Wall of Sound and influenced the studio experimentation of the Beatles and The Beach Boys (see #4 "Good Vibrations"), and it's kick-kick-kick-snare opening pattern has been borrowed by a number of artists in their songs. See article:
https://music.avclub.com/kick-kick-kick-snare-repeat-15-songs-that-borrow-the-1798240471
So the more I think of it, the more I love it's placement

Other than those two surprises, all the other picks are pretty iconic: "Satisfaction", "Johnny B. Goode", "My Generation" obvious choices
 
Top Three, Baby!

NUMBER THREE:
"A Day in the Life" by The Beatles

As you'll see, one really can't argue about the greatness, influence, or popularity of the final three.
For me, though, if I were composing a personal list - and one day I'll get to it - this would be my #1 song. It's a perfect song, wonderfully imagery, great structure, and represented not only a wonderful time when the Beatles were a unified creative force, but a time where studio wizardry and song development was at an all time high

NUMBER TWO:
"Smells Like Teen Spirit" by Nirvana

Oh sure, Nirvana fans hate the crossover success and will name ten Nirvana songs (at least) the like better. Still, this was an adrenaline injection when it appeared on the airwaves the same way that "Purple Haze" or "Anarchy in the UK" was (more so BECAUSE it was so popular). Like or hate the directions it sent studios and musicians to try to imitate its popularity, one can't deny it's importance. Personally I have always loved the song. It was gonna always be in the top 10 - would I put it two ahead of "Satisfaction" or "A Day in the Live" - maybe not, but probably keep in the top five

NUMBER ONE:
"Like A Rolling Stone" by Bob Dylan

Again, paying attention to the top 25, this had to appear up there. Doesn't have the obvious rock and roll chutzpah of a "My Generation", Satisfaction" or "Teen Spirit". Nor the technical wizardry of "A Day in the Life" or "Good Vibrations". But it's certainly epic in its own way and bolder than anything Dylan had been done up to that point and indeed bolder LYRICALLY than anything before 1965. Yes when the Beatles were writing "Help", Dylan was wordsmithing "Once upon a time you dressed so fine/You threw the bums a dime in your prime". And the assonance and cadence in "Miss Lonely but you know you only used to get juiced in it" is incredible. Themes of disillusionment and resentment. And other artists were listening and then crafting their songs with greater depth. From Wiki:
Dylan's contemporaries in 1965 were both startled and challenged by the single. Paul McCartney remembered going around to John Lennon's house in Weybridge to hear the song. According to McCartney, "It seemed to go on and on forever. It was just beautiful ... He showed all of us that it was possible to go a little further."[72] Frank Zappa had a more extreme reaction: "When I heard 'Like a Rolling Stone', I wanted to quit the music business, because I felt: 'If this wins and it does what it's supposed to do, I don't need to do anything else ...' But it didn't do anything. It sold but nobody responded to it in the way that they should have."[72] Nearly forty years later, in 2003, Elvis Costellocommented on the innovative quality of the single. "What a shocking thing to live in a world where there was Manfred Mann and the Supremes and Engelbert Humperdinck and here comes 'Like a Rolling Stone'".[73]
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Unlike his musical peers, it really took me years to appreciate Bob Dylan, and certainly I haven't followed him in the many directions he would go (Born again Christian, Sinatra covers) but after one gets through the whiny voice and the weirdness (what was with the Nobel Prize reaction - just take the award, Bob) and the inconsistency live (his concert was one of the worst I've ever been at, thank God there is evidence he's done better shows in some CD releases), he's become an artist I turn to frequently (7th most listened to artist over the past 9 yrs) not to get fired up or cheered up but just for the songs, just to appreciate what music can be.

So, there it is. 6000 songs later I'm finished. Sure I could've done this quicker, but discovered a lot of great stuff and thought more about the stuff I already loved. Thanks for coming along for the ride. Sorry, as always, I talked too much - it's my way of showing my love for how music has developed, changed, and yet still moves us over these many years :)

And now....?
 
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