What are the 10 best songs in the history of rock'n'roll? I recently did an article on the 10 most influential songs in rock history, but this time I'm focusing strictly on how good the songs are...
Bono wrote this under a pseudonym. I don’t know another person on the entire planet would think One is the greatest rock song of all time. In fact, I’d go so far as to that say no one in their right mind would even consider it!
It's not a "dull and plodding ballad" and millions of people love it, or it wouldn't rank in the top ten of multiple polls.
You "don't know another person on earth" but you are wrong, as the polls I cited demonstrate. If it finished fourth, fifth and sixth in polls, obviously a bunch of people voted it first or second.
This is an amazing list of songs, music and memories from my time here on earth. I have always been a person who could listen to almost anything and tap my foot, or yell the lyrics (I can’t carry a tune) or dance to while cleaning the house, gardening or just sitting quietly. I have my father’s jazz, I listen to classical…..music is here to soothe the soul or rile us to action. Music is a gift from the universe.
McCartney wrote Eleanor Rigby, but Lennon and Harrison made some suggestions for lyrics.
Lennon wrote the parts of A Day in the Life that he sang. McCartney wrote and sang the middle part and had the idea for the orchestral connections and end that he and Martin conducted.
I'm so glad, Mike, that you included 'A Whiter Shade of Pale' in your list of 'The10 Best Songs in Rock History'. I have always loved it, and I think it works wonderfully both as a song and as a very impressive lyric in its own right. I will include the full text here in case any reader would like to read it in its entirety. It really is elusive, intriguing and quite mysterious - inviting, of course, the inevitable question: 'What on earth are the talking about?'
The comment box won't allow me to include the full lyrics, (I've tried a few times) but that verse alone is very impressive, so I'll just restack it as it is.
I fared much better with the restack. I got the full lyrics in, but it took a bit of patience and effort. But I enjoyed reading it again while I was doing so.
Describing Cat Stevens/Yusuf as “America’s most famous Muslim singer/songwriter” seems an odd way to describe a British artist. Perhaps better to say the “most famous Muslim singer/songwriter in America”?
All these are the songs of my life. I read it all from top to bottom. I've narrowed my personal list down to about 1500 top ten songs. Bonnie Rait has some masterful work but we could go back and forth naming names and you're the one who did the work here-- so I'll just say thanks for the memories...
I disagree that "Imagine" is anti-religion, if you look at it from a slightly different angle. Lennon is describing, more or less, a redeemed world where every person lives in harmony with his fellow man. This is remarkably close to being an actual description *of* heaven. And of course, in heaven, you might well imagine there is no heaven - since you're already there, you don't have to constantly compare the ruined world to an ideal!
"Imagine" is open to interpretation. To imagine there's no heaven is certainly "anti" orthodox christianity and Islam, and thus against the beliefs of around half the earth's human inhabitants.
A glaring omission is the song writing genius of Jimmy Webb: MacArthur Park; Up, Up and Away; By the Time I Get to Phoenix; Galveston; Wichita Lineman; etc.
Ballad of a thin man
I will add it, thanks.
“Dear God” - XTC
“Girlfriend” - Matthew Sweet
I had already added "Dear God."
I will add "Girlfriend" and credit you, thanks.
Bono wrote this under a pseudonym. I don’t know another person on the entire planet would think One is the greatest rock song of all time. In fact, I’d go so far as to that say no one in their right mind would even consider it!
Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, however badly and insultingly stated, but many people disagree with you:
"One" was ranked fourth on Blender's "The 500 Greatest Songs Since You Were Born" in 2005.
Q Magazine readers voted "One" the fifth-greatest song in history in 2006.
"One" is sixth in Ranker's public poll of the best rock songs. So the public loves "One."
Axl Rose told RIP Magazine, "I think their song 'One' is one of the greatest songs ever written."
VH1 ranked "One" second on its list of "Greatest Songs of the 90s."
"One" is included in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's "Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll."
"One" appeared in "1001 Songs: The Great Songs of All Time".
I don't feel any way.
I'm not a child and I always consider the source.
It's not a "dull and plodding ballad" and millions of people love it, or it wouldn't rank in the top ten of multiple polls.
You "don't know another person on earth" but you are wrong, as the polls I cited demonstrate. If it finished fourth, fifth and sixth in polls, obviously a bunch of people voted it first or second.
This is an amazing list of songs, music and memories from my time here on earth. I have always been a person who could listen to almost anything and tap my foot, or yell the lyrics (I can’t carry a tune) or dance to while cleaning the house, gardening or just sitting quietly. I have my father’s jazz, I listen to classical…..music is here to soothe the soul or rile us to action. Music is a gift from the universe.
Yes, music soothes the savage beasts, in us!
I have had 74 poems set to music, including a good number of classical pieces, even three operas.
I can live without at least 7 of the top 10.
McCartney wrote Eleanor Rigby, but Lennon and Harrison made some suggestions for lyrics.
Lennon wrote the parts of A Day in the Life that he sang. McCartney wrote and sang the middle part and had the idea for the orchestral connections and end that he and Martin conducted.
Thanks for the info.
Such great songs!
And I'm not a Beatles fan, per se.
I thought their first 66 singles, A&B sides, were iffy, and I think Lennon agreed about a lot of them.
A fabulously impossible topic. Not a single person in this world will agree. I’ll just throw in There She Goes by The La’s.
I might have missed something. Was there no mention of The Band?
The Band is mentioned for two songs, noted below, but it's a big page and easy to miss things.
Yes, “The Weight” and “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down” were mentioned.
Two great songs. I should mention Ronnie Hawkins too.
I'm so glad, Mike, that you included 'A Whiter Shade of Pale' in your list of 'The10 Best Songs in Rock History'. I have always loved it, and I think it works wonderfully both as a song and as a very impressive lyric in its own right. I will include the full text here in case any reader would like to read it in its entirety. It really is elusive, intriguing and quite mysterious - inviting, of course, the inevitable question: 'What on earth are the talking about?'
A Whiter Shade of Pale
Songwriters: Keith Reid / Gary Brooker
We skipped the light fandango
Turned some cartwheels across the floor
I was feeling kind of seasick
When the crowd called out for more
The room was humming harder
And the ceiling flew away
When I called out for another drink
The waiter brought a tray
And so it was later
When the miller told this tale
That her face at first just ghostly
Turned a whiter shade of pale
She said, "There is no reason
And the truth is plain to see"
That I wandered through my playing cards
And could not let her be, no
One of 16 vestal virgins
Who was leaving for the coast
And although my eyes were open
They might just as well have been closed
And so it was later
When the miller told this tale
He said that her face at first just ghostly
And then turned a whiter shade of pale
And so it was later
When the miller told this tale
He said that her face at first just ghostly
Then turned a whiter shade of pale
Oh, just a whiter shade of pale
Then turned a whiter shade of pale
Yes, great lyrics, great music, and an eerie vibe!
The comment box won't allow me to include the full lyrics, (I've tried a few times) but that verse alone is very impressive, so I'll just restack it as it is.
Yes, the verses you have should whet appetites.
I fared much better with the restack. I got the full lyrics in, but it took a bit of patience and effort. But I enjoyed reading it again while I was doing so.
Jeff Buckley too!
Who mentions Badfinger anymore, you do, nice!
I’m really happy Michael, you always surprise me, this is golden.
I'm glad you liked it!
Describing Cat Stevens/Yusuf as “America’s most famous Muslim singer/songwriter” seems an odd way to describe a British artist. Perhaps better to say the “most famous Muslim singer/songwriter in America”?
Yes, will revise, thanks.
All these are the songs of my life. I read it all from top to bottom. I've narrowed my personal list down to about 1500 top ten songs. Bonnie Rait has some masterful work but we could go back and forth naming names and you're the one who did the work here-- so I'll just say thanks for the memories...
I'm a Bonnie Raitt fan, so I will add her, thanks, and credit you for the suggestion.
Thanks Michael
I disagree that "Imagine" is anti-religion, if you look at it from a slightly different angle. Lennon is describing, more or less, a redeemed world where every person lives in harmony with his fellow man. This is remarkably close to being an actual description *of* heaven. And of course, in heaven, you might well imagine there is no heaven - since you're already there, you don't have to constantly compare the ruined world to an ideal!
"Imagine" is open to interpretation. To imagine there's no heaven is certainly "anti" orthodox christianity and Islam, and thus against the beliefs of around half the earth's human inhabitants.
What! No mention of "Another Girl Another Planet". The Only Ones.
I'm afraid I will have to pass on that one.
Hopefully you were pulling my leg.
A glaring omission is the song writing genius of Jimmy Webb: MacArthur Park; Up, Up and Away; By the Time I Get to Phoenix; Galveston; Wichita Lineman; etc.
I will add Webb, thanks, although some might say MacArthur Park has the most overblown and stretched metaphors in the history of popular music!
Joni Mitchell anything from Blue
Would be great to expand to Jazz I love the Blue Note catalogue
I have added:
Big Yellow Taxi, California, A Case of You, Both Sides Now, Free Man in Paris, Woodstock and River