It's impossible to make a list of the top ten songs of all time, because in my opinion songs mean very different things at very different times. When in a tumultuous relationship, I don't want to hear Dolly Parton's "Jolene." When I'm sad, I don't want to hear Wannabee by the Spice Girls (OK, sometimes). I love Stairway to Heaven, but don't want to hear it more than once or twice a year. The radio has made me despise Hotel California, even though I know deep down it's a great song. For this list, I'm just picking ten songs, that I think are amazing. Songs that when I first hear them, I knew they'd stick with me forever. I'm in a somewhat odd point in my life. Been doing a lot of reflection lately, so there won't be any old school rap or heavy metal. Just songs that touched me at one time and are meaningful as I forge ahead in my life.
Fade Into You - Mazzy Star http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XucegAHZojc
This song is hauntingly beautiful. My favorite line is the very first line of the song. "I want to hold the hand inside you." The song for me is unnoticed love. It's someone opening up to someone who never let them in. We can all recognize that uncomfortable feeling, when you can't have the one you desire. Mazzy Star just says it better than we can
Dear God - XTC http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hk41Gbjljfo
This controversial song about the hypocrisy of faith in God has the most amazing lyrics and takes a logical shot at organized religion. The line that sticks out is " Did you make mankind after we made you?" the song then goes on to say how many times God is quoted in the bible, but cleverly points our that we wrote the book. It talks about famine and disease and how if there is a God, he is the one who has brought these horrors on. One of the more intellectual songs ever written, whether you agree or not.
Dead Beat Club - B 52's http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5KyhesAa-DA
The song is just a simple tale of late teens/early 20-somethings who don't have jobs and just hang out all day drinking coffee and talking about what they will do on any given evening. To me, the line " we'll dance in the garden in torn sheets in the rain," is a metaphor for their carefree lives, where nothing really matters. When I first heard this song, I was young and in love and despite having a full time job, nothing really mattered to me.
Where The Wild Roses Grow - Nick Cave & Kylie Minogue http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=chF244LWWqg
Quite possibly the most surprising story ever told. It starts out as this love song, where a man is courting a young woman who is a virgin. He stares at her, then he gives her a flower. On the third day he takes to the river, where the wild roses grow. The line that changes the whole outlook of the song is "And the last thing I heard was a muttering word, As he knelt (stood smiling) above me with a rock in his fist." It is so unbelievable that the first time I heard the song, I had to go back and play it about six or seven times. Nick Caves deep raspy voice, paired with Kylie Minogue's soft beautiful voice, is absolutely perfect.
If You're Feeling Sinister - Belle & Sebastian http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=obNIqksGYnQ&feature=related
My deer friend Brett turned me on to Belle & Sebastian while we worked at a sleep away camp. All the songs on the the album are great, but this song just stuck out. It's basically the contrast of someone's religious and actual beliefs. It's the inner conflict and contradictions that arise when one lives their life one way and not necessarily the biblical way. The saddest part of the song is that this conflict caused two people to end their lives. The classic line comes when telling about Hillary "She was into S&M and bible studies Not everyone's cup of tea she would admit to me." It's a funny and ironic line in a sad tale about living a life nobody understands.
Haunted - Sinead O' Connor and Shane McGowan http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C8oyxrrEk58
The single most beautiful voice of Sinead o'Connor paired with the raspy, drunken belting of Shane McGowan is perfect in telling this love story about two people, who fell in love and after all this time are still in love and "haunted by the ghost of you precious love." If I ever get married, this will be my wedding song (if I have a say).
Don't Give Up - Peter Gabriel & Kate Bush http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jzWkejAaz0g&feature=fvst
Rumor has it the song was written after Gabriel had watched a documentary about the Great Depression and the song is about unemployment and the woes that come from it. He had also suffered a nervous breakdown previous, so it's also a ballad about personal perseverance. Kate Bush's high pitched title lyrics, give a positive counter to Gabriel's despair. My favorite line is the final one where Bush sings "Don't give up, because there's a place. A place where we belong." Eternal hope!
When The Angels Sing - Social Distortion http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ul-l5-CmmoI
This is hands down one of my five favorite songs of all-time. although it may have personal meaning for Mike Ness, I feel it's a song about how if this life is as good as it gets, with all it's pitfalls, it doesn't matter as long as we'll all be together again in Heaven when it comes to and end. Ness sings "Sometimes I try so hard To understand The things you do." Questioning God for what he does to us on Earth, but later says " a little baby's born when the angels sing," showing his belief that it's all part of the cycle and the plan that God has for us. Despite my lack of religious beliefs, I think about my mother when this song plays and think, it might be nice to know we'll be together again and maybe God can explain why he does what he does.
Angels - Robbie Williams http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lUCdDzfEsF4
Rarely is an artists most popular song my favorite, but this is an exception. I've loved this song since the first time I ever heard it. I've song it on bus rides at camp. I've sung it in bars. I'm singing it right now. The line that always gets me is "when I’m feeling weak and my pain walks down a one way street,I look above and I know ill always be blessed with love ." Just a beautiful way of saying that when the chips are down, know you are always loved. Not always the easiest to to believe in, but a comforting outlook.
Oddly enough, despite my non-religious views, six of the nine songs have religious backgrounds. Some negative, some positive, but in the end, all the songs, to me, are beautiful.
Fade Into You - Mazzy Star http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XucegAHZojc
This song is hauntingly beautiful. My favorite line is the very first line of the song. "I want to hold the hand inside you." The song for me is unnoticed love. It's someone opening up to someone who never let them in. We can all recognize that uncomfortable feeling, when you can't have the one you desire. Mazzy Star just says it better than we can
Dear God - XTC http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hk41Gbjljfo
This controversial song about the hypocrisy of faith in God has the most amazing lyrics and takes a logical shot at organized religion. The line that sticks out is " Did you make mankind after we made you?" the song then goes on to say how many times God is quoted in the bible, but cleverly points our that we wrote the book. It talks about famine and disease and how if there is a God, he is the one who has brought these horrors on. One of the more intellectual songs ever written, whether you agree or not.
Dead Beat Club - B 52's http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5KyhesAa-DA
The song is just a simple tale of late teens/early 20-somethings who don't have jobs and just hang out all day drinking coffee and talking about what they will do on any given evening. To me, the line " we'll dance in the garden in torn sheets in the rain," is a metaphor for their carefree lives, where nothing really matters. When I first heard this song, I was young and in love and despite having a full time job, nothing really mattered to me.
Where The Wild Roses Grow - Nick Cave & Kylie Minogue http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=chF244LWWqg
Quite possibly the most surprising story ever told. It starts out as this love song, where a man is courting a young woman who is a virgin. He stares at her, then he gives her a flower. On the third day he takes to the river, where the wild roses grow. The line that changes the whole outlook of the song is "And the last thing I heard was a muttering word, As he knelt (stood smiling) above me with a rock in his fist." It is so unbelievable that the first time I heard the song, I had to go back and play it about six or seven times. Nick Caves deep raspy voice, paired with Kylie Minogue's soft beautiful voice, is absolutely perfect.
If You're Feeling Sinister - Belle & Sebastian http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=obNIqksGYnQ&feature=related
My deer friend Brett turned me on to Belle & Sebastian while we worked at a sleep away camp. All the songs on the the album are great, but this song just stuck out. It's basically the contrast of someone's religious and actual beliefs. It's the inner conflict and contradictions that arise when one lives their life one way and not necessarily the biblical way. The saddest part of the song is that this conflict caused two people to end their lives. The classic line comes when telling about Hillary "She was into S&M and bible studies Not everyone's cup of tea she would admit to me." It's a funny and ironic line in a sad tale about living a life nobody understands.
Haunted - Sinead O' Connor and Shane McGowan http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C8oyxrrEk58
The single most beautiful voice of Sinead o'Connor paired with the raspy, drunken belting of Shane McGowan is perfect in telling this love story about two people, who fell in love and after all this time are still in love and "haunted by the ghost of you precious love." If I ever get married, this will be my wedding song (if I have a say).
Don't Give Up - Peter Gabriel & Kate Bush http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jzWkejAaz0g&feature=fvst
Rumor has it the song was written after Gabriel had watched a documentary about the Great Depression and the song is about unemployment and the woes that come from it. He had also suffered a nervous breakdown previous, so it's also a ballad about personal perseverance. Kate Bush's high pitched title lyrics, give a positive counter to Gabriel's despair. My favorite line is the final one where Bush sings "Don't give up, because there's a place. A place where we belong." Eternal hope!
When The Angels Sing - Social Distortion http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ul-l5-CmmoI
This is hands down one of my five favorite songs of all-time. although it may have personal meaning for Mike Ness, I feel it's a song about how if this life is as good as it gets, with all it's pitfalls, it doesn't matter as long as we'll all be together again in Heaven when it comes to and end. Ness sings "Sometimes I try so hard To understand The things you do." Questioning God for what he does to us on Earth, but later says " a little baby's born when the angels sing," showing his belief that it's all part of the cycle and the plan that God has for us. Despite my lack of religious beliefs, I think about my mother when this song plays and think, it might be nice to know we'll be together again and maybe God can explain why he does what he does.
Angels - Robbie Williams http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lUCdDzfEsF4
Rarely is an artists most popular song my favorite, but this is an exception. I've loved this song since the first time I ever heard it. I've song it on bus rides at camp. I've sung it in bars. I'm singing it right now. The line that always gets me is "when I’m feeling weak and my pain walks down a one way street,I look above and I know ill always be blessed with love ." Just a beautiful way of saying that when the chips are down, know you are always loved. Not always the easiest to to believe in, but a comforting outlook.
Oddly enough, despite my non-religious views, six of the nine songs have religious backgrounds. Some negative, some positive, but in the end, all the songs, to me, are beautiful.
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