steinthal
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07:40:14 pm on January 14, 2008 | # |
My wife asked me an innocuous question last night, that ruined my commute both this morning and tonight! She asked, “name your 10 favorite songs”. I tried off the top of my head to rattle off 10 songs, and I could not stop at 10. We decided after a minute or so to stop the game… As I commuted into NYC this morning, I played with my 60 gig iPod for a few minutes, and gave some real thought to this question. For someone with over 20,000 songs in his library, picking 10 is next to impossible. So, I cheated and put 20 together in an e-mail to her (well, 25 if you count the 4 extras below and the fact that I had 2 songs numbered 8 on the list).
As I sent the list, I immediately doubted myself. Did I pick the right Nylon’s song (what about Up the Ladder to the Roof or Please?). For someone who loves Disney movies how come I don’t have any of their songs on the list? What about Barry White? U2? REM? What about Route 66 by almost anyone? What about the songs from Broadway that were on the list for a few minutes until being bumped by Squeeze and Prince, was that a good decision? And what about the songs I’ve just come to know and love by groups like Five for Fighting, KT Tunstall, and John Mayer? Or the songs from Hairspray? All of these songs dominate my iPod’s Top 25 Most Played playlist…. Well, this is clearly not a perfect science, but I decided that to make this list, the songs should be one that have stood the test of time. Maybe 10,000 Years, Black Horse and the Cherry Tree, or Come Back to Bed will make the cut in a few years, but then maybe not as For the Sake of the Call and Galileo aren’t getting the cycles they did a few years ago….
Okay here is top 20 in alphabetical order by artist…
1. A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum: Comedy Tonight – the perfect start to any list or any show
2. The Beatles: Across the Universe – so hard to pick one song, but this song is the one I pause and replay a few times on my iPod when it comes up on shuffle
3. Billy Joel: You’re My Home – so simple, so sappy
4. Bing Crosby: Swinging on a Star – gotta have Bing, and this is great even if Danny Aiello and Bruce Willis sing it
5 & 6. Bruce Springsteen: Rosalita & Thunder Road – two classics. I could not choose, so both.
7. Ella Fitzgerald: Night and Day – one of my favorite songs to sing or to hear. Really I could have picked anyone singing it, but Ella had to make the cut.
8. Elton John: Your Song – so simple, so sappy, part II
9. Eric Clapton: Layla (both versions, but I’m only counting as 1 song) – how can one song be so good twice
10 & 11. Frank Sinatra: Our Love Is Here to Stay & I Get a Kick Out of You – like Bruce, picking one Sinatra song is a joke. Here are two of 100. The former is probably the #1 song on this list. My 4 year old can sing Our Love Is Here to Stay. Enough said.
12. George Winston: Variations On the Kanon by Pachelbel – I love simply this song. Seeing it live was amazing.
13. Gladys Night and the Pips: Midnight Train to Georgia – just a classic
14. Godspell: By My Side – I remember seeing this in college, and I still can hear the song in my head
15. The Nylons: Romance (If I Can Get It) – a fun a cappella song. If the Georgetown Phantoms could be on this list (and as I proofread this, I’m wondering why they can’t!), I would pick the Devil Went Down to Georgia from Hmmm… Sounds Like Moose Country.
16. Prince & The Revolution: Let’s Go Crazy – pure fun.
17. Rent Soundrack: Seasons of Love – when I heard this, I did the math, now I just play it over-and-over
18. Squeeze: Pulling Mussels (From a Shell) – pure fun, part II.
19 & 20. Suzanne Vega: Marlene on the Wall & Queen and the Solder – I heard Suzanne Vega in the 80’s in NYC, and I still put these songs above many others.
21. The Who: Baba O’Reilly – nothing needs to be said on this one…Three more – I grew up singing these, and I love them regardless of the performer…
* Add a Riff – I had never heard a recording of this until my brother tipped me off that there was a version for sale on iTunes done by an all male group. I own this now. I still like the top two riffs being done by sopranos and altos, but this one is great.
* Carol of the Bells – any version works for me. If our old group got together from 20+ years ago, I’m sure I could still do the bass line.
* Lo How Our Rose Er Blooming – a fantastic madrigal that we sang back in the day, and I sang to our children as a lullaby when they were little.
