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50 best songs ever

rule: no two songs by the same artist. no order.


01. The Smiths, Rubber Ring
The perfect song to start this list with, only Morrissey could get away with lyrics like these. I pretty much hate any Smiths compilation (except 'Louder Than Bombs') because they always stick to 'Ask', 'Panic' and 'Girlfriend in a Coma', which I find three of their most uninteresting songs. 'Rubber Ring' and 'Barbarism Begins At Home' are much, much better.

02. Roxy Music, Every Dream Home A Heartache
Bryan Ferry crooning out lyrics about inflatable dolls just makes my heart swell up. When you say you like Roxy Music, people always automatically assume you liked the "cool" years, 'Virginia Plain' and all that stuff but I much prefer the white smoking jacket-era. This song scares the crap out of me, and "disposable darling" is the best alliteration ever. Nothing Bryan Ferry has done since sounds quite as pornographic as "my breath is inside you".

03. The Eagles, Hotel California
I can feel people looking away! Haha, I am deadly serious when I say I think this is one of the best songs ever written. It has it all, storytelling-lyrics, words you have to look up in the dictionary, it's very own urban legend and a "look mom! no hands!"-guitar solo. Plus, a white-boy-fro behind the drums.

04. Kirsty MacColl, Can't Stop Killing You
"He taught her how to pout and he taught her how to tease / And he taught her how to beg when she fell down to her knees" - I mean really. Kirsty MacColl is, in my book, the best female songwriter that ever lived and this song is such a great showcase of her wit and her spunky personality.

05. Al Green, How Can You Mend a Broken Heart
About 90 percent of my all-time favourite songs are about heartbreak and this song is a perfect example. I love how he sings "I can still feel the breeze".

06. Dillard and Clark, The Radio Song
Man, I grew up with heartache. The girl singing back-up, Donna Washburn, was Doug Dillard's girlfriend and in biographies everyone's always being very mean about her, that she was only there because she was sleeping with Doug, but, as much as I love Gene Clark, this song would not have been the same without her.

07. Bonnie Tyler, Total Eclipse of the Heart
My love of big hair and bad pop may have clouded my judgment, but this is a great-fucking-song. Power ballads sung by raspy-voiced ladies are always a big hit with me, but, gah. Bonnie! I'm embarrassed to admit the "I really need you tonight!" ranks as one of my favourite cries-of-desperation-in-pop-music ever.

08. Delays, Lost In A Melody
As much as I loved the summer-y pop of Faded Seaside Glamour, 'Lost in a Melody' absolutely blew me away: it steamrollers over you when you first hear it.

09. McAlmont & Butler, You Do
Seeing this performed live was one of the highlights of my teenage years, definitely. The 14-minute version on the album might be even better because David McAlmont goes off into these high-pitched squeals: you have to hear it to believe it.

10. Adam Green, Who's Your Boyfriend
As much as I love the songs about legless girls named Carolina, I love a song about psychiatrists and Post-it notes even more.

11. Bruce Springsteen, The River
It's a toss-up between 'I'm On Fire' and this, but I'm going to go with 'The River'. In the past years I've really come to admire Bruce for his storytelling, and there are very few lines in pop music more haunting than "No wedding day smiles / No walk down the aisle / No flowers / No wedding dress".

12. Tim Buckley, No Man Can Find the War
1967's Goodbye and Hello is one of most touching, but also one of the weirdest records ever made. It's like a renaissance-inspired concept album about knights and divorce. So fantastic. This is the opening track and I love how it opens with a bang, literally.

13. Shirley Bassey, (Where Do I Begin) Love Story
Only Ms. Bassey can get away with something as nauseatingly sappy as this. It almost makes me want to shell out 15 bucks for Love Story on DVD. Almost.

14. Japan, Adolescent Sex
That bass line is almost obscene and it's tragic how no one knows who Japan are. David Sylvian has one of the most interesting careers as a musician, starting out with sleazy glam rock and ending up with experimental fiddly electronic noises. Early Japan was like the musical equivalent of a prostitute in Eastern Berlin.

15. Imagination, Bodytalk
From their Wikipedia: The trio frequently appeared on Top of the Pops, and other pop music programmes, with a distinctive exotic style, reminiscent of Roman senators, harem orderlies and slaves. If that wasn't enough: this song is porn, basically.

16. dEUS, Sister Dew
Everybody and their mother knows about my unhealthy "appreciation" of Tom Barman (it's the way he picks the moment just before Bonnie and Clyde get riddled with bullets as the most romantic moment in film) but 'Sister Dew' has been one of my favourite songs since 1999. There's about.. six songs in my 50-best list that are sung from the point of view of a murderer, heh. Better than puppy love.

17. the Byrds, Here Without You
Again, I may be biased because Gene Clark wrote this, but this is one of my favourite Byrds-tracks. I love the alternative country they did on Sweetheart of the Rodeo (one of the best album names ever, by the way), but because of Gene they had some amazing love songs on their earlier records. I don't even like love songs that much (unless they're overly cheese-tastic), but I love the breathiness of this one.

18. Joy Division, Dead Souls
Nine Inch Nails-fans that try to justify their horrifying cover of this on the Crow-soundtrack.. I fucking hate Nine Inch Nails with a passion, and why cover a song that you know you're never going to top? I always say 'Love Will Tear Us Apart' is my favourite song, but, really, this is my favourite Joy Division-track. I still remember how excited 'Love Will Tear Us Apart' made me when I first heard it when I was 12, but this.. Ian Curtis saying "they keep calling me" is enough to give you nightmares.

19. Gladys Knight and the Pips, the Way We Were
I feel awful for disrespecting Babs, but the whole intro.. man, any song where the singer takes some time out to share their personal experience is great. I figure, if Elvis can do it, then darn right Gladys can do it too. The way she says "bright" is monumental.

20. Serge Gainsbourg, Ballade de Melody Nelson
"This is the story / Of Melody Nelson / Who apart from myself no one / Ever took in their arms", "She had love / Poor Melody Nelson / Yeah, she had tons of it / But her days were numbered / Fourteen autumns / and fifteen summers", "A little animal / That Melody Nelson / An adorable little girl / And such a delicious child / Who I only knew / For an instant" - Serge! You beast!

21. Fleetwood Mac, The Chain
Apart from a terrible fascination with tremendously-bad 80s pop, I've also had a soft spot for 70s excess for as long as I can remember. I only recently decided to give Rumours a listen again, after waking up three mornings in a row with 'Albatross' playing on the radio (I mean, really).

22. Talking Heads, Slippery People
Generally I think Talking Heads and Roxy Music are one of the very few artsy-fartsy art school bands that actually stood the test of time. Every musician starting out should see Stop Making Sense and learn from it. "Does anybody have any questions?"

23. The Veils, Wires to Flying Birds
I love how Finn Andrews takes his time to try and tell you a story but never really gets there, and he instead focuses on this amazing image of these birds.

24. Spandau Ballet, The Freeze
Spandau Ballet were definitely one of the best bands of the 80s, and Journeys to Glory was a fantastic debut. Like most 80s bands they kind of lost it after 1985, when they started wearing heavy black coats and started singing about barricades on huge stagesets. Still, this is a perfect slice of industrial-sounding pop.

25. Arcadia, The Flame
Just moments before all of Duran Duran went off their nut and before two of the Taylors left, all of the members went and did their mandatory side-projects. Nick Rhodes, Simon LeBon and Roger Taylor made an incredible pop record - it's impossible to pick a best song. Really, how can a record that Grace Jones contributes evil laughter to, not be fab?

26. Otis Redding, I've Been Loving You Too Long
One of those artists where the songs are so layered, they'll last you a lifetime - his live records almost sound better than the recordings.

27. Gene Clark, For A Spanish Guitar
Did you expect me to give it a rest? Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful.

28. Bobby Vinton, Mr. Lonely
About as emo as it gets. Forget about that horrendous R&B-version from a couple years ago, this is where it's at. "Letters / Never a letter / I get no letters / In the maaaaail". I'm not kidding when I say that line's moved me to tears. Numerous times.

29. Morrissey, Alsatian Cousin
When it comes to Morrissey-solo songs, this and 'November Spawned A Monster' are probably my favourites. "P.S. Bring Me Home And Have Me! / Leather elbows on a tweed coat / Oh, is that the best you can do? / So came his reply: / But on the desk is where I want you!" - what an absolutely excellent way of starting a record, the way Mozza rolls his 'r''s is divine.

30. Don McLean, Vincent
Hahaha, oh man. Seriously, this is probably the worst song ever written, which obviously makes it the best song ever written. It's especially "poignant" if you don't even like Vincent van Gogh (me and Vincent have a complicated relationship), and Don goes and sings "this world was never meant for one as beautiful as you". Right.

31. Mamas and the Papas, Twelve-Thirty
For every single lame ham sandwich-joke ever made, the Mamas and the Papas made a fantastically beautiful song. Mama Cass had an amazing voice and John Phillips was an excellent songwriter. It's a shame the ham sandwich-myth overshadows the songs these days, but pick up any best-of compilation and you'll be amazed.

32. Death in Vegas, Aisha
One of the very best songs about a serial killer - for a "dance" track, the lyrics are absolutely amazing. It took me years to figure out it was actually Iggy Pop singing the song, and ever since then I've not been able to think of him without hearing his voice going "Aisha, I'm viiibrating". Heh.

33. Supergrass, St. Petersburg
Supergrass are obviously most famous for 'Alright' and 'Pumping on your Stereo', but I by far prefer this song. Excuse my use of the word, but it's exquisite. Just perfect. The intro sounds like a slow choo-choo train moving through a snowy landscape. Bob Ross-worthy.

34. Teenage Fanclub, The Concept
This was the soundtrack to my summer of 2000. I love how sweet it sounds and how it's perfect for wailing along to at four A.M.

35. Adam and the Ants, Antmusic
It's always a bit sad to think of how many bands have tried to replicate the intro and failed miserably. I'd love to read a so-bad-it's-good bio on Adam and the Ants because I think it'd make for a fantastic read: going from a hardcore punk band to 80s pop? And the drug dependencies and illegal firearms..

36. Leonard Cohen, Famous Blue Raincoat
I desperately need a good Leonard Cohen record, because everyone seems to love this song but, sh'yeah, there's a reason for it. The imagery in this song - the blue raincoat torn at the shoulder, the gypsies, "my brother, my killer" - that stuff makes you notice the small things in everything. That morose voice saying, "Yes, and thanks, for the trouble you took from her eyes / I thought it was there for good so I never tried" just brings me to the floor.

37. Suede, The Big Time
Lonely housewives, sleeping pills, exhaust fumes and rainy London streets. Time and time again I've tried to explain why this song is my favourite Suede song ever - I could write books about this song that wouldn't make sense at all. It makes my little old heart swell up.

38. Craig Armstrong, Wake Up in New York
Again, a song I love for the imagery. I first heard this in a documentary on Judy Garland, when they played it over footage of people paying their last respects to her and it just made me so desperately sad. A gorgeous song, Evan Dando sounds so defeated, you can't help but let out a sniffle at "I'll meet you in New York / By the drugstore on First Avenue / And then we will lie down / With the buildings all around".

39. Claude Francois, Meme Si Tu Revenais
French-60s-gangster-pop at it's best. I'd hate to generalise and say that every song is immediately miles better when it contains French lyrics, but it's pretty much true (think of what Visage's 'Fade To Grey' would be like with the "dans une gare isolée.."). These days French Top 40 is pretty tragic (French rappers going on about "little white bags", how original) but there's nothing better than the sixties stuff about desolated mansions and wax dolls.

40. Duran Duran, Tel Aviv
Duran Duran's first album is one of the best albums ever made, I'm sure of it. The first side is perfect pop ('Careless Memories, 'Planet Earth'), and then on the other side there's sinister pop songs like 'Night Boat', 'Sound of Thunder', 'Friends of Mine' and - best of all - 'Tel Aviv'. A great rhythm-track, electronic beeps, synthesized violins and unintelligible wails. If they could've just left off 'Is There Something I Should Know'..

41. Ryan Adams, When The Stars Go Blue
So Ryan Adams is like the new messiah of alternative country - I never really liked him cos all these forty-year-old men were fangirling over him and I didn't see the point, but this song is gorgeous.

42. Scritti Politti, Absolute
White boy funk at its best, haha. The right mix between a good voice and just plain heavy breathing.. the heavy drums and synthesizer-beeps, the chorus of "oooh, and I love you".. love, love, love.

43. Strangelove, Ghost Haddock
Definitely the most romantic song ever written. Boy meets girl, boy and girl both want to shoot their parents, boy and girl fall in love, buy gun as a token of their love and get married, girl one day accidentally shoots herself, boys keeps girl's eyes in pocket to fondle when he gets nervous. Who says romance is dead?

44. Dolly Parton, Coat of Many Colours
What a great non-goth anthem for anyone who ever got the shit bullied out of them in school. Dolly is another one of the great storytelling-songwriters, and this is one of my favourites by her. I would love to see that documentary again that has Sam Taylor-Wood talking about Dolly.

45. Angelo Badalamenti, Theme From Twin Peaks
Can we even call this a song? Over the years this "song" has gotten stuck in my head for such long periods of time, it's insane. The soundtrack to the Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me-film is the scariest, most sinister record ever made.

46. U2, The Ocean
To think of how cool U2 used to be! Oh! Boy and War were such fantastic records, really pretty much up to Achtung Baby but then they pretty much lost it to stadium rock. Let's find solace in the fact that Coldplay's decline into monster rock only lasted one-and-a-half records.

47. Hope of the States, Me Ves Y Sufres
I'm glad Hope of the States weren't around when I was in high school, because I probably wouldn't have been able to bear it. The lyrics to this song are fucking incredible. The lyrics are so unforgiving. I'm so pleased for them their second album seems to be more upbeat, though.

48. Simon and Garfunkel, The Dangling Conversation
The summer my brother and I listened obsessively to good old Paul and Art, wasn't easy on my dad. The cheese got to him and every time we started up the record, he'd get this horrified look on his face, and right he was: "You read your Emily Dickinson / And I my Robert Frost" - is more pretentious than all of my LiveJournal put together.

49. Bob Dylan, The Hurricane
Hi, classic rock radio. But, seriously, this song is everything I look for - there's even stage directions in the song! For all the protest songs in the world, this is probably best because it sounds sincere; there's this quiet anger just jumps up at you from the speakers.

50. Dave, Vanina (Runaway)
Obviously the best song ever written. In the grand tradition of French-translations-of-big-English-hits, when you buy a "best of Dave", it's full of songs with the English title in brackets behind the French title. Every time I see Ally McBeal-episodes where the shrink tells her she needs a "theme song", I think to myself that this is my theme song. Because, really, who doesn't want to hear "Vanina, if you forget me, I will forever be alone on this earth". And then he goes off into a falsetto when he stretches out your name for about a minute. Wouter Levenbach, you fantastic man <3

50 second-best  »»»»


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