the best songs ever

[gabrielle]

[Galen]

(06-22-2016, 12:12 PM)gabrielle Wrote:

(06-22-2016, 02:39 AM)Galen Wrote:

(06-21-2016, 01:06 AM)gabrielle Wrote: Here's one from '76 I forgot:





Fond childhood memories.   (This was a favorite of my dad's)

Not so much after they played it 50,000 times on the radio.  Only one of the many reasons why the seventies are decade I could have done without.

I didn't really mind hearing it over and over because I liked  it.  There were other songs from the 70s that were played over and over that I couldn't stand, like this one:





And this one:

No argument about those either.

[Galen]

(06-22-2016, 04:14 PM)taramarie Wrote:

(06-22-2016, 04:07 PM)Eric the Green Wrote:

(06-22-2016, 04:04 PM)taramarie Wrote: I did not see that post to have any thought on that.

If you are not following the thread, why comment on it?

I am listening to the music and keeping mum on music i do not like because you see, that is my opinion so it is personal. I am not reading all the comments.

I have largely been doing that myself but I think it is useful to note when something was overdone at the time.  The Wreck of the Edmund  Fitzgerald was one of them.  I liked it until about the 25,000th time it was played on the radio.  No internet and only two radio stations and one of those was a country and western station.  This is not a condition that the youngsters would be familiar with but was quite common in any but the largest cities.

[gabrielle]

(06-23-2016, 02:14 AM)Galen Wrote:

(06-22-2016, 04:14 PM)taramarie Wrote:

(06-22-2016, 04:07 PM)Eric the Green Wrote:

(06-22-2016, 04:04 PM)taramarie Wrote: I did not see that post to have any thought on that.

If you are not following the thread, why comment on it?

I am listening to the music and keeping mum on music i do not like because you see, that is my opinion so it is personal. I am not reading all the comments.

I have largely been doing that myself but I think it is useful to note when something was overdone at the time.  The Wreck of the Edmund  Fitzgerald was one of them.  I liked it until about the 25,000th time it was played on the radio.  No internet and only two radio stations and one of those was a country and western station.  This is not a condition that the youngsters would be familiar with but was quite common in any but the largest cities.

I honestly don't really remember Edmund Fitzgerald being overplayed as much as you say, but I grew up in a larger midwestern city with quite a few radio stations, and my parents had their own music they listened to.  Generally when I heard Gordon Lightfoot it was when my dad was playing his records.  In later years, of course, that was the song I heard being played on the radio most often.  It was one of his most popular hits, but it is a really good song.

[gabrielle]

This is the Gordon Lightfoot song I remember being played most often on the radio those days.  It is OK, but I like EF better.

[Eric the Green]

(06-23-2016, 02:14 AM)Galen Wrote: [quote='taramarie' pid='3618' dateline='1466630091']

I have largely been doing that myself but I think it is useful to note when something was overdone at the time.  The Wreck of the Edmund  Fitzgerald was one of them.  I liked it until about the 25,000th time it was played on the radio.  No internet and only two radio stations and one of those was a country and western station.  This is not a condition that the youngsters would be familiar with but was quite common in any but the largest cities.

It was common everywhere; in cities large and small, for decades. The rock stations played the same group of songs too, and FM was not a big alternative.

The advantage of those days was that you learned the songs, and the titles and artists. They played a top 40 list that was fun to follow. Nowadays you have to go to you tube to learn anything. Announcers say virtually nothing, and there's no top 40 review, although some radio stations still play songs over and over. How many times did you hear Somebody That I Used to Know or Call Me Maybe in 2012? IF you listened to the pop stations? But stations became more specialized too starting in the 70s, so they didn't all play the same songs.

[Eric the Green]

The universal prayer





Amen.

[Eric the Green]

I don't know if Peter Townshend saw this documentary by his fellow Brit or not. But it meant a lot to me, and so it was appropriate that I saw this doc not long before Won't Get Fooled Again came out. The song could be another soundtrack for the doc. And the remarkable fact is that the first four notes of the theme of Beethoven's Leonore Overture (featured in the doc) are the same as those of The Who's 1971 song (with the third note repeated). "We are still the offspring of the romantic movement, and still victims of the fallacies of hope" says Kenneth Clark. Of course, The Who's song was also a follow up to John Lennon's well-known song "Revolution," the flip side of Hey Jude. But Peter Townshend took it farther to encompass the entire modern journey and the romantic movement, which surged again in the sixties. Nothing, except maybe this doc, brings revolution and all its dangers and delusions to life as well as this song, and the fact that violent revolution leads to war, but the synth theme is a picture of continuity and the lingering hope within our collective psyche for a movement that has not ended, and can't end until all its goals are accomplished. It's our destiny, despite the recurring cycle of revolt and failure. So I interpret the song positively; that as the new boss becomes the old boss, the movement moves on to the next higher stage, just like Hegel said. And all romantic music, including this song, is a variation on La Marseillaise. So well produced that it contains more music in it than any piece since those earlier romantic days, it's #1 on my rock list.

[Eric the Green]

OK, thanks Tara. And I am not saying much about what I dislike on this thread. Keeping it about the best.

[Eric the Green]

John Entwhistle's best. From Who's Next, 1971. Incredibly scenic. When performing, John's wife used to come out on stage and chase him. #18 on my rock list.





"My Wife"

My life's in jeopardy
Murdered in cold blood is what I'm gonna be
I ain't been home since Friday night
And now my wife is coming after me

Give me police protection
Gonna buy a gun so
I can look after number one
Give me a bodyguard
A back belt Judo expert with a machine gun

Gonna buy a tank and an aeroplane
When she catches up with me
Won't be no time to explain
She thinks I've been with another woman
And that's enough to send her half insane
Gonna buy a fast car
Put on my lead boots
And take a long, long drive
I may end up spending all my money
But I'll still be alive

All I did was have a bit too much to drink
And I picked the wrong precinct
Got picked up by the law
And now I ain't got time to think

Gonna buy a tank and an aeroplane
When she catches up with me
Won't be no time to explain
She thinks I've been with another woman
And that's enough to send her half insane
Gonna buy a fast car
Put on my lead boots
And take a long, long drive
I may end up spending all my money
But I'll still be alive

And I'm oh so tired of running
Gonna lay down on the floor
I gotta rest some time so
I can get to run some more

She's comin'!
She's comin'!

[gabrielle]

the album "Harvest" came out in 1972

[gabrielle]

[gabrielle]

Another from the same album, "Hunky Dory" 1971

[Ragnarök_62]

From 1980.

[Ragnarök_62]

Another goodie from 1980 - Neon Knights - Black Sabbath

[gabrielle]

Oh no, just when Eric was bringing us to the threshold of groovy enlightenment Rags brings us back to 1980!  Chaos reigns!

[Eric the Green]

Well, that's right gabrielle. But I guess we have to mention this one. It did make my top 400 list, though only at #352. But many folks agree; in fact, it was in the news today, because of a royalties suit claiming the opening riff was copied from "Taurus" by someone in the group Spirit (Led Zepp won the suit), and in the news report I heard someone cry "the best song ever." As late as 2011 it was voted the best song ever in a big survey. Nowadays, with young folks focused on Bruno Mars, Taylor Swift, Katy Perry, Justin Bieber, Adele, Miley Cyrus, etc., I don't know if a classic rock song like this one would still be #1. It depends on who votes, I guess. It gets well over 100 million you tube views (I'm not sure because videos get taken off; this one was and then was re-posted), but we know today's popular favorites can get over a billion. I wrote an article about this song, because it is supposed to be esoteric. And I found that like my Bach fave, it corresponds to chakras and tarot cards (there's even a picture of a tarot card in the album). So yes, it's a significant, epic song. I presume you know which one I mean.... here tis





My article:
http://philosopherswheel.com/stairwaytoheaven.html

[Eric the Green]

And of course I have to post what One Direction and their writers and producers implied was the "best song ever," which is not called "Teenage Wasteland" but "Baba O'Riley." Why is it called that? Because Pete was inspired by author and guru Meher Baba, and the opening synth segment is patterned after the music of "minimalist" composer Terry Riley. It has gotten more exposure in recent years and is a Who favorite. Not in my top 100 though, but still on my list. Also a key song from Lifehouse, as well as the opening track on Who's Next (Won't get Fooled Again is the finale). An echo is found in Quadrophenia, in which Jimmy gets disillusioned with all his teenage idols and escapes to the sea to find his authentic grown-up spiritual self.

[gabrielle]

You know, I don't think I care as much for Led Zeppelin as I used to. I guess I'm as tired of Stairway to Heaven as Galen is of Edmund Fitzgerald.

[Eric the Green]

(06-23-2016, 11:23 PM)gabrielle Wrote: You know, I don't think I care as much for Led Zeppelin as I used to. I guess I'm as tired of Stairway to Heaven as Galen is of Edmund Fitzgerald.

It certainly is not under-exposed, is it?

I was thinking of taking it off my top 400 list. But then I discovered its esoteric significance in more depth, so.... I like it again! I put it back just where it was.