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Best Song Ever Written


Rikzilla
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Title says it all really, I want you to post what you think is the best song ever written.

 

There are some rules, however.

 

1. No negativity.

You don't like a song that's been posted? Tough shit. Keep it to yourself. This is a thread for people to celebrate what they think are some of the best songs ever written in their respective genres. 

 

2. More than one.

Everyone has a list of songs that they think are the best of all time, so post more than one, fuck knows I'll be posting more than one. 

 

3. Don't be a cunt. 

Basically the same as rule 1, but reinforced. You're not going to agree with everyone's taste, just as everyone isn't going to agree with your taste. This thread is a celebration of what people (for whatever reason) think are some of the best songs ever written.

 

My hope is that together we can create a playlist that celebrates musicianship and transcends genres. 

 

So to begin...

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The song I’ve listened to more than any in my life, I would say. The closest I can find to a perfect song, the only downside is it could go on longer.

It’s actually Nusrat and his brother singing with some Western musicians. His brother is on harmonium and he has the most beautiful part in it, where the chords change and it gets me every time.

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R.E.M. - Losing My Religion 

 

Grunge is my bread and butter. Last year I went to Seattle for a week and let me tell you, it felt like a pilgrimage. In fact, a lot of my tracks here will be grunge tracks, but R.E.M. predate the grunge scene, and for my money are one of grunge's unsung heroes. But Losing My Religion specifically feels like a masterpiece in song writing. 

 

Out of Time was the seventh album to come from R.E.M, but ironically it was their break through album. 

 

The pace of the song is relentless, never breaking the 4/4 tempo until the bridge were it slows for 8 bars before returning to the original tempo for the duration. The mandolin, too, adds an extra layer to the song making it feel exotic but instantly familiar, and in a sever juxtaposition to the lyrics, upbeat. 

 

The lyrics and melody by Michael Stipe portray a melancholy honesty that is easily missed without listening. 

 

I think R.E.M. were a great a band, and they had a lot of solid tunes, but Losing My Religion is easily my favourite, and one that will always appear in my Top Ten.

 

 

 

 

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@Hendo

 

Man, that's dope. The Pakistani roots (vocal and percussion) mixed with something continental (I'm hearing a lot of France in the accordion) and almost south American guitar and vocal melody later on creates something that sounds purely global. I really like this. 

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The accordion sounding thing is the harmonium which his brother plays. Supposedly they weren’t very happy with the two Western albums they made, too edited and stripped down.

 

The usual style is very different - very long songs, almost like jams where some bits are written in advance but largely arranged on the fly based on hand gestures and little nods.

This is more like the usual style:

 

 

His brother (to his left on harmonium) has arguably the more beautiful voice, but I’ve not heard many singers with the same power and technical ability that Nusrat had.

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I can’t argue with REM. Out of Time I haven’t listened to as much as I should have, but Automatic for the People is one of my favourite albums of all time, and almost certainly my favourite album of the 90s (as much as I love Radiohead).

 

I could go on forever about this topic (but I’m going out tonight so I don’t have time now).  But a wide range of songs immediately spring to mind. Classic rock songs like Sweet Child of Mine by Guns N Roses or Under the Bridge by RHCP. Personal favourite like “Brokedown Place” by the Grateful Dead or “Monolith” by T. Rex. Any of a number of songs by Bob Dylan or Neil Young (I’ve always loved long songs like Desolation Row or Cortez the Killer). The list of artists goes on and on and on. And any number of classic Beatles songs could make the cut (I absolutely love Ticket to Ride...but without thinking about it too much, I think the nod would have to go to Let It Be, which is a beautiful song).

 

I’ll think about it more tomorrow!

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I'm torn on my favourite REM song. Find The River, for me, is probably the best song they ever wrote, but Daysleeper means the most to me, the live version of Country Feedback might be better than both

 

 

Not sure how this will go down, but Bjork - Joga. It's a good song in and of itself, but Bjork uses her voice to pull out so much emotion from it. 

 

 

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There's a man who walks beside me

It is who I used to be

And I wonder if she sees him

and confuses him with me

And I wonder who she's pinin' for

on nights I'm not around

Could it be the man who did the things

I'm living now ?

I was rougher than a timber

shippin' out of Fond du Lac

When I headed south at 17

ol' sheriff on my back

I never held a lover in my arms or in my gaze

So I found another victim every couple days

But the night I fell in love with her

I made my weakness known

Through the fires and the farmers diggin' dusty fields alone

The jealous innuendos of the lonely hearted men

Let me know what kind of country I was sleeping in

Well you couldn't stay a loner

on the plains before the war

My neighbors had been slightin' me

I had to ask what for

Rumors of my wickedness had reached our little town

Soon she'd heard about the boys I used to hang around

We'd robbed a Great Lakes freighter,

killed a couple men or more

And I told her her eyes flickered like the sharp steel of a sword

All the things that she'd suspected

I'd expected her to fear

Was the truth that drew her to me when I landed here

There's a man who walks beside me

he is who I used to be

And I wonder if she sees him and confuses him with me

And I wonder who she's pinin' for

on nights I'm not around

Could it be the man who did the things

I'm living down ?

Well I carved a cross from live oak

and a box from shortleaf pine

Buried her so deep

she touched the water table line

I picked up what I needed

and I headed south again

To myself I wondered

would I find another friend

There's a man who walks beside her,

it is who I used to be

And I wonder if she sees him and confuses him with me.

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