Not (too) long to go now ...
749 The Irish Rover - The Clancy Brothers
748 California
Girls - Beach Boys
747 Out on the
Floor - Dobie Gray
746 Band On The
Run - Wings
745 Rainy Night
in Soho - Pogues
744 Smooth
Operator - Sade
743 Protection -
Massive Attack ft Tracey Thorn
742 Baby One
More Time - Britney Spears
741 Hope There's
Someone - Antony and the Johnsons
740 Under the
Bridge - Red Hot Chili Peppers
739 Sunshine on
Leith - The Proclaimers
738 Outdoor
Miner - Wire
737 Ain't No
Sunshine - Bill Withers
736 Atmosphere -
Joy Division
735 Shipbuilding
- Elvis Costello
734 Pancho and
Lefty - Townes van Zandt
733 One Nation
Under A Groove - Funkadelic
732 Sound And
Vision - David Bowie
731 The Magic
Number - De La Soul
730 Zorbing -
Stornoway
729 Us - Regina
Spektor
728 Creep -
Radiohead
727 Song 2 -
Blur
726 Criminal -
Fiona Apple
725 Careless
Whisper - George Michael
724 Our House -
Madness
723 September -
Earth, Wind and Fire
722 Cry to Me -
Solomon Burke
721 Runaround
Sue - Dion
720 Bare
Necessities - Louis Prima
719 Hotel California
- The Eagles
718 Close Your
Eyes (and Count to Fuck) - Run the Jewels
717 Introvert -
Little Simz
716 Don't Let Me
Be Misunderstood - The Animals
715 Boogie
Wonderland - Earth Wind & Fire
714 Dignity -
Deacon Blue
There are so many small communities of song. We don’t
always see that, so when we do it’s pretty eye-opening. E.g. on twitter, when
people talk about music (eg someone opens up a “Songs that changed your life”
thread, or something), a lot of the chat is kind of what you’d expect, people
liking obvious stuff, people have been vaguely living the same life, everyone
loves Yes by McAlmont and Butler and Dancing on My Own, and then sometimes
you’ll see a thread where people will talk about their favourite songs, and it
will kind of blow your mind how far away it is from what you’d thought about,
and yet, it’s not necessarily just one individual - a group of people find their little
communities of song.
And, in real life, on a handful of occasions, I’ve come
to understand how significant a song Dignity for Deacon Blue is for a not
insignificant number of people. Like, a national anthem or something. That
could easily have passed me by, but I’ve seen it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7OWqzFlOVkI&ab_channel=BBC
Here we go, this is a good example, look how many people know all the words,
look how confident he is that all these people know all the words. You don’t
know this shit if you’re from England or America.
713 Shutdown -
Skepta
712 Listen,
Listen - Sandy Denny
711 Peg - Steely
Dan
710 Mr Blue Sky
- ELO
709 Trellick
Tower - Emmy the Great
708 Hung Up -
Madonna
707 Regulate -
Warren G ft. Nate Dogg
706 Torn -
Natalie Imbruglia
705 Bring The
Noise - Public Enemy
704 Woman of
Heart and Mind - Joni Mitchell
703 Across 110th
Street - Bobby Womack
702 Kick Out The
Jams - MC5
701 Virginia
Plain - Roxy Music
700 America (West Side Story)
699 Flagpole
Sitta - Harvey Danger
698 By the Time
I Get to Phoenix - Glen Campbell
697 River Man -
Nick Drake
696 Don't Stop
Believin' - Journey
695 Merry Xmas
Everybody - Slade
694 Seventeen -
Sharon Van Etten
693 I Wanna Be
Adored - Stone Roses
692 Happy -
Pharrell Williams
691 Amsterdam –
UNPOC
This might be the actual best pop song ever written. Will never stop recommending it.
690 Yellow -
Coldplay
689 The Man
Don't Give a Fuck - Super Furry Animals
I don’t know what to do with Super Furry Animals. I think
SFA were the greatest British band of their era, and I would have thought that
would become clearer with time but, in truth, they have little or no place in
the popular consciousness now. Did I overestimate SFA? No, sometimes you’ve got
to stick to your guns. No band has, I think, as little interest in their
“legacy” or whatever. Gruff has always been the world’s worst salesman.
And the reason they are not influential is because they
were unique and inimitable, and because including five great hooks in each song
is bad business. They were as great as we thought they were, as far ahead of
their time and of every time, as funny and clever and kind and insane and
diverse and insular and angry and bold, and that they achieved what they almost
did is miracle enough.
688 Faster -
Manic Street Preachers
687 Call Me -
Blondie
686 Tracks of My
Tears - Smokey and the Miracles
685 London is
the Place for Me - Lord Kitchener
684 You're So
Vain - Carly Simon
683 Rise - Josh
Rouse
682 One Day I'll
Fly Away - Randy Crawford
681 I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight - Richard and Linda Thompson
680 Instant
Karma! (We All Shine On) - John Lennon
679 Walking on
Broken Glass -Annie Lennox
678 Soon - My
Blood Valentine
677 Your Love -
Frankie Knuckles
676 Chaise Longue
- Wet Leg
675 Carry On -
Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young
674 The Sun
Ain't Gonna Shine Anymore - The Walker Brothers
673 Me and Bobby
McGee - Janis Joplin
672 I Just Don't
Know What to Do With Myself - Dusty Springfield
671 The Cedar
Room - Doves
670 The Funeral
- Band Of Horses
669 Neil Young –
After The Goldrush
668 Lovely Day -
Bill Withers
667 Hit Me With
Your Rhythm Stick - Ian Dury and the Blockheads
666 For Tomorrow
- Blur
665 Kissing the
Lipless - The Shins
664 Denis -
Blondie
663 Let's Spend the
Night Together - Rolling Stones
662 Then He
Kissed Me - The Crystals
661 Lost Highway
- Hank Williams
660 White Dress
- Lana Del Rey
659 Dreaming of
You - The Coral
658 Here Comes
the Hotstepper - Ini Kamoze
657 Alfie -
Dionne Warwick
656 Space Oddity
- David Bowie
655 One More
Time - Daft Punk
654 New Partner
- Bonnie Prince Billy
653 Let's Do It,
Let's Fall In Love - Ella Fitzgerald
652 Another
Girl, Another Planet - The Only Ones
651 Cars - Gary
Numan
650 Thank u,
next - Arian Grande
649 Sultans of Swing
- Dire Straits
648 Move Your
Feet - Junior Senior
647 Good Fortune
- PJ Harvey
646 I Walk The
Line - Johnny Cash
645 American
Tune - Paul Simon
644 You Send Me
- Sam Cooke
643 I Don't Like
Mondays - Boomtown Rats
642 Heart Of
Gold - Neil Young
641 There There
My Dear - Dexys Midnight Runners
640 I Am The
Resurrection - The Stone Roses
639 Misunderstood
- Wilco
638 Chewing Gum
- Annie
637 Time, as a
Symptom - Joanna Newsom
636 We’ve Only
Just Begun - The Carpenters
635 Jackie
Wilson Said - Van Morrison
634 C30, C60,
C90 Go - Bow Wow Wow
633 I'm Gonna Be
(500 Miles) - The Proclaimers
632 Cars And
Girls - Prefab Sprout
631 No Pussy
Blues - Grinderman
630 Run To The
Hills - Iron Maiden
629 Please,
Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want - The Smiths
628 Place To Be
- Nick Drake
627 Les Fleurs -
Minnie Ripperton
626 The Girl
from Ipanema - Stan Getz
625 Do-Re-Mi
(Sound of Music)
624 Where Did
Our Love Go - Supremes
623 Tomorrow
Never Knows - The Beatles
622 Rocket 88 -
Ike Turner
621 The House of
the Rising Sun - The Animals
620 Minnie the
Moocher - Cab Calloway
619 Crosstown
Traffic - The Jimi Hendrix Experience
618 In the End -
Linkin Park
617 Psycho
Killer - Talking Heads
616 Rebel Girl -
Bikini Kill
615 While My
Guitar Gently Weeps - The Beatles
614 Electric Avenue - Eddy Grant
613 Born In The
USA - Bruce Springsteen
612 Out of Space
- The Prodigy
611 Mr
Brightside - The Killers
610 Mad About
the Boy - Dinah Washington
609 Cranes in
the Sky - Solange
608 Shining
Light - Ash
607 New Slaves -
Kanye West
Hohum
606 Irish Blood,
English Heart – Morrissey
Hohum again. Morrissey’s solo career has more good
singles than you’d expect. This song’s a bit dodge, possibly, but he engineered
what seemed like a stirring comeback at the time.
605 Music Sounds
Better with You - Stardust
604 Jumpers -
Sleater-Kinney
603 Oblivious -
Aztec Camera
Best song ever written by a teenager. When I say that,
there may be other songs written by teenagers above this one in the list, not sure, but
this is still that, by a certain definition.
602 You Make My
Dreams - Hall and Oates
601 Celebrate -
Kool and the Gang
600 I Still
Haven't Found What I'm Looking For - U2
599 What A Fool
Believes - The Doobie Brothers
598 A Good Year
for the Roses - George Jones
597 I Saw Her
Standing There - The Beatles
596 Tears of a
Clown - Smokey and the Miracles
595 Mississippi
Goddam - Nina Simone
594 Oh Happy Day
- Spiritualized
593 Jailhouse
Rock - Elvis Presley
592 Rebellion
(Lies) - The Arcade Fire
591 Work It -
Missy Elliott
590 Venom -
Little Simz
589 The Man Who
Sold the World - David Bowie
588 Make You
Feel My Love - Bob Dylan/Adele
587 New Rules -
Dua Lipa
586 A Matter of
Time - The Leisure Society
This is essentially a list which combines a) very famous
songs pretty much everyone thinks are good b) very successful and hence
undeniable songs c) more obscure songs music critics think are good, and d) and
most importantly, songs I love and refuse to bow to the idea I should be being
“objective” on. Two of those are Rise by Josh Rouse and A Matter of Time by the
Leisure Society. These are the works of small craftsmen who were briefly
half-successful, in a limited sense, more than a decade ago.
I love the unhurried, unforced transitions in these
songs, I love how they offer this hesitant, gentle euphoria, how they take
their time to resolve themselves. I don’t listen to these songs anywhere near
as much as I used to, but whenever I do I remember there’s actually nothing
better.
585 That Lucky
Old Sun (Just Rolls Around Heaven All Day) - Johnny Cash
584 Anyone who
Had a Heart - Dionne Warwick
583 Shake Rattle
And Roll - Big Joe Turner
582 Leader Of
The Pack - The Shangri-Las
581 I Want to
Hold Your Hand - The Beatles
580 Ain't Got No
(I Got Life) - Nina Simone
579 Tangled Up
In Blue - Bob Dylan
578 Can't Take
My Eyes Off You - Andy Williams
577 Tiny Tears -
Tindersticks
576 All My
Happiness Is Gone - Purple Mountains
A few words on two David Bs who I was listening to the
day before they died. David
Berman was the man behind Silver Jews and then
Purple Mountains. The eponymous Purple Mountains album, released in 2019, is, I
think, the most lyrically perfect album I’ve ever heard. He committed suicide a
few weeks after its release. It’s nevertheless an album whose mordant lyrics
and disconcertingly upbeat music give me great joy. I think, in that respect, I
belong to a pretty small subset, though Berman only becomes more acclaimed after his
death – would that bring him any comfort, who knows? His most famous song,
still, is Random Rules from the 1998 Silver Jews album American Water, a song
whose opening line always gets cited as one of the most memorable in history. But there are others just as good on this song and throughout the album. Snow is Falling in Manhattan and I Loved Being My Mother's Son are just beautiful beyond words, and i could include more songs from that album.
I was listening to the Purple Mountains album for the
first time the day before Berman’s death was announced, which was weird. With
Bowie, likewise, I’d had time to fully appreciate Blackstar the day before his death was
announced. I was so grateful for that, as I hadn't particularly enjoyed The Next Day, so on his death I was as big a Bowie fan as I could have been, The one from that album I’ve always loved the most is Dollar Days –
the perfect coda to his extraordinary career and one of the purest songs he
ever wrote.
575 Uptown Funk
- Mark Ronson ft Bruno Mars
574 Tilted -
Christine and the Queens
573 Fix Up, Look
Sharp - Dizzee Rascal
572 One Man Guy
- Rufus Wainwright
571 To be Young
(is to be sad, is to high) - Ryan Adams
570 Lately -
Stevie Wonder
569 A Town
Called Malice - The Jam
568 With or
Without You - U2
567 As It Was -
Harry Styles
566 Love Story -
Taylor Swift
565 I Miss You -
Blink-182
564 Over And
Over - Hot Chip
563 Danko/Manuel
- Drive-By Truckers
562 Too Young to
Die - Jamiroquai
561 Karma Police
- Radiohead
560 Ashes To
Ashes - David Bowie
559 Handle With
Care - Traveling Wilburys
558 Heaven or
Las Vegas - Cocteau Twins
557 Beyond the
Sea - Bobby Darin
556 White Rabbit
- Jefferson Airplane
555 Chinese
Rocks - Johnny Thunders
554 Superstar -
The Carpenters
553 Love Hurts -
Gram Parsons
552 American Pie
- Don McLean
551 Pink Moon -
Nick Drake
550 Theme from
New York, New York - Frank Sinatra
549 Are Friends
Electric? - Tubeway Army
548 Still Crazy
After All These Years - Paul Simon
547 Hard To
Explain - The Strokes
546 Toxic -
Britney Spears
545 Such Great
Heights - The Postal Service
544 It's a
Motherfucker - Eels
543 Enter
Sandman - Metallica
542 Blister in
the Sun - Violent Femmes
541 Oh Bondage
Up Yours! - X-Ray Spex
540 Ball of
Confusion - The Temptations
539 The
Christmas Song - Nat King Cole
538 Let It Be Me
- Rosie Thomas/Everly Brothers
537 Highway to
Hell - AC/DC
536 Blue Monday
- New Order
535 Common
People - Pulp
534 Like I Used
To - Sharon van Etten and Angel Olsen
533 Formation -
Beyonce
532 Slow Life -
SFA
531 My Name Is -
Eminem
530 Every Breath
You Take - The Police
529 Stand by
Your Man - Candi Staton/Tammy Wynette
528 Purple Haze
- Jimi Hendrix
527 Venus As A
Boy - Bjork
526 So Here We
Are - Bloc Party
525 Chandelier -
Sia
524 When A Man Loves
a Woman - Percy Sledge
523 Pump Up the
Jam - Technotronic
522 Luck Be a
Lady - Frank Sinatra
521 All Day and
All of the Night - The Kinks
520 How Can You
Mend a Broken Heart - Bee Gees
519 Won't Get
Fooled Again - The Who
518 Love is a
Losing Game - Amy Winehouse
517 Up With
People - Lambchop
516 God Bless
the Child - Billie Holiday
515 Everyone I
Know is Listening to Crunk - Lightspeed Champion
Ok, a shameless inclusion of a low-key personal favourite,
but I truly think Everyone I Know is Listening to Crunk by Lightspeed Champion
is a great, great song. Low-key, twee, time-stamped as it is, it combines a
lovely tune, understated heartbreak, beautifully specific cultural references
and wry wit.
This was one manifestation of transatlantic
cross-genre producer-wizard Dev Hynes, a
time when he was making East London 2000s tuneful indie pop. It references the
OC (even at the time a nicely outdated reference), Saw 3 and the Genesis cinema in Mile
End. The title lyric goes “My drawings are starting to suck, my best friends
are all listening to crunk, it feels like the world’s gone crazy”, which I take
as meaning something like, as a black indie kid, Hynes was bemused by the fact
all his indie friends were now listening to a southern hip-hop genre. Someone
could probably expand on that timeless phenomenon quite insightfully, but not
me, but Hynes has been in front of and behind some really great records,
including Losing You by Solange, one of my favourite singles of the century.
514 In My Place
- Coldplay
513 The Middle -
Jimmy Eat World
512 People Ain't
No Good - Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
511 The
Impossible Dream - Andy Williams
510 Bittersweet
Symphony - The Verve
509 Everyday is
Like Sunday - Morrissey
508 Protect Ya
Neck - Wu-Tang Clan
507 Haunted -
Shane McGowan and Sinead O'Connor
506 Sign O' The
Times - Prince And The Revolution
505 Romeo and
Juliet - Dire Straits
504 Can't Help
Loving Dat Man - Lena Horne
503 Where Have
All The Flowers Gone - Pete Seeger
502 Midnight
Special - Odetta
501 Up on
Cripple Creek - The Band
500 Bird On a
Wire - Leonard Cohen
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