2022 Greatest Songs: Part 2 (1699-1400)

There are so many necessary caveats for anyone putting out a list like this, of course, which sometimes reputations do not give. My caveats/limitations, to cover for how little I actually know about almost everything – songs in the Western pop tradition, songs (nearly always) with lyrics, songs (nearly always) sung in English - I don’t know about K-Pop, chansons, qawwali or Afrobeat, or jazz, or Schubert.

Talking of which ..

1699      No One Knows – Queens of the Stone Age

1698      Love Rain - Jill Scott

1697      Dry Your Eyes - The Streets

1696      Friday Night - The Darkness

“Monday cycling, Tuesday gymnastics, dancing on a Friday night

I got Bridge Club on Wednesday, archery on Thursday, dancing on a Friday night”

I just love that a lot and use my executive privilege to say it’s one of the best songs of all time.

1695      Nothing Lasts Forever - Echo and the Bunnymen

1694      China - Tori Amos

1693      Lilac Wine - Jeff Buckley

1692      Nothing Else Matters - Metallica

1691      Nuthin' but a G Thang - Dr Dre

1690      Nancy Boy - Placebo

1689      Streets of Philadelphia - Bruce Springsteen

1688      Bonita Applebum - A Tribe Called Quest

1687      Innuendo - Queen

1686      Inbetweener - Sleeper

1685      Fuck the Pain Away - Peaches

1684      It Was a Good Day - Ice Cube

1683      I Got You - Split Enz

1682      It's My Life - Talk Talk

1681      Some Candy Talking - Jesus and Mary Chain

1680      Freebird - Lynyrd Skynyrd

1679      Me and Mrs Jones - Billy Paul

1678      One of Us - ABBA

1677      That's the Way (I Like It) - KC and the Sunshine Band

1676      The Number One Song in Heaven - Sparks

1675      Got To Get You Into My Life - The Beatles

1674      Night Train - James Brown

James Brown was always someone I felt I didn’t like, whose songs I didn’t enjoy hearing on the radio. But a lot of James Brown songs have ended up on this list, and not by design, just because they really are the fabric of modern music and the foundation of the dancefloor.

1673      Crazy, Crazy Nights - Kiss

1672      Let Your Yeah be Yeah - Jimmy Cliff

1671      In a Broken Dream - Python Lee Jackson

1670      How Can We Hang On to a Dream - Tim Hardin

1669      Radio Free Europe - REM

1668      Is it Because I'm Black - Syl Johnson

1667      The Day Before You Came - Abba

1666      For What It's Worth - Buffalo Springfield

1665      Old Friends / Bookends - Simon and Garfunkel

1664      Kangaroo - Big Star

1663      Wild Horses - Rolling Stones

1662      Coal Miner's Daughter - Loretta Lynn

1661      You Make Me Feel Brand New - The Stylistics

1660      Cosmic Dancer - T.Rex

1659      All that Jazz - Chicago

1658      (Don't Fear) The Reaper - Blue Öyster Cult

1657      Don't Get Me Wrong - Pretenders

1656      Night Nurse - Gregory Isaacs

1655      How Will I Know - Whitney Houston

1654      Every Little Thing She Does is Magic - The Police

1653      Kiss - Prince

1652      Love Plus One - Haircut 100

1651      Ebenezer Goode - The Shamen

1650      Gold Soundz - Pavement

1649      Joy Division Oven Gloves - Half Man Half Biscuit

You know those seriously cult acts with vast catalogues, who don’t really appear apart from as punchlines in mainstream culture, who inhabit their own world, with a legion of fans who clearly think their favourite is better than anyone else – Frank Zappa, The Fall, Steely Dan a little (though less so), Half Man Half Biscuit, that type of thing. They’re hard to fit in to lists like this. I tentatively like a little bit of all those artists, but can not quite be arsed to get stuck in. And none of them have “hits” that are clearly their best song, they have loads of songs which their fans have totally different views on what are the best. So, sorry, if ever fans of those acts peruse this list.

1648      Nearly Midnight, Honolulu - Neko Case

1647      Good Riddance (Time of Your Life) - Green Day

1646      Hollaback Girl - Gwen Stefani

1645      Getting Away with It - Electronic

1644      Mississippi - Bob Dylan

1643      Summer of 69 - Bryan Adams

1642      The King Of Rock 'n' Roll - Prefab Sprout

1641      Life in a Northern Town - Chameleons

1640      Slave to the Rhythm - Grace Jones

1639      Take This Hammer - Odetta

1638      The Universal - Blur

1637      If I Ruled the World - Nas ft Lauryn Hill

1636      Down by the Water - PJ Harvey

1635      Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) - Darlene Love

1634      Walking on a Wire - Richard and Linda Thompson

1633      Did You See - J Hus

1632      Carissa - Sun Kil Moon

1631      Bad Girls - MIA

1630      Hold On Hope - Guided by Voices

1629      Don't Know Why - Norah Jones

1628      Dog Days Are Over - Florence and the Machine

1627      Country Feedback - REM

1626      Into Your Arms - The Lemonheads

1625      Car Wheels on a Gravel Road - Lucinda Williams

1624      Goodnight Irene - The Weavers

1623      It's a Man's Man's Man's World - James Brown

1622      Build Me Up Buttercup - The Foundations

1621      Sit Down You're Rocking the Boat (Guys and Dolls)

1620      Moulty - The Barbarians

1619      Still I Dream Of It - Brian Wilson

Does it matter if a song doesn’t get finished? Some famous Dylan examples are She’s Your Lover Now and Series of Dreams. They’re up there with his best but he was never happy with them. There’s a song called Still I Dream of It by Brian Wilson. A few other people (Jimmy Nail! Ed Harcourt) have covered it, but there doesn’t seem to exist a proper studio-recorded Brian Wilson version, just a demo. It’s one of his loveliest songs. It’s possible to imagine a version of it which elevates it to the highest ranks of songs, but that version doesn’t exist. In a different way, I think the same is true of Somewhere, from West Side Story. I love the Tom Waits version, but I haven’t anywhere else heard a straight version that does justice to the song I imagine in my head.

Dylan would probably say that songs are never finished, but, thankfully, some are!

1618      Little Green Bag - George Baker

1617      The Only Way is Up - Yazz

1616      Hong Kong Garden - Siouxsie and the Banshees

1615      Love in the First Degree - Bananarama

1614      Mickey - Toni Basil

1613      I Can't Make You Love Me - Bonnie Raitt

1612      Free - Ultra Nate

1611      Summertime - The Sundays

1610      Epic - Faith No More

1609      La Tristesse Durera (Scream to a Sigh) - Manic Street Preachers

1608      He's Simple, He's Dumb, He's The Pilot - Grandaddy

1607      No Time to Die - Billie Eilish

1606      Spud Infinity - Big Thief

Music criticism has been heavily Americanised. I love music press, I have for 30 years. I love lists, history and compartmentalisation of pop music. I reject the notion that that spoils the fun. Nonsense. Charts, sales figures, lists are intrinsic to the whole thing. Sadly, British music journalism has been stripped back to a husk. NME is an online shadow of its former self, Smash Hits is gone, Q is gone. Melody Maker and Word are gone. There remain Mojo and, my regular, Uncut – ironically, an Americana-focused publication – and there are other specialist websites as well as decent coverage in some newspapers, but the dominant music criticism arbiters are Pitchfork and Rolling Stone - both American, and where they may have come at it from strikingly different perspectives in the past, they seem to me more and more similar, editorially – a new orthodoxy. To me, Pitchfork is fairly one-eyed, weirdly dismissive, on a lot of British music. It is easy to be swayed by that and have too much American music which really doesn’t mean much to British music fans.

Saying that, both publications put a lot of care and prestige into their lists. They’re usually interesting and good sources of orthodoxy.

Anyway, this is the American indie rock that people like at the moment.

1605      Mirrors - Justin Timberlake

1604      When I Grow Up - from Matilda

1603      Don't Delete the Kisses - Wolf Alice

1602      Perfect Places - Lorde

1601      Riptide - Vance Joy

1600      Hotel Yorba - The White Stripes

1599      Someone Great - LCD Soundsystem

1598      Since I Left You - Avalanches

1597      Everything in its Right Place – Radiohead

People love Radiohead, eh? I think I made a firm decision in around 1998 to like Radiohead less than everyone else, but, you know, I like them a lot, and I like The Smile a lot too. But I still probably like them less than everyone else. They come top of all the Pitchfork readers’ polls. Radiohead. Their fanbase transcends gender, race, age, nationality, genre. I mean, I still slightly prefer The Longpigs, but I accept Radiohead have done some solid work, so this list will reward that.

1596      Chelsea Dagger - The Fratellis

1595      Girl on Fire - Alicia Key

1594      Grace Kelly - Mika

1593      Something Changed - Pulp

1592      The Ship Song - Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds

1591      The Bomb - Bucketheads

1590      Let's Hear it for the Boy - Deniece Williams

1589      Mad World - Tears for Fears

1588      1952 Vincent Black Lighting - Richard Thompson

1587      Surf's Up - The Beach Boys

1586      Omaha - Moby Grape

1585      I Can See for Miles - The Who

1584      Village Green Preservation Society - Kinks

1583      You Can Get It If You Really Want - Desmond Dekker

1582      Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child - Paul Robeson

1581      Just a Friend - Biz Markie

1580      Say So - Doja Cat

1579      Lost Weekend - Lloyd Cole & the Commotions

1578      Brother, Can You Spare a Dime - Bing Crosby

1577      L.O.V.E - Nat King Cole

1576      These Days - Nico

1575      Duchess - Scott Walker

1574      Dream On - Aerosmith

1573      You Make Me Feel Like Dancing - Leo Sayer

1572      I'll Take You There - Staple Singers

1571      Parisienne Walkways - Gary Moore

1570      Your Song - Elton John

1569      The Power of Love - Frankie Goes to Hollywood

1568      More than This - Roxy Music

1567      Burn It Down - Dexys Midnight Runners

1566      Graceland - Paul Simon

1565      Don't Stop Movin' - S Club 7

1564      Vogue - Madonna

1563      The Boy is Mine - Brandy and Monica

1562      The Deal - Stephen Duffy

1561      Ladykillers - Lush

1560      Oxford Comma - Vampire Weekend

1559      Izzo (HOVA) - Jay-Z

1558      Jack and Diane - John Cougar Mellencamp

1557      Levitating - Dua Lipa

1556      Severed Crossed Fingers - St Vincent

1555      Acceptable in the 80s - Calvin Harris

1554      True Love Waits - Radiohead

1553      One Day Like This - Elbow

1552      Gold Digger - Kanye West

1551      Kinky Afro - Happy Mondays

1550      In the Aeroplane over the Sea - Neutral Milk Hotel

1549      Sun Hits the Sky - Supergrass

1548      Missing - Everything but the Girl

1547      Love is a Battlefield - Pat Benatar

1546      Ever Changing Moods - Style Council

1545      Everywhere - Fleetwood Mac

1544      Wild World - Cat Stevens

1543      Autobahn - Kraftwerk

1542      Don't You - Micah P Hinson

1541      I Don't Wanna Talk About It - Rod Stewart

1540      Lady Marmalade - Labelle

1539      Just a Little Lovin' - Dusty Springfield

1538      Astral Weeks - Van Morrison

1537      Time is on My Side - Irma Thomas

1536      Let's Work Together - Canned Heat

1535      The Man Comes Around - Johnny Cash

1534      Cold Cold Heart - Hank Williams

1533      Bad and Boujee - Migos

1532      Lost in Music - Sister Sledge

1531      Kung Fu Fighting - Carl Douglas

1530      California - Joni Mitchell

1529      Oops Upside Your Head - Gap Band

1528      Master Blaster - Stevie Wonder

1527      Suddenly - Angry Anderson

1526      Goodbye England (Covered In Snow) - Laura Marling

1525      Round and Round - Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti

1524      Hello Dolly - Barbra Streisand

1523      Hard Drive - Cassandra Jenkins

1522      Concrete Schoolyard - Jurassic 5

1521      Don't Cry for Me, Argentina (from Evita)

1520      Good as Hell - Lizzo

1519      Rill Rill - Sleigh Bells

1518      I Knew Your Mother - Loudon Wainwright

1517      In Too Deep - Sum 41

1516      Hate to Say I Told You So - Hives

1515      The Greatest - Cat Power

1514      Trouble - Shampoo

1513      Think Twice - Celine Dion

1512      Olympian - Gene

1511      The Next Episode - Dr Dre

1510      Pony - Ginuwine

1509      Black Skin Blue Eyed Boys - The Equals

1508      Children's Story - Slick Rick

1507      Hot Girl Summer - Megan Thee Stallion

1506      Nature Boy - Nat King Cole

1505      Green Green Grass of Home - Tom Jones

What to do with old Tom Jones, eh? I kind of loathed Tom Jones for a pretty long time, I’m afraid, thought he represented the unthinking side of the retro masculine 90s. Oh yeah, Tom Jones, ledge, tell us your bloody stories Tom … then I saw him play at midnight in the woods on the Thursday night before Latitude in 2010 and, of course, I thought, well, this guy can sing, to be fair. Really sing. He sang Bob Dylan’s What Good Am I? and of course, it was still a little bit hammy, but not very, it was deep and serious and sad, and it was, perhaps all the things Tom Jones might have been if he hadn’t been Tom Jones and gone “Wooooooooaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!” because he could. He did some truly truly abysmal singles along the way, and I have been internally tortured by Sex Bomb for several months, but, still, bit of Tom Jones, eh …

1504      Blues Run the Game - Jackson C Frank

1503      If You Don't Know Me By Now - Harold Melvin and the Bluenotes

1502      The Jungle Line - Joni Mitchell

1501      I Can't Stand the Rain - Ann Peebles

1500      Cars and Girls - Prefab Sprout

1499      Darkness On The Edge Of Town - Bruce Springsteen

1498      Today - Smashing Pumpkins

1497      Ready or Not - Fugees

1496      Black Sheep - Metric

1495      Avant Gardener - Coutney Barnett

1494      On The Radio - Regina Spektor

1493      Royals - Lorde

1492      Man in the Mirror - Michael Jackson

1491      Brass In Pocket - The Pretenders

1490      Beds are Burning - Midnight Oil

1489      Boys Don't Cry - The Cure

1488      Georgia Lee - Tom Waits

1487      Never Gonna Give You Up - Rick Astley

1486      Only Love Can Break Your Heart - Neil Young

1485      Alison - Elvis Costello

1484      Jive Talkin' - Bee Gees

1483      Papa Was a Rolling Stone - The Temptations

1482      Dance Away - Roxy Music

1481      Good Rockin' Tonight - Roy Brown

1480      Neat Neat Neat - The Damned

1479      The Story - Brandi Carlisle

1478      But Not for Me - Ginger Rogers/Ella Fitzgerald

1477      Blue Moon - Frank Sinatra

1476      Guess I'm Dumb - Glen Campbell

1475      Rock with You - Michael Jackson

1474      Buffalo Soldier - Bob Marley

1473      Transmission - Joy Division

1472      Wonderful Life - Black

1471      Bastards of Young - The Replacements

1470      New York, I Love You But You're Bringing Me Down - LCD Soundsystem

1469      Let's Make Love and Listen to Death From Above - CSS

1468      Skimbleshanks the Railway Cat (Cats)

There are quite a few songs from musicals on the list. Some of the greatest songs ever were written for musicals by the greatest writers, of course. One of my favourite songs is Being Alive, which I only first heard a few years ago. I have heard people throughout my life saying Sondheim is one of the greatest songwriters ever. But, the truth is … I have, over the last two or three years, really tried to enjoy more of his songs, but hit a bit of a block. Not a total block, but a bit of a block. Songs from musicals are not necessarily pop songs, and don’t necessarily work out of context. Some do, some don’t.

I liked musical theatre a lot when I was a boy, then went off it in a big way, and now am somewhere in between.

Hopefully, the ones I’ve included stand up whether you’re watching the show or not. If you look at this list, for example, yes to Ol’ Man River, no to Rose’s Turns. But, saying all that, I am including Skimbleshanks the Railway Cat cos it made me very happy when I was 7, although I must admit it is a little reliant on context.

1467      Bloody Motherfucking Asshole - Martha Wainwright

1466      Fallin' - Alicia Keys

1465      I'm a Cuckoo - Belle & Sebastian

I was thinking today about songs that sounded like GREAT songs when I first heard them (whether they turned out to be or not …). The first three that came into my head are a bit all over the place. One of them was ‘I’m a Cuckoo’ by B and S. Of course, Belle and Sebastian were a great small band. That’s where their legend lies. But they’ve spent most of this century trying to be a big band, with a certain kind of success.

In particular, I feel like Stuart M was committed to trying to have a bona fide hit single for the first few years of the century, and this song was the closest they came, the one song they did that was a pop song that absolutely worked, that was one of their best.

I remember I stayed up to listen to Stuart doing a late night track by track of Dear Catastrophe Waitress with either Steve Lamacq or John Kennedy before the album’s release, and when I heard I’m a Cuckoo, I really thought it was the best song I’d ever heard. I told people “that’s the best song I’ve ever heard”. It turned out it wasn’t the best song I’d ever heard.

But I still love it. When they perform it live and the four guys line up with their guitars across the stage, it’s so absurdly playful and wish-fulfilling while ironic, and of course, B and S, even with four guitarists, don’t sound like Thin Lizzy, or Metallica, or the Stooges, they sound like B and S, but it’s such a clever ghost of another great song, and such an all-encompassing lyric. I remember listening to it in real time that night with such close attention – of course, you hear every word when Stuart Murdoch sings, and it was all there, his own health, his own faith, the band gossip and history.

And the chorus. I wonder if the chorus, the title or the song came first. I’m a Cuckoo … what rhymes with cuckoo … Harajuku … where’s Harajuku … Tokyo … need a rhyme … this song sounds a bit like Thin Lizzy … Thin Lizzy-o … I just love it … four parts, like a great Only Connect question, the little guitar riff the icing on the cake.

I read an interviews on Pitchfork with a journalist who’s been writing about all the US Number 1s ever, and he says the key thing about a Number 1 hit is timing. Always timing. I’m a Cuckoo could have been Belle and Sebastian’s big hit … it got to Number 14, not bad, but I reckon it was probably a couple of happenings away from taking off, setting them in entirely different company. Aah well.

1464      54321 - Manfred Mann

1463      Blind - Hercules and Love Affair

1462      November Rain - Guns N Roses

1461      True Love Will Find You in the End - Daniel Johnson

1460      Confide in Me - Kylie Minogue

1459      Up Where We Belong - Joe Cocker & Jennifer Warnes

1458      I'm Coming Out - Diana Ross

1457      The Trader - Beach Boys

1456      I Wanna Be Your Dog - The Stooges

1455      Seven Days Too Long - Chuck Wood

1454      Monday Monday - The Mamas and the Papas

1453      Cissy Strut - The Meters

1452      Open Up - Leftfield/Lydon

1451      Joe's Garage - Frank Zappa

1450      Sail Away - Randy Newman

1449      Skinny Love - Bon Iver

1448      California - ema

1447      It Wasn't Me - Shaggy

1446      Bang - Yeah Yeah Yeahs

1445      Spinning Around - Kylie Minogue

1444      Come On Let's Go - Broadcast

1443      Serious Drugs - BMX Bandits

1442      Ain't No Love Ain't No Use - Subsub

1441      (I've Had) The Time of My Life - Bill Medley and Jennifer Warnes

1440      Smalltown Boy - Bronski Beat

1439      Down Under - Men at Work

1438      Baby Love - The Supremes

1437      What Do I Get - Buzzcocks

1436      Sam Stone - John Prine

1435      I'm Still in Love With You - Alton Ellis

1434      Children of the Revolution - T Rex

1433      Thunderstruck - AC/DC

1432      I Think We're Alone Now - Tiffany/The Rubinoos

1431      Love Me Like I'm Not Made of Stone - Lykke Li

1430      All Night Disco Party - Brakes

1429      Hot in Herre - Nelly

1428      Speed Trials - Elliot Smith

1427      Stay Another Day - East 17

There was often one boyband member who seemed a bit separate, like he had a bit more hinterland, a bit more depth, or just belonged in a different line of work. They didn’t always fulfil the same role – sometimes it was the main musical talent, sometimes it wasn’t. Jason of Orange, Sean from 5ive, Simon from Blue (I think Lee Ryan thought it was him), Babak from Another Level. You know, you know. And Tony Mortimer.

Were East 17 a boyband? Did they meet the trade description. They were quite … standard … looking chaps. There was Brian who sang distinctively, though I thought his voice overpraised, Terry and John who moved around, and Tony, who rapped, sang backing vocals, played piano, wrote the songs. Heavy lifting. He had a knack for extreme catchiness – House of Love, Deep, Thunder, Around the World, It’s Alright – the last of those truly a belter for all-in no-shame shouty karaoke – and, then, their monster hit, 5 weeks Christmas Number 1, Stay Another Day.

In the Secret Life of the Lovesong lecture, Nick Cave deconstructs the lyrics to Better the Devil You Know, describing it as “a message to God that cries out into the yawning void, in anguish and self-loathing, for deliverance”. A wry but truthful reappraisal of a glossy surface. There are plenty of other lyrics ripe for reappraisal. If you listen to Stay Another Day with the knowledge that Mortimer wrote it for his brother, after his suicide, well, let’s say the lines hit harder.

Does it matter, does it help a song, if we know the backstory? Well, yeah, to me, it does (or, occasionally, the opposite). I love reading around songs. It doesn’t have to – I expect most of the million-plus people that bought Stay Another Day didn’t know that, though. It’s a song with two equally valid lives.

1426      More Adventurous - Rilo Kiley

1425      Three Lions - Baddiel, Skinner etc

1424      Kiss from a Rose - Seal

1423      St James Infirmary Blues - Louis Armstrong

1422      No Depression - The Carter Family

1421      You Got Me - Roots ft Erykah Badu

1420      She Loves You - The Beatles

1419      I'm in the Mood for Dancing - Nolans

1418      Iron Man - Black Sabbath

1417      Vienna - Ultravox

1416      This Charming Man - The Smiths

1415      Senses Working Overtime - XTC

1414      Two Weeks - Grizzly Bear

1413      Something Like Happiness - The Maccabees

The Maccabees are probably now (though not at the time) my favourite of the post-2000 British indie bands. They stopped after their fourth album, when it went UK Number 1 but not bigtime crossover Number 1. I don’t know why they stopped exactly, but it was a solid dignified move. How much was it worth trying to get bigger than this? Is this the peak? It seems to me they were more equipped for massiveness than most. They made a big warm sound, they did wall of noise better than Mumford and Sons, they could make a racket, the singer Orlando Weeks had a lovelier voice than Martin, Bellamy, Mumford, whomever else … but the big boat wasn’t quite for them. I include Something Like Happiness, a single from their final album, a single which failed to bother the charts, despite … well, despite everything about it. “Indie rock” had a few brief windows where, if you had a catchy tune, you were pretty likely to make a big career from it, but the Maccabees, like most of the indie bands, just missed that window.

1412      Cellophane - FKA Twigs

1411      Wouldn't It Be Luvverly (My Fair Lady)

1410      Pass the Dutchie - Musical Youth

1409      Public Image - Public Image Ltd

1408      24 Hours from Tulsa - Gene Pitney

1407      Pale Blue Eyes - Velvet Underground

1406      Big Girls Don't Cry - Four Seasons

1405      Cokane in My Brain - Dillinger

1404      Glad to be Gay - Tom Robinson Band

1403      Keep On Running - Spencer Davis Group

1402      River Song - Dennis Wilson

1401      More Than A Feeling - Boston

1400      Lithium - Nirvana

2022 Greatest Songs: Part 1 (2022-1700)

I started this blog, in 2009, with a list of 101 songs. 5 years later I made a list of 1001 songs. Now, almost nine years after that, it's 2022. Go big or go home, I say.  As much as I did my best with my 2014 list of the 1001 Greatest! Songs! Ever! I’ve quite often thought there are some pretty obviously wrong placings near the top, so, first of all, I wanted to amend those. I changed my mind about Number 1, for starters, and now think I’ve come up with a very satisfactory, albeit undoubtedly wrong, answer.

I wrote a big introduction before the 1001 songs list, and it’s quite good, it’s ok, it explains a lot of why I think doing this is a fun and interesting and not preposterous thing to do, and it explains how much I love songs, and how much thought I put into them. If there is an imaginary reader who is genuinely interested in all this self-indulgent, time-poor silliness, they might reread that.

But, the thing which is a bit embarrassing in that original intro is where I say “you’ll disagree with the order but I don’t think I’ve missed anything truly significant”. In truth, someone could make a list of 10,000 greatest songs and lots of people would be appalled by some of the absences.

I have listened to a lot more songs since then, and I’ve come into contact with a lot more genres and tastes I hardly knew existed. My own taste has changed, though, honestly, not that much. But I think this list is better. It takes into account somewhat the way the rules and the societal order of the song have changed pretty significantly.

But, also, I’m clearer than ever that this is all nonsense, of course. I have no idea, of course. So, really, it’s just a great big list of good songs. I’ve listened to all of them, but some of them I’ve listened to 100s of times, some of them I’ve listened to once.

I’m not going to do a big introduction this time, but I’ll throw in some easily digestible thoughts along the way, and maybe one or two of them will be interesting. I may well repeat myself and contradict myself along the way.

I’ll split the whole thing up into a few different posts.

I'll start from the bottom ...

2022      Tribute - Tenacious D

This is not the greatest song in the world, no…

2021      2021 - Vampire Weekend

Nor is this …

2020      Laura - Scissor Sisters

2019      In Love - The Raincoats

2018      Money on My Mind - Sam Smith

2017      Safe as Milk - Captain Beefheart

2016      Your Best American Girl - Mitski

2015      Grindin' - Clipse

2014      Flowers in the Window - Travis

2013      Back Door Man - Howlin' Wolf

2012      Freed from Desire - Gala

2011      Red Strokes - Garth Brooks

2010      Gangnam Style - Psy

2009      These Days - Rudimental

2008      Laid - James

2007      Don't Upset the Rhythm - The Noisettes

2006      Plug In Baby - Muse

2005      One to Another - The Charlatans

2004      I Love Your Smile - Shanice

2003      Inner City Life - Goldie

2002      Hate it Or Love It - The Game

2001      Hush - Deep Purple

2000      Beggin' - Four Seasons

1999      The Riddle - Nik Kershaw

1998      I Love Rock'n'Roll - Joan Jett

1997      Moody - ESG

1996      Teen Age Riot - Sonic Youth

1995      I Want to Know What Love is - Foreigner

1994      Wake Me Up - Avicii

1993      Price Tag - Jessie J

1992      Defying Gravity (Wicked)

1991      Since U Been Gone - Kelly Clarkson

1990      The Shining - Badly Drawn Boy

1989      Dy-Na-Mi-Tee - Ms Dynamite

1988      Sick 2 Def - Plan B

1987      Lithuania - Dan Bern

1986      The Engine Driver - The Decemberists

1985      Cry Me a River - Justin Timberlake

1984      Goodies - Ciara

1983      Redneck Woman - Gretchen Wilson

1982      Last Resort - Papa Roach

1981      The Humpty Dance - Digital Underground

1980      Ain't No Love in the Heart of the City - Bobby Bland

1979      1979 - Smashing Pumpkins

I think that gag’s gone far enough …

1978      Walking on Thin Ice - Yoko Ono

1977      You’re The First, The Last My Everything - Barry White

1976      Satta Massagana - The Abyssinians

1975      Teenage Dirtbag - Wheatus

1974      Way Over Yonder In The Minor Key - Billy Bragg and Wilco

1973      Under Me Sleng Teng - Wayne Smith

1972      Cherish - Kool and the Gang

1971      Things Can Only Get Better - D.Ream

1970      Dazed and Confused - Led Zeppelin

1969      C'est La Vie - B*Witched

1968      Typical Girls - The Slits

1967      Do It Again - Steely Dan

1966      Have You Seen Her - Chi-Lites

1965      Human Fly - The Cramps

1964      Movin' On Up - Primal Scream

1963      Making Time - The Creation

1962      Bad Moon Rising - Creedence Clearwater Revival

1961      Autumn Leaves - Jo Stafford

1960      Boom Clap - Charli XCX

1959      DANCE - Justice

1958      Cop Killer - Body Count

1957      The Gambler - Kenny Rogers

1956      In the Summertime - Mungo Jerry

1955      I Wish - Stevie Wonder

1954      Sweet Emotion - Aerosmith

1953      Shine - Aswad

1952      Black Hole Sun - Soundgarden

1951      You're Making Me High - Toni Braxton

1950      Hips Don't Lie - Shakira

1949      Obviously - McFly

1948      Counting Stars - One Republic

1947      Honey and the Moon - Joseph Arthur

1946      New American Language - Dan Bern

1945      Pictures of Success - Rilo Kiley

1944      Feelgood Hit Of The Summer - Queens of the Stone Age

1943      Queen of Denmark - John Grant

1942      Hold On We're Going Home - Drake

OK, I will establish the rule that I won’t include anything that I truly hate, even if it fits most criteria for a great song. So I won’t include Angels, which does set me teeth on edge, or Wannabe, but when it comes to the likes Imagine, Bohemian Rhapsody and Hotel California, I think there’s a sense there’s a musical rite of passage which involves saying, or thinking, you hate them, whereas in fact, whatever, they’re fine. Purple Rain may end up being the same thing. Over-rated all of them, a bit much, but basically well enough put together and significant to the culture.

Actually, I hate this Drake song, Hate it. But it’s on the list. So there go the rules. I struggle with some of the absolute biggest commercial stars of the modern day, be they Drake, Sheeran or even Adele. I haven’t brought myself to put anything by Ed Sheeran on the list. Sorry.

1941      Gonna Make You a Star - David Essex

1940      If You're Not the One - Daniel Bedingfield

1939      Sorrow - Life Without Buildings

1938      If It Be Your Will - Leonard Cohen

1937      Crash - Primitives

1936      Night to Remember - Shalamar

1935      Alone - Heart

1934      I’m Not In Love - 10cc

1933      Tryin' To Get The Feeling Again - The Carpenters

1932      I'll Feel a Whole Lot Better- The Byrds

1931      End of a Century - Blur

1930      The Killing of Georgie - Rod Stewart

1929      BagBak - Vince Staples

1928      Postcards from Italy - Beirut

1927      Praise You - Fatboy Slim

1926      Long Distance Call - Phoenix

1925      I Was Made for Sunny Days - The Weepies

1924      Dream Baby Dream - Suicide

1923      Learn to Fly - Foo Fighters

1922      Love the One You're With - Stephen Stills

1921      007 (Shantytown) - Desmond Dekker and the Aces

1920      Fist City - Loretta Lynn

1919      I Fall to Pieces - Patsy Cline

1918      18 with a Bullet - Pete Wingfield

1917      Memory - from Cats

1916      Pretty in Pink - Psychedelic Furs

1915      The Man with the Child in His Eyes - Kate Bush

1914      Letter from an Occupant - The New Pornographers

1913      Dreaming - Blondie

1912      Kelly Watch the Stars - Air

1911      American Boy - Estelle

1910      Formed a Band - Art Brut

1909      The Bottle - Gil Scott-Heron

1908      Come Pick Me Up - Ryan Adams

It became inevitable to me, as soon as I started, that the list should expand. It is nine years later. There are a lot more songs in the world. I think, when I made that list, I hadn’t started streaming yet, so couldn’t quite listen to absolutely anything whenever I wanted. I definitely listen to more songs every year than I used to.

And – an important point that strikes me – lots of songs from the past are deemed to have got better, been re-evaluated, given a proper place, but I’m not sure that many songs truly get worse. I think films and books, as attitudes, techniques and technologies change, are quite often cast aside and genuinely downgraded retrospectively, but I think songs are too small for that to happen on a grand scale. Some stay the same, but I’m not sure if they degrade (I will slightly contradict myself on this later).

There are distinct examples like Ignition by R Kelly, where there is no joy left to it, so it will not be deemed to have a place in the culture, and thus lose its meaning, and there may be revisionists takes on genres, but although “feelings” for specific songs evolve constantly, it is pretty hard to change how we “think”, both as an individual and as a culture, about a song.

And this guy's songs have got worse too .... 

1907      Senorita - Shawn Mendes and Camila Cabello

1906      This is Me - The Greatest Showman

1905      Swinging on a Star - Bing Crosby

1904      Funky Kingston - Toots and the Maytals

1903      That's The Joint - Funky Four Plus One

1902      Walking on Sunshine - Katrina and the Waves

1901      Last Night - The Strokes

1900      Tighten Up - Archie Bell and the Drells

1899      Human Nature - Michael Jackson

1898      Rock Island Line - Lonnie Donegan

1897      Something on Your Mind - Karen Dalton

1896      Sweet Gene Vincent - Ian Dury and the Blockheads

1895      Something in the Air - Thunderclap Newman

1894      Against All Odds - Phil Collins

1893      Tease Me - Shaka Demus and Pliers

1892      Let Me Entertain You - Robbie Williams

Context matters a lot, of course. There’s nothing I disliked and resented so much as Robbie Williams’ music in his imperial period from the late 90s to the early 2000s. God, he was everywhere, with his songs, a bit like fun, cool songs, but not fun, cool songs. What fun it was when the great enemy was the latest Robbie Williams single.

But I think there’s a very specific reason I hated Robbie Williams so much, which is Angels ... but also an interview he and Guy Chambers gave after Angels had become a massive sleeper hit, where he bragged along the lines that Gary Barlow could never have written a song with such spiritual depth and meaning (I wish I could find the actual interview). I had already hated Angels for quite some time then, what with it being bobbins, but something about the self-serving hogwash of that quote hardened my loathing. It was very funny when, years later, it emerged that Williams had, somewhat, nicked the song off an Irishman called Ray Heffernan. Weirdly, rather like the recent Corden joke-stealing controversy, the very preposterousness of giving that interview while that was the case slightly softens me towards Williams. There’s something interesting going on there.

Anyway, I remember his two singles before Angels, called Lazy Day and South of the Border, which were pretty unsuccessful, I’d not exactly hated, just thought “good on him for fading away from the public consciousness with pleasantly jaunty indie rock”. It wasn’t my destiny to loathe Robbie.

The thing about Angels is a few things. One, it hits many benchmarks of a classic people’s song, the way it crept deeply into the public consciousness, became a favourite at both weddings and funerals, a song to sing and cry along to. But it’s bad, of course. That’s not like I say I struggle with Purple Rain or some song I used to love but now hate like Bohemian Rhapsody. Angels is pretty obviously bad, lots of people think that. It’s hackneyed and obvious, the words don’t make much sense, the rhymes are head-bothering (“I sit and wait, does an angel contemplate my fate” … no, no, sorry), the way he sings them even worse. It’s a bad song. It wouldn’t be as bad if someone like, say, David McAlmont or The Walkmen did it, but I’d still think “oof, that’s a bit of a shonky song”.

Whereas … now I think about it, Let Me Entertain You, which I also hated, because it was Robbie Williams straight after Angels (an almost-identical one-two, two years later, to Oasis’s Wonderwall-Don’t Look Back in Anger), is good. Good as in it does what it says, and it’s a bit funny, and it suits him perfectly, that blend of showmanship, ego and neediness. So, if there had been no Angels, no Angels interview, maybe I’d have put up with Robbie more phlegmatically, but I expect that’s not what he’d have wanted anyway.

1891      Footloose - Kenny Loggins

1890      Red Alert - Basement Jaxx

1889      Shackles - Mary Mary

1888      Moves Like Jagger - Maroon 5

I always see Adam Levine as the evil ghost of Jeff Buckley - little Scott Moorhead did a deal with the devil to have two alternative timelines, and if he died, to come back, sacrifice everything great and beautiful that he stood for, and put out catchy, creepy, narcissistic pop songs. Of those songs, Moves Like Jagger is, I guess, the best.

1887      Shotgun - George Ezra

1886      Switching Off - Elbow

1885      Ladyflash - The Go! Team

1884      Massive Night - The Hold Steady

1883      If the Brakeman Turns My Way - Bright Eyes

1882      Dakota - Stereophonics

1881      Pon de Replay - Rihanna

1880      I've Always Been Crazy - Waylon Jennings

1879      Rhythm Nation - Janet Jackson

1878      Yeah - Usher

1877      Is This the Way to Amarillo - Tony Christie

Popular song is, so much, about shared experience, even if we (I?) try to flee from that. Most of our understanding of a song’s greatness comes from a confirming experience that other people feel the same way too, or indeed that we (I?) feel the same way as other people. That may just be reading a review of a song that mirrors your feeling about it, it may be at a concert where you’re part of 100s or 1000s people that move the same way to a song, it may be dancing in a club to a song you’ve never heard before, it may be listening to a song in the pop charts and thinking, for once, this is pretty great. It’s rare (in some ways quite precious) that we listen in a vacuum, and that never lasts for long. Popular song is a complex web of shared experience. 

So, sometimes, a song like this becomes a big deal out of nowhere and you have to acknowledge it.

1876      Somebody to Love - Queen

1875      Suicide Is Painless (Theme from MASH)

1874      I Saw The Light - Todd Rundgren

1873      Something's Gotten Hold of My Heart - Gene Pitney and Marc Almond

1872      Jesus Wants Me for a Sunbeam - The Vaselines

1871      Play Dead - Bjork

1870      Wind of Change - Scorpions

1869      Ghosts - Japan

1868      Personal Jesus - Depeche Mode

1867      New Madrid - Uncle Tupelo

1866      Drop the Pressure - Milo

1865      So Hot You're Hurting My Feelings - Caroline Polachek

1864      Finishing the Hat (Sunday Afternoon ... - Sondheim)

1863      Round Eye Blues - Marah

1862      Dreamy Days - Roots Manuva

1861      Something Inside So Strong - Labi Siffre

1860      The Ghetto - Donny Hathaway

1859      Shorley Wall - Ooberman

1858      I'm Going Down - Rose Royce

1857      Louie Louie - The Kingsmen

1856      I Ain't Marching Anymore - Phil Ochs

1855      McArthur Park - Richard Harris

1854      My Prayer - The Platters

1853      Punk Rock Girl - The Dead Milkmen

1852      Wild Thing - The Troggs

1851      The Next Movement - The Roots

1850      Dear Mama - Tupac

1849      Mahgeetah - My Morning Jacket

1848      The Sexual Loneliness of Jesus Christ - Jackie Leven

1847      Cabaret (from Cabaret)

1846      Slaveship - Josh Rouse

1845      Seven Days - Craig David

1844      Overload - Sugababes

1843      Return of the Mack - Mark Morrison

1842      Gypsy Woman (She's Homeless) - Crystal Gayle

1841      54-46 was My Number - Toots and the Maytals

1840      You've Really Got a Hold on Me - Smokey Robinson

1839      Hammond Song - The Roches

1838      Pump Up the Volume - MARRS

1837      Hey Ma - Cam'ron

This is good! I think I’d not thought this was good, but it turns out it is.

1836      Our Lips are Sealed - The Go-Gos

1835      Everything I Do (I Do it For You) - Bryan Adams

Radio makes a lot of songs great. More than music TV ever has done, whether that’s MTV, Top of the Pops, Jools Holland or whatever else. Songs have always risen on radio. Perhaps it’s the case slightly less now, now there’s everything else social, but pop music radio is still widely listened to, it’s still the place millions of people are listening to the same thing at the same time, and together thinking “I like this, what is it?”

I listened to Capital FM first, from, I’d guess, around 1988 to 1994. I remember trying Radio 1 during that time and just struggling with the lack of jingles and cheesy ads! By 93 and 94, I was starting to hate Capital. It was not playing the songs I wanted and when it was, it was cutting them off early. I first moved on to Virgin Radio, which felt revelatory to start with, whether it was playing Paul Simon,  REM or Oasis (such range!). A different idea (not that different) of what a great song was. In truth, more monochrome, more rockist than Capital, but at the time, it felt more diverse in its way.

For most of the late 90s I was listening to Radio 1, where even their mainstream shows played plenty of indie and stuff I liked at that time, before moving on to xfm and then Radio 6. I listen to radio rarely these days and curate my own taste based on reviews and existing knowledge more than anything else – I suppose I miss all those moments when a song grabs me out of nowhere, where I know I’m with millions of other people hearing the same thing and having the same response.

It is, ironically, my Capital years that have made the biggest impression. It was the only time I really listened to pop music with urgency, where I knew nothing else and it was my main source. Not that I loved it all, as I knew there was something else out there. But I didn’t know how to access it.

I’d listen to the Top 10 at 10, the Neil Fox Jukebox, the charts, and, of course, the highlight of the listening year, the annual Hall of Fame rundown of 500 songs. Those were the first lists of Greatest Songs I ever listened to (and statistically analysed, if they happened to be printed in a newspaper). I wish I could remember all the perennial highflyers – certainly Careless Whisper, Stairway to Heaven, Bohemian Rhapsody, I Will Always Love You when it hit, Hotel California, Boys of Summer, Without You, More than a Feeling. I remember George Michael, Phil Collins and Elton John were the most prominent throughout the 500 songs. It was certainly a moment in time. When I checked in on the Capital Hall of Fame in the late 90s and early 2000s, I saw it had been as much Oasisifyed as everything else (it is still the case that you’ll get large groups of British people to vote on the greatest songs of all time and 25 of the top 20 will be by Oasis).

I’ve listened to so many more Greatest Songs lists since then that, in a way, I agree with more, but I still have a massive fondness for those lists.

Saying all that, it was film, not radio, that made this song the song in the summer of 91, when I, like so many, did not get my first real six-string.

1834      Fame - Irena Cara

1833      swimming pools (drank) - Kendrick Lamar

1832      Hejira - Joni Mitchell

1831      Oxygen - Willy Mason

1830      Oh Carolina - Shaggy

1829      Layla - Derek and the Dominos

1828      Darling Be Home Soon - The Lovin' Spoonful

1827      21st Century Schizoid Man - King Crimson

1826      Ain't That Enough - Teenage Fanclub

1825      Marcus Garvey - Burning Spear

1824      Insomnia - Faithless

1823      Baby I Don't Care - Tranvision Vamp

1822      Milk and Alcohol - Dr Feelgood

1821      Love of the Common People - Nicky Thomas

1820      Rain on Me - Ariana Grande and Lady Gaga

1819      Brick - Ben Folds Five

1818      Barcode Bypass - Mull Historical Society

1817      Wicked Game - Chris Isaak

1816      Monkey Man - Toots and the Maytals

1815      Information Inspiration - Shuggie Otis

1814      To Hell With Good Intentions - Mclusky

1813      Freak Scene - Dinosaur Jr

1812      Scottish Pop - Spearmint

1811      Thot Shit - Megan Thee Stallion

1810      Out in the Streets - Shangri-Las

1809      The Chalet Lines - Belle and Sebastian

1808      Visions - Stevie Wonder

1807      I Never Asked to be Your Mountain - Tim Buckley

1806      Love Shack - B-52s

1805      Lazy Sunday - Small Faces

1804      Silver Machine - Hawkwind

1803      Could it be I'm Falling in Love - The Spinners

1802      Where Do you Go to My Lovely - Peter Sarstedt

1801      Song for Whoever - Beautiful South

1800      Rocket Man - Elton John

1799      Not If You Were the Last Junkie on Earth - Dandy Warhols

1798      Can't Do Without You - Caribou

1797      Overcome - Laura Mvula

1796      Rhythm is a Dancer - Snap

1795      I Feel for You - Chaka Khan

1794      Valerie - Steve Winwood

1793      Knock on Wood - Eddie Floyd

1792      See Emily Play - Pink Floyd

1791      I Get Along Without You Very Well - Chet Baker

1790      Ring My Bell - Anita Ward

1789      Black Magic - Little Mix

1788      21 Seconds - So Solid Crew

1787      Little Baby Nothing - Manic Street Preachers

1786      Spice Up Your Life - Spice Girls

1785      Land of Make Believe - Bucks Fizz

1784      All By Myself - Eric Carmen

1783      That's When I Reach for My Revolver - Mission of Burma

1782      Mighty Quinn - Manfred Mann

1781      Black Bottom - Ma Rainey

1780      This Ole House - Rosemary Clooney

1779      Hey Hey My My (Into the Black) - Neil Young

1778      Solid Air - John Martyn

1777      Help Me - Joni Mitchell

1776      Wood Beez (Pray Like Aretha Franklin) - Scritti Politti

1775      She Sells Sanctuary - The Cult

1774      Red - Daniel Merriweather

1773      Wind Beneath My Wings - Bette Midler

1772      Rocks Off - Rolling Stones

1771      I Had Too Much To Dream (Last Night) - Electric Prunes

1770      XO - Beyonce

1769      Cheap Thrills - SIA

1768      betty - Taylor Swift

1767      Heartbeats - The Knife

1766      Undercover - Kehlani

1765      Laura - Bat for Lashes

1764      Thrift Shop - Macklemore ft Ryan Lewis

1763      Shallow - Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper

1762      Roscoe - Midlake

1761      Young Folks - Peter, Bjorn & John

1760      Pull Shapes - Pipettes

1759      Golden Touch - Razorlight

1758      Comin' Up Easy - Paolo Nutini

1757      Eternal Flame - The Bangles

1756      Alive and Kicking - Simple Minds

1755      Ooh La La - Faces

1754      Crazy Horses - The Osmonds

1753      Rasputin - Boney M

1752      Friend of the Devil - Grateful Dead

1751      Aftermath - Tricky

1750      Save the Country - Laura Nyro

1749      Some Velvet Morning - Lee Hazelwood and Nancy Sinatra

1748      Floating in the Forth - Frightened Rabbit

1747      Comedy Tonight - Zero Mostel

1746      Germ Free Adolescents - X-Ray Spex

1745      Girl You'll be a Woman Soon - Neil Diamond

1744      Young Americans - David Bowie

1743      One Love - Bob Marley

1742      American Girl - Tom Petty

1741      Jersey Girl - Tom Waits

1740      Good Life - Inner City

1739      Danger High Voltage - Electric Six

1738      Captain Jack Sparrow - The Lonely Island ft Michael Bolton

1737      Staring at the Sun - TV on the Radio

1736      Runaway Train - Soul Asylum

1735      What is Love? - Haddaway

1734      Porcelain - Moby

1733      Brickbat - Billy Bragg

1732      Semi-Charmed Life - Third Eye Blind

1731      Fields of Gold - Sting

1730      Everybody's Got to Learn Sometime - The Korgis

1729      All This Useless Beauty - Elvis Costello

1728      Steal My Sunshine - Len

1727      Nelson Mandela - The Special A.K.A.

1726      If you Let Me Stay - Terence Trent D'Arby

1725      Ghostbusters - Ray Parker Jr

1724      Shot by Both Sides - Magazine

1723      Manic Monday - The Bangles

1722      I Think I Love You - David Cassidy

1721      Waiting Room - Fugazi

1720      Not Ready to Make Nice - The Chicks

1719      Beth/Rest - Bon Iver

1718      For Your Love - Yardbirds

1717      The Wanderer - Dion

1716      We Are the Champions - Queen

1715      Personality Crisis - New York Dolls

1714      Private Dancer - Tina Turner

1713      Manchild - Neneh Cherry

1712      Some Jingle Jangle Morning - Mary Lou Lord

1711      Way Down in the Hole - Tom Waits

1710      The Way it Is - Bruce Hornsby

1709      Fight For Your Right To Party - The Beastie Boys

1708      Your Ghost - Kristina Hersh

1707      The Luckiest Guy on the Lower East Side - Magnetic Fields

1706      Love and Happiness - Al Green

1705      Can't Feel My Face - The Weeknd

1704      bad guy - Billie Eilsh

1703      Ghost - Ella Henderson

1702      Danny Callahan - Conor Oberst

1701      Hoppipola - Sigur Ros

1700      Welcome to Jamrock - Damian Marley

____________

I was thinking about the main dividing lines in musical taste. There are 1000s of small preferences people have, but I was thinking what are the main 50/50s, where you’re taste lies either on one side or the other, and there’s not much you can actively do about it, and they define what you’re into, more than you realise. – you might call then subconscious biases on taste, although sometimes we become very conscious of them, but I think they start as subconscious.

Very important to say, no one is 100 % one and 0% the other, but nor do I really think anyone is quite 50/50. It is also important to say that it is possible to change one’s preference or have it changed, in most of these categorisations, which are

Classical Vs Pop

which kind of stands alone, as then everything else is within “pop”

Pop/Rock

Female vocal/Male vocal

Black/White

Lyric-driven/Music-driven

Synth/Guitar

Electric/Acoustic

Electronica/Rock

Protest/Pop

Instrumental/Vocal

UK/US

Loud/Quiet

Folk/rock

Progressive/Classic … by progressive I don’t mean prog and classic doesn’t necessarily mean classic rock – it’s more like “always wanting the new vs happy with traditional forms and sounds”

Rap/singing

Slow/Fast

Vacuous/Meaningful

Sellout/for real

Passive engagement/Active engagement

There may be others- I wondered if Gay/Straight was a major subconscious distinction when it comes to musical taste, but I would veer on the side of it not being so, and that pushing to being unnecessary stereotyping. [I will get back to this later]

A lot of these, obviously, overlap with each other.

So, of course, if you come down on a different side from someone on all of those, you’ll have very different taste from them and a very different notion of what is a great song.

So, you've probably already given up on this, but there's plenty of good stuff to come.

B99: Why is Nick Cave not more successful? (and other things)

I’m going to bring together a few of the things I’ve done and seen lately, talk about a few famous men, and offer up a couple of playlists too.

For the first time in three years, I’ve been to the theatre and to live music. Both are good, I can confirm.

A couple of weeks ago, at pretty short notice, I took the opportunity to go to the Marlowe in Canterbury to see the touring production of ‘Girl from the North Country’, Conor McPherson’s acclaimed musical based on the songs of Bob Dylan.

 I’d wanted to see it for a long time, but things got in the way, as they've done.

I loved it. 

Two takes

 – one, there are so many great singers out there. This was a touring cast, not West End and Broadway stars, and there were certainly a couple of understudies in major parts, yet nevertheless, there were several showstopping vocal performances by different cast members.

- two – the song selection was wonderful. There were a handful of major Dylan numbers, done in fairly thrilling ways, but mainly it was pretty obscure songs from unlikely eras, particularly the early 70s and early 80s. 

It made me think how many Dylan “playlists” there are. How many ways there are to categorise his songs, from Greatest Hits, to Great Non-Album songs, to Great Lost Tracks, to Great Bootlegs, to Hate Songs, Love Songs, Political Songs, Christian Songs, Comeback Songs etc etc.

Inspired by that, I made a new Dylan playlist. The only remit is that it’s something new. As in, not the obvious greatest hits and not my personal favourites. A lot of my favourites were already quite (quite, not very) obscure, but I wanted to just create something pretty fresh to my own ears. That also meant avoiding, mainly, what was used in Girl from the North Country. There are a few which I already liked a lot, but none which were right in my Top 10, so I think this is pretty nice.

I’m not pretending it’s deep cuts, it’s just a slightly different angle. It’s called

BOBBITIES

• New Morning
• As I Went Out One Morning
• I Feel a Change Comin’ On
• False Prophet
• Born in Time
• Death is Not the End
• Ballad of Frankie Lee and Judas Priest
• Dignity
• Angelina
• ‘Cross the Green Mountain
• Red River Shore
• Bob Dylan’s Dream
• Spanish Harlem Incident
• Spirit on the Water
• Don’t Fall Apart on Me Tonight
• Something’s Got a Hold of My Heart
• Tonight I’ll Be Staying Here With You
• If You Gotta Go, Go Now
• Mama You Been on My Mind
• Can’t Wait
• Soon After Midnight
• My Own Version of You
• Nettie Moore
• Spanish Harlem Incident
• Sugar Baby
• Only a Pawn in Their Game
• Tomorrow is a Long Time
• Long and Wasted Years
• Mozambique
• Up to Me
• When the Deal Goes Down
• You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere
• I Believe in You
• I and I
• Talkin’ World War III Blues
• Po’ Boy
• No Time to Think
• Silvio
• Foot of Pride
• Standing in the Doorway
• Honey Just Allow Me One More Chance
• Million Dollar Bash
• One More Cup of Coffee
• Tell Me That It Isn’t True
• Ring them Bells
• Angelina
• Paths of Victory
• Dark Eyes
• Trying to Get to Heaven
• I Shall Be Free Number 10
• Let Me Die in Me Footsteps
• Lily, Rosemary and the Jack of Hearts
• Lay Down Your Weary Tune
• Boots of Spanish Leather
• What Good Am I?

There’ll be another playlist later.

Now I’m going to write about Paul Newman and Nick Cave. Funnily enough, I had started thinking about Nick Cave and Paul Newman together before the most notable link, which I’ll get to, hit me between the eyes.

I was going to write about them as rare examples of icons in whom there is worth investing some “moral” value. Cave and Newman have both striven to connect with the world, to be forces for good. And have succeeded.

My favourite footballer was Ryan Giggs. I was never invested in the idea of him as good person, but still... Bob Dylan was egregiously accused in court this last year. The case has been thrown out, but still, I can’t have been the only Dylan fan reckoning with the nuances of continued fandom if there’d been a whiff of truth in it. In any case, Dylan’s never been a saint. That’s the whole point of him. He never wanted to be anyone’s anything.

We should never want our famous guys to be anything. It’s a recipe for disaster. This guy from Arcade Fire with his high-minded preachy shite. Jesus.

But if one can avoid hagiography, there does remain a place for a famous person to be more than nothing and to do more.

There was a recent six-part documentary about Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward, called ‘The Last Movie Stars’, directed by Ethan Hawke, with soundtrack by Hamilton Leithauser. I like all of those things, so I lapped it up.

I’ve always been a fan of Paul Newman, and the ideas that he was “better” than other famous people has seemed to me like it's always been around. A lot of that was previously expressed, rather tritely, in the idea of his marriage to Woodward being some perfect idyll, an idea this documentary sympathetically dismantled.

Newman was complex, difficult, alcoholic, lived with great frustration and guilt. He always thought his wife, and lots of other people, were much better actors than him. But, look, Hud, Cool Hand Luke, The Hustler, The Verdict, all the way up to The Road to Perdition. He outdid them all.

In 1976, his son Scott, with whom, having left the boy’s mother for Woodward, he’d had a difficult, guilt-stricken relationship, died from drug misuse.

Newman had always been an involved citizen, a civil rights activist who was politically outspoken. But, nevertheless, it is his actions in the wake of his son’s death which are most remarkable, as Hawke’s film points out. Philanthropy doesn’t cover it. Philanthropy always seems a sinister word to me, some billionaire setting up a self-glorifying charity as a tax break, something distinct from goodness.

Newman set up a food company which earned more than he ever did from acting, and gave absolutely all the profits away. He set up camps for terminally ill children, drug charities, he and Woodward got numerous theatre companies (including Hawke’s own) off the ground with donations. Hawke says they gave away three times more than they were ever worth. 

He was an extremely handsome man, then a sex symbol, then a great film star, a great film actor, then an activist, than a man whose life was given over to service after grief.

And, of course, we get to the significant, terrible, link with Cave. Cave’s Red Hand Files and concerts are an act of love and, above all, communication, after grief.

I think I grasped something about Cave and grief on Sunday, something he’s explained before, but I only really understood properly now. The end of ‘I Need You’ was so raw, so real, when he’s repeating “just breathe, just breathe, just breathe …" his ghosts are right there. Then, within minutes, he’s rabble rousing and taking the piss on Tupelo and Red Right Hand. But it’s not incongruous, at all, it’s the same thing. His ghosts are right there for him all the time. He’s able to live with them in everything he does. It’s something other than fragility, it’s incredible strength.

Most of us, including me, have never known a fraction of that grief, and hopefully never will, but it’s an incredible lesson, that it isn’t “sad for a while, then get on with it” or “sad in moments, but put brave face on”, it’s permanent engagement with grief and ghosts, whatever the context.

Anyway, I haven’t expressed that well, but there we go.

So, it was great. Cave and the Bad Seeds are the best live act in the world. Everyone says it. Always with the 5* reviews and the “this was a religious experience” reviews. Which is where the slightly silly title to this blog comes in. Cave’s famous and successful, of course, but still, there remains something a little baffling about someone who everyone says is the best live act in the world, who has massive name and face recognition, manages to play big, sought-after shows, but, still, has not had a UK Number 1 album, and doesn’t exactly seem to grow in size. When people are really, really good, and do something really, really meaningful, I sometimes expect some exponential engagement from the general populace, but, you know, people ain’t no good. That’s always the answer.

Anyway, as I say, I was at the live music on Sunday. All Points East – Victoria Park – lots of great acts, Cave the headliner. I had a moment where, halfway through his set, having been mid-throng near front, needing the loo and drink, I dodged and pushed out somewhat regretfully, but then, was struck, rather beautifully, by the realisation that this is the part I love and I’ve missed, the bit just on the outside, where the stragglers are dancing, where the bar stuff look on bemused, where the ground is trodden, where the music’s still loud but you can breathe and look back at the people, and they’re more your own people than most other people, and it’s a summer sky, and it’s all a little bit beautiful but not too intense. That’s the part I love.

All Points East isn’t a proper festival, but anyway, I made a festival playlist of songs which I remember bringing the good vibes back in the good days.

FESTIVAL FRIENDS

• Not One Bit Ashamed - King Creosote
• Furious - Joan as Police Woman
• The Wolves (Acts I and II) - Bon Iver
• My Girls - Animal Collective
• The Whole of the Moon - The Waterboys
• The Rat - The Walkmen
• Why I'm Bullshit - Mark Eitzel
• Apply Some Pressure - Maximo Park
• Goodbye England (Covered in Snow) - Laura Marling
• Negative Vibes - Damien Dempsey
• Take Me Out - Franz Ferdinand
• Monkey Gone to Heaven - Pixies
• Wake Up - Arcade Fire
• Baby You're My Light - Richard Hawley
• Tortoise Regrets Hare - James Yorkston
• Cosmia - Joanna Newsom
• The Trapeze Swinger - Iron and Wine
• No Pussy Blues - Grinderman
• Lover Leave Me Drowning - Blitzen Trapper
• Sometimes - James
• Brown Eyed Girl - Van Morrison
• Zorbing - Stornoway
• A Matter of Time - The Leisure Society
• Stand and Deliver - Adam Ant
• Rapture - Blondie
• Fuck It, I Love you - Malcom Middleton
• Hello Sunshine - Super Furry Animals
• We Are the People - Empire of the Sun
• I Predict a Riot - Kaiser Chiefs
• Head Home - Midlake
• We're from Barcelona - I'm from Barcelona
• I Often Dream of Trains - Robyn Hitchcock
• All Night Disco Party - Brakes
• The Opposite of Hallelujah - Jens Lekman
• Lloyd I'm ready to be Heartbroken - Camera Obscura
• Chips Ahoy - The Hold Steady
• Two Weeks - Grizzly Bear
• Sigourney Weaver - John Grant
• Spanish Sahara - Foals
• The Easter Parade - Emmy the Great
• Ice Cream - New Young Pony Club
• 1952 Vincent Black Lightning - Richard Thompson
• Light Flight - Pentangle
• Inside of Love - Nada Surf
• It Ended on an Oily Stage - Sea Power
• Sweet Disposition - The Temper Trap
• Be Good or Be Gone - Fionn Regan
• I Wish That I Could See You Soon - Herman Dune
• Gold Soundz - Pavement
• Hounds of Love - Futureheads
• It's the Sun - The Polyphonic Spree
• The Magic Position - Patrick Wolf
• Let's Make Love and Listen to Death from Above - CSS
• People Help the People - Cherry Ghost
• What Good Am I? - Tom Jones
• Not Dark Yet - Bob Dylan

Song 97: The Trapeze Swinger (again)

 I enjoyed this funny and truthful piece on Glastonbury in the Quietus recently https://thequietus.com/articles/31725-glastonbury-festival-review-people-eh about the self-including misanthropy the recent festival brought out in the writer.

I never went to Glastonbury, but between 2005 and 2012, I did go to, on average, a couple of music festivals a year, and I found his words and his irritations rang true, which is not to say I didn’t mainly love being at festivals. But if you haven’t regularly experienced minor rage at gigs and festivals at people making too much noise, jumping queues, going on shoulders etc. then I suspect you may be one of those people and you need to stop.

Mostly I went to smaller, but not tiny festivals. Not sure I could have coped with Glastonbury, though who knows.

A particularly memorable performance was that of ‘The Trapeze Swinger’ by Iron Man at Green Man Festival in August 2008. I probably remember it so well because it was extremely well captured on amateur footage https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lnGXduu293c&ab_channel=missyhate, perhaps by an early iPhone.

I don’t throw in the conjecture on technology for no reason. I’ve written about this song before, so it’s (mainly) not the song that I’m going to write about now, but the moment.

 

It’s about 8 pm on Sunday 17^th August 2008, near Crickhowell the middle of the Brecon Beacons. It’s been one of those rain-all-weekend festivals. The whole site is a mudslide. Some people are literally covered in mud, the marquees are packed with people seeking shelter, warm and cold drinks, but the mood in the open air has been good all weekend, and there have been no major disasters.

I don’t revel in the weather, but I’m still of an age where I can cope fine with it. The rain and mud don’t ruin my enjoyment. I’ve got wellies, I’ve got waterproofs, I’ve got an ok tent. I’m with a couple of friends, I think a couple of members of my family are there too.

Spiritualized headlined the Friday, Super Furry Animals the Saturday, Iron and Wine are the second last act on the main stage on the Sunday. The headliner, bizarrely perhaps, but showing the festival’s original folk credentials, will be the original line-up of reformed 60s folk “supergroup” Pentangle – Jacqui McShee, Bert Jansch, John Renbourn, Danny Thompson, Terry Cox.

As I look now through the line-up, I remember the weekend. Plenty of music that was up my street. I remember King Creosote and James Yorkston being great on the Friday.

A few nice little oddities in terms of place on the bill. Some acts will get a lot bigger. Cate Le Bon, The War on Drugs, The National; Mumford and Sons are literally as low on the bill as they could possibly be, maybe a few months from accelerating their path to domination.

Richard Thompson was fantastic on Saturday evening, I remember, just filled the natural amphitheatre with the sound of his one guitar, also Laura Marling, still a teenager, was great. I’d been watching the main stage all day on Sunday.

There’ve been a few pieces in the last year or so making the case that culture has stopped moving, that everything is the same as it was 10/15 years ago. I think this hypothesis is wildly, wildly, impossibly wrong in the wider sense, but, if you take, a very specific, small view of what “culture” means, you can look at the footage shot of Iron and Wine that weekend and think, yes, that could be right now. You could think a lot of those kind of acts, are still, somewhat, in the same kind of slots at the same kind of festivals.

You could think 14 years is not such a long time looking at Sam Beam here, a man alone, framed in darkness. But events like Green Man were always outside time. It’s everything else has changed. Most music has changed, including what rock music has been confident or not trying to do, as well the way we consume music, film, the way we consume TV and the internet, generational relationships, movements and moments. I mean, even beards have changed. A beard like Sam Beam’s used to mean “he’s probably a peace-lovin’ vegetarian folk musician” now there’s just as much chance it mean’s he’s a gym bunny racist.

Summer of 2008 - Obama is a couple of months away from the presidency, Gordon Brown has been PM for a year, though already on the downslope, with the Financial Crisis in full swing and the Camerosborne pincer already affecting the weak minds of the terminally complacent, London has a new blue mayor, despite my best efforts to warn all of four or five people of his dangers. It’s the weekend Usain Bolt has, on the Saturday night, shocked the world for the first time by breaking the 100m world record in Beijing (whether I was able to find that out on my portable radio or my non-smartphone, I can’t quite recall). The first ‘Iron Man’ film has come out a couple of months earlier. Facebook is a burgeoning big deal, not many are using twitter yet.

I, David McGaughey, am skinny, and fit. Probably as skinny and fit as I ever was. I’ve had one blood clot but no broken leg. The weekend after, I’m travelling up to the isle of Coll to participate in my first half-marathon, which I will run in such a solidly fast way as to encourage me I may be able to run a fast marathon in a couple of months, despite the nagging knee pain I will start to feel on the journey home.

I’ll never run a fast marathon, but, right there, at Green Man, at the end of the National’s early evening’s set, which I’ll have hugely enjoyed, as the sky shows the first signs of clearing and I look forward, somewhat, to hearing a few songs from Iron and Wine’s 2007 album ‘The Shepherd’s Dog’, I’m probably feeling pretty satisfactorily peaceful.

I think I am alone, though I may not be. I am certainly alone when, a short way into Iron and Wine’s set, I take the opportunity to grab my supper from the pie van at the top of the hill from which one can view the stage. Even in the queue for the pie van, the music sounds strong and true. I settle in a spot on the hill for the second half of the set. The pie is good. Then here comes ‘The Trapeze Swinger’, a song I’ve never heard before, and which, 14 years later, I still love. It’s in the realm of Cave and Cohen, in the sacred and profane, simple, repetitive, epic, beautiful.

For weeks and months to come, I will extol its virtues to anyone who’ll hear me. For years, I’ll be baffled that it doesn’t become a cultural landmark. An interesting moment, I think, with some songs we adore, is when we first hear them with someone else’s ears, when we first imagine being the person hearing it and saying “it’s ok, but I don’t really know what you’re making a fuss about”. They move then into the realm of the ordinary. We might carry on loving them, but in a different way. It’s a testament to how much I loved ‘The Trapeze Swinger’ that that moment didn’t come for several years, but it did come eventually, of course.

Still, I watch this video occasionally, remember that feeling of being among people, but people I didn’t mind being among, of that time when moderately successful indie-folk ruled the small world, and when I weighed less than 11 st 7 and I was one of a very small number of people who truly knew what damage Boris Johnson could do if given many more chances.

There was another song I remember hearing at a festival around that time, I think at End of the Road in 2007, in mid-afternoon in an ornate garden, a song played on the piano by Joan as Police Woman, called ‘Furious’, where she asks “Are you not furious? Are you not furious enough?” and I remember thinking “No, I’m probably not, not quite”. There seemed like there was less to be furious about then, but there wasn’t really.

B98: Best to Worst Sports

 These are the Best! to the Worst! sports, context-free and without specific explanation. I've used a failsafe complex formula for this list. It is unimpeachable! It takes into account every aspect of a sport! I haven't included all the sports, but quite a lot ...

1. Cricket
2. Track and field
3. Tennis
4. Football
5. Road cycling
6. Snooker
7. Alpine skiing
8. Kabaddi
9. Triathlon
10. Podex
11. Wheelchair rugby
12. Curling
13. Swimming
14. Tenpin Bowling
15. Rugby sevens
16. Bobsleigh
17. Table tennis
18. Track cycling
19. Aussie Rules/Gaelic football
20. Freestyle skiing
21. Boxing
22. Strongman
23. American Football
24. Snowboarding
25. Squash
26. Ultimate
27. Diving
28. Basketball
29. Hockey
30. Gymnastics
31. Darts
32. Taekwondo
33. Netball
34. Badminton
35. Handball
36. Rugby League
37. Goalball
38. Ice hockey
39. Boules
40. Canoeing
41. Pool
42. Golf
43. Rugby union
44. Surfing
45. Petanque
46. Figure skating
47. Modern Pentathlon
48. Hurling/Shinty
49. Bowls
50. Skeleton
51. Baseball
52. Luge
53. Climbing
54. Waterskiing
55. Weightlifting
56. Rally driving
57. Lacrosse
58. Real tennis
59. Fives
60. Sailing
61. Rowing
62. Judo
63. Boccia
64. Wrestling
65. Racquets
66. Polo
67. MMA
68. Short track speed skating
69. Shooting
70. Horse racing
71. Greyhound racing
72. Bullfighting
73. Formula 1
74. WWE Wrestling (not actually a sport)
75. Fox hunting (the one true sport, but nevertheless the worst)