View Full Version : Kaplan's Top 50 Songs
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First, thanks to Gatsby for starting this trend. Second, here’s what you can expect: A hodgepodge of songs across many genres and decades, but with very minimal emphasis on “recent” music. I only focused on songs in the rock era, excluding any classical, jazz, or blues. Also, there are only two rap songs and one heavy metal song. So if that’s your thing... I also didn’t repeat any artist, with one exception.
As for the order, I used an online random list generator, so the order is random...until we get to the final two songs.
So there you have it.
THE LIST:
50. No Feelings - Sex Pistols
49. Highway - Lightning Dust
48. Loser - Beck
47. Sundown - Gordon Lightfoot
46. It Was a Very Good Year - Frank Sinatra
45. Helplessness Blues - Fleet Foxes
44. Teardrop - Jose Gonzalez
43 Truckin' - Grateful Dead
42. Scentless Apprentice - Nirvana
41. Voodoo Child (Slight Return) - Jimi Hendrix
40. King of Birds - R.E.M.
39. Young Folks - Peter Bjorn And John
38. Sugar Mountain - Neil Young
37. Seattle - Public Image Ltd.
36 The Drowning Man - The Cure
35. China - Tori Amos
34. Lady Godiva's Operation - The Velvet Underground
33. Fight the Power - Public Enemy
32. Arabian Knights - Siouxsie and the Banshees
31. I Can See for Miles - The Who
30. Suzanne - Leonard Cohen
29. The Hand That Rocks the Cradle - The Smiths
28. A Well Respected Man - The Kinks
27. Guilty Conscience - Eminem
26. Rent - Pet Shop Boys
25. Rehab - Amy Winehouse
24. Heartbeats - The Knife
23. Fearless - Pink Floyd
22. The Boxer - Simon & Garfunkel
21. Ghost of the Year - Max Q
20. Drink Before the War - Sinead O'Connor
19. Hole in the Sky - Black Sabbath
18. Worlock - Skinny Puppy
17. Working Class Hero - John Lennon
16. Human Behavior - Björk
15. Flesh and Blood - Johnny Cash
14. White Room - Cream
13 Casey's Last Ride - Kris Kristofferson
12. A Horse With No Name - America
11. White Rabbit - Jefferson Airplane
10. Wax and Wane - Cocteau Twins
9. Burning Down the House - Talking Heads
8. The Jean Genie - David Bowie
7. Lost Coastlines - Okkervil River
6. Misty Mountain Hop - Led Zeppelin
5. Surrender - U2
4. Penetration - The Stooges
3. Mr. Self Destruct - Nine Inch Nails
2. I Am the Walrus - The Beatles
1. A Day in the Life - The Beatles
50. No Feelings - Sex Pistols
The random list generator decreed we start with the Sex Pistols. I love this song the best.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vklyIhg9PM8
49. Highway - Lightning Dust
Great voice.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NcTIA6gXMKE
48. Loser - Beck
Despite having heard this tons of times, I still love it, and it was the perfect opening song to a bizarre and incredible album.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YgSPaXgAdzE
47. Sundown - Gordon Lightfoot
Sometimes I can't get enough of this song.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s8rR7E6NfY4
46. It Was A Very Good Year - Frank Sinatra
I'm not a big fan of Sinatra, but this one hits the spot for me.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=emAe6IClGys
45. Helplessness Blues - Fleet Foxes
This is one of the newest bands to make my list, but they have a great sound and write great lyrics.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KyP0DACgdgc
Anything from the Sex Pistols gets you rep. Loser and Sundown are great too.
Wow, 10 months of MoFo service and I finally got to start a trend. :D
It Was A Very Good Year always reminds me of The Sopranos. Some great choices so far :up:
It Was A Very Good Year always reminds me of The Sopranos. Some great choices so far :up:
Well, Frank supposedly had his mob connections... :)
Always rep for Beck. :up:
gbgoodies
08-25-15, 01:23 PM
I love "Sundown" by Gordon Lightfoot, and almost anything by Sinatra. :up:
christine
08-25-15, 02:00 PM
I love that Sinatra song :)
SilentVamp
08-25-15, 05:16 PM
As for the order, I used an online random list generator, so the order is random...until we get to the final two songs.
I don't know if I could ever make an overall top song list (it is always much easier to go by artist), but I like your idea of how to put them in order. :)
:up: For Sex Pistols and Beck. Unfortunately, though, I am not one who cares for that Sinatra song. It isn't one of my favorites of his.
SV, what Sinatra songs would be your favorites?
doubledenim
08-25-15, 07:35 PM
48. Loser - Beck
Despite having heard this tons of times, I still love it, and it was the perfect opening song to a bizarre and incredible album.
Possibly the most quotable song ever. In fact, I'm still saving all my foodstamps to burn down that trailerpark.
SilentVamp
08-25-15, 07:42 PM
SV, what Sinatra songs would be your favorites?
Come Fly With Me
Time After Time
Fly Me To The Moon
My Way
The Way You Look Tonight
Lean Baby
How Are Ya Fixed For Love (with Keely Smith)
Same Old Saturday Night
And so on and so forth. That is all I will list now so that I don't bombard your thread with my Sinatra favorites. :)
cricket
08-25-15, 10:56 PM
Sundown is my favorite so far.
Please post the whole list when done; a lot of videos crash my phone so hard for me to follow:)
44. Teardrop - Jose Gonzalez
I like Jose Gonzalez's voice and his stripped down arrangements. His two best songs might be covers, of which this is one, but I do like his style.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_6rIks03cdM
43. Truckin' - Grateful Dead
I'm not a Dead Head, but they did make some good music, and this song seems to contain the very best of everything they had to offer. Plus it's fun as heck to sing along to.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pafY6sZt0FE
Good picks there. Gonzalez is vastly underrated. :up:
42. Scentless Apprentice - Nirvana
I could have picked any number of Nirvana songs, but I decided on one that's not been overplayed and is fun to play at high volume. And the drums are great in this one.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GyxoQIQaogE
41. Voodoo Child (Slight Return) - Jimi Hendrix
I think this Jimi's masterpiece, a psychedelic blues jam.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YPN0zJeXsWk
Love the Nirvana and Hendrix of course :up:
This is now officially my favorite music list on this site (other than mine). :D
40. King of Birds - R.E.M.
I love R.E.M., especially their older stuff. There's a number of songs I could call my favorite, but this one has so much going on and a lot of feeling to it. If you're a fan of the song and/or R.E.M. I recommend checking out the live version from Tourfilm.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yy7uWcpWVUw
39. Young Folks - Peter Bjorn and John
For some this may have been overplayed the past eight or nine years, but in thirty years it'll be cool again to list this as a favorite, so I'm just getting a head start. And it is a cool song.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OIRE6iw-ws4
Another two very cool choices bro. :up:
Man, I remember "Young Folks." I listened to that a lot when I was a teen. Great song.
SilentVamp
08-27-15, 03:55 PM
:up: for Hendrix and R.E.M. Two great songs.
honeykid
08-27-15, 04:34 PM
The Hendrix/Nirvana post is the only one where I've liked both, but Sex Pistols, Loser and It Was a Very Good Year all get rep from me. :up:
The Hendrix/Nirvana post is the only one where I've liked both...:up:
It may be the only time that happens, but it happening even once is high praise.
38. Sugar Mountain - Neil Young
I have lots of favorites from Neil Young, and I have no idea why I chose this one over any other, except this song better than any other brings out in me a feeling of melancholy nostalgia.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2nCj4d2NPKQ
37. Seattle - Public Image Ltd.
After the Sex Pistols Johnny Rotten went back to being John Lydon and formed Public Image Ltd. who made experimental new wave music, some great, some not so great, and some just weird. This is one of their more accessible songs, along with "Rise," and all these years later it still sounds fresh and exciting.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bFOjktDN0IA
36. The Drowning Man - The Cure
I love the Cure from the 80s, and even the early 90s, so I have lots and lots of favorite songs from them, but I've always regarded this one as a particularly eerie and epic masterpiece off of their Faith album. (Note: the youtube video is a fan video with clips from the movie The White Dove...It makes me really want to see the movie.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VHwm9pUdkGI
35. China - Tori Amos
One of the most beautiful songs ever.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7pEfCe1-KTw
Every time "Sugar Mountain" comes on the radio, my dad has to turn it off.
Every time "Sugar Mountain" comes on the radio, my dad has to turn it off.
Why? Does he hate it or does it make him feel sad?
I like most Neil Young songs, including Sugar Mountain. Not a fan of Public Images Ltd even though it has a strong Sex Pistols vibe, there's always something missing in the vocals and/or instruments. The Drowning Man is of course great, never heard of China until now but I do agree on it being beautiful.
Why? Does he hate it or does it make him feel sad?
I really hope it's the latter.
Really like 40-37. Not sure if I've heard The Cure or Tori Amos song, will listen to them shortly.
34. Lady Godiva's Operation - The Velvet Underground
A perfectly strange, creepy and humorous song off their second album.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AxgvkzFVnNQ
33. Fight the Power - Public Enemy
If you've seen Do the Right Thing, you've heard this song, as it's playing from the boombox of one of the characters throughout the movie, which in the end leads to the final explosion of anger between Sal and the kids in the neighborhood. Personally I prefer Public Enemy's album It Takes a Nation of Millions To Hold Us Back to the one this is off of, but it is definitely a classic in rap music.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pWTrAVLhbS8
Why? Does he hate it or does it make him feel sad?
Definitely the latter. My dad is a HUGE Neil Young fan.
SilentVamp
08-29-15, 03:52 PM
All I had to do was read the title "Fight the Power" and now those words will be going through my mind for the rest of the day. That is one of things where once I hear it, I can't get rid of it. :D
32. Arabian Knights - Siouxsie and the Banshees
I've always liked Siouxsie's exotic take on post-punk music, and this is one of the finest examples of their unique sound.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MzuQFAocrqw
31. I Can See for Miles - The Who
I find a lot of The Who's music tedious, but when they wanted to rock, they could be great. And this is loud, angry rock at its best.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q0iqg2UanEc
cricket
08-30-15, 12:14 PM
A few songs I never heard before and a few great ones. Voodoo Child is my favorite since Sundown.
30. Suzanne - Leonard Cohen
Poetry put to a beautiful and haunting melody.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZX0CfFdk-jw
29. The Hand That Rocks the Cradle - The Smiths
I can't say I love The Smiths like I used to twenty-five years ago, but they made some great music, and this has always been a favorite. This one also has very poetic lyrics. [This is a fan-made video with clips taken from the movie The Innocents.]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ahc_MsfV8LE
28. A Well Respected Man - The Kinks
Only The Kinks could have written this song. I love it!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j_69OXyGkd4
27. Guilty Conscience - Eminem (feat. Dr. Dre)
The second rap song on my list. I love Eminem's lyrical ability and his dark, twisted sense of humor. The (uncensored) video version is superior to the album version.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=meXzynCCT0I
Mr Minio
09-01-15, 10:57 AM
30. Suzanne - Leonard Cohen
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NHJgg5mi-rM
Best use of this song ever!
Nice list, but I'd prefer an album list.
So many great picks. There's at least one song in each set I like.
SilentVamp
09-01-15, 02:38 PM
:up: for both of the last two. :yup:
Nice list, but I'd prefer an album list.
Albums are so yesterday, man. Today it's all about the song, the quick fix, the ipod shuffle.:D
Actually, for me this worked better. I was bored by my own top 25 album list I submitted for the album countdown. This way I can highlight favorite artists and/or albums, and also songs I love where I'm not a big fan of the album it's on or perhaps even familiar with the album it comes off of.
26. Rent - Pet Shop Boys
Pure cynicism performed with the deepest affection. I love the contrast.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yzETcsVXYEA
25. Rehab - Amy Winehouse
The energetic, catchy pop sound belies the fact it's a dark song about alcoholism. And the fact Amy Winehouse died from her alcoholism at the age of 27 makes it all the more tragic. One of the best pure pop songs I've heard in the last ten years.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KUmZp8pR1uc
Amy Winehouse, member of the 27 club.
SilentVamp
09-02-15, 03:38 PM
There was no reason for me to be so happy to see Pet Shop Boys on this list, but I was. :D Very good choice right there.
24. Heartbeats - The Knife
Great modern techno alternative pop song. Jose Gonzalez (see #44) does a great cover of this, but I still slightly prefer the original.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pPD8Ja64mRU
23. Fearless - Pink Floyd
I know this might seem an odd choice for Pink Floyd, but I love this song. I'm not hugely fond of the Meddle album, but this track stands out. My favorite Pink Floyd album is Animals.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uCgQuj8v2gg
22. The Boxer - Simon & Garfunkel
It's a tough call which song I prefer, this one or "Scarborough Fair," but I love the way this builds and has an epic feel to it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l3LFML_pxlY
21. Ghost of the Year - Max Q
Michael Hutchence had a side project called Max Q, and as much as I like INXS, I think this album was better than anything INXS did.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s7v9Wk1Q8go
20. Drink Before the War - Sinead O'Connor
Sinead has one of the most amazing voices ever. Her first two albums were masterpieces while her third had great moments, but was overall uneven, and I haven't followed her career since. Regardless I will always love what she did back in the 80s. I didn't choose one of her popular song, but one where she displays all her talent, not just for singing, but for expressing so much emotion.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=khOR5Ej-h2I
19. Hole in the Sky - Black Sabbath
I borrowed this album, Sabotage, from my neighbor when I was maybe 15, and with my parents away blasted it at full volume, and I've been in love with Black Sabbath ever since. At least the original Sabbath with Ozzy. I could never get into any of their later stuff. And based on my reaction to this I perhaps could have turned into a metal head, except from my explorations of metal I found it all so silly and boring. (Sorry, metal heads.) Nonetheless, thirty years later I still love this album, and this was the opening song that blew my mind.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TyiwkLoXTTs
This might be the oddest pairing yet on my list, but I must say the random generator did an excellent job of ordering these.
18. Worlock - Skinny Puppy
Skinny Puppy is an industrial group from the early 80s, still making music today--though of course their last few albums aren't nearly as good as their older stuff. I love this group, and I could have picked from dozens of favorites, but this is one of their more well-known songs. Note the guitar samples from "Helter Skelter" in the middle of the song and the samples of Charles Manson singing "Helter Skelter." The video consists of clips from horror movies and is pretty extreme.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qAEY_oDvAh4
17. Working Class Hero - John Lennon
John Lennon is and always will be my favorite Beatle, and while his solo output can be a little uneven at times, his first two proper solo albums are masterpieces. This song comes off of Plastic Ono Band, and it's still a powerful song.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4lKwXwU5iWs
cricket
09-05-15, 01:22 PM
A Well Respected Man is my favorite since the last time I checked in. Plenty of great tunes though with a nice variety. Such a shame about Winehouse:(
16. Human Behavior - Björk
I admit to not being familiar with many of Bjork's albums, but I bought Debut on the strength of this song, and I ended up loving the entire album. Listening to the song takes me back to that time period. It's a great video directed by Michel Gondry.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=36Srr08PN_Y
15. Flesh and Blood - Johnny Cash
Great song with great lyrics.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GcoQWbEIFmE
14. White Room - Cream
I'm not always crazy for Cream's straight blues efforts, but when they focused on bluesy psychedelic hard rock, they were incredible, and I think this is their best song.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pkae0-TgrRU
13. Casey's Last Ride - Kris Kristofferson
This is one of the most poetically poignant song about loneliness and longing I've ever heard.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TJeQd8Lnzoc
christine
09-06-15, 06:46 PM
I had a quick look through your songs Kap, and anyone who has Johnny Cash on their list has my attention. I like all the songs I'm familiar with on your list so that means I owe the others a listen which I'll do tomorrow :)
12. A Horse With No Name - America
Great song I've loved for dang near forty years.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zSAJ0l4OBHM
11. White Rabbit - Jefferson Airplane
Trippy song from the summer of love. Can't say I care for much else Jefferson Airplane did, but I still love this one.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WANNqr-vcx0
cricket
09-07-15, 10:53 AM
There's a couple songs I prefer from Cream, but White Room is one of their greats no doubt.
I prefer Sister Golden Hair from America but Horse with No Name is also great.
White Rabbit is friggin brilliant!
honeykid
09-07-15, 11:41 AM
Human Behaviour, White Room and White Rabbit are all brilliant songs.
christine
09-07-15, 12:30 PM
I've listened to your whole playlist while I've been working today and there isn't a dud amongst them. There's lots of favourites of mine too like The Boxer, Horse with No Name, White Rabbit, Voodoo Chile, A Well Respected Man, White Room, but there's some people I hadn't heard before like Highway and Max Q. Really liked that Jose Gonzalez Teardrop :)
Looking forward to the last 10
I've listened to your whole playlist while I've been working today and there isn't a dud amongst them. There's lots of favourites of mine too like The Boxer, Horse with No Name, White Rabbit, Voodoo Chile, A Well Respected Man, White Room, but there's some people I hadn't heard before like Highway and Max Q. Really liked that Jose Gonzalez Teardrop :)
Looking forward to the last 10
No duds at all?! Wow. Thanks for listening to them all.
10. Wax and Wane - Cocteau Twins
The Cocteau Twins were an underrated, influential band, and I love their sound and I love this song.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v-iOOsZHS6s
9. Burning Down the House - Talking Heads
Talking Heads made some great music, peaking in the early to mid-80s, and this is perhaps one of their most memorable songs, and 30 years later it still sounds great and fresh.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u06DpcFXc4U
8. The Jean Genie - David Bowie
I'm sure hardcore fans of Bowie would pick from one of his many musically and thematically more complex songs, but I can't deny my love for this one. The music is based on a blues guitar riff, which sounds like it was stolen from somewhere, either from an American blues song or perhaps from the French song "La fille du Pere Noel" (which for all I know stole the riff from an American blues song itself), while the lyrics are pure sleazy genius. Let yourself go!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CGQo6zpVzt8
7. Lost Coastlines - Okkervil River
I discovered this song at the same time I discovered The Knife's "Heartbeats" when I was borrowing my brother's car and it had satellite radio. I bought the album and while it's grown on me as a whole, this song stands out as one of those special songs that seems to bring on a happily contemplative mood.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4PjNnCRA6Ts
christine
09-09-15, 11:23 AM
good start to the top 10. Not heard of Okkervil River before but enjoyed the song. Burning Down the House is class.
Always loved the Jean Genie lines :
He says he's a beautician
and sells you nutrition
And keeps all your dead hair
for making up underwear
:D
6. Misty Mountain Hop - Led Zeppelin
It's hard to pick my favorite Led Zeppelin song. I was obsessed with them in my early to mid teens, and I played their music a lot. Like every day for years. So flash forward thirty years and I have a hard time appreciating a lot of songs which used to be favorites. Probably Kashmir is their best and most significant song, but I'm listing favorites, and so I went with Misty Mountain Hop, as it too is Led Zeppelin at their best performing the type of hard rock I've never heard anyone else quite match.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9KnTyZcRZb0
5. Surrender - U2
No matter what you think about Bono and what U2 became, U2 was at one time probably the biggest band in the world. And while The Joshua Tree and Achtung Baby are better albums, I still love the energy and rawness of War, and I particularly love this track.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=etLLa1I3pwY
4. Penetration - The Stooges
Iggy and the Stooges. It's loud, vile, and exciting.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1MPvJYZUSuI
3. Mr. Self Destruct - Nine Inch Nails
The opening song to perhaps the best alternative album of the 90s. The title is an homage to a Soft Cell song (whom I couldn't find room for on my countdown, but I do love them) and the opening sample is from THX 1138.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7-GjKz2DW5M
2. I Am the Walrus - The Beatles
Sheer genius. John Lennon's lyrics are intentionally obscure to basically screw with those who were trying to find hidden meanings in Beatle songs, and never have inscrutable lyrics sounded more profound. Apart from the brilliance of John's songwriting, producer George Martin's off-kilter orchestra score is perfectly suggestive of the psychedelic/drug induced tone of the song, and it ends with sound effects, chanting voices, and a sample of the radio broadcast of King Lear.
https://vimeo.com/21613269
1. A Day in the Life - The Beatles
Yes, The Beatles are my favorite band, and have been for thirty-five years. I knew these two songs would be my number one and two songs, and the only time I repeat an artist. At the heart of "A Day in the Life" is a really great Lennon song, though it's hard to tell what he would have done with it if they hadn't decided to add in Paul's song snippet in the middle. I suspect a lot of the theatrics added to the song was Paul's idea, but it all works to perfection, with George Martin going along with their crazy ideas and being in the perfect position to conduct and arrange the orchestra bits, and bring the whole song together. And one last note is Ringo's drumming, which has been singled out on this track and praised by quite a few professional drummers. For non-Beatle fanatics, the sound at the very end is included because on the original pressings of the LP (in the UK) The Beatles added it on the inner groove of the LP, and if someone had a record player which didn't automatically lift off the needle, those sounds would have just kept repeating until they lifted the needle.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=usNsCeOV4GM
And with that my countdown is concluded. Thank you to anyone who commented, gave anything a +rep, or otherwise checked in.
cricket
09-12-15, 11:35 AM
Great way to wind up Kaplan! Walrus, Misty Mountain, and Burning Down the House are all favorites of mine too. I might do a song list one day but it's got to be painful to leave off so many greats.
Great way to wind up Kaplan! Walrus, Misty Mountain, and Burning Down the House are all favorites of mine too. I might do a song list one day but it's got to be painful to leave off so many greats.
I intended to make a top 40, but it grew.
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