The five best songs

[RPS]

We did the five best artists... so lets make it harder. 

You meet somebody who has never heard music before and they ask you to play them what you think the five best songs of all time. What songs do you play for them? 

[ChrisSteeleAteMyHamster]

Blaaaaaahdy 'ell son. Helluva big question. Still, I love lists.

Anyway I'll give it a go for how I feel at the moment.

 

Bowie knew when he said that Sonic Youth and Pixies were basically the most compelling music in the '80s.

 

One of my five would be Bone Machine by Pixies.

 

[ChrisSteeleAteMyHamster]

The best pop song ever? If I ever hear this baby I'll just start dancing. Don't care where, don't care when.

 

 

Toots is one of the very best ever.

 

[METALMAN]

Thought this would be a good way of killing time at work. After a bit of trouble, I narrowed it down to a field of 25:

Abba - Dancing Queen
Amy WInehouse - He Can Only Hold Her
Belle & Sebastian - Lazy Line Painter Jane
Bob Dylan - You Ain't Goin' Nowhere
Bob Marley - Zimbabwe
Camera Obscura - Let's Get Out of This Country
Deacon Blue - Chocolate Girl
Elvis Presley - Don't Be Cruel
Fergie - Glamorous :/
Frank Zappa - Camarillo Brillo
Hank Williams - Move It On Over
Husker Du - Books About UFOs
James Taylor - Mexico
Lloyd Cole and the Commotions - Rattlesnakes
MIA - Paper Planes
Merle Haggard - Skid Row
Parliament - Come In Out of the Rain
Pet Shop Boys - What Have I Done to Deserve This?
Simon & Garfunkel - The Only Living Boy in New York
The Smiths - The Boy With the Thorn In His Side
Steely Dan - Kid Charlemagne
Steve Earle - Guitar Town
Sting - Nothin' Bout Me
The Supremes - You Can't Hurry Love
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers - Don't Do Me Like That

Possible best five are highlighted

 

[RPS]

1. Sylvester - You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real): This song was released in 1978 - a time where society looked down upon gay men and disco music. Sylvester did not let that hold him back. This is the greatest performance ever in a song. Sylvester does not have the greatest voice. But for six minutes and thirty nine seconds, Sylvester could not give a fuck about oppression or gay bashings. It is weird to go to places and hear this song played at malls or theme parks,  because this song feels like the safest place in the world for the weirdos and outsiders. 
2. David Bowie - Space Oddity: hearing this song for the first time was like one of those moments where your life changes forever. My parents were not big Bowie fans, so I heard many of his other songs on the radio, but never Space Oddity. The second I heard it, I stopped in my place and just listened to the whole song and played it back like 10 times. 
3. Frank Ocean - Pyramids: I don't usually love long songs. This is the only 10 minute song I've heard that doesn't feel like 10 minutes. The lyrics are super interesting and cryptic. The way he blends and stitches together several different genres is nuts. 
4. De La Soul - Me Myself and I: I don't think there will ever be a hip hop artist or group as good as De La Soul in their prime. This song is the the embodiment of everything about hip hop - it is playful, carefree, and part social conscious. 
5. Dead Kennedys - Holiday in Cambodia: I love the Clash's entire discography more than the DK's, but this song trumps anything they did. I am thinking of the original recording, not the re-recorded for LP version. Every snarl by Jello is just savage and more relevant today than ever before. The "play ethnicky jazz/to parade your snazz/on your five grand stereo/braggin' that you know/how the niggers feel cold/and the slums got so much soul" gets me every time. 

[VerbalPuke]

14 minutes ago, RPS said:

1. Sylvester - You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real): This song was released in 1978 - a time where society looked down upon gay men and disco music. Sylvester did not let that hold him back. This is the greatest performance ever in a song. Sylvester does not have the greatest voice. But for six minutes and thirty nine seconds, Sylvester could not give a fuck about oppression or gay bashings. It is weird to go to places and hear this song played at malls or theme parks,  because this song feels like the safest place in the world for the weirdos and outsiders. 
2. David Bowie - Space Oddity: hearing this song for the first time was like one of those moments where your life changes forever. My parents were not big Bowie fans, so I heard many of his other songs on the radio, but never Space Oddity. The second I heard it, I stopped in my place and just listened to the whole song and played it back like 10 times. 
3. Frank Ocean - Pyramids: I don't usually love long songs. This is the only 10 minute song I've heard that doesn't feel like 10 minutes. The lyrics are super interesting and cryptic. The way he blends and stitches together several different genres is nuts. 
4. De La Soul - Me Myself and I: I don't think there will ever be a hip hop artist or group as good as De La Soul in their prime. This song is the the embodiment of everything about hip hop - it is playful, carefree, and part social conscious. 
5. Dead Kennedys - Holiday in Cambodia: I love the Clash's entire discography more than the DK's, but this song trumps anything they did. I am thinking of the original recording, not the re-recorded for LP version. Every snarl by Jello is just savage and more relevant today than ever before. The "play ethnicky jazz/to parade your snazz/on your five grand stereo/braggin' that you know/how the niggers feel cold/and the slums got so much soul" gets me every time. 

 

That's a really good choice, and I think I would probably put it on my top five. I don't know that it's my favorite DK song, it's very much one of my favorites by them, but I may prefer Too Drunk to Fuck or A Growing Boy Needs His Lunch purely for the music. Dead Kennedys are one of my favorites, maybe my all-time favorite, but then Motorhead exists so it's hard to say.

Oh and, yeah Bowie is another good choice. Another one of my favorites, and Space Oddity is a great choice, but I think I'd lean toward something off of ZIggy Stardust for him. Maybe it's the obvious choice, but I adore Ziggy Stardust, Moonage Daydream, Starman, and Suffragette City. On the other hand, Cracked Actor is probably my favorite Bowie song, but I think the stuff from Ziggy Stardust was just some ground breaking shit.

[RPS]

Life on Mars would probably be #6 on my list if I had to expand it. I liked Bowies album but he probably had the strongest catalogue of songs. If I expanded my list to 20 I'm sure there would be 4 or 5 Bowie songs. 

[MalaCloudy Black]

If I was going to list a Bowie song (thinking about it, probably would) I'd probably go with something like Rebel Rebel or maybe John, I'm Only Dancing. 

Hank Williams wouldn't be a bad shout either. Move It On Over is a great song, they're much more stereotypical or "safe" picks but I'd go with Jambalaya or I'll Never Get Out Of This World Alive. 

[apsham]

If You Could Read My Mind by Gordon Lightfoot
Ghosts In Empty Houses by Jukebox The Ghost
Moral Of The Story by Watsky
Cloudbusting by Matthew Good (Kate Bush cover)
Lovecraft In Brooklyn by The Mountain Goats

Initial songs that popped to mind. 

[General Tso]

Harper Lewis by Russian Circles

Lua by Bright Eyes

Oh Comely by Neutral Milk Hotel

How Much a Dollar Cost by Kendrick Lamar

Twenty Four Hours by Joy Division

[VerbalPuke]

On 6/7/2016 at 15:21, Cloudy said:

If I was going to list a Bowie song (thinking about it, probably would) I'd probably go with something like Rebel Rebel or maybe John, I'm Only Dancing. 

Hank Williams wouldn't be a bad shout either. Move It On Over is a great song, they're much more stereotypical or "safe" picks but I'd go with Jambalaya or I'll Never Get Out Of This World Alive. 

Rebel Rebel is one of my favorite songs to work out to. I know I said something off of Suffragette City, but I can't really disagree with any choice of Bowie song, he had such a great catalog. I actually felt myself getting sad at the gym listening to his stuff, just more of the old aw fuck wish he was still around. 

 

[GhostMachine]

Jimi Hendrix - All Along The Watchtower (Yes, a Bob Dylan cover. But Dylan himself even said Hendrix owned that song)

Hank Williams - I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry 

Johnny Cash - Folsom Prison Blues

The Tokens - The Lion Sleeps Tonight (Yes, i know it is a cover, but fuck that. it is still the best version)

KC and The Sunshine Band - Get Down Tonight

[VerbalPuke]

I still can't think of the five best songs. 

I'll just say it's probably songs by Nomeansno, The Gun Club, Dead Kennedys, Motorhead, and fuck, maybe the Stooges? I don't know, maybe Hendrix also. Or The Ramones or David Bowie. 

Songs are hard to pick, depends on what mood I would be in. I always want something different and it's hard to compare certain songs to say "This is the best over that one". Ya know, it's like Black Flag and Young Marble Giants are different, both have great songs, but they're different. I can't say one is better than the other because they are of a different variety of song. It's like asking if I'd rather have pizza or a burger, both are a good answer, but it depends on the mood.