Daniel’s
Really Favourite Songs
In addition
to my other page which lists a few hundred songs that I like, this page is even
further culled and ordered to see which songs I would place on an even higher
plane. This list will probably change hourly but I’ve pushed myself to see
which songs really are at the top of my list. Any comments are welcome and may
be sent to [email protected].
68. Touched
by the Sun – Carly Simon (Letters Never Sent – 1994)
67. These
Days – Jackson Browne
66. Jettison
– Vince Jones
65. Like a
River – Carly Simon
64. Why
63. Ship of
Fools – World Party
62. The
Boxer – Simon & Garfunkel
61. I Make
Hamburgers – The Whitlams
60. Junkie
Song – Be Good Tanyas
59. Only a
Dream in
58. The
Barricades of Heaven – Jackson Browne
57. Her
Floor is My Ceiling – The Whitlams
56. Six
Months in a Leaky Boat –
55.
54. Candy
Everybody Wants – 10000 Maniacs
53. Real
Men – Joe Jackson
52. The
Queen and the Soldier – Suzanne Vega
51. White
and Black Blues – Joelle Ursull
50. Travel
Shop – My Friend the Chocolate Cake
49. Penmon
– Not Drowning, Waving
48. Take Me
Home – Phil Collins
47. Horses
– Be Good Tanyas
46. Sirens
– My Friend the Chocolate Cake
45. Diwanit
Bugale – Dan ar Braz et L’Heritage des Celtes
44. The
Only Living Boy in
43. She
Came Along to Me – Billy Bragg
42. Don’t
Talk – 10000 Maniacs
41. Ship
Out on the Sea – Be Good Tanyas
40. Mary –
Sarah McLachlan
39. Jóga –
Björk
38. Brood –
My Friend the Chocolate Cake
37. Never
Die Young – James Taylor
36. Rocky
Mountain High – John Denver
35. Bastard
– Ben Folds
34. Levi
Stubbs Tears – Billy Bragg
33. C’est
le Dernier Qui a Parle Qui a Raison – Amina
32. I
Grieve – Peter Gabriel
31. You
Happy Puppet – 10000 Maniacs
30. Boy on
a String – Jars of Clay
29. A
Different Drum – Peter Gabriel
28. Squonk
– Genesis
27.
Señorita with a Necklace of Tears – Paul Simon
26.
Cloudbusting – Kate Bush
25. My
Stupid Mouth – John Mayer
24. Home by
the Sea / Second Home by the Sea – Genesis
23. You and
Me – The Cranberries
22. Dodo /
Lurker – Genesis
21.
Innocence Maintained – Jewel
20. Magic –
Ben Folds Five
19.
Fumbling Towards Ecstasy – Sarah McLachlan
18. Trust –
Billy Bragg
17. 3 x 5 –
John Mayer
16. Come
Talk to Me – Peter Gabriel
15. Stumble
Away – David Bridie
14. The
Song of Solomon – Kate Bush
13. Wonder
– Natalie Merchant
12. Buy Now
Pay Later (Charlie No. 2) – The Whitlams
11. Wait –
Sarah McLachlan
10. Love
and Anger – Kate Bush (The Sensual World – 1989)
Kate
has one of those amazing voices that can sound quite child-like and then let it
rip without warning. She is also brilliant at setting up instrumental grooves
that complement her voice so well. The languid high bass guitar line that
dovetails her voice in the second verse of this song makes my heart ache. The
lyrics here are quite direct (“If you can’t tell your sister and you can’t tell
the priest ‘cause it’s so deep you don’t think that you can speak about it to
anyone, can you tell it to your heart?”) and Kate makes it sound like she’s
singing right to you.
9. Gypsy
– Suzanne Vega (Solitude Standing – 1987)
Apparently
Suzanne wrote this song as a teenager while working as a camp counsellor. I
thought teenagers were supposed to write gushy love songs. This is just pure
romance and Suzanne’s imagery is divine (“night is the cathedral where we
recognise the signs; we strangers know each other now as part of a whole
design”). Musically, in the blend of electric and acoustic finger-picked
guitars, I can just about see the stars twinkling while lying back in the
caravan.
8. Don’t
Change Your Plans – Ben Folds Five (The Unauthorized Biography of Reinhold
Messner – 1999)
This
might be how Burt Bacharach would have sounded if he’d had a lyricist who knew
what he was doing. Ben has worked out that what women really want in a
relationship is for their man to be around and pay them some attention. I don’t
think that you can write a more direct love song than simply saying, ‘I’m
staying right here with you’. The line “You have made me smile again, in fact,
I might be sore from it. It’s been a while” just makes me crumble. This is a
love song from someone who has suffered and come out the other side.
7. The
Musical Box – Genesis (Nursery Cryme – 1971)
Genesis
are the masters of telling epic stories in music. This 10 minute masterpiece
about a man who falls in love with a girl who knocks off his head with a
croquet mallet before the man reaks his final revenge (you know, just everyday
stuff) takes the listener through the full range of emotions even before you
reach the stunning final section. Whether Peter Gabriel or Phil Collins sings
this, and they both bring great things to the performance, this is one of the
most stunningly emotional pieces you could possibly hear.
6. Rhymes
and Reasons – John Denver (Rhymes and Reasons – 1969)
The
song itself may describe itself as “a prayer for non-believers” but it’s not
the most gentle prayer in history. There is a wonderful righteous anger that
permeates through this song. John was never one to back down from what he most
truly believed in and this song is his raison d’etre in three minutes. Yes, the
song is environmental and spiritual, but mostly it’s human.
5. Digging in the Dirt – Peter Gabriel (Us –
1992)
This
song depicts so perfectly what it is like to have to look into the difficult
places inside yourself in order to work out what the hell is going on in your
life. The bubbling tension under the surface exploding into anger and violence
before crawling up into a ball and crying for help – Peter’s put it all here in
a song that always makes me feel better for having gone through it. If you get
a chance to see it, the video to this song is the finest from the master of the
form.
4. Like a
Child – Jars of Clay (Jars of Clay – 1995)
There
are a frightening small minority of Christian bands who, firstly, know how to
make decent music and, secondly, have a concept of faith that has a chance of
working in the real world. The Jars’ lyrics are quite simple in this song and
simple lyrics don’t always fit with complex music. They do here, though! The
later sections of this song are a right royal jam session with the violin, tin
whistle and mandolin working so well with the basic band to lift the song right
out of the stratosphere. There’s something new every time I listen to this one.
3.
Possession – Sarah McLachlan (Fumbling Towards Ecstasy – 1993)
Songs
about obsession are always far more powerful than songs about love. This song
is positively frightening. The switch between the pictorial lyrics of the
verses to the direct lyrics of the chorus happens so effortlessly that you
don’t realise how much you’ve been grabbed before you’re inside the song. The
first time I heard the twin vocal lines on “I’ll take your breath away”, my
heart skipped a beat. I didn’t know that hearts actually did that. Musically,
there is far more going on than is first apparent; another sneaky trick that
this song plays on the listener.
2. The
This
song really puts the listener through the emotional wringer. I didn’t realise
just how much anger is in this song until it slipped into a quiet section and I
felt the tension just fall off me. Considering that Paul had telegraphed his
intentions in the second line (“anger and no-one can feel it”), I really should
have known what was going on. I love the way that the music and lyrics boil so
slowly, bubbling incessantly during the verses before releasing everything so
skilfully. I always feel better at the end of this song.
1. Love
to be Loved – Peter Gabriel (Us – 1992)
To
those who haven’t suffered from lack of love, I can imagine this song just
sounding whiny. To those of us who have, it’s an absolute mantra. Peter is able
to make the meaning of the lyrics clear without losing their poetic beauty or
slipping into triteness. The music is so brilliantly put together: the bassline
is a frightened heartbeat; the percussion is a heavy head; the winds are an
escaped breath; the high keyboard sounds are tear-stained cheeks. I’m sure you
have to have suffered to understand this song.
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