That perfect song and why it is so

[dogbreath 434]

Shit, I can't get past instrumentals.   Found this while looking for the stripper song from Diner.  And then heard a song on Bill Mack's show, but couldn't find it either, but both quests led me to this. Why is it perfect, I don't know but love the call and response of the sax and keyboards and it makes me move. 

and...

Saw him and Augie Meyer in 2019 at a halloween festival where he had to be helped on stage.  He couldn't play like he used to, but that doesn't matter when I hear this song. 

 

[smuggs 9353]

"Hold my champagne while I spin a fantastically cheeky pop yarn about losing one's virginity. In a barn. With aplomb."

 

 

[Cajun 11705]

If I had to say "perfect" for the time and place I first heard it, the song would be the one below.

I was at probably the lowest point in my life.  I had burned everything down - booze, drugs, actions, the list goes on.  No money, no one picking up the phone, swimming in a sea of debt and regret.  In a strange way it kept me somewhat warm to think that all it would take was one pull of the trigger to "see what's next - change the channel".  That kept swimming circles in my head and I knew it wasn't the way to go, but I couldn't shake it.

At the time I was rooming with a dude and girlfriend of his out near Harper, TX.  We all went to the same rehab in Hunt.  They both left to see family for Christmas, and I stayed behind alone, with my gun and that thought still swimming.  I shook myself free long enough to park myself in front of my friend's tv and started messing around with his Dish Network remote trying to find something, anything, to tamp down those thoughts of oblivion.

After jacking with it a few minutes I ended up on the Palladium Channel.  The show was "Fender 50th Anniversary" concert.  It was transitioning out of commercial and this was what came on.  I grew up really not liking Pink Floyd and could take or leave Gilmour before that moment, but the state I was in mentally and spiritually put everything in order to the extent that I took in every single word.  In that moment, balling like a baby by the end, I changed.  My curiosity and subsequent love of Gilmour and Floyd all started right there.

And as corny as it sounds, no exaggeration, no hyperbole, it saved my life ---

 

Edited January 26, 2021 by Cajun
Just to lighten things back up, had it been a Waters' written tune in that moment I, most likely, wouldn't be typing this.

[PRONG HORN 3141]

 

 

 

[noharleyyet 2838]

Coz Simpson and a Tele....

 

[Rip76 4925]

There is no way I can pick just one, so I'll be back a bunch.

For me this is just one.  The vocals, the lyrics and the musicianship.  And you can't really hear it on a computer/phone, etc.  but there is such a 

sweet spot in this song when the bass line falls in with the vocal at 00:22.

 

[Jerry Callo 8699]

Powerful story, Cajun.  Thanks for sharing.

[jimmyjazz 45891]

This is perfect.  I thought about linking the studio recording, but the message of the song is amplified live.  I don't think most people get it --  the unison horn, bass, keys and backing vocals ARE "unity".  It is the theme of the song, and it is the baddest of the most bad-ass riffs in pop music history.  Keep listening as it morphs into the 2nd most perfect song ever.

 

Edited January 26, 2021 by jimmyjazz

[HouTex 1866]

Great thread topic. So hard to pick. For me it’s a tie among Born to Run, Hey Jude, and Let it Be.

[Celery Man 20933]

I've been trying to think of more answers for this thread, although I think "American Girl" is it.

This is a song that wouldn't really be a contender by any regular metric, but it is a perfect song for me. I loved The Anniversary. Music was my life, I was a... freshman or sophomore at UT, I was working on an EP with a super cool producer guy and he had recorded some stuff for them right before they broke up. He showed us one of the songs, we were losing our shit, he texted one of the guys if we could have it and he said sure. Blasted the fuck out of that song, and I still do and it still takes me back to that place and I still think it's a jam and a bummer that they all fucked each other and broke up. 

 

also another - this specific version of this song is the perfect song if you are driving on the beach

 

[Celery Man 20933]

Just now, Celery Man said:

I've been trying to think of more answers for this thread, although I think "American Girl" is it.

This is a song that wouldn't really be a contender by any regular metric, but it is a perfect song for me. I loved The Anniversary. Music was my life, I was a... freshman or sophomore at UT, I was working on an EP with a super cool producer guy and he had recorded some stuff for them right before they broke up. He showed us one of the songs, we were losing our shit, he texted one of the guys if we could have it and he said sure. Blasted the fuck out of that song, and I still do and it still takes me back to that place and I still think it's a jam and a bummer that they all fucked each other and broke up. 

 

also another - this specific version of this song is the perfect song if you are driving on the beach

 

(if i was isbell, live I would sing "your skin is soft as water, same temperature as pee" and see how long it took to pop up on twitter)

[Beantown Express 2.0 6559]

This topic is way too hard as I could name 100 perfect songs.  I will nominate a few off the top of my head.

Like a Rolling Stone- Bob Dylan. It was revolutionary back when it came out and the music and lyrics are still pure genius.  I could probably add a dozen of Dylans songs as perfect like Blowin’ in the Wind and Simple Twist of Fate to name a few.

The Weight-The Band. Perfect in every way but I could add a couple of other The Band songs like The Night they drove Old Dixie down and their cover of Long Black Veil which is just haunting to me.

Werewolves of London-Warren Zevon.  The lyrics are so crazy they are genius and the the lick is fantastic for some reason even though it seems pretty basic.  Lawyers, Guns and Money is also a perfect song of his.

[qwertyu1234 496]

I remember there was a thread like this in one of the previous iterations of surly horns and this song was OP's choice. It definitely deserves a mention.

 

[jimmyjazz 45891]

Regarding that Isbell tune "The Blue" @Celery Man:

 

I think Jason Isbell is the first writer I've noticed who has consistently knocked me over with his lyrics since the days of peak Paul Westerberg and John Prine.  He's such a stellar wordsmith.  Smart, evocative, insightful prose that manages to slide in there, rhyming as required, but still delivering an Ali-like wallop of emotional and spiritual truth.  Very few songwriters pull that off.  Very, very few.

[Celery Man 20933]

If you like Fun you should listen to The Format, which is/was Nate Ruess' band before Fun. He's a great pop songwriter and both of their albums are great.

[noharleyyet 2838]

Sorry for the volume, have too many perfect songs....

 

[Goredho 17397]

This is a perfect song for its time and place.  

One version of events claims that Barney Josephson, the founder of Café Society in Greenwich Village, New York's first integrated nightclub, heard the song and introduced it to Billie Holiday. Other reports say that Robert Gordon, who was directing Billie Holiday's show at Café Society, heard the song at Madison Square Garden and introduced it to her.^[9] Holiday first performed the song at Café Society in 1939. She said that singing it made her fearful of retaliation but, because its imagery reminded her of her father, she continued to sing the piece, making it a regular part of her live performances.^[14] Because of the power of the song, Josephson drew up some rules: Holiday would close with it; the waiters would stop all service in advance; the room would be in darkness except for a spotlight on Holiday's face; and there would be no encore.^[9] During the musical introduction to the song, Holiday stood with her eyes closed, as if she were evoking a prayer.

Holiday approached her recording label, Columbia, about the song, but the company feared reaction by record retailers in the South, as well as negative reaction from affiliates of its co-owned radio network, CBS.^[15] When Holiday's producer John Hammond also refused to record it, she turned to her friend Milt Gabler, owner of the Commodore label.^[16] Holiday sang "Strange Fruit" for him a cappella, and moved him to tears. Columbia gave Holiday a one-session release from her contract so she could record it; Frankie Newton's eight-piece Café Society Band was used for the session. Because Gabler worried the song was too short, he asked pianist Sonny White to improvise an introduction. On the recording, Holiday starts singing after 70 seconds.^[9] It was recorded on April 20, 1939.^[17] Gabler worked out a special arrangement with Vocalion Records to record and distribute the song.^[18]

Holiday recorded two major sessions of the song at Commodore, one in 1939 and one in 1944. The song was highly regarded; the 1939 recording eventually sold a million copies,^[7] in time becoming Holiday's biggest-selling recording.

In her 1956 autobiography, Lady Sings the Blues, Holiday suggested that she, together with Meeropol, her accompanist Sonny White, and arranger Danny Mendelsohn, set the poem to music. The writers David Margolick and Hilton Als dismissed that claim in their work Strange Fruit: The Biography of a Song, writing that hers was "an account that may set a record for most misinformation per column inch". When challenged, Holiday—whose autobiography had been ghostwritten by William Dufty—claimed, "I ain't never read that book."^[19]

Billie Holiday was so well known for her rendition of "Strange Fruit" that "she crafted a relationship to the song that would make them inseparable".^[20] Holiday's 1939 version of the song was included in the National Recording Registry on January 27, 2003.

In October 1939, Samuel Grafton of the New York Post said of "Strange Fruit", "If the anger of the exploited ever mounts high enough in the South, it now has its Marseillaise."^[21] In an attempt to have a two-thirds majority in the Senate that would break the filibusters by the southern senators, anti-racism activists were encouraged to mail copies of "Strange Fruit" to their senators.^[22]

[Kyle 207]

Three pages and no one realized this has been answered?
 

 

[BonzoMontreaux 1038]

On 1/25/2021 at 1:00 PM, DonkeyCigars said:

And this one: 

 

 

The Carrie Underwood version...man.

My wife's maternal grandmother was a devout Southern Baptist, every time the door is open she was in church, lady.  This was her favorite hymn.

In the winter of 94, I moved my family of four to the Colorado Apartments on Lake Austin Blvd from Waco, Texas.  This was so I could get an undergrad degree at Texas.  My wife was the main bread winner making around 20K a year at the time.

Her grandmother, Nanny H., was pretty much our benefactor.  She sent my daughters money and when things were underwater, she covered us.  When we moved from the Colorado to Brackenridge Apts (from a 2 to 3 bedroom) she bought us a washer and dryer and continued to cover us when necessary.

A few years later, I graduated and within two weeks of me landing a permanent job, she passed away.  Every time we look back on that experience, we always say 'Thank God for Nanny H.'

My daughters honored her by playing this hymn at their weddings.  I still tear up every time I hear this song or anytime I play it and say 'Thank God for Nanny H.'

As you were...

 

[DonkeyCigars 144]

11 minutes ago, BonzoMontreaux said:

The Carrie Underwood version...man.

My wife's maternal grandmother was a devout Southern Baptist, every time the door is open she was in church, lady.  This was her favorite hymn.

In the winter of 94, I moved my family of four to the Colorado Apartments on Lake Austin Blvd from Waco, Texas.  This was so I could get an undergrad degree at Texas.  My wife was the main bread winner making around 20K a year at the time.

Her grandmother, Nanny H., was pretty much our benefactor.  She sent my daughters money and when things were underwater, she covered us.  When we moved from the Colorado to Brackenridge Apts (from a 2 to 3 bedroom) she bought us a washer and dryer and continued to cover us when necessary.

A few years later, I graduated and within two weeks of me landing a permanent job, she passed away.  Every time we look back on that experience, we always say 'Thank God for Nanny H.'

My daughters honored her by playing this hymn at their weddings.  I still tear up every time I hear this song or anytime I play it and say 'Thank God for Nanny H.'

As you were...

 

Amazing. May we all be a Nanny H to someone, if not someones, in our life. That's my goal, at least.

[hullabelew 3723]

Well, thanks @jimmyjazz  Can't believe I'm just seeing this.   I need to find the editor's tapes of the camera's watching the background singers.   Hoping cousin @Steel Shank sees this.  

On Isbell, and I've posted this, Streetlights is such a well written song....I don't know of many that can touch it lyrically.   That last verse is a straight shot to the soul.  He rarely does that song anymore, but this version, when he was about 8 months sober, if fantastic.  There is also one from just before he cleaned up.  Quite a comparison.

 

[Cajun 11705]

On 1/26/2021 at 2:10 AM, PRONG HORN said:

 

 

 

Ann Margaret.

Oooph

I'll be in my bunk.

[Cajun 11705]

41 minutes ago, hullabelew said:

Well, thanks @jimmyjazz  Can't believe I'm just seeing this.   I need to find the editor's tapes of the camera's watching the background singers.   Hoping cousin @Steel Shank sees this.  

On Isbell, and I've posted this, Streetlights is such a well written song....I don't know of many that can touch it lyrically.   That last verse is a straight shot to the soul.  He rarely does that song anymore, but this version, when he was about 8 months sober, if fantastic.  There is also one from just before he cleaned up.  Quite a comparison.

 

Wow

[Clintonaldo 2573]

No Against The Wind? Love the lyrics and piano. 

[Jerry Callo 8699]

I looked back and couldn't find this song on the thread.  The drum crash is the main feature, but the 3:00+ minute drum break through the first half of the song punctuates the pain and controlled anger expressed in the lyrics.  

 

 

[elguapo 4586]

There isn't one "perfect" song in my opinion, hell I think Petty has written and recorded at least half a dozen songs that I would consider "perfect".

If I had to pick one today it might be Swingin'

Guy is another one that has written multiple songs that I consider perfect. For my money it doesn't get any better than Anyhow I Love You - a salty "love" song recorded with Emmylou and Waylon.

 

Hungry Eyes by Merle is perfect because you can feel his life story in the lyrics

 

The Grateful Dead would probably disagree that any of their song performances were "perfect", but I think they have a quite few, Wharf Rat is one, haunting

 

I haven't seen any hip hop mentioned yet so I have to add one, the first song from Nas debut album with DJ Premier producing, it just feels so real and raw.

 

[Hate 20106]

Great call on Wharf Rat.  The lyrics and the music on that song match up perfectly!  My personal favorite is 7/7/89 because the organ adds an element of spirituality during the "I'll get up and fly away" refrain.  You can almost feel the old man's desperation and regret. 

[Trey3216 15345]

I’ll add another to the list:

Cruisin’ by Smokey Robinson & the Miracles.  
 

Just an absolutely timeless, iconic song that everytine I hear it, I want to listen to it again immediately.  It’s lyrically, musically, and emotionally so powerful.    Smokey’s voice, my God.  
 

the wife and I took our daughter just driving around in the country a few weekends ago.   No destination, no reason.   Just cruisin, wasting gas, listening to music.   I think this one played 4 or 5 times in a row before we moved to some other Smokey greats.   

[jimmyjazz 45891]

Smokey might be the best pop singer I've ever heard.  His voice is absolutely spot on, 100% of the time.

[dogbreath 434]

A song that marked my divorce.  It was the ringtone for my ex for many years post divorce.  Like clockwork, she would call while I was coaching youth soccer games and wanting to know what the kids were doing this weekend.  The kids on the sideline would hear the guitar and bass line and couldn't help but move.  Enjoyed the Temptations original, but this version hits me hard. 

 

[noharleyyet 2838]

Perfect musicianship....

 

[LongHornJohnny 17]

... this shit live makes me shiver sometimes.

 

[NTVTXN 1432]

@Cajun & @BonzoMontreaux- Just a quick note of “Thanks” for the both of you. Each of your stories are beautiful in their own way.

Cajun, with a story of redemption- I am grateful you stumbled upon that Concert at that exact moment. Had it been any other song...who knows?

Bonzo- Wow, God bless Nanny H who, by all accounts, was living the life we’ve all been called to live, one of service.  
I’m in complete agreement with @DonkeyCigars (helluva handle BtW)- but I, too, strive to be someone’s “Nanny H”...Lord knows I’ve had them in my life and I am forever grateful.

[Brisketexan 105077]

Great thread. And man...how do you pick a song? I could come up with 5. And then 50 more. A perfect song has a perfect sound. Or a perfect meaning. Or it captures a perfect moment.

“Scenes from an Italian Restaurant” - had just started going out with a girl. Got great tickets right up front, and invited her. And I realized that holy shit, this gal is amazing. The song started up, and I mentioned that it had been a favorite song of one of her old classmates...who I had dated. She backs up and asks “oh really?” with a wry smile. I was frozen. I finally blurted out “may I kiss you?” She answered well. We’ve been married for over 25 years.

“Kilkelly, Ireland”:

If I’m alone, and I am okay with ending up a wreck, I listen to that one. It’s the story of most of us, of family who came here with hope, and fear, and leaving all they were behind. I’m here because of them.

The last lines:

“And we buried him alongside of mother,
Down at the Kilkelly churchyard.
He was a strong and a feisty old man,
Considering his life was so hard.
And it's funny the way he kept talking about you,
He called for you in the end.
Oh, why don't you think about coming to visit,
We'd all love to see you again.”

It just fucking breaks me.


How about “Ring of Fire?” It’s Johnny. It’s fucking awesome. And years ago, I’m having a few cold ones at the Little Longhorn. Earl P Ball, Johnny’s piano player, is putting on a shoe for maybe 40 of us diehards. As the show went on, we realized we were in the presence of greatness. And the energy just got better. The night ended with a 10 minute version of Ring of Fire. Most of us were standing on chairs or tables, singing at the top of our lungs. It was exhilarating, and Earl was eating it up.

My last perfect song, “I Will Follow.”

I’d seen U2 on the original Joshua Tree tour. That was, of course, one of the definitive albums of our generation. And U2 was one of the definitive bands. It’s what we had wearing out in our car tape deck in high school. My wife and I had a common high school experience, but we DEFINITELY did not date back then. I hadn’t spent any time with her in those youthful, U2-fan days.

The 30th anniversary tour rolls around, and I damned well get us tickets. L.A., Rose Bowl. Her first U2 show. The whole show was awesome. I mean, just when the first notes of Streets hit...chills. After they play the entire album, they did a few encore tunes. I recall that we were happy. But I recall the last one. Bono looks over at Edge after getting the signal to do “one more.”

The first notes hit, and the entire stadium is jumping. Literally jumping. My 40-something wife is next to me, jumping and grinning with an exuberance that, well, I saw in a flash what she looked like as a joyful, carefree sixteen year old. It’s one of the happiest visions of my life.

Can’t hear the song again without remembering exactly what she looked like in that moment.

And shit, like a lotta you....I have others.

[Trey3216 15345]

8 hours ago, Brisketexan said:

Great thread. And man...how do you pick a song? I could come up with 5. And then 50 more. A perfect song has a perfect sound. Or a perfect meaning. Or it captures a perfect moment.

“Scenes from an Italian Restaurant” - had just started going out with a girl. Got great tickets right up front, and invited her. And I realized that holy shit, this gal is amazing. The song started up, and I mentioned that it had been a favorite song of one of her old classmates...who I had dated. She backs up and asks “oh really?” with a wry smile. I was frozen. I finally blurted out “may I kiss you?” She answered well. We’ve been married for over 25 years.

“Kilkelly, Ireland”:

 

 

 

 

 

If I’m alone, and I am okay with ending up a wreck, I listen to that one. It’s the story of most of us, of family who came here with hope, and fear, and leaving all they were behind. I’m here because of them.

The last lines:

“And we buried him alongside of mother,
Down at the Kilkelly churchyard.
He was a strong and a feisty old man,
Considering his life was so hard.
And it's funny the way he kept talking about you,
He called for you in the end.
Oh, why don't you think about coming to visit,
We'd all love to see you again.”

It just fucking breaks me.


How about “Ring of Fire?” It’s Johnny. It’s fucking awesome. And years ago, I’m having a few cold ones at the Little Longhorn. Earl P Ball, Johnny’s piano player, is putting on a shoe for maybe 40 of us diehards. As the show went on, we realized we were in the presence of greatness. And the energy just got better. The night ended with a 10 minute version of Ring of Fire. Most of us were standing on chairs or tables, singing at the top of our lungs. It was exhilarating, and Earl was eating it up.

My last perfect song, “I Will Follow.”

I’d seen U2 on the original Joshua Tree tour. That was, of course, one of the definitive albums of our generation. And U2 was one of the definitive bands. It’s what we had wearing out in our car tape deck in high school. My wife and I had a common high school experience, but we DEFINITELY did not date back then. I hadn’t spent any time with her in those youthful, U2-fan days.

The 30th anniversary tour rolls around, and I damned well get us tickets. L.A., Rose Bowl. Her first U2 show. The whole show was awesome. I mean, just when the first notes of Streets hit...chills. After they play the entire album, they did a few encore tunes. I recall that we were happy. But I recall the last one. Bono looks over at Edge after getting the signal to do “one more.”

The first notes hit, and the entire stadium is jumping. Literally jumping. My 40-something wife is next to me, jumping and grinning with an exuberance that, well, I saw in a flash what she looked like as a joyful, carefree sixteen year old. It’s one of the happiest visions of my life.

Can’t hear the song again without remembering exactly what she looked like in that moment.

And shit, like a lotta you....I have others.

 

 

 

 

Speaking of U2, “All I Want is You” has a place on here.   Just haunting.  Awesome. 

[NTVTXN 1432]

14 hours ago, Brisketexan said:

Great thread. And man...how do you pick a song? I could come up with 5. And then 50 more. A perfect song has a perfect sound. Or a perfect meaning. Or it captures a perfect moment.

“Scenes from an Italian Restaurant” - had just started going out with a girl. Got great tickets right up front, and invited her. And I realized that holy shit, this gal is amazing. The song started up, and I mentioned that it had been a favorite song of one of her old classmates...who I had dated. She backs up and asks “oh really?” with a wry smile. I was frozen. I finally blurted out “may I kiss you?” She answered well. We’ve been married for over 25 years.

“Kilkelly, Ireland”:

 

 

 

 

 

If I’m alone, and I am okay with ending up a wreck, I listen to that one. It’s the story of most of us, of family who came here with hope, and fear, and leaving all they were behind. I’m here because of them.

The last lines:

“And we buried him alongside of mother,
Down at the Kilkelly churchyard.
He was a strong and a feisty old man,
Considering his life was so hard.
And it's funny the way he kept talking about you,
He called for you in the end.
Oh, why don't you think about coming to visit,
We'd all love to see you again.”

It just fucking breaks me.


How about “Ring of Fire?” It’s Johnny. It’s fucking awesome. And years ago, I’m having a few cold ones at the Little Longhorn. Earl P Ball, Johnny’s piano player, is putting on a shoe for maybe 40 of us diehards. As the show went on, we realized we were in the presence of greatness. And the energy just got better. The night ended with a 10 minute version of Ring of Fire. Most of us were standing on chairs or tables, singing at the top of our lungs. It was exhilarating, and Earl was eating it up.

My last perfect song, “I Will Follow.”

I’d seen U2 on the original Joshua Tree tour. That was, of course, one of the definitive albums of our generation. And U2 was one of the definitive bands. It’s what we had wearing out in our car tape deck in high school. My wife and I had a common high school experience, but we DEFINITELY did not date back then. I hadn’t spent any time with her in those youthful, U2-fan days.

The 30th anniversary tour rolls around, and I damned well get us tickets. L.A., Rose Bowl. Her first U2 show. The whole show was awesome. I mean, just when the first notes of Streets hit...chills. After they play the entire album, they did a few encore tunes. I recall that we were happy. But I recall the last one. Bono looks over at Edge after getting the signal to do “one more.”

The first notes hit, and the entire stadium is jumping. Literally jumping. My 40-something wife is next to me, jumping and grinning with an exuberance that, well, I saw in a flash what she looked like as a joyful, carefree sixteen year old. It’s one of the happiest visions of my life.

Can’t hear the song again without remembering exactly what she looked like in that moment.

And shit, like a lotta you....I have others.

 

 

 

 

Dammit! Yet ANOTHER beauty story. 
Good on ya Brisket for taking your Wife to see the 40th Anniversary show.  WOW!!!! I stood in line on a Saturday morning at Sears (y’all remember those days?) to get tickets to U2 in ‘87.  It was the same Joshua Tree Tour, here in  FtW at the then named Tarrant County Convention Center. My first of many times to see them.

I’m curious- Did they close with “40”?
 

[Litig8r 414]

On 1/14/2021 at 11:59 AM, hullabelew said:

My college girlfriend is a HUGE music fan.  We never watched TV or went to a movie.  We went to live shows and sat at home listening to albums.  Really listening to them.  She is still the biggest Dylan fan I've ever met.   This was around 82-86.  I always wondered about the line in parentheses below from the first time I heard it.   This is what we finally settled on, though it made NO sense.

Yeah, she could hear the cars roll by
(I don't fall for the one)
Like waves crashin' on the beach

Then in 1985, we had a huge house party to watch Live Aid, and Petty opened with American Girl.  That was the first time we ever figured out what he was saying.  

Yeah, she could hear the cars roll by
Out on 441
Like waves crashin' on the beach

I saw Petty in Feb, 2017 and when he played American Girl as his last song, I cried.  I knew I would never see that song performed live again by the full band.  I cried for falling for the one and for 441.....  It was maybe the happiest I've ever been since my daughter was born.  This version makes me cry as well.  

 

Always a big (false) rumor in Gainesville that it was about chick who jumped from Beaty Towers on UF campus.  

 

I'd have to go with this song 

 

[Al_4_ISU 12452]

^^^^^^^^

Many days that would qualify as a Top 5 song of all time for me.

[jimmyjazz 45891]

5 hours ago, Trey3216 said:

Speaking of U2, “All I Want is You” has a place on here.   Just haunting.  Awesome. 

U2 will never top "One".  It is as close to perfect as they will ever get.

[Post Oak 20208]

On 1/28/2021 at 8:59 AM, Jerry Callo said:

I looked back and couldn't find this song on the thread.  The drum crash is the main feature, but the 3:00+ minute drum break through the first half of the song punctuates the pain and controlled anger expressed in the lyrics.  

 

 

 

[jimmyjazz 45891]

8 minutes ago, Al_4_ISU said:

^^^^^^^^

Many days that would qualify as a Top 5 song of all time for me.

The mind truly boggles at how someone can write lyrics like that.  I mean, you have to dig in deep and really listen, and parse, but Jesus he is a master with words, and it's not just clever, it's deep.

Outstanding song.

[Al_4_ISU 12452]

Just now, jimmyjazz said:

The mind truly boggles at how someone can write lyrics like that.  I mean, you have to dig in deep and really listen, and parse, but Jesus he is a master with words, and it's not just clever, it's deep.

Outstanding song.

That's how I feel about a lot of Snider's work.  It's clever, but it's also hitting on some really deep truths, while frequently featuring a compelling melody.  IMO, he's neck and neck with Mike Cooley of Drive-By Truckers as the best songwriter to come along since the early 90's.  Evan Felker is nipping at their heels, but if he never comes back to music I just don't think he'll end up with the full body of work to challenge them.

On more than one occasion I've referred to Todd Snider as my favorite modern philosopher.  I stand by it.

[Post Oak 20208]

On 1/27/2021 at 4:35 PM, hullabelew said:

Well, thanks @jimmyjazz  Can't believe I'm just seeing this.   I need to find the editor's tapes of the camera's watching the background singers.   Hoping cousin @Steel Shank sees this.  

On Isbell, and I've posted this, Streetlights is such a well written song....I don't know of many that can touch it lyrically.   That last verse is a straight shot to the soul.  He rarely does that song anymore, but this version, when he was about 8 months sober, if fantastic.  There is also one from just before he cleaned up.  Quite a comparison.

 

Streetlights, Outfit and Goddamn Lonely Love are 3 of my 5 favorite Isbell songs.  The other 2 change.  Great songs

[Al_4_ISU 12452]

On 1/26/2021 at 8:01 PM, Beantown Express 2.0 said:

This topic is way too hard as I could name 100 perfect songs.  I will nominate a few off the top of my head.

Like a Rolling Stone- Bob Dylan. It was revolutionary back when it came out and the music and lyrics are still pure genius.  I could probably add a dozen of Dylans songs as perfect like Blowin’ in the Wind and Simple Twist of Fate to name a few.

The Weight-The Band. Perfect in every way but I could add a couple of other The Band songs like The Night they drove Old Dixie down and their cover of Long Black Veil which is just haunting to me.

Werewolves of London-Warren Zevon.  The lyrics are so crazy they are genius and the the lick is fantastic for some reason even though it seems pretty basic.  Lawyers, Guns and Money is also a perfect song of his.

I love The Weight so much.  No song was ever so perfectly constructed for an "all star jam" situation.  Different singers on the verses, beautiful ragged harmonies on the perfect chorus.

Zevon was such a fucking genius.  It's not a perfect song, but some of his random cuts like "Hit Somebody!" are just stunning in their ability to turn a silly premise into something with such pathos.

[Al_4_ISU 12452]

3 minutes ago, Post Oak said:

Streetlights, Outfit and Goddamn Lonely Love are 3 of my 5 favorite Isbell songs.  The other 2 change.  Great songs

I can't argue this.

I'd probably put Decoration Day and Codeine in those last two slots today.

[Goredho 17397]

Anyone interested in a Spotify playlist for every song in this thread?

And by interested, I mean a volunteer to do it

[TexasHooch 5122]

 

[Post Oak 20208]

 

 

[TexasHooch 5122]

Sorry, couldn't help myself.  Here's my actual answer.  Masterfully written, beautifully sung.

 

[noharleyyet 2838]