The greatest song ever! part 1

So what is the greatest song ever?

I love this question because it is simply so ridiculous. There is no way that there can ever be a consensus about the greatest song ever, there are far too many genres and music tastes for this. Interestingly a lot of the radio friendly song stations put classic Rock type songs in this category. So you usually end up with Stairway to heaven or Bohemian rhapsody or the like. Very rarely is it a song of the last 10 years. i am guessing , but i would say that this is down to people liking songs when they were younger, or before they were born and they all being basically sheep!


So, let's start with classic rock. Why not give the people what they want. The three songs in this category are Stairway to heaven, Bohemian Rhapsody and Born to Run by Bruce Springsteen. I have over time received a bit of grief for my love of Born to Run. but it is a brilliant song. it really is. Here is a live version

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ggWZUm1ETNo

I have watched a lot of music documentaries, i mean a lot. In all of the ones that talk about the music scene in the late 1970s all of the people from the time mention that Bruce saved Rock and Roll. Cool people, Tom Petty, Ozzy, even Joey Ramone. I would say listen to his albums before Born in the USA, which as a side point , is not at all a fist pumping yay America anthem at all. it is actually a dark song about the American dream gone wrong. Born to run is so good because it tells a story about the youthful desire to get out and do something more interesting, love and incredibly anthemic. It has that you and me against everything we can find and know at the moment feel to it.

Don't misunderstand my love for Zep either though. I was and will always remain a massive Zep fan. It is just that I am sick and have been for quite some time , of people talking about Stairway as their greatest song. It is great, but from a band who produced, Kashmir, Ten years gone, Battle of Evermore, Rain Song, Rock and Roll, Ramble on etc. Stairway isn't even their best song. That said this version by Rodrigo e Gabriella is pretty amazing

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vNc5o9TU0t0

Ok enough about Classic rock. This could go on for days

Metal. What is the best Metal song? Well, metal is a genre inhabited by the music geeks, the obsessive, and pedantic and as such there are an enormous amount of sub genres and using an all-encompassing term like the greatest metal song is going to upset these people. So I will do two of the genres, hard rock and mainstream metal.

Hard rock. I have two main candidates for you. AC DC Back in Black. I have posted about this song before. It is a great song, it rocks, it jives and it has got rhythm. I actually have this song as my morning wake up on the alarm. I think it is almost impossible to hear this song and not to be put into a good mood.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hkkL_aDrIyU

See what i mean? That makes it a great song, also a great song to put on before you go out. More another time.

The other song I am going to put forward into this category is by one of my favourite all time bands Jane's Addicition. Three days off of the ritual de la Habitual album. Everything about this song is different from Back in Black. Check out the official video, it is only the introduction of the song,

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1K0lobxNoEc

That girl in the shower is dead by the way. How messed up is that?? That clip comes from a video Jane's put out called three days which is a short film, about 60 mins about how Perry's , the lead singer, girlfriend dies and he builds a shrine to her before anyone finds out she is dead. Man it is messed up. Anyway, the cool thing is that they actually filmed the recording of the song. Done in one take.

Listen to the whole song, minus the messed up visuals and tell me what a stroke of genius it is to be able to do this in one take.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SmvG2GZ3S7o

damn. Not strictly a hard rock song, but when that comes out of a hard rock band who cares.

Mainstream metal. i think there are again three candidates for this.Metallica, Master of Puppets,Slayer- Disciple and System of a Down - Chop Suey

Here is System of a Down Chop Suey

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3voawEb6Xgw&feature=channel

This is a great song because of the sheer intensity of it. the almost soaring difference in the different parts of the song. Which is about suicide and the anger felt by the person. Sums it all up pretty well i imagine. It depends of course what you want from a metal song.

Here is Slayer - Disciple

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tS0mQ25ezq4



Then there is Metallica and their best work - best work without any questions (OK!) master of Puppets

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HYzgQUTgpXs&feature=fvsr

Check out the link,

It is actually a little bit on the prog side that song. It lacks for nothing because of it though. It is a brilliant song about cocaine. Of course the evils of it. It is a great metal song because it is so powerful, master of puppets i'm pulling your strings. What else do you want.

Honory mentions in the metal category go to Iron Maiden, Hallowed be your name and Pantera for Mouth for War and yesterday don't mean shot. great metal songs


ok, because you have been nice here is the proper version of Master of Puppets

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_z-hEyVQDRA

I am going to leave it there for this post. As the title says it is part one, expect part two and maybe even three. as we still have prog, pop, rap, electric and dark pop to go.

any comments are greatly appreciated, would like this to be a forum rather than a monologue of a increasingly demented music geek.!!!