Top Ten

                               
Music is a drug.

How is that for a non confrontational opening sentence? It is a drug. Think of how music makes you feel when you hear one of your favourite songs. Not only that, but think about it, despite all of the good great and transcendental music out there, we are always looking for something new. Always hoping to find that thing that will make us a bit higher than the things we know. That's a drug my friends. I have spoken before about gateway songs and it works in the same way as gateway drugs.

In this vein I wanted to get down a record of my ten top songs. Here they are

10,000 days (Song for Marie pt2)           Tool
Everlong                                                  Foo Fighters
Curtains                                                   Aphex Twin
Like a Hurricane                                      Neil Young
Hallelujah                                                Jeff Buckley
God only knows                                      Beach Boys
Born to Run                                             Bruce Springsteen
Lost in the Supermarket                          The Clash
Three days                                               Jane's Addiction
From the edge of the deep green sea      The Cure

There is no criteria, There is no reason to the order or even a ranking within the order. This isn't to listen to on a desert island or in a lift or anything like that, just the ten best songs chosen by me, For me. Why? Why? cause fuck you that's why. Sorry, I am a little cranky as this has been a process akin to losing fingers to a beautiful sadist with a dull spoon and only a piece of wood to bite on to ease the pain. A gnawing crawling sensation inside your ear that you cant stop because of some stupid rule you made that there had to be ten songs and not 79. . . .like pushing friends into the cold black abyss of nothingness whilst sipping a slightly chilled Chardonnay and giggling knowing you might be next . . or you might not . .

It is important to point out that this isn't a 'most important to me' list. Although there is likely to be some cross over. The absence of a number of artists means that it cant be that. Maybe I will do that one when I recover.

I don't expect you to agree. Indeed if you did then we should definitely meet cause quite obviously you are me from another universe and I would love to chat. I bet you love beer too. . . Sorry, off track trying to make contact with another version of myself. . nothing to see here. Seriously, you will not agree, Because as you go through the songs you will find others by the same artists that you prefer. There will also be songs that mean more to you and there are likely to be at least 9 of those. It's OK, you are as wrong as I am. I can not make a list for you any more than you could for me.

This is not an easy process, As I am putting it out there I need to remind myself that there can be no shame. It is completely honest. Otherwise whats the point? To try and convince you I am cool? I don't care. Or I know I shouldn't. It has taken me roughly 15 hours to get this list. I am not joking.

These songs, when I recognize the first few bars, send a chill through me. A weird longing to hear the rest of the song , even though I know every note of the song perfectly. I have listened to these songs so many times that it would seriously be uncountable. They play in my head quite a lot when there is silence. Which explains a lot about me I think. Perhaps a somewhat dark reflection of my internal workings, the absence of a soul, replaced by this. A juxtaposition of how I see the world.

Or maybe they are just cool.

So lets get into them. Again there is no order to this top ten, That is a step too far.

So Tool. yes of course Tool. If you have read any of my stuff you know how much I like Tool. I am not sure this is their best song, and I am sure many would disagree with its inclusion. This song to me speaks to what so much of it is all about. You may know the song is about the singers mother and her final death after 10,000 days after a series of strokes. It is about her ascension to heaven, a belief the writer doesn't share. It is a dark catharsis of a song. With urgency on the guitar and building to a crescendo on the vocals. It to me is what Prog metal is all about. It is a song to sit in the dark and listen to the amazing musicianship, and ponder the mysteries of death. That is what the 'it' is in many respects. An artistic version of a deeper meaning we all know exists and choose to reflect upon in varying degrees.

Tool are touring and coming to London at some point apparently. I look forward to seeing them again in the same way I miss my hair..(I am pretty bald). The music is as much a part of the last 23 odd years of my life as anything else. Everywhere I have lived, everywhere I have been Tool has formed part of the soundtrack. I think that means they would make the most important list to me, although I am not sure this song would.

I actually wrote about this song just recently in my post on Dave Grohl.(you can read the whole post if you click on the link, as if by magic) It is a song of regret and coupled with the rocking uptempo drum track driving it along, Which makes it a song that manages to hold that unusual place of being a melancholy upbeat song. I have to admit they are my favourite. As you no doubt are starting to realize.

Breathe out so I can breathe you in . . .what a great lyric. perhaps sums up the song.

I am starting to realize that I do not like the film clip though. It is a cool clip and entertaining, but frankly, it doesn't speak to me about the song. I wonder if they would make the same clip if they released the song today.

So this one is a little change of pace to the last two. Why does this one make the list? Well as what I hope is a usual human sentiment , although I guess by now you are realizing that usual isn't a word that should be applied to me, maybe odd is more descriptive...anyway you can not be full guitars and drums rocking out to your own internal reflective impulses the whole time. There are quieter reflective moments. Moments to think outside of yourself, wonder at the universe. This song is the perfect ambient electronic song. I have written about my search as I delved into this world and it remains true that this is the song I like the most out of this world of artistic electronic invention.

Why? Well, in an attempt not to take it apart to see how it works and so destroy it for myself, the underlying alternating deeper tonal beat provides a base for the simpler two octave higher notes to create space and movement in the track. With the middle tones coming through at various points to stop it becoming repetitive. I think of space. To me it is an abstract musical painting. (is that pretentious enough for you?)

Another song about regret or longing. Its turning into a bit of a journey for me this. Although I don't think of myself as a person full of regret or longing at all, indeed quite the opposite. Perhaps the music allows me to understand it a bit more even if I don't acknowledge it within myself.

The song itself talks about creating a image of someone inside your own head really. To me at least, it is not about an actual person, rather a stylized image of a person that we all have, a perfect person. I like the way the lyrics are placed in the song. It creates the narrative and then lets, the frankly amazing, music take you away, then bringing you back through another verse. I love the imagery of the hazy smokey bar. I guess something we see very little of now, which is obviously a good thing in reality, but the imagery and nostalgia of it play a large part in the song.

I have written about this song a lot as well. It is a cover version of a Leonard Cohen song. I prefer this version because of the difference in the way the timing of the song works. It builds and declines more in intensity. It is a dark song, a song about the writers perceived realities of love. Like a lot of the songs on this this list, it is not really a song to be shared. Not a song you put on and enjoy with other people. The nature of the lyrics mean that that is not really possible. That doesn't mean that many people can not enjoy and bond over the song, more it means that when two people listen to it they are no doubt thinking of different things. Whilst that is true of all songs, in this case given the subject matter it is no doubt more pronounced.

Jeff Buckley also has an amazing voice, one that is able to fill the song with an emotional resonance that many people who have covered the song do not have the ability to. I want to write more about this song, but it threatens to fall into the pit of self absorption, wallow in my ideas of love, and you do not want to walk down that dark path oozing with darkness and flashes of rainbows. sunshine and faires. . So I will leave it for your good as much as mine. I am a real swell guy like that.

A completely different take on love. This song is as much about the production as it is about the lyrics and arrangement. The depth of the song, even though at only 2.32 it is incredibly short, is breath taking. Perhaps that is the point, a beautiful, succinct, statement about love. Nothing else to add. Either to the song, or by me.

I think it is a travesty that people revere The Beatles and overlook The Beach Boys. Brian Wilson is such a better song writer than Lennon McCartney. Perhaps he doesn't have as many songs, but the ones he does have are of such quality that they should be held in much greater esteem.

When this song comes on I want to get up and shout along to it.

As much as anything else, this is a song about my life. or at least how I would like to imagine it in a stylized view of it with a rocking back track. Before people jump on me and quite correctly point out that I did not grow up in New Jersey, I am well aware of this. The descriptions in the song can very easily be transposed to where I grew up in Australia though.  I will perhaps write more about this when I do my ' ten most important songs' post. Although, given the difficulty of writing this one I am not sure that is coming any time soon.

This song has a huge amount of theater in it. It is a grand story painted in vibrant colours with intonations of light and shade in equal parts making a masterpiece. It is at once both bombastic and intimate. I am always genuinely surprised when I see how short it actually is ( I listen to a lot of music that is over 10 minutes long). So much is packed into the song it always seem twice as long.

A song about alienation. A take on the isolation of modern life that is as valid today as it was when it was released in 1979. The song sounds of a different style, but not of a different age.

I came to this song quite late. Well I realized it was great later than I should have. It is great on many levels. The lyrics speak of a person we can all relate to at points in our lives. The drum beat provides an almost city-scape noise. If you listen closely there are actually a couple of beats going on. A snare and also a brush beat, i.e. a drum hit with a brush type stick (I am embarrassed to say I don't actually know what that is called - but I will get over it) it gives the beat and also a white background noise. Genius in the context of the song.

Every time I go into a supermarket, staring at the endless aisles of food and goods I don't want to eat, this song comes into my head. Reminding me of the isolation of the modern world. Where food is made with chemicals to make it look better and last longer. Done at levels just enough to pass certain laws, but not done out of the intention of nourishment. . .to make money out of our addictions . . provided to us by food manufactures as part of the price. . .

That got a bit dark didn't it.

Three days by Janes Addiction. An opus of dark imagery and musicianship. Is this the most obscure song on the list? perhaps, don't see any Taylor Swift appearing myself.

Why is this song so good? I would like to write about imagery, but that is getting to be a bit repetitive. All the songs are light and dark, that is why I like them. Like? Adore on a level where I will make snap judgments about people based on their take on them is closer to a truth. The truth about this song to me is that it has fabulous musicianship, is made up of multiple parts and so has progression similar to a classical track. It may be the best metal prog track I know. That may have been something I have said earlier about another track. .

What is interesting about this process of writing down and trying to explain a tiny little bit why I like these songs is that every time so far I have had to stop myself writing, 'this is my favourite song'. I find it interesting anyway, and it is about me as much as anything else. It means that all of the pain I wrote about at the beginning of this post was worth it. These are the songs I think are the best.

So the last song on the list. in no way less than the songs that proceeded it. There is definitely a theme coming through.

As a side point, and something I tried to allude to above in the preamble, I am trying to be as honest as I can about this process and as such it forms a bit of a voyage for me as well. Asking every time I hear the song; is this better than all the other songs I know but am not writing about? Then trying to get down why I think this is so is a very revealing process for and to me. Although one that would be very tedious to articulate in detail. Tedious for you as much as me. Imagine trying to keep you interested in continuing to read with endless, 'and this song is better than that song because I like the way the notes are held longer here and not there'. . . talk about taking away the magic.

The theme for many but not all of the songs, is a quite fast beat on both the drums and the bass, with a lot of stretched notes on the guitar. Coupled with lyrics full of imagery and opaque statements about life, love and loss.

The last verse of The Cure song perhaps sums up the lyrical element the best;

I wish I could just stop
I know I know the moment will break my heart
too many tears
too may times
too many years I've cried for you
its always the same
wake up in the rain, head in pain, hung in shame
a different name, same old game,
love in vain
And miles and miles and miles and miles and miles and miles away from home again.

I don't have anything more to add on this song. That is my favourite verse of lyrics

So there you have it, the top ten.

Just for a little bit of fun, because this process has been so much fun all round, here are some of the songs that came close but didn't make the list

Yes, there are a lot and this is actually after the first cut. If you want to listen, and why wouldnt you, I actually made a Spotify playlist of them (except the Tool and King Crimson songs which are not on Spotify).

CLICK HERE FOR PLAYLIST

Third eye
I'm not scared
Bizarre Love triangle
Back in Black
Windowpane
Rotten Apple (alice in chains)
Holiday in Cambodia
Exit music (for a film)
Master of Puppets
Chromakey Dreamcoat
84 Pontiac Dream
Ripple
Purple Rain
Lovesong
Hero's
Stem/long stem
Rocket Queen
Fuzzy
LSD
OG original Gangstar
I wanna be your dog
Hallowed by thy name
1983 ( a merman I should turn to be)
I talk to the wind
In my time of dying
Ten years gone
Black
Fields of joy
Love for sale (miles Davis)
After the goldrush
Cowgirl in the sand
The Perfect drug
Becoming
Mouth for war
weak and powerless
Where is my mind?
Every you Every me
Wait and Bleed
1979
Drive Home (Steven Wilson)
Aerials (SOAD)
Push it (live) ((Salival))
In a state

( I tried but couldn't make my mind up on Slayer or Sonic Youth, Black Sabbath so I just excluded them )

If you would like to discuss any of this (I really would - really that's why I do this) either comment below, on facebook (Music Ruminations) or on Twitter (@MusicRumination)

bye for now.