Aug 30, 2006
My 100 Favorite Fucking Songs
Lets get a couple things clear. This is not a list of "BEST" songs. This is a list of "favorite" songs. Just because Hey Jude isnt on this list and Good Girls Don’t is, doesnt mean I think Good Girls Don’t is, technically, a better song; it just means that it personally means more to me. I’ve listened to each of these songs more than a hundred times, and yet I still get a little taint-twinge when they come up on my iPod shuffle.
Some of the songs here are a mite cheese. Sue me. I can’t always help what touches me, what turns on my brain or my heart, and what I, sometimes despite myself, love (though I’m grateful Talk Dirty to Me didnt make the final cut – it almost did – because it exponentially out-cheeses every other song on this list). Some of these songs are, admittedly, defined by their placement in my personal history: Without Teenage Lament ’74 to rely on when I was 15, I might not even be here today. The Sex Pistols songs changed my life forever. Painted from Memory is a song I listened to a lot after breaking up with a long-time girlfriend. And Until You Came Along is the song Jenna and I danced to at our wedding. There are no Beatles, Rolling Stones, or Beach Boys songs on the list, though one from each almost made it (While My Guitar Gently Weeps, Rocks Off, and God Only Knows.) I love those bands, and I’ve listened to them a lot, but, honestly, I’m a little sick of most their tunes. I was also a massive Who fan in high school. Pictures of Lily almost made the cut but, hell, I really do listen to Romeo’s Distress a lot more. The Who also suffers from being an album-oriented band more than a singles-oriented one. I would much rather listen to "Quadrophenia" than "American Beauty", the album from which The Grateful Dead’s Box of Rain (#59) is from, but, although every song on "Quadrophenia" is great, not one stands out enough to put on the list. Many other album-oriented artists suffered from this same fate. They will, of course, all get their due with a favorite albums list sometime in the future. There are other bands, too, you might complain about being off this list – Led Zeppelin and The Doors, for instance. But they are off for a very different reason: because they suck shit. One artist has four songs on this list (Elvis Costello). Three have three songs a piece (Alice Cooper, Rhett Miller/Old 97′s, and The Replacements). And eleven have two songs a piece (Archers of Loaf, Aerosmith, Flashing Lights, Anders Wendin [Moneybrother/Monster], Pavement, Ian Dury, Jonathan Richman, Lloyd Cole, Queen, The Swingers and They Might Be Giants). This doesn’t necessarily mean these are my very favorite bands. Some other artists – like You Am I, The Wannadies, and The Clash -have forty or so songs hovering right outside the top 100, but for some reason were only able to crack the top 100 once. Finally, this list will be different come tomorrow. My favorite songs are fluid. Not only do the songs I like the most change, but the criteria I use to define "favorite" mutates slightly. And I am certain I’ve forgotten some songs. Songs in my iTunes have a definite advantage, as I am able to scroll through them (this may not be as limiting as you think, as I have over 8,000 songs in there). However, if I remember other songs, I will post them in the comments below. And, of course, I’d love for you to join in. Post your top 10 or 25 songs below, or give us a link to your own blog with your top 100. And, if you want to answer other questions below, here are some: What song on this list do you love? What song on this list do you hate? What song have you never fucking heard of, that you went and downloaded, and realized it was the greatest thing ever Or the most ridiculous piece of shit? Stay Swell. Enjoy.
1) Late – Trip Shakespeare
2) Like a Rolling Stone – Bob Dylan
3) Kentucky Avenue – Tom Waits
4) Surrender – Cheap Trick
5) Couldn’t You Wait – Silkworm
6) I Will Dare – The Replacements
7) Ana Ng – They Might Be Giants
8) Bodies – The Sex Pistols
9) One Good Reason (Gimme Love) – The Swingers
10) Poor Girl – X
11) Pulling Mussels (from the Shell) – Squeeze
12) Leaving Home Ain’t Easy – Queen
13) Until You Came Along – Golden Smog
14) Timebomb – The Old 97s
15) I Try – Macy Gray
16) I Want You Back – The Jackson 5
17) Please Please Let Me Get What I Want – The Smiths
18) Why Bother? – Weezer
19) Cruel to Be Kind – Nick Lowe
20) Brandy (You’re a Fine Girl) – Looking Glass
21) Kiss Off – The Violent Femmes
22) Dumbjaw – Barkmarket
23) Couldn’t Call It Unexpected #4 – Elvis Costello and the Attractions
24) Sweet Gene Vincent – Ian Dury and the Blockheads
25) Erica’s Word – Game Theory
26) Don’t Deflate – Starling
27) Doctor’s Order – Carol Douglas
28) Teenage Lament ’74 – Alice Cooper
29) Painted from Memory -Elvis Costello & Burt Bacharach
30) Unsatisfied – The Replacements
31) Bandages – Hot Hot Heat
32) Walk Away Renee – The Left Banke
33) Been Waiting – The Flashing Lights
34) That Summer Feeling (I, Jonathan version) -Jonathan Richman
35) I’m Not Down – The Clash
36) Crybaby – Utopia
37) Zurich Is Stained – Pavement
38) Harnessed in Slums -Archers of Loaf
39) Dream On – Aerosmith
40) Beauty is the Beast – The Ark
41) Indy 500 – Girlpope
42) Question – Rhett Miller
43) Crowds – Bauhaus
44) Different Drum – Linda Rondstandt
45) Green Mind – Dinosaur Jr.
46) Fairytale of New York -The Pogues
47) Perfect Blue – Lloyd Cole and the Commotions
48) Goin’ through Your Purse – Material Issue
49) Counting the Beat – The Swingers
50) Papa Was a Rodeo – The Magnetic Fields
51) Keep the Home Fires Burning – The Bluetones
52) Somebody to Love – Queen
53) Mule – Willie Wisely
54) A Girl Called Johnny – The Waterboys
55) Swingin’ Party – The Replacements
56) Kicks – Paul Revere and the Raiders
57) Golden Blunders – The Posies
58) To Be Young (Is to Be Sad, Is to Be High) – Ryan Adams
59) Box of Rain – The Grateful Dead
60) Good Girls Don’t – The Knack
61) Lyin’ Ass Bitch – Fishbone
62) I’ll Never Cry – Alice Cooper
63) Put Your Hand Inside the Puppet Head – They Might Be Giants
64) Brick – Ben Folds Five
65) Down Like Me – Ken Stringfellow
66) Oliver’s Army – Elvis Costello
67) Highschool – The Flashing Lights
68) Reconsider Me -Moneybrother
69) Tomorrow’s Just Another Day – Madness
70) Calling All Destroyers – Tsar
71) Dead by Christmas – Hanoi Rocks
72) A Spy in the House of Love – The dBs
73) Life on Mars – David Bowie
74) Rollerskate Skinny – The Old 97′s
75) Carolyn’s Fingers – Cocteau Twins
76) You and Me Song – The Wannadies
77) Veronica – Elvis Costello
78) Your Love is the Place Where I Come From – Teenage Fanclub
79) Can’t Make Your Life – The Lilys
80) Have You Ever Seen the Rain? – Creedence Clearwater Revival
81) Picasso Visita El Planeta De Los Simios – Adam and the Ants
82) Generation Landslide -Alice Cooper
83) You’re the One for Me (non-country version) – Jonathn Richman
84) I Saw Her Again Last Night – The Mammas and the Poppas
85) Summer Babe – Pavement
86) Party Hard – Andrew W.K.
87) All the Young Dudes – Mott the Hoople
88) Fast Girl U.S.A. – Jane Jensen
89) Ghost at Number One – Jellyfish
90) Going Underground – The Jam
91) Car (There’s Nothing Wrong with Love version) -Built to Spill
92) Web in Front – Archers of Loaf
93) She Digs Her – You Am I
94) Disaster – Frisbie
95) Draw the Line – Aerosmith 96) My Bag – Lloyd Cole and the Commotions
97) God Knows My Name – Monster
98) Mary Provost – Nick Lowe
99) Romeo’s Distress – Christian Death
100) You’ll See Glimpses – Ian Dury and the Blockheads
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