10 songs that changed YOUR world
Yesterday I was doing a spot of bookstore browsing. I far prefer this to music-shop browsing, by the way (I just happened to work in a bookshop for a while, so that put me off the experience for close to two years). Anyway, I spotted this book called 10 Songs That Changed the World.
My first thought was that I should buy it, read it and possibly use it down the line for a blog topic or two. My second thought was that I was more likely to buy it, leave it on the shelf for months, then start it and possibly find out it was nothing special. Particularly given the songs that were chosen - which we will get to in a minute...and my third thought was that I was broke and shouldn't be buying any books. (The fourth thought was that a big part of the reason I am broke is because worrying about the price of things and whether I can justify spending money is only ever my third thought, never my first).
So I perused the back cover and noted that the 10 songs were: Amazing Grace, We Shall Overcome, Strange Fruit, Hound Dog, Blowin' in the Wind, I Want To Hold Your Hand, Respect, Imagine, Anarchy in the UK and Rapper's Delight.
The book obviously contextualises each of these songs and while I am not arguing with the choices, it became pretty clear on a quick skim of the list that the songs were chosen to select political movements (We Shall Overcome, Respect); and to represent racism being addressed in song (Strange Fruit); and to represent key musical turning points and/or the establishment of genres (Hound Dog for rock'n'roll; Anarchy in the UK for punk and Rapper's Delight for rap). There's also one song to represent Elvis Presley (again that's Hound Dog), one for The Beatles - and within that, specifically "Beatlemania" (I Want To Hold Your Hand) and one to represent Bob Dylan - as well as the start of the folk movement merging with the pop and rock world (Blowin' in the Wind). There was also a song to represent the first of The Beatles to die (I presume that's why Imagine is on the list?).
So, that's all good and well and I'm sure the author goes to plenty of trouble across 300 pages to justify these choices and place them to tell a story of the world's reaction to each piece. But I'm not sure we continually need such books to be written. So with respect to the author of the book I am pleased I did not purchase.
And I'm interested in the significance of these things, certainly. I read an amazing book about the song Amazing Grace. I've also read a great book about the song Strange Fruit. And both songs were worthy of a book to help tell their story and background. I am sure a book about Sam Cooke's A Change Is Gonna Come would be a good (and worthy) read too.
But I figure a more interesting blog topic than me deciding what I think are the 10 Songs That Changed the World and getting you to argue against my choice and select your own would be for us all to think back and pick the 10 Songs That Changed Our World. So, I'll write my list. Then you write yours.
The way I look at this, it's not about picking your ten favourite songs. It is about selecting ten songs that represent the magic of music and the magic in music for you.
If you want to start your list with Nirvana's School and move upward in time then that's not exactly wrong - because it's your list. If you want to stop at James Carr singing You Got My Mind Messed Up and work backward from there, ignoring dance music, hip-hop, grunge, metal, punk and the solo album of Shaznay Lewis then that is also fine. It's your list, after all.
Your list might be a hipster roll-call where you name-check Spacemen 3, The Beta Band, Belle & Sebastian and early Kings of Leon.
But your list might also be of one-hit wonders - all having huge impact at the time. Your list might be novelty songs - or tried-and-tested classic hits. Your list might, for all I know, be the first half of the current Now That's What I Call Music compilation.
But I won't know until you tell me.
First, of course, I will share my list of the 10 Songs That Changed My World:
1. Cream, Sunshine of Your Love - that riff, those drums, when I first was aware of this song, aged eight or nine, it blew my mind. I still think back to that when I hear it now. It also made me sure I wanted to play the drums.
2. U2, Bad - I tend to think that most things by U2 are bad these days, but I still remember when I heard this song for the first time. It was the first time I felt like I was discovering music for myself, and I went out and bought The Joshua Tree when it was released - after hearing this earlier song. I was a huge U2 fan for years. And I still like a fair bit of the early material.
3. John Coltrane, A Love Supreme: Acknowledgment - I consider the whole album one track, but this opening "song" was what first caught my attention (obviously, being the first track). That wafting sax line seemed to move straight up to God, as was Coltrane's intention with the writing of this album. I could dig that, even though I shouldn't even be on first-name basis with The Big G. Elvin Jones's drums were inspiring and I love that monotonous chant of the title. It gave me a giggle when I first heard it.
4. Sonic Youth, Swimsuit Issue - the first album by Sonic Youth I heard the whole way through was Dirty. And this song was the start of recognising a new sound I had read about and had wanted to hear. It was about matching expectation to the reality and being pleased with the result. It set me off down a path of enjoying this band's music, always wanting to check in with what they have to say, to this day.
5. Curtis Mayfield, Move On Up - the People Get Ready box set is one of my favourite collections. And I purchased it, almost on a whim, to discover Curtis. It was a very good thing to do. Leading me on to so many things - it was actually a life-changing set of songs for me. I'm picking this one because whenever I heard it I think of how irresistible grooves don't have to be married to nonsense songs.
6. Suzanne Vega, The World Before Columbus - I had liked Vega's material right up to her Nine Objects of Desire album - but the beauty of this lyric and the way it is constructed to sit within the tune is, to me, an example of near-perfect songwriting. I like to imagine that I could one day write something that meant half as much as this to someone. It's a song that feels like I am listening to it for the first time every time I play it.
7. Tom Waits, Somewhere - the first thing I heard by Waits and so to this day Blue Valentine remains my favourite album. I'd never heard a voice like that - well, it did make me think, at first, of Louis Armstrong. But it was different. And the world of Tom Waits is still one of the more cherished stamps on my musical passport.
8. Frank Zappa, Joe's Garage - as with a few of these choices, this signals the first time I heard the artist. And the album Joe's Garage is still my favourite Zappa album. I became obsessed with him for years. His music was mostly interesting to me because it introduced me to so many amazing musicians; I remembered their names and spotted them in other lineups. That was the magic of it. I also love how much madness Zappa crams in to this story-song.
9. Stevie Wonder, You Haven't Done Nothin' - just listen to it!
10. Jay-Z, Takeover - there are so many examples of brilliant sampling in hip-hop and I like this one because it reminded me of what a great song The Doors' Five to One is as well (so it's almost like choose 10 + get 1 free). It's also a great performance from Jay-Z; from a superb album (The Blueprint).
So that's 10 Songs That Changed My World - in roughly the order of discovery. Ask me again tomorrow and I'll give you ten more...and ten more the next day, and the next day and so on and so on... (And I'll probably include Kermit singing Rainbow Connection and Nick Drake's Things Behind the Sun). But that'll be another day. Today it's the list above - and just naming those will send me back to the parent albums and other points in the discography of some of those artists.
Now I'm asking you to name the 10 Songs That Changed Your World. What are they? And why?
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1. Dance Exponents - Airway Spies. The first song that I loved as a youngster that my parents didn't!
2. Led Zeppelin - Stairway To Heaven. I can't listen ot it these days, and it's not a favourite, but it got me listening to Led Zeppelin, and even though I loved Bonham and Jones, I knew after hearing Jimmy Page that I wanted to play guitar.
3. Stevie Wonder - You Haven't Done Nothin. Completely agree Simon. I bought Original Musiquarium for "Superstition", but it was this song (and "I Wish") that blew me away, and made me realise how cool Stevie really was.
4. The Beatles - I Am The Walrus. Blew me away as a teenager, and made me realise how great strings and orchestras can sound, which then lead me to appreciating classical, and realising that any instuments can sound great in the right context, and played well.
5. Sex Pistols - Holiday In The Sun . Sometimes energy can be the overiding factor in a song. And there is nothing wrong with that. (also "Hound Dog", and "Twist And Shout" for the same reason.)
6. U2 - Sunday Bloody Sunday. I first heard this when watching "U2 live at Red Rocks", and it blew me away. Maybe it's the Irish coming out in me, but it still sends shivers down my spine, and reminds me of my Grandfather, who would bring up Bloody Sunday whenever the British were mentioned!
7. Oasis - Live Forever. I loved the melody, and the playing, and Liam's voice. It made me want to write!
8. Red Hot Chilli Peppers - Suck My Kiss. Showed me that there still were bands who understood how drums and bass can work together. Chad and Flea are an amazing rythmn section.
9. Rolling Stones - Sympathy For The Devil. Turned me on to how great a record can "sound" without necessarily being a great melody, or great song.....just an incredib;e sounding record (much like "Honky Tonk Woman" and "Hey Negrita".
10. Rage Against The Machine - Bulls On Parade. It made me remember how powerful music could be, and hit you between the eyes with the power of both the music and the words!
So....not everyone will agree with my choices of course, but that is what makes this interesting!
1. Bruce Springsteen: Born In The USA. Mostly because it was the first song I heard to send a shiver down my spine. And it was the first time I heard Bruce, who would go on to be my rock hero.
2. Dave Dobbyn: Whaling. It was playing in someone's car at a horse show. My very first ever show. The first in a long line of shows and events to follow. There I was on my wee black pony, stiff and shiny in my new jodhs, jacket and boots, nervous to the point that my mouth was so dry I couldn't speak, and I heard that music waft out of an open car door. It calmed me. I can't say why. But I'm forever grateful.
3. Bon Jovi: Wanted Dead Or Alive. This untouchable anthem of Bon Jovi's hugely successful Slippery When Wet album is, I think, the definition of everything that Bon Jovi's music means to me. If I had to pick ONE favourite song of theirs, that would be it.
4. Nina Simone: Feelin' Good. For some reason I can put this song on and no matter how foul a mood I'm in, it will help me to feel better.
5. Bread: Everything I Own. Both my mother and my father loved this song, and since they split when I was 5 it's sort of the one thing that connects them. Oh - and me and my sister, of course ;)
6. Billy Joel: Piano Man. Speaking of my sister, she went through a Billy Joel phase and this was a song I got to hear a lot. And never got tired of. And it has nothing to do with what my sister's like, but I always think of her when I hear it.
7. Metallica: Sad But True. This song struck a chord in me the very first time I heard it at the Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert. It's actually what turned me on to Metallica - I hadn't paid them much attention until then, lumping them in with Iron Maiden and all the other stuff my stepbrother and his mates listened to. But Sad But True changed my thinking; it seemed to me like Metallica really GOT that there's this visceral side to each of us and wasn't afraid to talk about it.
8. The Dixie Chicks: Not Ready To Make Nice. This is a fairly recent one for me. I'm not a fan of the Chicks. And the first few times I heard this song I didn't pay it a lot of attention and mis-interpreted it. It wasn't until a discussion with Simon here that I fully understood what they were on about and boy, did I agree with them.
9. Band Aid: Do They Know It's Christmas. It was when I first became aware of the hideously offhand way in which the world breaks things. Like everyone else, I suspect, I get fed up with this song throughout December every year, but when it was first released and I became aware of what it was in aid of, was the beginning of my realisations of how awful the world can be. And conversely, in people like Bob Geldof, how good.
10. Tom Waits: God's Away On Business. Another really recent one. I heard it first as it played over the credits from an ENRON documentary. Since that time I've listened to it many times and although it sounds like a children's scary story (for some reason I keep thinking Bad Jelly The Witch, though I don't know why), the message behind it is clear and, I think, brutally indicative of more to come.
The diversity of my upbringing means that songs have always featured, from family friends influence to popular radio so getting 10 today could be hard but here goes:
1. Mack The Knife - Bobby Darin. My parents were Darin fans and friends with Ricky May, who performed this as his signature tune, great story.
2. My Names Jack - Manfred Mann. The first song I ever knew all the words to, got placed with it in my first talent quest.
3. Metal Guru - T Rex. First album I bought had this on it and I just about wore out the vinyl.
4. Queen - Bohemian Rhapsody. Didn't know much about music at that stage but knew what I liked. While song has meaning the album made me understand how diverse one group could be.
5. The Clean - Beatnik. Wow there was stuff south of the Bombays, who would have thought.
6. Whole Wide World - Wreckless Eric. This was on a compilation of new wave and punk songs that included Ian Dury, Elvis Costello & The Attractions, The Only Ones and Sex Pistols.
7. Dire Straits - Money For Nothing. The only reason this song features is that I was hanging out for music TV to start here.
8. Pearl Jam - Alive. Heard this while away on softball trip up north and thought finally someone had shaken off the eighties and released something of substance. Now one of my all time favourite bands.
9. Eminem - The Real Slim Shady. A copy the follow up album was give to my young (at the time) daughter so Dad though he would check it was suitable. I laughed and laughed and had such a great time listening she never got it back. But it was this song got me listening.
10. God's Gonna Cut You Down - Johnny Cash. Might sound morbid but this got me into all the American Recordings and the sound of a man dedicated to his craft, knowing he was dying and recording some of the best stuff I had heard in years. Some of the songs have more feeling and passion than half todays' pop bands put together.
In no particular order...
A change is gonna come - Sam Cooke - pure emotion
Freebird - Lynard Skynard - no song has ever made me want to learn the guitar more
It don't mean a thing [if it ain't got that swing] - Ella Fitzgerald - hours of fun dancing around the lounge
Gimme Shelter - Rolling Stones plus Lisa Fisher - gruntiest voice ever!
One Love - Bob Marley and the Wailers - transcendental summer song
All along the watchtower - Jimi Hendrix - like a song of desperation should be
London Calling - The Clash - dig deep
Maggie May - Rod Stewart - just beautiful
Baby I'm amazed - Paul McCartney - first dance at my wedding
Piece of my heart - Janis Joplin - another grunty female, are we seeing a pattern. Love!
Thousands more - but those are pretty special to me.
@ Shane #4 - I agree with Johnny Cash. I have been listening to all the American Recordings lately, and they are brilliant. He can take other people songs and make them into something else....I love his take on "Personal Jesus".
Meh: I can only come up with 8...
Public Enemy - Fight the Power: Not because of it's political statement but because it's the first rap song that convinced me that rap could be something other than crap - then I started listening to the political statement[s].
This Mortal Coil - Song to the Siren: Those vocals...wow...completely transports you to another place - almost a meditation
New Order - Blue Monday: Got me into New Order, then Joy Division, then the whole Post Punk genre, which has become the most important musical genre to me of all the styles of music that I love
The Hollies - Bus Stop: Probably the song that convinced me that the 60's wasn't a complete write off [I never really got into the Beatles/ Stones etc], the wistful romanticism of the song captures a more innocent time a time I sometimes wish I could have experienced.
ABBA - Knowing Me Knowing You: I guess you could call this the 'adult relationship song'. When I was younger adn more subject to the vagaries of angst it would have been 'Somebody to Love' by Queen - but the ABBA song hold greater resonance - always found it immensely helpful during the inevitable breakups trhat life throws at you..
Supertramp - No In Between: My Depression Song [literally - having been diagnosed with severe clincal depression] the lyrics encapsulated how I'd often end up feeling: 'Ain't got feelings, ain't got no pain, Ain't got no reason, to try again. Don't need n finger, to point at me, can't let it linger, I must get free...'
The Mission [UK] - Wasteland: The track that dragged me into Goth, darkwave and the the literature and then, god forbid the styles - I do, looking back, miss my nail polish.
The Crystals [sorta] - He's a Rebel: I'm a complete sucker for melody and harmonies and 'He's a Rebel' was one fo the first adn undoubtedly my favourite of the songs that influenced me in that area - of course I also went through the whole teenage I'm a rebel thing [even though I was about as far from being a reb as you could get]
Pink Floyd "The Wall" - Hearing this on my sister's stereo when I was a nipper who didn't know what rock music was blew my mind.
Men Without Hats "You can dance if you want to." Not even sure if its the right song title - but I was introduced to them and this song around the same time I heard Pink Floyd.
- Black Sabbath "Sabbath Bloody Sabbath" title track from the first ever Heavy Metal album I ever owned. Listening to it right now in fact.
- Iron Maiden "Rime of the Ancient Mariner" heavy metal as a rock opera. Also an iconic track on one of the greatest metal albums ever produced.
- Dio. Continuing my love of the kind of Rock music that Tenacious D take the p*ss out of. Anything from his first 3 albums and his years with Rainbow and Black Sabbath.
- Johnny Cash - "Hurt" if the song and the video don't make you weep - then you are already dead.
- Frankie Goes to Hollywood - it was a wedding song.
- Metallica 'One' another example of literature turned to music. Working with a lot of 'plegics over the years for whom this song was an anthem to a life most of us could never imagine.
- "Snoopy's Christmas" - it ain't Christmas until you have heard this.
- "Stairway To Heaven" - the song that is as old as I am (we share a birthday).
1. License to Kill by Bob Dylan. That, and pretty much everything else off the Infidels album, was my introduction to ethics as a child.
2. Blue by Eiffel 65. The first dance song I liked.
3. Ace of Spades by Motorhead. Not my favourite metal song, nor am I really that into Motorhead, but this was the first metal song I heard. Instantly, I knew I’d found my new favourite genre.
4. All Along the Watchtower by Jimi Hendrix. This one showed me just how good covers can be, if you put in a bit of effort.
5. Acres Wild by Jethro Tull. Just Google the lyrics.
6. Gimme Shelter by the Rolling Stones. I think that this is very possibly the zenith of the Stones’ genius, albeit by a narrow margin.
7. Sunshine of Your Love by Cream. So many happy memories! Because “psychedelic” is called that for a reason. You can’t have the primo hallucinations without the right musical stimulation.
8. Nemo by Nightwish. Before I heard that song, I was unaware that Opera and Metal had gotten jiggy in the back of Metal’s Camaro and produced a lovechild. Hello new favourite sub-genre!
9. Ich Will by Rammstein. Listening to Rammstein always picks me up when I’m down, it’s always great at a party, and it’s always good for driving. I can’t think of an occasion that can’t be improved by Rammstein.
10. Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen. Back when I was doing singing competitions I used to sing it in the Pop category. I never won a prize for it, but it was my favourite because I could see the audience getting into it. Singing competitions are basically a form of purgatory for the audience, who are obligated to come because their offspring/other close relatives are performing. The songs are almost always terrible even when they’re sung well, and they are exactly the same songs each year (I swear to God, if I hear Wouldn’t It Be Luverly just one more time I will have a psychotic episode). So when I sang Bohemian Rhapsody it meant that for once in the day the poor, bored mums and dads got to hear a song they actually liked.
Wow, some lists! And Simon, I'm super glad that you prefixed Kings of Leon with 'early'. Like Matt (#1), my list kinda works in chronological order. Here goes...
1. Dire Straits - Brothers in Arms / So Far Away: First songs and album I ever LOVED (age 7)
2. Queen - Bohemian Rhapsody: Still blows me away that someone could actually come up with all that Freddy Mercury did for this song.
3. Green Day - Welcome to Paradise: my transition from the 'classic' stuff to the 'new' stuff, age 12, cica 1995. Loved all of Dookie, but Welcome to Paradise always stands out for me.
4. Smashing Pumpkins - anything from Saimese Dream or Mellon Collie: a teenage staple.
5. Metallica - One: Perfect for the mid-late teen angst. Lars Ulrich's drumming = INSANE.
6. Rolling Stones - Angie: I only really started listening to the Stones in my late teens, and Angie was the spark. Just a beautiful, beautiful song.
7. The Strokes - When It Started (NY city cops): Still remember the day that I first heard bfm playing this while I was in the quad at Auckland Uni (first year, 2001). Marked the beginning of my love for the more indie-flavoured tunes.
8. Kings of Leon - Trani: If this list was compiled in a 'favourite' sort of way, this would be number one. An incredible song, gets me all pent up every time I listen to it, even more so when I've seen it live. In fact, Youth and Young Manhood would be one of the most important albums of my life, which makes me all the more bitter that KOL have turned out the way they have...
9. Arctic Monkeys - When the Sun Goes Down: So simple, so damn GOOD.
10. The Veils - Calliope!: One of the best pop songs written by a New Zealander in recent years. Special to me because it's amazing when friends of yours can make some incredible music that you love, but you don't love it just because they're friends of yours. Know what I mean?
There's definitely a few more worth listing, but I'll stick to the list of 10. Look forward to seeing some more lists!
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age 3 Money for Nothing (Dire Straits) 6 Burning Down the House (Talking Heads) 8 I am a Child (Neil Young) 10 Voodoo Chile-Slight Reutrn (Jimi Hendrix) 12 Bullet with Butterfly Wings (Smashing Pumpkins) 16 Paranoid Android (Radiohead) 17 Stairway to Heaven (Led Zeppelin) 17 Just (Radiohead) 18 Big in Japan (Tom Waits) 24 Goliath (Mars Volta)