My favorites

I had this misguided idea, not too long ago, to create a list of the 50 Greatest Songs Ever. I think it started with hearing "Under Pressure" on the radio, and thinking, "If I had a list of the 50 greatest songs ever, this would be on it!" The more I worked on it, though, the more impossible and arrogant an idea it seemed. So I decided to forget objectivity and make a list of MY favorite songs. My criteria for selection were that each song had to be one that I had known for a long time, and heard a lot, but not gotten tired of.

Here goes!

“Oye Como Va” – Santana
such a tight band sound, I love it

“All Along the Watchtower” – J Hendix (written by b Dylan)

“You can’t take that away from me” – Gershwin, many performers’ versions I like – Dianna Krall is a fav., Rosemary Clooney, Frank S. It’s not just a nostalgic reverie about a lost love – it’s a profound song about the things that last.

“Let him fly” – Patty Griffin (as performed by the dixie chicks)
simple, universal – every woman has been here.

“Aqualung” – Jethro Tull
prog rock at its finest

“Keep on Rockin’ in the Free World” – Neil Young
this is my “pissed off” song

“Duncan” – Paul Simon
beautiful story song

“Like a Prayer” – Madonna
like “Duncan”, this one’s about sex and religion. Yeah, I think I’m a little screwed up…

“losing my religion” – R.E.M.
I played this in a piano recital in high school. Scary but true.

“I used to love him (but now I don’t)” – Lauryn Hill and Mary J. Blige
“Father you saved me/and you showed me that life/was much more than being/some foolish man’s wife”

“The Drunken Piper” – Natalie McMaster, fiddle, Cookie Rankin, vocals
Gaelic song. No idea what it’s about, but the singer does this singing that sounds like fiddle playing, and it blows me away

“I Take my Chances” Mary Chapin Carpenter
“Now some people say you shouldn’t tempt fate/and for them I would not disagree/But I never learned nothing by playing it safe/I say fate should not tempt me.”

“Leaving Las Vegas” - Sheryl Crow

“Things have Changed” – Bob Dylan

“Paranoid Android” – Radiohead