You're the Best Around: Songs 20-1

And now, of course, the moment you've all been waiting for, oh imagined cyberspace masses, my favorite 20 songs of all time. I promise you a more comprehensive or reputable list doesn't exist anywhere. NASA has contacted me, hoping to send these 20 songs into space in case alien civilizations are seeking to find out what a music lover with impeccable taste on Earth listened to in 2007. Comments, as always, are appreciated.

20. "New Slang"- The Shins
In spite of its unfortunate name drop in Garden State, this song is almost life changing (thank you, weird little girl in doctors office). I remember the first time I actually listened to the words, and not just the haunting melody, being blown away that such a song could exist. It may have been knocked down a few slots because of overexposure (it was by far the most played song on my itunes for a long time, and, did i mention garden state?) but its no worse for that.
19. "Woolly Muffler"- Harvey Danger
Is the songs you loved first you love best an adage? Because long before I knew the words "emo" or "indie" or had realized that the pain I felt at being rejected by a girl the first time was probably the easiest I would have it in my young adult life, this song was my anthem. The year was 1998, the girl was Aly Post, andI first tasted the joy of reveling in my misery. This song was an integral part of my music education and maturation process, and it has aged just fine.
18. "Everlong"- The Foo Fighters
I guess I'm surprised how many of these songs are from middle schoolish times. Once upon a time, the Foo Fighters were my favorite band, I worshipped Dave Grohl, and while it wasn't my favorite, this is undoubtedly their best song, and sounds just as sweet now as it did in those halcyon days. I actually caught them on SNL last night, and I was trying to figure out whether their style has changed or whether just my tastes have. I think both are true, but probably more of the latter, and that makes me sort of sad, because I LOVED them back in the day. In five years will I feel the same way about Elliott Smith? And then what will I play for my kids? The fact that these questions keep me up at night gives you a pretty good indication why I take the time to do this stuff.
17. "The Fairest of the Seasons"- Nico
Like Don't Hate Me, every time I leave a place (which has happened a shocking amount the last three years or so) I can't escape this beautiful song. Its use in Wes Anderson films doesn't hurt either. but mostly its "I want to know/Do I stay or should I go/And do I have to do just one/And can I choose again if I should lose the reason". London, Chicago, LA, Portland...this song's for you.
16. "Leif Erickson"- Interpol
I don't really know why I like this song so much. Some of the lyrics are cool, but a lot don't make sense. Sonically its cool, but not particularly interesting or groundbreaking. But there's something about it, and some of the lines that have just stuck with me since i first heard it and reach down into something that I can't really explain and hold on (I know why I respond to Nico or to a GUPK song. this is shadier). But i still love it. It's like a four minute musical version of a great noir film. If that makes any sense.
15. "A Stone"- Okkervil River
There's no mystery here. Another song that when I bought an album I was anticipating to be great, grabbed me at first lesson and exceeded those expectations. Songs like this and catamaran are why I say Okkervil River and BvS are my favorite bands, even if their entire body of work isn't as grand in scale or brilliant as, say, elliott smith. overly melodramatic in the best way possible, the songs is great but kicks into another gear in the bridge/breakdown. I won't type the whole story about the stone and the prince, but its worth listening to if your tastes run anywhere near mine. And if you don't like it, don't tell me. This is the only band I hate sharing, because I can't bring myself to hear that anyone doesn't love them as much as I do.
14. "I'll Catch You"- the Get Up Kids
oh my true emo days. Life was so much simpler then. No politics, no nuance, just plain simple heartache and lots of argyle. And if one song represented that whole pouty time of my life, its this. And its still great. by the way, if jonathan (or any else who might know) is reading this, is the line "still remembering/jinx removing" which never made any sense to me, a reference to the Jawbreaker song? Inquiring minds want to know. This song is worth it just for the last sonic crash in between after "No need for reminding/You're still all that matters to me".
13. "Jesus, Etc."- Wilco
On of the most simply beautiful songs I've ever heard, period. Another one whose lyrics are somewhere between poetry and nonsense, but when those violins kick in, man, who cares what "Our love is all of god's money" means. Jeff Tweedy can sing whatever he wants, as long as sings it in songs that sound like this.
12. "Busby Berkeley Dreams"- the Magnetic Fields
Speaking of beautiful songs (am i the only one who has noticed that songs on this list tend to come in twos or threes? two songs from eighth grade, three punk songs, etc.? Probably). What a fantastic conceit from an expert song writer. This is one of those songs that whenever you meet another fan of the band, theres an immediate consensus as to the best songs.
11. "For No One"- the Beatles
Its always hard to pick a favorite beatles song for me. I love this one, but I love others, and have loved others. as my first favorite band (and still hands down the best band of all time period ever) we've been through a lot together, and while this is a great song, this spot probably represents more my love for the beatles as a band and what they meant to me and to the music i listen to than my fondness for this particular 2 and a half minutes of music.
10. "Lady Liberty"- Okkervil River
Originally, this song wasn't nearly this high, but that's just cause i hadn't listened to it in a while. The first OR song I ever heard, and everytime i hear it, its like that first time, and I love it even more. a great story, great music (horns!), just so so good. And this song, more than any other song on this album, lets Sheff's biggest strength (song writing aside) show through, his ability to contain emotion in his singing, and the ability to let that emotion seem real and natural and felt, not put upon. I know its number ten, but this would probably be in my top five desert island songs. Its short and sweet, but I can't see ever tiring of it.
9. "The City"- the Dismemberment Plan
This song was love at first listen. I remember like it was yesterday...our sound designer junior year for boomshaka was using some rock songs to test his levels, and all of a sudden this song came on, and i had never heard it, and was instantly obsessed, and haven't stopped being. sadly, though I listened to his later band more, this song was miles better (and more than fifty spots superior) to anything the Promise Ring ever wrote. Evokes such a strong picture for me, and is rocking on top of that. Just a great great song.
8. "I Didn't Understand"- Elliott Smith
The more I listen to Elliott Smith, the more I love him, and the sadder I am that he is gone, and the more appreciation I have for his work. One of those great rare artists where almost every CD has been my favorite at one time or another, and where half the songs on each album were my favorite. I didn't have much use for this song, once upon a time, but sparse as it is, its one of his most haunting and most powerful.
7. "Only in Dreams"- weezer
Ah, a sea change. Long long listed as my favorite song, I fear I've outgrown its usefulness, and while it still has a place in my heart, it lacks a spot in my playlist. The song that made me love long songs (and i do love long songs), the ulitimate emo song, the song i used to drive around listening to over and over again when i was down, the source of a screen name and goosebumps alike, listening to it now it brings me back to a time more than anything else. And while that is great and useful, its not enough to keep it up top.
6. "Ooh La La"- the Faces
Another wes anderson featured song. surprising, no? While this song was and is perfect for its spot in rushmore, its also great on its own. who knew Rod stewart could be so cool. Its always great for me when a song, amidst all my mopiness and melancholy and gloom, puts a smile on my face without making my pulse race (i love the thermals, but sometimes you want a nice, simple, happy song). And who doesn't wish they knew what they knew now, when they were younger?
5. "Tonight, Tonight"- the Smashing Pumpkins
Its rare for me to love a single this much, even a single from a CD that yielded five. And while I've never had the connection or relationship with Tonight, Tonight that I have had with many, many other pumpkins songs (mostly ones about loving girls and wanting to cry) I cannot deny that this is their best song. so epic and powerful but in half or a third of the time most of their powerful epic songs are, so musically sweeping, beautiful instrumentation, probably another desert island song that just never got old. Oh billy corgan, why hast thou forsaken me?
4. "I Just Threw Out the Love of My Dreams" weezer w/ That Dog
Where as most of the other songs in this top ten are big full meals (just wait for number two, which is like an eight course meal at Trio) this song is the best dessert I've ever had..filling, delightful, leaves you wanting more, but compact and short and sweet. So much emotion, so much heart, so much power and longing in the voices. A weezer song that isn't really a weezer song to me, but exists sort of on its own. A song I've always dreamed of performing live somewhere for some reason.
3. "Motorcycle Driveby"- Third Eye Blind
But Josh, you might ask, aren't you embarrassed to have a 3eB song in such a prestigious position on your list. No, and I'll tell you why. I can vividly remember the first time I heard this song. I remember KROQ playing it, though I can't imagine why since I wasn't a single, and being rooted to the spot in the middle of my room staring at the radio. I was in love. I rushed to my brothers room and dug around in his stuff til I found the CD (he owned it, I didn't) and promptly offered to trade him Less Than Jake's Losing Streak for it, which I managed to coerce him into doing. This has been one of my favorite songs since that day in middle school, and every time I think I'm over it, it comes on, and my love rekindles. And I'm not ashamed of it. I relish it.
2. "Duk Koo Kim"- Sun Kil Moon
Boy do I love long songs. I don't know why, I didn't use to. I used to skip them out of hand, decide they were too much work, and prefer my music in 3ish minute punk/classic rock doses. But I've changed as both the highest "long song" and, at 14:34, by far the longest song on this
list can attest to. A hauntingly beautiful song from first listen, but a little wikipedia research (Duk Koo Kim was a Korean boxer who was killed in the ring) and repeated listenings makes it the kind of song that reaches down into your soul and tries to pull desperate yearning out of you. Ive been rather obsessed with Mark Kozelek lately, and its largely because of his song writing, and this is the best example. After the weight of the lyrics (which come largely in the first 5 or 6 minutes) the soaring, crescendoing, crooning section that follows is not just right, its necessary.

Fanfare?

1. "This Must Be the Place (Naive Melody)"- Talking Heads
Okay, so, I must admit, I only found this song cause a girl I liked liked it. But some of my favorite things (The X-Files, Boondock Saints, the Barenaked Ladies, a Bright Room Called Day) were first invested in in an effort to impress/get closer to/understand a lady (it should be noted that with the exception of a couple of chaste dates, this effort netted me absolutely zero in the romance department. but i found some good stuff). So maybe my original intentions were not artistically pure, but that doesn't at all diminish my love for this song. Musically great ( i do love new wave) and lyrically simple yet complicated enough to make me feel both happy and lonesome and wistful at the same time (most songs I listen to just hit the latter two). Also the idea behind the lyric "hi oh/sing into my mouth". This, of course, is where I want to be.


So there you have it. You being me. probably.