Hehe, like Rayzor, I think I'll lose a few dude points here, but oh well.
Also, be warned, I'm sure I might have a few earlier-mentioned duplicates, but I'm not changing them just for novelty's sake
- Unordered list:
- Eric Clapton - Tears in Heaven - A great song on its own, but once you learn any of the history it becomes a heart-heavy masterpiece. Enough said.
- Led Zeppelin - Going to California - Amid other reasons, it goes on the list primarily for "Standing on a hill in my mountain of dreams / Telling myself it's not as hard, hard, hard as it seems..." So true.
- John Prine + Bonnie Raitt - Angel from Montgomery (Live) - Not sure why, this particular version has just always struck me as a powerful tune whenever I've listened to it.
- Sarah McLachlan - Angel In spite of the above-mentioned commercial, she is still one hell of a songwriter IMO, and this has always been one of my deeplky favorite tracks of hers since I first heard it (and I've admittedly never really been one for contemporary songwriters).
- Elton John - Your Song - Cliche? Maybe, but it doesn't make it any less a classic for me. In my experience, it's impossible for someone to hear it and NOT have someone in mind the whole time.
- Jackson Browne - Load Out/Stay - Kind of a tricky one, but you understand if you're a musician, and probably wouldn't if you aren't. No discrimination implied.
- The Beatles - All My Life - Granted, I know it's one of those sappily sentimental songs, but even so... what a remarkable one. Maybe it's just a guilty pleasure of mine.
- Neil Young - Cortez the Killer - I know it's not an inherently touching song, per se, but it's one of the most profound guitar melodies I've heard to the day, and will always hold a place here.
- Neil Young - After the Gold Rush - Yep, two from the artist I know, I'm killing my variety here, but it's one of those songs that just goes so well with staring up at a night sky.
- James Taylor - Fire & Rain - An artist held highly in any regard, James Taylor really put everything over the top with this track. A consistent favorite of mine.
Also, one that I didn't necessarily list in my top list just for sake of room is an up-and-coming fingerstyle artist Andy McKee. Really, this cat is reminiscent of the likes of Michael Hedges and Leo Kottke, and I would highly reccommend the tracks Drifting and Rylynn (Amid all the others of course). Studio videos of both can be found over at the good old YouTube, and I really can't say enough about the guy, he instantly struck me as the best thing to happen to acoustic instrumentation in years.