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Greatest single song of all time..


bigmarty_34

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Doesnt matter if the band had one big hit, or on the complete contrary, were the beatles..id like your opinion on the biggest, greatest, most effective song of all.

"stairway to heaven" by Led zeppelin would be my choice..not too far ahead of "satisfaction" by the stones.

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A close acquaintance answered this very question by concluding his statement with the four words (of death knell quality) "and sales prove it".

Though I don't disagree with him in terms of the fact that, if word never had gotten out about The Beatles, they would have never sold one billion songs in their recording career, or any of the singles more likely to alienate the audience of the group: for which I cite the only uncharted track on The Hollies' greatest hits, "The Woman I Love", which never made it into the top 40 singles charts.

There's also the matter of those songs which alienated audiences. Many people I know never listened to The Beach Boys again after the disco version of "Here Comes The Night" was released. Listening to it 26 years later, I don't see their point, and it is a fact that, when released in the UK, it hit around the 30s in the charts in a reduced form.

Many singles which don't sell are forgotten about. I could sing you the whole refrain to BreZe's "My Heart Goes Boom". They were a band who were marketed as being "between the ages of 9 and 11, and quite possibly, the next big thing".

Did anyone buy the song? Nuppers. When released in 1999, it shifted about 100 copies, was featured on a single ailing chat show with a hostess whose name I can't even remember. And yet, back when I did CD single reviews for a school newspaper, I was one of only about 100 people who actually bought the track. I can't even recall what the flip side of the CD is, given that I disposed of the jewel case..

So what do we judge the best song in the world, ever, on?

In my personal opinion, it is a very difficult equation based on an amalgam of personal memory, musical taste, and exposure to music, coupled with the lack of the opinion of bonehead kids who claim "How come you can tell me what the greatest song is? Have you heard all the songs in the world?"

To some extent, I concede that they may be correct in their beliefs. But, on the other hand, they are fans of some of the worst scum I've ever heard.

Enough already. Music may not be meritocratic, but that is a junction at which I, at times, disagree with myself. I have a good enough knowledge of my Steinway piano to play songs up to Grade 7 standard. Debussy's "La Fille Aux Cheveux De Lin", "Eine Kleine Nachtmuzik", "Moonlight Sonata" (a cliche dressed in arpeggiated C# chords).

More and more pieces are joining my repetoire. "La Danse De La Poupee". Almost percussive in its discordance. Adolph Jensen's "Widmung", at 48 BPM, is one of the slowest, most rich pieces ever. My reckoning is that it's a German funeral song, from information I have read about it.

Some songs are borne out of love, joy, and craft. Some songs are come upon as moments of genius or the most divine of inspiration. A few months ago, I wrote a backward acrostic expressing months of regret to a former friend. I could recount some of the lyrics, but I would rather that I wasn't reminded of such past memories as these.

As for myself, I can no longer count for those who haven't played Good Vibrations to death. My attention draws to those songs which are variable unknowns. If we must choose a Beach Boys track to draw excellence from, these are any of Surf's Up (gah, that's a whole essay in itself), Trader, I'll Bet He's Nice, most probably the longer versions of Little Surfer Girl, Goin' On, She Believes In Love Again.

The joy of craft of which I speak doesn?t really happen in our hearts, as much as I have attempted to protest otherwise. Not until the moment we hear that song and believe in it.

There are only a few such songs. Good Vibrations. One of the best songs ever, if not categorically THE. And, as Brian, Mike, Van Dyke Parks and Tony Asher sat down and assembled it, piece by piece, you can see the love that went into manipulating each word, each phrase, each falsetto E flat. Each bass F sharp. Each live performance. It would have been worth nothing if it never had have existed.

The final question which has to be answered is, possibly, the most important question in terms of our favourite songs. Which songs is it we hear on the radio sometimes and think ?Man! My least favourite deejay is playing my favourite song!? For me, this is a regular occurrence, and not just with a single deejay. You know the ones. They?d put Blondie?s Denis on non-stop repeat; Patrick freaking Swayze.

?I look in the mirror and all I see

Is a young old man with only a dream

Am I just fooling myself

That she'll stop the pain

Living without her

I'd go insane?

Then, out of the blue, what comes on?

?I wanna rock and roll all nite and party every day?

I?ve been converted. I?ve been obsessed. But I?ve never been infatuated. The arrival starts here, and I?m welcoming it. But I still stand by Love/Wilson/Parks. For now.

Love and mercy.

Matt

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"Moonlight Sonata" (a cliche dressed in arpeggiated C# chords).

Funny you should mention this. John (Lennon) has said "Moonlight Sonata" was the inspiration for "Because." As the story goes, he heard Yoko playing it and John then reversed (sequencing I presume, or the arpeggio to the chords, that I'm not sure) the chords.

Although some claim the comparison cannot be justified, I just wanted to comment that the first chord/main chord for "Because" is C#m.

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He always claimed that it was those chords backwards, the C# minor chords and C#(B) chords were the chords he used on Because, stuck backwards. That was the original inspiration for the song, but it sounds more like the chords themselves were used more as a direct lift than a back-to-front lifting of the chords.

At the time, I believe it was Yoko's favourite classical piece. I can't remember off hand, though, but I know it's the transition between C#m, G#m7, and those other chords, very reminiscent to the feeling of both Because and Moonlight Sonata. I'll look for a copy of the latter myself at some point, I really do need one!

Love and mercy

Matt

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In my opinion I am going to have to say

Civil War-Guns n' Roses.

Not because it was the greatest all-time rock n' roll song, but because it was the last of the great rock n' roll songs. 'The Spaghetti Incident?' was crap and after Guns n' Roses, Nirvana came in and changed the face of Rock n' Roll forever. Now rock music sucks.

I bow to you almighty Slash :bow:

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